At the same time, the old lady also returned from worshiping Buddha at Lingquan Temple.
The Li Mansion opened the main gate to welcome him, and as a grandson, Li Yaonan naturally had to go.
The sun was shining brightly, Li Taian was leading the way and standing at the front. This was the first time that Li Yaonan saw his nominal father since traveling through time. Li Taian was actually a good-looking man, and he looked gentle and refined, with a square and serious face. No one could have imagined that he was such a sanctimonious guy.
Half a step behind him was Ma Yulian, then Li Shuzhen and Li Shuyun. Li Yaozong only came back once a month from school. So far, Li Yaonan had never seen him. Then came Yi Gan Niangniang, and Li Yaonan's figure was at the very edge of them.
After waiting for a short while, the old lady's bicycle frame came into sight.
It was a grand ceremony, with three carriages. After the leading carriage stopped, two beautiful maids got out first, followed by a servant who ran out from the back and knelt in front of the carriage. The curtain was slowly opened, and the old lady put one hand on the maid, stepped on the servant's back, and walked down slowly.
"Son greets mother!"
"The daughter-in-law welcomes her mother."
"Greetings to Grandmother."
"Greetings to the old lady." Li Yaonan's voice was mixed in with a group of concubines. They were both amused and helpless at the scene. Although he didn't know what a real wealthy family was like, it was obvious that the Li family in front of him was trying to draw a tiger but ended up drawing a dog. He remembered that human ladders were popular in the previous dynasty. Now that the ladders were invented, wealthy families seldom used human ladders anymore, for the sake of being kind.
"Well! Get up, everyone. It's so hot, why are you doing this? Is my son tired?" Old Madam Li was very confident. She waved her hand, glanced at them, and helped her son up herself.
Ma Yulian said hurriedly: "It is our duty to welcome the old lady. How can we be tired?"
"You are the only one who can talk." The old lady was obviously very satisfied with her niece and let Ma Yulian support her and walk into the house.
Lai Yaonan treated himself as an invisible man and followed at a leisurely pace.
Arriving at Yuming Hall, the room had been cleaned up two days ago. The old lady had been sitting in the carriage for the whole morning and was a little tired. After she sat down, two maids massaged her shoulders and legs, feeling very comfortable.
"Mom, do you want to take a rest?" Li Taian looked concerned, a true filial son.
"No, go to sleep later. I'm not at home these few days, and some people are going to rebel." The old lady was very satisfied with her son's concern, but her words were full of innuendo.
Li Yaonan understood that the old lady was referring to him.
"Nonsense, who would be so bold?" Li Taian's face darkened and he said sternly, "My son will definitely not forgive him."
The old lady looked at Li Yaonan and said, "I heard that the people around you have all changed in the past few days?"
Li Yaonan remained calm. He had seen Nanny Li standing behind the old lady, looking extremely proud. "My grandson is getting married soon. The maids are old now. I have promised them to marry. I have already informed Madam of this."
Ma Yulian smiled and said, "That's right. Nan'er is not satisfied with the girl, and as a mother, I can't refuse, so I have to give in to him."
The old lady snorted, "What are you dissatisfied with? Are the maids in our house not as good as the ones bought outside?"
"Rebellious son!" Li Taian shouted angrily, "You are the one who has so much trouble all day long. Why don't you hurry up and apologize to your grandmother?"
Li Yaonan readily agreed: "I apologize to the old lady. Because the house is busy, the maids are too busy to take care of my grandson. I went to see a doctor a few days ago, and the doctor said that my grandson was malnourished. I thought that for a family like ours, it would be a joke if this matter was spread, so I kept it a secret. I just wanted to change a few maids, but I didn't expect to alarm the old lady. It's my fault, please punish me."
The old lady's face darkened, feeling a little embarrassed. She had thought that Nanny Li had exaggerated what she said, but she had not expected that this boy would become so sharp-tongued.
Ma Yulian gnashed her teeth in hatred. Wasn't Li Yaonan clearly saying that she was treating him unfairly
"Rebellious son! How dare you talk back?" Li Taian was furious and walked forward to slap him twice.
Li Yaonan dodged and his eyes darkened. Since his last life, no one except his grandfather had dared to touch him. Who was this man in front of him? He suppressed his anger and said calmly, "Father, please calm down. It's not good to get hurt. Whatever you say is fine. Your son will bear it. The wedding will be in a few days. Your son will definitely cover up for you."
Li Taian was so angry that he was shaking all over, but he couldn't clap his hands down even though they were raised high. If he really hit someone, not to mention the wedding date the day after tomorrow, wouldn't it confirm the rumor that the Li family treated him badly if people knew about it
The old lady obviously thought of this as well: "Okay, An'er, the servants are useless, so just replace them. But I will make the decision about Chunxiang and take her into Nan'er's room."
"Old Madam—" Li Yaonan cried sadly: "Please just love your grandson."
The old lady's face darkened. What did he mean by that? Taking him a concubine meant that she didn't love him anymore.
Li Yaonan didn't wait for her to speak, and cried heartbrokenly, "My grandson will get married in a few days. If the old lady is not satisfied, I will call off the marriage even if it means sacrificing my reputation. Why do you have to grant my grandson a concubine at this time? Isn't it an insult to the bride's family? How can my grandson live in the future?"
The old lady had a dark face and said nothing. Could she say that what she wanted was to make him unable to live as a human being in the future? Seeing Li Yaonan's face, she thought of that bitch. Not only did she kill the master, but she also caused An'er's career to fail. It was enough for her to have Yaozu and Yaozong as her grandsons.
Ma Yulian's heart tightened. This was not acceptable. If she broke off the engagement, what would happen to her son? How could she explain this to the Lin family? The Li family had already hosted a banquet for the guests, and they couldn't afford to lose face.
"That's enough, that's enough." The old lady said impatiently, waving her hand and beckoning the two maids beside her over: "These are Yuzhu and Amber who are beside me. They will follow you from now on. Your own maids are always better than those outside. Don't say that grandma doesn't love you."
Li Yaonan lowered his head and said, "How can a grandson take away the love of grandma? Since they are the maids that grandma usually uses, it would make grandma sad if I leave them. A grandson would never dare to be an unfilial person."
"You cannot refuse a gift from an elder. Just accept it if I tell you to." The old lady said calmly, her tone tolerant of refusal.
"Thank you, old lady." Li Yaonan bowed and saluted. The old lady's filial piety made him realize that he could not refuse. He glanced coldly at Nanny Li and asked her why the old lady had not moved in recent days. It turned out that she was waiting here.
Yuzhu and Amber looked unwilling and glared at Nanny Li. If she hadn't said too much in front of the old lady, how would they be given to the Second Young Master? How would they live in the future? Everyone in the mansion knew that the Second Young Master was a good-for-nothing.
The old lady didn't care what the maid thought. Seeing that Li Yaonan agreed, she nodded with satisfaction and said, "You can go down. Don't go out for the next two days. Prepare to marry your new husband."
"Yes." Li Yaonan bowed and left.
After he left, the old lady looked at her niece in reproach: "You are too soft-hearted. Why do you give in to him in everything? Don't you realize who you are?"
Ma Yulian smiled awkwardly and said with tears in her eyes: "Everyone says it's hard to be a stepmother, but what can I do? She uses my sister to put pressure on me, and I... I feel... "
The old lady immediately scolded, "What sister? If it weren't for that bitch, you would have been my son's legal wife. Why did you have to be a concubine and make my grandson look down upon? That bitch is a jinx. Not only did she bring bad luck to the master, she also brought bad luck to my son's career. Now she wants to bring bad luck to my grandson. She died well."
"Mother, please don't be angry. My sister is gone after all. We shouldn't gossip about her. It's enough for my daughter-in-law to have her mother's love."
"You are still kind." The old lady patted Ma Yulian's hand, and the anger in her heart dissipated a little. She turned her head and glanced at Li Taian: "Your wife has suffered a lot of grievances. You must treat her well and don't keep those seductive and charming women in the yard. Your son is grown up now, and you, as a father, have to behave yourself."
Li Taian smiled awkwardly to hide the embarrassment on his face: "Yulian is my cousin and my wife, so how can my son not treat her well?"
Ma Yulian glanced at Li Taian with seductive eyes, and her shy face blushed, making her look quite charming.
Li Taian's heart was moved, as if he had just discovered the beauty of his wife. Seeing his mother's playful eyes and his two daughters beside him, he coughed twice and pretended to be serious: "Son has something to do before, you two can chat slowly, I will come to pay my respects to mother in the evening."
"Go, go." The old lady said with a smile, happy to see her son and niece having fun.
Li Shuzhen and Li Shuyun also hurried forward to joke with their grandmother, and for a while, the house was filled with laughter.
Li Yaonan, on the other hand, was extremely depressed. Just to welcome an old lady, two huge Buddha statues were carried to Jinglan Courtyard. At this moment, he finally understood the difficulties of the original owner. It was not easy to grow up safely in Li Mansion, as everyone around him was a jackal or tiger.
None of the masters care about him, so how can the servants respect him? It's no wonder that the original owner is not sociable. This inferiority complex is not something he developed overnight.
Li Yaonan thought for a moment and returned to Jinglan Courtyard. He instructed Xuezhan to worship Yuzhu and Amber as Bodhisattvas in the future. After all, they were given by the old lady, so he should not treat them too seriously or too lightly. If he treated them too seriously, people would say that he was disrespectful to the old lady, and if he treated them too lightly, he would be sorry for himself. He could not let them rely on the old lady's power to bully others in Jinglan Courtyard. In order to have a better life in the future, Li Yaonan thought to himself that he might as well worship them as Bodhisattvas. This way, no one could find any fault with them.
After all, Xuezhan came from a noble family, so she understood what Li Yaonan meant and did better than Li Yaonan expected. With just a little instigation, Amber and Yuzhu were stripped of their power. With Li Yaonan's cooperation, they just thought it was Nanny Li's doing, and soon they were fighting to the death.
This time, Nanny Li can be said to have shot herself in the foot.
Li Yaonan was also very generous. His principle was to reward those who had made contributions and punish those who had made mistakes. On the same day, he rewarded Xuezhan with ten taels of silver.
Xuezhan was extremely delighted, and became even more respectful to Li Yaonan and worked even harder.