The second gentleman and the second lady were frozen in shock.
The eldest gentleman knelt upright with no fear in his eyes, “What is father saying, Wan’er is my daughter and I have spoiled her growing up, how could I harm her?”
“You still know that Wan’er is your daughter!”
The old gentleman was furious, “How dare you not go to the door to greet her when she comes back with such a big noise!”
“Father why did you hide it from me ……”
The blood dripped onto the ground, but the elder gentleman was oblivious, “You found Wan’er the day Meng left the house, didn’t you? The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have a good idea of what you are doing. Father, since you want to put on a big show, how can I not cooperate?”
“Good, good ……”
The old man was furious, “Since you are cooperating, then let’s make a note in front of everyone, if the disappearance of Wan’er is related to you, you will immediately move out of the Xu Mansion, and you will not be allowed to take away a single piece of clothing!”
“Okay.”
Mr. Big agreed.
Seeing that he did not hesitate, doubts flickered slightly in the old gentleman’s heart, could it be that they had guessed wrong?
“Not only you, but also Huo, if Wan’er’s disappearance has anything to do with her, you will expel her from the Xu Mansion immediately.”
Mr. Da hesitated only slightly for a moment and again answered in one breath, but in his heart he had already guessed that Xu Qingwan had not regained her memory. For if she had regained her memory, her own father would not have pressed him here, but would have simply expelled them from the house.
Outside, Second Sir and Second Madam looked at each other, not knowing whether they should enter or hide out first.
“Lao Er.”
The second gentleman answered, and the second lady walked in, giving the old man a curtsy, “Father.”
“Go and get a pen and paper and tell him to make a note.”
The second gentleman answered, and just as he turned around, he saw the blood on the elder gentleman’s face and body, appalled, and turned back to plead, “Father, let elder brother bandage it first, so that ……”
“It won’t kill you!”
The second gentleman didn’t dare to be slow, and personally went to get a pen and paper, and wrote it down according to what the old man said, and had the elder gentleman sign and put his handprint on it, before picking him up and personally holding him to send him back.
When he was halfway there, he thought of what the old man had said and his lips moved, “Big brother, the matter of Wan’er ……”
The oldest gentleman turned his head to look at him, and there was still no emotion in his always gentle eyes, as if he did not care at all about what had just happened.
A strange feeling rose up in the second gentleman’s heart, feeling that the elder brother in front of him was strange, so strange that he wore a mask that he could not see.
“What’s wrong?”
Mr. Second pushed down the strangeness in his heart, “I’ll just help you up here.”
Knowing that he didn’t want to see Huo, Mr. Big hmmed and Mr. Second let go, watching him enter the courtyard before turning around and hurrying back.
……
Inside the house, Huo was walking back and forth anxiously, hearing footsteps and rushing to open the door, the moment she opened it she saw Mr. Big’s face covered in blood and exclaimed, “Master, what’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
Mr. Big steadily stepped inside, gesturing for her to close the door behind her, and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
Huo looked up at him with surprise floating on her face.
Mr. Big also felt relieved and sat down in his chair, “Now you don’t have to worry.”
……
This side of the flower hall, Song Wangyue stood behind the old gentleman and helped him smooth his back.
The old gentleman was indeed furious, although the old gentleman’s words were true, but just because he dared not go out to see Wan’er just now, it meant that he had nothing to do with Wan’er’s disappearance back then.
The second gentleman walked into the flower room and saw this scene. His eyes fell on Song Wangyue, eight or nine years old, her face resembled Wan’er’s as a child, without the inferiority complex and cowardice of a country girl, instead, she exuded a dazzling confidence.
“Grandfather.”
Song Wan Yue didn’t stop moving, smiling as she called out to him, her voice intimate, as if he had always grown up here.
For some reason, Mr. Er listened with a sour nose and almost red eyes, even answering with a faint choke, “Ai ……”
After responding, he took out a purse, “Grandfather doesn’t know what you like, inside this is a thousand taels of silver, you take it and buy it yourself.”
Song Wan Yue did not squirm to accept it, her eyes smiled into crescent moon, “I just like silver, the one who knows me is also grandfather.”
Not only the second gentleman, but also the old gentleman was amused by her and asked with a smile, “If great-grandfather had given you two thousand taels, would he have known you better?”
“More than that, I know him best, and no one can compare.”
The old gentleman laughed.
It had been many years since Mr. Two had heard such a hearty laugh from the old gentleman and he could not help but laugh along with him.
……
The inner room.
After wiping her tears, the Second Lady still grabbed Xu’s hand and wouldn’t let go. There were a thousand words she wanted to ask her, but she didn’t know what to say for a while, she just kept saying, “It’s good to be back, it’s good to be back.”
Meng followed her and shed another tear. Grandma Song and Wan’er had just told her about life in the countryside, which sounded very good, but she knew that Wan’er’s life was not as good as she had said, and that people in the countryside were poor.
“You will stay in the house from today onwards, I have already had the side yard all packed up.”
“No.”
Grandma Song refused, although this Xu House was a house of books, unlike those official houses that put on a show, she was not comfortable here and dared to speak loudly.
“I still have to prepare for my grandson’s betrothal, so I won’t be staying at the house to harass him, so let Yue’er stay with her mother.”
Meng knew they had a mansion in the southern city, so naturally she didn’t force the issue, “I wonder which family’s daughter Song Si is talking about, and if there is anything we can do to help?”
Although they had two general ideas about what kind of betrothal gift to buy, they had not inquired about what the capital city was like, so they had no idea.
“Then I’ll trouble the in-laws’ mother, that grandson of mine is talking about Miss Xiao Yao from the Ding Guo Gong Mansion.”
Meng was surprised, and the Second Lady was also surprised. The Duke of Ding’s House was a noble family, and the girls in the house were naturally good, and how many people in the capital had wanted to ask to marry them, but had all been rejected, to be promised to Song Si.
“I was worried about how I should prepare for the wedding ceremony.”
Meng looked to the Second Lady, who had lived in that small courtyard all these years, not even bothering with the affairs of the house, let alone outside.
The Second Lady gave her a reassuring look and said with a smile, “There are six types of betrothal gifts, everything else is fine, but jewellery and wine are the most important, but it also depends on the conditions of each family, those who are richer will buy good ones, those who are not richer will buy inferior ones.”
Grandma Song nodded, “This is similar to what we have in the countryside, what do you think is appropriate for us to prepare?”
The second madam looked at Xu Qingwan and said, “Then I’ll be straightforward, according to your conditions, it’s fine to prepare ordinary things, but Miss Xiao is the only granddaughter of the Duke of Ding, so you can’t be too shabby.