Chapter 199 - Meeting up with Duke Yong’s Mother, The Old Madam.

Chapter 199 Meeting up with Duke Yong’s Mother, The Old Madam.

“This, this screen is my grandmother’s favorite!” said Di Yan helplessly. He did not think much of the matter until he saw the broken screen and he frowned.

“This screen is indeed my maternal grandmother’s favorite. When I went to visit her the other time, she even talked to me about it. Seemingly it belongs to my maternal grandmother’s family in the past!” Qin Yuru curled up the corners of her lips and cast a mocking look at Qin Wanru as she continued saying, “Second Younger Sister, this is going to serious!”

Obviously Qin Yuru had not gotten over her rage and at this moment, everyone was objectionable to her.

Qin Wanru did not bother about Qin Yuru’s comment, but fixed her eyes on Di Yan and said, “Master Di, how about I follow you back to Duke Yong’s Mansion and speak to your grandmother so we could get everything clear?”

“This… actually that is not necessary!” Di Yan pondered for a moment and decided that it would be making a big fuss over a minor issue.

“I think it would be a better idea to make a trip there. Otherwise, if maternal grandmother gets angry, our cousin will have to face her alone, which makes me feel bad,” said Qin Yuru. She got increasingly irritated seeing that Qi Rongzhi was still following them, but could not find a good reason to chase her away. She could only stop shooting her peculiar looks and pretended to look as if she was helping to think a solution for their problem.

“This…” Di Yan kept silent for a while. He knew that his grandmother would definitely inquire about the broken screen. He smelt trouble as he looked from Qin Yuru to Qi Rongzhi and thought it wise to get away for now. “Alright!” he said, nodding.

Once they decided to go to Duke Yong’s Mansion, Qin Wanru, who was representing the Qin’s Mansion to apologize to them, naturally had to go. On the other hand, Qin Yuru claimed that she wanted to see Duke Yong’s mother, as well as to put a good word for Qin Wanru, so she had to go too. Di Yan had no objections, so he instructed men to fetch the horse carriage, and then headed out with the two sisters.

Di Yan also instructed men to bring the broken screen back. Although he was aware that a broken screen was useless, he had to bring it back since it was his grandmother’s favorite!

While Qi Rongzhi was unhappy that she could not follow them, she knew nothing good awaited her there. All she could do was to stand helplessly and watch them with a glum expression as Di Yan brought the sisters with him.

She also spotted Qin Yuru’s mocking smile when she turned to look at Qi Rongzhi! She tightened her grip on the handkerchief in her hands and all of a sudden, she thought Di Yan was not the best match for her.

Qin Yuru was the granddaughter of Duke Yong’s mother, therefore, Qi Rongzhi did not expect that old lady to fancy her. However, she was unwilling to let go of Di Yan, who possessed the best qualities among her suitors. Moreover, Di Yan seemed to understand her thoughts. Although they did not express their feelings towards each other, they had good impressions of each other.

What if the Old Madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion did not agree to this? Qi Rongzhi furrowed her brows. She had to ponder over this carefully. No matter what, she would not be defeated by Qin Yuru, the fickle-minded woman!

After Di Yan led Qin Yuru and her sister up onto the horse carriage, it immediately set off for Duke Yong’s Mansion. Along the way, Qin Yuru did not open her mouth to speak, neither did Di Yan. The atmosphere in the horse carriage was rather gloomy. It was much unlike the past when Qin Yuru would be speaking gently and softly to Di Yan.

On the other hand, Qin Wanru was totally at ease. She just comfortably by the window and gently drew the curtains to look at the scenery outside. She seemed to be very curious about the street markets and the people walking in the streets.

She did not open her mouth to speak, neither did the other two break the silence. Because of what happened a moment ago, Di Yan and Qin Yuru were at a loss of words even though they had calmed down by now.

However, this awkwardness did not seem to affect Qin Wanru at all. She was feeling cosy and comfortable, and was in a good mood since she did not have to pretend to speak nicely to Qin Yuru.

Eventually, the horse carriage arrived and stopped at the gates of Duke Yong’s Mansion. Di Yan alighted from the horse carriage, still looking glum, while Qin Yuru bit her lips as she followed Di Yan down from the horse carriage and Di Yan reached out to help her down.

Qin Yuru held on to Di Yan’s hand as she alighted. Just when she was about to step onto the ground, her legs gave way and she leaned onto Di Yan.

“What happened?” asked Di Yan as he quickly supported her with his hands.

“My feet bumped into something, it’s so painful!” Qin Yuru held on tightly to Di Yan as she tried to find her footing. Frowning, she lifted her leg and shook it and realized that it seemed to be injured.

“Can you still walk?” asked Di Yan, looking concerned.

Qin Yuru tried to take a few steps forward, but immediately cried out in pain. She frowned deeply, lifted her countenance and looked pathetically at Di Yan and said, “Cousin, my foot is so painful!”

“Let me help you in!” Di Yan said after he paused to think for a moment. He reached out to hold on to Qin Yuru’s hand and secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the old Qin Yuru, who was gentle and demure.

“Erm!” Qin Yuru responded with a gentle voice. She leaned her upper body on Di Yan and allowed him to support her as they entered the mansion.

Qin Wanru, who followed them down from the horse carriage stared at the two, who were leaning into each other. With a smile on her mouth, but not her eyes, she followed slowly behind them.

At this juncture, Qin Yuru certainly knew how to pretend to be helpless. The reason she was able to control Qi Tianyu was not merely because Qin Yuru was a domineering person. On the matter regarding the romantic relationship between a couple, Qin Yuru always knew the next step to achieving victory. She had lost to Ning Caixian in the last life because Ning Caixian was an expert in the same way as her.

The three entered the mansion. The servants, seeing that their young master had returned with his cousins, had quickly gone to inform Duke Yong’s mother. Therefore, when Qin Wanru entered the old madam’s courtyard trailing behind Di Yan and Qin Yuru, she was not surprised to see Qin Wanru.

However, what surprised her was Qin Wanru’s dressing. She looked Qin Wanru up and down before she broke out into a gentle smile on her face, while there was a mocking look in her eyes. Her thoughts were that Qin Wanru had indeed come from outside the city. Qin Wanru ought to think she looked very pretty dressed in this way, when in fact, she was an embarrassment.

The old madam looked from Qin Wanru to Qin Yuru and a feeling of satisfaction rose in her. She thought her granddaughter definitely outshone her. From Qin Yuru’s dressing, one could clearly see that she was a well brought-up lady from a reputable aristocratic family. Her daughter had raised her granddaughter so well that all the ladies in the other aristocratic families in the capital city may not be better than her.

In comparison, the old madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion was very satisfied. For this reason, she treated Qin Wanru rather kindly.

After inquiring about Old Madam Qin’s health and general conditions, the old madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion also asked if there was any chance Old Madam Qin would pay a visit to Duke Yong’s Mansion. It had been a long time since these two old women met. It seemed that the last time they met was during Madam Di’s wedding.

After exchanging conventional greetings, Qin Wanru bowed guiltily towards the old madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion and said, “Thank you, Madam for lending us your screens. However, I’m not sure which clumsy mover had chipped off a corner of one of your screens by accident. I heard from Master Di that this particular screen was Old Madam’s favorite. Wanru had especially made the trip to apologize to you and to let you know that we are ready to pay for any loss!”

Qin Wanru bowed respectfully, adhering strictly to the etiquette.

“What screens?” Old Madam dazed before she recovered and turned to Di Yan.

“She was referring to your favorite four-seasons screen with eight folds,” explained Di Yan.

“When was the screen delivered to the Qin’s Mansion?” the Old Madam turned to ask the old maid standing beside her as her expression darkened and face fell.

The old maid went out to investigate the matter and returned after a while, whispering something into the Old Madam’s ear. As she did so, the expression on the Old Maid’s face was even more severe.

Her eyes came to rest on Qin Wanru and her expression softened as she sighed and said, “Forget it. I guess you did not damage it on purpose. I had thought that this particular screen was not being brought out from here. It came with me into Duke Yong’s Mansion when I married into the household. For many years, it was safely kept here. Who would have expected the steward to allow it to be delivered to the Qin’s Mansion, and it was accidentally broken at its corner?”

This was to say that the people from the Qin’s Mansion had damaged other people’s property!

“Old Madam, my grandmother intends to repair the screen by replacing the frame of the screen, so she was inquiring about where we can find such frames? My grandmother had just arrived at the capital city and did not know where to find such frames,” Qin Wanru said.

“This…” the Old Madam hesitated.

“Maternal Grandmother, please feel free to tell her since paternal grandmother offered to repair the screen. If you refuse, it would appear that the Qins are stingy!” said Qin Yuru, who was sitting next to Duke Yong’s mother, the Old Madam, as Qin Yuru tugged at her sleeves and sounded bashful.

“I’m afraid you can’t find it anywhere nowadays. Given that it was from such a long time ago, I doubt if you can find a similar one now!” Old Madam said sadly as she reached out to stroke Qin Yuru’s beautiful hair.

“There must be other top-quality frames which we can use to replace the broken one with!” At this moment, Qin Yuru was keen to please the Old Madam by saying all the nice things. Before Qin Wanru could continue, Qin Yuru had interrupted her and acted like she was the one making a decision.

“Forget it. The screen is old anyway. Every time I set my eyes on it, it brings back memories of the people I loved. Its value is not in itself anyway!” the Old Madam said with a smile.

What she meant was that this piece of antique was very valuable, therefore nothing was comparable to it in the market nowadays. Qin Wanru remained silent as she understood it as that the Qin’s Mansion had caused a great loss to the Old Madam.

“Old Madam, there is no harm trying. It might still be possible for us to find such frames. What about you let Wanru go into the markets to look for a similar frame,” Qin Wanru said respectfully, showing her sincerity in making up for the damage.

“But…” the Old Madam was about to refuse Qin Wanru’s offer when Qin Yuru interrupted her and said, “Maternal Grandmother, please let my younger sister and me go and check it out. Perhaps there really is something which looks similar!”

“Alright then!” the Old Madam’s eyes twinkled as she finally nodded in agreement.

The old maid had instructed for the damaged screen to be brought into the courtyard a moment ago.

Qin Wanru and Qin Yuru came into the courtyard and started inspecting the damaged corner of the screen. Qin Wanru even reached out her hand to touch the chipped off corner as she asked Di Yan, saying, “Master Di, do you have similar screens in your mansion with the colors of the four seasons which are brighter in color?”

“I’ve not taken special notice!” Di Yan replied, shaking his head. He did not usually take note of such things.

“I heard from my grandmother that I’ve a cousin living in your mansion. I wonder if she knows of any latest model of frames for screens in the capital city?” Qin Wanru said casually, lowering her head.

All of a sudden, Qin Yuru’s face fell. As she remembered how Qi Rongzhi was with Di Yan just now, she had tried to force herself to trust Di Yan, thinking that he was faithful to her, but at the mention of another girl living in Duke Yong’s Mansion, Qin Yuru’s heart was hanging in midair once again…