The butler of the Xiang family dropped a bombshell and sighed repeatedly, "Our master flew into a rage and ordered the laborer to be beaten to death on the spot. During the scuffle, he accidentally knocked down the mistress. Mrs. Ouyang hit her head and her illness flared up even more severely... She packed her luggage that night and said she was going back to her natal home. She left immediately. Master Xiang was in a fit of anger at that time and didn't stop her. Alas! Just look at all these messes!"
Everyone was speechless. Ouyang Yuqing gritted his teeth and said angrily, "I want to see Master Xiang and get to the bottom of this! Our Ouyang family has strict family morals. My little aunt would never do such immoral things!"
The butler of the Xiang family sighed, "We also don't believe that the mistress of the family would do such a thing! Young master, please go back! Our master is still in a fit of anger and will definitely not see you!"
Ouyang Yuqing refused to give up and was about to make a scene. Shangguan Yun thanked the butler, grabbed his arm, and turned away.
In the carriage, Ouyang Yuqing sobbed, "My little aunt couldn't have done such a thing! She would never abandon her children and leave the Xiang mansion alone! Master, I have to go and ask my uncle for an explanation!"
Shangguan Yun nodded and said, "Let He Xiao handle this for now. Let's find an inn to stay in first and then inquire about your aunt's whereabouts."
Only then did Ouyang Yuqing nod and agree to Shangguan Yun's arrangement.
The group split up. He Xiao quickly sneaked into the accounting room and found something strange. Master Xiang had been gambling and whoring in the past six months and had amassed a huge debt.
Shangguan Yun took Wu Luoluo and Ouyang Yuqing straight to the private school where the young master of the Xiang family studied.
After the students left the classroom, Ouyang Yuqing bribed a student with a bunch of candied haws and soon learned that the thin and small student about ten years old in the crowd was the young master of the Xiang family.
Ouyang Yuqing was just about to go and stop him when Shangguan Yun grabbed his sleeve and dragged him away. Ouyang Yuqing looked at his master in confusion. Following Shangguan Yun's gaze, he saw a woman in her thirties or forties beside the young master of the Xiang family. The woman was dressed like a servant. She rushed over in a hurry, grabbed the young master's hand, and whispered something to him. The young master of the Xiang family shook off her hand and waved impatiently, "The butler won't let me go with you! Don't come and find me again!"
Seeing that the woman was about to say something else, the young master of the Xiang family waved and shouted something to the servant driving the carriage in the distance. The woman was so frightened that she quickly hid behind.
The woman hid behind a big tree and watched the young master of the Xiang family get into the carriage longingly. She lowered her head and sighed. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, she suddenly found several strangers behind her. The woman took two steps back and asked suspiciously, "Who are you?"
Ouyang Yuqing stepped forward and bowed, "I'm Ouyang Yuqing, the third young master of the Ouyang family in Phoenix City, Xiliang. I've come all the way to the Xiang family in the capital..."
The woman widened her eyes in disbelief and asked excitedly, "You're really the third young master of the Ouyang mansion? You've actually come to the capital?" It turned out that this woman was the dowry maid of the Ouyang family back then and had been following Ouyang Luofeng all these years. Seeing the third young master of the Ouyang family come looking for them at this moment, the woman couldn't help crying. She told them everything that had happened to them over the years.
Back then, after Ouyang Luofeng insisted on marrying far away, she did have a few years of a harmonious married life. However, her good days didn't last long. After she gave birth to a daughter in her first pregnancy, her mother - in - law, who favored sons over daughters, quickly took in two concubines for her son. From then on, Master Xiang gradually neglected her. Ouyang Luofeng endured in silence and tried to accommodate. It wasn't until later when she gave birth to the young master of the Xiang family that her life got a little better. After her mother - in - law passed away, she finally became the mistress of the Xiang family because of her son. But in recent years, her health had gradually deteriorated, and she had contracted tuberculosis. She coughed all night and couldn't sleep.
Tuberculosis? Wu Luoluo was shocked. Tuberculosis was an incurable disease! Even if she did her best to save her, I'm afraid Aunt Ouyang wouldn't have many years to live.
Ouyang Yuqing asked anxiously, "The butler of the Xiang family stopped us from entering the mansion and said that my little aunt ran away from home a few days ago. He also said... that my little aunt was unchaste..."
The woman said angrily, "Don't listen to their nonsense! It's clearly that the master gambled and owed a large amount of silver, so he wanted to use the mistress's dowry jewelry to make up for the deficit! The mistress wanted to leave them for her two children and refused to take them out, so she was beaten and forcibly thrown out of the mansion! We were homeless and penniless. It was the eldest miss who secretly sent some silver, so we were able to buy medicine and save the mistress's life!"
Ouyang Yuqing was burning with anger and trembling all over. He cursed, "The Xiang family is bullying people like this. Do they think there's no one in our Ouyang family? I'm going to get justice!"
Shangguan Yun patted his shoulder and said in a low voice, "Yuqing, calm down. Let's go and see how injured aunt is first?" What's the rush? Saving people is the most important thing. We can deal with those irrelevant people slowly later.
The woman quickly led the way and took them through twists and turns to a peasant's house. Ouyang Yuqing was stunned when he saw the dilapidated and rickety house. Could people really live in this house?
The woman opened the door and took them to the inner room. As she walked, she explained, "The mistress is seriously ill. Many nearby families refused to take us in even when we offered money. It was the old woman who did odd jobs in the Xiang family's kitchen who took pity on us and lent us her old house..."
Ouyang Yuqing was both heart - broken and angry. From afar, he heard someone in the inner room coughing and anxiously asking, "Juan'er, is the young master here?"
The woman named Juan'er stepped forward and replied, "No, mistress! The butler of the Xiang family won't let the young master come, and the young master himself doesn't want to come either."
Hearing this, Ouyang Luofeng inside the room coughed even more violently.
Ouyang Yuqing could no longer contain his excitement. He quickly stepped into the inner room, knelt on one knee in front of the haggard woman lying on the couch, and said with a sob, "Little aunt, Yuqing has come to see you!"
Ouyang Luofeng was stunned and asked in a trembling voice, "Yuqing? Are you Ouyang Yuqing from the Ouyang family in Xiliang?". She tightly covered her lips with a handkerchief and could hardly believe her eyes.
Ouyang Yuqing replied, "It's me!"
Ouyang Luofeng coughed for a long time. Overwhelmed with joy and sorrow, she said, "When I left Phoenix City back then, you were only three years old! Now you've grown into such a handsome young man. That's great..."
Ouyang Yuqing cried, "Little aunt, come with me! Yuqing will take you back to Xiliang! The old ancestor misses you every day!"
Hearing him mention her mother, Ouyang Luofeng cried even more breathlessly. "How could I not want to go back? But my two children are still so young... What will happen to them if I leave..." Just thinking that her youngest son had believed the butler's slander and refused to come and see her made her heart ache like being cut by a knife.