After Transmigration, I Snag a Stunning Bigwig as My Husband-Chapter 797 - 795 Regret

Sitting in the carriage, Mrs. Tang held the Duan Inkstone that Old Master favored most in his lifetime, tracing the bamboo patterns with her thumb, recalling the scene of Old Master dipping his brush in ink to write documents while she clung to his arm playfully.

Tears blurred her vision at some unknown point.

Even though she had resolved not to help the Wenyuan Bo Mansion, seeing these things and thinking about Old Master filled her with guilt.

She clutched the Duan Inkstone tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.

Marquis Dongxiang rode ahead on horseback.

He turned several times to look at the carriage, sighing repeatedly in his heart.

Mrs. Jiang was with Mrs. Tang, but she did not sit in the carriage, walking outside instead.

In the distance, a woman stood with a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old in a corner.

Upon seeing Mrs. Jiang, the woman quickly walked forward.

After a few steps, she found the boy still standing there and hurried back to grab him.

"Mrs. Jiang," the woman called tremulously.

Mrs. Jiang looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a woman of about thirty-two or thirty-three years old approaching her.

The woman’s face seemed somewhat familiar, but she really couldn’t remember who was calling her.

The woman brought the boy over, and Mrs. Jiang asked, "You are?"

"It’s me," the woman said excitedly.

Mrs. Jiang was a bit bewildered.

She truly couldn’t remember who this person was.

However, with a slight prompt from the woman, she recalled, "You’re Cuicui?"

The woman nodded repeatedly.

Mrs. Jiang looked at her, then at the boy next to her, who bore some resemblance to her.

Mrs. Jiang repeatedly knocked on the carriage window, "Madam, it’s Aunt Cui."

For a moment, Mrs. Tang could not recall who Aunt Cui was.

She wiped her tears, lifted the curtain, and saw the woman and the boy.

The boy’s brows carried some familiarity.

He seemed somewhat like her second brother?

Moreover, Aunt Cui used to serve her second brother.

So this boy must be...

"Invite them into the carriage immediately," Mrs. Tang instructed.

Mrs. Jiang knew what Mrs. Tang was thinking.

She helped Aunt Cui into the carriage, and the boy got in by himself.

The carriage, already filled with things, became crowded with the addition of two more people.

The woman and the boy sat near the carriage door. Mrs. Tang asked, "This child is...?"

The woman looked at the boy and said, "Liang’er, quickly pay respects to your aunt."

The boy was visibly puzzled.

But with the woman’s urging, he complied.

Mrs. Tang did not doubt his identity, as his demeanor was much like her second brother’s, at least seventy to eighty percent similar.

Mrs. Tang inquired with the woman about what happened.

The woman’s nose tingled with soreness.

Old Wenyuan Bo only had one legitimate daughter, which was Mrs. Tang.

After Mrs. Tang’s biological mother passed away, he never remarried and had only two illegitimate sons.

The eldest became Uncle Wen Yuan.

Old Master was wrongfully killed, and Mrs. Tang went to the Capital to seek justice for her father. The court returned the title to Wenyuan Bo’s mansion. Mrs. Tang wished more for her second brother to inherit the title, but he was an illegitimate second son, and the order of seniority prevailed.

Moreover, when the court returned the title to Wenyuan Bo’s mansion, it was already settled that the eldest son would inherit the title, and Mrs. Tang, as the younger sister, had no right to decide the heir to the title.

Thus, the title fell into the hands of Uncle Wen Yuan.

Uncle Wen Yuan was narrow-minded and short-sighted; he couldn’t even resist targeting Mrs. Tang, going to the extent of selling his sister for glory just so she would divide half of the family property to his half-brother. How could he willingly agree?

After inheriting the title, Uncle Wen Yuan cited being too busy with affairs in the Capital as a reason to keep the second brother’s family in the old house to sell their property, telling them to bring the money back to the Capital to buy land.

The second master was unwilling to go, but he couldn’t stand against the second mistress’s insistence on going; she was homesick as he had married her from the old house.

But they never made it back, being secretly assassinated along the way.

Aunt Cui and others were left in Uncle’s mansion and did not follow, escaping the disaster.

The news of their death came, and there was another funeral at the Wenyuan Bo mansion. Mrs. Tang knew about this.

In the hall, Uncle Wen Yuan cried bitterly, regretting sending them to the old house; otherwise, they would not have died.

The second house had no children, and with both spouses dead, there was naturally no need to divide the property. The maids and servants were easy to deal with, leaving them to serve or selling them off.

The personal maids like Aunt Cui were difficult to dispose of, especially since they belonged to the second master.

Madam Wen Yuan wanted to sell her, but Mrs. Tang, still in the mansion then, disagreed with selling Aunt Cui and others.

After all, they had served her second brother; how could she easily sell them?

Even if the mansion didn’t keep them, they should be treated kindly.

Under Mrs. Tang’s determined advocacy, Aunt Cui got a pavilion with two entrances and a hundred taels of silver, leaving the mansion with the maids and a young maid.

After living in the pavilion for only a few days, she discovered her pregnancy.

The maids were overjoyed.

The child in Aunt Cui’s belly was the blood of the second master; only because the second house had no heirs, the property, which should have belonged to them, went to the first house.

No matter whether the child was a boy or a girl, following Aunt Cui meant no worries about food or clothes in the future.

They were happy, but Aunt Cui was not.

No one knew Uncle Wen Yuan and Madam Wen Yuan’s true nature better than she did. If they found out about her pregnancy, not only the child but she might also end up dead.

Born into a poor family, she was chosen to serve the second master by the second mistress because she was docile and obedient.

With a place to live, a hundred taels of silver, and money saved over the years, supporting herself and the child posed no problem.

Afraid that keeping it for too long would make it hard to hide, Aunt Cui secretly sold the pavilion and left the Capital with the money and maids.

Mrs. Tang knew about this.

After Aunt Cui fled, Madam Wen Yuan furiously blamed Mrs. Tang.

She gave the pavilion and money for Aunt Cui to stay and remain chaste for the second master.

And yet, she sold the pavilion and ran off with the money.

Who knew which man she was wandering with, using the mansion’s money?

She thought she was kindly treating the second master’s bedside companion, but her kindness only insulted him more!

Mrs. Tang, unaware of the truth, also felt that Aunt Cui had betrayed her good intentions.

Now, knowing why she left the Capital, she said, "Leaving back then was the right choice."

Aunt Cui’s nose tingled with emotion.

She never wanted to leave and had thought about asking Mrs. Tang for help.

Compared to Uncle Wen Yuan, Mrs. Tang had a closer relationship with the second master.

But at the time, Mrs. Tang couldn’t even protect herself, let alone defend her.

In the inner mansion, it was too easy to kill someone.

All these years, she hadn’t returned to the Capital until recently when she heard about Marquis Dongxiang.

Marquis Dongxiang had reestablished the Flying Tiger Army, gaining great renown.

When people talked about him, they inevitably mentioned the late Heir of Duke Xian and Su Jin, along with a mention of Mrs. Tang.

The Dongxiang Marquis Mansion were no ordinary people.

The eldest daughter of the Wenyuan Bo Mansion went to the Capital to seek justice for her father—how filial and clever she was back then?

The children she and her husband raised could not possibly be inferior.

The woman only then learned Mrs. Tang was still alive and had become the wife of Marquis Dongxiang.

At that time, she wanted to return to the Capital with her child.

But she was afraid to come until she recently heard news of Uncle Wen Yuan being imprisoned for corruption.

Only then did the woman decide to bring the child to the Capital.

Casual conversations filled the journey until the carriage stopped in front of the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

The boy jumped off the carriage, helping his mother down.

Mrs. Tang extended a hand to him, and the boy, after glancing at Marquis Dongxiang, dared help Mrs. Tang.

Mrs. Jiang laughed, "Aunt Cui has raised the child well."

Marquis Dongxiang, squeezing the boy’s shoulder, said, "It’s a pity I didn’t find out earlier that Old Master had such a grandson."

If he had known, the grass on Uncle Wen Yuan’s grave would have withered several seasons already.

Mrs. Tang also felt regretful.

Now that Wenyuan Bo Mansion had been confiscated, had they come a day earlier, she could have helped the mother and son claim half of the family’s property.

Now it had been nationalized, and bringing this issue up was too late.

Mrs. Tang chatted with Aunt Cui for a long time and even kept them for lunch.

After they left, Mrs. Tang looked at Marquis Dongxiang.

Marquis Dongxiang smiled, "Madam, there’s no need to worry this time. This child seems promising, and with proper cultivation, he might be able to reclaim the title of Wen Yuan Bo through military achievements."

"It just may take a long time."

"How long?" Young Master Su asked.

"At least twenty years."

"..."

Young Master Su pouted.

In his father’s mouth, twenty years seemed like twenty days, said so lightly.

But Mrs. Tang felt relieved.

"Twenty years is long, but I believe the An Family ancestors can wait."