The sky is still early; how could it be considered late at night?
This girl is clearly hinting that my visit is untily.
At this mont, more onlookers have gathered, but ng Qianqian’s voice is soft, so they haven’t caught everything.
Still, they aren’t blind. They must have noticed ng Qianqian’s cold attitude toward .
Treated so coldly by her own daughter, Yu felt a mix of sha and frustration.
"If there is nothing else, I’ll head inside first. Madam, take care."
ng Qianqian nodded faintly at Yu, a polite gesture as the mistress of the Governor Mansion toward an unfamiliar caller.
Yu opened her mouth to speak but hesitated.
Lu Momo’s eyes flickered as she quickly intervened with a laugh, "Eldest Miss! You and Madam haven’t seen each other for years; no wonder you didn’t recognize her! Madam, you’re the sa—weren’t you excited the entire journey here? Why is your mood still unsettled?"
ng Qianqian glanced at Lu Momo. At Madam Xing’s banquet last ti, the maid accompanying Yu wasn’t her. Judging from her seemingly respectful yet commanding deanor when speaking to Yu, it was almost certain that she was the steward nanny of the Marquis Mansion.
Most likely, she’s soone close to the old Marchioness.
So, it was the old Marchioness who sent Yu here to claim her daughter. Yu, propped up in the role of a biological mother, refused to lower her pride and sat stubbornly in the carriage, waiting for to co out and address her as "Mother."
Only when she saw it wasn’t working did she, humiliated and enraged, finally make an appearance.
Truly... laughable.
Addressing Lu Momo directly, ng Qianqian pierced sharply, "Nanny, do you want to raise your voice even louder, so the entire Capital City can hear you?"
Lu Momo was rendered speechless.
ng Qianqian continued, "Do you think that by making a scene, you can force to acknowledge her identity as the eldest miss? I lost my mother at a young age, and had I not achieved so success, I wouldn’t even have known that my biological mother was still alive. Truly, when one rises, even the chickens and dogs around them rise too; all sorts of ridiculous relatives begin to appear!"
These words were utterly rciless.
Yu’s face darkened.
Lu Momo was the first to try to diate, exclaiming, "Eldest Miss! Madam is your birth mother!"
ng Qianqian sneered, "A birth mother who ignored for over ten years, who fled at the news of my marriage into the Capital City just to avoid being burdened by ? Such a mother—I wish Lu Momo could have many of them."
Lu Momo: "You—"
ng Qianqian’s gaze swept across their fluctuating expressions and faintly said, "Let guess—are you planning to say that, ’Madam had her own hardships. Madam wrote many letters to you over the years, but you never replied. Madam thought you didn’t want to see your biological mother. Madam even secretly returned to You State but didn’t dare to et you and could only sit tearfully in the carriage, looking at you from afar. All these years, Madam has longed for you day and night. She made countless sets of clothes for you and your brother and placed them in the courtyard, hugging the clothes and silently weeping when no one was around. In this world, what mother doesn’t love her child?’"
Lu Momo was thoroughly stunned.
Had she eavesdropped in the Marchioness’s courtyard? How could she have guessed every single word?
Unbothered, ng Qianqian calmly continued, "You can naturally produce the clothing, considering she’s hailed as the world’s ideal stepmother. Conveniently, there are a son and daughter under her care, and surely she’s made no shortage of clothes for them. What harm would it do to take out a few sets for my brother and ?"
Could even this be guessed?
Lu Momo staggered back a step, staring at ng Qianqian as if seeing a ghost.
Tan’er waved her candied hawthorn, "Sis is way too smart! She’s not the kind of person to be fooled! Be sensible and go back where you ca from, or else, if I take action, I won’t care who you are or which relative you claim to be!"
Having never witnessed Tan’er beating anyone, Lu Momo paid no heed to her words.
But Yu rembered Tan’er—the girl chasing butterflies around the Minister’s Mansion, calling ng Qianqian "sister" at every turn without discrimination between master and servant.
Daughters raised by the ng Family lacked decorum, and even their servants had no sense of propriety.
"Tan’er, don’t take action," ng Qianqian ordered.
Tan’er thought about it. "Fine then."
Yu turned her face coolly, suppressing her temper. At least this girl had a shred of sense; had she actually dared strike her mother, the Imperial Censor would undoubtedly file against both her and Lu Yuan tomorrow.
Tan’er tilted her head, "If I can’t take action, then I’ll just use words!"
Yu furrowed her brows, confused.
As she hesitated, Tan’er sprang forward, swiftly descending the steps, and hollered toward the onlooking crowd: "Co and see! Soone abandoned their children for marriage, lied to them about her death for over ten years, ignored them all the while, and now, seeing her children achieve fa, has resurrected to claim blood ties! Shaless!"
Yu and Lu Momo’s faces both changed color.
The onlookers, initially hesitant to approach the Governor Mansion’s gates for gossip, emboldened by Tan’er’s "invitation," surged forward at once.
Lu Momo urgently shouted, "Stop spewing nonsense! My Lady clearly..."
Tan’er unleashed a dramatically exaggerated wail, instantly drowning out her protest: "OHHHH—SHALESS! Abandoning husband and children for over ten years—becoming a Marchioness—daughter nearly dying of hunger—and didn’t care at all—"
ng Qianqian twitched at the corner of her mouth, "Tan’er, you’re exaggerating."
Lu Momo pointed a trembling finger at Tan’er, "You..."
Tan’er responded with flair, "OHHHH—SHALESS!"
Lu Momo couldn’t match Tan’er in volu.
Unless she sat on the ground, threw a tantrum, and wept hysterically.
But to do that would be making a monkey out of herself.
Moreover, this little maid was clearly a better perforr.
She couldn’t outshout or outperform her. What began as a favorable situation swiftly turned against them.
All Lu Momo could do was cast pleading looks at Yu, hoping she’d take action to stop this.
But Yu, after exchanging one brief glance with ng Qianqian, retreated sulkingly into the carriage.
Lu Momo: "Madam!"
Tan’er, while crying, slyly peeked through her fingers at the shaless pair. Seeing Yu retreat and leave only her lackey behind, she quickly ended her act and raised an eyebrow, saying, "The Marquis’s Marchioness is gone; so, are you staying behind here to beg for food?"
Lu Momo gritted her teeth and climbed back into the carriage amidst the onlookers’ jeers and mocking laughter.
"Who was that just now? What’s going on?"
"The little maid called her Marchioness—what Marquis’s Mansion is she from?"
"No idea—let’s find out!"
The onlookers began chattering among themselves.
ng Qianqian didn’t stop their discussion and led Tan’er back into the mansion.
If the Marquis’s Mansion had co to establish ties, her relationship with Yu would eventually circulate publicly. Tonight was rely a probe—if she agreed willingly, that would suffice. If not, then her reputation as an unfilial daughter would be spread across the Capital City tomorrow.
Rather than letting things get out of her control, ng Qianqian chose to reveal everything herself.
This strategy was known as taking initiative.
Lu Momo was genuinely rattled.
She hadn’t expected ng Qianqian to be so reckless, leaving no room for negotiation, burning bridges, and dragging both her and her biological mother into public sha.
Did she truly have no fear?
"Madam..."
Yu snapped impatiently, "Don’t speak to . I didn’t even want to co today in the first place. Isn’t she rely married into the Governor Mansion? I’ve inquired—the man Lu Yuan is nothing but a superficial, sycophantic traitor who climbed to power by betraying others. My son passed the imperial exam as a ranked scholar; his future achievents will far surpass Lu Yuan’s! What is there to fawn over?"
Though her words were sharp, the reality was that the current court was entirely under Lu Yuan’s control.
Lu Momo felt that Yu’s origins were too lowborn and that so things couldn’t be explained clearly to her. True mbers of aristocratic families understood such intricacies easily.
She sighed, "Madam, she is your biological daughter."
Yu turned solemn, "I have only one daughter, and that is Bing’er! Bing’er is the Marquis Mansion’s cherished young lady, with an illustrious lineage. She will marry into true nobility in the future!"
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