CHAPTER 331: CHAPTER 327: I AM THE MARQUIS MANSION DOWAGER 16

Tang Pei was utterly shocked.

He had not expected Anning to become so youthful after emerging from her seclusion.

Now, Anning looked even younger than he, her great-great-grandson, to the point where he found it somewhat difficult to address her as ’great-great-grandmother’.

Anning, smiling, helped Tang Pei up: "Alright, let’s find a place to talk first."

Zhuzi stepped forward: "Old Madam, we have bought some land under Heavenly Mountain and built a house. Perhaps we could rest there first."

Anning thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement.

The group did not seek horses or carriages, but simply walked directly to a small manor under Heavenly Mountain.

After entering, Ruyue and Ruyu hurried to boil water and cook, while Zhuzi and the others began cleaning.

Anning took Tang Pei into the house.

"Great-great-grandmother, what is this?"

Tang Pei observed Anning, growing more and more amazed.

Anning laughed and said: "After cultivating for more than twenty years, I have finally achieved some success. My efforts over these years were not in vain."

Hearing this, Tang Pei’s eyes lit up: "Then, can we go home now?"

These years, Tang Pei had not dared to return even once, let alone acknowledge his parents.

He always remembered the instructions Anning had given him, never daring to indulge in his longing for his family.

However, he had always kept tabs on the matters of Duke Zhongyong’s Mansion.

Knowing that his parents had given him a younger brother and sister, he had wanted to see them but dared not.

Now, hearing Anning say she had succeeded in her cultivation, he thought perhaps they could return.

Anning patted Tang Pei on the head: "Good, your great-great-grandmother will take you home."

Tang Pei grew even more excited: "When do we leave?"

"Before we return to the Capital, let’s visit Jiangnan first."

A trace of fierceness flashed in Anning’s eyes: "Some people have overstepped too far..."

Suddenly, her expression drastically changed: "This is not good, your aunt might already be gone."

Tang Pei turned pale with fright at once: "Aunt Xu?"

Anning nodded, her expression becoming full of sorrow: "It’s too late, of the three sisters, none could be saved."

Mrs. Song had two sons and a daughter; the sons were Tang Bai and Tang Zong, and the daughter was named Tang Xu, who married Xu De, the third place.

Aside from the two sons and daughter borne by Mrs. Song, Tang Dingguo had two other illegitimate daughters who were older than Tang Xu. They were married off before Tang Pei was born, and Mrs. Song was not kind to these illegitimate daughters, marrying them into problematic families. Not many years had passed before they both died despondently.

Now, only Tang Xu remained, but now even she might have been lost.

Anning thought of the clever and agile Tang Xu, and still felt a pang of heartache.

Fortunately, she had come to terms with it long ago, and her mood gradually stabilized after a moment.

She stood up with Tang Pei and called out to Zhuzi and the others outside: "Get some fast horses ready, Pei’er and I are going to Jiangnan."

Anning and Tang Pei, with their group, galloped hard on horses, changing horses but not riders, and finally arrived in Yangzhou after a few days.

It was the bustling season of March in Yangzhou, and the scenery was extremely beautiful, but Anning had no time to appreciate it as they headed straight for Xu Family’s home.

Upon reaching the entrance to Xu Family’s home, Anning dismounted and instructed Tang Pei to knock on the door.

Just as Tang Pei knocked on the door, the sound of crying could be heard from inside Xu Family’s residence.

Anning sighed: "It’s too late indeed."

The doorman, while wiping his tears, sized up Tang Pei: "And who might this young master be?"

Tang Pei bowed with his hands folded: "I come from Tang Family in the Capital, please inform the master of the house."

Recognizing that Tang Family was the family of the recently deceased lady, the doorman hurriedly ran to the back courtyard.

Xu De was comforting his only daughter who was nearly sobbing unconscious when he suddenly heard the servant announce that someone from Tang Family had arrived.

Xu De was still somewhat puzzled, not knowing who from the Tang Family had come, and he couldn’t understand how they arrived so quickly.

Some time ago, he had sent someone to the Capital to pass a message that Madam was unwell and requested the Tang Family to send someone to visit.

However, judging from the timing, the person he sent shouldn’t have arrived at the Capital yet, yet somehow someone from the Tang Family already showed up at the door.

Regardless of the reason, since someone from the Yue Family had come, Xu De ought to host them.

He quickly ordered his servants to invite the visitor from the Tang Family to the front hall, and after tidying himself up, he hurried over as well.

Upon arriving at the front hall, Xu De saw two young men and women sitting inside and was momentarily stunned.

He didn’t recognize these two people.

When Tang Pei saw Xu De coming over, he quickly stood up to greet: "Tang Pei pays respect to Uncle."

"Tang, Tang Pei?"

Xu De was taken aback and sized up Tang Pei: "Who, who are you? I remember Pei’er passed away more than twenty years ago, your sudden appearance..."

Tang Pei gave a bitter smile: "Uncle, I must report that I did not die. I was saved by someone back then, and they said if I wanted to live, I couldn’t stay at home and had to conceal my identity by following them. Over these years, I have been living outside. Today, I arrived in Yangzhou and heard that Aunt was gravely ill. Recalling how Aunt dearly loved her nephew in the past, I wanted to visit and see her, but who would have known..."

At this point, Tang Pei’s eyes became slightly red: "Who would have known that I’d miss seeing her one last time."

Xu De scrutinized Tang Pei more carefully, and upon closer look, he indeed bore a striking resemblance to his wife.

"So that’s the case."

Xu De had now recognized him as Tang Pei and quickly asked him to sit down, then pointed at Anning: "This person is..."

Tang Pei was about to introduce Anning, but Anning nodded towards Xu De: "Just a nameless person, not worth mentioning."

Tang Pei knew that his great-great-grandmother did not want to reveal her identity, so he did not say anything.

Xu De did not press further.

He had the servants bring some tea and then asked in detail what Tang Pei had been doing these years.

Tang Pei spoke softly: "These years, I have been studying at Qingxi Academy and attended the Imperial Examination this year, and was selected by Your Majesty as the top scorer."

That top scorer naturally meant he had become the top scorer.

Xu De was very happy for Tang Pei upon hearing this.

After having some tea to steady himself, Tang Pei stood up: "Since I’m here, I should at least offer incense to Aunt. Although I never saw her one last time, however..."

His voice choked up, unable to continue.

Xu De empathized deeply with him and patted his shoulder: "It’s alright."

Anning did not go in front of the altar.

As an ancestor, she had no reason to offer incense for the younger generation; moreover, she did not wish to add to the troubles by going to the mourning hall.

Xu De then asked a servant girl to take her to the guest room to rest while he personally led Tang Pei to the altar.

When Tang Pei arrived, Xu De’s only daughter, Xu Wan, was crying her heart out.

Tang Pei glanced at Xu Wan a few times, then looked at Xu De.

Xu De hurriedly instructed the servant girl to help Xu Wan stand up and pointed to Tang Pei, telling Xu Wan: "Wan’er, come over and meet your cousin."

Xu Wan wiped her tears and stepped forward gracefully: "I have seen my cousin."

Xu De whispered to Xu Wan: "This is your Eldest Uncle’s eldest son."

Xu Wan was shocked.

She had heard many things about her maternal family from her mother and knew that the Eldest Uncle’s eldest son had drowned at a very young age. Now the Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt only had one son and one daughter left, one son being Tang Tao and one daughter being Tang Yi. Where did this eldest son come from?

Xu De did not have time to explain further to Xu Wan as he had already asked someone to bring the incense.

Tang Pei took the incense sticks, moved forward a few steps, lit four sticks of incense and placed them in front of the altar, then burned some paper money.

While burning the paper money, he cried, his sadness visibly genuine.

Seeing Tang Pei cry so sorrowfully, Xu Wan also cried extremely hard.

After crying for a while, Tang Pei knelt and kowtowed four times. When he stood up, he glanced at Xu Wan again, noticing that his cousin was very young and also petite in stature, and despite her fair skin, it appeared somewhat unhealthy, clearly showing signs of a deficiency.

He thought to himself that his cousin was perhaps too frail; if possible, he should ask his great-grandmother to examine her and prescribe some medicine to help her recuperate.