Chapter 325: Chapter 333: Unable to Hide
“What’s the use of regretting now? You know what Fourth child is like, and yet you keep making trouble. When the affection is gone, and our son no longer wants to deal with you, you’ll know what regret truly is,” Old Man Han said, somewhat annoyed. After a while, seeing Mrs. Yang’s increasingly regretful expression and thinking that it was indeed not right to ignore those two girls—since everyone knew it was they who had brought them into the city—if something happened to them, it would not be easy to explain away.

“You caused this mess, and since Fourth child won’t deal with it, and it’s already late today, take out some food and let Eldest Daughter-in-law find an inn in the city for them to stay in. Tomorrow, hire a horse carriage to take them back,” Old Man Han said, taking a puff of his smoking pipe.

These days, money isn’t worth much, and everyone prefers to trade with food. This trip to the prefecture, they had planned on buying some things, and so had prepared some food. They hadn’t expected to use it on the very first day. Old Man Han was certainly pained by this turn of events, but the mess that the old lady had caused had to be cleaned up.

Old Man Han was seeing things more and more clearly now. Fourth child loved his Fourth Daughter-in-law, who was a good woman too. Not to mention the things the old lady had done in the past, he absolutely could not allow her to continue making these thoughtless mistakes. Otherwise, as the affection dwindled bit by bit, their promising youngest son would drift further and further away.

“We’ll have to go to the car dealership to hire a carriage, which will cost a lot of food. Fourth child ‘s family has a horse carriage; just have the servants handle it,” Mrs. Yang’s voice grew softer as she spoke, probably already knowing that this suggestion was not feasible. Fourth child, because of what the Third Daughter-in-law had done, detested the people from Wang family, to say nothing of Jiang Chunlan, who had once wronged his Fourth Daughter-in-law. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so dismissive of his own birth mother, leaving people out in the cold during the winter. Mrs. Yang didn’t dare bring this up earlier, fearing it would anger her son.

“If you’re worried about the food, you shouldn’t have brought them here. What’s the point of discussing all these needless things now? Anyway, I’ve already given you my advice, so do as you see fit!” Old Man Han said sternly, rapping his smoking pipe twice. He knew that if he spoke up, Fourth child would most likely give him, his own father, some face and send the people back. His reason for not suggesting this was to instill a lesson in his increasingly thoughtless wife; only by feeling the consequences would she remember and avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

Seeing how her husband was, Mrs. Yang knew there was no other way. It was so late, and it wouldn’t do to delay any further. She hurried over to Eldest Son’s place, thankful that they lived in the same courtyard, or else she might have had trouble finding her way without someone to guide her. Originally, two servant girls were there to serve her, but Mrs. Yang didn’t want them to overhear their conversation and feel uncomfortable, so she had sent them away in advance.

Han Hu was a decent man. Although he despised Jiang Chunlan and Wang Fangru, his mother was right—they were responsible for bringing them here, and they couldn’t just leave them outside to fend for themselves. Even if they couldn’t be let in, at the very least, they should be sent back home.

Mrs. Liu, listening beside them, pursed her lips. She understood the shameless motives of those women. If they were left to freeze to death, it would be cleaner that way. However, Mrs. Liu kept these thoughts to herself and didn’t voice them in front of her husband and in-laws. It was rare to be in the prefecture for the New Year, and she didn’t want to stir up trouble.

“Alright, Mother, leave it to me to take care of this. You head back and rest,” Han Hu said as he asked Mrs. Liu for food. Although carrying a big sack of food was inconvenient, that’s what everyone recognized as valuable now.

As for being sent to run errands, Mrs. Liu just grumbled inwardly. Wanting food was out of the question, not to mention that she knew very well that the parents-in-law had also brought quite a bit of food with them. Food, unlike silver, simply couldn’t be hidden away.

“We didn’t invite those people here, so why should our Main House provide the food? What right is there?! In this world, it’s not easy to save up food, as if it was blown in by the wind! Go clean up your own messes. Nobody better think of touching our food, or I’ll fight them to the death!” Mrs. Liu said sharply. The Main House’s food was under her control; she had just gotten the key from the servant girl earlier, and nobody could touch it without her consent!

Seeing how Mrs. Liu was, Han Hu attempted to reason with her but was stopped by Mrs. Yang, “Eldest Son, don’t argue with your Daughter-in-law. It’s almost the New Year, and we have food at our place. Come with me to get some.”

Mrs. Yang knew all too well Eldest Daughter-in-law’s stingy nature. The whole situation was her own doing because she had been too soft-hearted. If she forced Eldest Daughter-in-law to provide the food, they could forget about living peacefully for the rest of the year, and she would always be at a disadvantage when facing her in the future.

Hearing Mrs. Yang say this, Mrs. Liu finally backed down, undisturbed by Han Hu’s glare. After all, she believed she was in the right.

The movements on Mrs. Yang’s side had already been reported to Han Yu, who secretly arranged for someone to help Han Hu with the matter. Han Yu was fine with dealing with the surface level issues, but his true intention was to ensure his mother remembered this lesson, not to make things difficult for his big brother. It was already winter and not just cold outside; as a newcomer to the prefecture, if there was no one to guide and arrange things in advance, Han Hu would have to exert a lot of effort.

Mrs. Yang was anxious while waiting. She couldn’t rest easy until the matter was settled, and as it got late and her son had not yet returned, she grew ever more regretful. She insisted on waiting at the Main House for Han Yu to come back, even though the Eldest Daughter-in-law gave her no friendly looks.

“Oh, your father has it tough too. On such a cold day like this, when everyone else is resting comfortably indoors, your father is out there running around. He’s already been tired all day,” Mrs. Liu said to her daughters, but obviously, her words were meant for Mrs. Yang, who by that time was feeling both troubled and regretful, sitting there quietly with her lips pursed.

When it got so dark outside that nothing could be seen, and Han Hu still hadn’t returned, Mrs. Yang could no longer sit still, worried that something might have happened to him. She went to find Han Yu, even if her youngest son would be angry and scold her. Her big son’s safety was more important than anything, and even Old Man Han had started to worry, going with her to find Han Yu.

When Su Wenyue heard that Father-in-Law and Mother-in-Law had come together at such a late hour, she looked at Han Yu in surprise. What was going on?

Once she knew why they had come, Su Wenyue understood. She warmly received them, though in her heart she already knew what Han Yu’s intentions were. She didn’t believe for a second he hadn’t sent someone along with Han Hu. If Han Hu didn’t come back at this hour, it was probably Han Yu’s doing.

“Mother, the waters in the prefecture are deep, not like the Village. Moreover, my promotion has been quick, and there will always be people who are jealous. There are many who watch me secretly, and who knows what means they might use. It’s Eldest Brother’s first time in the prefecture, and he’s unfamiliar with the place. It’s already late, and you’re still having him run errands. For the sake of two shameless women, would you really disregard even your own son’s safety?” Han Yu’s words were quite heavy.