Mistress Li glared at the aunt and niece still enjoying the shade under the tree, but Mistress Xiao Li didn't expect help from them; after all, her daughter was her own.
The four girls were about to help, but Mistress Xiao Li stopped them. "If there were no men here, you could wash however you pleased."
"Auntie." Meng Yuwu wanted to go to the river to help her aunt.
"Good girl, this is the only piece of clothing, I'll wash it myself."
"Auntie."
"Wu Yatou, why are you still calling me Auntie? From now on, you will call me Mother," Mistress Li said fiercely, glaring at Mistress Mei.
"Mother."
"Aunt," Mistress Xiao Li never thought she would live to hear her daughter call her Mother.
"From now on, we have no concubines in our family."
Consubine Tao looked at Mistress Liu expectantly, and Mistress Liu did not disappoint her. "Yusu will also call you Mother from now on, and Yulian and the other three will call you Second Mother."
"Madam."
"We haven't had a 'Madam' in this family for a long time. You can call me Sister."
"Sister."
"Mm."
"Mother."
"Ah."
"Second Mother."
"Ah, ah."
Consubine Tao watched the loving family with tears in her eyes. Even in this predicament, they could still understand each other, which was truly not easy.
Mistress Xiao Li looked at Consubine Tao with envy. Both were concubines, but Consubine Tao had a much more comfortable life than she did.
Back in the Duke's mansion, even with her aunt protecting her, she was often bullied by Mistress Mei.
She had tolerated it before because Mei was the main wife. But now they were all exiles, and to put it bluntly, her own family could have had her aunt write a letter of divorce, and she could have returned.
But she couldn't bear to leave her daughter or her aunt, so she preferred to be exiled with them.
As for that person? Alas, she truly couldn't see through her. She didn't care about her own flesh and blood, let alone others.
Mistress Mei paid no mind to what others thought. Her eyes were constantly scanning the men at the military garrison.
Her picky gaze finally landed on Qi Yuanshan, and her expression softened slightly.
She thought to herself, she was feeling stifled. She didn't know if her niece, who had a proud heart, could accept a crude and rough soldier.
However, this man, no matter what, was an official, which was much better than those exiled.
Thinking this, Mistress Mei stealthily nudged her listless niece sitting beside her.
"Qiu'er, what do you think of Captain Qi?"
"I..."
"He may be a rough man, and a widower, but your aunt has thought it through carefully. He is the highest-ranking official here. Furthermore, with our current status, marrying someone from the garrison is the best way out."
"Aunt, I still want to go back to the capital."
"Your aunt also wants to return to the capital, but with our current status, we cannot." Speaking of this, Mistress Mei felt like cursing her parents and brothers.
"I was truly blind to have raised such ungrateful brats. My parents were not like parents, and my brothers were not like brothers. When I had status and position, they clung to me daily for favors. But when I fell into hardship, they couldn't even spare me a glance."
Mistress Mei grew angrier the more she thought about it, unable to comprehend why she felt wronged by her own family. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she began to weep uncontrollably.
Mistress Xiao Mei also felt wronged. The Mei family was currently managed by her parents. However, they had forbidden her from returning home.
Seeing her aunt weeping, she couldn't help but cry out loud as well.
"..."
Their earth-shattering cries attracted the attention of those nearby.
Mistress Liu rolled her eyes at them. Since they had separated, whatever embarrassing things these two did had nothing to do with them.
It was just a pity for that child, Tang'er. Although she could help with food now, she was powerless in other ways.
Thinking of this, she cast a pitying glance at Meng Yutang before spreading the washed clothes on the tall grass by the river to dry.
Mistress Xiao Li couldn't afford to lose face. Others could watch the spectacle, but she couldn't. She looked at Mistress Li for help.
Mistress Li was now too lazy to bother with the aunt and niece. The key point was that even if she managed them, they wouldn't listen. In their minds, she was less influential than a fart.
At least they would cover their noses if they smelled a fart, but when they heard her scolding, they would just stare at the sky as if they hadn't heard a thing.
Meng Yutang watched his mother and his cousin hold each other and cry. At first, he was at a loss, then he slowly lowered his head without saying anything.
What could he say? The mother who once doted on him like a pearl had long since disappeared.
Now his mother regarded him as a burden, but if he could find food, especially delicious food brought from his second granduncle's home, his mother wouldn't mind him being filial.
He didn't know how to face his mother anymore.
Qi Yuanshan heard the crying from this side and felt a wave of annoyance. He wished these exiles would cause trouble with the men, rather than the women crying and making a scene.
However, no matter how annoyed he was, he had to intervene. Didn't he see that those two women were about to put on a major drama?
Mistress Mei, who was hiccuping from crying, caught sight of Qi Yuanshan approaching them from the corner of her eye. She secretly pinched her niece. "Qiu'er, Captain Qi is coming over. You must seize this opportunity. The kind of life your aunt and niece will have in the future depends entirely on you."
Mistress Xiao Mei: ...
Mistress Mei's tears turned from genuine to feigned. She slowly waited for Qi Yuanshan to approach. When he reached her desired distance, she forcefully pushed Mistress Xiao Mei towards him.
"Ah." Mistress Xiao Mei, with a face as pale as a flower, did not expect her aunt to change her tune so quickly. She pushed her with all her might. In her panic, she flailed her limbs.
Seeing that Qi Yuanshan, who was closest to her, was about to be in trouble.
Having endured ten years of frontier hardship, Qi Yuanshan was no longer the simple young man he once was. Seeing the situation, he turned and ran.
He didn't want any physical contact with any woman; that would be the deepest betrayal of the person in his heart.
Mistress Mei watched her niece fall into the grass with her own eyes, her mind struggling to process what had happened.
How could this be? When a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young woman lunged at Captain Qi, shouldn't he have caught her without a moment's delay?
But this man? Was he even human?
Seeing Mistress Mei's incredulous expression, everyone else understood.
"You..." Mistress Li trembled with anger at Mistress Mei's shamelessness, stumbling and almost falling.
"Aunt, please don't be angry," Mistress Xiao Li quickly ran over to calm her down.
"Yes, Old Madam, please don't get angry. If anything were to happen to you, what would we do?" Mistress Liu also feared that if Mistress Li fainted, their entire family would be in an even worse situation.
With Mistress Li around, she and her children had a pillar of support. Without her, she felt even more like she was struggling alone.
"Grandmother."
"Grandmother."
The children also ran over, helping Mistress Xiao Li and Mistress Liu support Mistress Li to sit down.