Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 901 - 460: Why Come Back_2

"I brought the old lady back." After a moment, Lian Jizu hung his head and sat back in the chair. His posture carried a hint of "a dead pig doesn’t fear boiling water."

Such a completely irresponsible man—Lian Manman felt her hands itching.

"Keep talking, Jizu." Suppressing her anger, Lian Manman continued to ask.

"...The old lady missed home. She said she wanted to stay here for a few days, so I brought her back." Lian Jizu replied.

Whether or not Lady Zhou missed home, Lian Manman couldn’t confirm. But she was sure of one thing: Lady Zhou would never voluntarily return to Thirty Mile Camp alone at this time. Because Lady Zhou wouldn’t leave Old Master Lian. In Taicang, Lady Zhou had Lian Xiuxiu who she worried about. Lady Zhou wouldn’t relinquish the authority of managing the inner household of the County Magistrate’s residence to let Lady Gu have her way.

Lady Zhou had no reason to leave Taicang.

"Oh, is that so?" Lian Manman pretended to believe Lian Jizu’s words. "So did my aunt-in-law and my sister-in-law come back together with her?"

"No." Lian Jizu answered. "Big Madam is ill and can’t get out of bed. Your sister-in-law is indispensable over there in Taicang."

"Is that so? So who accompanied our grandmother back?" Lian Manman suppressed her rage and asked again.

"It was Big Aunt Madam. The old lady refuses anyone else serving her—it has to be Big Aunt Madam." Lian Jizu replied.

"Jizu, are these the kind of words a man of education would say? Would you dare repeat these words outside for others to hear?" Unable to hold back her anger any longer, Lian Manman said, "Our grandmother has so many daughters-in-law, granddaughters-in-law, grandsons, and granddaughters staying in Taicang properly, yet you traveled over four hundred miles to bring an elderly woman back here all by herself. Then, as soon as you arrived, you couldn’t wait to run off, without informing us, afraid we’d find out something."

"Grandmother is so old, and who knows what caused you to bring her back here. Tossing her here and then leaving—do you not have a guilty conscience? If something happens to her, leaving one Big Aunt Madam here is supposed to solve anything? Jizu, what exactly are you trying to do? We can’t figure it out, so why don’t we just call the Lizheng, the Abbot Master, and even our neighbors here? Then you explain and let them hear—maybe they’ll understand better than we do."

"I’ll go find someone." Wu Lang stood up and said.

"Don’t." Lian Jizu hurriedly stopped Wu Lang. "This is just a small matter within the family."

"Oh, now you think of us as family." Wu Lang looked at Lian Jizu, his tone full of sarcasm.

"Jizu, is it that your father and you don’t intend to take care of Grandmother anymore, and you’re dumping her here, refusing to take responsibility?" Lian Shouxin also looked at Lian Jizu. "You two really are capable of doing this, aren’t you?"

"No, it’s nothing like that. It’s Grandmother herself who arranged to come back." Lian Jizu quickly defended.

"Impossible." Lian Shouxin said. "Your grandfather is still in Taicang; Grandmother wouldn’t return on her own. And your old aunt is also in Taicang—Grandmother couldn’t bring herself to leave her old aunt."

"It really was Grandmother who arranged it herself." Lian Jizu anxiously tried to explain, deliberately glancing at Wu Jiaxing. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

There was evidently something Lian Jizu wanted to conceal from Wu Jiaxing.

Wu Jiaxing stood up and prepared to excuse himself.

Lian Manman found it somewhat ridiculous—at this point, was there still something or some words Lian Jizu needed to avoid revealing? Did he not realize that, judging by what he’d done today, his reputation had already spread throughout Qingyang Town? Was there any matter more serious than the "family scandal" of abandoning Lady Zhou, evading Lian Shouxin and Lian Shouli, fleeing, and then being chased back?

"Brother Jiaxing, don’t rush off. Stay seated." Lian Manman addressed Wu Jiaxing.

This was treating Wu Jiaxing entirely as one of the family—not avoiding him regardless of what Lian Jizu might say next.

Wu Jiaxing understood Lian Manman’s meaning, but he had his own considerations.

"I’ll go sit in the study for a bit. There’s something I need to write in a note." Wu Jiaxing said.

Lian Manman, hearing this, nodded and sent Xiao Qi to accompany Wu Jiaxing. As Wu Jiaxing left, it was clear he wanted to avoid getting involved in matters that might damage Lian Shouxin’s reputation. Wu Jiaxing’s decision to step away was a mark of his tact and worldly wisdom. Meanwhile, Lian Manman’s gesture to keep him as a guest was also necessary.

"You said Grandmother arranged to return on her own—why is that?" Lian Shouxin pressed Lian Jizu.

"Because... Grandmother and Grandfather had a falling out." Lian Jizu replied.

"The two of them, bickering at home—haven’t they always argued occasionally? It usually blows over." Lady Zhang sounded unconvinced.

"Even if your grandfather and grandmother had a fight, didn’t any of you try to intervene? Did you really let Grandmother come back alone? So far away—what do you take the family for, some child’s play?" Lian Shouxin also didn’t believe it.

Lian Manman nodded—she agreed with Lian Shouxin and Lady Zhang. Lady Zhou might have quarreled with Old Master Lian and acted unruly, but she was the last person to enjoy traveling. She would throw fits in the County Magistrate’s residence until her adversaries relented, but she would never willingly take a carriage across hundreds of miles to return to Thirty Mile Camp.

"This time wasn’t the usual kind of quarrel." Lian Jizu seemed hesitant to continue. "It’s, it’s..."

"What is it?" Lian Manman pressed him.

"It’s that Grandmother suspects... suspects Grandfather of infidelity." Lian Jizu said, covering his face with both hands as he spoke.

"What?" Everyone in the room displayed expressions of surprise and disbelief.

"That’s impossible." Lian Shouxin said, his face reddened. He refused to believe that Old Master Lian, in his twilight years, could have such issues.

"Just suspicion alone could lead Grandmother to storm off and come back here out of spite? That’s impossible." Lian Manman said. "Jizu, you’re not telling the truth."

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This is the first update for today—asking for pink tickets. There will be an evening update. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to visit Qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)