Chapter 30: The Old Madam in the Midst of Burning Rage
Gu Xingnuo wished he could m.u.f.fled Old Madam"s mouth.
"Move aside!" Old Madam demanded. "I"m going in!"
"Princess is currently treating Xinglang"s wounds," Gu Xingnuo blocked the entrance. "Grandmother, let"s wait on the porch."
"Move aside!" Old Madam was extremely anxious and worried as she barked orders.
At this moment, w.a.n.g momo opened the doors. Old Madam and Lady Xu tried their best to peer inside, but w.a.n.g momo"s ample frame was blocking the doorway like a wall, obscuring their view. The next thing they knew, w.a.n.g momo strode outside and shut the door behind her. She glanced at the crowd and the cl.u.s.ter of people around Old Madam before scoffing. "Who angered the Old Madam like this? So truculent and overbearing."
Old Madam was fuming before, but managed to calm down a little at the sight of w.a.n.g momo. Although momo of the palace were still servants, anything with "imperial clan" in front couldn"t be disregarded. Old Madam"s expression shifted as she asked, "Her Royal Highness is treating third young master"s wounds?"
w.a.n.g momo said, "The eldest young master long knew of this matter. What now? Did he not tell Old Madam?"
Old Madam exhaled and looked towards Gu Xingnuo. Now that he"d been painted as a scapegoat, he could only accept and say, "Grandmother, this was Xinglang"s own choice."
"Then why didn"t you tell anyone in the family?!" Old Madam"s face blanched at her eldest grandson again.
w.a.n.g momo said, "Eh? Old Madam, your words make it sound like the eldest young master isn"t part of the royal son-in-law"s family?"
Old Madam ignored her and glared at Gu Xingnuo as she cursed. "Do you still hold your elders in your eyes? Xinglang was being insensible, so you followed along with his example?"
"Grandmother!" Gu Xingnuo stamped his feet impatiently. "Princess is currently treating Xinglang"s wounds. If we have to talk, save it for later."
"I want to go in," Old Madam insisted.
w.a.n.g momo shifted to the left until she was standing right in front of the doors. "Old Madam, this is Her Royal Highness"s bridal chambers. Although you"re an elder of the family, you still have to obey some rules if Her Royal Highness is unwilling, isn"t that right?" What kind of joke is this?
Historically speaking, any princess who married below their station lived independently with the royal son-in-law. Without the princess"s permission, the royal son-in-law couldn"t even enter her rooms. Did this old woman lose all sense of direction just because the princss called her "grandma?" w.a.n.g momo"s att.i.tude was chilly as she scowled at the woman. To reach for a yard after getting an inch was an idiom made for her lot!
w.a.n.g momo"s words were like a blade stabbing through Old Madam"s heart. She couldn"t even count as a t.i.tled woman of the court anymore, so what could she use to refute her? Her entire body trembled with rage.
Lady Xu took this chance to speak up. "Momo, has Her Royal Highness studied medicine before?"
"If she hadn"t, would Her Royal Highness be treating the royal son-in-law"s injuries?" w.a.n.g momo retorted.
Lady Xu asked, "Why haven"t we ever heard of Her Royal Highness knowing medicine?"
"Has your ladyship ever heard of her knowing martial arts before?" w.a.n.g momo shot back.
Now Lady Xu was out of words too.
"What if something happens?" Old Madam asked in a loud voice.
"Would Her Royal Highness kill her husband?" w.a.n.g momo challenged back.
Old Madam looked towards Gu Xingnuo. "You"re just going to stand here and watch?!"
w.a.n.g momo laughed. "Old woman, are you going to get violent?"
Gu Xingnuo tried to pull Old Madam down the steps as he pled, "Grandmother, just wait for a while."
"You"re just going to watch your third brother die?" In a fit of frenzy Old Madam slapped Gu Xingnuo"s face.
Inside the bridal chambers, all the doctors could hear the commotion outside. They glanced back at Yu Xiaoxiao, still embroiled in her surgery, and couldn"t help but admire Her Royal Highness. Although it sounded like a fight outside and the comments were getting nastier, she didn"t seem to hear a single word. Instead, she was highly focused, her body covered in sweat. When it dripped into her eyes, she wiped them clean and exhaled.
An old doctor took this chance to ask, "Your Royal Highness, about third young master"s injury…?"
"Not done yet," Yu Xiaoxiao replied.
The doctors only saw her dealing with his injury like one would treat a dead animal. Their experiences with surgery were only limited to things such as retrieving arrowheads from a wound, so the sight chilled their hearts.
"Grandfather and second uncle are both drunk," Lady Sun said as she stood by Gu Xingnuo"s side. "What do we do now?"
What else could Gu Xingnuo do? He couldn"t very well fight his own grandmother. Thus, he could only try to scare her off. "Grandmother, if you anger Her Royal Highness, what good will it do Xinglang?"
Old Madam pulled at Gu Xingnuo"s sleeve with tears streaming down her face. "Just what is the princess planning to do to Xinglang? The doctors said his injuries were already healing, so why is she cutting them open again? That will cost him his life, ah!"
w.a.n.g momo gritted her teeth in front of the doors. How could this old woman overhear the words that the doctors had secretly whispered to Gu Xinglang? They had two shadow guards keeping watch at all times, but the old woman had known everything that happened in the bridal chambers. Did she arrange eyes and ears there too?
Gu Xingnuo said, "What kind of words are those? Grandmother, the princess won"t hurt Xinglang."
"She even dumped Xinglang"s medicine!" Old Madam wailed.
Gu Xingnuo shot Qingyu a glare. She lowered her head docilely as she remained standing behind Old Madam.
Old Madam still wanted to go inside for a look. Her grandson had suffered enough misfortune in his lifetime. He"d lost his father as a child and entered the army in his youth, then lost the use of his legs through the wicked consort"s schemes. If he died by his wife"s hands in the bridal chambers, how would she have any face to meet his father in the Yellow Springs after she died?
Seeing Old Madam about to charge inside, the two imperial shadow guards Xiao Zhuang (小庄) and Xiao Wei (小卫) stood in front of w.a.n.g momo with their hands resting on their swords. In other words, they were threatening to draw their weapons as soon as Old Madam took another step.
Angry and anxious, Old Madam burst into tears. w.a.n.g momo stood before the entrance like a G.o.d. The old woman"s tactics were nothing compared to that of the palace concubines. Could a single bout of crying label her princess as "unfilial?" She could accuse the old woman of disrespect to the imperial clan instead!
"None of you move," w.a.n.g momo instructed Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Wei. "Let"s see what other tricks that old woman pulls."
Xiao Zhuang asked, "Suppose Old Madam really comes forward? Are we going to fight her?"
"We have eldest young master to block her," w.a.n.g momo said as she watched Old Madam thoroughly curse out Gu Xingnuo again with a sympathetic expression. The Gu Clan"s Old Madam was a daughter of a general herself, so she was different from other females. When it came time to cause a scene, she"d start one without question. "The eldest young master is a general himself, but he"s being scolded like some little grandson," w.a.n.g momo sighed.