Chapter 135: Wavering

"Mother..."

Zhao Wan wanted to say more, but Madam Wei shot her a dark glare. "Shut up!"

It was all that idiot's fault—knowing she was under house arrest, yet still coming to her for support.

Now that Marquis Wei was enraged, he might actually divorce her...

Madam Wei went pale.

Meanwhile, A Yuan scooped up her daughter from the prayer hall. A Man had been kneeling for half a day without food or water.

Though the little girl was bold, this was her first time locked in a dark room.

Emerging from the prayer hall, the child's face was ghostly pale, and she was burning up with fever.

"Mother..."

The child recognized her mother's scent and drowsily opened her eyes.

"I thought I'd never see you again..."

Her tiny hands clutched her mother's sleeve tightly, eyes filled with fear.

A Yuan's heart broke.

She shouldn't have entrusted her daughter to others, letting her go through this.

"I came too late, I'm sorry."

"I don't blame you, Mama." Though burning up and confused, the little girl reached out to comfort her mother.

"Don't cry, Mama."

She wiped the tears from A Yuan's face and asked cautiously, "I'm not a bastard, am I?"

"That mean boy called me a bastard, so I hit him. But Auntie and the bad grandma wouldn't listen to my explanation. The bad grandma locked me in the prayer hall. It was so dark, and I was hungry and scared. No one came no matter how much I cried."

She looked up, her gaze pure and innocent.

The little girl had grown up showered with love—no one had ever gossiped in front of her, let alone called her a bastard.

A Yuan shook with anger.

No wonder a good kid like A Man had fought with Wei Chengye—the term "bastard" was clearly taught by an adult.

She squeezed her daughter tight, suppressing her fury. "You're not. He had it coming with that filthy mouth!"

"But why did Grandma punish me?"

The little girl still brooded over the punishment, frowning as she asked.

"Because she's a mean old lady. Grandpa already took care of her for you. She won't dare mess with you again."

Marquis Wei and Wei Xun came from the front courtyard. Both had heard the child's words and now knew why they'd fought.

They had thought Wei Xun's second son and his wife were unreliable, but their kid might be alright.

As expected, a bad tree bears bad fruit.

Marquis Wei felt even more convinced that his decision to split the household today was the right one.

Wei Xun quickly stepped forward to take A Man from A Yuan, but she turned away coldly.

"I've got her."

"A Yuan..."

Wei Xun felt a pang of bitterness. The relationship they had slowly mended had now gone back to how it was before.

"I just wanted to check if A Man is okay."

He was worried about his daughter—she'd been locked up for so long.

A Yuan knew she was venting her anger on him, but seeing her daughter looking so weak and pitiful made it impossible not to.

"That's enough. Let's get her to the doctor first," Marquis Wei finally broke the silence.

A Yuan pursed her lips but didn’t refuse. She held her daughter tightly and walked past Wei Xun, following the maid into the front hall.

The swish of her robe brushed against the man’s fingertips, and Wei Xun instinctively curled his fingers. But he still couldn't make her stay.

Marquis Wei sighed as he watched his dejected son. If he once blamed his son for being spineless, now he only felt heartache.

What else could he do with a mother like that?

Marquis Wei patted his son’s shoulder. "Your mother is getting older. From now on, I’ll make sure she devotes herself to prayer and self-reflection. Once we’ve divided the estate, you won’t need to bring your wife and child to visit her anymore."

This meant Madam Wei would be put under close watch.

Wei Xun’s eyes grew moist, his throat tightened. He looked at Marquis Wei, his voice wavering. "Thank you, Father."

He knew he was being unfilial, but his father still had his back.

Wei Xun’s eyes welled up.

"Enough. If you really want to thank me, hurry up and marry A Yuan properly. Keep dragging your feet and A Man will be off to school soon."

Clearly uncomfortable with emotional displays, Marquis Wei avoided his son’s gaze, shoved his hands behind his back, and strode toward the front hall.

Inside the front hall, the doctor had already arrived.

A Man’s fever was simply due to shock. A few doses of fever-reducing medicine would do the trick.

"The little one’s tough. Even without medicine, her fever should break by tomorrow."

The doctor stroked his beard. Of all the kids he’d treated, A Man was the sturdiest.

"Mom, no medicine!" Hearing she might avoid the bitter taste, A Man’s eyes lit up.

But A Yuan wasn’t having it. "The medicine will make you better faster. Don’t you want to see Brother soon?"

"I wanna see Brother!" The little girl brightened at once.

It had been so long since she’d seen her brother.

A Man tugged on her mother’s sleeve, looking up at her eagerly. “Mother, don’t tell brother about me being punished, okay?”

She didn’t want him to worry.

A Yuan nodded. “Then drink your medicine quickly so you can get better.”

“Okay.”

The doctor prescribed the medicine, and the servants prepared it and brought it.

When A Man smelled the bitter medicine, her little nose wrinkled.

“Mother, it’s bitter...”

“Go to the Jade Pure Courtyard and fetch a jar of candied fruits.”

Before A Yuan could respond, Wei Xun instructed Chang Yuan.

A Man’s aversion to bitterness came from A Yuan. In the past, A Yuan often drank birth control tonics, so there was never a shortage of candied fruits in the Jade Pure Courtyard.

But remembering A Yuan having to drink those tonics made Wei Xun resent himself.

Just how long had he been hurting her?

Chang Yuan was quick. With the candied fruits, A Man drank the medicine all at once.

Once she finished, A Yuan didn’t want to stay any longer. Gathering her daughter’s things, she prepared to leave.

Wei Xun followed behind, trying to be helpful. “Let me walk you out.”

He didn’t dare ask them to stay again. Until the problems at the marquis’s estate were resolved, he couldn’t even look his daughter in the eye.

“No need.”

A Yuan held her daughter in one arm and carried their belongings with the other, her voice cold.

A Man wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and glanced back at her father.

Only after boarding the general’s coach did she speak up. “Mother, don’t stay mad at Father, okay?”

She had been punished by the mean grandmother—it wasn’t Father’s fault.

He’d looked so sad earlier.

“Father?” A Yuan first noticed the term of address.

Her daughter said it so easily—she must have been calling him that for a while.

The little girl clung to her arm, burying her chubby face into her mother’s chest, her voice quiet. “Father told me not to call him that in front of you, but he is my father.”

“The mean brother called A Man a bastard, but A Man has a father and a mother. It’s just that other children’s parents live together, but mine are apart.”

Though only three, she already understood too much. A Yuan’s heart ached as if squeezed tight, guilt and heartache flooding in.

“Then... does A Man want Father and Mother... to be together?”

She asked hesitantly. The little girl lifted her head from her embrace, gazing at her solemnly.

“A Man knows Daddy made you mad, and that’s why you left. A Man wants Daddy, but not if it makes you sad,” she added softly.