All Hail Cousin Brother

Chapter 677: Nowhere to Hide

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

“It sounds like Old Madam Lai is a capable person.” Yu Youyao frovvned, feeling that something was amiss. “Didn’t you ask Nanny Liu why Old Madam Lai left the residence?”

Generally speaking, the servants who had their contracts terminated must have either made mistakes or not do their job well. It seemed a little unreasonable to let a capable old woman out of the residence for no reason.

Xia Tao nodded. “l asked. I heard that Old Madam Lai’s sister-in-law passed away early. Her eldest Brother raised his son alone. Just as his son was about to get married and have children, Old Madam Lai’s brother fell seriously ill. Old Madam Lai was worried about her nephew, so she took the initiative to break the contract and leave the residence. Less than two years after Old

Madam Lai’s brother passed away, her nephew got married and had Bai Ye. However, her nephew and niece-in-law also had poor luck. One passed away after giving birth, while the other hit a rock in the mountains and lost his life on the spot.”

Listening carefully, there was nothing wrong. Instead, everything made sense.

However, it was precisely because there was nothing wrong that it was strange. Yu Youyao frowned.

Xia Tao observed her expression and continued, “I’ve asked around about the people in the residence who knew Old Madam Lai. I’ve asked about her in the residence, and they all said that Old Madam Lai is smart and efficient. There’s no other news about her.’

The word “smart” bothered Yu Youyao a little. The smarter a person was, the more cautious they were. She thought that even if she did anything 1Mong, no one would notice.

After so many years, it would probably be very difficult to find anything now.

Xia Tao continued, “l was worried, so 1 secretly went to the hot spring manor to find out more about Old Madam Lai…

She told Eldest Miss what she had heard.

Yu Youyao listened for a while. They were all trivial matters, but they could roughly match the information she had obtained from the residence. She had really worked for two days in vain.

Even though Yu Youyao had expected this, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. “It’s been two days. You must be tired. I’ll give you a day off today to go back and rest.”

Xia Tao quickly said, “Young Miss thinks highly of me, so you handed this matter to me. I’m honored, but I couldn’t find any useful information. I made you wait for two days in vain…”

Eldest Miss must have sensed something amiss when she asked her to investigate Bai Ye’s grandmother.

However, she did not find any useful information. She was useless.

Yu Youyao was used to this girl’s glibness. “It’s expected. No matter what schemes she has, she’ll show her face sooner or later. Just wait and see!”

Only then did Xia Tao heave a sigh of relief. Young Miss had entered the palace and met the Empress Dowager. She had seen the world. How could Third Miss be a match for her?

She was living such a good life, but it was all for nothing.

This was such a struggle. Her body, which had finally recovered with great difficulty, would be damaged in a few days. They were all sisters in the family. There was a saying that if the lips die, the teeth would feel cold. If Young Miss doesn’t do well, what good could Third Miss get? She did not know what she wanted.

The next day, Old Madam Lai entered the residence with the steward of the hot spring manor.

Old Madam Lai used to serve Old Madam. The first thing she did when she entered the residence was to visit her.

Yu Jianjia led Old Madam Lai into An Shou Hall.

Nanny Liu chatted with Old Madam Lai for a while before entering the inner room. “Matriarch, Old Madam Lai is here.’

Yu Youyao quickly helped her grandmother put on her clothes.

Old Madam Yu was not in good spirits. “She’s just a servant who worked in the residence. Is she worth spending so much effort on? Instead of staying in the courtyard to recuperate, she’s been jumping up and down all day. I wonder what she’s doing. In the past, when she was sick, she was still a little obedient and could be thought highly of. Now that she’s recovered, she’s learning from her mother. Indeed, like mother, like daughter.”

“Third Sister has always been kind-hearted. She can’t bear to see Old Madam Lai and Bai Ye live apart.” Yu Youyao agreed deeply. Even she felt that Yu

Jianjia had spent a lot of effort on Bai Ye. How could Grandmother not notice?

However, Yu Jianjia was used to pretending to be polite, so no one could find fault with her. As an elder, her grandmother could not embarrass her granddaughter over such a small matter, so it was not appropriate for her to refuse.

Old Madam Yu waved her hand. “Forget it. Madam Yang has been sick for nearly three years. In the past, her body was weak, so it wasn’t good for her to treat her illness in front of her. Now that her body has recovered a lot, she’s still her biological mother after all. She should go over every now and then to serve her. However, she didn’t see her mother and only planted a courtyard of flowers and plants in Tranquil Heart Residence. She said that it was good for Madam Yangs health to have more flowers and plants. These words are just to fool outsiders who don’t know better. What’s the flowers and plants going to do to treat her? It’s just for show.”

There was one thing that she was slightly better at than Madam Yang. Her mother could only force out a few tears and pretended to be pitiful. Meanwhile, she was willing to spend time and effort to pretend to be powerful.

Yu Youyao couldn’t say anything, so she helped her grandmother to the dressing table. Nanny Liu quickly helped Matriarch comb her hair.

Recently, Matriarch has been nagging a lot. As soon as she was energetic, she would talk to her granddaughter. She would also nag endlessly about things that she did not care about in the past.

She had to take the opportunity to guide and teach her granddaughter. It was as if she would not have a chance in the future if she did not do so now. She was worried that her granddaughter would not understand some things and suffer in the future.

Old Madam Yu held her granddaughter’s hand and reminded her, “You have to carefully peel off the mask of some people to take a closer look. You can’t have the intention to harm others, but you have to be wary of others. You have to be more careful in the future.’

In the past, she had not been able to see through Yu Jianjia’s cold personality. It wasn’t that Yu Jianjia hid it too well, but that Yang Shuwan and her daughter had gained power in the residence and covered it up layer by layer.

Since Yu Jianjia was willing to work hard on the surface, she was able to fool everybody.

However, appearances were always superficial.

Once one looked deeper, it was easy to see through it.

Yu Youyao’s heart ached, and she almost cried on the spot. “Grandmother, don’t worry.”

Her grandmother had schemed and planned for the Yu Residence all her life, but had never done it for herself. However, the meaning between the lines was reminding her and warning her to distance herself from the Yu Residence,

Old Madam Yu was worried that she did not understand, so she said, “Your third sister is arrogant. She looks gentle, kind, and polite, but her bones a_re colder than anyone else’s. Stay away from her in the future.”

This was also something she had only realized after she suddenly had the illness.

She and Madam Yang were both sick, but comparing Yao Yao’s filial piety to her and Yu Jianjia!s attitude towards Madam Yang, how could she not have understood the truth?

Once people are put together for comparison, there is nowhere to hide.

Yu Youyao nodded. Her grandmother had seen through Yu Jianjia.

There was a saying that the most brilliant deception in the world was to deceive even oneself.

Yu Jianjia always appeared weak and kind. Her every move, word, and action was generous and polite. No one could find anything wrong with her..