The First Phoenix

Among the few people, except for Manager Yang, the others expressed their willingness to sign the contract and obey the girl's orders in the future.

The official Yaren also took care of the physical deeds of these people.

After they left, Shi Anxia had someone pull out the account books for the shop run by Manager Yang, and then called Dong Xi over and instructed him, "Keep an eye on him and see who he goes to and what he does."

Dongli took the order and went.

When Anxia finished dinner, the sky had completely darkened.

She looked at the lanterns shining warmly under the eaves in the dark night, emitting a warm yellow light.

I miss my mother inexplicably. There are some things that I didn’t have time to ask in my previous life. In this life, you must always ask clearly.

Shi Anxia stepped on the snow and went to Haitang Courtyard. As soon as she arrived at the door, she saw Aunt Han coughing and standing on tiptoes to look into the courtyard.

Xing'er, the maidservant beside Han Yi Niang, knelt down hurriedly and said, "Greetings, Miss An Xia."

When Aunt Han turned around and saw Shi Anxia, she was also horrified and quickly lowered her head, "Greetings, young lady. I'll leave now."

Shi Anxia asked, "Auntie, are you thinking about Brother Shu?"

Aunt Han became more and more nervous and shook her head in denial, "No, no, I was just thinking that Brother Shu had just arrived in a strange place. He might, might not behave well. Don't make Madam unhappy."

Shi Anxia looked at the woman across from her. She was younger than her mother, delicate and frail, as if she would fall over with a single gust of wind.

Her face was abnormally pale, and there was an unremovable sorrow between her brows, which made people feel that her life in this world was difficult and bitter.

If I remember correctly, Aunt Han should have died of illness two years later. Brother Shu was still very young, but Aunt Wen wanted to go there and raise him to death.

Shi Anxia smiled warmly, which was particularly warm in the night with falling snow, "Auntie, don't be nervous. If you want to see Brother Shu later, just feel free to come. Come on, follow me in."

"No, that's not necessary." Aunt Han quickly took out a rattle from her sleeve and tremblingly handed it over, begging, "Miss, please give this to Shu Ge'er. Shake it and he will stop crying."

Shi Anxia didn't answer the rattle and took advantage of the situation to pull Aunt Han into the yard. "If I tell you to go, you can go. You go and coax Brother Shu, and I can talk to my mother to talk to her."

"Okay, okay." Aunt Han blushed, thinking that the girl was really nice. She was obviously doing her own thing, but she said it as if she was asking for help. "Thank you, young lady."

She gratefully glanced at Shi Anxia's back and watched until the figure was gone, then turned and entered the west wing.

Over there, Tang Chujun was guarding his sleeping son in the east wing.

Originally, such an old son was already considered an adult, so she shouldn't have been guarding him like this.

But the missing sixteen years were the pain in her chest.

She looked at the dense scars on her son's body, her heart felt like a knife, and she was so painful that she couldn't breathe.

Originally she wanted to tell the truth and say that he was her biological son.

But when Yunqi developed a high fever, Dr. Shen came to see him and prescribed medicine for him. When the fever subsided, he fell asleep quietly.

He slept uneasily, like a frightened puppy, curled up in bed with his arms crossed over his shoulders, obviously using this posture often to avoid being beaten.

Tang Chujun felt extremely sad and couldn't stop crying. He was a hundred times sadder than when he knew that Shi Yunxing was dead.

Nanny Zhong came into the room and whispered in her ear, "Madam, the young lady is here."

Tang Chujun then wiped away his tears and went to the main house where he lived.

When she entered, she saw her daughter standing alone in front of the window, staring out the window in a daze.

"Xia'er." Tang Chujun wanted to say, it's so late, why don't you go to bed. But when the words came to her lips, she swallowed them inexplicably.

Xu Shi owed her son sixteen years; Xu Shi saw her daughter's slim and lonely back, and suddenly remembered that she still owed her daughter a full ten years.

Tears inexplicably blurred his eyes.

When Shi Anxia heard the sound, she turned around and saw her mother with tears streaming down her face.

In an instant, her nose felt sore.

After living two lives, she had the opportunity to look at her mother in such detail.

It was a breathtakingly beautiful face, with a hint of sadness between the brows, and a hint of alienation and sadness on the lips.

For the first time, Shi Anxia struggled to ask what she had always wanted to ask, "Mother doesn't like Xia'er?"

Tang Chujun was stunned for a moment before she reacted. She stepped forward and hugged her daughter tightly, "Xia'er! How could a mother not like Xia'er?"

"Then why..." Shi Anxia couldn't help choking, "Why is mother only polite and distant to Xia'er?"

As a queen mother of a country, the most regrettable thing was that she had an unsatisfactory father and a mother who died young and was cold to her.

She was lost in the capital when she was just over two years old, and was taken around by a trafficker who wanted to sell her for a good price. She had long since learned to read people's faces, and could discern people's hearts from their smallest movements and expressions.

It wasn't until she was found by her uncle when she was twelve years old that she realized that she was the legitimate daughter of such a wealthy family.

She was anxious and anxious, hoping to be recognized by her family, so she studied very hard, hoping to be of some use to the family.

At first, people in the second room of the Hou Mansion didn't think highly of her, and even the servants looked down upon her.

Only Shi Yunqi and Aunt Han never tripped her up.

Tang Chujun was not mean to her, he was just too polite.

So she wanted to ask clearly, "Because mother doesn't like father, does she not like Xia'er either?"

Tang Chujun shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "Xia'er, I'm sorry. It was mother who lost you. Mother feels really guilty. How could mother not like Xia'er?"

Time was separated for ten years, and she missed her daughter's growth. She was not with her daughter when she needed her mother the most.

How did you lose your daughter that day? It's because of her fault.

When Tang Chujun heard that Shi Chengyi was engaged to someone and had set a date for exchanging engagement letters, she cried for a long time in the carriage.

After returning to the mansion in a daze, she found that her daughter was missing. At that moment, she felt like the sky was falling and the earth was splitting.

She lost her temper for the first time in the Marquis Mansion, ruthlessly betrayed the derelict wet nurse, and frantically searched for her daughter from then on.

The Marquis' Mansion was searching, the Duke's Mansion was also searching. When they were almost in despair, Shi Chengyi unexpectedly brought Shi Anxia back.

When Tang Chujun saw Shi Anxia again, he was so excited that he almost fainted. But there was no imaginary hug, nor earth-shattering hugging and crying.

The thin and small girl saluted in front of her with very non-standard movements, "I have met my mother."

Tang Chujun suppressed all his emotions, helped her up with his own hands, and said softly, "Just go home."

She has always been a coward, not only in her own marriage but also in her children's affairs.

At this moment, Tang Chujun was suddenly asked by his daughter, and the emotions he had suppressed for many years surged in his heart, "Xia'er, it was your mother who lost you! During the days and nights when you were lost, your mother never missed you."

Shi Anxia suddenly understood that it wasn't that her mother didn't love her, but that she didn't know how to love her. He expressed his love cautiously, so he seemed cold and distant.

She never had the chance to ask.

But her mother was so painful about Shi Yunxing's death, which meant that it was not because of her father that she was angry with her.

In this life, I finally got the answer.

Shi Anxia felt relieved and tears filled her eyes, but she still forced back the sour tears.

She snuggled gently into her mother's arms, looked ahead firmly, and murmured, "Mom, we want to live a good life with my brother!"

Tang Chujun couldn't stop crying. He held his daughter in his arms as if he were holding the most precious treasure in the world, "Mother will never lose you and Qier again!"