In the parking lot outside the train station, they got into the car.
The car drove towards the capital.
It stopped at the grand entrance of a courtyard house with gray walls and red doors, exuding ancient charm.
The driver, Ah Guang, opened the rear passenger door. "Young Miss, please alight."
Xiao Shuyuan alighted from the passenger seat and opened the rear door. "Young Master-in-law, please alight."
Tian Jing chuckled softly, her treatment now was entirely different from her first life.
Back then, she had foolishly followed Xiao Shuyuan, who came to pick her up. The journey was like Liu Grandma visiting the Grand View Garden, filled with awkward moments.
Xiao Shuyuan had merely watched coldly, offering no explanation for anything she hadn't seen.
Even opening the car door was something she fumbled through on her own.
Trembling with apprehension, she followed Xiao Shuyuan into the three-courtyard siheyuan before her.
Yet, it was this very courtyard that had ruined her first life.
The kind old man inside the courtyard, who felt guilty towards her and wished to compensate her, had repeatedly instructed her to pass this courtyard down through generations.
Little did he know, she hadn't even held onto it for six months before the Chen family completely swindled her.
Chen Yaoming, without much effort, not only acquired this courtyard, worth hundreds of millions in the future, but also the precious items buried beneath it.
Ah Guang trembled uncontrollably. "Young Miss?"
Tian Jing retracted the leaked aura and alighted from the car, holding her daughter.
A middle-aged woman stood at the entrance. Upon seeing Tian Jing, her eyes immediately welled up with tears. "Young Miss."
Tian Jing snorted coldly. This expression, this tone, as if they had been separated for many years.
"Who are you?"
The woman was taken aback, the tears in her eyes trickled down. "Young Miss, I am Xu Ma. You don't recognize me, but I am not unfamiliar with you at all. Because Madam always missed you, often weeping, regretting not taking you with her."
"Oh? Where is your Madam?"
"Uh, she, she will be back soon."
Tian Jing turned to look at Xiao Shuyuan and asked coldly, "You said your master's health couldn't wait, almost not allowing me time for childbirth and confinement. Then, what about his only daughter?"
Xiao Shuyuan was covered in sweat. "Young Miss, I was just worried you wouldn't have enough time to interact with Master. Master has many things he wants to say to you."
"Hmph!" Tian Jing's imposing aura intensified. "Are you master or servant?"
"Yes, servant."
"Since you are a servant, and you maintain your subservient nature, why do you and Xu Ma refer to yourselves as 'I' when speaking to me? Why do you address me as 'you'? Hmm?"
With a subservient nature, they dared to look down on their master? They dared to boss around their master, were they seeking death?
Seeing her husband faltering, Xu Ma knelt down with a thud. "Young Miss, please spare us."
Foolish woman.
Xiao Shuyuan was so angry he almost fainted. At this moment, he couldn't kneel nor stand. He already knew the Young Miss was no ordinary person. The Young Miss was venting her frustration at their disregard for her...
His wife was adding fuel to the fire...
Tian Jing let out a cold chuckle. "Spare you? In the new China, in the new era, you impose the ancient ways upon me, and then kneel to beg for my mercy. Are you trying to prevent me from even entering this courtyard, so I can be taken away directly?"
Only then did Xu Ma scrutinize the woman before her, who was alluringly beautiful, dressed plainly, with a cold aura and an equally cold expression.
"Hmm?" Tian Jing's soft hum carried a hint of pressure towards Xu Ma.
"Servants dare to look directly at their master? Do you still want your eyeballs?"
"Young Miss, spare... er, Young Miss, I apologize. It is this subordinate's fault."
"Hmph." Tian Jing released the pressure. "Don't think too highly of yourselves. Ah Guang, move my luggage inside."
"Yes." Ah Guang responded loudly.
Tian Jing turned. "Zheng Ge, let's go inside."
"Mmm-hmm." Li Zhengguo, holding one son in each hand, followed his wife into the courtyard that he had set ablaze in his previous life.
Turning left after entering the main gate, they passed through the screen gate into the outer courtyard.
The second gate was located in the center of the dividing wall between the inner and outer courtyards.
Within the inner courtyard, a cross-shaped path led left and right to the east and west wing rooms, and directly opposite to the main house.
The main house had three rooms, with an ear room on each side, which were annexes to the east and west rooms. They could serve as studies or quarters for night guards.
Of course, in Tian Jing's opinion, they were most suitable as children's rooms.
On the south side of the east and west wing rooms, there was a flat-roofed ear room.
From the second gate to the front of the east and west wing rooms, and then to the front of the main house, ran a covered corridor encircling the inner courtyard.
This inner courtyard constituted the second entry.
On the side of the east ear room, a passage led to the third entry, which was just a row of rear rooms.
Tian Jing was all too familiar with all of this. She walked directly through the inner courtyard towards the main house.
Having scolded his wife all the way, Xiao Shuyuan trotted to catch up with Tian Jing. "Young Miss, I, your subordinate, will take you to see Master."
Tian Jing glanced at him askance. "Put away your petty thoughts. Even if Xiao Wei came herself, she couldn't dictate my fate."
"Yes, yes, your subordinate knows. Your subordinate will bear it in mind."
"Lead the way."
"Yes."
Stepping up the five steps to the main house, Xiao Shuyuan called out softly, "Master, Master, the Young Miss has arrived."
Tian Jing knew that regardless of Xiao Shuyuan's intentions, he was very loyal to Grandpa Xiao.
He was the only loyal servant who had stayed by Grandpa's side through his ups and downs.
"Cough, cough, cough."
A cough came from the east room. "Quick, cough, cough, cough, bring her in, cough, cough..."
He coughed several times during the sentence, the last time he coughed without stopping.
Tian Jing quickly stepped forward and pushed open the door to the east room. An unpleasant odor immediately rushed out.
"Steward Xiao, open the window."
"Young Miss, Master is unwell. He caught a chill just now and is still taking medicine."
"Cough, cough, open it. Don't let the child be affected by the smell, cough, cough, cough, cough..."
The old man on the bed, who was covered with a thick quilt in late April, coughed incessantly but still cared for his granddaughter and her child.
Xiao Shuyuan only opened the window a crack.
Tian Jing placed her daughter in her husband's arms, then reached out to help the old man, who was coughing so hard he couldn't even open his eyes. She gently patted his back, subtly channeling a bit of her power into him.
The old man's cough immediately subsided significantly. He opened his clouded eyes. "Jingjing?"
"Yes, it's me."
Tian Jing's voice was clear and distant, a habit she had when facing unfamiliar people.
Even though this old man had treated her exceptionally well in her first life, in Tian Jing's heart, he was still merely a familiar, respectable, and kind old man.
Moreover, this was their first meeting in this life, and she maintained her habitual distance.
The old man didn't mind. It was their first meeting, and the child had only just learned of her relatives' existence. He couldn't demand too much.
"Jingjing, your mother wronged you, and Grandpa wronged you too."
"Let's not talk about that for now. We have plenty of time. Please rest assured and recover. We will settle in first and then talk."
"Right, right, settle in first. Ah Yuan, take Jingjing's family to the west room."
"But Madam..."
Tian Jing's eyes narrowed. "Your memory is too poor. It's time for you to retire."
Xiao Shuyuan quickly bowed. "I apologize, Young Miss. I will go and tidy up right away. Please wait a moment."
"No need to trouble yourself. We can manage ourselves. You stay with my Grandpa."
"Yes."
Grandpa Xiao watched with a smile as the family of five turned and walked away.
"Ah Yuan, after I'm gone, you follow Jingjing."
"Master..."
"I know you promised Ah Wei, but... sigh~ Forget it. Jingjing might not want you. She, she doesn't like you."
"Master, you? You seem much better now. You've spoken a few sentences without coughing. Master, please get well soon. Ah Yuan most wants to follow you."
Grandpa Xiao also found it strange. "That feeling of a cough stuck in my throat, it seems to be gone."
Xiao Shuyuan inexplicably thought back to just now, when the Young Miss had patted Master's back.