Chapter Eighty-Four: The Great Fog

So Duck-Duck ended up staying at the Prime Minister’s residence. As for Bai Yuru, who was locked in the dark little room, she was absolutely furious! Nothing ever went her way, and ever since that chubby child arrived, she hadn’t had a single peaceful day. It seemed she really needed to come up with a way to send that little troublemaker back home!

While Bai Yugu was busy plotting something wicked, Fubao was sitting elsewhere, listening to Sister Huazhi read her a letter from her mother. After hearing the letter, Fubao couldn’t help but sigh.

“Oh! Home is so lively. Mother said Duck-Duck ate all of Grandpa Gu’s fish, then ran off with the one remaining fat fish. Lately, Little Black has been howling non-stop, and even the neighbors have come to complain! Besides Little Black, Father has also been acting strange, always suspicious and saying there’s a stranger in the house. Mother couldn’t win against him, so she cleaned inside and out, but didn’t find anything—except for a crayfish caught in a clip on the garden wall! I really don’t know why Father hung a clip on the wall in the first place.”

Lin Sanlang: “Baobao, don’t you think it’s odd for a crayfish to be on the wall?”

Fubao kept mumbling to the little ginseng beside her, “It’s just a small shrimp. Speaking of big crayfish, I’ve actually seen one before—Zizi, that creature was as tall as me! It just loved eating fish fry.” The little ginseng munched on a peach, grumbling, “Wow! That big?” “It was huge, and so reckless too. It always wanted to fight with that big carp, got beaten every time, and whenever it got thrown out, it would shout, ‘I’ll be back!!’ A few days later it would show up again, only to be beaten back again! Zizi, what a tragedy.”

The little ginseng reminisced about the days in the Dabie Mountains—it was truly beautiful there. But that stubborn fish insisted on chasing after the glacier man who was executed by the Heavenly Law, claiming he just wanted to experience the wonders of the human world. Who knows where he’s reincarnated now! Suddenly, the peach in the little ginseng’s mouth lost all its flavor.

“I wonder if crayfish that big would taste good!” Fubao mused.

The little ginseng: “All you think about is eating!”

At this moment, Madam Bai was talking with Bai Shi. “Grandma, I heard a consort died in the palace,” Bai Shi said.

“Oh? What happened?” Madam Bai was curious—how did her granddaughter-in-law know about palace affairs?

“I’m not too sure either. I overheard it from a lady who just returned from expressing thanks at the palace. Apparently, it was Consort Yu.”

“The sickly Consort Yu?” “Yes.”

“Didn’t they say she was getting better? How could she be gone in the blink of an eye?” Madam Bai had seen Consort Yu at the little princess’s first birthday banquet. She’d seemed in decent health at the time.

“They said her illness suddenly worsened, and she passed away before anyone could react.”

“Hah! How interesting,” Madam Bai replied, exchanging a knowing look with Bai Shi. In the palace, such things were all too common.

“By the way, we need to visit the Han family tomorrow. Old Madam Han has fallen ill, and we should go see her,” said Madam Bai, having only heard that afternoon that her old friend had been sick for days. As a close relation, she had to pay a visit.

The next day, Madam Bai dragged Fubao from her warm bed to bring her along to the Han residence, with Bai Jie in tow. Bai Jie: “So I’m just an afterthought here?”

Arriving at the Han residence, they saw Han Hua standing outside with Bai Yulan. As soon as Madam Bai got out of the carriage, she scolded them—didn’t they know to take care of themselves instead of standing out in the cold wind?

“Grandma, I just missed you and couldn’t wait any longer!” Bai Yulan said, her sweet voice full of coquettish charm.

Han Hua thought to himself: No one ever talks to me like that. It’s so unfair!

Fubao and Bai Jie hopped out of the carriage. “Auntie!” When Fubao arrived, Bai Yulan was even happier. Unable to hug her herself, she motioned for Han Hua to come over, then planted a big kiss on Fubao. Bai Jie: “Am I invisible to you all?” Han Hua: Just thinking that, now that his wife had a child, his own standing in the family felt… so diminished. His heart was heavy.

“Yulan, how has my old friend been these past few days?” Madam Bai asked as her maid supported her and they walked slowly together.

“She hasn’t woken up at all—she’s been unconscious,” Bai Yulan replied.

“What did the doctor say?”

“They couldn’t find the cause.”

“……”

“Wow! What a thick fog!” Fubao suddenly exclaimed from Han Hua’s arms.