The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Anning and Xiao Yuan kept thinking about whether Aunt Anning was actually dead or not, and the next day, the two of them both got busy.

Anning found one of the old women who had come with her as part of her dowry to chat with, while Xiao Yuan went out to ask around about the Miao Mansion.

The old woman Anning called for had the surname Qian. She was of medium height, with a somewhat odd-looking face and very large eyes; when she stared, she looked a bit frightening.

Mrs. Qin was an honest sort, always doing more and saying less, and so had never been much trusted or used in the Miao Mansion; that was why Mrs. Miao picked her to accompany Anning as part of her dowry.

When Mrs. Qin came over, Anning was eating a bowl of shaved ice.

Seeing Mrs. Qin, she smiled and said, ”Bi Yu, bring a bowl of shaved ice for Mrs. Qin.”

Once Mrs. Qin sat down, Anning added, ”It’s so hot today; Mrs. Qin, you must’ve worked up quite a sweat coming all this way.”

Mrs. Qin hurriedly smiled. Her smile looked a bit forced, like it didn’t quite reach her eyes, which made it rather awkward to see: ”To answer Grandma, it is indeed quite hot.”

A moment later, Bi Yu brought over the shaved ice: ”Mrs. Qin, have a taste. This is a new idea Grandma just came up with.”

Mrs. Qin smiled along and said, ”Then I’ll be taking advantage of Grandma’s good things.”

After eating half a bowl of shaved ice, Anning started making small talk with Mrs. Qin: ”When did Mrs. Qin enter the Miao Mansion?”

Mrs. Qin thought for a moment, then counted on her fingers: ”To answer Grandma, it must be over twenty years since I was sold into the Miao Mansion. Back then my family was poor; they raised me until I was about ten and really couldn’t afford to feed me anymore. There were brothers at home too, so they found someone to sell me, and used the money so my parents and brothers could stay alive.”

”That has been quite a few years.” Anning smiled. ”I still remember that when I was little, Mrs. Qin would often slip me a piece of fruit. At that time we weren’t living in Wuyuan City yet; where was it again?”

Mrs. Qin laughed and said, ”In Jiangliu County.”

”Right, right, Jiangliu County. Just look at my memory.”

Anning clapped her hands, a look of sudden realization on her face: ”I still remember, the place we lived then wasn’t as big as the Miao Mansion now, but the weather there was a bit better than here. Outside my courtyard there was an apricot tree, and every spring the whole tree would be full of blossoms. It was truly beautiful.”

Mrs. Qin also recalled those days: ”It’s something, Grandma still remembers all that. That’s right, there really was an apricot tree in your courtyard back then. That apricot tree was planted when your aunt entered the household...”

”My aunt?”

Anning was stunned for a moment: ”I don’t even remember what my aunt looked like. Mrs. Qin, do you still remember?”

Mrs. Qin nodded quickly: ”I remember, I remember. Aunt Bai was truly beautiful. In all the years I’ve lived, I’ve seen quite a few beauties, but not one could compare to Aunt Bai. The day Aunt Bai entered the household, I caught one glimpse of her and was struck dumb, thinking to myself, could this be a fairy from the heavens?”

”My aunt’s surname was Bai?”

Anning asked, ”Where was my aunt’s family from? Did she have any family members? All these years, I’ve never heard that I have a maternal grandfather or grandmother, or uncles. Third Sister, Fifth Younger Sister, Sixth Younger Sister, they all have a mother’s family, but I alone don’t.”

”This...”

Mrs. Qin’s face showed a look of embarrassment.

Anning said to Chu Hong, Bi Yu, and the others, ”You all go out and amuse yourselves for a bit. I want to have a proper chat with Mrs. Qin.”

Once the maids had gone out, Anning asked Mrs. Qin, ”Mrs. Qin, is there something about my aunt that’s hard to talk about?”

Mrs. Qin quickly waved her hand: ”It’s not that there’s anything wrong with Aunt Bai; it’s about Mr. Miao. When Mr. Miao was young, he was really quite a rake, nothing like the upright and self-restrained man he is now. Back then, in Jiangliu County, he was tyrannical. I heard people say—though I don’t know if it’s true or not, it’s just what they say—that Aunt Bai was taken into the household by force by Mr. Miao. With looks like Aunt Bai’s, she naturally drew trouble... After Aunt Bai entered the household, she never gave Mr. Miao a good face. Later, when she was carrying Grandma, there was one time she even scratched Mr. Miao’s face. After that, Mr. Miao didn’t quite dare provoke Aunt Bai anymore, though he didn’t make things hard for her either. Once she gave birth to a girl, Aunt Bai fell ill and never really recovered; after struggling for more than half a year, she passed away. When Aunt Bai died, Mr. Miao cried terribly.”

”Is that how it was?”

Anning pondered for a moment: ”Where is my aunt buried? All these years I haven’t gone to pay my respects to her. When I have the time, I really should offer her a proper sacrifice.”

Mrs. Qin told her a place, and Anning kept it in mind.

After that, Anning chatted and laughed with Mrs. Qin for a while longer, then used the excuse of being tired to send Mrs. Qin away.

When Xiao Yuan came back that evening, Anning told him about this.

Xiao Yuan said with a smile, ”What a coincidence. I also found an old servant from the Miao Mansion. He used to serve Mr. Miao. I asked him about it, and indeed your aunt’s surname was Bai. According to him, she really was taken by force, and it seems there was even a death involved when Mr. Miao seized Aunt Bai. After Aunt Bai passed away, Mr. Miao forbade anyone from mentioning it again.”

Anning mused, ”I never expected such a thing. I had thought Mr. Miao was all right as a person—at least he seemed fairly honest and upright as an official. I didn’t think he’d done such disgraceful things.”

”We can keep asking around slowly about this; after all, it’s been so many years.”

Xiao Yuan took Anning’s hand to comfort her: ”In the next few days I’ll see if I can find out whether Aunt Bai still had any relatives.”

”All right.”

Anning nodded in agreement.

After asking around for several days in a row, Xiao Yuan still couldn’t find out who exactly Aunt Bai had been. Since he and Anning were also thinking of going to the Capital soon, they set the matter aside for the time being.

That day, Xiao Yuan spoke with the Old Madam and Mr. Wei about going to the Capital.

Both of them agreed, but when Xiao Yuan said he wanted to bring Anning along, the Old Madam was a bit displeased.

”If your wife goes with you, who’s going to manage the affairs of the household?”

Xiao Yuan acted spoiled with the Old Madam: ”Grandma, I can’t possibly go to the Capital all by myself, can I? From going to the Capital to coming back after I pass the exam next year, it’ll be almost a full year. It wouldn’t do for me to have no one to look after me.”

The Old Madam thought for a moment: ”I’ll pick a maid for you to take along.”

Xiao Yuan quickly waved his hands: ”Please don’t. I don’t want a restless household. Ningning has only been married into our family for such a short time, and if I arrange for a concubine now, wouldn’t that be like slapping her in the face? Besides, I want to have more legitimate sons. Grandma, I really don’t want our home to end up like the Miao Family, with a whole crowd of women in the inner courtyard and all that legitimate and illegitimate nonsense, until the whole household is in chaos. I still want a few years of peace and quiet.”

The Old Madam burst out laughing: ”All right then, have it your way, I’ll indulge you. I can still move around well enough. For this year, I’ll manage the household for you.”

”I’ll be troubling Grandma then.”

Xiao Yuan hurried to pound the Old Madam’s back and knead her shoulders: ”It’s all because this grandson is unfilial, making Grandma still worry for me. Once I win the top scorer and become a first-rank official in the future, I’ll definitely have an imperial decree of ennoblement granted for Grandma.”

The Old Madam was even more delighted: ”Good. I’ll make sure to live well and wait to become a Lady with a title.”

With this decided, Xiao Yuan and Anning started packing their luggage.

Just when the two of them had almost finished packing, Anning heard from the maids that one of Mr. Wei’s old friends from the Capital had arrived and would be staying at the house for the next few days.

As soon as she heard this, Anning urged Xiao Yuan to hurry to the Capital.

If they didn’t leave for the Capital now, then when Mr. Wei and Xin Lan fell into the river together and ended up clinging to each other, they wouldn’t be able to make it to the Capital City anymore.

The two of them hastily packed once more, then took a few necessary servants, got into the carriage, and hurriedly left Wuyuan City.