Chapter 135: The More One Tries to Cut It Off, the More Tangled It Becomes

As soon as I finished speaking, the old lady stood up from her chair. The atmosphere turned instantly tense with her movement. The people she had brought with her swarmed toward me. Fatty stood there looking awkward, while my older brother quietly stepped forward, positioning himself between me, Han Xue, and the crowd.

"Stand down, all of you. No matter how unpleasant his words may be, he is still my grandson," the old lady said just as I thought a fight was about to break out. "Forget it. It seems I am not welcome here. You may stand up as well; if you continue to kneel, these two sons of yours will risk their lives to fight me. Come, let us go offer some incense to Old Ye and reminisce."

She carried the cat into the main room, and my mother followed. Once they were inside, the old lady shut the door, effectively locking the rest of us out.

That old lady carried an aura of stern, cold femininity. Once she left, not only did we feel a sense of relief, but even that eccentric girl let out a sigh. She gave me a bright smile, then extended a slender, porcelain-like hand toward Han Xue. "Protecting him so fiercely—you must be his girlfriend, right? Don't be jealous, sister-in-law. As you can see, I am his cousin. Things are different now; marrying between cousins isn't common, and besides, the law doesn't allow marriage between relatives within three generations."

The girl spoke as if she were missing a few screws. What kind of logic was that? Nevertheless, Han Xue shook her hand. The girl immediately gripped Han Xue’s hand and said, "Sister-in-law, your skin is so fair! What kind of cosmetics do you use?"

Even though the girl seemed a bit scatterbrained, calling Han Xue "sister-in-law" was spot on. I didn't have time to deal with her, so I beckoned Fatty over. As he approached, I lowered my voice and asked, "Fatty, what’s going on here? What’s the deal with this old lady?"

"You're asking me? I want to ask you!" Fatty replied, equally bewildered. "In Tianjin, people call that old lady 'The Empress Dowager.' I don't know what kind of business her family runs, but they are incredibly mysterious. Rumor has it that the old man in her family who rarely comes out was an imperial remnant who lived in the Forbidden City back in the day. How on earth did this woman become your grandmother?"

"How would I know?" I asked. "Fatty, have you offended her before?"

Fatty’s face flushed slightly. "I wouldn't call it an offense. A friend introduced me to her once, and I made a slip of the tongue, addressing her as 'sir' instead of 'ma'am.' Who knew she was so petty and short-tempered?"

"And then what happened?" I asked, finding it hard not to laugh at his defeated expression. It made sense that only such an old lady could make Fatty suffer in silence.

"The result was that this 'Fatty' nearly had his 'heavenly lamp' lit by her," interjected the young girl, who had been chatting with Han Xue. "If it weren't for the fact that his master had some history with her, he would have ended up like Dong Zhuo."

"That was me letting her win! Do you think I'd actually fight a little old lady?" Fatty retorted, neck reddening.

"You're bragging without fear of breaking your neck, aren't you?" the girl teased, sticking out her tongue. "Didn't you try to fight her that day? She only used thirty percent of her strength and nearly beat you into a pig's head."

Fatty glared at her. "You don't hit a man in the face! Didn't your family teach you that?"

Ignoring him, I beckoned the girl. "Cousin, right? Come here, I have a question for you."

She pouted. "If you want to ask, just ask. Why take advantage of me? I've accepted the sister-in-law, but I never said I accepted you as my cousin."

"Fine, I was wrong. Oh, great hero, please just explain to me what is going on here," I said, cupping my hands in a mock salute.

"That's more like it," she said with a smug look. She moved closer, gestured for Fatty and me to lean in, and whispered mysteriously, "I don't know the full story, but it seems that when my grandmother was young, she was in love with Old Grandpa Ye, but he didn't like her back. In a fit of rage, she married my real grandfather. Later, she made a bet with Old Grandpa Ye. I don't know the details, but it was something about him having to marry her if she won. But then my aunt married my uncle, and the bet was forgotten. Because of that, Grandma held a grudge against my aunt her whole life."

"Holy crap!" Fatty shouted.

I echoed his sentiment. I was stunned and found the whole situation both incredible and hilarious. "If I were my grandfather, I wouldn't have wanted her either. Look at her temper—who could put up with that?"

"Shh! If she hears you say that, I bet she’ll skin you alive!" the girl whispered, startled.

"The world is full of wonders," Fatty laughed, unable to contain himself. "Who would have thought there was such a history between her and your grandfather? So that’s what she meant by 'paying the debt for my mother'? But I’m curious, your grandfather was a man of status in the Beijing-Tianjin circle; how could he stand her acting like that? If your aunt hadn't married the guy she did, would your grandmother have really remarried Old Grandpa Ye?"

The girl giggled. "It’s a well-known fact in the Beijing-Tianjin circle that my grandfather doesn't even dare to breathe loudly in front of her."

I shook my head, feeling the situation was hopelessly tangled. It was bizarre to think that in his youth, my grandfather had been the object of such obsession from such a "spicy" woman. "Little girl," I asked, "was it her black cat that was coming around here the last few nights? What is she trying to do?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, but Grandma seems very angry. Especially these past few days, she’s been restless. She has a bad temper, but she’s old now, and I’ve never seen anyone make her this angry. Besides, no one dares to provoke her anymore. My grandfather used to be able to calm her down, but this time, the more he tried, the angrier she got, so she dragged us all here."

Just then, the main room door opened. The old lady stepped out with a grim expression. She glared at the girl, who stuck her tongue out at me and ran to her grandmother's side, calling out "Grandma" in a coaxing tone.

My mother followed her out, her face still looking grim. I had been prepared to turn against the old lady if she blamed my mother, but after hearing the girl's story, I didn't know what to say.

This old lady was my grandmother. And yet, she had almost become my grandfather's wife? I felt like I wanted to charge into the Twelve Ghost Caves and drag my grandfather out to face this. I wondered how his usually stoic face would react to this woman.

The old lady spoke up. "Mother and daughter have met. I suppose you two grandsons don't like me, and you certainly don't want to acknowledge me. That’s fine, because I don't want to acknowledge you either. At least the old man had a conscience and knew to wait for me. I can't be bothered to settle old scores with him now. Let's go. Proceed with the funeral; consider it my final farewell to him."

It seemed the incense Fatty had lit for my grandfather, which suggested he was waiting for a guest from the north, had referred to this old lady. It felt all the more absurd.

Since things were as they were, and it was indeed time for the funeral, I reached for my phone to call Chen Qingshan for help. Suddenly, my brother pressed his hand down on mine. "Old lady, you're quite old. Isn't it shameful to steal?"

"Brother, you can't be serious?" I was stunned. Would this "Empress Dowager" really steal something from our living room?

Unexpectedly, the old lady’s expression shifted instantly. She gestured and commanded, "Do it!"

With that, she hurried away, supported by the girl, while the people she brought surrounded us. My brother charged forward immediately.

With my brother's skills, those dozen men were no match for him; they fell within a single exchange. By the time he had cleared them, the old lady had reached the door. She stopped, looked back at my brother with a dark expression, and said, "There are some things you should not interfere with!"