Zhou Liang, who was standing aside, silently watched the mother and daughter hugging and crying in front of him, and his eyes couldn't help but become moist.

He slowly opened his arms, took them in, and said in a muffled voice with a slight sob: "Okay, stop crying, we are a family and no one can live without each other!"

After a long while, Mrs. Zhou finally stopped crying. She gently pushed Zhou Jingyao, who was crying and snotting, away from her arms, smiled, and gently wiped the tears from her face. Then, she smiled and instructed:

"Jingyao, be good. Look, you've cried like a cat. Go back to your yard and clean up. Mother has something important to tell your father."

Zhou Jingyao nodded reluctantly. She knew what her mother was going to talk to her father about, but she was still a little worried. She left the room looking back every few steps.

As the door was gently closed, the originally warm and touching atmosphere in the room suddenly became solemn and depressing, and the atmosphere instantly fell into silence.

Coming back to his senses, Zhou Liang looked at Mrs. Zhou's eyes and felt uneasy at the moment, thinking about everything that had just happened.

He finally recovered from his shock. When he thought about how it was all Jiang Mianmian who caused the trouble, he couldn't help but curse inwardly: This woman is simply a lunatic! She actually caused their relationship to become like this.

If anything happened to his wife, or if anything went wrong between the two of them, he swore that he would never let their mansion off easily.

"I can explain this." General Zhou Liang turned to look at Madam Zhou, and with a feeling of uneasiness in his heart, he stumbled and began to explain:

"Ma'am, I really didn't mean to hide this from you!"

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Liang calmed down a little and continued:

"Back then, my eldest brother and Bai Rui eloped, disregarding etiquette. The family was thrown into chaos. But not long after, I learned that they had met with misfortune.

On a later outing, the two encountered a group of vicious bandits and ultimately lost their lives. Only a newborn Jingyao survived, and a loyal servant risked his life to deliver her to me."

At this point, Zhou Liang's eyes reddened and his voice became choked:

"As for me, faced with such a sudden change, I was really at a loss. Especially regarding my eldest brother's past, I didn't know how to tell you.

Did you know? My eldest brother and I were originally twins, but our destinies were completely different from the moment we were born. That's because a stinking Taoist priest who appeared out of nowhere made up a story that my eldest brother was destined to bring misfortune upon his relatives.

So, without further ado, my grandmother sent my eldest brother to a remote farm and strictly forbade anyone in the family to get close to him."

After a pause, Zhou Liang continued, "So, my eldest brother lived a lonely life on that farm until my grandmother passed away. Only then did my parents have the courage to bring him back home.

However, what the whole family didn't expect was that when the eldest brother stepped back into the house, his eyes were filled with deep hatred towards his parents and everyone in the family. Seeing this, his parents were worried that the eldest brother would do something extreme.

After much thought, I feel that the only way to calm his anger and help him understand the difficulties his parents face is to find peace.

At that time, my parents had no idea that he already had a woman in his heart. At that time, the late emperor was suspicious and wary of our Zhenbei General's Mansion.

After careful consideration, my parents felt that only through a marriage with the loyal Wei family could the late emperor's suspicions about the general's mansion be alleviated. The late emperor himself had agreed to this marriage.

Who could have expected that something unexpected would happen. On the day before the wedding, the eldest brother actually wanted to elope with Bai Rui!

My eldest brother was sent away by my grandmother because I was a self-respecting person. This made me feel deeply guilty towards him, and I finally decided to let them go. After all, my eldest brother was with the woman he loved, and I... I really couldn't bear to separate them.

However, with my eldest brother gone, a problem arises. If I don't step forward and marry you on my eldest brother's behalf, I'm afraid the late emperor will never let go of the 280 lives of our general's mansion!"

"But under the circumstances at the time, our General's Mansion really had no other choice! How could I watch my parents and everyone else in the old mansion die in vain..."

Zhou Liang expressed his difficulties with a helpless look on his face.