Zheng Shan took Qingbo to the home of his fifth uncle, Zheng Ling.

Zheng Ling was tending to the small vegetable garden in the backyard when he heard Zheng Shan coming. He quickly ran to the front yard and said, "Third Brother, why are you here? If you need anything, just send someone to call me over."

Zheng Shan and Zheng Ling are brothers. In their generation, there were about ten cousins, but now only Zheng Shan and Zheng Ling are left. Zheng Ling has great respect for Zheng Shan.

Zheng Shan asked, "Do you know about Yuan Ge's daughter-in-law coming back to worship the ancestors?"

Zheng Ling said, "I know, Qingchun told me about it. Qingchun said he has made all the arrangements."

Zheng Shan snorted coldly and said, "Arranged? What arrangements? Yuan Ge's daughter-in-law and Yuan Jie'er didn't even go inside the house."

Zheng Ling asked in surprise, "What kind of logic is that?"

Zheng Shan said, "Yuan Jie'er said that they were at the gate, but Zheng Da, who was in charge of guarding the house, had gone out with his family and did not open the gate for them."

Zheng Ling said, "Isn't Zheng Da someone who never leaves his ancestral home? Why is he suddenly going out like this?"

Zheng Shan said, "Come with me to Qingchun's house and have Qingchun go to the ancestral home to open the door."

Zheng Ling's expression was somewhat strange. He looked at Qing Bo, who was following behind Zheng Shan, and said, "Third Brother, may I have a word with you in private?"

Zheng Shan was pulled by the arm by Zheng Ling to a corner of the courtyard. Zheng Ling whispered, "Third Brother, this is a matter between the two branches of the Marquis's family. It's not good for us to get involved."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Shan glared at Zheng Ling and said, "Fifth Brother, do you know what I regret most in my life? My biggest regret is not following Second Brother all the way back then. Have you forgotten how Second Brother treated us? Let the two families fight as they please, but Yuan-ge is now Second Brother's descendant. Yuan-ge's wife is back, so we have to treat her well."

Zheng Ling said, "Third Brother, look at you, you still have the same temper, it just comes on like that. I didn't say I wouldn't care about Yuan-ge's daughter-in-law, I meant..."

Before Zheng Ling could finish speaking, Zheng Shan waved his arm and said, "Don't tell me. I know you took Qingchun's bribe. Remember this: there's no benefit in following those people. Go if you want, or don't. After lunch, I'll take Yuan's daughter-in-law to the cemetery to pay respects to our ancestors. I'm also going to open an ancestral hall and put Yuan's daughter-in-law's name in the family genealogy. I refuse to believe that we, who risked our lives for you so that you could live well, would have to suffer like this in the end."

Uncle Qing didn't hear what Zheng Ling said, but he did hear what Zheng Shan said. Uncle Qing went over, bowed, and said to Zheng Ling, "So that Fifth Master may know that our eldest young mistress comes from the Yongning Marquis's Mansion. She is the old lady of the Yongning Marquis's Mansion and the most beloved granddaughter of the Yongning Marquis. Before she left, the old lady repeatedly instructed that we must not wrong our eldest young mistress."

Zheng Shan and Zheng Ling looked at each other after hearing this. Zheng Ling said, "Aqing, then tell me, what should we do?"

Uncle Qing said, "The eldest young mistress came to the ancestral land for the purpose of ancestral worship and recording the family genealogy. The eldest young master is currently in Yuezhou. After the eldest young mistress has taken care of these two matters, she will head to Yuezhou. Third Master, Fifth Master, of our Pingxi Marquis's mansion, only the eldest young master is still serving in the army. We cannot let the eldest young mistress be disheartened because of this or that reason."

Xu Zhi had already discussed it with Qing Bo. As long as they could go to the ancestral graves to worship and register their names at the ancestral hall, it didn't really matter whether they entered the ancestral home or not. This matter was not something Xu Zhi could manage. She could send a letter to the capital, and someone would come and handle it.

Uncle Qing thought the same thing. Xu Zhi had just married into the family, and there was really no need for her to go against these people from the ancestral lands and ruin her reputation.

Zheng Ling was still hesitant. Zheng Shan looked at his younger brother and flicked his sleeve, saying, "If you won't go, I will. I don't believe that I, the oldest man in the family, would not give me this much face."

Seeing that his brother was getting angry, Zheng Ling quickly pulled him back and said, "Third brother, third brother, don't be anxious. Let's discuss this slowly."

Zheng Shan said, "Fifth brother, let's not even talk about the fact that Yuan's daughter-in-law is the descendant of the second brother. Just look at what Yuan is doing in Yuezhou right now. He's doing it to protect his home and country and to bring glory to our Zheng family. I think the Zheng family in Zhengjia Town has been living a comfortable life for too long and has forgotten how our ancestors risked their lives to make a living."

Zheng Shan spoke very loudly. The house next to Zheng Ling's was occupied by Zheng Qingchun, the patriarch of the Zheng clan. Zheng Ling was afraid of angering Zheng Qingchun because of this, so he quickly grabbed Zheng Shan's sleeve, wanting him to come inside and talk.

Zheng Shan was over seventy years old. His body had been injured on the battlefield years ago. He was emotional and had been shouting at the top of his lungs. He was panting heavily. Uncle Qing quickly stepped forward to support him. Zheng Shan coughed for a while and said, "I'm putting this out there. I'll open the ancestral hall this afternoon. If you want to go, you can be a witness. If you don't want to, I'll go by myself."

Before Zheng Ling could say anything more, Zheng Shan pushed his arm away and walked out, his back hunched.

Zheng Ling watched her brother's retreating figure, sighed, and turned back to the backyard.

Zheng Ling's wife, Li, was waiting at the second gate. When she saw Zheng Ling coming over, she quickly asked, "What does Third Brother mean?"

Zheng Ling said, "He's going to open an ancestral hall to register Yuan Ge's daughter-in-law's name."

Madam Li said in a low voice, "The Marquis's mansion sent someone to talk about this two days ago. Zheng Da's wife told me in secret that the letter said Zheng Da should take good care of Yuan Ge's wife. But all these years, it has been the stepmother who has been managing things on our side. Even Zheng Da was sent by the stepmother. Given the relationship between the stepmother and Yuan Ge, how can Zheng Da possibly take good care of Yuan Ge's wife?"

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