"Remember."

Li Shiyue nodded. How could she not remember? When the Earl of Yunyang entered the capital earlier, he was tricked by the commoner Qin Ying into experiencing the prison of the Jingzhao Prefecture.

"Wasn't this done by Qin Ying, a commoner? Why is it being brought up again?"

Xu Yunyao shook his head, sighed softly, and looked up with a complicated look in his eyes: "I'm afraid it's not that simple. The Xie family may not be loyal to the commoner Qin Ying, but to the King of Zhao."

"This man is cunning and unpredictable. If it were you, I'm afraid you would suffer. But we don't know what King Zhao is thinking yet. Try to get away from him if you see him in the future."

What could he possibly be thinking? Either he wanted to be a wealthy prince, or he wanted to compete for a position in the Chonghua Palace.

Li Shiyue nodded thoughtfully. To be honest, after marrying Xu Yunyang in her previous life, she had no idea what the outside world was like.

Not to mention what Prince Zhao would do in the end, she only knew that when she breathed her last, the Rongguo Duke's Mansion was still very prosperous, and Prince Zhao should not have posed any threat to Chonghua Palace.

But she didn't say anything, after all, given Xu Yunci's cunning, it was better to be cautious. If something happened to Chonghua Palace, the Rongguo Duke's Mansion would be the first to fall.

In the days that followed, Li Shiyue mainly spent her time embroidering her wedding dress at Chengyu Pavilion, and also went to Shousong Hall and the main courtyard. The rest of her time was devoted to her wedding dress.

The weather was exceptionally cool after the start of autumn. After two autumn rains, it was only warm at noon.

When Li Shiyue went out in the early morning, she did not notice that there was a temperature difference between the outside and the inside of the house until she arrived at Shousong Hall.

Old Madam Xu was recuperating, and ever since Wei Yujie was brought in, Wei Shi had become even less inclined to go out. She was listless and spent her days embroidering in the courtyard.

Wei Yujie initially tried to leave, but was pulled back. There was some commotion, but concubines still had to follow the rules, and besides, Madam Wei completely ignored her.

"I heard my grandmother laughing even before I came in. I wonder what she was saying that made her so happy."

Li Shiyue removed her cloak and walked in, curtsying to Madam Yang and Madam Zhou, and said, "Greetings, my two maternal aunts."

Zhou got up and made room for Old Madam Xu at the edge of her bed. She walked to Yang's side and sat on the round stool that the maid had brought.

"I was just talking about you, and here you are."

Li Shiyue's eyes lit up, and she walked up to Madam Xu with a smile: "What are you saying about me? You don't mean I haven't come to keep you company these past few days, do you?"

Madam Xu shook her head slightly, feigning displeasure: "Yes, you're absolutely right. These past few days, you've been embroidering your wedding dress so much that I think you've gone crazy from it all; you don't even want to go out anymore."

Li Shiyue smiled and took Old Madam Xu's hand, her eyes filled with a hint of flattery. She softened her tone with a smile and said, "Oh, Grandmother, it was you who told me to hurry up and embroider my wedding dress so I could show it to you."

"It's not that I didn't want to come and keep you company, it's just that the autumn rain blocked my way. Now that the weather is sunny, I rushed over to apologize to you."

Madam Xu wasn't really angry. She raised her hand and pinched the tip of her nose, unable to suppress a smile: "Little brat, you're so good with words."

Li Shiyue smiled and didn't hide. Today she was wearing a lilac-colored jacket with dark patterns, and underneath was a silver-white skirt with dark patterns.

A pale yellow ribbon was tied around her neck, from which hung a jade pendant. As she raised her hand, she would occasionally brush it against the jade pendant.

"I can't come empty-handed to apologize to you. The fruit cake is still warm, please have a taste."

As she spoke, she used silver chopsticks to pick up the fruit cake on top and placed it on a plate. It was Madam Xu's favorite hawthorn, sweet and sour, quite different from the ones you buy.

After eating one piece, Madam Xu waved her hand and did not eat any more.

Li Shiyue put down what she was holding, picked up a handkerchief and wiped the mouth of Old Madam Xu: "It tastes fine to me, how about you? The imperial physician said that you can't eat too much sour food, so I added some honey to it, it's not very sweet."

Sitting to one side, Madam Zhou watched Old Madam Xu and Li Shiyue being intimate, not surprised at all. What surprised her was Madam Yang's calm expression, as if she was used to it.

Madam Xu nodded: "It tastes good. The herbal medicine is sour and bitter, but a bite of fruit cake is just right."

Li Shiyue's smile deepened, clearly she was extremely happy.

Looking at the upturned corners of Madam Xu's mouth, Madam Yang spoke up at the right time: "As for Sanlang's marriage... Mother knows that the women in the capital are always picky, not to mention that Sanlang has already taken a concubine before even marrying a bride."

"Some families have heard that Sanlang's concubine is his cousin from his maternal uncle's side, and the family is not very willing to accept it."

Madam Xu was not surprised. After all, there was a bond between cousins. If Madam Wei, as the mother-in-law, did not side with her, wouldn't she be asking for trouble?

But we can't stop Sanlang from marrying a new bride because of this. Madam Xu looked at him with a deep gaze and raised her eyebrows slightly, saying, "A concubine is just a concubine after all. If Sanlang is not happy, just give him a dose of medicine."

"Before the bride of the third son gives birth to the eldest son, the woman in Chun Jin Xuan is not allowed to stop taking her medicine. If the bride of the third son enters the family in the future and gives birth to the eldest son, and she is fortunate enough to give birth to a son who is still a girl, she must also be sent to the bride of the third son's courtyard to be raised."

“If the concubines are allowed to give birth freely, the third branch of the family will truly have no manners whatsoever. After some time, I will step in, and you don’t need to interfere. After all, this is not the eldest branch’s inner quarters, and it wouldn’t be right for you to take charge of your uncles’ courtyards.”

Madam Yang nodded; this was exactly what she had in mind. If she were to take charge of the trivial matters of the third branch of the household, not to mention what Xu Huaiting and Madam Wei would think, the Duke's mansion would become a laughing stock in the eyes of outsiders.

If Madam Wei were to harbor resentment towards her, that would be a different matter entirely. But with Old Madam Xu intervening, neither Madam Wei nor Xu Huaiting would dare to contradict her.

Ever since Madam Xu reprimanded Wei, she has become even more withdrawn and has lost her former warmth towards her maternal family, let alone Wei Yujie of Chun Jin Xuan.

Wei Yujie wanted to get close to the Wei family, hoping to use their influence to secure her position.

However, Madam Wei saw through the Wei family's intentions. In addition, Xu Yunbo had said when he left the mansion that he hadn't actually drunk much that day, but he felt dizzy and then felt someone come to help him.

She was in a daze, and when she came to, the room was in a mess, Wei Shi was crying and wailing, and Wei Yujie was crying with her clothes disheveled.

Xu Yunbo couldn't remember what had happened at all. He had been in the military camp before, and the feeling was like the sleeping potion that the military doctor used on him after he was injured.

He shared these thoughts with Madam Wei and Xu Yunci. In addition, Madam Xu spoke bluntly, making Madam Wei even more convinced that Wei Yujie had ulterior motives and had delayed Xu Yunbo's marriage to a noblewoman. She gave Chun Jinxuan no kind look at all.

Madam Zhou said with a smile, "Third Brother is ambitious. He wants to find a job under General Cheng. He can marry a new wife after he has achieved success. Fortunately, Fourth Brother is clear-headed and thinks the same way as Third Brother."