As soon as they entered the gate of the Chengen Duke's Mansion, someone came to greet them. The familiar face was the trusted maidservant of the Chengen Duke's wife. When she saw that Xu Yunyao and the Zhang couple were also by Li Shiyue's side, she made no attempt to hide her joy.

"Madam, Mr. Xu, Fourth Young Mistress, you've finally arrived. My mistress specifically instructed me to wait here, hoping you would come soon."

Upon seeing the Xu family, the trusted mother patted her thighs but couldn't help but speak. She glanced around and lowered her voice, saying, "Now that the three of you are here, there are some things that should be made clear beforehand."

"What a coincidence, we also have some questions we'd like to know. The Duke's mansion has always been very respectful, so why are they treating my daughter from the Xu family like this? Could there be some misunderstanding?"

Li Shiyue smiled slightly and looked at Zhang Shi beside her: "This is my fourth son's new wife, and also A Qing's sister-in-law. Since we are here today to make a decision for A Qing, let's come and recognize her together."

The trusted mother of the Duke of Cheng'en sighed, her voice lower than before: "These people are not from our Duke's mansion, but the family of the eldest master's aunt who came from their hometown a few days ago."

"They are all distant relatives of the Duke's mansion, and they haven't spent much time in the capital. Their aunts are the Duke's aunts, so the lady of the house wouldn't easily say anything about their seniority. They are also the kind of people who are prone to making trouble."

"There was really no other way, so Madam sent someone back to the Rongguo Duke's Mansion to find people to help her put on an act and also to support the Seventh Young Madam."

So that's how it is. Judging from this, Aunt Yang's seniority is indeed quite high. No wonder Madam Cheng'en or the Yang family are intentionally protecting Xu Lingqing and can't treat this distant relative arbitrarily.

Seeing Li Shiyue remain silent, the trusted confidante of the Duke of Chengen lowered her voice, looked at Xu Yunyao and his wife, and then at Li Shiyue: "Actually, the Duke of Chengen has already thought of a solution. All we need is for the young master's wife to help persuade her a few words today, so that Aunt Yang knows that the seventh young mistress has her family backing her up."

"If Aunt Yang is still alive in the future, the people of the Chengen Duke's Mansion will be able to say a few more words on behalf of the Seventh Young Mistress, and at least Aunt Yang will take them to heart."

After saying this, the trusted mother looked at the Xu family and a hint of embarrassment appeared on her face.

It wasn't that the Duke of Chengen's mansion didn't side with Xu Lingqing; it was just that this aunt was of a higher generation than the Duke of Chengen, and she wouldn't listen to anything others said. There was really no other way, so the Duke of Chengen's wife sent someone to the Duke of Rong's mansion to ask for help.

Upon entering the main hall, they found only the Duchess of Cheng'en and an old woman present.

"Oh, is this someone from Qilang's bride's family? If they hadn't come by now, we would have had to ask them to check if they had gotten lost on the way."

As soon as Li Shiyue entered the flower hall, she heard the old woman beside the Duchess of Chengen speaking, her tone slightly unsettling.

Looking up, the old woman's white hair was neatly combed, and a pair of red gold hairpins with eight treasures on them exuded wealth. She also wore a red gold necklace around her neck, which looked quite heavy.

He was indeed quite old, leaning on a cane, his back hunched as he sat in the chair, and he was shorter than the Lady of Cheng'en beside him.

His gaze fell on the Xu family members who had entered, and after looking at Li Shiyue for a while, he looked at Xu Yunyao and Zhang Shi who had walked in from the other side.

When Aunt Yang looked at Xu Yunyao, her eyes seemed to show surprise, and a hint of admiration flashed across them as she carefully examined him. However, when her gaze fell on Zhang Shi beside Xu Yunyao, her eyes were critical as she looked her over from side to side, and when she looked away, her lips pursed.

Li Shiyue withdrew her gaze, secretly amused. This Aunt Yang was actually judging people by their status, just like the old women in the manor who often talked about favoring boys over girls.

Upon seeing a young man, she feels an immediate attraction. But upon seeing a young woman, she scrutinizes her closely, determined to find fault with her.

"Yan Yan is here! Come quickly, let me introduce you. This is the wife of the heir of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, who is also the Princess of Yichang County, personally bestowed by the Emperor. These two are Xu Silang and his bride, Zhang, from the Rongguo Duke's Mansion."

Lady Cheng'en looked apologetically at Li Shiyue and the other two, and then introduced herself with a smile.

"This young man is quite handsome, but his skin is a bit dark, which shows that he is someone who is away from home most of the time."

Aunt Yang looked at Xu Yunyao with a smile, completely ignoring what the Lady of Chengen had said.

Without even glancing at the unnatural expression on Madam Chengen's face, Aunt Yang even gave Madam Chengen a faint glance, regardless of who was present, and her tone was not very friendly.

"Tell me, why don't you save such a young man for your own daughter and make others wait first? Although you gave birth to a useless little girl, this huge Duke's mansion will belong to our Ninth Brother in the future. As siblings, your daughter's marriage will naturally be helped by Ninth Brother."

"You, you're supposed to be Jiulang's mother, how come you never think about Jiulang in everything you do?"

Aunt Yang seemed still not satisfied as she spoke, gritting her teeth and pointing her finger at Madam Chengen a few times, as if she was angered by Madam Chengen's "lack of ambition".

Li Shiyue sat leisurely on the wooden chair, picked up the teacup offered by the maid, and took a leisurely sip, seemingly unperturbed by Aunt Yang's neglect.

However, Aunt Yang noticed Li Shiyue's actions, frowned, and spoke in an even more unfriendly tone, adopting the air of an elder. Pointing at Li Shiyue, she said sternly, "You are the wife of the heir of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion. I've heard that the heir of the Xu family is upright and virtuous, but is his new wife so unruly?"

"When she arrived at someone's house as a guest, she dared to sit down by herself, which shows that she was like a country woman."

Lady Cheng'en felt dizzy upon hearing this, but fortunately, she was supported by her trusted mother.

Li Shiyue raised her head, glanced at Aunt Yang with a slight upward tilt of her eye, slowly put down her teacup, and then wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief.

“You are the maternal aunt of the Duke of Chengen. Since I am Aqing’s sister-in-law, and Aqing is Yang Yan’s new wife, I will call you ‘Grandma’ like Aqing does.”

"I heard that Aunt Yang came from the Yang family's ancestral home, from the branch of the eldest patriarch's family. You are the elder, so who are you going to teach us according to the rules? We are not from the Cheng'en Duke's Mansion, and you can't say anything about our Rongguo Duke's Mansion."

"Moreover, I am the wife of the heir of the Duke of Rongguo and a county princess personally appointed by the emperor. Even the wife of the Duke of Chengen treats me with great respect. To put it bluntly, Aunt Yang, I respect you as an elder, but please don't take it as an excuse to criticize my Duke of Rongguo's mansion."

"Si Lang and his new wife are newlyweds, and they are very much in love. You mentioned my Xu family's son's marriage in front of us, and the Rongguo Duke's Mansion did not pursue the matter. You should thank the Cheng'en Duke's wife for saving you here."