After the wedding banquet ended, the Chen family left in a hurry.

Back in the compound,

After Lin Ziyan took off her wedding dress, her grandmother came to the new house, put new quilts on their bed, and also placed red dates, peanuts, and other things there.

When she yawned again, her grandmother glanced at her and smiled faintly.

"It seems I'll have to go to the temple with Grandma Lan to fulfill my vow when I get back to Fu City."

Lin Ziyan leaned back on the sofa in the room and asked suspiciously,

"What vow are you fulfilling?"

"I wish for a child." Lin Atai took out a sachet from her cloth bag and handed it to her.

Lin Ziyan smelled a faint fragrance, and her drowsiness dissipated. She blinked and came back to her senses. Grandma had just said she wanted a child.

"Grandma, how did you know?" she murmured, holding her grandma's arm.

"When your mother was pregnant with you, she was also very sleepy and never vomited from pregnancy to delivery." The great-grandmother gently stroked her hair, her tone filled with nostalgia.

Lin Ziyan paused for a few seconds, rubbing the Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist, lost in thought.

She always felt that her great-grandmother knew everything.

When Atai talked about her childhood, Lin Ziyan felt a sense of déjà vu and familiarity.

Sometimes she couldn't even tell whether she had actually experienced those things.

"Go to sleep if you want. I'll go back to the village with Jiaojiao and the others tomorrow. It's fine if you go back to Fushi a few days later," Atai said calmly.

This trip to Beijing may be the last time she ever comes here in her life.

She visited almost all the temples she was supposed to go to and the places she used to frequent.

She has nothing to regret.

Things have changed. Places that were once off-limits by imperial decree can now be entered simply by buying a ticket.

White snow, red walls, a sky on all sides, and blooming red plum blossoms—everything seems unchanged, yet everything seems different.

"Grandma, we're going back tomorrow too. The factory renovation can't wait any longer," Lin Ziyan said with a faint smile.

Grandma patted the back of her hand, her eyes crinkling with laughter, but she didn't seem to care that her wrinkles had deepened.

…

On the other side,

After paying her respects to her brother, Mu Fang donated almost all of the Mu family's antiques to the National Museum.

The Mu family's ancestral home was also replaced with a large courtyard house.

The location is right near the ancestral home, very close to the courtyard house that Lu Yunshen bought to live in, it's right next door.

Today, Mu Fang and Song Yi went back to the Song family home for dinner.

"If I had known they would process the paperwork so quickly, I would have gone to Ayan's wedding banquet." Fang Jie gently stroked her pregnant belly, a soft smile appearing in her eyes.

Song Yi gently put his arm around her, watching her feet carefully, afraid that she might fall.

"I heard that a very important person came to the Lu family's banquet today, and he's there because of Lin Atai," he said in a low voice.

The Song family's residence was a slightly spacious courtyard house.

The courtyard has three sections, with red plum blossoms in full bloom and snowflakes piled on the glazed tiles, occasionally blown away by the wind and dancing in the air.

Fangjie glanced at the flowers and trees in the yard, her eyes flashing, and thought to herself, no wonder Song Zhenzhen is so domineering and arrogant.

So the Song family has now become a new "powerful family"?

She scoffed inwardly. This kind of courtyard wasn't inherited; how could it call itself a prestigious family? Probably only Song Zhenzhen thought so.

The Beijing elite circle isn't that big, but it's not small either; it's definitely exclusive.

Even if the Mu family has declined, they are still recognized in Beijing's elite circles. That's the foundation of a prestigious family, something that money can't buy.

"Don't you find it strange?" Song Yi waited a moment before continuing.

Mu Fang shook her head and said calmly, "You've seen the wedding dress that your grandmother sewed. Haven't you ever wondered why the Lin family, with such craftsmanship, has been able to stand strong and never fall?"

"The Mu family is a prominent family, but compared to the Lin family, they are nothing."

Song Yi suddenly looked at her, so Mu Fang had already figured it out, which is why she had always maintained good relations with the Lin family.

Mu Fang rolled her eyes at him. "When I met Ayan, I didn't know her great-grandmother. The connection between people can't be calculated."

The two entered the innermost hall and saw Song Yi's father and mother sitting in the main seats, their expressions solemn.

Song Zhenzhen sat to the side, watching the spectacle with obvious schadenfreude.

"You donated the Mu family's ancestral home and all their antiques?" Song's father spoke first, his voice filled with anger.

Mu Fang walked to the side and sat down on her own. Her coming to the Song family did not mean she had to bear their anger.

If it weren't for Song Yi, she would have no connection with the Song family at all.

If you really think about it carefully, Song Yi's grandfather should call her father "Master".

"Why aren't you answering?" Song's mother couldn't help but raise her voice.

Song Yi's face instantly darkened. If he had known they would treat him this way, he would never have brought Mu Fang back.

He pressed down on Mu Fang's hand and said coldly, "Are you questioning my wife now?"

"Who gave you the audacity to covet the Mu family's possessions?"

Their anger flared up instantly after their son's retort.

Song Zhenzhen couldn't bear to see her parents being talked down. "Mu Fang, do you have any manners? It's one thing to not answer your elders' questions, but you even encouraged my brother to talk back to our parents."

"As expected, she was born of a mother but had no father to teach her..."

"Slap, slap!" Mu Fang suddenly stood up and slapped Song Zhenzhen twice.

Song Yi stopped his sister from fighting back.

"I don't need the consent of unrelated people to handle the Mu family's affairs. My manners are only for those who are well-mannered; after all, not everyone is worthy of such treatment." Mu Fang said calmly, a smile playing on her lips as she looked at the two people sitting in the main seats.

Song Zhenzhen screamed, "You vixen, you seduced my brother and you still dare to hit me! I'll tear your fake face off..."

Song Yi stopped her, glancing coldly at his parents with a gloomy look in his eyes.

I don't need to come back to this house anymore.

What kind of opera family is this? It's just a pretty package; the inside is already infested with maggots.

He turned and left with Mu Fang, his heart filled with overwhelming disappointment, but his expression remained indifferent.

"If you leave today, don't blame the Song family for not acknowledging your children in the future. If we don't acknowledge them, your children won't even be able to be listed in the family genealogy," Song's father threatened.

Mu Fang stopped in her tracks. "Song Yi, you don't mind putting the child in the Mu family's genealogy, do you?"

"Of course I don't mind. The child will be surnamed Mu after he is born." Song Yi's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for everyone in the main room to hear clearly.

Before the other three could react, Song Yi took Mu Fang's hand and left.

The two walked out of the Song family's gate, simultaneously letting out a sigh of relief and exchanging a smile.

"Looks like I made the right choice coming today," Mu Fang said with a smile.

Song Yi smiled and nodded.

The two of them had long wanted to avoid getting too involved with the Song family, and it was good that things were cleared up today.

Both of their careers were based in Fuzhou, and they wouldn't be returning to Beijing often, so the chances of them running into each other were very low.

When Song Yi chose to marry Mu Fang, he was prepared to leave the Song family.

His father also had illegitimate children, but he had kept it a secret until now.

The Song family only appears prosperous on the surface; in reality, they have almost completely squandered their wealth.

They wanted him to come back, but only so he could continue acting to support his family; they each had their own selfish motives.

"We're going back to Fuzhou tomorrow, it's too cold here." Mu Fang put on her scarf and suddenly longed to hear the sound of the waves.