Li Shiyue could not hide her shock; she had no idea that her mother and the official had such a past.
"The Emperor is the legitimate son of Empress Mingyu. My mother was raised by Empress Mingyu's side. Did she not have feelings for the Emperor?"
Madam Xu shook her head: "Love between men and women is not as simple as just falling in love. Your mother knew this very well. In that situation, if she had nodded, and the emperor had obtained the imperial decree, she would have become the Crown Prince's concubine."
"The Crown Prince's concubine is still of noble birth and can be a concubine. I would rather be a commoner's wife than a royal concubine. Besides, once we enter the imperial city, what kind of fighting will take place there? Isn't that another battlefield? Your mother can't be sure if she will stay true to herself, and the Xu family doesn't need to use your daughter to fight for anything."
Madam Xu said earnestly, "Yuan Niang's situation was unavoidable, but it also shows that the Emperor recognizes the Xu family's loyalty and ability. Fortunately, the Emperor trusts her and His Highness respects her, so Yuan Niang's life has been much smoother than others."
"Jiaojiao, remember, what is easily obtained is far less valuable than what you earn through hard work. In this world, you must understand your own heart and use your heart to discern the sweet words and flattery."
"Even though the Xu family is not as prosperous as it was during your maternal grandfather's time, things always turn around. The eldest son is already the crown prince's father-in-law, and the second son became the top scholar in the imperial examination before he even reached adulthood, and has risen to his current position."
"The Xu family has fallen behind most of the noble families in the capital. A single family dominating the market is not a situation that the emperor wants to see. That's why I said that when the young men and women in the family are betrothed in the future, we will only consider their character and intentions, and their family background will be secondary. Your maternal grandmother hopes that you will do the same. I don't ask that your husband be rich and powerful, but that he can keep you safe and happy."
Li Shiyue's eyes were red-rimmed. She bent down and rested her head on Old Madam Xu's lap, pressing her cheek against Old Madam Xu's warm palm: "Okay, I'll listen to Grandmother."
Suddenly, she chuckled and said in a soft voice, "I don't want to be far away from my grandmother. I want to be close to her. I'll come over every day and stick to you. I just hope you won't find me annoying."
"That won't do. If you keep bothering me every day, I'll kick you out." Old Madam Xu pretended to be serious, but her eyes were full of doting affection. She didn't sound so harsh at all.
Li Shiyue rested her head on Old Madam Xu's lap, feeling a unique kind of emotion. In her previous life, she had been terrified by Meng Zhuo, and after entering the manor, she had been targeted by Xu Lingwan time and again. She was also sullen and didn't like to talk to people.
At first, Madam Xu doted on her, but after seeing her so taciturn nature so often, she found it even harder to bear it. As she grew older, this worry and anxiety eventually led to her becoming bedridden, with few moments of lucidity.
Later, she listened to Xu Yunyang's sweet words and stepped into a den of wolves, where she suffered endless torment and died without ever seeing Old Madam Xu again.
Thinking of this, Li Shiyue's tears fell again in a steady stream.
Little did they know that a young man had stopped in the corridor at some point. Granny Chang did not dare to make a sound, and Xu Yunci listened with his hands behind his back for an unknown amount of time.
My little cousin has a lot of tears now, which is unusual compared to last night.
Xu Yunci withdrew his gaze and lowered his voice: "I won't go in. I'll tell Grandmother that I'll come back later."
After saying that, he glanced inside the room and walked away from Shousong Hall.
He placed one hand in front of him, touching the jade thumb ring on his wrist. His face was cool and handsome, but his mind was filled with the image of the crying little girl in Shousongtang just now, her tears falling like raindrops, so pitiful.
He was saying some harsh things to the maid last night.
A barely perceptible smile played on Xu Yunci's lips; he seemed to have gained a new understanding of his little cousin.
"Chang Shun, do you think even a docile cat can have two faces?"
Chang Shun looked up and thought his young master's question was a bit nonsensical. A thought suddenly struck him, and remembering what he had seen last night and just now, he shamelessly guessed that his young master probably wasn't talking about a cat.
"To put it simply, this is quite normal."
Xu Yunci slightly raised his eyelids: "Normal?"
Chang Shun nodded: "That's right. Think about it, my lord, cats are docile because they feel good in their owner's arms, but there's good and bad in everything. If they are always docile, it's just encouraging bad people, which is not the best policy."
"Go on," Xu Yunci said, looking ahead and listening thoughtfully to Chang Shun's words.
Chang Shun chuckled and said, "But if you hold a grudge all the time, even a docile cat will lose its true nature and become no different from a bad person. Bad people will be punished for their mistakes, and even a docile cat will remember not to show its sharp claws to those close to it, as long as it reveals them."
Actually, what the young master was talking about wasn't the cat at all; it was clearly about the matter between his cousin and the tenth young lady. Last night, he accompanied the young master to the ancestral hall, only to bump into his cousin returning from there with Chunling.
As luck would have it, they overheard the conversation between the young lady and Chunling.
Xu Yunci glanced at Chang Shun but didn't say anything. How could he not know what Chang Shun was thinking?
He chuckled inwardly. He was simply surprised; what he heard with his own ears seemed somewhat different from what he had initially seen. He had thought his little cousin was gentle, but today she was clearly a wolf cub in sheep's clothing.
However, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. In the face of injustice, blind meekness wouldn't get you what you want. In the Yunyang Marquis's household, if his little cousin were truly weak, her survival over the years would have been questionable.
Chang Shun asked, "Have the arrangements at the military camp been made, Fourth Master..."
Xu Yunci didn't even raise his eyelids, looking straight ahead: "Let's do it tomorrow."
Chang Shun responded with an "Ah," silently praying for his fourth son, Xu Yunbo. He hoped that this playful and dissolute young master would return unharmed from the clutches of a ruthless tyrant like General Cheng.
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The weather was perfect that day, right at midday, and the sun felt warm on my skin.
Li Shiyue simply had another rocking chair brought over, and she and Xu Lingzi sat down facing the door, covered with a thick, large, dark bearskin blanket.
"These jade hairpins are exquisitely crafted; you're really willing to give them to me."
Xu Lingzi was holding a reddish-brown wooden box containing a pair of white jade hairpins inlaid with pearls. Her face beamed with undisguised joy and surprise: "I remember you also like jade ornaments."
Li Shiyue smiled sweetly: "I do like it, but I have many more in the storeroom. This one looks the best to me, and it matches your red dress from that day, so I reluctantly parted with it."
These words, if spoken by someone else, would lack sincerity, but coming from Li Shiyue's mouth, they sounded completely different. Xu Lingzi didn't hold back and reached out to pinch Li Shiyue's cheek.
"I'll remember that. I'll find some nice jade ornaments for you next time."
Xu Lingzi's attention was entirely on the pair of jade hairpins. She happily got up from the rocking chair and headed to the back to try them on.
Li Shiyue was used to her energetic personality, so she got up with a smile and was about to follow when she saw a figure walking in from the courtyard gate.
She was stunned for a moment, then looked at the person who had come in. It was the mistress of the third branch of the family, Madam Wei.
Thinking about this third aunt, aside from the day she went to pay her respects to the various courtyards on the second day after she entered the mansion, I seemed to have no other impression of her. Even when I did see her, she was always alone in a corner.
With a dull and unassuming nature, Madam Wei, one of the four matriarchs of the Xu family, was truly unremarkable. Therefore, Li Shiyue was quite surprised to see her come to Chengyu Pavilion.
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