No one could persuade the Grand Princess to change her mind. In the end, the families were divided under her leadership.

The division of the family was sudden, but also quite smooth. Fang from the eldest branch made a mistake, and she no longer had a say; Wei Junhang from the second branch had not returned, and Shen Xinyan was originally from a wealthy family, so it didn't matter how much she got; the third branch was born out of wedlock, so she was already inferior, and seeing that the other two branches, who were born out of wedlock, had no objections, she naturally didn't dare to say much.

However, no matter whether it was the eldest and second wives who were born of legitimate parents or the third wife who was born of illegitimate children, they were all unwilling to divide the family property.

It goes without saying that Fang was a great success, but for Wei Junxian and Yang from the third house, it was nice to be under a big tree. As long as the family was not divided, they would still be the third master and third lady of the Duke's Mansion. But if the family was divided and moved out of the mansion, the glory of the Duke's Mansion would have nothing to do with them.

Shen Xinyan tried to persuade him for a long time but failed. She watched helplessly as the Grand Princess divided up such a big house. She felt mixed emotions in her heart.

The people from all the families stood in the hall, silently watching the Grand Princess push away Wei Chenglin's support, and walk away tremblingly with a cane. At this time, she was no longer the arrogant Grand Princess Jinghe, but an ordinary old woman who was deeply hurt by the younger generation she trusted the most.

Shen Xinyan sighed and looked at Wei Chengqi, who was shaking with his head down and his hands clenched tightly. The brothers Wei Chengzhao and Wei Chengyue stood on his left and right, blocking the reproachful sight of Wei Junxian and the Yang couple.

Regardless of what Fang did privately or the division of the Duke's Mansion, it was not a glorious thing after all. Shen Xinyan would naturally not let anyone spread it. After all, she had been in charge of the mansion's affairs for so many years, she could still do this.

She would certainly not give up on Wei Chenglin's injury. Difficulties in having children? Not long after her son got married in her last life, Zhou Wanning became pregnant. She didn't believe that her son would encounter such a thing in this life.

Although the eldest princess suffered a blow, she had lived for most of her life and had experienced countless ups and downs. She calmed down within a few days and devoted herself to the healing of her eldest grandson.

It’s a pity that they invited all the skilled doctors in the palace, but the results were all disappointing to them.

"I see that things haven't been going well in our house lately. Why not hold a wedding to liven things up and at least wash away the bad luck." Yang suggested.

"Happy event? What happy event can there be nowadays!" sighed the Grand Princess.

"To be honest with you, mother, Zhao'er is getting older, and I want to arrange a marriage for him. This girl is not just any girl, but my niece from my mother's family. She reached the age of marriage at the beginning of this year." Yang said with a lewd look on her face, stating her purpose.

Shen Xinyan understood.

Wei Chenglin is the eldest among the younger generation of boys, but he has never been able to find a marriage partner. It is naturally difficult for younger ones like Wei Chengzhao and Wei Chengyue to surpass him.

But the daughter-in-law that Yang had chosen had already reached the age of 15 at the beginning of the year, so the marriage could not be delayed any longer.

The Grand Princess rubbed her forehead and understood what she meant.

It seems that the marriage of the eldest grandson can no longer be delayed. As long as he doesn't get married, the marriages of Zhao'er, Yue'er and Qi'er who come after him will also be hindered. What a problem this is.

"Now that you have chosen someone, let's arrange the marriage first!"

Yang readily agreed.

Decide on the person first, and try to choose a later wedding date to leave enough time for Wei Chenglin from the second wife. With his conditions, he should not have trouble finding a girl he likes.

As she thought this, she had no idea of ​​the imperial physician's diagnosis of Wei Chenglin.

***

When Shen Xinyan arrived, Wei Chenglin was instructing Zhimo to hand a bag of silver to Pingyan's family. When he saw her come in, he was about to stand up and salute, but Shen Xinyan stopped him.

"Ping Yan has been with me for many years. Now that he is gone, his family must be upset. I heard that he has a younger brother, and I was thinking of promoting him to the outer courtyard to learn from Steward Wei. What do you think, mother?" Wei Chenglin told Shen Xinyan his plan only after she sat down.

"It's what I should do. Just make up your mind." Shen Xinyan would naturally not deny his face over such trivial matters.

She was also very sad about Ping Yan's death.

"I heard that Murong Tao from the Zhenguo General's Mansion was also seriously injured. The time of his injury is almost the same as yours. Could it be that he was working with you last time?" Shen Xinyan suddenly asked after simply asking about the healing condition of his wound.

Wei Chenglin's eyelids twitched, and then he said nonchalantly: "Last time, I was ordered by the emperor to chase after the missing Prince Cheng. As for what mission General Murong was on and why he was injured, I don't know."

Is that so? Shen Xinyan's eyes were filled with suspicion.

"Then who plotted against you last time in the Summer Resort?" Shen Xinyan asked again.

"It's Murong Tao."

Shen Xinyan was not surprised: "What about you? Now that you have found out that it was General Murong who did this, have you ever thought about how to take revenge on him?"

Wei Chenglin had been prepared for this, and he was not at all flustered in the face of her question. He said calmly, "I was just planning to set up a trap to teach him a lesson, but I didn't expect that the decree from His Majesty would arrive. I had no choice but to put the plan on hold and plan to make another plan after I finish my mission."

Seeing that Shen Xinyan only said "So that's it", he couldn't guess whether she believed him or not. But he was very sure that even if his mother didn't believe it, she couldn't find any evidence.

"And what about your marriage? What are your plans in mind?" Shen Xinyan took a sip of tea and asked this helplessly.

In the past few days, Yang Shi had been visiting her whenever she had time, asking about Wei Chenglin's marriage, either openly or covertly. Shen Xinyan was also a little troubled by this.

Since Wei Chenglin proposed to marry Zhou Wanning last time and was rejected by the Grand Princess, his marriage has been at a standstill. The Grand Princess refused to give in, and he also expressed his unwillingness to marry other women by keeping silent. Neither the mother-in-law nor the grandson was willing to give in, leaving Shen Xinyan, the biological mother, at a loss as to what to do.

Honestly speaking, she was on the side of the Grand Princess. No matter what Zhou Wanning's personality was, she would never accept her as her daughter-in-law. But the eldest son was determined to marry her.

"My son is so disabled now, he should not delay the girl. Although there is order of seniority, it is not impossible to be flexible. I can't let my brothers' life events be delayed because of my son." Wei Chenglin sighed.

"What do you mean? Are you planning to never get married?" Shen Xinyan's heart skipped a beat and she asked with frowns.

Wei Chenglin was silent.

"Let's not talk about whether it can be cured in the future, but the imperial physician's initial diagnosis was just that it would be difficult to have children. He never said that you definitely won't have children. You..." Seeing that he really meant that, Shen Xinyan became anxious.

Wei Chenglin still didn't say anything.

Shen Xinyan tried to persuade him earnestly and said a lot of things, but he still showed no sign of giving in, and she became very angry.

Watching her walk away, Wei Chenglin lowered his eyelids to hide the complexity in his eyes.

At this time, Wei Junhang was eager to return home, so he ordered his men to pack their luggage and set off for Beijing early in the morning. When the carriage reached the outskirts of the city, he inadvertently opened the curtain and looked out the window, and suddenly saw a haggard old man on the side of the road. The old man was holding a jar wrapped in blue cloth in his arms and walking forward with a staggering gait.

"Stop!" Wei Junhang ordered loudly. When the carriage stopped, he jumped out and walked quickly to the old man: "Uncle Zhong!"

The old man stopped and looked at him slowly with his cloudy eyes. He asked hesitantly, "Who are you..."

"Uncle Zhong, I'm Wei Junhang! Do you remember me?" Wei Junhang was overjoyed to meet an old friend.

The old man narrowed his eyes and looked him up and down. After a long time, he suddenly realized: "You are the old Duke... I have seen the Duke before!"

He saluted hastily.

Wei Junhang quickly supported him and said, "Uncle Zhong, there's no need to be so polite. It's been decades since we last met. I never thought I'd meet an old friend again in a foreign land!"

"Don't dare!"

When Wei Junhang was young, he was always taken to the barracks by the old duke for training. However, he was a playful person by nature and was often grounded. Uncle Zhong was the soldier who was responsible for watching him at that time.

Later, he retired from the army and Wei Junhang never saw him again.

"It's a rare opportunity to see you again today, why don't we go to the town ahead and have a drink, Uncle Zhong, come..." As he spoke, he tried to help the old man carry the altar.

“No, no, no, no, no!” The old man quickly dodged his hand, and after a moment, he said respectfully and distantly, “I dare not trouble you, Your Excellency. My old wife is still waiting for me and my unworthy grandson to return. I dare not stay for long, so I’ll take my leave now!”

After saying this, he bowed to him and was about to leave.

"In that case, why not let me send Uncle Zhong and Ling off..." Wei Junhang's heart skipped a beat and he subconsciously looked at the altar in his arms.

"This is my unworthy grandson, who died on the eighth day of last month. I have just brought him back from your young master's men." The old man held up the altar in his arms with an expressionless face.

What?! Wei Junhang was shocked.

Thinking of his grandson who died young, the old man could no longer hold back his tears.

“If he had died on the battlefield, if he had died for the sake of the country and the lives of the people, it would have been a worthy death, and I would have been proud of him all my life, but now…” The old man couldn’t catch his breath and coughed loudly.

Wei Junhang quickly supported him and helped him calm down. When he saw that his face had improved, he said sincerely: "Uncle Zhong, I really didn't know that your grandson was working for my son, and I didn't know..."

The old man wiped away his tears and pushed his hand away: "Forget it, forget it. This is fate!"

After saying this, she didn't look at him again, turned around and left, holding the altar.

Wei Junhang wanted to chase him, but finally stopped and turned around to tell the guards beside him: "Send someone to escort him home and see if his family needs help. If so, do your best to help. Also, immediately have someone investigate what the prince did during my absence from the capital, especially in the last month."

The guards took the order and left.

A gentle breeze from the suburbs blew in, blowing his clothes. He frowned and looked solemn.

What did Lin Geer do...

With doubts in his mind, he was no longer in a hurry to return to Beijing, and his schedule was slowed down, waiting for the news from his subordinates.

It was not until a month later that he received an urgent letter from his subordinates.

He opened the letter and his eyebrows wrinkled even more. The more he read, the uglier his expression became. Finally, he slammed the letter on the table and said, "Ridiculous!"

"Come here, prepare the carriage and return to Beijing immediately!" he ordered loudly.

***

In the Duke's Mansion, under Yang's repeated explicit and implicit suggestions, the Grand Princess had no choice but to start looking for a wife for Wei Chenglin again. After picking out several girls, Wei Chenglin sighed and shook his head, and then said with a bitter face that he didn't want to drag down other girls, which made the Grand Princess so anxious that she pulled him and scolded him.

"What nonsense are you talking about, kid! What is a burden or not? The words of the imperial physician cannot be relied upon. Moreover, it is not the point of no return. Listen to your grandmother and stop saying such things."

Wei Chenglin was silent for a while, and finally nodded slowly: "Grandson listens to grandma!"

Seeing that he finally gave in, the Grand Princess was delighted, and even Shen Xinyan breathed a sigh of relief.

But, for some reason, she always felt a little uneasy in her heart.

Could it be that because she felt that she would never have children, she didn't want to burden her beloved Zhou Wanning? So it didn't matter who she married? As soon as this thought came to her mind, she tried hard to suppress it.

After getting her grandson's approval, the Grand Princess quickly passed the message to the family she had been dating for a long time. After they reached a tacit understanding, they prepared to invite the official matchmaker to come and formally propose marriage.

Shen Xinyan was feeling very nervous, but she tried her best to ignore it and started to prepare for the marriage proposal.

This time, the girl that the Grand Princess fell in love with was the Crown Princess's cousin. Shen Xinyan had met her once before and had some favorable impression of the girl.

Unexpectedly, when the official media who was sent to propose marriage came back, they said that the family was vague and seemed to be shirking responsibility.

Shen Xin looked at the Grand Princess subconsciously.

The eldest princess was extremely surprised: "What's the reason for this?"

Inviting a matchmaker to come to the house was just a formality. Privately, the two families had already reached a tacit understanding and approved of this marriage. Why did they regret it when the time came?

"This family has a daughter who is wanted by hundreds of families. Maybe they just want to see our sincerity in seeking marriage?" Shen Xinyan said carefully.

"Madam, what you said makes sense. Your Highness also knows that some families, even if they are interested, will refuse once or twice in order to mention the value of their daughter and to see the sincerity of the man." The matchmaker also thought of this.

The eldest princess was a little unhappy in her heart, but she could understand the girl's parents' mentality, so she said, "In that case, please make one more trip!"

However, when she was rejected the second time, the eldest princess's face turned completely black: "How can this be absurd? Could it be that the Chen family thinks that they can humiliate me like this just because they have the support of the Crown Princess?!"

Shen Xinyan felt even more uneasy.

She thought, maybe the Chen family really wanted to go back on their word. If it was true, this marriage was extremely beneficial to the Chen family. Although the Chen family was related to the Crown Princess, the Crown Princess's surname was not Chen.

Wei Chenglin is not only the eldest grandson of the Grand Princess and the future Duke, but also the Crown Prince's most trusted and capable person. For this reason, when Mrs. Chen and her daughter-in-law learned that the Grand Princess intended to marry a girl from their family for her eldest grandson, they responded so quickly.

Why did they regret it at the most critical moment? Weren't they afraid of offending the Duke's Mansion, offending the Grand Princess, or even causing displeasure to the Crown Prince?

It was not until the next day when Old Madam Chen came to the Duke's Mansion in person to ask for an audience with the Grand Princess that Shen Xinyan finally understood the whole story.

It turned out that Old Madam Chen had somehow learned that the Prince of England had difficulty in having children. She only had this one granddaughter, and she loved her like a treasure since she was young. How could she bear to see her childless for the rest of her life, even if she became the wife of a Duke in the future? How could a woman establish herself in the future without having children?

Because of this, she insisted on rejecting the marriage even though it might offend the Duke's Mansion.

Shen Xinyan was silent for a long time. Looking at Old Madam Chen who didn't believe the Grand Princess' explanation at all, she sighed deeply and knew that this marriage could not be negotiated.

After Old Madam Chen left, the Grand Princess leaned weakly on the couch.

A forced melon is not sweet. If someone doesn't want to marry her, how can you force her to marry you? Whose child is it? Whose parents don't love them? Although she was annoyed that the Chen family went back on their word, she didn't have the guts to blame them.

This situation continued once again, and again at the critical moment of engagement, the other party changed his mind.

The third family successfully accepted the official media's proposal. However, when the two families were about to officially get engaged, a shocking scandal broke out in the other family.

This time, it was the Duke's Mansion that went back on its word.

The series of setbacks made the Grand Princess feel a little discouraged.

"Grandma, forget it. Why bother thinking about it anymore. With my grandson in this situation, the family that truly loves their daughter will not agree to marry her to this family. Even if someone agrees to marry her, I'm afraid they are only after the power of the Duke's Mansion, and they are not good families at all." Wei Chenglin advised bitterly.

The Grand Princess remained silent for a moment, then sneered, "I don't believe it! Those women must not be so lucky, so the marriage can't be arranged!"

The next day, she took Shen Xinyan to Lingyun Temple and asked Master Huiming to calculate the marriage fate for her eldest grandson.

"The prince has a destined marriage, so your highness and your wife don't have to worry."

"Then where is his destined person?" The Grand Princess breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and then asked again.

"Your Highness, could you please tell this poor monk the prince's birth date?"

The Grand Princess quickly handed him a piece of red paper with Wei Chenglin's birth date and horoscope written on it.

"Huh? This birth date and horoscope is very consistent with the female donor that I met a few days ago." But after Master Huiming took it and calculated with his fingers, his face was full of surprise.

"Really? Is it true that there is no place to find iron shoes?" The eldest princess was overjoyed and asked the other party where the girl came from.

A beautiful face immediately appeared in Shen Xinyan's mind, and she tightened her handkerchief unconsciously.

Could it be her?

"I only remember that it was brought to me by a lady named Zhou to do some calculations..."

Shen Xinyan's breath was held, and when she heard Master Huiming mention the woman's birth date, she was certain that it was Zhou Wanning.

Are those two really a match made in heaven?

She sighed.

"My surname is Zhou, I'm fifteen years old, born on the eighth day of the eleventh month..." On the way back home, the eldest princess kept muttering to herself.

Shen Xinyan knew that she was reading Zhou Wanning's birth date. She closed her eyes and carefully recalled the series of events that had happened since her eldest son returned, and then to Master Huiming's words today, and suddenly she had an idea.

Isn't this all just a coincidence? Or is it that Lin Ge'er and Zhou Wanning are destined to be together and cannot be separated, so no matter who Lin Ge'er gets engaged to, there will be obstacles of one kind or another that prevent the marriage from taking place?

But what if everything is not "arranged by fate"? Then it can only be that someone has calculated and led the situation step by step to the present.

And this person...if it is this person, then I believe that it won't be long before the Grand Princess will find out that the daughter of Zhou Mao, whom she rejected so strongly before, is the person she is looking for.

She bit her lips lightly, wanting to convince herself that this was all arranged by God. After all, she had died once and was able to start over again, which showed that the way of God was unspeakable.

What if it wasn't "God's arrangement"? Should she stop it? However, if everything was really a plot by Lin Ge'er, just to get his family to agree to his marriage with the Zhou family, it shows that his feelings for Zhou Wanning have reached a very deep level. Is there any need for her to stop it?

She just felt confused and undecided, and finally decided to wait and see.

However, everything happened just as she had guessed. The Grand Princess finally found out that the woman mentioned by Master Huiming was the daughter of Zhou Mao, the Minister of Honglu Temple.

After learning this answer, her face was not very happy. If it wasn't for the words of the highly respected Master Huiming, she would have suspected that it was arranged by her eldest grandson.

"Ms. Shen, tell me, is it possible that the daughter of the Zhou family is really the destined one for Brother Lin?"

Shen Xinyan lowered her eyes.

Should I? In her past life, there were so many strange people who supported her and her eldest son. I think these two were really made for each other.

"I think...right!" she answered softly.

When she said this, she felt relieved, as if she had suddenly put down a heavy burden that she had been carrying for a long time.

Seeing that she said so, the last bit of uncertainty in the Grand Princess' heart was finally dispelled.

When Wei Chenglin arrived, he saw his grandmother and mother with equally solemn faces.

When he heard the Grand Princess slowly tell him that she was going to ask for the daughter of Lord Zhou, the Minister of the Temple of Fortune, to marry him, he felt relieved at once, but his face was full of bitterness, and he shook his head and said, "My grandson doesn't want to!"

"I have made up my mind. Whether you agree or not, I will accept this marriage!" The Grand Princess would not tolerate his objection.

"Grandma, I don't agree..."

"Weren't you in love with her before? Why do you refuse now that grandmother has agreed? Do you want to remain single for the rest of your life?" The eldest princess glared at him angrily.

"I……"

"Then let him never marry!" The door was suddenly pushed open, and then a steady masculine voice was heard. Shen Xinyan turned around in surprise and saw Wei Junhang striding in.

"You, you're back?" She went up to him excitedly.

"Yes, ma'am, I'm back!" Wei Junhang's originally sullen face softened when he saw her.