Wei Chenglin accompanied the Duke of England back from Lingyun Temple. He personally sent him back to the house first, and then walked towards the courtyard where he lived.

"Oh, Lin'er, you're finally back! If you had come back later, what would have happened to your mother?" But just as he walked past the lotus pond in the mansion, he saw Yang walking towards him quickly with an anxious look on her face.

After hearing the other party's words clearly, he immediately became anxious: "What happened to my mother? What do you mean, Auntie?"

"Something happened, something happened. You didn't go home last night, so you don't know. For some reason, your mother suddenly confronted your grandmother yesterday, making your grandmother furious. She locked her up in the Buddhist temple, and she's still in there and hasn't let her out yet!" The two of them walked quickly, and along the way, Yang told him the whole story.

"Mother has always had a gentle temperament and served grandmother wholeheartedly. How could she contradict grandmother for no reason? Do you know the reason?" Wei Chenglin, who was usually calm, became extremely anxious at this moment. He walked faster and faster, but still asked with concern.

"It seems that because of you, even Auntie San doesn't know the details anymore."

Yang Shi actually didn't know the details, but that didn't stop her from pretending to be an insider in front of Wei Chenglin. Besides, what was the inside story? Wouldn't she know it when she led Wei Chenglin to the Grand Princess later?

Wei Chenglin paused slightly, pursed his lips, and said nothing more. He just quickened his pace unconsciously.

Although he was young, the Duke of England had taught him martial arts since he was five years old. His physique was much stronger than that of an ordinary child and even a frail woman. Moreover, he had heard that his biological mother was in trouble, so he became anxious and walked faster. In a short while, he had left Yang behind for a long distance.

Yang ran after him: "Lin Ge'er, wait for me..."

But Wei Chenglin was so anxious that he could not hear her voice. After turning a few corners, Yang could not see him anymore.

"Kid, what's the hurry?" Yang was sweating all over from chasing and gasping for breath, so she had to stop and rest for a while.

The eldest princess was irritated. Did Shen feel that her life was too comfortable? Tsk tsk, she didn't know what medicine she had taken in recent days. Her temper had become worse. If she hadn't known her for more than ten years, she wouldn't have believed that the taciturn Shen back then was the same person as now.

***

When the sound of a door opening was heard behind her, Shen Xinyan remained kneeling quietly on the cushion, staring calmly at the solemn and majestic Buddha statue in front of her, as if she didn't care at all about what was around her.

"Madam, His Highness asks you to come over!" the maid who came to deliver the message replied respectfully.

Shen Xinyan breathed a sigh of relief inaudibly.

Has this moment finally arrived?

She tried to stand up by gently supporting herself with her hands, but she had been kneeling for too long and before she could even stand firmly, she felt her legs were so sore that they didn't seem to belong to her own body. It was thanks to the maid who quickly supported her that she was saved from falling.

The maid helped her sit down on a bench nearby, half-knelt in front of her, and skillfully massaged her legs. It was not until a while that Shen Xinyan felt a lot more comfortable.

"Okay, let's go. Don't keep mother waiting for too long." She gently stopped the maid and ordered.

Seeing that she could stand steadily, the other party no longer insisted, replied softly with a "yes", bowed, took a step behind her, and followed her out the door.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince's wife is here!" When the maid came to report, the Grand Princess was staring at the exquisite miniature version of Ningxi Palace in a trance. Upon hearing that, she lowered her eyes for a moment and personally put the small palace into the brocade box.

"Let her in!"

She sat high on the throne, looking down at the woman kneeling on the ground with her head bowed, and listened to her respectfully calling her "mother". If it weren't for the vivid memories of what happened that day, she simply couldn't believe that the respectful and polite woman in front of her would be the one who had the audacity to question and accuse her.

"Get up!" she replied indifferently, watching Shen Xinyan respond with her head down, then she folded her hands on her lower abdomen and slowly raised her head.

When the face in front of her, which could not hide its haggardness at all, came into her sight, the eldest princess' eyelids trembled, and the remaining anger in her heart unconsciously dissipated a little.

It's okay to be afraid, worried and uneasy, but it's not that he is hopelessly disobedient and unfilial! She thought to herself. But she didn't show it on her face. Her eyes fell on Shen Xinyan, looking at her slightly thin body. For some reason, she thought of what her son had just said.

She knew that Wei Junhang had been sending clothes and food to Shen Xinyan these past two days, but she also knew that although Wei Junhang sent the things, he had never been there. At least, he had been at her place most of the time these past two days.

It was probably because of these that she was able to put out the fire so easily when Wei Junhang pleaded for mercy intentionally or unintentionally.

"After kneeling in front of the Buddha for so long, have you ever figured out where you went wrong?"

Shen Xinyan knew that this was an opportunity. If she could satisfy the Grand Princess, she could not only take back the power of decision-making in her son's courtyard, but also offset her crime of disobedience.

only……

She took a deep breath, raised her eyes to meet the Grand Princess's, looked deep into her eyes, and said earnestly and sincerely, "A daughter-in-law who contradicts her mother is extremely unfilial and an unforgivable mistake."

"So you know that this is extremely unfilial!" The Grand Princess interrupted her with a sneer.

Shen Xinyan knelt in front of her, her tone becoming more sincere: "My daughter-in-law is wrong, I dare not ask for your forgiveness, but please take care of yourself, and don't get angry because of my mistake. Otherwise, I can't atone for my sin even if I die a thousand times!"

The Grand Princess still sneered, but did not say anything unpleasant. She only said, "Stand up and talk."

Shen Xinyan thanked her, and then slowly said: "It's just..."

She knew it when she came! How could she admit her mistake so obediently when she even dared to contradict him? Sure enough, there was something else waiting for her! The eldest princess glanced at her and snorted coldly.

"However, if I could do it all over again, I would still have something to say. Although my mother is of noble status, she is also a mother, and her kindness towards her children is probably even greater than that of me. I am not very good, and I only have one son and one daughter. Lin Ge'er and Ying'er are my only treasures in this life. I wish I could give them everything I have, and I just hope that they can live a healthy and smooth life."

"Lin Ge'er is the eldest son. His father has favored him and raised him by his side. Although the daughter-in-law is reluctant to let him go, she will not ruin his future because of her own selfishness."

At this point, tears welled up in Shen Xinyan's eyes. She blinked and forced the tears away.

"Lin Ge'er has a calm personality and is a man of few words. As he grows up, he spends less and less time with his daughter-in-law. Even though they are his biological son, he is helpless...his daughter-in-law doesn't know much about him. He is even more afraid that the relationship between mother and son will become distant, which will become a lifelong regret."

"So, even though I know that my mother made this decision out of a loving mother's heart, and also for the sake of mutual support among the direct descendants of the Wei family, my daughter-in-law still disagrees with my mother entrusting my son's affairs to my eldest sister-in-law."

The eldest princess stared at her quietly, her expression so calm that no one could tell her emotional ups and downs.

Shen Xinyan met her gaze, tears welling up in her eyes, but the determination in them could not be ignored.

Time passed little by little, and finally, she heard a long sigh from the Grand Princess.

"Forget it, since you insist so much, I don't want to do such a thankless task, so let's end it here. But I'm old now, and I don't have the energy to care about other things. I'll leave the affairs of Lin's orphanage to you, his biological mother!"

Shen Xinyan finally breathed a sigh of relief and bowed to her with tears of gratitude.

"Thank you, mother!"

When she rested her forehead on the back of her hand, a tear slowly fell. She quickly wiped it away with her sleeve to hide it, but a sense of sadness arose in her heart for no reason.

Did she succeed? Did she finally stop Fang from taking her son away in this lifetime?

It turns out that as long as you persist, no matter what the process is, the result may not be unsatisfactory.

What did she do in her last life? She had a good hand. The Crown Prince's wife was hers, and the most outstanding heir to the Duke's Mansion was her biological son. But how did she end up being deserted by her friends and relatives?

***

"Lin'er, why are you standing here like an idiot? Why don't you go in?" When Yang came over breathlessly, she found Wei Chenglin standing outside the door in a daze.

I don’t know if her eyes are blurry, but it seems that his eyes are a little watery?

"Grandma is talking inside, Third Aunt, I'm going back first!" Wei Chenglin quickly concealed his emotions, bowed to her, and strode away without looking back.

Yang wanted to use him to find out the inside story of the conflict between Shen Xinyan and the Grand Princess, but she didn't expect that the other party changed his mind and left after a while. She wanted to stop him, but Wei Chenglin walked too fast, and she didn't dare to shout here, so she could only stomp her feet in hatred.

She was about to leave with a look of helplessness on her face, but then she changed her mind and felt a little unwilling, so she thought about lying outside the door and eavesdropping on the conversation inside. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. She shrank her neck with guilt and ran away like a flash.

When Shen Xinyan left the Grand Princess, she looked up at the sky. It was a clear blue sky with a gentle breeze. She finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Madam!" Several equally surprised voices came from not far away. She looked in the direction of the voices and saw Qiu Tang, Xia He and Chun Liu looking at her with happy smiles beside the pine tree not far away.

The three of them made way to the side, and a tall figure slowly emerged. Facing the golden light that fell on the ground, the man stretched out his hand to her from a distance, smiling gently: "Madam, I'm here to take you back!"

"Yes, it's Prince Lao!" She stared at the other person deeply for a long time, and suddenly smiled.

Behind the rockery, Fang looked in astonishment at the couple walking away together in front of her.

Why did Shen come out of the temple? Could it be...

Her heart skipped a beat, she frowned and thought for a moment, then bit her lip lightly, changed direction, and headed towards Ning'an Courtyard where the Grand Princess was.

"Your Highness, the eldest lady is here!"