It smells delicious, like my mother's...

A pleasant and familiar fragrance filled his nose. He pursed his lips and moved closer secretly.

Shen Xinyan didn't notice his movements. She stared at his injured arm. She wanted to touch it, but she was afraid of hurting him. She couldn't help but frowned: "How could he be injured? And the bone was injured so seriously!"

Wei Chenglin stood close to her, and said in a daze, "It was the Third Prince who was provoked by someone and deliberately targeted the First Prince..."

"So you saved the prince from disaster?" Shen Xinyan interrupted him, eyes full of disapproval.

"Not really. There was some confusion at the time and the child didn't notice it. By the time he realized it, he had already rushed out." Wei Chenglin noticed the unhappiness in her tone and explained quickly.

Shen Xinyan's eyebrows were knitted tighter, and she lectured with a stern face: "In short, if you encounter such a thing in the future, you should protect yourself first. There are a room full of palace maids and eunuchs. Do you think it is your turn as a child to step forward to protect the master? Maybe they will blame you for taking away their opportunity to show off their merits!"

If Princess Rui is really still alive, her return to the palace is a foregone conclusion. By then, the eldest prince's status in the palace will be raised several levels, and naturally there will be servants trying their best to get close to him.

Wei Chenglin moved his lips, wanting to say something, but in the end he said nothing and just nodded obediently: "I understand."

How come what his mother taught him is completely different from what his grandfather taught him? His grandfather taught him to be loyal to the emperor and to protect him. His Highness is the emperor and he is the subject, so naturally he must protect His Highness at all times.

But his mother taught him that he should protect himself first, and it was not his turn to take the lead in protecting his master.

He had always thought that what his grandfather taught was the truth, but now after listening to his mother's words, it seemed that there was some truth in them as well.

It was rare to see him respond to her words so obediently. Shen Xin nodded with satisfaction and pulled the quilt on him to cover him more tightly.

"Since you are injured, you should rest well at home. Your grandmother and father will take care of the affairs in the palace, so you don't need to go back to your own courtyard. Just recuperate here with your mother. If there is anything you need, tell the servants to get it. In short, put everything aside and take care of yourself first!" Shen Xinyan said without allowing any objection.

"Okay, I'll listen to mother!" It was the first time that Wei Chenglin saw his usually gentle mother being so tough with him. He felt a little strange, but the feeling was not bad, so he agreed.

She gave him some worried instructions and called the servants to knock carefully. Seeing that Wei Chenglin looked a little tired, she patted him lightly through the quilt and said, "If you feel sleepy, go to sleep for a while."

"I'm not sleepy." He usually watched his mother take care of his sister gently and patiently. Now it was his turn, and he was reluctant to fall asleep so soon.

His eyelids were so heavy that he could hardly keep them open, yet he still said he wasn't sleepy. Shen Xinyan was helpless, yet also somewhat amused. She stretched out her hand and pinched his face, gently scolding him, "Go to sleep quickly, how sleepy are you?"

Seeing that he was still stubborn, she simply reached out and covered his eyes.

Wei Chenglin tried hard to open his eyes, and after a moment, he slowly closed them. His uninjured right arm secretly stretched out from under the quilt and quietly grabbed the corner of her clothes. Then, he finally fell asleep peacefully.

Noticing that his breathing was becoming even, Shen Xinyan planned to get up and leave. As soon as she stood up from the edge of the bed, she found someone grabbing the corner of her clothes. When she lowered her head, she saw this scene and was stunned.

She stared at the little hand that was tugging at the corner of her clothes, then looked at her son who had fallen asleep, sighed softly, and sat back down.

The room fell into silence. She kept her eyes fixed on the sleeping boy, carefully describing his face with her eyes. From this still somewhat childish face, she gradually sketched out his appearance as an adult in her mind.

Perhaps it is true that children look like who they are raised. Her son does not look like her or his father, but rather like his grandfather. Especially after he grew up, the calm and dignified demeanor he possessed was exactly like that of the British Duke.

She couldn't remember clearly what her son was like at this age in his previous life, but she was very sure of one thing: he would never be as close to her as he was now, and would never act in a dependent manner towards her.

Maybe it was because they had spent more time together as a family in this life, or maybe there were some other reasons, but no matter what, she was very happy to see this change, but she couldn't hide the complicated feelings in her heart.

If they had spent more time together in their previous life, if she had been more proactive and more courageous, wouldn't there have been no estrangement between mother and son later? If she had done her best to maintain and manage the relationship between mother and son, why would she be afraid of others' instigation to drive a wedge between them!

She rubbed her brows and looked at Wei Chenglin who was still sleeping soundly. Seeing the young man with his mouth slightly open and his brows slightly wrinkled, she couldn't help but stretch out her fingers to gently smooth out the wrinkles and said softly, "How old are you, and you frown all day long? When you grow up..."

Even when I grow up, I still like to wrinkle my brows.

In the previous life, the Duke of England and Wei Junhang passed away one after another, and the heavy burden of the Duke's Mansion fell on the young him. Even though he was blessed by the emperor, if he did not put in corresponding efforts and do the job to the best of his ability, there would be no glory and splendor of the Duke of England's Mansion in the future.

Her son was indeed worthy of his grandfather's years of careful cultivation, and was even better than his father and his great uncle who had passed away many years ago.

She had been quietly accompanying the sleeping Wei Chenglin until Chunliu came in to report that the Grand Princess and the Crown Prince had returned home. She looked at the sky and suddenly realized that she had been sitting like this for an hour.

She was still thinking about the mother and son who had entered the palace. She gently pulled the corner of her clothes out of Wei Chenglin's hands. The originally smooth corner of her clothes had been wrinkled by him. She smoothed it out a little, told the servants to serve her carefully, and then left with Chunliu.

"His Majesty has bestowed many precious medicinal herbs. I heard that he also issued an edict to reprimand Concubine Shu, blame Concubine Li for not educating her children well and confined her to the palace. He also severely punished the second and third princes. Even the Empress was the first to be punished." Chunliu reported everything on the way.

Shen Xinyan was surprised and a little sighed.

The Grand Princess was indeed the Grand Princess. It would have been better if she hadn't taken action. But this action caused the three pillars of the harem to be broken and in a state of panic. Especially the Second Prince's biological mother, Concubine Shu, who was reprimanded by the imperial edict and lost all her dignity.

The Third Prince was responsible for the trouble, but she, the Second Prince's biological mother, was punished the heaviest. How was this any different from telling the world clearly that she was the one who instigated the Third Prince to attack his eldest brother?

Your Majesty is so ruthless. Besides wanting to give an explanation to the Grand Princess, I'm afraid there are other intentions. Is he trying to pave the way for Princess Yingrui to return to the palace?

This idea suddenly occurred to her.

Inside the room, the eldest princess's anger had already subsided when she saw Emperor Yuanyou's series of decisive actions. Seeing Shen Xinyan coming in, she hurriedly asked, "How's Lin'er?"

"He was asleep, and had not yet woken up when I left."

"Well, just let him have a good sleep. He has to get up before dawn at such a young age. There are so many rules in the palace and the schoolwork is so heavy. Even a strong person wouldn't be able to cope with it, let alone a child like him. Let him sleep!" The eldest princess felt a little distressed.

The Duke was a stubborn man, he was determined to raise his grandson, and no one else had the chance to say anything. When she saw the little pink ball wiping away tears aggrievedly and trembling as he stood on horseback, she felt so distressed that she advised him to wait until the child was five years old before starting, but he flatly refused and refused to listen to her.

Among so many children and grandchildren, it is her eldest grandson that she loves the most.

"His Majesty has also issued an edict, allowing Lin'er to rest and recuperate. Don't worry about schoolwork and everything else can be dealt with after he recovers." Wei Junhang said.

The couple chatted with the Grand Princess for a while before saying goodbye and leaving.

"What's the situation in the palace? His Majesty's thunderous measures this time have certainly made the decision for the eldest prince and Lin Ge'er, but no matter what, Lin Ge'er has probably offended the second and third princes after this incident. I'm afraid that walking around in the palace in the future will be..." After returning to the house, Shen Xinyan could not hide her worry.

"It's okay, Your Majesty is clear about it! Besides, if Lin'er can't even get over this small obstacle, how can he support the Duke's Mansion in the future?" Wei Junhang didn't take it to heart.

Shen Xin frowned and said unhappily, "The future is the future. Right now, he is just a child. How can he resist the schemes of cunning people? If he does something wrong next time, what will mother do?"

In his previous life, her son had suffered enough injuries and schemes. At that time, everything in the mansion depended on him, and no matter how distressed she was, she was helpless.

"Don't worry, he is my son. How could I harm him? Don't worry. After a few days, when everything is settled and Princess Rui returns to the palace, everything will be different!"

"Princess Rui returns to the palace? Are those rumors true?!" Shen Xinyan's eyes widened in shock.

Wei Junhang then realized that he was only concerned with comforting his wife, but he accidentally let the cat out of the bag. He regretted it secretly, but was glad that what he said was not a secret. Despite this, he still choked up, feeling that his level had dropped significantly and he almost failed to meet the most basic confidentiality requirements.

Fortunately, once the matter was settled, he decided to resign from his job and from now on be a good prince of the Duke's Mansion and no longer care about other things.

"It's true. Princess Rui is not dead. His Majesty has already settled her down and is just waiting for the right time to welcome her back to the palace. By then, the world in the palace will have changed. Not to mention Concubine Shu and Concubine Life, even the Empress will not be able to cause any trouble anymore." Since he had let the cat out of the bag, he didn't plan to keep it a secret anymore and answered honestly.

"So, you have been secretly working for His Majesty all these years?" Shen Xinyan heard a clue in his words and asked directly.

Wei Junhang was caught off guard by her. He just stared at her blankly, not knowing how to react for a long time.

"It seems that I guessed right!" Shen Xinyan raised her eyebrows and said again.

Wei Junhang had a strange look on his face. His mind told him that he should immediately think of a perfect excuse to get away with it.

But emotionally, seeing his wife showing such a rare playful and lovely look, he just felt itchy inside and didn't even think about thinking of a perfect excuse.

Oh my, your smile is so seductive, I really want to bite it hard, no, kiss it!