While people were plotting against each other in the palace, all were joyful at the Grand Preceptor's mansion. Wei Changying, who had just married into the family this year as the third daughter-in-law, was pregnant, and Ji Qubing had confirmed that she was pregnant with a boy. There was also another good piece of news arriving at the mansion today. Prince Ji was among the children that the Emperor had summoned back to the capital for the New Year this year.

Shen Xuan and Madam Su had a total of eight children, including their own children and concubines' children, but they only had two daughters who were their lineal children. There were only a few girls but many boys, so naturally girls were much more precious.

The lineal oldest daughter, Shen Cangxiu, had married Shen Jia, who was the third son of the Emperor and was crowned Prince Ji, and she had gone to their fiefdom with Prince Ji only a month after the wedding. The Emperor didn't like Prince Ji that much, so he was only summoned to the capital every few years when the Emperor thought of him. Shen Cangxiu had to wait for her husband to take her with him when he went to the capital, so she would have a chance to see her old family.

Every year, Madam Su hoped that Princes Ji would be among the people who were summoned by the Emperor to the capital for the holidays, but he was only summoned every a few years. The last time Prince Ji had been summoned was last year, so it was unlikely that she would be able to see Shen Cangxiu this year. So, this was a total surprise for the Shen Family.

Madam Su was really delighted. She personally ordered her servants to prepare a lot of things that Shen Cangxiu and Prince Ji liked, being ready to entertain her daughter and son-in-law. But later, she entered Shen Xuan's study on her own to talk with her husband, "His Majesty doesn't like Prince Ji very much. All the time he has been away in his fiefdom. Including this time, he has only been summoned back four times. He came back last year, but he is summoned again this year. Is there any reason for this?"

Her eldest daughter coming back to visit her family was always nice, but it happened so suddenly. If there were a conspiracy behind this, Madam Su would rather meet her daughter again in two years' time.

Shen Xuan smiled, saying, "Have you forgotten that Prince Yi's fiefdom is on the side of Prince Ji's?"

"So, Empress Gu decided it?" Madam Su frowned, saying, "The Empress wants to use Prince Ji to remind His Majesty that he should allow Prince Yi to have his wedding immediately after the New Year and send him and Prince Ji back together to their fiefs?"

"She is also trying to please us." Shen Xuan said calmly, "You should speak to Cangxiu privately and tell her to say to Prince Ji that he must be careful, not letting the Empress or the Honored Consort drag him into the mud."

On hearing the name "Cangxiu", Madam Su was slightly surprised, as she recalled how close her husband and she were when they had been just newly married. After the birth of their eldest daughter, Shen Xuan had chosen one of the characters in her name "Xiuman" to name the daughter, showing his love. In the blink of an eye, now they were both grandparents. She lost herself in her memories for a while and then said, "Prince Yi is not very tolerant. Will he hold a grudge against Prince Ji and Cangxiu because of this?"

Shen Xuan pondered, saying, "The imperial edict has been issued. Can we stop them from coming back? Let's see what will happen."

There was nothing more to say about this issue, so Madam Su changed the topic to her another daughter, saying to her husband, "After the New Year, Cangning will turn fifteen, so her marriage...?"

As Shen Xuan had more sons than daughters, he indulged his daughters more. As his eldest daughter had been married into somewhere so far away that he could barely see her, he only had Shen Cangning, his younger daughter with him. So, he saw her as the apple of his eye. Even when Shen Cangning had helped Shen Cangfeng steal the "Lu Hu" sword last year in order for him to be able to get married, acting against her father's decision to withdraw his proposition, still Shen Xuan had only reprimanded her mildly afterwards. As for Shen Cangfeng, Shen Xuan had mercilessly beaten him up. If he hadn't had to go to the frontier, Shen Xuan would have had beaten him so much that he would not be able to get up from his bed for several months.

Shen Xuan was apparently concerned about his favorite daughter's marriage, so he had discussed the young masters from a few families with Madam Su. Thinking that he had a lot of work to do, his daughter spent more time with her mother, and Shen Cangning was Madam Su's lineal daughter, he knew Madam Su would never harm her daughter. He said, "These people are nice. Which one do you think is a better suitor?"

However, Madam Su said with a wry smile, "In the future, in terms of the marriages of our children, unless the person is like Yuyin, who I have seen him growing up personally, you should decide!"

Shen Xuan was surprised, asking, "Why?"

"Look at Cangzhu and Canghui." Madam Su said sadly, "Having trusted me, the second younger brother entrusted me with the marriages of his lineal oldest daughter and oldest son, but in the end, neither of the two children's marriages were successful! To be really honest, I treated them as if they were my own flesh and blood, but the result was truly sad... I guess maybe I am not a lucky person? So, you should make the decision."

On hearing this, Shen Xuan was stunned. Having recalled their nephew's wife had been angry with Madam Su, he calmed himself and thought about it, thinking his wife was wronged. He then said gently, "That isn't completely your fault. I had been too impatient. It's probably a sign of what our lives are like, isn't it?"

Although Shen Xuan comforted his wife, regarding something like this, he would rather act as if she had been right, as this would concern the marriage of their most beloved younger daughter. Therefore, Shen Xuan comforted Madam Su while deciding that he should be in charge of Shen Cangning's marriage. The couple talked about their other children, and then Shen Xuan said, "Cangfeng is now far away in Western Liang. No one can take care of things in the third branch and Mrs. Wei is pregnant, so you should take more care of them for Cangfeng."

Madam Su said, "That goes without saying! Now I send Man Lou over to Jintong Courtyard almost every other day to check the situation there." She added, "Thankfully, the Wei Family has asked Ji Qubing to treat her and Mrs. Huang, Mrs. Wei's granny, has been taught by Ji Qubing."

Shen Xuan said, "Last time, you said Mrs. Wei's baby is going to be a boy?"

"That's right!" Madam Su smiled gently, saying, "This daughter of the Wei Family is very lucky."

"We only have one grandchild, Shen Shuming." Shen Xuan said delightedly, holding his beard and looking happy, "He will be our second grandson and a lineal grandson. Lianshi's wife and concubines only have given us three granddaughters. I'm not saying granddaughters are not good, but I cannot rest assured as there has been no grandson from them! I was worried that Cangfeng would be like Lianshi, having difficulty in having sons. He would inevitably be attacked by some people, but now I'm relieved!"

Madam Su thought for a moment then said, "You are right. Lianshi still doesn't have sons, which is bad. Even if he doesn't have lineal sons, a son from his concubines will be good enough to be his heir. How about I find some girls for him during the New Year when he still has free time?"

Shen Xuan was satisfied with his wife's care for this concubine's son, "You make the decision."

Having thought a bit more, he added, "When it's one month after Mrs. Wei's giving birth, you should tell Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu to take a break and let Mrs. Wei look after the household. After all, although the eldest branch has Shuming, there are not many children there. We should free the first daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law to give us more grandchildren."

Madam Su knew that he was using this opportunity of her giving him a grandson to officially hand over the household at the Grand Preceptor's mansion to Wei Changying. It was just him being polite to say that he hoped Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu would give them more grandchildren. This also meant that Mingpei Hall would start to invest everything to support the third branch. Madam Su was happy to see it happen, nodding and saying, "I'm also thinking the same way."

Since the couple had made the decision, Madam Su started making it happen. Using Wei Changying's pregnancy, she spoke to Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu about grandchildren. Mrs. Liu was calm on hearing it. After all, she had given birth to the only lineal grandson at the Grand Preceptor's mansion, Shen Shuming. Although Madam Su said that there weren't enough grandsons in the family, Mrs. Liu knew Mrs. Duanmu was in a worse situation. Even if Wei Changying gave birth to the lineal eldest son of the third branch, Mrs. Liu still had the lineal eldest daughter Shen Shujing.

The one who was actually anxious was Duanmu Yanyu. She only had two lineal daughters. A concubine had given birth to a girl, but she, who had been said to be having a boy, had had a miscarriage, which had made her husband and her husband's biological mother very unhappy. As Shen Lianshi had listened to his biological mother Mrs. Guo that time, he had become furious and made a fuss. Duanmu Yanyu had also shown the evidence that the concubine had slandered her so as to avoid the punishment after it was found out that the concubine had had a miscarriage. After that, Madam Su finally was on her side.

But now, even her mother-in-law was dissatisfied with the situation regarding the children from the second branch. Duanmu Yanyu was full of sorrow. The second grandchild, Shen Shurou, was already seven years old, and the youngest of the grandchildren, Shen Shuyan, had just passed five years old. There were three girls including two lineal grandchildren and a grandchild from the concubine, but there was no boy! Surely, if the elders of Duanmu Yanyu's old family were here, they would say that Shen Lianshi should have more concubines.

Duanmu Yanyu knew that her mother-in-law's words today were meant only for her, so she obediently showed the initiative to say that her husband should have more concubines to give him more children. After all, her mother-in-law had made herself very clear. Whether to have more children was not for her to decide, so it would be better to be more open-minded.

Madam Su was pleased with her attitude, so she asked, "Do you have anyone in mind?"

Duanmu Yanyu said, "My husband has no son, and Lvqiao had... Every time I think about it, I feel ashamed of myself. So after Lvqiao had a miscarriage, I tried to look for some suitable people. However, my husband was busy with his work and I had to take care of Shurou and Shuyan, so I didn't have the time to mention it. I'm sorry we make you worried." She made such pretension and then said, "Mother, what do you think of my maidservants Hongling and Honglian?"

Hongling and Honglian were both maidservants from Duanmu Yanyu's dowry, and now they had been promoted to be her chief maids. In terms of their appearance and knowing when to do what, both were good. The most important thing was that their contracts were in Duanmu Yanyu's hands. Even though Duanmu Yanyu gave them to her husband, she wouldn't need to worry that they would do something harmful to her. In fact, the Shen Family prohibited their men from only loving concubines so as to ruin their wives. But Duanmu Yanyu thought if the concubines had sons and made her life difficult, there would be trouble as she had no sons since she was married. And she knew her husband and her biological mother Mrs. Guo were so anxious about them not having sons.

If she didn't say who she had found and Madam Su suddenly gave them some other girls, it would be more difficult to control the situation.

Duanmu Yanyu thought that her chief maids should be good enough with their looks and abilities to be Shen Lianshi's concubines, and her mother-in-law was not her husband's biological mother, so she might be able to get by with them.

Her thinking was basically correct. If Madam Su wanted to look after the issue of ensuring the succession of a concubine's son, since his wife had done this much, Madam Su should just leave it like that. However, Shen Cangfeng's lineal eldest son was soon to be born while Shen Lianshi still didn't have sons. Shen Xuan had also mentioned that, so Madam Su thought she should do more for them.

Therefore, at this moment, having heard Duanmu Yanyu, she nodded slightly, saying, "Hongling and Honglian are maidservants from your dowry, and they have been serving you since you were married. If they are given to Lianshi, I believe it will be good." Duanmu Yanyu felt sad but relieved. As she was about to speak, Madam Su suddenly added, "But it's soon to be the New Year, so the more people there are, the better it is. I will give you two more people. You tell someone to prepare four rooms."

She then told someone to bring two pretty girls from outside, "I asked Granny Tao to personally select these girls a couple of days ago. They are both from the capital and have many brothers in their families, so they are probably capable of having male children."

Duanmu Yanyu was so shocked that she forgot to breathe. Only when her maidservant nudged her, did she realize she should say thank you.