Shen Shujing was helping her elders to comfort her cousin, but she had accidentally offended her second aunt with just a single sentence. Although her mother, Mrs. Liu, was aware of this, she couldn't say anything at that moment. After all, it was true that there was no son in the second branch. If she told her daughter to apologize to her for this, it would embarrass Duanmu Yanyu even more. She knew Duanmu Yanyu's personality, so secretly she was worried for her daughter, "Duanmu Yanyu's greatest regret is that she has no sons. I hope she won't hold a grudge against Shujing just because of this."

On hearing what Shen Shujing had said, Wei Changying froze for a moment. She knew that her eldest niece was a polite girl and was not the kind of person who would attack others by using innuendos. She had probably said it unintentionally. However, having glanced at Duanmu Yanyu, she saw her looking upset. Wei Changying secretly sighed, thinking of her two sisters-in-law, "Before I married, I had always heard Mother say that my two future sisters-in-law were virtuous. Since I have been married, I feel the first sister-in-law is nicer than the second sister-in-law. My mother-in-law also prefers the first sister-in-law. Although this preference is because of two sisters-in-law's temperaments, I guess not having a son is also a cause. Because of my nephew, Shuming, the first sister-in-law is more confident when talking about heirs, unlike the second sister-in-law who can't even hear a single word about it. So people can easily offend her and think the second sister-in-law is more difficult to get along with."

She then thought of Wei Shengxian, "My eldest aunt is a good person. Under her care, my two cousins are cultured, have good manners, and love each other. However, she has no sons. Fortunately, my eldest uncle is nice. He didn't blame the eldest aunt for this, but the elders of his family are not satisfied with the eldest aunt. If only she had been able to have a son, I guess she would have been willing to offer everything to have one."

While she was thinking, suddenly Duanmu Yanyu bit her lips and laughed, speaking with a raised inflection, "Mother, I see you are so happy today. There is good news here, but I didn't want to upstage my nephew and intended to tell you after today! But having heard Shujing's words, I would like to gain a little luck from the third branch!"

On hearing her mention Shen Shujing, Shen Shujing was a little surprised. Mrs. Liu was alarmed, smiling and saying, "Yanyu, if you want to gain some luck from the third branch, just tell us about it. I don't think Changying would say no to this. Why are you only willing to say it after you have heard Shujing's words? Shujing tried to comfort Shuyan just now. I didn't pay attention to them. So what did she say that made you want to tell us now?"

Madam Su actually hadn't clearly heard what Shen Shujing had said to Shen Shuyan, but having heard the conversation between the two daughters-in-law, she knew that Shen Shujing must have said something that upset Duanmu Yanyu. They were having a fight now. Madam Su frowned and cursed the two daughters-in-law for being inconsiderate. It was her precious grandson's banquet. Why did they pick this moment to make a fuss?

Wei Changying thought the same way. However, after Duanmu Yanyu had her say, everyone was stunned. No one could be angry anymore. Because what Duanmu Yanyu said was, "Cuiyan, who was given to our branch by Mother, is three months into her pregnancy. When Changying was giving birth, I went back to my parents' place and asked Xinmiao to come. As Changying is really healthy, she didn't require any medical treatment, so I thought of Cuiyan. I asked Xinmiao to check her pulse."

Having said that, Duanmu Yanyu paused on purpose.

Unsurprisingly, Madam Su eagerly asked, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Mother." Duanmu Yanyu respectfully said, "Xinmiao said it is a boy!"

On hearing this, Madam Su was full of joy, saying, "Fantastic!" Everyone in the hall immediately gave their congratulations to her. Smiling, Mrs. Liu also congratulated the second branch on soon having a boy. She seemingly criticized Duanmu Yanyu, "Yanyu, you are being silly. This is such good news. You should have said it to us earlier so we could celebrate! Why did you wait until now to tell us? If you had carried on keeping quiet about it, we wouldn't have known until the birth of the child!"

Having heard what Mrs. Liu said, Madam Su slightly frowned, meaningfully looking at Duanmu Yanyu. Thinking this was her grandson's banquet, she did not say anything.

However, Duanmu Yanyu was very confident, saying with a faint smile, "Ruoyi, you have wronged me. Firstly, we only found out that Cuiyan was pregnant on the ninth of March. After that, I asked a person who had served women after giving birth to look after her. Xinmiao checked her pulse and said that everything was fine with her as well. Secondly, Changying was about to give birth. Everyone in the family was worried about her. I thought it could still wait and if I said it, it might cause more trouble."

On hearing that, Wei Changying sighed secretly and had to apologize, "It's all because of me..."

"How can I blame you, Changying?" Duanmu Yanyu said calmly, "Since pregnancy within the first three months is always fragile and today my tiny nephew is one month old, I didn't want to cast a shadow. As there was a case like that happened in the second branch, I didn't want to disappoint you until I knew Cuiyan's situation was stable, and neither did I want to make Father and Mother sad over nothing."

Her explanation was reasonable. Half a month before Wei Changying's labor, almost everyone in the rear courtyard had been busy with her. As for the case she mentioned, everyone in the family knew about Cuiqiao's miscarriage. Mrs. Liu could only say, "I have wronged you, Yanyu. I thought you deliberately kept the good news just to yourself and didn't want to tell us! Please don't be upset about it!"

"There is no need to worry, Ruoyi." Duanmu Yanyu looked at her with a faint smile. She then spoke to Shen Shujing, who had thought there was nothing to concern her and was holding Shen Shuyan, pointing at her young cousin in swaddling clothes with a smile, "So, by the second half of the year, Shuyan will have two young cousins! Shujing, you don't have to worry about Shuyan!"

She purposely said the words "young cousins" with more force. Shen Shujing, a girl of her age, who could understand the true meaning of her words, was startled. She instinctively stopped teasing her cousin and quickly thought through what she had just said had upset her second aunt. Madam Su managed to figure out what Shen Shujing had said to Duanmu Yanyu. She was very displeased, thinking, "I know my eldest granddaughter. She is not a mean person. What Duanmu Yanyu did was deliberately embarrassing to Shen Shujing."

Given Madam Su's personality, she should have criticized Duanmu Yanyu, but looking down and seeing her tiny grandson, Madam Su changed her mind. She thought since the lineal eldest son of the third branch was one month old but there had not been even one son from the concubines in the second branch, even Duanmu Yanyu had become anxious. This was why as a result of Shen Shujing's unintentional words, she had used the news that a concubine was pregnant with a boy to fight back, though she had wanted to hide it for a bit longer.

Although Madam Su had six sons, only three of them were her own. Having been talking with Wei Shengxian recently, she understood the difficulties of a woman who didn't have sons. She felt sorry for her, so she decided to ignore it and let it go. She spoke to her daughters-in-law, saying, "The guests will be coming soon. Yi'er and Yanyu, you go to welcome them. Changying and children stay here with me."

Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Duanmu said yes and got up. Mrs. Liu looked at her sad daughter, asking, "Mother, Shujing is eleven years old. I have started to teach her how to do the housekeeping. There are many guests today, so can I take her to the second gate to see what it is like?"

Madam Su knew that Mrs. Liu was going to use the opportunity to advise Shen Shujing on what she had done wrong and how to deal with it, so she nodded, saying, "That's fine, but don't make the child work too hard. There are still four years before she turns fifteen! If she is tired, tell her to come back."

Mrs. Liu agreed. Shen Shujing then set her cousin down and said goodbye to the elders.

Except for the small dispute between the sisters-in-law, caused by Shen Shujing's unintentional words before the arrival of the guests, the banquet proceeded smoothly.

Wei Changying was by her mother-in-law's side all the time. One reason was that she was the mother of Shen Shuguang whose name was announced at the banquet, so she didn't have to go to welcome guests this day. The second reason was that Madam Su planned to teach her third daughter-in-law, personally showing what details she should focus on when dealing with interpersonal relationships.

Having the opportunity, Wei Changying tried hard to learn. However, there was another occurrence that happened during the banquet, but it was not anything very important. Old Madam Deng was with her first daughter-in-law, Madam Qian, her second daughter-in-law, Mrs. Zhang, and another beautiful woman in fancy clothes, but Wei Zhengyin wasn't with her at all.

Inevitably, Wei Changying wanted to ask about her second aunt, but Old Madam Deng couldn't lie. As the Shen Family had asked her not to tell Wei Changying the truth, not knowing whether she could say it now, she just said vaguely, "Ask your first aunt and second aunt. I don't know either."

Wei Changying knew that her maternal grandmother was kind and wasn't a person who didn't care about her daughters-in-law, so she was mildly surprised. Fortunately, Madam Qian and Mrs. Zhang realized that she didn't know the truth. Thinking that since the Shen Family hadn't told her and that they were only her distant relatives, they didn't have to tell her either. Therefore, they fobbed her off and introduced the beautiful woman in fancy clothes to her, "This is Princess Lingxian."

"Your Royal Highness!" When she saw this beautiful woman, Wei Changying had already recognized her. At Princess Linchuan's birthday banquet last year, she had caught a glimpse of Princess Lingxian. However, her aunts hadn't introduced her and had only said some vague things. Now that she formally knew her, she must curtsy according to etiquette. Princess Lingxian's daughter was going to marry her brother. She came here with Old Madam Deng and her people today to be able to get to know each other more. Therefore, she didn't want her formal curtsy and quickly held her, saying with a smile, "Today we come here to give congratulations as your relatives. You don't need to be so restrained."

She then admonished Madam Qian and Mrs. Zhang gently, "You just needed to say I am the fourth aunt. Why did you say I'm a princess?"

Madam Qian and Mrs. Zhang laughed, saying, "We need to say it anyway. Even if we had introduced you as the fourth aunt, wouldn't we have then said who the fourth aunt was?"

Having heard these words, Wei Changying realized that Princess Lingxian was very approachable, not really like a princess. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so casual with Madam Qian and Mrs. Zhang. However, since this princess was in the Emperor's disfavor and her mother had become a common person, it would be difficult for her to go about with her head high in the air as a princess. A mother-in-law like her would not bully her son-in-law because of her princess status, but she couldn't offer any help either. Wei Changying could not help but glance at the young girl in green clothes by the side of Princess Lingxian.

The girl in green clothes was the only junior person in Old Madam Deng's group. As Su Yuli and Su Yulee were married, they went with their husbands' families. Although Su Yufei and Su Yuyin were just engaged, they were familiar with their aunt's family. The moment they came into the rear courtyard, they went to see their cousin, Shen Cangning. The three of them gathered together and ran out of sight in a flash. They were nowhere to be found!

Being with the senior madams, the girl in green stood out. At the banquet last time, Su Nianchu had left Wei Changying with an impression of her good appearance when Wei Changying had looked in the direction in which Su Yuli had been pointing. Now having looked at her closely, Wei Changying thought she was indeed a lovely girl with exceptional looks.

The girl was wearing a broad-sleeved emerald upper shirt with devil's snare patterns and a golden skirt that had been dyed with tulips. She had a Fen Shao bun with Chinese-hibiscus-shaped hair clasps and was wearing jade earrings. When she raised her hands, there was a pair of pure white jade bracelets around her wrists. Her wrists were of the same color as the jade. She stood there prettily, looking respectful and calm, calm but still bright. If Wei Changying just judged her by her looks and temperament, there was really nothing to find fault with.

Wei Changying was listening to Princess Lingxian's introduction, "This is my daughter Nianchu. I brought her to congratulate you today."

On hearing that, Su Nianchu came forward to congratulate her. At first, she looked confident and polite, but as she was about to finish her speech, she blushed and spoke in a low voice for some reason. Having been stared at by her mother, she became normal again. After she went back to where she had stood, she was red in her cheeks and all the way to her neck.

When Wei Changying saw her lovely girlish behavior, her heart softened. Thinking of the days before and after she had become married... Every old madam of a family, who was good at scheming and capable, as if she had always been the backbone of the family, must have a youthful past when she would have blushed at that moment when she had been brought by her elders to give her proper congratulations to her future sister-in-law!

Perhaps this engagement would not be as bad as she had thought?