When they sat down in the small study, Wei Changying who was concerned about her husband’s brother asked, “Is the eldest brother not feeling well these two days? I was so busy that I didn't even notice although we’re living in the same mansion. What’s wrong?”

Mrs. Liu said casually, “Every summer he tends to feel uncomfortable a few times after spending some time in the cold chamber.”

Wei Changying was surprised and said, “I didn’t know that eldest brother has such a weak body?”

“I heard Mother say that it happened before I married into the family. He braved the snow to chase an enemy in Western Liang. As a result, although he killed the enemy, he was seriously wounded. Because it was freezing cold and he was injured in the snow, it became something that could not be cured entirely.” Mrs. Liu's brow showed a hint of complexity before she said lightly, “However, you do know that it’s really hot these days in the capital, and it’s impossible to sleep without an ice box. He has to go out on duty every day. If he doesn't sleep well and doesn’t have enough energy, it would be a serious problem. As a result, his illness relapsed, so he had to take a leave of absence. It's not a big deal, so I didn't inform anyone else.”

She added, “It was even worse before, and he only got better after Mother had asked Miracle Doctor Ji to treat him. But Miracle Doctor Ji said his frostbite was too severe when he was injured in the snow. Hence, he’ll stay this way no matter how long he recuperates.”

Mrs. Liu obviously did not want to talk about this topic, as she brushed the topic off with merely a few words. She went straight into business, “Third sister-in-law, do you see the things I am in charge of now? I am going to ask you to take over. What do you think?”

Wei Changying had only asked out of courtesy. Upon seeing how Mrs. Liu did not want to talk about Shen Cangli's health, she went along with her and talked about family affairs instead.

The two sisters-in-law discussed the matter until midday before finalizing the division of labor between them. Looking at the time, Mrs. Liu asked Wei Changying to stay and have dinner together at the eldest branch.

In the past, Wei Changying would have agreed. But now she knew that Shen Cangli was ill. Mrs. Liu was probably concerned about her husband. So Wei Changying excused herself and said that there were some matters she had to handle in the courtyard. As expected, Mrs. Liu merely asked her to stay a few more times before letting her go as she insisted on leaving.

Back at Jintong Courtyard, Mrs. Huang and the others had prepared a meal and were waiting for her. Wei Changying had a few bites and told Mrs. Huang about Shen Cangli, “I went to the eldest branch with first sister-in-law and met the eldest brother on the corridor. It seems he’s ill. Granny, pack up some things he might need and send Zhu Shi to bring these over to first sister-in-law later as a small token of concern.”

Mrs. Huang agreed and said, “Someone from Fengzhou came with a letter from Old Madam and Madam. The letter is on your dressing table in the inner room, and I’ve arranged the person who delivered it to rest in the front yard for the time being, so you can reach out to him for any questions.”

Wei Changying said joyfully, “Grandmother and Mother have written me a letter?” Without waiting for Mrs. Huang's confirmation, she lifted her dress, turned around, and ran towards the inner room.

Mrs. Huang couldn't help but smile as she watched her from behind and said, “I just mentioned that young madam is becoming more and more like the lady in charge now. Now that she heard that Old Madam and Madam had written her a letter, she's acting like a little girl again.”

Mrs. He covered her mouth and laughed, “No matter how much young madam grows, she will always be a child in front of Old Madam and Madam.”

“Sister He, you look like a little girl, too!” Hearing her words, Mrs. Huang looked at her with a smile.

Shocked, Mrs. He subconsciously squeezed the hairpin in her sleeve, and panicked, “Does Sister Huang know about this hairpin too? I must return this hairpin immediately! Otherwise, I’d be a laughing joke!”

She was feeling sheepish, but Mrs. Huang went on, “Two days ago, when young madam went to the Song Family’s mansion, the First Miss of the Song Family teased young madam, and that's what young madam told her. Young Madam was teased by the First Miss of the Song Family, but I didn't know that young madam had learned this from you, Sister He?”

Mrs. He was relieved and thought to herself, “I knew it. There was no one around at that time. No matter how smart Sister Huang is, she won’t know about it.” She also thought it would be better to think about it for a couple of days more since no one knew about it.

While the two grannies were chatting, Wei Changying had already run into the inner room. Taking a quick glance, she saw a red gold hairpin pressed against two thick letters on the dressing table.

Wei Changying happily picked it up and opened it while thinking, “I think it was sent to me for Shuguang's first month birthday. I wonder what Mother and Grandmother prepared for Shuguang?” As she was about to open it, she sighed, “I can't take everything to Shuguang now that he's being raised somewhere else lest my mother-in-law misunderstands that I'm worried about her mistreating him. I don't know when I'll be able to bring him back. What if he doesn’t like these items in the future?”

Sighing, she unfolded the letter and read it carefully. This one was from Madam Song, congratulating her daughter on becoming a mother and asking about her grandson. She then rambled on about the rules and tips of being a sensible daughter-in-law and how to manage family affairs. Her delicate handwriting was plastered on three whole pages, ending with a list of things for her grandson and some items for everyone from the Shen Family.

Of course, Wei Changying had even more items.

Wei Changying read her mother's letter over and over again for a long time, teary-eyed. When she was in Fengzhou, Madam Song would have practically wanted to discipline her every day. Wei Changying who was very disobedient was too impatient to listen to her mother's teachings. Hence, she always sneaked away or fell asleep whilst listening to her mother. In one instance, her saliva even dripped on her mother’s sleeve while she was asleep.

Now that she had married and become a mother, she could finally understand Madam Song. What Madam Song wrote was nothing new compared to what she used to say in Fengzhou, but Wei Changying couldn’t help but feel warm when she read it.

After stroking the letterhead for a long time, Wei Changying immediately opened her grandmother's letter to read it.

The first part of Old Madam Song's letter was more or less the same as Madam Song's. The only difference was on the last page. There wasn’t a gift list. It seemed like the two of them were sending gifts together. Hence, Madam Song made a list instead. Instead, Old Madam Song said something very surprising to Wei Changying. She mentioned someone Wei Changying had almost forgotten, which was Wei Xinyong.

This man was very calculative, and it was hard to tell whether Wei Changying was disgusted, resentful, or grateful to this young man who came from the gentlefolks in Zhiben Hall yet seemed to hold a deep grudge against his origins.

Speaking of that assassination outside Fengzhou a few years back, if Wei Xinyong hadn't intervened, even though Jiang Zheng was well experienced, and both Wei Changying and Wei Qing were considered to be highly skilled in martial arts, they wouldn't have been able to cope with the disparity between their enemy and them, not to mention Wei Changfeng being a burden that had to be protected and couldn't be abandoned. The late Duke Jingping's son, Wei Zhengya, and the Liu Family would have had a hard time escaping death. Neither Wei Zhengya nor the Liu Family would have been foolish enough to poison Wei Changfeng directly if they had had any form of uncertainty.

From this point of view, Wei Xinyong had indeed saved Wei Changying and her brother’s life, though he had his own motives.

But when she thought of his planning that indirectly ruined her own reputation, and him taking the opportunity to get rid of Mo Binwei, the person that Old Madam Song had reserved for her lineal grandson, Wei Changying dismissed any thoughts of appreciation.

Sighing in her heart, Wei Changying settled down to read on. Only after reading two lines, Wei Changying was stunned.

Was Wei Xinyong going to be adopted by Ruiyu Hall?

She hurriedly read on, only to see Old Madam Song telling the story lightly. In Wei Huan’s generation, in addition to the eldest lineal son, Wei Hwan, who inherited the title of Duke of Jingping, and Wei Jiong, Wei Huan's brother, there were several other brothers who died at a young age. One of them, whose name was Wei Lian, was Wei Huan's stepbrother.

However, Wei Lian was unfortunately dead and was only 17 years old at the time of his death. He had not even settled on a marriage.

Hence Wei Lian had no sons, so Wei Huan wanted to give his brother an heir to continue his legacy. However, Wei Huan had four sons in total, and Wei Jiong, another brother of his, who had no children, begged for a child of his and took Wei Huan’s youngest son of the concubine away. Of the three remaining sons, the eldest lineal son was not a successor and was in poor health. For a few years, Wei Huan was counting on the second branch to take over Ruiyu Hall. Hence, he refused to put Wei Shengyi under his deceased brother’s name. As for Wei Shengnian, Wei Huan deemed he was the most suitable, but Old Madam Song was worried if something bad happened to her eldest lineal son… Old Madam Song didn’t like Wei Shengyi, who was raised by Old Duke Jingping’s wife. She thought the third branch could be used against Wei Shengyi. Hence, she rejected the idea!

Hence, it was undecided till this day.

Now it was Wei Huan who had the idea again. As Old Madam Song "could not bear" to have her sons not call her Mother anymore, she decided to find an heir for Wei Lian from a distant branch. As a result, Wei Xinyong was found.

Wei Changying couldn't help but be surprised at this!

The letter from Old Madam Song did not end here. She also talked about Wei Changying's meeting with Wei Xinyong that year. She implicated that whatever happened was now all in the past and that Wei Xinyong didn't mean to harm Wei Changying at that time. Now that Wei Xinyong was going to be adopted under Wei Lian’s name, he’d be a family member of the Ruiyu Hall. Hence, she asked Wei Changying to forget about the past.

Most importantly, Old Madam Song wanted Wei Changying to introduce Shen Xuan, Song Yuwang, and others to Wei Xinyong.

If she hadn't been so familiar with her grandmother's handwriting, Wei Changying would have thought the letter had been forged by someone else!

It was not that Wei Changying had such a huge resentment against Wei Xinyong that she wouldn’t heed her grandmother’s words. Rather, Wei Changying knew how much her grandmother favored her, and Old Madam Song's thoughts had always been, “Whether you do it on purpose or not, if you upset my grandson or granddaughter, it's your fault! You deserve to die!”

After flipping the letter over and over in suspicion for a long time, Wei Changying simply called Mrs. Huang, “Has the person who delivered the letter rested enough? If he has, ask him if he can talk to me now. Ask him to come and see me!”

A moment later, a manservant was brought to the back of the room. When Wei Changying looked at him, she recognized that he was Lu Cheng, the man who attended to her grandmother, and was the nephew of Lu Quan, who served Wei Zhenghong.

Knowing how important Wei Changying was to Old Madam Song, Lu Cheng did not dare to be negligent, so he knelt down and bowed, saying, “First Miss, I haven't seen you for a long time. Now that I did, I am overjoyed to see you in good health.” He also congratulated Wei Changying on the birth of her son.

Wei Changying smiled and exchanged pleasantries with him, greeted Lu Quan, and then enquired in detail about the situation of her family in Fengzhou. She learned that everything was fine and her father Wei Zhenghong's health had not recovered, but it had not deteriorated, either. After asking about everyone, she found out something that neither Old Madam Song nor Madam Song had mentioned in their letters. Her cousin Wei Gaochan was finally going to be married. The marriage date was set for September. Hence, she could pack her congratulatory gifts now for Lu Cheng to bring them back just in time. She started guessing if Old Madam Song had set this date for her convenience.

Wei Gaochan’s husband's family was from the Su Family of Qingzhou. The name of her husband sounded a little strange, which was Su Quan.

Wei Changying thought that he did not sound like a direct descendant of the clan, so she asked Lu Cheng who responded casually, “I heard the people in the mansion talk about it in my spare time. It seemed he was a descendant of the clan but was only born by a concubine. His great grandfather was a half-brother of the Family Head of the Su Family. His great grandfather was sent back to Qingzhou at a young age because he was not favored.”

Perhaps because he felt that saying so would make it seem that Old Madam Song had not found a good husband for her granddaughter, Lu Cheng added, “But Mr. Su is a very good man. He’s extremely filial and is known far and wide in Qingzhou as a filial son, serving his widowed mother with the utmost dedication. It was because of his character that Old Madam Song married Fourth Miss to him, regardless of his estrangement from the clan's bloodline."

If Wei Changying had heard that Wei Gaochan was going to marry a filial son before she got married, she would have thought that such a person would be of good character and integrity. Now that she was a mother, she was not as innocent as a young girl anymore. Hearing this, she frowned slightly and thought to herself, “His great grandfather is a son of the clan at that time, but now he is distant from his maternal grandfather's family and their bond is faint. Especially since Su Quan's great grandfather was not in favor, how could his heirs be pleased? If he was, he should be well known about his reputation. This aside… A filial son? Known far and wide? Is he just obeying everything his widowed mother said? But I don't know how his mother's temperament is. If his mother is a harsh lady, like Grandaunt Song of the eldest aunt's husband's family, my fourth sister will certainly suffer when she marries into the family.”

Wei Changying vaguely guessed Wei Gaochan’s disrespectful acts to her that year might be the reason why her marriage had been delayed until now. Old Madam Song might have been nice to those who had offended her, but she had always been driven to kill those who had wronged her grandson or granddaughter.

It seemed her grandmother had never changed. But why was she so different when it came to Wei Xinyong?

Wei Changying brushed off the topics of Wei Gaochan’s marriage and asked her main concern, “What is the story of this family uncle who was succeeded by great uncle, with the name Xinyong?”