Concubine Liu was sent away, and Yijiao was brought back to Madam Luâs side. Although Zhang Cuiniang and the others didnât know what had happened, they were all happy for Madam Lu.
But Zhang Cuiniang found that Madam Lu didnât look good.
She asked in private, âMadam, the two things that you always care for have been settled down by Master. Why do you still look upset?â
âMaybe because itâs been too hot these days.â Hearing this, Madam Lu forced a smile to hide it.
Zhang Cuiniang watched her grow up. How could she not know that she was not saying what she meant?
With great efforts, she finally made Madam Lu speak the truth. But she didnât know how to react to the answer, âYesterday my husband slept in my room and talked in his sleep all night.â
After saying this, Madam Lu showed a look of both anger and sorrow, and said with sobs, âHe tossed and turnedâ¦calling the name of Eldest Young Ladyâs birth mother!â
He just said it would be great if she was his first wife yesterday, but at night he was still thinking of Wei Mengying!
No matter how much Madam Lu adored her husband, she would feel aggrieved!
Hearing this, Zhang Cuiniang also felt that Song Yuan had gone too far. But at this time, not everyone could be Wei Mengying. She could only comfort her, âThat woman has trampled the Song Familyâs dignity into mud before. How could Master not hate her? Master visited Eldest Young Lady yesterday. Maybe Eldest Young Lady said something to Master which evokes the sadness of the master.â
âPerhaps!â Madam Lu responded with little interest, but in her heart she thought melancholy that love was deep, so that hatred was deep. Song Yuan couldnât forget Wei Mengying. Even if it was resentment, it was clear that he had never forgotten his first wife who had abandoned him.
Naturally Song Yixiao knew nothing about the Song Familyâs grudges and feuds.
After she sent Song Yuan away that day, she carefully opened the brocade box that Song Yuan said to give to his granddaughter, and found that it contained the properties worth 300,000 taels of silver. At the bottom was a short letter saying that in the secret room of one of the mansions, there were two boxes of jewelry for Jian Qingyue to add to her dowry when she grew up and got married.
Even if Song Yixiao didnât think much of her father, she was suspicious when she saw this, âFather is in his prime. Why would he want to give Qingyueâs dowry now?â
Couldnât he wait until Jian Qingyue grew up and was about to get married and then send it personally?
After she talked about it with Jian Xubai at night, Jian Xubai came back and told her after two days of inquiring, âIt is said that Father-in-law is too stable in the imperial capital that he wanted to make a move. Heâs planning to ask for distribution to local officials.â
Song Yuan was close to Gu Shao as if they were uncle and nephew. At present, Gu Shao was in charge of the court. Naturally he wouldnât reject this request.
Besides, Gu Shao couldnât agree more. After learning that Song Yuan had gone to visit his daughter and granddaughter, Gu Shao made it a point to reveal to Jian Xubai, âI am actually in favor of his expatriation, as he is a scholar ranking the first and a scion of a aristocratic family, but he has been wasting his time in the secretarial department for so many years. If he leaves the imperial capital this time, he can spend eight or ten years sharpening himself before joining the court again, and he may be able to sit in the position I am in now.â
The meaning of these words was to imply that Song Yuan had a great future ahead of him. Even if he was not as good as the Duke of Yanâs Family at present, he might be in the future. So as the daughter and son-in-law, there was really no need to keep distance from such an elder.
When Jian Xubai heard of this news, in conjunction with the fact that Song Yuan sent his granddaughterâs dowry at this moment, he thought, âFather-in-law wouldnât be planning to leave the imperial capital this time and never return, would he? In the future, when he is old and retired, he will return directly to his hometown?â
Otherwise, take care of Shaoâs view, when Song Yuan sharpened himself for eight or ten years and came back to the court, Jian Qingyue was still not at the age for marriage at that time!
If it was an ordinary expatriate official, people who worked outside for a decade or two before getting the opportunity to join the court, there would also be some. For example, Ji Zhou, Jian Xubaiâs uncle-in-law, was still working as a magistrate even at present after marrying Jian Lizhi and leaving the imperial capital.
Of course, it wasnât because he couldnât be transferred back to the court, but mainly because he couldnât get the position he wanted and preferred to wait in his current position.
But Song Yuanâs situation was different. His ancestors had been officials for generations, and his own father, Song Ying, would have been as famous as Gu Shao had he lived. He had the deep influence of his scholar family. With the support of his uncle Gu Shao, if he had enough experience, Gu Shao could bring him back to the court at any time and make a good position available to him even if he didnât have one!
At this moment he felt that he would not be able to be here when his granddaughter got married, and naturally, Jian Xubai thought that this was because he had already made up his mind that he would never return.
âFather has never been able to forget Mother, perhaps because she is in the imperial capital?â Song Yixiao kept silent for a moment before saying, âItâs just that⦠I really didnât expect him to do that.â
In her previous life, she had died this year. At that time, Song Yuan had treated her with extreme indifference and, at Liuâs instigation, had accused her of being playful and had her dipped in a pig cage.
She tried desperately to defend herself and plead, but there was no pity or affection in her biological fatherâs eyes.
Next to her, Madam Liuâs smile was smug and piercing.
Song Yixiao exhaled, donât think about these long past things.
There were too many differences in this life.
She didnât think she needed to be surprised. In her previous life, her stepmother had always been Madam Liu, and that she didnât have two sisters and one brother, but three brothers, one of whom had died young. But at this time, her stepmother was Madam Lu, who was not as mean as Madam Liu, and was even safer for Song Yixiao than her own mother, Wei Mengying.
At least Madam Lu couldnât think of so many ways to harm her.
That being the case, it made sense that her own father would change.
Song Yixiao was glad that Song Yuan left the imperial capital. Heâd better take Elder Lady Pang with him. She preferred to say that as her only son, he could not leave Elder Lady Pang behind in the imperial capital if he was about to leave. Although Song Yuan had come to express his desire for reconciliation and to treat Jian Qingyue as his granddaughter, the years of alienation and hurt were too heavy for her to let go.
It was hard enough for Song Yixiao not to actively harm the Song Family.
If she was asked to deal with the family as if nothing had ever happened, she truly couldnât do it.
It was really great like this at present. Song Yuan couldnât bear living in a city with Wei Mengying, so he decided to go away and leave this sad place.
And Song Yixiao should not be able to hear about the hurt and torment from this family anymore. Since Song Yuan had decided to go, he would definitely go far away. The distance was far and news was not easy to pass on. In addition, unless the Song Family came to report on purpose, no one else would have a bad judgement and give her a hard time.
Even if Song Yuan grew old and retired, his hometown was in Jiangnan, far enough away from the imperial capital.
It was better to forget each other than to support each other.
This might describe the current emotion of Song Yixiao. She would rather not have a father who might be powerful in the future, even if he seemed to be intent on compensating her from then on. She only wanted him to be far away and not meet her any more.
Although Song Yuan had decided to leave and Gu Shao had arranged well for him, the weather was hot currently, so Gu Shao suggested him to wait until the autumn before leaving.
After all, Song Yuan couldnât possibly go alone. He had an old mother, a wife and young children, and in the heat of the day, he might be able to bear it as a strong man, but his family couldnât. He should avoid having an accident on the road.
He seemed to understand it all after he made the decision to leave.
In the following days, he came over to see Jian Qingyue almost HYPERLINK âhttps://context.reverso.net/%E7%BF%BB%E8%AF%91/%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD-%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87/every+now+and+againâ every now and again.
Occasionally, he would bring Song Yibao with him.
Song Yixiao welcomed him to bring her half-sister, because even though Song Yuan came more and more often, she still had nothing to talk about with her father. The presence of her younger sister helped ease the sense of unfamiliarity and politeness between the father and daughter. Perhaps Song Yuan also felt he had nothing to say to his eldest daughter, so he brought his second daughter along on purpose.
Although there were not as many people on Mount Cuihua as in the imperial capital, the news did not delivery slower.
The suspected reconciliation between Song Yuan and Song Yixiao and that Song Yuanâs sudden change from an unkind father to a kind grandfather became known on and off the mountain in a couple of days.
Xie Yiren, Jiang Muting and others deliberately chose a day when Song Yuan did not come over to ask Song Yixiao if the news was true.
Song Yixiao said, âItâs true that my father has come to visit a few times recently, but mostly to see Qingyue. After all, we havenât been together for years, so that we donât know what to say. Itâs a good thing that Father brings Yibao with him. Sheâs so innocent and sweet now, so itâs not awkward with her around.â
âAfter all, you are his biological daughter!â Xie Yiren and others naturally were happy for her, âEven though there were all sorts of grudges in the past, itâs good that theyâve been resolved now!â
They didnât think that Song Yixiaoâs previous grievances were nothing, but the reason was that, âAlthough Duke of Yan has treated you well, itâs good to have your maiden family backing you up again! Besides, your father was a No. 1 Scholar, so if you have a legitimate son, you will be able to gain the advantage first and ask his grandfather to teach him. Your father likes Qingyue so much. How can he not teach his grandson everything he knows?â
They were in good relationship, So, the bad things will be tacitly unspoken. The reason why Song Yixiao could live a good life without the support from her biological parents was that Jian Xubai loved her.
But a flower could not blossom for a hundred days. If Jian Xubaiâs heart changed in the future, Song Yixiao could only rely on her son and her maiden family at that time.
The son, no matter how capable he was, would lose much ability when he was pressured by filial piety in front of Jian Xubai.
At this time, only a strong maiden family loving their daughter could be reliable.
Therefore, those who had good relationship with Song Yixiao all thought that Song Yuan showed the intention to be ignored out with his daughter was definitely a good thing, which was definitely worthy of Song Yixiaoâs promise.
Song Yixiao knew exactly what they were thinking. She didnât speak out the truth, but only smiled and thanked them for their kind words.
But she didnât expect that when the news was confirmed, Wei Mengying also came in person!
âI heard that Song Yuan has been visiting you and your daughter a lot lately?â She chose a time when Song Yuan was not here and Jian Xubai was not in. After a careless visit to her granddaughter, the two of them went to the drawing hall to have tea and talk. When they were just seated, Wei Mengying implied to her daughter to clear the scene. Then she slightly sipped the tea and said, âWhat is he up to? You have to be careful. He and his mother are not easy to handle! And youâre said to let him visit Qingyue frequently? Youâre really getting dumber and dumber! Havenât you suffered enough in that house? Qingyue is so young. Arenât you afraid sheâll be harmed?â
As she said this, she touched her silver dangling ornament, âDonât think you have a doctor from Jinxiu Hall in your mansion so that you can care less about it. The power of Jiangnan Hall is not weaker than Jinxiu Hall. Who knows if they have stored some ways to harm people secretly?â
âMother should just say what you want to say!â Song Yixiao had already felt tired from perfunctorily dealing with Song Yuan all this time. When her own mother came, she really didnât have the intention to beat around the bush. She said lightly, âAs for Father, you donât need to think too much. He is planning to leave. It is unsure whether he will return to the imperial capital after his leaving!â
âLeaving?â Wei Mengying was stunned, âAfter he leaves, he wonât return. Is it true?â
Seeing her daughter flick the lid of her tea bowl in silent, she knew it was obviously the truth. Wei Mengying bit her lip. Her expression was complicated, and after a while, she said, âI was afraid that he and that Elder Lady Pang were planning on something again and that you would be fooled, so I came to take a look. Since thatâs the case, I wonât stay any longer, in case I would bother you.â
Song Yixiao said helplessly, âIf you hadnât said those words which made me embarrassed, why would I drive you away?â
âYour Cousin Cao is new to the Princeâs mansion and is unfamiliar with everything. Now itâs time to escape heat and all the ladies are available, so she plans to invite all people to admire the lake in order to get close with everyone. She is afraid that people will not attend, so she specially invites me.â Wei Mengying didnât respond her words, stood up and said, âOf course you are invited. Will you come?â
âIâd rather not.â Song Yixiao shook her head, âItâs not that I donât show my cousin respect. But you should also know that Qingyue had a fever when she just arrived at Mount Cuihua and just recovered in these two days. I really donât dare leave her side. If I take her to admire the lake, it would be inconvenient. Also Iâm afraid that she will catch a cold again after blowing the wind. But I can only spoil everyoneâs fun.â
Hearing this, Wei Mengying didnât force her and said, âThatâs fine.â
Waving her sleeve, she left.
Eventually, Song Yixiao sent her to the door. When they just reached the door, they met Song Yuan with Song Yibao in his arms, touching the flowers and branches as he walked towards them!