This way, there would naturally be some reckoning about who was right and who was wrong between the first branch and Jiuru Lane’s division.

Cheng Chi knew his mother’s concerns. She never tired of criticizing the second branch’s Cheng Xu, and in her old age this was her only enjoyment, so naturally he wouldn’t interfere. He smiled in agreement and told Old Madam Guo about Cheng Wen wanting to open a tea shop.

Hearing this, Old Madam Guo laughed and said, “Are you trying to help the fifth branch establish a foothold in the capital?”

Cheng Chi smiled meaningfully and said, “That depends on whether they can establish themselves in the capital or not.”

Previously, enticing them to invest in the Yutai Bank was to bind their interests with the first branch, pulling them and the first branch onto the same boat to deal with the second branch. Now, although the first branch had separated, they’d never had conflicts with the fourth and fifth branches. As relatives, they’d help where they could, but if someone truly couldn’t be helped, they wouldn’t cover for them in everything like before.

Why was the Cheng family raided?

He still had more important matters to attend to!

Although Old Madam Guo didn’t know about the Cheng family being raided, the idea of no longer helping the fourth and fifth branches like before struck a chord with her.

Especially the fourth branch—because of Zhou Shaojin, after going full circle, the fourth branch and first branch had divided yet become marriage relations. The fourth branch should definitely be guided somewhat. The fifth branch had simply never participated in the conflicts between the first, second, and third branches, so they could just be treated as ordinary relatives.

On this point, mother and son thought alike.

Old Madam Guo nodded and brought up the first branch’s ancestral fields: “I’ve been thinking we should still buy a small estate or something in the capital area. After I pass away a hundred years from now, would you really travel thousands of miles to Jinling to pay respects to me?”

Cheng Chi smiled and said, “I’ll discuss this matter with Big Brother and Second Brother.”

No matter what, his eldest brother was the first branch’s eldest son, so naturally these matters of establishing ancestral grounds and burials should be discussed with them.

The mother and son then discussed matters at the Jining River Works Governor’s Office. Seeing Cheng Chi show signs of fatigue, Old Madam Guo felt sorry for him and quickly urged him to return to his room to rest: “You rushed back at midnight yesterday, and went out to meet people today. Rest well. Your uncles from the Guo family are coming this afternoon. You should properly accompany them for drinks this evening.”

Cheng Chi was somewhat surprised and smiled, saying, “The Guo family uncles are coming too? You must remember to reimburse them for their travel expenses.”

“Do you need to tell me this! If they hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have planned to subsidize them, but now that they’ve come, if I don’t subsidize them, my conscience won’t allow it.” Old Madam Guo smiled and said, “Not only have your uncles come, but several old masters, masters, madams, and ladies from the Gu family have also come. And people from the Shen family. The Zhu family from Duke Liangguo’s mansion—everyone who received an invitation has come. I just walked around the mansion with Chief Steward Qin and decided to move to Tingxiang Courtyard behind the main hall on the east wing tomorrow. We’ll vacate the entire east wing for guest rooms, otherwise the house won’t be able to accommodate everyone.”

Cheng Chi had merely sent invitations to relatives and friends in Jinling as a courtesy, never expecting everyone who received one to actually come.

He was stunned for a moment, then joked, “I wonder if it’s because I’m well-liked, or because Big Brother’s official prestige carries weight?”

Old Madam Guo smiled and said, “Either way, it’s good that people are coming.”

Mother and son then discussed the move.

Tingxiang Courtyard was right behind the main hall on the east wing, accessible through a small gate. Beyond it, winding paths led to secluded spots with pavilions and waterside chambers. Built in the style of a Jiangnan garden, it was compact, delicate, and charming. Cheng Chi had specially constructed this as a leisurely place for Zhou Shaojin, who didn’t like going out, to practice calligraphy and play the zither. It was lively enough, but because the main and side rooms were arranged very sparsely, it lacked some dignity and wasn’t suitable for prolonged winter residence, especially for someone of Old Madam Guo’s advanced age.

But Old Madam Guo didn’t mind, smiling and saying, “It’s just temporary lodging, and the main room has underfloor heating. Let’s settle it this way.”

Cheng Chi thought that since everyone was coming from Jinling to attend the wedding, those madams and ladies would inevitably come to pay respects to his mother. How could he let his mother stay in Tingxiang Courtyard? He simply summoned Qin Ziji and had him completely refurbish the main hall before Old Madam Guo moved in. Other places weren’t easy to change, and he felt it would be a shame to alter them, but the main hall absolutely had to be dignified and elegant, grand and exquisite.

※※※

After receiving the guest list at Xinlin Alley, Yuan Shi became so angry her liver hurt. When Cheng Jing returned home, she couldn’t help sobbing: “Mother has gone too far this time. For Fourth Uncle’s wedding, Mother actually sent invitations to all those relatives and old friends in Jinling. Nine out of ten will personally attend Fourth Uncle’s wedding. When our Jiashan gets married, Jinling will only send monetary gifts, not people. When Mother originally set Fourth Uncle’s wedding date before Jiashan’s, I had some vague worries, but thinking that Fourth Uncle was marrying the fourth branch’s granddaughter, there shouldn’t be much fanfare, so I held onto some false hope and didn’t speak up. I never expected Mother’s heart didn’t have Jiashan in it at all…”

The expenses from Jinling to the capital weren’t low. With Cheng Chi and Cheng Xu’s wedding dates so close together, those people would either stay at Chaoyangmen after arriving and wait until they’d attended Cheng Xu’s celebratory feast before returning, or they’d return after Cheng Chi’s wedding ended. Those who returned couldn’t possibly make two trips to the capital in a short time. And those who could stay until Cheng Xu’s wedding were mostly women with nothing to do—never mind the men, even the household matrons couldn’t be away from home for so long. Even if each Jinling family sent someone to attend Cheng Xu’s wedding, different attendees meant different weight to the wedding.

Moreover, Chaoyangmen had invited Song Jingran and Zhang Hui as wedding hosts, and Third Madam Wu as the fortune woman… What would happen with Cheng Xu’s wedding then?

Why should she still make such elaborate preparations!

When Cheng Xu was three years old, Yuan Shi had taken the child back to their hometown to serve the widowed Old Madam Guo.

Cheng Jing and she hadn’t been together for ten years.

Either he occasionally returned home to visit Old Madam Guo, or Yuan Shi occasionally came to the capital to visit him. What they discussed was just pleasant family matters. Even during the two years Cheng Xu studied in the capital, Yuan Shi had been gentle and mild, virtuous and magnanimous, rarely mentioning household trivialities.

Now that the entire first branch had moved to the capital to live, Yuan Shi’s complaints grew deeper and deeper, with some words even involving Old Madam Guo.

Cheng Jing thought about how she’d borne and raised children for him and served the elderly all these years with such difficulty—some complaints were natural. Most of the time he carefully consoled, generously tolerated, and tried to accommodate her as much as possible.

But today’s words went somewhat too far!

His originally smiling face gradually turned cold.

Yuan Shi’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly remembering the young Cheng Jing, who would agree to anything she said about himself, yielding to her in everything, but one couldn’t speak ill of his mother and brothers. Otherwise the two would definitely quarrel, and Cheng Jing would never bow his head and apologize over such matters.

She immediately felt somewhat uneasy.

Seeing her stop the topic in time, Cheng Jing’s expression lightened slightly. He said gravely, “You can say such things in front of me, but you absolutely cannot mention them before outsiders, even your natal family’s brothers and sisters. Fourth Brother agreeing to marry is a good thing. Not only is Mother happy, we elder brothers and sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces should also be happy.

“He is Jiashan’s uncle, so naturally he should marry before Jiashan. There’s nothing wrong with this date.

“As for making elaborate preparations, Fourth Brother’s wedding is the first branch’s first joyous occasion after our division, so naturally we should send invitations widely and host all relatives and friends. Never mind Mother—even if it were me, I’d do the same.

“If we’re to blame anyone, we can only blame Jiashan’s bad luck in coinciding with Fourth Brother’s marriage.

“And regarding Third Sister-in-law, regardless of what happened before, she’s your third sister-in-law now, so certain words and matters shouldn’t come from your mouth.

“You must remember this carefully.

“Then there’s your illness.

“Soon relatives will start arriving one after another. Miss Zheng and Miss Xiao have both gone to Chaoyangmen to help, yet you as the clan matron are nowhere to be seen. Even if you have to force yourself, you must go show your face. You should understand this principle without me saying it, right?”

Yuan Shi suddenly felt like she’d fallen into an ice cave, chilled to the bone.

“You…” She stared at her husband wide-eyed, her face full of disbelief.

Cheng Jing couldn’t help but soften, his voice becoming gentle as he said, “You should really learn from Second Sister-in-law! She drags her sickly body around but still goes to pay respects to Mother every few days. Now that Fourth Brother is getting married, she’s even moved into Chaoyangmen… Alin, ‘too rigid and it breaks’—you should understand this principle.”

Yuan Shi’s tears streamed down.

Cheng Jing sighed and gently embraced his wife, saying softly, “All right, all right. I’m not blaming you either. You know Mother’s temperament—what’s wrong with bowing your head to her? In a couple days when I have my rest day, we’ll go to Chaoyangmen together.”

He gave Yuan Shi room to maneuver.

Yuan Shi nodded, but in her heart she calculated that since Yuan Weichang’s family lived in the capital, they would definitely attend Cheng Chi’s wedding. Her natal family only needed to send someone to give greetings, and everyone could come when Cheng Xu got married instead. As for those marriage relations…

Thinking of Second Madam Fang made her head start aching too.

Second Madam Fang’s extremely cold face made her feel uncomfortable every time she recalled it.

It seemed Second Madam Fang had placed this account on her head.

Although she wasn’t afraid, just thinking that someone hated her so much, who could still feel at ease?

Yuan Shi leaned weakly against Cheng Jing’s shoulder.

In the west wing, Cheng Chi couldn’t quite fall asleep.

Thinking that the little person was now in the same city as him, just a quarter-hour’s carriage ride away, his heart felt sweet as honey, and his chest surged with an indescribable emotion, boiling continuously like heated water.

Should he go see her?

Come to think of it, they hadn’t seen each other for over a month.

He’d had someone send word that he’d returned.

He wondered if that little person had thought of him.

In just over twenty days, she would enter the house he’d built to shelter her from wind and rain, living under his protection…

Thinking of this, Cheng Chi couldn’t fall asleep.

He got up and lay back down several times, finally lying in bed with a bitter smile.

Truly, gentle embraces were a hero’s tomb.

He hadn’t even married yet and was already wavering…