That anguished plea caught Tao Huiru, who had been performing her false show of weakness, completely off guard.

Her hollow and counterfeit entreaties, before Wen Shi’s tears that flowed like a spring, were rendered utterly worthless.

The onlookers who had gathered around finally withdrew whatever sympathy they had held for Tao Huiru raising her son alone, and recalled how she had brought about the separation between Wen Shi and her infant child in those years.

Pitiful people always have something detestable about them. Had Tao Huiru not competed for Yang Yi in those years, how could she have ended up in such a pitiable state today? Now, on the day of her stepson’s great joy, she had dragged her brother and her son to cause a scene at someone’s estate gate demanding to be recognized as family. Where on earth had she borrowed the face to do something so utterly devoid of righteousness and decency?

In an instant, no one had the misguided kindness to come play peacemaker anymore. Urging Situ Sheng to forgive the person responsible for driving his mother to madness and persecuting her—they would have been struck by lightning. Far too wicked a thing to do!

Tao Huiru had calculated every angle—except that Situ Sheng had actually tracked down and brought back Wen Shi.

This madwoman, with no filter whatsoever between her thoughts and her tongue—she had no regard for who was watching, who was listening. Whatever she thought, she would say!

Tao Huiru felt herself losing composure, and could only try to keep her voice as soft as possible: “Wen sister, you are ill. You don’t know what you’re saying…”

But that one phrase “sister” was precisely what cut deepest into Wen Shi. She let out a somewhat deranged and unhinged laugh: “Sister? What a fine word—sister! You went to every length to address me as your sister, yet before my husband and the uncles and elder sisters-in-law of the Yang household, you would let slip, seemingly without intention, the complaints I had shared with you—stirring up quarrel after quarrel between Yang Yi and me, and causing me to be more and more ostracized by the Yang Family relatives. I never noticed a thing, still thinking it was nothing but careless words on your part! Right up until I saw you with your clothes disheveled, lying with Yang Yi in my marriage bed—only then did I understand the intentions you had harbored all along! Tao Huiru! I cannot compete with you—so I yield him to you! Only please—persuade Yang Yi to let me take away my son! Without me, Sheng’er will suffer so greatly, so greatly…”

Though Wen Shi’s words were disjointed and rambling, every single one of them confirmed the truth of Tao Huiru’s shameful conduct in those years!

Setting aside the utterly thunderstruck Tao Zan—Tao Haisheng was the first to crack.

Though he loved his sister dearly, he still had a face to maintain.

In those years, the matter of his sister and Yang Yi being caught by Wen Shi had caused an enormous uproar between the two families, and he had known every detail with perfect clarity.

Only—like Tao Huiru herself—he had never for a moment imagined that Wen Shi, sent so far away, would appear before the two of them again, with words that were blood and tears, condemning his sister’s terrible actions from those years!

In that instant, the guilt of those old years came flooding to his heart. Only now did Tao Haisheng realize just how inappropriate it had been—bringing his sister and nephew here to claim kinship!

How had he forgotten that his sister had not married into the Yang Family in any ordinary way? She owed a tremendous debt to that mother and son!

Thinking this, Tao Haisheng instantly deflated entirely. He had no desire to let his sister continue confronting the madwoman.

He simply grabbed his sister and made to leave immediately—but Wen Shi had fallen into an obsession, gripping Tao Huiru’s hand with an iron grip, refusing to let go, continuing to weep and beg her to return her son.

Chu Linlang understood that her mother-in-law had certainly been stirred up by long-buried old grievances and was growing emotionally unstable. She hurried over and took her by the arm, trying to soothe her quietly and bring her back to the inner compound.

But Wen Shi did not even look at her, entirely focused on tangling with Tao Huiru.

Tao Huiru’s face had turned a dark, congested purple. Whatever she tried to say was drowned out by Wen Shi’s weeping and cries.

Pestered past her endurance, Tao Huiru finally reached out impatiently to push Wen Shi away, her voice snarling with resentment: “You madwoman! It was Yang Yi who did not want you—what does that have to do with me!”

Wen Shi was frail and slight—she stumbled backward at the push. Chu Linlang moved quickly to catch her, but seeing the figure who had appeared behind her, she drew her hands back just in time.

Wen Shi was steadied securely by a pair of broad arms, and at the same moment a low and steady voice sounded at her ear: “Mother, you were looking for me? I am right here with you.”

Wen Shi turned in confusion. A handsome face of sharp and extraordinary clarity came into view…

This person—there was something about him that resembled the frail child in her memory. Especially those eyes, so focused as they looked at her, making anyone who saw them feel a warmth settle in their heart…

He… called her mother… Yes—this person had been appearing at her side often lately, giving her medicine, making clay figures for her. There was something about that feeling—as though, a long, long time ago, she had spent a long stretch of time alone with him…

Wen Shi quieted for a moment, gazing in a daze at this young man.

Situ Sheng calmed his mother, then supported her shoulders and let the maidservants and female attendants escort her back to her room.

Then he turned, and with cool eyes looked toward Tao Huiru, and said evenly: “His Majesty’s holy will commanded you to reside at the temple for spiritual cultivation. Yet you have privately run away—do you intend to defy the imperial command? Lord Tao, by indulging a woman who has severed all ties with the Yang Family in making a scene at the gate of my household, what exactly are you scheming at?”

Tao Haisheng stood there with his face in complete ruins, deeply regretting this day’s actions.

How had he been so bewitched as to bring his sister here to claim kinship without a second thought? If what had happened today were to reach his father at home… would it not mean another severe scolding for being utterly senseless?

He was steeling himself, just starting to look for a way to step down gracefully for himself and his sister, when his son-in-law the Crown Prince also appeared at the gate.

Tao Haisheng felt as though he had been thrown a lifeline. He was just about to ask his son-in-law the Crown Prince to help extricate him from the situation. But to his surprise, the Crown Prince spoke before he could open his mouth: “Lord Situ, my father-in-law has always had soft ears. He was no doubt deceived by this Tao woman into this foolish business. Since she has run away without permission, I will have people escort her back. Today is your day of great joy—there is no need to be entangled with all of this…”

With that, the Crown Prince waved his hand, ordering people to seize hold of Tao Huiru and send her back to the temple.

When His Majesty had originally sent Tao Huiru to the temple, it had been a verbal decree given in secret—a way of preserving some measure of the Tao Family’s dignity. In future, if anyone asked, it could be said that Tao Huiru had a devoted heart toward the Buddha and had voluntarily taken religious vows.

But now, in front of all these guests, the Crown Prince had people drag Tao Huiru away openly—clearly he was not leaving the Tao Family any face at all.

From this day forward, the Tao Family would sink into becoming the laughingstock of the capital!

Even though Tao Haisheng was in the wrong, being treated this recklessly by his own son-in-law made his face flush red and his neck swell with fury. He took several steps toward the Crown Prince, his foot stamping urgently: “Your… Your Highness, how can you act like this? She is your aunt, after all!”

The Crown Prince, upon hearing this, gave a slight smile. He reached out and clasped Tao Haisheng’s hands, using the motion to turn him away from the crowd, drawing him aside. Then in a quiet voice he said: “But I am also Yashu’s husband! This Tao woman has schemed against Yashu time and again, nearly taking her life. You are her father—failing to protect Yashu is one thing. But you take the side of a venomous woman at every turn! She was so brazen and fearless in causing this scene today precisely because she was banking on the backing of the Tao Family and on you. I am cutting the tangled mess with a swift blade on your behalf, sparing you from having to go against family loyalty and tear apart your relationship with your own sister. Is that not good?”

Tao Haisheng found himself at a loss for words. He was just about to argue that the friction between Yashu and Tao Huiru had all been a misunderstanding, when the Crown Prince’s face turned utterly cold: “If my father-in-law persists in this confused lack of judgment, unable to distinguish right from wrong, it will only chill the heart of your own flesh and blood! Yashu was reluctant to acknowledge you people to begin with—looking back now, it seems she had some reason for it. This prince was overstepping by urging her otherwise. A father who shows so little care for his own daughter is a rare thing in this world indeed!”

Hearing the Crown Prince’s harsh words, Tao Haisheng once again snapped sharply back to his senses.

How had he forgotten—the man before him, besides being his son-in-law, was the future Emperor and sovereign!

Thunder and sweet dew alike are all the ruler’s grace! To say nothing of the fact that Tao Huiru’s placement at the temple had been His Majesty’s prior decree.

Even if it had been the Crown Prince who gave the order—how could he dare raise an objection? In that instant, Tao Haisheng hurriedly dropped to his knees before the Crown Prince and acknowledged his fault.

Liu Yi looked at his hopelessly confused father-in-law and shook his head with some exasperation. For Yashu’s sake, of course he could not heavily punish his father-in-law.

But everything that had occurred here, he had already dispatched his own Eastern Palace head eunuch to personally report directly to Duke Tao, who was at home.

As for how to discipline a son who was dim-witted and lacking in proper judgment—that was the Duke’s own affair.

And so with the Crown Prince’s intervention, the farce at the gate of the Situ estate came to its conclusion.

The guests all returned to their seats, everyone pretending that the water had passed without leaving a trace.

Yet among those who had been watching, one figure wearing a bamboo hat remained hidden in the corner of the wall for a long while after, unmoving.

When Wen Shi had appeared before the crowd earlier, he had lurked within it, greedily drinking in the sight of her slender figure, wishing he could take her away with him at once.

But Wen Shi’s heartbroken words—that she wanted not her husband, but only her son—had cut deep into his heart like a blade.

The fragile woman whose eyes had once held only him—she no longer wished to think of him…

That sense of being abandoned by heaven and earth surged up in Yang Yi’s heart once again.

He had spent many years carefully laying his plans in the northern territories—but all his preparations had been disrupted by a natural disaster, a wildfire that had burned through the dry grasslands, leaving everything in disarray.

The hope of using conflict between the two nations as a pretext to take revenge on that despicable Emperor had come to nothing. And that despicable Emperor had already fallen gravely, terminally ill.

If the Emperor were allowed to die peacefully of old age like that—would the hatred he bore for the destruction of his family and the deaths of his kin not be buried alongside the Emperor in the underworld, with no day of release ever to come?

Thinking this, Yang Yi silently drew his cloak more tightly around himself. He glanced at Tao Zan—who had been dragged away by his uncle with red-rimmed eyes full of tears—and then he resolutely turned and walked away…

As for Linlang’s wedding, she spent virtually none of it sitting quietly in the bridal chamber.

After the farcical scene involving the Tao siblings at the gate was put to rest, Tao Yashu pulled her aside to a place without others and in a hushed voice offered her apologies.

Chu Linlang smiled and said: “No one knows the ways of your Tao household better than I do. What does the matter of your father and your aunt have to do with the Crown Prince Consort? Now that we are both with child, we are absolutely not permitted to trouble ourselves with aggravating affairs. Leave everything to the men to worry about!”

Tao Yashu heard her spirited and forthright words and gave a faint smile, and with that she chose not to disturb Linlang’s wedding night.

The path of her own match had been arduous—but the path of her close friend Chu Niangzi’s match had been a hundredfold more arduous still.

Now that the two who had hearts for each other had at last completed their proper union, she could only wish that this husband and wife would also grow old together, loving and supporting each other to the end of their days…

After seeing Tao Yashu off, Linlang did not go back to the new bedroom. Instead, she had the maids brew the medicinal decoction, then personally brought it to her mother-in-law Wen Shi.

Today, Wen Shi had for the first time brought up her son—her Sheng’er—of her own accord.

Linlang understood what that meant for Situ Sheng. It also signified that Wen Shi was no longer trapped in the whirlpool of her old romance and could finally lift her eyes and see the son she had long neglected.

So while Wen Shi drank her medicine and asked why Linlang was dressed in bridal garments, Linlang simply smiled and said: “Today is your son’s day of great joy. I am your daughter-in-law—is that acceptable to you?”

Wen Shi looked somewhat confused: “But he is still so small. How has he come to marry someone of your age? Could it be you are a child bride?”

In Wen Shi’s mind at that moment, her son was still that small boy from the river’s edge. How could he already be taking a wife so grown?

Chu Linlang laughed quietly: “I truly am older than him. So yes—let’s just say I am a child bride!”

Wen Shi seemed to understand, and asked hesitantly: “But what if… when he grows up, he doesn’t like you anymore?”

Linlang made Wen Shi look at her face: “Mother, look at how fine-looking I am. He is very fond of me indeed!”

Wen Shi nodded, acknowledging that Linlang was indeed beautiful. But she said with lingering worry in a quiet voice: “Yet I remember my son was very fond of the little girl next door—he was always catching crabs for her. Just yesterday his fingers were pinched until they bled, and he still wanted to catch more for her to eat…”

Wen Shi’s memory drifted in and out, seemingly mixing some vivid old impression from the riverside with something that had happened yesterday.

Hearing this, Linlang’s smile became even softer and more tender. She smoothed Wen Shi’s hair gently and said in a gentle voice: “He caught crabs for me too. They were so delicious!”

What she did not know as she said these words was that Situ Sheng was leaning at the doorway, quietly watching the two most important women in his life.

When Linlang had coaxed the medicine-drinking Wen Shi to sleep and turned around, she met Situ Sheng’s gaze directly.

He extended his large hand and took Linlang’s soft one, leading her together back to the new bedroom.

The moonlight slanted down, illuminating the newly wedded couple beneath the moon.

Situ Sheng said in a low, resonant voice: “What can be done? I had originally wanted to give you a perfect and flawless wedding—and yet in the end, you could not find a moment’s peace, with regrets scattered through every part of the entire day.”

Linlang wrapped her arm around his and rested her head against him, with a somewhat languid ease: “What regrets are there? I have married the person I wished to marry. That alone is something I never dared dream of before. This is the most complete and perfect day of my entire life…”

Upon hearing this, Situ Sheng pulled his new bride close in a tight embrace.

These too were things he had never dared dream of before. And yet on this day—with flowers in bloom and the moon full and round—his mother was resting in gentle, sweet sleep in her room, while the woman he had cherished for so many years leaned peacefully against him, carrying his child.

After drifting for more than ten years, he had finally come to have a home where he truly belonged… In this moment, he—who had never believed in spirits or gods—could not help but offer a silent and heartfelt thanks to the heavens above, for allowing him to have such completeness…

The joyous news of Situ Sheng’s marriage, accompanied by the farcical scene at the gate that day, spread swiftly through every household in the capital.

Word was that when Duke Tao learned of his son and daughter’s disgraceful behavior that day, he flew into a towering rage!

He personally took up the family disciplinary rod and administered punishment, beating Tao Haisheng until his skin split open and his flesh was torn.

Duke Tao subsequently convened the Tao Family elders, and had both Tao Huiru and Tao Zan expelled from the Tao Family register.

The Tao Family was too large, with roots too deep and branches too wide—there was no need to rot away together with a piece of decaying flesh.

His daughter had too strong a spirit of vengeance. Every calamity and entanglement that had befallen her stemmed from a nature that refused to accept defeat.

When the Yang Family had faced its disaster, he had already protected this daughter once.

But this time, she wanted to drag along her brother, and indeed the entire Tao Family, to sink with her—and that was absolutely out of the question!

Duke Tao told his son: if he maintained even half a connection with Tao Huiru again, the next person to be stripped from the family register would be him!

The Crown Prince’s succession to the throne was already a foregone conclusion. The Tao Family had previously sided with the former Crown Prince, which had already left the Crown Prince and Crown Prince Consort displeased. One misstep now, and several generations of glory would be lost in a single morning.

In all of Tao Haisheng’s years of growing up, never once had his father hauled him before the family elders and rebuked him so bluntly and mercilessly.

Burning with shame and wishing he could vanish into the earth, he also understood that his father was doing this for Situ Sheng and the Crown Prince to see.

Once the fog of foolishness that his sister had stirred up in him cleared away, Tao Haisheng was struck by wave after wave of lingering fear.

He was on the verge of becoming the nation’s father-in-law—what glory could be greater? Why on earth had he acted so stupidly as to offend Situ Sheng!

The current Situ Sheng’s momentum in the court was at its peak. Many people were whispering that once the Crown Prince took the throne, it was entirely possible that Situ Sheng would be made Chancellor and enter the Grand Secretariat.

From this point on, Tao Haisheng also put to rest any thought of having his nephew Tao Zan return to reclaim his Yang Family roots.

Anyone who was not entirely foolish could see that even if Situ Sheng had no intention of inheriting the Yang Marquis title himself, the people he refused to acknowledge should not expect to step in and pick up the piece, raising the Yang Family banner!

Duke Tao had even had Tao Zan removed from the Tao Family register, leaving him to live independently in his mother’s residence—effectively drawing a clear boundary between Tao Zan and the Tao Family.

Tao Zan knelt before the Tao Family gate, pleading bitterly for his grandfather to intervene on his mother’s behalf—but seeing that it was futile, he had no choice but to leave in tears.

His grandfather did pass along a letter for him, roughly conveying that he should serve his post at the imperial temple properly. After all, such an idle and minor post was inconsequential, yet could ensure food and clothing for life. He was also old enough now to exercise better judgment, and must absolutely not go running about getting entangled in matters relating to his mother. For that was an imperial decree—and what capacity did he have to defy an imperial decree?

As for Linlang, one month after her wedding, the imperial physicians issued an order confining her to the household, with nowhere permitted to go—she needed to rest and nurture the pregnancy for one month before she would be allowed to move about freely.

After all, she had originally had a constitution prone to cold, and was not easily able to conceive. This was also her first pregnancy, and it required the utmost care.

And so Chu Linlang confined herself at home in a state of stir-crazy restlessness for an entire month. When the time finally came, she could not wait to get out of the household and breathe some fresh air.

The Crown Prince Consort knew her schoolmate’s temperament best of all, and had arranged a tea gathering early on, inviting Linlang and her close schoolmates to socialize together.

In two more days, the imperial temple was to install a new gilded Buddha statue. Word was that the newly cast statue was so enormous it could break through the temple roof.

And so in the days prior, the imperial temple had renovated its roof, raising it considerably—just looking at the towering temple spire visible in the distance from afar, one could imagine the grandeur and magnificence of this new Buddha statue.

His Majesty’s condition was growing increasingly grave. On the day of the new Buddha statue’s consecration, the Crown Prince would also be attending in person to pray for blessings on his imperial father’s behalf.

Yashu intended to invite Linlang to come along as well. After all, attending the consecration of a Buddha statue was a matter of drawing auspicious blessings, and essentially all of the capital’s nobility and high officials would be in attendance.