When Fu Tingyun received the news, a smile spread uncontrollably across her face.

She hastily sent Jin Yuanbao to inquire: “…Who is accompanying the Tatar envoy to the capital with the surrender document?”

Within a few days, Jin Yuanbao returned with news: “It’s the Ninth Master. He will arrive before the twenty-fifth of May.”

Fu Tingyun couldn’t help but press her palms together, murmured “Amitabha,” and took her children to the Tanzhe Temple to fulfill her vow.

After worshipping the Bodhisattva and donating money for incense oil, she encountered Madam Yu and Lady Fan as she was leaving the hall.

Lady Fan didn’t recognize Fu Tingyun. Seeing the beautiful woman before her who emanated both beauty and dignified elegance, surrounded by servants and accompanied by a son and a daughter, she wondered which prominent family’s wife she might be, and couldn’t help but look a few times more.

Fu Tingyun, however, recognized Lady Fan. She noticed Lady Fan wearing a thin, moon-white right-lapelled shirt with silver stripes, her right hand supporting her waist, and her slightly protruding belly particularly noticeable, indicating she was pregnant, probably coming to Tanzhe Temple to fulfill a vow. Not wanting to interact with this family, she glanced at Lady Fan once, deliberately ignored Madam Yu, who seemed about to speak, and brushed past the Yu family.

Sensing that her mother-in-law might know this woman, Lady Fan quietly asked, “Which family does this lady belong to? She appears quite distinguished.”

Madam Yu, recalling Fu Tingyun’s coldness last time, was hesitating whether to greet her, but Fu Tingyun had already left with her head held high.

She couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

Such impolite behavior, yet that Fu woman carried it off so righteously. When all was said and done, it was simply because Zhao Ling currently enjoyed the Emperor’s favor, so Fu relied on that and didn’t need to care about her feelings… Even so, with the other party in a stronger position, what could she do about it despite her displeasure?

Hearing Lady Fan’s question, Madam Yu felt additional irritation.

If not for her, how would the Yu family have become so passive? Yet she couldn’t settle down and kept doing things that wouldn’t help the situation.

“I merely recognize her face, that’s all,” Madam Yu said, not wanting to strengthen others while diminishing her authority, giving Lady Fan a faint glance.

Lady Fan couldn’t help but doubt this.

If it were just a familiar face, they must have met before. Even if Madam Yu didn’t recognize her, since her father-in-law was a Grand Secretary, that woman should have taken the initiative to come forward and greet them.

She couldn’t help but look back at Fu Tingyun.

She saw a young novice monk smilingly talking to Fu Tingyun.

Fu Tingyun nodded with a smile at his words, quietly gave instructions to someone beside her, and then followed the young novice monk around the side hall toward the back mountain with a strikingly beautiful maid and her two children.

Lady Fan found this strange and turned back to see Madam Yu’s grave expression.

Lady Fan felt slightly uncomfortable and explained, “I just thought that young novice monk was unusual—wearing a white monk’s robe made of Songjiang triple-weave cloth. Tanzhe Temple truly deserves its reputation as the capital’s premier temple!”

To her surprise, Madam Yu’s expression grew even more serious after hearing this.

She murmured, “Could he be an attendant of Master Zhenghe?”

Lady Fan asked in confusion, “Who is Master Zhenghe?”

Madam Yu frowned slightly, saying somewhat impatiently, “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know.” She continued, “It’s getting late, the Abbot must be growing impatient waiting. Let’s hurry.” With that, she went straight into the Grand Hall.

Lady Fan bit her lip.

In all her life, apart from her father, almost no one had spoken to her like that.

Upon returning to Jiadao Street, Lady Fan immediately sent Mo Zhuan to gather information.

By evening, Mo Zhuan had found out: “Master Zhenghe is the Master Gān who helped the Emperor ‘clear the court of evil ministers.’ It’s said that in his early years, he had his scholarly rank canceled due to a cheating scandal in the imperial examination and couldn’t become an official. After the Emperor ascended the throne, he ignored the Emperor’s entreaties and became a monk at Tanzhe Temple. Despite this, the Emperor still frequently summons him to the palace for company, and occasionally visits Master Zhenghe at Tanzhe Temple.” She paused slightly and continued, “It’s said many people want to follow Master Zhenghe’s path, but the Emperor has stationed his guards outside Master Zhenghe’s quarters at Tanzhe Temple, making it impossible for ordinary people to approach him. Even Grand Secretary Shen has been turned away several times.”

Lady Fan was astonished and quickly asked, “Did you find out who that woman is?”

Mo Zhuan was silent for a moment, then said quietly, “She is Zhao Ling’s wife, Lady Fu!”

“What?” Lady Fan was shocked, suddenly rising to her feet and blurting out, “That’s impossible! That woman is extremely beautiful, how could she…” She stopped abruptly.

Lady Fu was only ten years old when she was engaged to Yu Jingxiu.

Girls change greatly as they grow.

Had Yu Jingxiu ever seen the current Lady Fu?

The thought flashed through her mind, and she silently scolded herself for being confused.

Lady Fu had been present when her father-in-law entertained the Fu family at home, so Yu Jingxiu must have seen her.

Lady Fan suddenly felt very uneasy.

Even though Zhao Ling had the merit of following the Emperor, he was still a new noble. Where did Lady Fu get the courage to ignore Madam Yu?

She anxiously asked, “What else did you find out?”

Mo Zhuan hesitated for a moment, then said quietly, “I heard from the new guest of the household that Grand Secretary Shen has been quite troubled these days… Some people, to curry favor with the Emperor, have submitted memorials suggesting that Mo Yi be appointed as Vice Minister of War to strategize for the Northwest, and that Zhao Ling take over Mo Yi’s position as Xuantong Provincial Governor, making the temporary governor position permanent… Since the governor is a civil position, many officials have submitted memorials requesting that another civil official be appointed, but the Emperor has kept them without issuing a response. Some have complained to Grand Secretary Shen, but he dares not speak up—this spring, a censor impeached Grand Secretary Shen for being arrogant and arbitrary. Although the Emperor ignored it, he used Grand Secretary Zhou’s old age as a reason to employ Mo Yingbo, who had been idle at home, into the Cabinet. As soon as Mo Yingbo entered the Cabinet, he dismissed the original Shaanxi Provincial Governor Dong Hanwen from office on charges of ‘harboring lost women’… Seeing this, those opportunistic sycophants have been clamoring even more for Zhao Ling to serve as Xuantong Provincial Governor…”

Lady Fan didn’t know about these court matters, but as someone who had read history books, it didn’t prevent her from assessing the situation—the Yu family had entered the Cabinet thanks to Grand Secretary Shen, and now Grand Secretary Shen was in a difficult position… She thought about Fu Tingyun’s neglect and contempt… Could it be that the Yu family had reached the point where they had to swallow their pride in the face of Lady Fu’s rudeness?

Lady Fan wanted to deny it.

But Madam Yu’s grave expression kept appearing in her mind, making it impossible for her to deceive herself.

Lady Fan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Yu Jingxiu couldn’t help but ask with concern, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“No, no,” Lady Fan, for the first time when facing Yu Jingxiu, lost the desire to speak, “I slept too much during the day, so I’m having trouble sleeping at night.”

Hearing this, Yu Jingxiu smiled and said, “How about I keep you company and chat for a while?”

“That’s not necessary,” Lady Fan smiled, “You have to attend court early tomorrow morning! I’ll fall asleep after lying down for a while.”

Yu Jingxiu said no more and closed his eyes.

In a hazy state, he heard his wife murmuring, “It seems that in this dynasty, only a few Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet have been granted hereditary titles for three generations…”

He couldn’t help but say, “Merit to the state and society… is not so easily achieved!”

Hearing her husband’s mumbled response to her words, Lady Fan turned to look at Yu Jingxiu.

Yu Jingxiu had his eyes closed, heavy with sleep.

The dim lamplight illuminated his face—sword-like eyebrows, prominent nose, refined and elegant.

She couldn’t help but murmur, “With such a husband, what more could a wife ask for?”

Her hand unconsciously caressed Yu Jingxiu’s cheek.

…

Madam Yu was also thinking about the Tanzhe Temple incident.

She asked her husband, “…Even Grand Secretary Shen was turned away, yet he sent his personal novice monk to summon Lady Fu… what do you think this means?”

The news had completely robbed Grand Secretary Yu of his sleep.

Somewhat irritated, he sat up, pondered for a moment, then slipped on his shoes, got off the kang bed, and paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back several times. Suddenly, he said to Madam Yu, “I’m going out for some fresh air.” Without waiting for her response, he turned and left the inner chamber.

Madam Yu was surprised, and faintly heard Grand Secretary Yu instructing the night attendant: “Go call the eldest young master here!”

After some thought, she put on a padded jacket and went to Grand Secretary Yu’s study.

The servants on duty didn’t dare stop Madam Yu.

She stood beneath the window lattice and listened.

Grand Secretary Yu’s somewhat heavy voice came through intermittently: “…Contact the Feng family first… Zhao Ling is in high imperial favor, it’s not a good time to make a move… we can only act according to circumstances…”

…

Meanwhile, Fu Tingyun was sitting on the kang bed with a smile, watching Youyou showing a picture book to Xiege: “…lying on the ice, the ice melted into a hole, the fish jumped out from the hole, and Wang Xiang took the fish and went home…”

Yu Wei, who had brought in a sweet white fungus soup, smiled slightly and said, “It’s so strange that Master Zhenghe would have time to draw such a little booklet…”

“Indeed!” Fu Tingyun smiled, “He even played with Youyou for half the day, seriously answering whatever odd questions she asked… It seems Master Zhenghe truly has grown weary of court affairs!” As she spoke, she couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

Just then came Youyou’s exclamation: “Xiege, stop it, you’ll tear the book, this was given to me by Master Zhenghe…”

Fu Tingyun and Yu Wei looked over to see Xiege clutching a page and refusing to let go.

They both hurried over, one grabbing Xiege’s hand, the other holding Youyou. They finally got Xiege to release his grip, but the page he had grabbed was already crumpled.

Youyou looked at it and burst into tears.

Fu Tingyun went to comfort Youyou.

Seeing his sister cry, Xiege also started crying.

Yu Wei comforted Xiege.

Amidst the chaos, Zhenzhu rushed in: “Official Jin is here!”

Fu Tingyun quickly said to Youyou, “Your Uncle Jin is here; if you keep crying, he’ll laugh at you.”

Youyou stopped crying, but her lips quivered as she sniffled.

Fu Tingyun then went to meet Jin Yuanbao.

Jin Yuanbao’s face was full of excitement: “I’ve found out that the Ninth Master will enter the capital through Chaoyang Gate on May 18th.”

Fu Tingyun’s joy was evident as she instructed Yu Wei, “We’ll go to the ten-li pavilion to welcome the Ninth Master then.”

Yu Wei nodded repeatedly.

Jin Yuanbao added, “Since the Tatars are coming to surrender, the Ministry of Rites and the Foreign Office might send people to welcome them that day…”

Fu Tingyun was momentarily taken aback, but it didn’t affect her joyful mood.

“Then we’ll just go and have a look,” she said with a smile, happily preparing for Xiege’s first birthday celebration.

Everyone knew that Zhao Ling had achieved great merit and would be accompanying the Tatar envoy to surrender in a few days. Although Zhao Ling wasn’t home, apart from old acquaintances like Tao Mu and Lin Chi who came to join the celebration, some people they had met since coming to the capital also attended. As a result, there were even more male guests than female guests, with some people they didn’t usually interact with coming to offer congratulations on short notice. The prepared banquet tables were far from sufficient, and the courtyard was filled with people.

Fu Tingyun couldn’t conveniently host the guests herself, Ah Sen was too young, Jin Yuanbao and Yang Yucheng were of low position and rank, and Tao Mu, Lin Chi, and others couldn’t take the lead, so the household was in a somewhat chaotic state.

Shopkeeper Ye San, who had come to offer congratulations, took the initiative to help. He first booked several nearby restaurants, directing some guests there, then arranged for Penglai Pavilion’s outside catering service, organized the household banquet, and then went with Ah Sen from table to table to toast the guests. After the banquet dispersed, he checked the accounts with Zheng San, finally managing the occasion without mishap.

Privately, Fu Tingyun remarked to Yu Wei, “No wonder Grand Secretary Shen’s family held a three-hundred-table banquet for his son’s wedding… I’m never hosting guests again.”

Hearing this, Shopkeeper Ye San paused his abacus calculations, looked up with a smile, and said, “I’m afraid you won’t have a choice when the time comes.”

Fu Tingyun thought he had a point, smiled with a wry face, and thanked Shopkeeper Ye San: “…We’re so grateful for your help today.”

“The Second Young Master was very steady today,” Shopkeeper Ye San smiled, glancing at Ah Sen, who was helping nearby, “It’s been a few years since I’ve seen him, and I must say I’m impressed.”

Ah Sen’s face reddened as he mumbled something about “it was only because of your assistance.”

Shopkeeper Ye San teased, “Look, madam, he even knows how to say such things now.”

Everyone laughed, ignoring Ah Sen’s embarrassment.

Shopkeeper Ye San asked, “The Second Young Master is fifteen years old now, has a marriage been arranged for him?”