This morning, Wei Rao and Lu Zhuo didn’t linger in bed but rose early.

Lu Zhuo had stayed at the Princess’s mansion for two nights. While outsiders might not know, everyone at the Duke Ying Mansion certainly understood. Since Wei Rao had reconciled with Lu Zhuo, as a daughter-in-law, she naturally needed to quickly pay respects to her father-in-law, Lu Mu, whom she had never met. Otherwise, even if Lu Mu didn’t blame Wei Rao, she would feel embarrassed.

“What is Father’s temperament like?” Wei Rao asked Lu Zhuo, who was sitting by her bedside, while having her hair combed.

Mentioning his father brought a slight melancholy to Lu Zhuo’s heart.

When Father was first captured at Wuda, he was only eight years old and just beginning to remember things. He only recalled that Father was a very strict man who taught him martial arts rigorously, only occasionally showing a hint of tenderness. Even so, when Father was about to depart for the battlefield, Lu Zhuo had secretly cried, hoping Father would return home quickly.

Unexpectedly, after that battle, Father never came back.

Without Father by his side, Lu Zhuo never had the chance to truly understand what kind of person his father was. When he saw Father again after twenty-two years, Father had aged—an old general who had been exiled to tend sheep at the North Sea for so long. His loyal heart remained unchanged, but the harsh grassland winds had weathered and aged him, and time had smoothed the sharp edges of his youth.

When Wei Rao asked about his father’s temperament, Lu Zhuo could only answer based on his father’s current disposition.

“Father has a peaceful mindset, speaks little, and smiles often,” Lu Zhuo summarized.

Smiles often?

Wei Rao glanced at Lu Zhuo. He was someone who loved to smile—the people all praised him as the gentle-faced general.

“Raorao doesn’t need to worry. Father has heard about what you did on the battlefield, and he likes you very much,” Lu Zhuo walked over and smiled at her reflection in the mirror.

Wei Rao feigned fearlessness, “I’m not worried. If Father doesn’t like me, I’ll just continue living at the Princess’s mansion.”

Lu Zhuo squeezed her shoulder, his smile speaking volumes.

No matter where she lived, she couldn’t shake him off again.

After breakfast, Lu Zhuo picked up his daughter and boarded the carriage with Wei Rao.

“Doesn’t Father need to read books anymore?”

A’Bao sat between her father and mother. Having waited so long for Father to come fetch them back to the Duke’s mansion, A’Bao suddenly thought of a question.

Hearing this, Wei Rao glared at Lu Zhuo.

Lu Zhuo reached around his daughter to hold Wei Rao’s hand while smiling and answering, “No more reading. From now on, whenever Father has time, I’ll spend it with A’Bao and your mother.”

A’Bao smiled so widely her eyes curved into crescents.

They arrived at the Duke’s mansion.

The family of three got out of the carriage and first went to Loyalty Hall to pay respects to Duke Ying and Duchess Ying.

Despite being mentally prepared, Wei Rao still blushed, considering that the Princess’s mansion had once entertained an endless stream of marriage proposals.

The Duke and Duchess didn’t care about any of that.

The more men who sought to marry Wei Rao, the better it proved she was. The Lu family didn’t care whether Wei Rao had a noble consort mother or whether she was a specially enfeoffed princess. The Lu family only cared about Wei Rao as a person—someone who had saved the lives of both Lu Zhuo and Lu Ya. For this alone, everyone in the Lu family was grateful to Wei Rao and owed her a debt.

“It’s good you’re back, it’s good you’re back,” Duchess Ying patted Wei Rao’s small hand and smiled. Looking at Wei Rao then at Lu Zhuo, the old lady spoke with certainty, “Ever since Shoucheng returned, I knew you two would end up together. I just didn’t expect you’d both be so stubborn, making me wait so long.”

Wei Rao lowered her eyes and quietly explained to the old lady, “I was afraid the Young Master would blame me and didn’t dare presume to visit.”

Duchess Ying had guessed as much and glared at Lu Zhuo, “I told him exactly that, but he insisted you didn’t like him anymore. He’d rather lock himself in his study all day than go out. Your mother and I took turns trying to persuade him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

Wei Rao looked at the old lady’s hands as if she were family, saying pitifully, “So it was only because you and Mother persuaded him that he came to see me. If you and Mother hadn’t urged him, the Young Master might have been contemplating what kind of good granddaughter-in-law to choose for you.”

As she spoke, Wei Rao lightly glanced at Lu Zhuo.

Though Lu Zhuo knew she was just teasing him in alliance with the old lady, he was still choked by these words. The problem was, Wei Rao could mock him, but he couldn’t clarify.

“Princess, please spare this subject,” Lu Zhuo bowed to Wei Rao under Duke Ying’s suspicious gaze.

Wei Rao laughed.

A’Bao still didn’t understand what had happened—the adults’ conversation was too complicated.

Leaving Loyalty Hall, the family of three headed to Spring Harmony Hall.

On the way, A’Bao asked Lu Zhuo, “Father, what is a granddaughter-in-law?”

Wei Rao nearly laughed out loud.

Lu Zhuo looked at her helplessly, then picked up his daughter and said seriously, “I am Great-grandmother’s grandson, so your mother is Great-grandmother’s granddaughter-in-law.”

A’Bao blinked, suddenly realizing something and angrily saying, “When Father wouldn’t come fetch Mother before, was he thinking of choosing a stepmother for me?”

Lu Zhuo immediately said, “No, Father only has your mother in his heart. It was your mother who wanted to find you a new father, so Father didn’t dare see her.”

Wei Rao could complain to the old lady, and Lu Zhuo could complain to his daughter.

Wei Rao was curious to see what their daughter would say.

Both husband and wife stared at A’Bao.

A’Bao knew about Mother wanting to find a new father. After thinking, she said, “Mother thought Father was dead, so she wanted to find me a new father. So Mother wasn’t wrong. But Father came back and knew Mother was still alive, yet he wanted to find me a stepmother. Father was wrong. I don’t like Father anymore!”

After speaking, A’Bao reached toward her mother.

Wei Rao smiled and went to take her.

Lu Zhuo pressed down her hand and said seriously to his daughter, “A’Bao, don’t listen to your mother’s nonsense. Father never thought of finding you a stepmother.”

A’Bao wasn’t entirely convinced and looked to her mother for confirmation.

Wei Rao had teased Lu Zhuo enough and nodded to her daughter, smiling, “No new father, no stepmother. From now on, our family of three will be together and never separate again.”

Only then did A’Bao forgive her father.

Spring Harmony Hall lay ahead.

Lu Mu and He Shi had already received news that their son was bringing back his daughter-in-law and little granddaughter.

Lu Mu had been back at the mansion for a month. When he and He Shi were together, besides their marital affection and reminiscing about their youthful days, He Shi spent the rest of the time telling him about events in the capital over the past twenty years, especially focusing on their son’s two romantic entanglements with his daughter-in-law. Lu Mu listened with a smile, feeling he was already quite familiar with his daughter-in-law.

“Shoucheng’s ability to marry Raorao is a blessing you earned for him,” He Shi firmly believed.

Even though all the young ladies in the capital had once considered Lu Zhuo their ideal husband, in He Shi’s heart, as a mother-in-law, Wei Rao was more than good enough for her son. Her son was handsome, Wei Rao was beautiful; her son was the heir of a Duke’s mansion, while Wei Rao had been first an Earl’s daughter, then successively enfeoffed as Princess, and Princess—her status had long surpassed their son’s by a great margin!

Lu Mu laughed at her, “Other families’ mothers-in-law find fault with their daughters-in-law everywhere, but you’re special.”

He Shi snorted, “Raorao is much more considerate to me than Shoucheng.”

Setting aside everything else, regarding niece He Weiyu’s marriage, if Wei Rao hadn’t helped arrange things, their son would still be hesitating about this and that.

As they spoke, a servant announced that the Young Master’s family had arrived.

He Shi and Lu Mu came to the reception hall.

“Grandfather, Grandmother!” A’Bao left her parents behind and ran in with a sweet smile.

He Shi smiled and reached out, gathering her granddaughter into her arms.

Lu Mu watched his son and daughter-in-law at the door with a smile. No need to look much at his son, but this daughter-in-law was indeed as beautiful as his wife had praised—so stunning and with such a free-spirited temperament. No wonder their son was so deeply infatuated and would pursue her back no matter what.

“Father, your son brings Raorao to serve you tea and pay respects,” Lu Zhuo spoke first.

At the same time, Wei Rao curtsied to Lu Mu, “Father has returned from afar. Your daughter-in-law came late—please forgive me, Father.”

Lu Mu smiled, “No need for such a ceremony. Raorao is a Princess—by rights, we should be paying respects to the Princess.”

He had initially planned this, but his wife said their daughter-in-law wouldn’t like it and told him not to be so formal, lest it make their daughter-in-law feel constrained.

Wei Rao indeed said it wasn’t necessary.

With He Shi and Lu Zhuo present, the formal ceremonies were quickly dispensed with.

Servants brought brocade cushions for the Lu Zhuo and Wei Rao couple to perform the tea ceremony for Lu Mu as newlyweds.

In Wei Rao’s eyes, Lu Mu had the bronze skin common to grassland men, appearing resolute and weathered. But to have produced such a handsome son as Lu Zhuo, Lu Mu’s features were also beyond reproach. Even now, at fifty-one, Lu Mu was still more distinguished than other elders. As Lu Zhuo had said, Lu Mu was indeed taciturn yet prone to smiling, giving no sense of severity.

Perhaps all the military officers of the Lu lineage were more refined and elegant than other generals.

“Your daughter-in-law serves you tea, Father,” Wei Rao respectfully raised the tea bowl. For this resolute and unyielding father-in-law, Wei Rao felt immense admiration.

Lu Mu smiled and accepted his daughter-in-law’s tea.

A’Bao leaned against He Shi. Seeing her parents both serve tea to Grandfather, she found it amusing. After her parents rose, A’Bao suddenly ran over and eagerly knelt on the brocade cushion, wanting to serve tea too.

He Shi laughed until tears nearly came.

Lu Zhuo said, “Let her serve it. For a granddaughter to show filial respect to her grandfather is only proper.”

Lu Mu naturally indulged his adorable little granddaughter.

A’Bao imitated them and served tea to her grandfather, then to her grandmother.

After He Shi drank her granddaughter’s tea, her gaze inevitably fell on Wei Rao’s belly, smiling broadly, “When will you two give A’Bao a little brother?”

Wei Rao: …

After all these years, her mother-in-law’s desire for grandsons hadn’t changed.

Usually, Wei Rao could ignore it, but now, in front of her father-in-law, Wei Rao’s face reddened.

Lu Mu gave his wife a warning look to be more careful with her words.

He Shi had just spoken casually. Seeing her son also looking at her uncomfortably, He Shi quickly coughed and said, taking A’Bao’s hand, “You’ve just returned. Hurry to Song Yue Hall to settle in. I’ll watch A’Bao for you.”

Lu Zhuo and Wei Rao took the opportunity to excuse themselves.

“Mother was just speaking casually, not pressuring you. Don’t take it to heart.”

Walking side by side toward Song Yue Hall, Lu Zhuo leaned close to Wei Rao and spoke quietly.

How could Wei Rao not understand He Shi’s temperament?

She smiled and teased her mother-in-law to Lu Zhuo, whispering, “If Father had returned a few years earlier, he might have given you a little brother.”

Lu Zhuo looked up at the sky. At their parents’ age, please don’t give him a little brother.

Despite having been intimate for two nights already, when they retired to Song Yue Hall this evening, Lu Zhuo’s enthusiasm remained undiminished. Wei Rao could barely handle him.

“You… you have to enter the palace tomorrow. Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to get up?”

Lu Zhuo looked at her enchanting, passionate face and said hoarsely, “When I was confined to that wheelchair, I survived only by thinking of you.”

Wei Rao didn’t understand, “Unable to move at all—wouldn’t thinking of me make it even more unbearable?”

Lu Zhuo held her tightly and whispered in her ear, “I thought these legs had to get better, otherwise even if I returned, I couldn’t properly serve you.”

Hearing this, Wei Rao rested against his shoulder, her eyes sultry as silk, letting him work hard to please her.