In the entire Duke Ying mansion, except for Lu Zhuo, Wei Rao had no complaints about anyone else and even held them in considerable favor.

But after Lu Zhuo insulted her like that, if Wei Rao continued to laugh and chat while accompanying the Lu family women in social functions, it would seem as though she truly had to curry favor with Lu Zhuo’s family.

Ever since throwing things at Lu Zhuo, Wei Rao hadn’t voluntarily stepped out of Song Yue Hall once. Five days later, when Bitao and Liu Ya told her that Lu Zhuo’s forehead wound had completely healed, the timing was right, and Wei Rao immediately went to Zhongyi Hall.

“Is Raorao feeling unwell? Why is your face so pale?” Duchess Ying noticed her poor complexion and asked with concern.

Wei Rao’s brows and eyes showed fatigue. Lowering her lashes, she said: “Don’t worry, Grandmother. My health is fine – I just had a nightmare last night and want to go to the temple to pray.”

Duchess Ying said lovingly, “Yes, it’s good to pray. Shoucheng has a rest day the day after tomorrow – have him accompany you.”

Wei Rao lowered her head even more: “He rarely gets to rest, so let him stay at the mansion to recuperate. To be honest with Grandmother, I miss my maternal grandmother a bit. After praying to Guanyin, I’d like to visit my grandmother’s place and stay for a while.”

Hearing this, Duchess Ying’s heart skipped a beat. A married daughter wouldn’t return to her maternal home without cause. Wei Rao had a poor reputation, but was a young lady who understood propriety well – she couldn’t possibly throw tantrums without reason. Could it be that her eldest grandson had bullied her again?

Duchess Ying signaled Nanny Miao to take the little maids away, then took Wei Rao’s hand and lifted her lowered face to ask: “Raorao, tell me the truth – did Shoucheng bully you again?”

Wei Rao leaned into Duchess Ying’s embrace and cried for a while.

“Old Madam, you are a grandmother yourself. If sister Changning took a fancy to a man and was determined to marry him, could you bear to stop her regardless of her life or death? My maternal grandmother had already refused the Han family once. She’s someone who loves her juniors so much – if she weren’t helpless, how could she agree? The Young Master argued with me about my cousin’s marriage, so I argued back. He could say anything, but why did he have to insult my parents? To be honest with Old Madam, if divorce wouldn’t bring a heap of gossip to me and my family right now, I truly have no face to continue living in the Duke’s mansion.”

She sobbed brokenly, tears falling on Duchess Ying from the grievance she had felt, string after string. Seeing the young lady crying heartbrokenly in her arms, Duchess Ying felt the same pain and tears fell down her cheeks: “This is going too far! When that scoundrel returns, I’ll personally beat him with a rod!”

An eight-foot-tall man from a military family – why must he bully a wife who had already been wronged?

Wei Rao shook her head, pressing a handkerchief to her eyes: “You needn’t punish the Young Master. I have a violent temper – I already splashed chicken soup on him then. The Young Master also sincerely apologized to me. It’s just that he doesn’t like me, and this can’t be forced. I truly don’t blame the Young Master for anything. I just want to go out and clear my head. When I’m better, I’ll return to keep you company.”

Wei Rao truly didn’t need Duchess Ying to punish Lu Zhuo further – she just needed the Old Madam to know she wasn’t moving out without cause.

Duchess Ying could understand the pain in Wei Rao’s heart. This kind of pain couldn’t be dispelled in a short time – she could only go to a place where she wouldn’t feel wronged and wouldn’t worry about being looked down upon to work through it.

“Go then. Have Changning go with you – we’ll say publicly that she has long admired the estate and wants to stay for several days.”

“I appreciate Grandmother’s kindness, but sister Changning is innocent and pure. I don’t want her reputation to suffer because of me.”

“But…”

“Grandmother, just let me go alone, and please don’t blame the Young Master for anything. Otherwise, he’ll hate me even more. I’ll only feel miserable for a while – once I’m better, everything will be fine.”

Faced with Wei Rao’s tearful eyes, Duchess Ying could only sigh deeply and arrange for the Duke’s mansion guards to escort Wei Rao out of the city.

As soon as Lu Zhuo returned at dusk, he was led to Zhongyi Hall by someone Duchess Ying had sent.

“Speak. Are you trying to force Raorao to voluntarily request to leave?”

Seeing her grandson, Duchess Ying, cut straight to the point, she questioned him with a stern face.

Lu Zhuo looked up in surprise. It had been five days since their last argument – had Wei Rao still come to ask grandmother to intervene?

“Grandmother, since I’ve already signed a five-year contract with her, I wouldn’t force her to do anything. That day I just spoke impulsively – I meant nothing else.”

“Impulsive? Why haven’t you been impulsive with others? Everyone outside praises you as a gentleman like jade, but tell me yourself – in all the things you’ve done to Raorao, which point resembles a gentleman?” Duchess Ying was so angry she left her seat, came before Lu Zhuo with her walking stick, and looked at him with unconcealed disappointment. “When Raorao’s father was killed by villains, she was only eight years old. Losing her father at such a young age, and her mother later left her, too. You’re a grown man – you could argue about anything, but you had to bring up her parents. Is this the gentleman’s way I taught you?”

Lu Zhuo knelt, lowering his eyes: “Grandson knows his crime.”

Duchess Ying just couldn’t understand: “What exactly did Raorao do to provoke you that you’re so heartless toward her? Even if she needed something from our Lu family, when you were lying in bed with uncertain life or death and other young ladies all avoided you, Raorao was willing to come to the wedding blessing ceremony. Don’t you feel even a bit grateful to her?”

Lu Zhuo indeed felt no gratitude because he didn’t believe in gods, Buddhas, or wedding blessing ceremonies. His awakening had nothing to do with Wei Rao. Wei Rao marrying him also carried no benevolent intention of saving him – she was simply cut off from retreat by her grandfather and grandmother, and was trying to minimize her losses.

Regarding the wedding blessing ceremony, Lu Zhuo only felt guilt toward Wei Rao – guilt that he had put Wei Rao in a position where she had no choice but to marry. So at that time, if Wei Rao had asked him to fulfill the marriage contract and be her true husband, Lu Zhuo would have agreed, no matter how unwilling. But Wei Rao didn’t need such compensation. She didn’t favor him, didn’t want to be his wife. She only needed five years of protection from the Lu family, and after five years, she would divorce.

Lu Zhuo had signed a contract with Wei Rao. He strictly observed the contract’s terms, pretending to be a loving couple with her in public, giving Wei Rao sufficient dignity and silencing those idle people who wanted to see her make a fool of herself.

The only way he had wronged Wei Rao was by repeatedly misinterpreting her meaning and impulsively offending her.

“Grandmother, I promise this is the last time.”

Duchess Ying smiled bitterly: “You promised me last time, too – what was the result? Shoucheng, originally, I hoped that spending time together day and night might lead to growing affection between you and Raorao. Now that things have reached this point, I have no hope at all. But she is a guest who came to us – if you don’t like Raorao, can you treat her as a guest temporarily staying in our home?”

Lu Zhuo shamefully agreed.

Duchess Ying sat back in her chair, rubbing her forehead: “Raorao was scolded by you and came to me today requesting to stay at the estate to clear her head. I agreed. That child’s heart is bitter – let her stay for several more days. You have a rest day the day after tomorrow – go apologize. Even if she doesn’t forgive you, come back by yourself. Go again on the twentieth to put on a show, and truly bring her back at month’s end. You caused this trouble; however, you want to handle it, you must bring her back to me, and she must have calmed down and return happily.”

Wei Rao’s moving to the estate was seen by those with ulterior motives, who would inevitably speculate again that Wei Rao was being rejected by her husband’s family. Wei Rao had been heartbroken by her grandson and was dispirited and indifferent, but Duchess Ying had to clean up after both children. A husband making his little wife run away in anger, then making several trips to coax her back – this was perfectly reasonable.

Lu Zhuo only heard one sentence: Wei Rao had left?

These five days, he hadn’t seen Wei Rao once. He knew she wouldn’t easily calm down, but hadn’t expected she would choose to leave.

She was so proud – perhaps it was truly as she said: if divorce weren’t too disadvantageous for her now, she would completely sever relations with him and divorce to return home.

Lu Zhuo returned to Song Yue Hall with complicated feelings.

A’Gui rushed up to meet him in panic: “Master, you’ve finally returned! The Young Madam moved to the estate without any warning at all. What on earth is going on?”

Even A’Gui, who had never married, could sense something wasn’t right about the relationship between the Young Master and Young Madam.

“It’s nothing serious. She’ll return after staying a few days. Prepare dinner.” Lu Zhuo smiled habitually and prepared to go to the inner room to change clothes.

The next moment, He Shi walked out from inside with a worried expression. Her daughter-in-law had run away, and she had been waiting for her son for half the day.

Duchess Ying knew the inside story and could directly lecture her grandson. He Shi knew nothing, and in her anxiety, her speech became even more incoherent – she just wanted her son to quickly tell her what exactly had happened.

Lu Zhuo developed a headache from his mother’s endless nagging, especially at the spot on his forehead where he’d been struck, as if Wei Rao were standing opposite him, glaring at him with tears in her eyes.

But that wasn’t quite right either – if Wei Rao were here, he wouldn’t be irritated or want to leave.

“I made her angry.” Lu Zhuo looked at his mother, his deliberately disguised calm appearing even more heartless, as if he didn’t think making his wife run away in anger was anything worth making a fuss about.

He Shi staggered back several steps in shock, unable to believe her son could be so cold-blooded: “What did you do to anger Raorao?”

Lu Zhuo didn’t want to say anything. He sat with lowered eyes, frozen like ice.

He Shi stared blankly, finding this son increasingly strange the more she looked – strange in his coldness, strange in his silence.

“You’re unwilling to tell me, but how can newlyweds fight until one runs back to her maternal home? While the city gates haven’t closed yet, hurry to the estate. Coax Raorao well tonight, go directly from there to the barracks tomorrow morning, and bring Raorao back together at dusk.” Unable to get answers and too intimidated by her son’s coldness to continue asking, He Shi directly proposed a solution.

Duchess Ying’s thinking was that her grandson had insulted Wei Rao’s parents, showing he detested Wei Rao to the extreme and wouldn’t sincerely apologize. Even if he went tonight, Wei Rao and Shou’an Jun wouldn’t appreciate it. In the dark with few people watching, it would be better to have her grandson bring gifts on his rest day and make a bigger show of it, giving Wei Rao more face.

Compared to her grandson’s worthless sincerity, the dignity he provided might better satisfy Wei Rao and Shou’an Jun.

But He Shi thought: strike while the iron is hot. If the daughter-in-law ran away today, the son should go to coax and fetch her today – this would be more likely to appease her.

Lu Zhuo’s head was about to explode from the family elders’ commotion. Rather than continue staying here listening to his mother’s complaints, he might as well leave the city.

“Mother is right. I’ll go over immediately.”

Lu Zhuo didn’t even go inside to change out of his official robes – he lifted his feet and walked away.

He Shi continued giving him a pile of instructions.

Lu Zhuo’s steps grew faster and faster. Just as he was about to cross the threshold of Song Yue Hall, he ran head-on into Fourth Master being pushed by A’Shi.

Lu Zhuo’s eyes filled with surprise.

Fourth Master’s face was cold as frost. Slightly raising his face to stare at Lu Zhuo, he said: “Men of the Lu clan – I don’t know about distant ancestors, but counting back three generations, not one has ever made his wife return home in anger. You truly have the ability!”

He Shi had said many repetitive things continuously without stopping, which annoyed Lu Zhuo. Fourth Uncle spoke concisely with an authoritative presence – with just a few words, he made Lu Zhuo feel thoroughly ashamed. Fourth Uncle, who usually stayed secluded and didn’t involve himself in mundane affairs, had come personally to lecture him about his domestic matters today!

Fourth Master hadn’t wanted to come, but his wife inexplicably liked Wei Rao very much and had been anxious all day because Wei Rao moved to the estate. Considering she was only a few years older than her nephew and felt too embarrassed to come ask questions herself, she urged him to go. For his wife’s sake, Fourth Master had no choice but to make this trip.

“What are you standing there for? Waiting for the city gates to close so you can come back?”

“Yes, I’ll go immediately.”

Under Fourth Master’s stern gaze, Lu Zhuo practically fled.