Because they were traveling with over eight hundred recruits on foot and encountered two rainstorms during the height of summer, Wei Rao’s party took half a month to return to the capital.

Not to mention the hardships of the jolting carriage and frantically seeking shelter from rain, this delay allowed Lu Zhuo’s wounds to heal mostly completely. Fortunately, the two arrows that had struck him hadn’t injured his bones or tendons, and he had brought superior wound medicine, applying it three times daily at regular intervals. When entering the capital, Lu Zhuo rode on horseback with a face like jade, causing the common people to compete to gather and watch.

Counting it all up, Wei Rao and Lu Zhuo had been away from the capital for a full three months.

When the couple returned to Duke Ying Mansion, they received an enthusiastic welcome from everyone in the household.

Duchess Ying first looked at the young couple’s faces, but both were skilled at acting, so Duchess Ying couldn’t tell whether there had been any gratifying progress between the two children after three months apart.

Lu Zhuo’s mother, He Shi, secretly glanced several times at Wei Rao’s belly – it was flat, though perhaps it was still too early?

Lu Zhuo was called away by Duke Ying for questioning. Using the excuse of feeling sorry for her daughter-in-law, He Shi took Wei Rao’s hand, wanting to escort her back to Song Yue Hall to rest.

On the way, having the maids follow at a distance, He Shi first smiled and shared good news with Wei Rao: “Your Fourth Aunt is with child. It was diagnosed at the beginning of the month. Old Madam was so happy she gave all the servants in the household double their monthly wages.”

Wei Rao was on good terms with Fourth Madam, and even Fourth Madam and Fourth Master’s good fortune had some credit due to her. Hearing this news, Wei Rao was indeed happy. No wonder when they met briefly in the hall just now, Fourth Madam had seemed a bit embarrassed.

While Wei Rao was still recalling that brief encounter with Fourth Madam, He Shi quietly posed a question to her: “How about Raorao – have you been feeling nauseous in the mornings lately?”

Wei Rao realized what she meant and said awkwardly: “No… Mother, as soon as His Lordship arrived in Jin City, he went to recruit soldiers, then went on to train the recruits. Not counting the journey there and back, in Jin City, His Lordship and I were only together for five or six nights. When he was training the recruits, he stayed at the military camp.”

He Shi’s expression instantly became incredibly colorful – first shock, then still more shock!

Did her son really like training recruits that much? With such a delicate beauty for a wife, her son could bear to leave her alone in Jin City?

He Shi was truly about to be angered to death by her son, yet at this moment, she still had to comfort her daughter-in-law: “You’ve been wronged, Raorao. Zhuo’er was sent to the military camp from childhood and has grown accustomed to putting military orders first in everything. When Duke Ying ordered him to recruit soldiers, he didn’t dare be distracted in the slightest. Now that you’ve returned, it’s good, it’s good – from now on you’ll be together every day.”

Wei Rao smiled shyly.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhuo reported to Duke Ying about the situation with this batch of recruits. He concealed the matter of the assassins, deciding to investigate it himself rather than worry the old master.

As soon as he came out, he was called over by Duchess Ying.

Duchess Ying got straight to the point, directly asking: “After spending three months together, have you made progress with Raorao?”

Lu Zhuo thought for a moment, then lowered his eyes and said: “I suppose so. Your grandson truly wants to be husband and wife with her now.”

Duchess Ying raised an eyebrow: “What use is your sincerity? Is Raorao willing to truly marry you now?”

Lu Zhuo’s expression became awkward.

What more did Duchess Ying need to understand?

Listen to her grandson’s words – the so-called progress was that he truly wanted to marry her now, meaning that before departing for Jin City, he hadn’t wanted to marry her much? With that kind of attitude, how good could her grandson have been to Wei Rao? Wei Rao wasn’t the type to happily throw herself into her grandson’s arms just because he showed her a little kindness after bullying her. Forget Wei Rao – even Duchess Ying herself, when she was young, though not as beautiful as Wei Rao with beauty worthy of looking down on men, would never easily accept someone who had repeatedly bullied her.

“Since you truly want to marry her, then find a way to coax Raorao into changing her mind. I’m old and too lazy to manage you anymore.”

“Yes, your grandson knows what to do.”

After spending a day at the Shenwu Army camp handling the transition, Lu Zhuo then accompanied Wei Rao to visit Old Madam Wei at Earl Cheng’an Mansion.

Just as their carriage stopped in front of Earl Cheng’an Mansion’s gate, a physician with a young boy carrying a medicine box came walking out.

Wei Rao’s heart tightened. Bitao had already run over to ask the physician who in the household was ill.

The old physician glanced at Wei Rao, sighed, and said something unknown to Bitao.

From the physician’s expression, Wei Rao guessed the patient was her grandmother. She left Lu Zhuo behind and ran toward Zhengchun Hall.

In Zhengchun Hall, Old Madam Wei had been bedridden for three to five days. Her health had never been particularly robust, especially her legs – they would ache on rainy, overcast summer days and also hurt during the cold autumn and winter. When one part was affected, her whole body suffered somewhat. Otherwise, how could she look so much older than Shou’an Jun?

This attack came suddenly. When Old Madam Wei got up in the morning, as soon as she stood up, her knees felt piercingly painful. Then she could only lie in bed. Even in the height of summer, she needed two quilts wrapped around her legs – cold below, hot above. When her body was ill, her appetite was poor, and she was visibly losing weight.

This kind of illness wouldn’t immediately take Old Madam Wei’s life, but living with the suffering was torment. Moreover, she was advanced in age, and being tormented by pain and illness, she did not know when she might not be able to endure it anymore.

In front of Lu Zhuo and Wei Rao, Wei Rao’s aunt-in-law, Guo Shi, wiped tears while choking back sobs as she spoke.

Wei Rao sat at her grandmother’s bedside, holding her grandmother’s withered hands, tears falling in streams.

Old Madam Wei laughed at her: “Why are you crying? Grandmother’s legs have always been like this – you know that. They only got worse recently because of the rain. As long as we have several more sunny days, Grandmother will be able to get up and walk around again.”

Wei Rao didn’t believe it. She trusted her own eyes more. When she left for Jin City with Lu Zhuo, her grandmother’s complexion had been fine. What had she become now?

Wei Rao had lost her father in childhood, and in her youth, her mother had entered the palace and was rarely seen. It was her grandmother and maternal grandmother who had given her love surpassing that of her parents. When either of the two elders fell ill, Wei Rao felt worse than if her birth parents were sick.

Wei Rao asked Lu Zhuo to return to the mansion first. She wanted to stay at Earl Cheng’an Mansion for several more days to serve filially at her grandmother’s bedside.

Lu Zhuo deeply understood the grandmother-granddaughter bond between Wei Rao and Old Madam Wei. She had even hidden from Old Madam Wei the matter of being a fake husband and wife with him, preferring to bear all her grievances rather than cry and complain to her closest elder, precisely because of her filial devotion.

Lu Zhuo returned to Duke Ying Mansion alone and told his family elders about Old Madam Wei’s illness.

Duchess Ying then brought He Shi to visit Old Madam Wei.

Every day when Lu Zhuo returned from the military camp, he would also come here to pay his respects to Old Madam Wei.

Old Madam Wei was both happy and apologetic. After all, her granddaughter was married, and married daughters should put their husbands’ families first. Even when a daughter-in-law returned home to care for her birth mother, it would be talked about if word got out. No one would praise such a daughter-in-law for being filial – they would only say she favored her natal family and abandoned her husband’s family.

When marrying a wife, one seeks virtue. For a young lady, being filial to elders before marriage is virtuous, and being filial to her husband’s family elders after marriage is also virtuous. But abandoning her husband and mother-in-law to run back to her natal family to care for her birth relatives – that was not virtuous. No family would be happy to marry such a daughter-in-law.

“Go back, hurry and go back. You can’t be ignorant of propriety just because Old Madam indulges you,” Old Madam Wei repeatedly urged Wei Rao to leave.

Wei Rao was reluctant to go.

The head maid, Fei Cui, knelt with red eyes and said: “Young Madam truly cares for Old Madam, but you should return early. This way, Old Madam is always worried about this matter and can’t rest well.”

Wei Rao knew her grandmother’s stubbornness well. Having no choice, she could only return to Duke Ying Mansion with Lu Zhuo when he came to visit the patient in the evening.

But she couldn’t let go of her grandmother. She no longer cared about being virtuous or not. According to the physician, her grandmother might pass away at any time. She would rather give up her reputation for virtue than spend more time with her grandmother.

Every month, Wei Rao would return to Earl Cheng’an Mansion to stay for several days, at the beginning of the month and in the middle of the month.

Duchess Ying didn’t restrict her. When outsiders came to visit Duke Ying Mansion and deliberately inquired in front of her why they didn’t see the heir’s wife, Duchess Ying would instead lavishly praise Wei Rao’s filial devotion. If guests were tactful, that was fine, but if guests still wanted to sow discord, Duchess Ying would feign physical discomfort and have them escorted out.

No one spoke critically to Lu Zhuo about it. Instead, Lu Zhuo frequently visited Old Madam Wei, earning widespread praise among the common people. Strangely enough, the same matter had the street gossip split into two camps – one side criticized Wei Rao for caring more about her natal family relatives, while the other praised Lu Zhuo for doting on his wife and respecting his wife’s grandmother.

High summer passed, and cool autumn came. Old Madam Wei’s illness still showed no improvement. The thin, small old lady lay in the quilts, and if you didn’t walk close, you couldn’t tell someone was sleeping in the bedding.

Wei Rao felt terrible inside, but Guo Shi was anxiously trying to quickly arrange a marriage for her daughter Wei Chan. If she didn’t settle it soon, once Old Madam Wei passed away, her daughter’s marriage would be delayed. Miss Xie Six had the reputation of being the capital’s foremost talented lady and beauty, even delaying two years wouldn’t worry about marriage. But her daughter had no such advantages.

Fortunately, Wei Chan had an older sister who was Prince Duan’s consort, and her cousin Wei Rao, though having a poor reputation, had still married the heir of Duke Ying Mansion. At the end of August, Guo Shi arranged a marriage for Wei Chan. The groom was a young man from a scholarly family who was about to be transferred to serve as a prefect in another region. This reason was just right. At the end of October, under the pretext that Old Madam Wei hoped to see her granddaughter married, Guo Shi held a lively celebration marrying Wei Chan off.

“It’s good that she’s married. You sisters all have your destinies settled, so Grandmother can be at peace,” Old Madam Wei said with relief.

While serving her grandmother medicine, Wei Rao said, “Big Brother still hasn’t married. You still have that to worry about – how can you be at peace?”

Old Madam Wei laughed. She wasn’t worried about her grandson – he had just turned twenty this year. Even if delayed three more years, he could still marry a suitable lady.

“By the way, your cousin Huizhen’s wedding date is approaching, isn’t it?”

Wei Rao nodded.

Marquis Xiting’s heir, Han Liao, had made a marriage proposal at the beginning of this year, with the wedding date set for the eighth day of the eleventh month. It was only a few days away now.

Old Madam Wei then said, “Then you should hurry back and prepare. You’re all like sisters – be happy when attending the feast, and don’t worry about my illness.”

Wei Rao couldn’t smile.

At dusk, it began to snow. As soon as Lu Zhuo stepped into Old Madam Wei’s room, a stuffy, hot atmosphere mixed with strong medicinal odors hit him in the face. Wei Rao was keeping watch by Old Madam Wei’s bedside, sweetly recalling mischievous childhood incidents when she had angered Old Madam Wei, as if she couldn’t smell those medicinal odors at all.

“Zhuo’er has come. Perfect – take Raorao back with you in a while,” Old Madam Wei said with a smile.

Lu Zhuo didn’t quite dare look at Old Madam Wei. The vitality in the old lady was growing less and less.

He gently chatted with the old lady for a while, then took leave with Wei Rao.

Heavy snow was falling. Lu Zhuo helped Wei Rao into the carriage. When he entered, he saw Wei Rao huddled in the corner, deliberately using her cloak’s hood to cover her face.

Lu Zhuo understood her feelings. In front of Old Madam Wei, she had to force herself to smile cheerfully, but inside, she had been crying all along.

“Today, His Majesty summoned me to the palace. While we were speaking, a report came from Ci Ning Palace that the Empress Dowager had fainted.”

Lu Zhuo sat beside her and said in a low voice.

Wei Rao’s lowered eyelashes fluttered.

At another time, she would have been happy. But now, Wei Rao only wanted her grandmother to be well.