With that rather unpleasant interlude behind them, everyone lost the mood for further conversation and returned to their respective courtyards to settle in and rest.

Ling Jingshu and Ling Xiao still shared the same courtyard as before.

Ling Xiao quietly followed Ling Jingshu into her bedchamber. Bai Yu and Qiao Yun, being perceptive, understood that the sister and brother had private matters to discuss, and tactfully withdrew.

“A’Shu, you were wronged again today.”

Ling Xiao broke the silence first: “Father listens only to that Li Shi’s one-sided words. Who knows how many pillow-side whispers she has poured into his ears — the moment we arrived in the capital, she came to make trouble for you.”

Ling Jingshu gazed at Ling Xiao and smiled faintly. “I am not afraid of them making trouble for me. And besides, you were there protecting me today, so I did not feel the least bit wronged — if anything, I felt rather pleased. A’Xiao, you have truly grown up. Once I am married, you will be the only family I can rely on from my maiden home.”

Ling Xiao raised an eyebrow and thrust out his chest with spirited pride. “Of course. If Wei Yan ever treats you poorly or bullies you, I will not let him off.”

Ling Jingshu curved her lips into a smile and nodded vigorously. “Good. I shall make sure to relay every one of those words to him in full one day — so he knows I have a full brother standing behind me.”

Ling Xiao broke into a grin, his smile clean and bright, carrying a touch of childlike innocence and good-natured foolishness.

In truth, he understood perfectly well that Wei Yan was wholly devoted to Ling Jingshu — he had gone to extraordinary lengths just to be able to marry her, so why would he ever treat her badly? His words served two purposes: one was a genuine wish to stand up for her. The other was a faint, inexplicable twinge of jealousy working its mischief inside him.

In the past, he had been the most important person in Ling Jingshu’s heart. Once she was married, she would take her husband as her sky and sun. He, her full brother, would have to step back and take a lesser place.

It was as though someone had taken his elder sister away. Something in his chest simply did not feel right.

Ling Xiao thought for a moment and added, “If Li Shi dares come poking and stirring trouble again, you need not pay her any mind. You have only two months before the wedding — just focus on embroidering your trousseau. Pay no attention to that petty, trouble-making person, lest it spoil your mood. Leave everything to me.”

Ling Jingshu felt a warm glow spread through her heart and quietly agreed.

……

Ling Xiao’s unprecedented firmness had clearly shaken both Ling Wuye and Li Shi. What was more, with the Old Madam Ling having delivered a stern and thorough dressing-down, the following several days were remarkably quiet — Ling Wuye and Li Shi made no move to go out of their way to provoke Ling Jingshu.

Ling Jingshu was only too happy to enjoy the peace. Each day, aside from the morning and evening greetings she paid to her elders, she kept to her own bedchamber and worked on embroidering her trousseau.

She was a young woman on the verge of marriage; focusing her heart on awaiting her wedding was exactly as it should be.

Old Madam Ling, unwilling to stand by and watch the Lu Family be destroyed, spent her days scheming over how to spend silver to bribe her way into saving people.

When Ling Daye learned of it, he shook his head with a bitter smile. “Mother, what the Lu Family has done is no ordinary trifle — it is the grave crime of treason. Even if the Emperor were to issue a decree ordering the entire Lu Family household executed, no one would dare speak a word in their defense. We can scarcely distance ourselves from them fast enough. And yet you want to go rushing headlong into it — are you not pushing the Ling Family straight into a pit of fire?”

Such plain reasoning — Old Madam Ling was not so muddled as to be incapable of understanding it.

“Everything you say, I know. But you have only this one blood younger sister, and I have only this one daughter. She is in grave trouble now — am I simply supposed to stand here and watch her be sent to her death?”

As she spoke, Old Madam Ling’s eyes had already reddened, and tears began streaming freely down her face.

Watching his aging mother weep and wail, Ling Daye’s own heart felt far from easy. He lowered his voice and sighed. “If there were any way to save her, I would have put forth the effort long ago — I would not have made myself ill with all this fretting and taken to my bed to rest and distance myself. Mother, in this matter, we truly cannot be of any help. There is not a single thing we can do.”

Old Madam Ling wept for a while, then suddenly asked, “If we are without options, what about Wei Yan? He is the Empress’s own full brother — he is the National Uncle. If he were willing to plead for the Lu Family before the Emperor, perhaps there might still be one slim chance of turning things around.”

Wei Yan would soon be Ling Jingshu’s husband — running errands and lending his efforts for the Ling Family’s sake was only fitting.

Ling Daye gave a bitter smile. “You think I haven’t considered it? But Imperial Physician Wei spends his days inside the palace — it is truly no easy matter for us to see him even once.”

“Then have A’Shu send him a letter and ask him to make time to come to the Ling residence.”

Old Madam Ling said without hesitation. It was clear this thought had been turning in her mind more than once. “No matter how busy he is, surely he cannot be so occupied that he would refuse even to pay a visit.”

Ling Daye still wavered. “I only fear that Wei Yan will play it safe and refuse to wade into this murky water.”

The man was perfectly well-established as the National Uncle, enjoying imperial favor and riding high in prestige. What possible reason did he have to take on such thankless and strenuous work?

Old Madam Ling was thinking of all this far too much as a matter of course.

Old Madam Ling set her teeth. “Whatever the case, we must at least try. Once he sets foot inside the Ling residence, I will throw this old face of mine aside and beg him myself — let us see how he refuses then.”

This was a plan to press someone into a corner against their will.

Ling Daye instinctively furrowed his brow. He was about to object, but Old Madam Ling had already sent someone to summon Ling Jingshu.

……

Ling Jingshu entered the room and dipped in a curtsy. “A’Shu pays her respects to Grandmother, and pays her respects to First Uncle.”

Old Madam Ling had already wiped away her tears, though her eyes were still faintly red-rimmed. She forced a smile. “A’Shu, come here — Grandmother has a few words for you.”

Old Madam Ling was set on her course, and Ling Daye could not stop her, so he held his tongue and said nothing.

Ling Jingshu was perceptive and sharp; seeing Old Madam Ling being so warm and deferential, she vaguely guessed what this was about. She stepped forward as asked. “I do not know what Grandmother wished to tell me — what is it she would have me do?”

Old Madam Ling was nothing if not adaptable — lofty and imperious on ordinary days, yet today, for the sake of begging her granddaughter to go to the effort of saving someone, she was prepared to throw that old face of hers aside entirely. “A’Shu, your aunt has met with calamity. Now, you are the only one who can save her.”

As expected — it was about the Ling woman.

Ling Jingshu inwardly sneered in cold contempt.

In her previous life, she had fled from the Lu household and returned to the Ling Family, her heart full of hope that Old Madam Ling would take her in and shelter her. And what had come of it? Old Madam Ling had shown not a shred of regard for their bond as grandmother and granddaughter — she had had her bound up and sent straight back into that pit of fire that was the Lu household. Now she was willing to bow her head for the sake of the Ling woman.

“Grandmother says this, and truly you make me feel quite overwhelmed.”

Ling Jingshu feigned panic and helplessness. “In such a great matter as this, what could I, a girl confined to the inner chambers, possibly do to help?”

Old Madam Ling gripped Ling Jingshu’s hand with fierce urgency, like a drowning person clutching the last straw within reach. “Of course you can save her. Even if you cannot, Wei Yan certainly can.”

“Wei Yan is the National Uncle — he has the Emperor’s ear. As long as he is willing to open his mouth and plead, perhaps the Emperor will show leniency and spare your aunt’s life.”

Old Madam Ling was not so muddled as to have lost all sense — she understood that the Lu Family could not escape this calamity. What she asked for now was only that the Ling woman be allowed to live.

“A’Shu, consider it this grandmother of yours begging you.” Old Madam Ling wept as she spoke. “Write a letter to Wei Yan and ask him to come to the Ling residence once. I will beg Wei Yan myself, in person.”