Huo Shiyan returned in a fury and immediately went to find her grandmother: “Grandmother, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t like him anymore. Grandmother, find me someone better!”

The Grand Consort’s brows immediately rose, and she smiled as she pulled her granddaughter into her embrace: “What’s this now? Who made our Shiyan angry?”

Huo Shiyan buried herself in her embrace, acting coquettishly: “Grand~mother…”

The Grand Consort felt her heart melting: “All right, all right. You’re so clingy. In the future when facing your husband, you must be softer as well.” Too hard a temper wasn’t good for marital relations.

Be firm when firmness was needed, but be soft when softness was called for.

Huo Shiyan covered her ears, not listening: “Grandmother, will you agree or not?”

The Grand Consort’s smile deepened: “Naturally I agree. You deserve better.”

There were too many noble families in this capital—princes and dukes, which one didn’t have a higher standing than the Lin family?

She hadn’t been very satisfied before anyway, and moreover, he was already engaged.

“Don’t worry. Would Grandmother harm you? I’ll definitely find you an ideal husband…”

After coaxing her granddaughter and watching her leave in high spirits, the Grand Consort finally withdrew the smile from her face and asked the maid who attended her granddaughter: “What happened?”

The maid lowered her eyes and respectfully recounted everything she knew in detail.

The Grand Consort’s brows immediately furrowed. She felt somewhat helpless: “But she’s a young lady—how could she just go seeking him out like that?” It would only make people look down on her.

“However, Shiyan is right. That Lin family son has eyes but cannot recognize Mount Tai! We took a liking to him—he should feel honored.”

“He’s merely the illegitimate son of a third-rank official, yet he dares show such disrespect to our princely manor.”

“No wonder Shiyan was angry when he spoke to her that way. It turns out she suffered grievance. Someone come—take out that set of kingfisher feather jewelry and send it to her.”

She needed to hurry up and find an ideal husband for her granddaughter.

The old lady only learned of this matter later. She was so angry her body began to tremble.

She called Chen Yu to her side, looking him over again and again, her heart aching terribly: “Chen Yu, you’ve been wronged.”

“Don’t worry. That young county princess will definitely receive her lesson.”

Chen Yu had originally wanted to keep this from Grandmother, fearing she would worry too much and harm her health. Yet she still found out. “Grandmother, don’t get too agitated. Your grandson is fine.”

“What do you mean fine? If you hadn’t dodged quickly, something would have happened. That you’re uninjured now is your own capability, not proof that there was no danger!”

What if his face had been injured?

Officials didn’t necessarily have to be good-looking, but being good-looking was an advantage. Moreover, people with facial defects couldn’t become officials.

Unless they were military generals. They fought on battlefields where injuries were normal. But her grandson was taking the civil path!

If her grandson had been inattentive for just a moment, his official career would have ended before it even began. How could this not make the old lady feel lingering fear? How could it not make her furious?

Among her several grandchildren, without question, the old lady valued her grandson most—regarded him as preciously as her own eyeballs.

If she could trade her own life for her grandson’s, she wouldn’t hesitate for a moment.

In the dream world, the Lin family bloodline had been severed. She had prayed at the Buddha’s altar again and again, hoping for a grandson to inherit the family business. Even if he had mediocre qualifications, even if he had no special talents, as long as he could preserve the Lin family and pass it down.

From childhood to now, she couldn’t bear to see her grandson suffer any grievance. It was also because of this that she didn’t dare interfere too much in her grandson’s education—she knew she would soften.

That would ruin the child.

Now that such a thing had happened, the more the old lady thought about it, the angrier she became.

Moreover, this family wasn’t anything good to begin with.

In the dream world, several years later, the Prince of Nan’an fought a war with a certain small southern country. Victory should have been assured, yet he was defeated. The Prince of Nan’an was even captured. The Grand Consort planned to use a marriage alliance to maintain the appearance of peace, yet was unwilling to sacrifice her own child, so she ran to the Jia family and hypocritically adopted a goddaughter.

The reason for the defeat was that the Prince of Nan’an was greedy for glory and had withheld the soldiers’ pay, embezzling military provisions. Afterward, the Prince of Nan’an was still held accountable by His Majesty, with numerous crimes listed.

Could those problems have only existed several years later?

Impossible.

They must have existed long ago—it was just that after several years, when warfare arose, they were finally exposed.

This served as a reminder to the old lady.

If the Prince of Nan’an was dealt with ahead of time, perhaps there would be no defeat, and so many soldiers wouldn’t needlessly lose their lives.

The old lady called her son over and provided him with several directions. The specific matters still needed her son to handle.

Lin Ruhai had also seen some memorials impeaching the Prince of Nan’an. After hearing his mother’s words, he had an even clearer understanding.

Afterward, the old lady would check on Chen Yu from time to time. Chen Yu spent considerable effort before he could put his grandmother’s mind at ease.

The old lady feared he would overthink, so she tried to keep him busy. He was getting married soon, and his courtyard had long been prepared—she had him check again to see if there was anything unsatisfactory that needed improvement.

Chen Yu felt both amused and exasperated. “Grandmother, no need for changes. I’m very satisfied. I won’t overthink either—I need to study.”

Since Father had taken over this matter, he wouldn’t concern himself with it. It wasn’t something he could participate in at his current level.

Next spring he still had to take the examination—that was his most urgent matter now.

As for the impending marriage, that was also very urgent, but there was no reason for a groom to organize his own wedding.

Before the wedding date, Yun Shuyao went to the Fourth Prince’s manor and told Luo Yu about this incident. Luo Yu’s brows immediately furrowed.

“Little brother really wasn’t injured?”

“No.”

Luo Yu felt somewhat reassured. “The people from the Prince of Nan’an’s manor are so domineering! Doesn’t she know this is the capital? She must be accustomed to being arrogant in the south.”

Luo Yu felt uncomfortable in her heart.

In this world, there were always some people who used their power to bully others, and this frequency—in the capital, their family encountered it more often and more frequently than in the provinces.

Luo Yu knew the reason.

When their family was in the provinces, they were already at the top tier, but here in the capital, there were too many princes and nobles.

And this wasn’t even the most frustrating part. If the one bullying people was His Majesty, retaliation was almost impossible.

“What does Father think? Is there anything I can help with?”

Yun Shuyao: “Your father is looking for evidence against the Prince of Nan’an. You don’t need to step forward.”

Luo Yu nodded, feeling somewhat powerless. She had been bestowed to the Fourth Prince. Apart from His Majesty, there were also the Crown Prince and others of higher status. Basically, no one could use power to bully them, but her maternal family wasn’t in that position yet. If they wanted to retaliate against the Prince of Nan’an’s manor, they could only first bring them down.

She felt somewhat melancholy. “I originally had good news to tell Concubine Mother.”

Yun Shuyao: “What good news?”

Luo Yu: “Lady Nara in the palace is pregnant.”

This Lady Nara was the one whose sister had been humiliated by Li Si’er and committed suicide, and who had entered the palace hoping that one day she could avenge her sister.

This was indeed good news.

His Majesty was a very stingy emperor. Though indeed, given the number of women in his harem, if he weren’t stingy, there would be no end to the promotions. So now, without children, His Majesty basically wouldn’t raise their ranks.

Yun Shuyao: “After being promoted, she’ll be a Noble Lady, but still won’t be able to raise her own child.”

Luo Yu was silent for a moment before saying: “Yes, she’d need Imperial Concubine rank to raise her own child. But at least there’s hope.”

“Concubine Mother, why is there always so much of this?”

“A while ago, when Eldest Brother-in-law’s younger brother went hunting, because he stole the limelight from someone from Prince Su’s manor, he fell from his horse and broke his leg. The other party sent a steward to apologize, and that was considered settled.”

That paltry gift meant nothing at all, but the other party had shown their attitude—could the Xilin Gioro family continue to make an issue of it?

Yun Shuyao fell silent. To never suffer indignities in this era—the probability of that was even harder than finding someone in this feudal dynasty who would have one partner for their entire life. This wasn’t even panning for gold in excrement anymore—it was panning for diamonds in excrement.

Even His Majesty, the supreme ruler, had to compromise on various matters. If Kangxi’s early years had been smooth sailing, there wouldn’t have been the need to cleverly capture Oboi.

Moreover… in modern times, the matter of using power to bully people hadn’t disappeared either.

As long as there were people, there would be conflict. Such matters could never be eliminated. But the good thing about modern times was the system—there were no distinct hierarchical classes, and there were various channels for exposure and reporting.

Luo Yu continued: “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard news about Li Si’er. That’s actually a good thing.”

Yun Shuyao smiled: “Yes.”

The other party had no choice—going out always caused rashes, so she could only stay at home.

Luo Yu: “At home, she can’t be as domineering as she is outside.” Longkodo was a junior. Even if he doted on Li Si’er greatly, in the Tong family, she couldn’t be so arrogant and disregard everyone.

Luo Yu’s information network was quite well-informed. This Li Si’er was also extremely famous among the numerous princes’ consorts.

It wasn’t that no one disapproved, but at the end of the day, it came back to that reason—the Tong family was His Majesty’s maternal clan. Longkodo was His Majesty’s cousin.

If His Majesty didn’t want to deal with it, everyone had to turn a blind eye.

Yun Shuyao glanced at her. Her daughter was different from herself.

Even after being here for so long, some things deep in Yun Shuyao’s bones still hadn’t changed.

For instance, after all this time, deep in her bones she still didn’t feel genuine reverence for imperial authority.

Fortunately, when raising the children, she hadn’t discussed these matters with them. Otherwise, if her daughter had married the Fourth Prince and was socializing with other consorts, secondary consorts, and palace ladies, and inadvertently revealed something, she would become an anomaly.

Yun Shuyao sighed: “Does the Fourth Prince come to see you often lately?”

Luo Yu: “When he returns, he always comes by to see the children.”

The Fourth Prince didn’t spend much time in the rear courtyard. He was very busy—the time he spent with his advisors in the front courtyard was much longer than the time he spent in the rear courtyard. “He’s a good prince.”

A good prince who cared about the people’s livelihood.

A while ago, for that matter concerning river management, he had personally gone to wade in the water. It had worn him down so much he’d lost considerable weight.

He also hadn’t spent the night in the rear courtyard in quite some time.

Regarding this, Yun Shuyao had no doubts. Yongzheng was quite famous in history—this was an emperor who worked himself to death from overwork.

The emperor who laid a solid foundation for Qianlong’s spendthrift behavior.

Luo Yu reminded: “Concubine Mother, Father should understand the situation. After little brother’s wedding, our family should reduce external social engagements.”

Luo Yu didn’t know about the turbulent winds and clouds in court, but after interacting more with the princes’ consorts, she could discern some things from everyone’s interactions.

The Crown Prince still stood high above, but some of the younger brothers who had already grown couldn’t wait to pull him down.

Luo Yu didn’t even know if Fourth Master was one of them.

Yun Shuyao: “You know my temperament. If I can avoid going out, I won’t go out. Don’t worry.”

That was true. Luo Yu smiled. Concubine Mother wasn’t ignorant of how things worked outside, but she always lacked patience in that area.

Yun Shuyao looked at the two children sleeping sprawled on their backs beside Luo Yu.

When the twins were first born, their weights were similar. Now, well-fed and well-cared-for, they had both become plump like steamed buns, looking extremely delightful.

No matter how turbulent the winds and clouds outside, they still ate and slept, slept and ate.

These were the Fourth Beile’s Fourth Prince and Second Princess.

Qianlong was also fourth in rank.

If he would still be born, his ranking had already changed.

She wondered if other things… would also change accordingly.