Zhao Yi lifted his eyelids to look at him and said, “Uncle Dian, there’s no need to hide things in front of me. What kind of relationship our two families have – outsiders may not know, but don’t we know?”

It would already be peaceful if they didn’t draw swords on each other.

But Zhao Dian shook his head, “I see that it’s not outsiders who don’t know, but even you yourself don’t know.”

He said, “Master and Madam did do many wrong things, but above them is still the Clan Lord. The Clan Lord cherishes Sanniang, and Sanniang also respects the Clan Lord. She’s willing to cultivate you for the Clan Lord’s sake. Why can’t you help Sanniang for the Clan Lord’s sake?”

“The Clan Lord hopes you siblings can put aside past grievances and start anew,” Seeing Zhao Yi lower his eyes without speaking, Zhao Dian paused, glanced at the servants in the room, and only after they withdrew, leaving only the three siblings in the room, did he say, “Young Master, Second Miss, Fourth Miss, do you truly have no sibling affection at all for Third Miss and Second Young Master?”

The three’s expressions changed, and they all lowered their heads.

They had some, just not much.

Zhao Dian also knew it wasn’t much, but he pretended not to know and continued with a sorrowful expression, “The Clan Lord and the previous Clan Lord were also at odds, the two brothers often quarreled, but no matter what, the previous Clan Lord still handed over the entire family and the Zhao clan to the Clan Lord.”

“Master and Madam had such a terrible relationship with Third Miss, but the Clan Lord still valued Third Miss and was willing to direct all resources toward her, abandoning his own son to choose his grand-niece,” Zhao Dian asked, “Could it be that in the Clan Lord’s heart, his son is not closer than his grand-niece?”

Zhao Yi said somewhat resentfully, “I know what you’re going to say – everything for the clan, right? In grandfather’s heart, our family of six added together isn’t as important as his responsibility as clan leader.”

Zhao Dian had many words stuck in his chest. He took this as unintentional words of resentment, after all, his mother had just died, so he was silent for a moment, reorganized his mood, then continued, “Young Master, you and the family prosper together and suffer together, especially in these chaotic times. Without family protection, no matter how noble one’s birth or how wealthy, one would still be swept up like grass by rampaging soldiers.”

Zhao Dian said, “Have you forgotten the royal family members who died outside during this Luoyang battle?”

“Weren’t their identities noble? Weren’t their family assets abundant? But how many princes and imperial descendants died outside this time?” Zhao Dian lowered his voice, “If the Sima clan were strong, who could kill them, who would dare kill them?”

“You shouldn’t feel the Clan Lord favors Third Miss, or that the family is showing her favoritism. Right now, she is the Zhao clan’s courage, the armor, while the Zhao clan are her pair of wings. You must become a feather on her wings. It’s not just you protecting her – she’s also protecting you.”

“Otherwise, if a feather falls off and floats alone, it could land on the ground at any time and be ground into the dust,” Zhao Dian said heavily. “The Clan Lord is now making these feathers fuller, protecting both the Zhao clan and protecting you.”

Zhao Dian looked sorrowful, “How can you misunderstand the Clan Lord because of this?”

Zhao Erniang stepped forward two steps, her eyes red as she tugged at Zhao Yi’s sleeve, “Elder brother, let’s listen to grandfather.”

Zhao Siniang also nodded repeatedly, pursing her lips and saying, “Elder brother, grandfather loves us more than he loves Third Sister. The current situation is because Third Sister is more capable than us. This isn’t favoritism but recognition of ability.”

Zhao Yi felt even more distressed. So it was because he couldn’t match up to Zhao Hanzhang that grandfather gave up on him to choose her?

Zhao Siniang encouraged him, “Elder brother just needs to become more capable than Third Sister. Once grandfather sees that, he’ll rely on elder brother as he did before.”

Zhao Erniang hesitated. She didn’t think her younger brother could surpass Zhao Hanzhang, but she still nodded, agreeing with Zhao Yi, “Right!”

First encourage him and worry about the rest later.

Zhao Yi kept his eyes lowered without making a decision. A servant came to report, “Young Master, the stewards from the third and fifth branches have come to present funeral gifts. Fifth Great-Uncle will lead people tomorrow to set up a spirit hall for Madam.”

The servant kept his head lowered and said, “Fifth Great-Uncle said that although the person hasn’t returned, the soul must be called back. So he had Seventh Great-Uncle’s family steward invite a Daoist master from Qingchen Temple. After setting up the spirit tablet, you and the young ladies can keep vigil and fulfill your filial duties.”

Zhao Yi’s eyes immediately reddened, tears falling one by one onto the ground.

Seeing this, Zhao Dian breathed a sigh of relief, his tone gentle as he said, “Young Master, about Third Miss asking you to take the examination…”

Zhao Yi said with red-rimmed eyes, “I know. I’ll go take it.”

Zhao Dian couldn’t help but smile, repeatedly saying “Good,” “Then I’ll go reply to the Clan Lord right away?”

Zhao Yi nodded with red eyes.

The Zhao clan deliberately suppressed the news. Only after some time passed did they send the information to the Zhong family in Nanxiang Commandery.

When the Zhong family first heard that the Wu clan had died of illness, they felt it was strange for a moment. How did she suddenly die of illness?

But seeing Zhao Hewan crying sadly, and carefully reading the letter from the Zhao family, which said the Wu clan had caught a cold during the migration, and having been frightened in Luoyang, her health was already poor. Once she fell ill, she couldn’t recover.

The Zhao family said that after the Wu clan fell ill, she specifically told people not to inform the family, worried it would delay her eldest daughter’s marriage. So the Zhao family hoped the Zhong family could comfort Zhao Hewan more and not let her grieve excessively.

The strange feeling in the Zhong family’s hearts immediately disappeared without a trace. This made sense too. Not to mention the current state of the world, even in peaceful times, people who died from a cold were everywhere.

Why did people love consuming Five Stone Powder?

Wasn’t it because they firmly believed Five Stone Powder could treat and prevent colds?

Colds were the illness in this era that most easily killed people and killed the most people.

Zhao Hewan had married into the Zhong family less than a month ago and now had to observe mourning. Fortunately, as a married daughter, she only needed to mourn for one year.

But Zhao Yi, Zhao Erniang, and Zhao Siniang had to observe the full mourning period. Families that had originally wanted to discuss marriage and meet with Zhao Erniang could only regretfully put their plans on hold.

After the funeral rites, Zhao Yi took Zhao Dian and others to Chen County, while Zhao Erniang and Zhao Siniang remained in Xiping to mourn. With clan members looking after them, there was no need to worry.

Now the Zhao clan’s atmosphere was still quite good. Even if occasionally there were odd characters like Zhao Hu, they couldn’t get past the big tree that was Zhao Song and cause the clan members great grievances.

So Zhao Yi went to Chen County with peace of mind.

Zhao Ming had also received a letter from Zhao Hanzhang. She asked Zhao Ming to find a room in his house for Zhao Yi to stay in, “Elder brother is going out for the first time and lacks experience, so he must be anxious. And my mother is weak by nature and her health is always poor, so it will be difficult for her to care for him properly. I must trouble Uncle Ming.”

Zhao Ming snorted and tossed the letter aside, saying, “She certainly knows how to care for her mother.”

Changqing knelt to the side, brewed a pot of tea for Zhao Ming and presented it, asking, “Then… should we arrange a room?”

“Clean out the guest courtyard. When they arrive, you can lead them to stay there,” Zhao Ming lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, then said, “That’s fine. I’ve only met that child three times. Since he’s coming this time, I’ll take a careful look.”

He said, “Erlang is still too young. As for relying on his son…” And who knows if his son will be like him?

So if Zhao Yi could be cultivated, it was worth a try. He wasn’t very old either. Zhao Ji hadn’t been raised well, but he could straighten things out starting now.