Song Yin married into the Xie Family at sixteen.

At that time, Xie Shi’an was already a famous talent in the capital, waiting only for the final threshold before he could enter court as an official.

She heard that many matriarchs throughout the capital wanted to marry their daughters into the Xie Family, but her husband had asked Mother to find a matchmaker to come propose to the Song family.

At that time, the Song family in Jizhou was just an ordinary household. Her father was a xiucai who had passed that examination over a decade ago. With limited aptitude, unable to pass the juren examination, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to teaching.

And Xie Shi’an was one of her father’s students.

After teaching for several years, Xie Shi’an followed his family to the capital.

With this separation, they never met again.

She never imagined that Xie Shi’an would still remember her and actually send someone to the Song family to propose marriage.

One must know that with the Song family’s status, it would be difficult for her to marry the legitimate son of a seventh-rank petty official, let alone the legitimate eldest son of a fourth-rank official in the capital’s Ministry of Finance.

Yet this very thing happened.

She married into the Xie Family.

Not long after marrying in, her husband became the top scholar, then immediately entered court as an official, and then rose in rank step by step. Now he was a first-rank Grand Chancellor, and she had become the most envied woman by all the women in the capital.

She had once asked Xie Shi’an why he married her, why he didn’t marry a woman of equal family status who could also serve as support.

But he didn’t answer her, only held her tightly.

Just like now, when she asked him: “Why would Mother take her own life?”

He only held her, tightly embracing her waist: “Don’t listen to these things, Yin’yin. Those matters—you don’t need to know them.”

From the time he became aware of things, he had been using everyone around him.

He heard from clan members that his great-grandfather had excelled in studies and worked his way up to becoming a court minister, and he knew then that studying would lead to success.

To study, he snuck into a private school, met Scholar Song, and studied reading and writing with Scholar Song, benefiting greatly.

But his background wasn’t respectable, and he was constantly mocked and ridiculed. Some people even beat and cursed him, and pushed him into a slop bucket—he nearly drowned.

At that time, it was Song Yin who appeared and saved him.

That day, he was too wretched—so wretched that he absolutely didn’t want Song Yin to know he was that child who had been pushed into the slop bucket.

Song Yin was too pure and kind. He didn’t want her to know about the filthy things he had done.

“I’m part of the Xie Family. Why don’t I need to know?” Song Yin pushed him away, her eyes full of questioning. “Was it you who forced Mother to death?”

“How could you think that?” Xie Shi’an lowered his eyes. “Mother chose this path to preserve the Xie Family and to leave herself a thread of dignity.”

“Is that so?” Song Yin’s eyes were full of disappointment. “Fine. I’ll go see Mother.”

She strode out and walked to the front courtyard, just in time to see servants preparing the body. Her mother-in-law, whom she had always respected, was being lifted into a coffin.

She didn’t quite dare approach and stepped back, then turned toward Xie Xian’s courtyard. When she arrived there, she learned that Xie Xian had angered her father-in-law and been locked in the Xie family ancestral hall to reflect, with no one allowed to approach the hall.

She went to find Concubine Jiang, only to learn that Concubine Jiang had been locked in the woodshed by her father-in-law.

Song Yin’s eyes widened. The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed. She slowly walked toward Xie Shiyun’s courtyard…

That night, Song Yin didn’t dare return to her own courtyard. Instead, she busied herself in the front courtyard, doing what she could to ensure her mother-in-law departed with dignity.

The sky gradually brightened. The Xie Family residence was already hung with white lanterns. White banners fluttered everywhere. Servants wore small white flowers in their hair. Dark clouds shrouded the sky above.

The Xie Family’s main gate stood wide open, but no one came to offer condolences.

Of course—early this morning, the Yun Family’s crimes had been confirmed. The court issued an edict for the entire clan to be executed, sentenced to death in autumn. Who would care about the death of Yun Chu, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Yun Family?

At such a sensitive time, coming to offer condolences could easily mark one as a traitor.

Song Yin knelt before the spirit tablet, head lowered, burning paper offerings.

Beside her was Xie Shiwei’s wife, Gao Shi, muttering: “Ah, she wasn’t even my husband’s birth mother. Why bother with a lavish burial? I heard it costs over ten thousand taels of silver. That money could be used for so many things instead of wasting it on the daughter of a criminal official…”

“Enough.” Song Yin said coldly. “It’s not your silver being spent. What are you worried about?”

“Elder Sister-in-law’s words are wrong.” Gao Shi said coldly. “I am a proper wife of the Xie Family, formally carried through the gates. Even one wen of the Xie Family’s money belongs partly to me. Why can’t I worry! Now that mother-in-law is dead, soon it will be you, the daughter-in-law, managing the household. You’re clearly happy inside, yet you cry like this. You really know how to put on an act!”

Gao Shi was the concubine-born daughter of a fourth-rank court official. Though born of a concubine, her background was still much more noble than Song Yin, the daughter of a xiucai. Therefore, she often looked down on Song Yin.

She frequently mocked Song Yin in private. She discovered that Song Yin wouldn’t complain to the men, so she became increasingly brazen.

Just as she was about to continue speaking, a shadow fell. She looked up and saw Xie Shi’an, his eyes full of icy fragments that made her involuntarily startled. She immediately turned her head back to continue burning paper, pretending nothing had happened.

Xie Shi’an bent down and helped Song Yin to her feet: “From last night until now, you haven’t eaten a single bite. Come, go eat something first.”

Song Yin lowered her eyes: “I have no appetite. Husband, you needn’t mind me. Go attend to your duties.”

Xie Shi’an clearly felt his wife’s distance.

He pulled her outside and said in a low voice: “If you don’t eat, the children must. They haven’t seen you all night and have been crying constantly.”

At the mention of the children, Song Yin sighed.

She had borne four children for Xie Shi’an. The eldest was twelve, the second eight, the third four, and the youngest only one year old—at an age when he most needed his mother.

But she had no energy to manage the children.

She didn’t know why, but she kept thinking of her mother-in-law, who had managed the Xie Family her entire life and raised so many children, yet in the end died at the hands of her children.

Would her own children, for the sake of their own prospects, also do such things to her, their birth mother…

She also wondered—if her existence blocked the Xie Family’s path, would Xie Shi’an also force her to death…

Some things couldn’t be contemplated. The more one thought about them, the more terrifying they became, making one shudder with cold.

Xie Shi’an had always been clever. From her expression, he had already guessed her thoughts.

He reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder: “Yin’yin, all these years, I haven’t taken concubines. I have no other women around me. How I treat you—can you still not feel it? No matter how deep my schemes are outside, toward you, my heart is completely sincere…”

Song Yin lowered her eyes.

Yes, he treated her exceptionally well. Married for over ten years, he had not a single woman beside him. Even those who served him were all male servants.

But before the Yun Family’s troubles, hadn’t he also been praised throughout the capital as a great filial son? She had personally witnessed how filial he was to his mother-in-law… Yet this same person had decided to force his mother-in-law to death…

Terrifying.

Too terrifying.

Song Yin pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Xie Shi’an was very patient. All his patience he was willing to spend on Song Yin.

Just then, a servant hurried over to report: “Young Master, someone has come to offer condolences for the madam. It’s the heir apparent of Prince Pingxi’s manor…”