Favored Concubine

  At noon, the old lady and Mrs. Li accompanied Madame Dingguo for lunch, but Yuanyu and a few others ate in their own courtyard. She felt that Madame Dingguo seemed to be smiling, but vaguely sensed that she might not like herself, so she didn't want to go over and socialize either.

  The lady of the Dingguo Marquis stayed behind to have lunch, and after discussing with the old lady about going to burn incense in a few days, she accompanied the young master throughout, and it was said that several people chatted very happily.

  However, Yuwen is a bit regretful that Hui Ling is not around, otherwise she could have played with her for a while. It's said that she's at home learning discipline and wasn't allowed to come out.

  After they left, the old lady said to Li: "What do you think?"

  Li's expression was calm, "The young master is indeed a capable and promising person, but his mother is a formidable one. In the future, being her daughter-in-law and living under her thumb won't be an easy thing to do. Look at how she's been keeping the young master on a tight leash today, who knows what she's thinking."

  The old lady was also somewhat dissatisfied with Madame Dingguo's behavior, and sneered with a smile: "Hehe! She is willing, but I am not willing, however, his daughter is quite good, what do you think?"

  Mr. Li thought of that bright and beautiful girl, with a lively and cheerful personality, and couldn't help but smile, "I also think that girl is quite good, what does mother mean?"

  The old lady closed her eyes slightly, slowly rotating the rosary in her hand, and didn't speak until after a while: "It's not that being relatives by marriage is impossible, but it depends on who marries whom. I know my child well, and I don't want her to suffer that kind of hardship. When you two got married, I didn't make things difficult for you either. But if it were someone else, they might not be so easy-going. When it comes to one's own children, one always finds it hard to let go."

  Mr. Li sighed and said, "I understand."

  "Don't worry too much, children have their own blessings, isn't there still two years?" The old lady couldn't bear to see Li's distress and consoled her.

  Mr. Li sighed and his face didn't look very good, "I'm afraid the result won't be as good as we thought, it will disappoint the child."

  The old lady remembered the emperor's subtle fear of the Murong family and also closed her mouth, if it wasn't for this, why would she sacrifice a granddaughter, such a good appearance and temperament, she wouldn't be heartless, raising cats and dogs for so many years also has feelings, let alone a clever and filial child.

  The Ke family has 380 lives, all of which are tied to the emperor's one word. Who is light and who is heavy, she cannot help but make a choice, what can be done is to let the children live freely in their mother's home for two years.

  "Don't blame me, I'm also helpless. I don't ask her to bring back any future prospects for me, just asking her to take care of herself is enough." The old lady finally couldn't bear to say the words she had been holding in her heart for a long time.

  Li covered her face with a handkerchief and remained silent for quite some time.

  The fragrance of sandalwood wafted in the room, and the maids had long since retreated to the outer chamber. In the quiet room, Li's stifled sobs could be faintly heard. No one was more tormented, distressed, or heartbroken than her. Her palms and backs were all flesh, she wasn't hesitant, but Li Ge had already been tied to the war chariot of the Fourth Prince, which meant that the entire Mu Rong family was bound behind the Fourth Prince.

  She had no choice, and the Mu Rong household had no choice either. She remembered that when Yu was born, she was smaller than Qi Ge, a small bundle from birth, very well-behaved since childhood, would hum instead of cry when hungry or dirty, never cried or made a fuss, especially easy to take care of. On the other hand, Qi Ge was exhausting, couldn't be left unattended for even a moment.

  I hope this child will have good fortune in the future.

  "I'm thinking of opening another cosmetics shop, Yuanyu has studied several ancient formulas and they're all very effective. The ladies in the palace also think it's a good idea. I've been thinking that it would be better to open a shop earlier, as there will be many places where money will be needed in the future."

  The old lady sighed, thought for a moment and said: "No need to look for a single door shop anymore. I have a small courtyard with a street-facing storefront that used to be a grocery store. It hasn't made much money in recent years, and I was thinking about how to revitalize it. Now I'm giving it to you, go and take care of it. Just don't go around talking nonsense and stirring up trouble again. Jin Hong, go find the deed for that grocery store."

  "Yes." Old Lady Li hurriedly went downstairs to find something.

  Li hastily stood up, "My daughter-in-law also has some silver and money, she's not lacking."

  The old lady waved her hand and said, "I've planned it all out long ago. I've left something for each of the children, so no one will be left out. This is what's left for Yuwen. I've also saved some other things, which I'll give to you later. I'm old now, these things are all left for you young people. You can't take them with you when you're born or when you die, and they're no use to me anymore."

  Li's eyes were quite complex, and she was still a bit moved in her heart. She didn't expect the old lady to be so clear-headed and not biased towards the second room, which made her feel less resentful.

  "Daughter-in-law thanks old lady, but you still love Yuwen more."

  "Lige and Qige, each of you will get one share, I've already prepared them a long time ago. No one is favored over the other, I just hope you all live in harmony and peace, that's all I need." The old lady smiled and let out a long sigh.

  "Yes, daughter-in-law will listen to you." Li said with her head bowed.

  Three days later, Yuanyu and Yuanyi followed the old lady to the Huangjue Temple to burn incense. The old lady of Dingguo Hou's house also went together. It was said that Huiling would go too, which made Yuanyu very happy, and she specially prepared a small gift for her to bring over.

  The old lady was supported by Yuwen to the door, and the carriage was already in place. Yuwen took a glance, and Li Shi followed her mother to go, as well as Yunyi and Yunqing, but only Yunchu was not seen. A faint sigh that could not be detected, but she did not say anything else.

  Wang supported the old lady on her right side and said with a smile, "Mother, this time you must bring some vegetarian dishes back for us to taste."

  The old lady smiled and said: "If you behave well, I'll give you some to eat. Otherwise, I won't bring any for you."

  "Hahaha!" Everyone burst out laughing.

  Wang's face turned red as she coquettishly said, "Aye, mother, I'm the most well-behaved one, right elder sister-in-law?" She didn't forget to bat her eyelashes at Li.

  Li glanced at her and said after a long while: "You're barely passable, take good care of the house, or there'll be no place for you when you come back."

  Wang Sheng said with a smile: "Alright, you can go at ease."

  Wanyu supported the old lady to sit in the first carriage, Li brought Wanyi and Yunqing to sit in the back of another carriage, the servants cleared the way, and the carriages moved forward slowly.

  Inside the carriage, Yuwen carefully poured a bowl of hot red date milk tea and handed it over. "Grandma, have a bowl of milk tea, you got up early and didn't eat anything, I had someone prepare some snacks, fill your stomach." As she spoke, she took out more snacks from the food box, still warm.

  The old lady nodded and took it over. "You also drink a bowl, get up early to eat something hot, and the girl dare not be greedy to eat cold food."

  "Yes. I'll eat with you."

  The old lady pinched a small piece of red date cake and ate it with a smile, nodding her head in secret admiration for this considerate granddaughter who knew she had gotten up early without eating breakfast, the pastries were all perfectly baked, everything was hot, obviously carefully arranged, must have gotten up very early.

  The milk tea is rich and fragrant, it's obviously the work of a skilled granddaughter. If I hadn't gotten up early to make it, it wouldn't have been ready in time, and I couldn't help but let out a faint sigh.

  The old lady stopped after eating two pieces of date cake and a bowl of milk tea, wiped her hands with a wet handkerchief, and took the lemon slice water handed over by Yuyu to rinse her mouth.

  "You got up early, there's still some time before we arrive, take a nap for a while."

  Wan Yu smiled and nodded, "Mm." She didn't refuse the old lady's kindness.