The day after tomorrow was Countess Jing’an’s birthday. All these important events had been squeezed together for some reason. It was going to be Countess Jing’an’s birthday right after the autumn examinations ended, so the results of the autumn examinations would likely be posted on that day. However, since House Jing’an was a military official family and none of their family members had taken part in the examinations, they wouldn’t need to bother with the results. They would most likely hear about the top three scholars later and discuss it for a moment before forgetting about it.
However, Chu Lian knew that the top scholar for the autumn examinations was going to be Xiao Bojian, the original male lead of the story. That scheming and ambitious man was going to use this result to transform himself and secure a seat at court.
As much as Chu Lian didn’t want to see that happen, she had no way to stop it either. There was a limit to her ability, and Xiao Bojian had a mysterious power backing him. She hadn’t finished reading the book. Up to where she had stopped, the author had only mentioned that Xiao Bojian had a powerful force backing him, but hadn’t revealed more details about it.
As her thoughts led up to here, Chu Lian wanted to smash her bed out of regret and frustration. Why hadn’t she read the ending first before starting the book!
Her half-baked knowledge of the events of the book was now making her uneasy. She didn’t know what Xiao Bojian was going to do later on.
However, since she didn’t know what was going to happen, she could only take it one step at a time. At least she still had a general understanding of the events of the near future, so she didn’t have to worry too much for now.
The day before Countess Jing’an’s birthday.
It was coming close to winter in the capital. Cold winds blew past like knives gliding across people’s cheeks.
The north wind was blowing in the courtyard, but the bedroom in Qingxi Hall was as warm as spring thanks to the underground heating.
By this time, Matriarch He had already woken up and was in the midst of having breakfast. While drinking some warm tea, she chatted with Senior Servant Liu and Muxiang.
Senior Servant Liu was squatting down and massaging Matriarch He’s legs. “Matriarch, you should have seen how sweet Third Young Master and Third Young Madam are with each other. Third Young Master wrote a letter this thick for Third Young Madam!” After saying so, she even held up two fingers to illustrate her point. “This old servant was just sitting next to Third Young Madam and watching her read the letter. Third Young Madam read through that letter at least seven times over!”
“Oh my, this Sanlang. He’s finally realising how good his wife is after leaving for the north. That’s fine, the two of them are still young. Once Sanlang remembers this suffering, the two of them will be even closer after he comes back.” Matriarch He had still been a little unwell over the past few days. However, after receiving a letter from her youngest grandson yesterday, her spirit had returned, along with her smiles. She looked both cheerful and energetic today, and her pallor seemed to have improved.
Senior Servant Liu knew that Matriarch He was the most worried about He Changdi out of her grandsons, so she took the chance to try to cheer Matriarch He up with some news.
What else could make Matriarch He happy other than good news about the youngest couple of their family?
When Madam Zou arrived at the entrance of the bedroom with her daughters in hand, she heard the sounds of laughter from within.
Madam Zou frowned; in this month, she had actually slimmed down quite a bit. Her originally slightly plump cheeks were now sunken in on her face, making her look much older than she actually was.
She gritted her teeth with a spark of unhappiness in her eyes.
Her mother-in-law’s birthday was almost here and she was the one who had to take care of all the matters related to it as the lady-in-charge of the household. She was so busy that she barely had any time to rest. It was already bad enough that the matriarch wasn’t helping her, but look at what was happening in her courtyard. They were laughing so loudly like they had forgotten their manners.
Little An and Little Lin trembled in their mother’s grip. Their expressions seemed a little strained, as if they could sense their mother’s unhappiness.
The maidservant watching the door helped Madam Zou lift the curtains covering the entrance and Madam Zou led her two little ones into the warm room.
When they caught sight of the affable Matriarch He, Little An and Little Lin immediately broke free from their mother’s hands and ran towards the matriarch.
Matriarch He chuckled and lifted the two children to sit on either side of her. She then patted their heads.
“Little An and Little Lin have come! Was it cold outside?”
Little An tugged at her little sister’s hand and secretly glanced at Madam Zou before shaking her head obediently, “Little An isn’t cold at all. Little An wanted to come and see Great-Grandmother earlier!”
“Ay, my Little An’s the best!”
Matriarch He quickly carried the six-year-old Little An and hugged her.
Since the matriarch’s health had just recovered, Senior Servant Liu was afraid that the weight of Little An might hurt the matriarch’s body. She quickly shot a look at the two nursemaids standing by and the two nursemaids hurried forward to carry the children away to play.
It was only after Madam Zou had finished watching Matriarch He bonding with her two children that she stepped forward to greet the matriarch. “Granddaughter-in-Law greets Grandmother.”
Matriarch He waved away the formality and instructed her granddaughter-in-law to take a seat.
“It’s getting colder outside now. Little An and Little Lin are still young and they’re just little girls. Their bodies are frail, so you don’t have to bring them to greet me every day. Let the two children sleep a little more.”
These were just Matriarch He’s way of caring for her great-granddaughters, but it seemed to hold a different meaning in Madam Zou’s mind.
Her expression stiffened and she replied, “That wouldn’t be good, Grandmother. Although they’re young, they’re still your legitimate great-granddaughters. Greeting you in the morning is part of their duties.”
