Wasn't he supposed to be beaten to death? Why did this powerful cousin love him so much?

The tea ceremony was held in the east side room of the main courtyard where Princess Anning resided.

As Xie Jue led Jiang Sese across the threshold, Princess Anning was already seated in the main seat.

Princess Anning was dressed in a dark red brocade jacket today, and her face still had her usual reserved and proud expression, but Jiang Sese felt that Princess Anning quickly looked her up and down when she saw them enter.

Jiang Sese became even more nervous, but Xie Jue gently squeezed her hand, indicating that she didn't need to be afraid.

In the past, she would have been afraid, but now, she was just nervous. Jiang Sese gave Xie Jue a look.

Princess Anning, sitting above, naturally noticed the two exchanging glances. Did they think she was going to eat him or something? Didn't she give his wife a bunch of jewelry when they last met?

Princess Anning was both unhappy and dejected.

Although Xie Jue wasn't very attentive before, at least he had another pair of children around him.

Now, one daughter has suffered misfortune because of the Chu family, and the other son has followed in Xie Jue's footsteps.

Princess Anning used to love peace and quiet, but now she's starting to feel the downside of not having many children in her household. Luckily, Xie Jue is married now, and they'll have two little babies to play with soon.

The maid had already prepared cushions and teacups.

Jiang Sese knelt down respectfully, holding the teacup above her head with both hands: "Daughter-in-law Jiang offers tea to Mother."

Princess Anning paused for a moment, glanced at Xie Jue, and saw that Xie Jue was pursing his lips with an unfathomable smile on his face. She sighed inwardly, reached out to take the teacup, brought it to her lips and took a sip, put the teacup back on the tray, and then took out a red envelope from her sleeve and handed it to Jiang Sese.

"Get up quickly."

The red envelope was quite thick. Jiang Sese accepted it with both hands and sincerely bowed her head, saying, "Thank you, Mother."

Princess Anning withdrew her hand, her tone remaining calm. After a moment's thought, she added, "Now that you've married into the Xie family, you're a member of the Xie family. If you have any questions in the future, just ask Granny Qian. She's an old hand in my household and knows everything about the affairs of the mansion. As for managing the household, let her guide you through it from the beginning, and you can take charge once you're comfortable with it."

He then instructed his maid to fetch Granny Qian.

Granny Qian entered and curtsied to Jiang Sese, saying, "This servant greets the young mistress. From now on, if the young mistress has any orders, please feel free to give them to me."

Jiang Sese quickly offered a helping hand, while cautiously glancing at Princess Anning.

Actually, she had already been learning household management from the palace ladies a month before the wedding. Princess Anning asked her to go through everything with Granny Qian from the beginning, not because she didn't trust her, but because she wanted to support her.

So that everyone in the manor would know that although she was young, she had Princess Anning supporting her.

After the tea ceremony, Princess Anning said, "Jue'er, go to the study and check the gift list from yesterday's wedding banquet. It hasn't been finalized yet. I have a few words to say to your wife privately."

Xie Jue had already stood up and was about to reach out to take Jiang Sese's hand when he heard this, he paused slightly, glanced at Princess Anning, and did not respond.

Princess Anning was about to get angry. She wondered what she had done to make him so worried about Se Se being alone with her.

Seeing that Princess Anning looked unhappy, Jiang Sese quickly nudged Xie Jue and gestured for him to go.

Xie Jue frowned and glanced disapprovingly at Jiang Sese. Seeing her put her hands together in a pleading gesture, he reluctantly walked out.

Only Jiang Sese and Princess Anning remained, sitting face to face.

Princess Anning said calmly, "As expected, she has forgotten her mother now that she has a wife."

There was a hint of bitterness in her voice, but Jiang Sese wasn't someone who couldn't distinguish right from wrong; Princess Anning's words weren't directed at her.

Not to mention the last time she visited Princess Anning, Princess Anning gave her a bunch of jewelry, practically using her as a jewelry rack. Just this time, she specially arranged for Granny Qian to teach her, and Jiang Sese could feel the other party's good intentions.

Therefore, Jiang Sese said, "Mother is overthinking it."

Princess Anning paused almost imperceptibly in the hand holding the teacup: "Am I overthinking it?"

Princess Anning found it amusing, thinking that Jiang Sese probably didn't understand the estrangement and relationship between her and her son.

Xie Jue spent more time with her grandfather when she was young, because her grandfather was worried that she would spoil the child too much.

Later, Princess Anning became pregnant with Xie Yao, and she then focused all her affections on Xie Yao.

It's true that both the palm and the back of the hand are flesh, but people's hearts are inherently biased.

Even two identical dogs will have a bias towards one another.

Jiang Sese continued, "My lord... he has always respected my mother, but he's not good at expressing it. What he said just now was actually because he was afraid I was young and inexperienced and might be impolite in front of you, and also because he was afraid I was nervous since I'm new here. My lord cares for his mother and his daughter-in-law in two different ways; it's not that one is replacing the other. Before, he only had my mother on his mind, but now there's someone else who cares for her with him, isn't that better?"

Princess Anning carefully examined the new bride before her.

Jiang Sese's eyes were bright and sparkling, and she looked very sincere.

Actually, she didn't dislike Jiang Sese at first.

However, after hearing Yi Hua's words, she had a preconceived notion about Jiang Sese and formed a bad impression.

In addition to Xie Yao...

Thinking of Xie Yao, Princess Anning's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Wait, could it be that Xie Yao is doing this for Jiang Sese...? Impossible, no way.

Princess Anning's face paled, and she secretly reassured herself that it was impossible, finally managing a smile: "You certainly know how to talk. So, according to you, he didn't want you to stay just now because he was thinking of me?"

Jiang Sese laughed generously, "No, that's not it. My husband didn't want to stay just now because he was afraid that my mother would make things difficult for me. He cares about me and respects my mother. These two things are not contradictory—if he didn't care about his wife, my mother would think that this son is cold-hearted; if he didn't respect my mother, his daughter-in-law would think that he is unfilial. But he has both qualities, so my mother should be happy."

Princess Anning was taken aback and remained silent.

Jiang Sese tilted her head and looked at Princess Anning.

The book does indeed describe how Princess Anning favored Xie Yao and was indifferent to both Xie Yihua and Xie Jue, which is why Xie Jue doted on Xie Yihua so much.

But Xie Jue still cares about this family.

He tried so hard, probably because he wanted to make Princess Anning happy. Unfortunately, what Princess Anning wanted was for him to spend more time with her, not for him to bring her great glory.

Princess Anning remained silent for a while, then suddenly sighed softly, waved her hand, and said, "Alright, alright, with that mouth of yours, you could talk a dead person back to life. Go on, come over for dinner tonight."

Princess Anning paused, then added, "The braised lion's head meatballs in my little kitchen are quite good; you should like them."

……

Jiang Sese came out of the main courtyard in a very good mood. Princess Anning had gone much more smoothly than she had expected.

The outer study was responsible for external affairs, handling official matters of the court, and receiving foreign guests.

The inner study was located inside the second gate, with bookshelves on all four sides filled with rare ancient books, calligraphy and paintings by famous artists, and manuscripts of poems and essays. When he was not busy with official duties, Xie Jue would read and practice calligraphy here.

When I arrived at the inner study, Xie Jue was sitting in a round-backed chair by the window, holding a letter in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were pondering something difficult to understand.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Sese walked over, bent down and peeked into his hand, pretending to look at the post in his hand, curious: "What's making you so worried? It's not some troublesome political matter again, is it?"

But Jiang Sese didn't really want to go see it.

She was in a position to do her job properly, but all she wanted to do was slack off.

Xie Jue didn't say anything, but simply handed her the invitation in his hand.

Jiang Sese was stunned for a moment before taking it seriously. She recognized it as a Crimson Gold Letter at a glance—a special letter issued to members of the royal family for attending ceremonies. She had seen several similar letters at yesterday's wedding banquet, such as the ones Chen Yi and Chen Pei had received. There was nothing special about it.

Jiang Sese asked, puzzled, what was wrong with the post? Was there something wrong with the etiquette?

"Open it and take a look," Xie Jue said.

Jiang Sese opened the post, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets when her gaze fell on the name card on the inner page!

The lettering on the gold-embossed sticker was neat and clear, boldly proclaiming...

The three characters "Chen Duxiu"...

Chen Duxiu my foot!

Which fellow countryman from another time travel wrote this?

Still a coincidence?

Jiang Sese froze on the spot as if struck by lightning, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes wide open. Could it really be such a coincidence that there was a prince or heir named that?

Xie Jue, being extremely perceptive, immediately asked, "Do you know this person?"

Jiang Sese immediately shook her head vigorously, saying repeatedly, "I don't know him! I... I just think the name is quite ingenious. Duxiu, meaning 'standing out from the crowd,' this name is too bold. Aren't his parents afraid that he will shorten his lifespan?"

Xie Jue frowned, puzzled. What was so special about this name that it could shorten one's lifespan?

Jiang Sese chuckled twice. Chen Duxiu, the leader of the New Culture Movement and the founder of *New Youth*. Let's see which successor to socialism wouldn't know him.

Thinking of that glass mirror, Jiang Sese's heart skipped a beat, and her pupils shrank slightly. "Holy crap, could it really be someone from my hometown?"

Xie Jue glanced at Jiang Sese, who clearly seemed troubled, and simply withdrew his gaze, frowning as he said, "This person is not on the imperial clan register."

"But this gold ingot is genuine. I had Xie Ping check it out. At yesterday's wedding banquet, this person sat in the Imperial Household Department's elegant courtyard, drank a few cups of wine, chatted and laughed with several princes, and even took a pot of pearl wine with him when he left."

Jiang Sese quickly pressed, "Then where is this person? Where are they now?"

Xie Jue shook his head: "He left after the banquet."

"When asked, none of the relatives at the table could say who he was. They only said that he was a middle-aged man wearing a blue cloth robe, who claimed to be a distant relative. He left after sitting for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

"Drifted away?" Jiang Sese repeated the four words, thinking to herself that this was not drifting away, but rather waving her sleeves without taking away a single cloud.

"I've already sent Xie Ping to investigate. But this person who was able to obtain the Crimson Gold Token must be no ordinary individual."

Xie Jue looked at her, suddenly smiled, and asked, "Do you hope to find this person, or not?"

Jiang Sese gave an awkward smile: "...I don't want to, I don't even know him."

No, fellow villager, since you're already here, at least leave your contact information before you leave!

As they were talking, Shu Tong came in to make tea and serve snacks to the two of them. Shu Tong made tea for Xie Jue first, and then went to Jiang Sese's side and made tea with her eyes lowered.

Before leaving, Shu Tong noticed that the ink in the inkstone was almost dry, so he went over and ground it a few times, then added half a spoonful of water to the brush washer before leaving.

Jiang Sese silently watched Shu Tong, then suddenly thought of something. Shu Tong and Qing Shuang had been with Xie Jue for about ten years now. What would happen in the future? Would they go out and get married, or would they stay with Xie Jue for the rest of their lives?

They were familiar with everything in the study, every habit, and every preference that Xie Jue never mentioned.

She is actually very lucky.

At least there were no concubines or maids.

Jiang Sese tried to comfort herself, "It's okay, it's okay!!"

If Jiang Sese were to actually say these words, she would feel that she was being pretentious. She was also worried that Xie Jue would think that she was making trouble for no reason right after getting married. So Jiang Sese just kept her anger to herself, put the teacup on the table, stood up and walked out.

Xie Jue grabbed her wrist and looked up to ask, "Where are we going?"

Jiang Sese tried to pull her hand away, forcing a smile as she said, "It's stuffy inside, I'm going out for some fresh air."

Xie Jue raised an eyebrow, pulled Jiang Sese into his lap, and made her sit there. Jiang Sese struggled, but Xie Jue's cool voice rang out: "...Try rubbing against me again?"

Jiang Sese immediately noticed the change in a certain place, and froze, her face turning red.

No, it's broad daylight...

This is so embarrassing.

Xie Jue turned Jiang Sese around, making her look directly into his eyes: "Sese, I've said we're husband and wife, the best and closest people in the world. You can tell me anything."

Jiang Sese's eyes held a hint of stubbornness and grievance, but she also knew that her grievances were unreasonable.

To be fair, Xie Jue and Qing Shuang Shu Tong were completely innocent and did not overstep any boundaries.

Moreover, Qing Shuang and Shu Tong have always taken good care of her.

But I still care.

Forced to look Xie Jue directly in the eye, Jiang Sese felt as if her thoughts were laid bare under his gaze. She managed to suppress her emotions and calmly said, "Actually, it's nothing. I just feel... I just feel that you don't need me to do anything for you. You have people to help you get dressed, and someone to tidy your study for you, but I don't even know where your things are in your study."

Xie Jue was slightly taken aback.

Xie Jue stared at Jiang Sese for a long time before asking, "Don't you like having maids serving me?"

Jiang Sese bit her lip and remained silent.

It's hard to say you like something if you don't mean it.

Xie Jue looked at Jiang Sese, his gaze slightly smiling yet tinged with helplessness: "So you're giving me attitude over something so trivial?"

Jiang Sese's eyes widened in disbelief: "When did I ever give you a hard time??"

She was just slightly unhappy at most.

Xie Jue's smile faded, replaced by a serious and earnest expression: "Sese, it's not like that. Just because you're unhappy doesn't mean I'll be happy."