After getting married, she spent every night alone in her room; when she asked for a divorce, he kne

After finishing her unappetizing breakfast, Liu Yuansheng got up to change her clothes, preparing to pay her respects to Madam Yuan and the old lady.

She never cared about her clothes. She casually picked out a sky-blue pleated skirt to change into, put a willow-leaf hairpin on her head, and stood up, leaving Ying'er, who was holding four or five hairpins, at a loss.

She left the bedroom under the pretext of not wanting to keep Xiao Jinghan waiting, but was met with disdain from Xiao Jinghan, who was waiting outside. "We're going to see the old lady, not to distribute disaster relief grain for the court. You'd better dress up in fine clothes, don't you think?"

Liu Yuansheng remained silent for a moment.

After spending these few days together, she had come to deeply understand Xiao Jinghan's sharp tongue. If she didn't agree, he might say something else that would embarrass her.

They then turned back the way they came, letting the oriole run wild.

With Xiao Jinghan as her powerful ally, Ying'er was finally able to unleash her full potential, rummaging through the wardrobe and dressing case.

Liu Yuansheng sat quietly in front of the dressing table, waiting for Ying'er. He looked down at his nose, his face expressionless, as if he were a wooden puppet, devoid of all worldly desires.

Xiao Jinghan sized up Liu Yuansheng for a moment, then gently raised his hand.

In an instant, a young man dressed in a white short robe flashed behind Xiao Jinghan and bowed to him.

Xiao Jinghan grabbed a handful of chickpeas and ate them, saying casually, "Do you remember what I asked you to investigate before?"

The young man in white nodded.

"Keep investigating," Xiao Jinghan said. "Anyway, we've got nothing else to do lately, so I'll give you guys something to do."

The young man in white nodded again and quietly slipped out.

A quarter of an hour later, Ying'er dressed Liu Yuansheng up and pushed her to Xiao Jinghan.

Xiao Jinghan was thirsty from eating chickpeas and was drinking tea when he saw Liu Yuansheng come out. He was taken aback and put down his teacup.

Liu Yuansheng was wearing a crimson and gold-embroidered high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with the waistline reaching just below her chest. It was tightly bound with a wide, moon-white brocade belt. The twelve-panel pomegranate-patterned long skirt trailed three feet on the ground, and the skirt was embroidered with intertwined peonies and gilded cloud patterns. When the wind blew, the skirt hem spread out layer by layer like blooming pomegranate flowers, so beautiful that it was impossible to look away.

Her long, silky hair was styled into a cloud-like bun, with a gold hairpin adorned with a phoenix and peony on each side. Two wisps of hair hung down by her temples, and a few scattered pearl flowers embellished her forehead, making her look lively and graceful.

Dressed so elegantly, Liu Yuansheng's lifeless face finally came alive. Xiao Jinghan was so captivated by her beauty that he momentarily forgot the purpose of making Liu Yuansheng change her clothes; he only knew that her features were as beautiful as orchids, and that she was naturally stunning.

"Your Highness, how is it?"

Seeing Xiao Jinghan staring intently at Liu Yuansheng without speaking, Ying'er asked in a clear voice, "Isn't Miss very beautiful?"

"Hmm." Xiao Jinghan snapped out of his reverie. "Your cooking is pretty good."

"That's because my young lady is beautiful!" Ying'er said proudly. "However, this dress also adds to her beauty! Young Master, isn't the dress I chose for my young lady beautiful?"

"How could clothes bestowed by the Imperial Concubine not be beautiful?" Xiao Jinghan stood up and gestured towards the door. "Let's go."

Liu Yuansheng first went to pay his respects to Madam Yuan. Madam Yuan happened to have something to ask the old lady, so she followed the two of them to the old lady's place.

The old lady was overjoyed to see Liu Yuansheng. She pulled her to sit beside her and kept praising her, "Oh my, I thought a fairy had come to the room. It turns out she is my granddaughter-in-law."

"Yes, if a fairy were to fly into our house, your grandson would definitely beg her to cure your leg ailment."

Xiao Jinghan stood by the daybed, sourly fiddling with a few longans. The old lady glanced at him, her expression unusually gentle. "What are you saying? Sit down."

Xiao Jinghan did not sit down, because Madam Yuan was sitting in front of the old lady, and if he sat down, he would be next to Madam Yuan.

Xiao Jinghan disliked Yuan Shi, a fact known throughout the household. Yuan Shi, in turn, disliked Xiao Jinghan. This mother and son, who were not related by blood, would always treat each other as if they were invisible whenever they met, preferring to avoid seeing each other and thus avoid getting annoyed.

Seeing this, the old lady didn't insist and simply let Xiao Jinghan stand aside. She gently asked Liu Yuansheng, "Good child, did you drink the medicine I sent you on time?"

Liu Yuansheng was taken aback. Thinking of the effects of those medicinal soups, her face flushed slightly.

She couldn't bear to deceive the old lady, yet she didn't want to lie, so she lowered her head and remained silent. Fortunately, Xiao Jinghan, who was standing nearby, quickly covered for her, saying, "You drank it all, you drank it all up."

"It's good that you drank it. I'm relieved now." The old lady was even happier. "Later, give me a big, healthy great-grandson, or even a great-granddaughter! I'll love them either way!"

The old lady finished speaking and laughed heartily, but then there was a loud "bang" as something fell to the ground.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it was Yuan, who was helping the old lady crack walnuts, who had accidentally dropped the walnut cracker.

It was a trivial matter, but Yuan Shi acted as if she had caused a catastrophe. She sat blankly on the round stool, clutching a half-peeled walnut tightly in her hand, her chest heaving.

Seeing this, the old lady asked in great surprise, "Yuanmin, what's wrong?"

Yuan rubbed the walnut in her hand vigorously, gave a stiff smile, and said, "It's nothing, I just got pricked by the shell."

She stood up, bowed apologetically to the old lady, and said, "I have disturbed you, Mother. Please punish me."

"It's just a lost clip, what's there to punish? You're just too cautious."

The old lady reached out and helped Yuan Min sit down again. "Yuan Min, you look a little haggard. Are you worried about Jing Ting?"

Yuan Min nodded sheepishly, "Mother, you are very perceptive. Of course, I can't hide these things from you. As you know, Jingting's spirit was completely extinguished by that accident back then. No matter how I try to persuade him, he just won't participate in the imperial examination. But it's not good for him to stay at home and waste his youth."

The old lady nodded after hearing this. "You're right. Jingting is thirty years old. If he doesn't establish some great achievements soon, he'll be completely ruined."

After pondering for a moment, he solemnly said, "How about this, on the first day of the seventh month, the Jade Void Temple will hold a Taoist ritual. Let's go together to perform a purification ritual for Jingting and remove the evil spirits from him."

"We'll do as the old lady says," Yuan Min said. "I hope Jingting can understand the old lady's good intentions and repent in time."

"Hmm." The old lady looked up at Liu Yuansheng and Xiao Jingting, "You two should also go with them and pray to the Holy Mother of Descendants, the Nine Heavens Guardian, for twins, a boy and a girl."

Upon hearing this, one of them had a dark expression, while the other's eyes lit up.

Yuxu Temple is right next to Shuiyue Nunnery. Liu Yuansheng only needs to take a short trip to the other side of the mountain to find out if Abbess Jing'an is safe and sound.

Ever since returning from the Prime Minister's residence, she had been preoccupied with this matter. Although Liu Jingyuan wouldn't go back on his word and deceive her with a living person's life, there was always a chance of something going wrong, and she couldn't gamble on it. After all, Abbess Jing'an was her only family member in this world.

Therefore, she was very happy to hear the old lady say that she was going to Yuxu Temple to perform a ritual, but Xiao Jinghan obviously did not think so.

"Grandmother, one cannot do two things at once. Since you are going to Yuxu Temple for my elder brother, please don't worry about me. Besides, I am busy with affairs of state, how can I have time to go to Yuxu Temple?"

The old lady listened to Xiao Jinghan's words with her eyes wide open. After hearing them, she closed her eyes, clutched her chest, and said, "Oh dear, my heart hurts so much, I'm going to faint."

"Mother, what's wrong?"

Yuan Min immediately supported the old lady, and Liu Yuansheng also stood up and calmly pressed the old lady's pulse.

Then he raised his head and looked at the old lady, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

The old lady, with her eyes closed, leaned against Yuan Min's chest, wailing incessantly, "Oh dear, oh dear, I'm about to die and go to see my long-dead old man!"

"Mother, don't say such unlucky things. You are blessed with good fortune and will live a long life!" Yuan Min hurriedly ordered, "What are you all standing there for? Quickly go and summon the royal physician."

The servants obeyed and left, and in an instant, chaos erupted in Baohe Hall. The instigator, Xiao Jinghan, remained unperturbed. He leisurely strolled to the old lady's side and conceded, "Alright, Grandmother, I'll go, okay? Whenever you say when, I'll go. Whatever you ask for, I'll ask for."

Upon hearing this, the old lady immediately opened her eyes. Her face was not flushed, and she was not out of breath. Her chest was no longer tight, her breathing was smooth, and she had strength in her arms and legs.

"I've been waiting for you to say that. It would have been so much better if you had agreed sooner." The old lady smiled and squeezed Liu Yuansheng's hand. "Alright, you two can leave now. I want to talk to Yuansheng a little longer."

With a complicated expression, Madam Yuan released the old lady, silently glanced at Liu Yuansheng, and retreated one after the other with Xiao Jinghan.

As soon as the two left, the old lady immediately put on a kind expression and said to Liu Yuansheng with a smile, "Good child, how have you been getting along with my wretched child these past two days?"

Liu Yuansheng felt uneasy under the old lady's intense gaze. "I'm fine," she whispered. "Grandmother, you don't need to worry."

"Hmm." The old lady suddenly became serious. "I've heard about what happened yesterday. That wretched child apologized to you, didn't he?"

Liu Yuansheng: "I apologized."

"That's good." The old lady sighed. "Alas, Jinghan, that child, was spoiled by his mother. After his mother died, he suffered some trauma, and his personality changed drastically, which is why he is the way he is now."

"Although he is now unruly, stubborn, self-centered, and short-tempered, he is a good person at heart. Don't let his bad habits negate him as a person."

Liu Yuansheng nodded silently.

The old lady's eyes crinkled into a smile as she asked, "I noticed you just took my pulse. Are you skilled in medicine?"

"I don't know everything, just a little bit of the basics," Liu Yuansheng said.

"Oh." The old lady nodded thoughtfully. "Jinghan has been staying at home these past few days, so you have company and aren't too bored. But after a few days, when Jinghan goes to court, you'll probably find it boring."

"Nowadays, your mother and sister-in-law are taking care of all the affairs of this mansion, so we don't need you for the time being. In my opinion, you should find something to do outside. When a person is busy, he won't think about other things and waste his energy."

The old lady became more and more excited as she spoke. Before Liu Yuansheng could react, she ordered Granny Tian to bring over a sandalwood box inlaid with eight treasures and took out a thick stack of land deeds from it.

"These are all land deeds under my name. Take a look and see which one you like; if you take a liking to it, I'll give it to you!"