Peony was struggling to get out of bed when Lins mother rushed in and supported her: "It hasnt come yet, I heard the news halfway and hurried over to tell you."

  "Is it just my mother who has come?"

  Lins mother said: "The old master and the big masters, as well as the big madam, have all arrived. You can rest assured now, since so many people have come this time, it wont be easily settled."

  The peony let out a gentle sigh, although she didnt know what Li Wei and the others had said, but since they came knocking on her door so early in the morning, they must be furious. In that case, she should add fuel to the fire for them.

  At the gate, Liu Chengcai, with a smile all over his face, invited Hes father and son, who were blocked at the door, to go to the main hall to drink tea and talk; Qis wife, who rushed out in a hurry, tightly held Cens wifes hand, warmly greeting her while secretly sizing up the Xiang-colored silk jacket, deep purple eight-piece gauze skirt, white jade pendant hanging from her waist, and golden phoenix-patterned sash, finally fixing her gaze on Cens wifes high-heeled embroidered shoes.

  This pair of shoes is not particularly unusual in style, but its made with great care. The shoe upper uses a variant of the auspicious flower brocade, while the toe cap is made of purple ground flower and bird patterned brocade. The centers of the flowers and the birds eyes are all embroidered with rice pearls and gold thread. Whats most unusual about this pair of shoes is that they change color as the light changes, showing that the silk threads used are not ordinary.

  Madam Qi, having been dressed in silk and fed on jade since childhood, could naturally see that this pair of shoes was extraordinary at a glance. Looking again at the eldest daughter-in-law of the He family, Xue Shi, she was even more fashionably and elegantly dressed, with a bright yellow skirt, green silk stockings, long eyebrows reaching her temples, and an unusual fragrance wafting up to her nose. On her feet were also embroidered shoes, only without the use of rice pearls, but they were also exquisitely made.

  Madam Qi looked at the attire of the two He family daughters-in-law, then glanced at her own hastily worn red shoes, which were so plain and unremarkable that they couldnt be shown to others. Madam Qi was thus annoyed and uncomfortably curled up her feet, indignantly thinking: "Whats there to show off about? Who doesnt know your family has a few stinky coins? Vulgar."

  She thought of returning, and her heart had a ghost that couldnt be helped, so she mustered up the spirit to greet her warmly, holding hands with Mrs. Cen as they walked towards the peony garden, laughing along the way: "Sister-in-law, how do you take care of yourself? I feel like every time I see you, you look younger than before!" Although this remark was clearly flattering, it wasnt wrong either. Mrs. Cen was fifty-six years old and had five children, but she looked no more than forty, slightly plump, yet dressed in a stylish and elegant manner, with smooth and radiant skin, obviously a great beauty in her youth.

  Mrs. Cen used her spare hand to tidy up her own hair, and smiled faintly: "Its nothing much, my husband got a prescription last year that uses xīn sīn, wèi ruì, huáng qí, bái fù zǐ, shān yào, xīn yí, chuān qiāng, bái zhī, guā léi, mù lán pí and other ingredients in equal proportions, with an appropriate amount of lard. The medicine is crushed and soaked in wine for a day and night, then put into the lard and slowly simmered over low heat until the white zhī comes out. After filtering out the dregs, its stirred to solidify into face cream. Applying it every few days will do, or if you have time, applying it all over your body is also good. Normally, applying some pearl powder is even better."

  The precious recipe that was obtained at a great cost, she casually mentioned it as if it were nothing, obviously intentionally suppressing herself. Madame Qi smiled wryly: "Its not difficult to get the things, whats difficult is the trouble. Fortunately, I dont usually like to bother with these things, otherwise, just dealing with this would leave no time for managing household affairs."

  Madam Cen smiled and glanced at her: "You are naturally beautiful, where do you need these. Youre busy too, managing such a large mansion by yourself, and also taking care of the etiquette for receiving guests, unlike me, who has several daughters-in-law to help with that."

  Youre not the son, are you? Letting your daughter-in-law take charge of the household finances? Id rather have that sickly daughter of yours learn from me, but its hard to teach an old dog new tricks! Madame Qi thought for a moment, her tone somewhat sharp: "Exactly! Were both getting old, and its time we enjoyed our children and grandchildren. But Im not as lucky as your family, Peonys health is very poor, I dont dare ask for anything else, just that she doesnt get sick and thats all I can hope for!"

  Madam Cen, who had been seething with anger all along, forced a smile and said: "Exactly! If Im to talk about my daughter, shes been plagued by misfortunes since birth. Her father and I have spared no effort in raising her, and thanks to the kindness of our relatives, we were finally seeing a glimmer of hope. Who would have thought that something like this would happen?! I didnt want to disturb you so early, but if I left later, Id be too embarrassed to face anyone I know!"

  Madam Cen said this with a reason. She had just sent off Li Wei yesterday, and the suffocating pain in her chest had not yet subsided when she received a note from the young lady of Qinghua Manor, delivered by a maid. The gist was that she and Liu Chong were mutually infatuated, and in a moment of uncontrolled passion, they did something they shouldnt have done, hurting Peonys face and heart, and truly owed her an apology. Liu Chongs skin was too thin, he couldnt bear to say it himself, so he had her extend the apology instead. If the He family held any grudges, please dont take it out on Liu Chong, just come find her instead.

  Tsinghua County Masters behavior this time is indeed too shameless, but it also has a warning meaning, and its simply a slap in the face to the He family. Theyve come to show off their power and prestige, can the He family still swallow their anger? Although the He family isnt a prominent or aristocratic family, they are still a respectable household in the capital city, with extensive social connections, large business dealings, and many relatives and friends; where would they put this face? Any family with dignity would have called off the engagement by now. But our familys situation is special, and it cant be resolved with just a few words. Mr. He and Mrs. Cen didnt sleep all night, and at dawn, they took their eldest son and daughter-in-law to the Tsinghua County Masters residence to demand an explanation.

  Mrs. Qi didnt know about the Qinghua Countys mistress this time, only knew that Mrs. Cens attitude was really not polite, and her anger in her heart was also rising rapidly. What is this? Coming to vent for her daughter? Already married into the Liu family, she is a member of the Liu family, its not up to the He family to point fingers. If it werent for that useless son, such things wouldnt have happened. She originally wanted to let things go and hoped that the He family would turn a blind eye, just letting this matter pass without mentioning it, but Mrs. Cen was like this, unexpectedly not willing to compromise at all, coming to demand an explanation.

  Madam Qi was also a proud person, how could she bear harsh words? In the past, when asking for help from the He family, it was a helpless situation. Being suppressed by them in terms of wealth was one thing, but being suppressed in everything and for a lifetime? Whats the point of her being the mistress then? She calmly said: "What your family says is quite meaningless. Sometimes what you see isnt necessarily true, let alone hearsay. The Qinghua County Princess has a reputation outside, when will she not stir up some gossip? Her status is there, can we use a big stick to drive her away if she comes to our banquet? What can we do? Do we need to file a complaint?"

  Madam Cen was so angry that she was internally injured. Indeed, clever words and expressions! The fact is already in front of us, but you still refuse to admit it? What kind of logic is this? Even if Peony had a reason to marry into your family before, it was also a matter of mutual consent. Who could have forced Liu Quan to get married back then? The He family didnt owe the Liu family anything! On the contrary, the Liu familys current wealth and status are thanks to Peonys weak body, which required Liu Quan to rush into marriage!

  Madam Qi saw Madam Cens gloomy face and didnt speak, so she took out her identity as the Qinghua County Princess to suppress her opponent. Immediately, she changed her expression and smiled, saying: "It was originally not a big deal, but you deliberately made a scene in public and had Zi Shu beaten up, making everyone lose face. Zi Shu didnt say anything either, and he even told me that he would take good care of Dan Niang from now on. For three years, she hasnt given birth to a child, and he hasnt said anything unpleasant about it. But today, early in the morning, he prepared his carriage to go pick up Dr. Zhu to help Dan Niang recover her body."

  This matter of the child is a big deal, not ordinary, no matter what woman, without exception, its all a lowly thing. According to Madame Qis experience, as long as you grasp the other persons weakness and shortcomings, one intimidation, two threats, three caresses, even if they are extremely violent, they should be smoothed over. Now that weve brought up this matter of Peonys illegitimacy, we dont have to worry about the He family not being ashamed.

  Whats going on with Doctor He? Its clear that hes afraid of getting into trouble with his own family and has made an excuse to slip away! Lady Cen was furious in her heart, but she also felt a bit inferior because Lady Qi had said that the peony would not bloom for three years. She coldly said: "The young master doesnt care about appearances, its true that the peony wont bloom for three years, and men often change their minds easily, but this face is not given by others, its something one leaves for oneself! If you see your own sister-in-law doing something wrong and dont remind her, can you still call yourself a relative? If our family says that this matter is fabricated, I absolutely cannot agree! Yesterday, the young master came to my house! Do you want to live a good life with such methods?"

  Madam Qi was taken aback, her eyes blinking rapidly as she asked: "The county princess came to your house? What did she want?" She had only been thinking about taking care of Liu Chang and shutting Peonys mouth, but hadnt expected that the shameless Qinghua County Princess would dare to show up at their doorstep. What kind of thing was this?! Thinking of this, she couldnt help but blame Liu Chang again - what was he doing going out of his way to provoke that fox spirit?!

  Madam Cen fanned herself with her handkerchief, huffing and puffing as she said: "What else can be done? My son-in-law is the clearest about it! I also dont want to bring up this topic, wait for him to come back and let him discuss it with his father-in-law himself!"

  Madam Qi thought to herself: "Shes making such a big fuss and coming to my doorstep, but before she was still able to joke with me. Its clear that she doesnt really want to make a scene, she just wants to get an explanation out of me to support her daughter. In that case, Ill temporarily swallow my anger and play along with her for now. As long as her daughter is still in my household, she wont dare to be too arrogant!"

  "Ha! Dont say any more, its clear as day. What kind of woman would be so shameless? Its obviously a trick to drive us apart. You mustnt fall for it! Im sure Zhang has been deceived by her too. Lets go see the peonies first and talk about this later."

  Little Idea Has Something To Say

  Thank you dear ones for urging me to update, I am overwhelmed with shame and delight.

  However, considering that Im an office worker, my workload has increased recently, and I just finished a book after staying up all night, which made my body feel unwell for some time. So Im applying to take a break and slow down (I really cant hold on anymore). During this period, I can only guarantee continuous updates, and when possible, I will increase the frequency of updates. Please forgive me.

  Besides, the separation thing wont drag on for too many words, dont worry everyone.

  "The Family of Greatness"