After Taiyi and Wang Gonggong left, Qizhi and Lishi sat in the warm pavilion of Funning Hall talking.

  Qī family handed over the peeled hazelnuts on a plate to Lǐ family, wiped his hands with a handkerchief and asked: "So it seems that Yuán yuán's inheritance is almost certain."

  Mr. Li nodded and then let out a long sigh, saying: "The emperor treated us Lin family not too shabbily after all, it was not in vain that Madame Xian worked hard for him until her early death, nor was it in vain that our Lin family fought bravely for him."

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, both Li and Qi fell silent. When the Emperor was still a prince, he did not have the advantage of being the eldest son or the son of the empress, nor did his birth mother receive imperial favor, nor did he have an external family to rely on as a powerful backing. It was the Duke of Wu's mansion and several other noble families that supported the Emperor in ascending to the throne. Twelve years ago, during the great war between the northwest and the Tartars, the Lin family army defeated the Tartar invaders despite being short of food and supplies, laying the foundation for the Emperor's position as crown prince. However, in that same war, the Lin family also suffered heavy losses, with Lin Zhong, the patriarch of the Lin family, his son, and several uncles and brothers from the northwest branch of the family all dying in battle.

  Lin Zhong was not born to the Li family, but he was also raised by her since childhood. There is also Lin Zhong's eldest son Cheng Gong, who died in battle at the age of 16... These are all the prices paid by the Lin family.

  Mr. Li shook his head, waving away the bad memories, and then asked Mr. Qi, "It's been half a month since Xian Niang went to Jiangnan to visit her mother, has she said when she'll be back?"

  Qī shì smiled and said: "I was just about to tell my mother, I just received a letter from my third sister, she and Old Lady Zhuāng left Hangzhou seven days ago, rushing to the capital by horseback, calculating the distance, they should arrive in the capital in three days."

  Li said "oh" and sat up straight, asking: "Did Old Lady Zhuang also come to the capital?"

  "Qi said: 'Not only did Old Lady Zhuang come, but also her nephew, Young Master Zhuang the Second, escorted them to the capital.'"

  Mr. Li said with a smile, "This is great, I haven't seen that old lady for over a decade either. The last time I saw her was when Yuan Yuan was born. That old lady, she said back then that she would return to Jiangnan and let her brother's son support her, and indeed she hasn't set foot in the capital city for over a decade. Last time I heard she was seriously ill, it worried me for quite some time."

  Mr. Zhuang's father was originally a member of the old national public account, serving as the commander-in-chief. Li and Mrs. Zhuang were also close friends when they were young.

  "Last time, it was said that Mrs. Zhuang was seriously ill, but it turned out to be a false alarm. It's said that Mrs. Zhuang had eaten too many lychees and developed phlegm, which got stuck in her throat and made it hard for her to breathe, causing her to faint several times. The Zhuang family's masters were frightened and quickly sent a letter to Third Brother and Sister, exaggerating the severity of the illness. This is how the misunderstanding arose. When Third Brother and Sister brought back a good doctor they had found on the road and went to Jiangnan, the doctor sucked out the phlegm from Mrs. Zhuang's throat, and in just a few days, she recovered."

  Mrs. Li sighed and said, "After all, brothers and nephews are separated by a layer of kinship. The old lady has no son, her daughter is married far away, and the people in the Zhuang family may not be very considerate towards her. Why can't they find a good doctor in Jiangnan, where everything is prosperous? They had to wait for Xian Niang to bring a doctor with her before she was cured. I think this time when she comes to Beijing, let's have her stay in Beijing and keep me company, so that there will be someone to take care of her."

  Mr. Li said, and then ordered Qi to "sweep the house clean, so that when they arrive in Beijing, there will be a place for them to live."

  "Needless to say, I've already made arrangements," said Qi with a smile. He then told Li about his plans: "Mother, what do you think of this arrangement? The third house has many empty rooms and doesn't need any extra cleaning, so let's have Old Lady Zhuang move in there. It'll be more convenient for Third Brother and Sister to take care of her. As for Second Master Zhuang, he's a male relative, so I've cleaned out a courtyard in the outer compound and assigned two servants to attend to him."

  "Your arrangement is very good," said Li. After a pause, she continued: "I think it's better to arrange for Old Lady Zhuang to come to my courtyard. Nianyu has returned to the third house, and she has always been restless by nature, fearing that she will make trouble. Let her live in my courtyard, and we two old ladies can keep each other company."

  If it's suitable, naturally it would be more suitable to arrange the old lady of the Zhuang family in the third house, but Li was happy and Qi wouldn't go against her mother-in-law's wishes, smiling and saying: "Whatever you say, Mother."

  At the same time, in the courtyard of Sanfang, Lin Xiao and Lin Xuan also received a letter from Zhuang Shi.

  Lin Xiang was only six years old and couldn't recognize all the characters in the letter, so Lin Dai read it out to her sentence by sentence.

  Lin Yun lay on the kang table, her hands propping up her chin, staring unwaveringly at Lin Xiao as she read out the letter.

  When Lin Xiang read "I have taken your maternal grandmother on September 15th, and we will arrive in the capital soon to reunite with your sister", Lin Wan was surprised and said: "So I still have a maternal grandmother."

  Lin Dai reached out and flicked her forehead, scolding with a smile: "You heartless little girl, the small toys in your room, the wooden horse, the tumbling doll, the Kongming lock, the nine-linked ring, and the jewelry, including the longevity lock you're wearing around your neck now, which one wasn't brought by your grandmother from Jiangnan and sent to Beijing for you? And yet you say something like that. If your grandmother heard it, I don't know how sad she'd be."

  Lin Xuan rubbed her forehead, which had been poked, and said discontentedly: "I haven't seen her before, nor has anyone told me about her. How would I know? Is it that sisters are born knowing their grandmothers without being told?"

  Lin Dai was stunned for a moment. When Yu Yu was young, they had all left her, so naturally, there was no chance to mention her grandmother. Although Grandmother raised Yu Yu and might often talk about them, her parents and siblings, it's unlikely that she would frequently bring up her maternal grandmother. It's not surprising that Yu Yu didn't know. After all, it was actually because they, the parents and siblings, had not fulfilled their duty to raise and care for Yu Yu.

  Lin Dai rubbed her temples and held her in her arms, saying: "Okay, okay, it's all sister's fault, sister said the wrong thing."

  Lin Xuan leaned against her, suddenly silent for a moment, then changed and rubbed her fingers, asking Lin Yan: "Sister, do you think Mother will still recognize Yu Yu when she comes back? Will Mother forget me?"

  Lin Yan kissed her forehead and said, "How could that be? Mother loves you so much, how could I not recognize you? You don't know, Mother has been thinking about you every day in the northwest, wondering if you're doing well in the mansion, eating well, sleeping well, or being bullied... You are Father's and Mother's little darling, how could Mother forget you? Look at your sister, as soon as she came back, she recognized you."

  Lin Xiang nodded as if relieved.