After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

"Did A-Ce grant you two years?" The old lady was somewhat surprised. Had they already reached an agreement?

"No, it's that over the past two years, I've managed to find a way to cure the poison in his body. Given his current physical condition, he'll live to be thirty at most. So he won't be taking a concubine for now."

Rong Yingluo never asked Gu Ce what he thought. On that day at the Prince An's residence, Gu Ce refused very decisively, but she did not know his true thoughts, and the two of them had never discussed this topic.

"Alas!" The old lady sighed deeply. "A few years after I gave birth to your second uncle, the old Duke brought back a woman from the border and took her as a concubine. She was pregnant when she came back. She was the birth mother of your third uncle."

I was very upset at the time, and I targeted her in every way. I focused all my energy on dealing with her and her son, neglecting your second uncle. During those years, your second uncle was neglected and went astray.

The old Duke also harbored resentment towards me, and we could not get along.

Looking back now, I truly regret it.

If I hadn't pushed Aunt Chen so hard back then, she wouldn't have resisted so fiercely, and perhaps we could have gotten along peacefully.

By the time I realized it, it was too late.

"I'm telling you all this to teach you a lesson. If you can't completely win a man's heart and prevent him from having any thoughts of taking a concubine, then you have to think about the man's well-being, keep his household peaceful, and make him grateful to you, instead of constantly being jealous and competitive." The old lady spoke earnestly, sharing her own experiences to teach Rong Yingluo.

Such is the way of the world; the old lady can only use her own experience to teach Rong Yingluo this lesson in advance.

Rong Yingluo was stunned by what she heard.

She knew the old lady meant well in teaching her, but she never thought about taking care of the inner quarters for Gu Ce'an.

She knew about the affairs of the inner quarters.

The master led her to perform a religious ceremony for someone.

At that time, my master was simply traveling and concealed his identity. He was invited by the mistress of a wealthy family.

She wanted to have children, but her master saw that the yin energy in the inner quarters was too heavy. In the end, it was found that this lady had secretly dealt with many of her husband's concubines and their children, which had disrupted the harmony of heaven and earth, and that was why the lady was infertile.

Rong Yingluo was only eleven years old at the time, but she already knew everything.

After that incident, she learned that the inner quarters were where the most private matters were kept.

If she stays in the inner quarters, she will inevitably have to face these things.

No matter how she thought about it, she felt she couldn't be a good wife in the inner quarters. It would be better for her to be a Taoist priest, as she would be less bound by the rules for women.

"Grandmother, what happened between you and Grandfather afterward?" Rong Yingluo really wanted to know. Could a broken mirror be mended?

"Later, we got old and stopped caring about the past. I also apologized to the old Duke."

On his deathbed, he also apologized to me, saying that he had brought the person back without considering my feelings.

He also told me to keep a close eye on the Duke's mansion and not to be too harsh on the third son.

Unfortunately, I chose the wrong wife. A-Ce's birth mother was in poor health and died young. The Su family was too ambitious; they even dared to poison me. I suspect the second son was involved in this as well.

I know all of that.

Fortunately, they didn't want to kill me. I'll let it go for now and wait until your father-in-law returns before we talk about anything else." The old lady said helplessly.

Family scandals should not be aired in public; this family must not be in chaos.

The second child is her biological son, so there's nothing she can do about it.

Su gave birth to two more children for the Gu family, and they couldn't be disposed of casually.

We can only see how the eldest son reacts.

"Do you hate your third uncle?" Rong Yingluo asked again.

She had been married into the Duke's mansion for more than two months and rarely saw anyone from the third branch of the family, as if they were all deliberately avoiding the first and second branches.

This indicates that the estrangement has not yet dissipated.

Either the old lady didn't want to see them, or the third uncle hated the old lady.

"It's all in the past. There's nothing to hate about. We're all family." The old lady had long since let it go.

"Why didn't Third Uncle enter the court to serve as an official?" Rong Yingluo only knew that Third Uncle was helping Second Uncle manage the Duke's Mansion's properties.

"When the old Duke died, he was still preparing for the imperial examination, but so many years have passed and he still hasn't passed. He only has the title of Xiucai, which is useless in this capital city full of talented people. At most, he can be an accountant. He didn't inherit your grandfather's martial arts skills either. Like the second son, he won't amount to much," the old lady said.

But Rong Yingluo didn't think so; perhaps her third uncle was doing it on purpose. Only mediocre sons could survive.

She could imagine that the old lady must have been somewhat domineering when she was young. After all, she came from a noble family, was the daughter of the Grand Princess, and had the title of County Princess. She was the late Emperor's cousin, and even the Emperor had to call her his cousin-aunt.

"Grandmother, on the eighteenth, when we go to the Zhao family, may I bring my sister from the third branch of the family with me?" Rong Yingluo wanted to find out about the third branch of the family.

In this Duke's mansion, Second Uncle and Madam Su were in cahoots, while Third Uncle seemed to be living a secluded life behind closed doors, waiting for the old lady to pass away so that they could separate and live separately.

"Take her if you want. Qingling is almost fifteen. Her mother should be looking for a husband for her. She hasn't told me whether she's been engaged or not." The old lady thought of the third wife's daughter. She was a gentle girl when she was young, but she has become more and more reserved as she has grown up.

"Then the granddaughter-in-law should go and talk to her now," Rong Yingluo said, acting on impulse.

"You little rascal, why are you in such a hurry? It's not too late to go after lunch." The old lady looked at the sky; it was almost lunchtime.

Rong Yingluo was actually quite happy to be scolded and laughed at by the old lady.

"Don't tell anyone what I'm telling you today. This is a private conversation between us, grandmother and granddaughter. Do you understand?" The old lady was revealing her own shortcomings by bringing up the things she had done to her aunt back then.

"Grandmother, don't worry, your daughter-in-law keeps her mouth shut."

The old lady knew that the ginseng was for her and the pair of jade bracelets were for Rong Yingluo, so she immediately had Yinghong take the two gifts sent by the Prince An's mansion and send them back to Yinliu Courtyard.

After having lunch with the old lady, Rong Yingluo took Yinghong to the third house.

The third branch of the family lived in the west wing of the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion.

Normally, one can enter and exit the west courtyard directly through the side gate, so Rong Yingluo rarely encounters people from the third branch of the family.

The third wife has two children: a daughter, Gu Qingling, who will turn fifteen in a month, and a son, Gu Xin, who is thirteen years old.

The Third Master, Gu Jingheng, had only one wife and one concubine, and the concubine had no children.

Rong Yingluo suspects that her third uncle deliberately prevented his concubine from having children.

He was an illegitimate son and did not want to give birth to an illegitimate son who would suffer the same pain as him.

Rong Yingluo carried two boxes of trendy pastries into the third family's residence.

Madam Xiang was sitting in the hall doing needlework, instructing her daughter as she worked.

At that moment, a maid rushed in: "Third Madam, the Heir Apparent's wife has arrived."

Xiang was startled and accidentally pricked her finger with the needle, making her hiss in pain.

"Hurry up and invite him in." Madam Xiang immediately put down her needlework.

The mother and daughter went out to greet her, just in time to see Rong Yingluo walk into the courtyard.

"Third Aunt, Qingling, you don't need to come out. It's quite cold." Rong Yingluo quickly walked a few steps to the two of them.

"Please come in quickly." Although Madam Xiang was an elder, she knew her place.

Although Rong Yingluo was a merchant's daughter, she is now the wife of a first-rank prime minister and the wife of the heir of the family, whose status is much higher than hers.

Upon entering the hall, the mother and daughter wanted to invite her to sit in the main seat, but Rong Yingluo casually found a chair and sat down.

The maidservant served Rong Yingluo tea.

The mother and daughter didn't know why Rong Yingluo had suddenly come to visit, so neither dared to speak rashly.

"Third Aunt, I came today to invite Qingling to attend the birthday banquet of Madam Zhao of the Imperial Tutor's Mansion. I wonder if Qingling would be willing to go with me?" Rong Yingluo didn't keep her in suspense and directly stated her purpose with a smile in her eyes.

Her words stunned the mother and daughter, who then simultaneously began to wipe away tears.