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

"It was I who told them not to come," the old lady said with a long sigh.

"Why?" Rong Yingluo didn't understand.

"All they want is the imperial edict in my possession. Your grandfather personally entrusted it to me, instructing me to keep it safe. If it's not used in my possession, it will be passed on to your father-in-law. That unambitious second son has no right to take it." The old lady's face was sorrowful as she recalled the old Duke.

"How could you bear to let your granddaughter-in-law use it?" Rong Yingluo was even more moved.

When they first met, the old lady wanted to use the imperial edict of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to make her leave the Gu family and ensure the safety of the Rong family.

"Oh, it's my fault for misjudging people. My son married the wrong woman, causing several girls to lose their lives in vain. I feel terrible."

None of the previous four came to visit me; you're the only one who did. I knew you were a good girl, and I couldn't bear to see you follow in their footsteps.

In the entire Southern Xia Kingdom, only my Gu family possesses this treasure, and His Highness the Crown Prince has always coveted it.

"And your father-in-law privately instructed me that we must never let the Crown Prince succeed. We would rather use it than let it fall into His Highness's hands." The old lady's eyes dimmed as she spoke of these things.

Rong Yingluo then realized that although the old lady seemed to be locked up in Shousong Courtyard, she was actually very clear-headed.

"Grandmother, you're so good to me," Rong Yingluo said coquettishly. She already understood that in her eyes, Madam Su was the wrong daughter-in-law, but she didn't know what the old lady considered wrong.

Is she colluding with her second uncle, secretly siding with the Crown Prince, or is it possible that the child she gave birth to is not the Duke's?

She couldn't ask directly; these were all just guesses.

"You're a good child. It's my fault for being so family-oriented. You must live well."

"Grandmother, don't worry, I'll be fine. Look at me, I'm perfectly healthy now, aren't I?" Rong Yingluo smiled mischievously.

The old lady was amused as well.

"Grandmother, the imperial edict is such a precious thing, why did you just put it under the bed? It's easy for someone to steal it like that." It was Rong Yingluo's first time visiting, and she had to pull it out from under the bed herself.

"I knew you were coming, so I specially asked Granny Ye to take it out and put it under the bed. I usually hide it so no one can find it." The old lady patted Rong Yingluo's hand.

"Grandmother, you're almost fully recovered and will be able to leave Shousong Courtyard soon. But then it might not be safe for you here anymore." Rong Yingluo thought of her second uncle having someone steal her silver notes.

She was very worried that her second uncle or the Su family might resort to desperate measures and send someone to steal the imperial edict.

If Gu Ce is indeed appointed as prime minister by the emperor, the crown prince will probably be so angry that he loses his mind.

If one day he really wanted to rebel and force the emperor to relinquish his position sooner, but was afraid of failure, he would likely be even more eager to obtain the imperial edict to save his own life.

That night, she read the iron certificate. It didn't specify who could use it, but it meant that whoever held it, or whom the Gu family was willing to give it to, could have their life saved.

Su and her second uncle have clearly sided with the Crown Prince.

Perhaps that's what the crown prince's purpose was.

Having figured all this out, Rong Yingluo's worries only intensified.

"Are you afraid I can't protect the imperial edict?" The old lady understood.

"Grandmother, I have something important to tell you." Rong Yingluo decided to test the old lady's attitude towards her again.

"What is it?"

"My family gave me 100,000 taels of silver notes. I had just received them when my mother and second uncle found out. One of them sent a maid to steal them during the day, and the other sent a guard to steal them at night."

I'm worried that one day my second uncle will insist on the imperial edict, and if you don't give it to him, he might try to steal it.

"Grandmother can't possibly watch over us every single hour." Rong Yingluo wondered if the old lady had heard about this.

"What did you say?" the old lady exclaimed in shock. "Two ignorant fools have actually done such a despicable thing." The old lady was furious.

Rong Yingluo nodded emphatically.

"What should we do? No matter how much we guard against it, it's hardest to guard against a thief within the family." The old lady looked anxious.

The second son and that Su woman have come to her many times asking for it, but she has always firmly suppressed them. If the two of them are pushed to the limit, they might actually try to steal it.

Shousong Courtyard is such a small place, with only a few maids and servants guarding it. It's too difficult to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

The second-in-command has several men provided by the old Duke.

"Grandmother, if you trust your granddaughter-in-law, you can let her keep it. No one will suspect that it's in my hands."

"My granddaughter-in-law promises she won't lose it while I'm keeping it. I'll hand it over to Father when he returns," Rong Yingluo said solemnly.

The old lady paused, then fell into deep thought.

After some internal struggle, the old lady made a decision: "Alright, I'll entrust it to you for safekeeping. It must not fall into the hands of anyone else."

Fortunately, the granddaughter-in-law always came at night, so no one knew.

Without the imperial edict in hand, she had no more scruples. Once she recovered, it was time to properly tidy up the manor.

The old lady made a decision and immediately took out the wooden box containing the treasure.

Rong Yingluo thought the old lady had hidden it very well.

It turns out that he simply pried open two floor tiles in the corner of his bedroom wall, dug a hole, put the wooden box inside, covered it, and placed a flower vase on top.

This is far too undisguised.

With just a little effort, you can hear a hollow sound when you tap it, and immediately guess that it's hollow underneath.

However, it's quite good that the old lady did this; at least the things are still there.

The old lady took out the key, opened the wooden box again, and was relieved to see that the contents were exactly as they had been placed inside.

"Grandmother, I'll take the things with me, but you can keep the key. Is that alright?" Rong Yingluo said this to show that she only wanted to help her hide the treasures and that she wasn't after them.

"No need, you can take it all. How much longer can this old woman live? If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't even be able to stand up now."

"If one day I am tricked by them again and eat something I shouldn't, and then I close my eyes and never wake up again, I can at least explain myself to the late Emperor." The old lady's trust in Rong Yingluo grew even stronger. She was afraid that one day she wouldn't have time to make arrangements for her affairs after her death, so by handing over the imperial edict to Rong, she had one less worry.

Unaware of what the old lady was thinking, Rong Yingluo left with the wooden box.

Tonight, the old lady left no one in the inner room. She watched Rong Yingluo disappear into the darkness and then personally closed the window.

She sat back down at the table and let out a heavy sigh.

Through four encounters, she had come to realize that Rong Yingluo was a very intelligent girl.

He is skilled in medicine, poisons, and martial arts.

None of the Duke's granddaughters were as capable as her.

She knew that Gu Ce was not her biological grandson, but for so many years she had pretended not to know.

She still couldn't figure out what her eldest son's purpose was in doing this.

Her grandson went missing when he was two years old, but was found six months later.

She knew her own grandson best. Even though she hadn't seen him for six months, she could tell at a glance that the child her eldest son brought back was not her own grandson.

Although the two are somewhat similar, they can fool strangers, but it's impossible to fool her.

She pressed her eldest son for answers multiple times without success.

Finally, she threatened suicide, and her eldest son said that her grandson was fine and that he would return home when the time was right.

She had been hoping for it, but twenty-one years have passed and she still hasn't received it.

The Rong family woman was unaware of this matter. If she wanted to gain a foothold in the Gu family, she would do her best to protect the imperial edict. She had originally intended to give it to the woman, but the woman refused. It was this sincerity and character that made her look at the woman differently.

It's clear that Rong's daughter's heart has always been with the Gu family. She'll still need this girl's help to cleanse the Gu family in the future.

The moonlight was quite bright tonight. As soon as Rong Yingluo left Shousong Courtyard, she saw a dark figure standing not far away.