This was the original host’s wish, to lower the damage of this calamity as much as possible.

  As for Wei Lingxian’s desire to return to the days without Princess Mingzhu, that wasn’t possible. Once things have happened, they’ve happened.

  Wei Lingxian cared about these two children, so Ning Shu was doing her best to make them understand things better.

  Fudge, it was seriously difficult for a person that hasn’t even given birth to a child yet to educate children.

  “Mother, Princess Mingzhu said that she has never considered stealing Father from you. She said that she’s willing to stay by Father’s side without any status. She said…” An Lingyun couldn’t bring herself to continue.

  Ning Shu didn’t get angry and just said, “And what kind of person do you think Princess Mingzhu is?”


  “Princess Mingzhu is a very approachable person. She’s pure and beautiful, and also brimming over with talent. She even knows how to compose poetry,” said An Lingyun.

  Ning Shu said, “No matter how approachable Princess Mingzhu is, she’s still an imperial princess. She has a noble status, so we’re inherently not equal. She can choose not to bicker about things, but if she did, then our actions would immediately become a grave insult to the imperial family.”


  Throughout this entire night, Ning Shu and An Lingyun kept speaking occasionally. Ning Shu had knelt in front of the door for an entire night, so when she got back up, her legs were completely numb. After she opened the door, she found that An Lingyun had fainted. She touched her forehead and found that she was having a fever.

  Ning Shu calmly had Zhu Er bring An Lingyun back to her room. In all honesty, she preferred having An Lingyun stay bedridden like this compared to seeing her bounce around all over the place.

  She fed her cold medicine. When the old madame came and saw that her granddaughter had fallen sick, she sighed hard. She rebuked Ning Shu for locking An Lingyun up in the ancestral hall all night and causing her to fall ill.

  Ning Shu didn’t say anything, so the old madame continued muttering about how everything was so messed up.

  Before An Lingyun even recovered, An You woke up and immediately started raising a ruckus about wanting to get out, so Ning Shu had people directly seal the windows to prevent An You from escaping.

  The old madame just closed her eyes in response to what Ning Shu did. The corners of her eyes were wet with tears, but she didn’t say anything.

  Ning Shu entered the room and looked at An You. “An You, it’s best if you stay in this room until you calm down.”


  An You looked at Ning Shu expressionlessly. “Do you think you’ll be able to keep me trapped with this?”


  Ning Shu said mildly, “I know that this can’t keep you in. I just want you to think things through properly. You carry the responsibility for all the lives in this residence on your back. Are you sure you want to use so many lives to trade for fulfilling the love between you and Princess Mingzhu?”


  “If the emperor and empress dowager blame us, Mother is already so old, she won’t be able to take it. There’s also our son, An Yu’s future, and Lingyun’s future happiness. You had charged out with reckless abandon. Have you ever considered how that would affect the rest of her life? If you continue making rash decisions like this, once Lingyun’s reputation is ruined, who could she marry?”


  An You clearly had so many responsibilities, so why was he able to still be so willful and insist on throwing himself towards this so-called love like a moth to flames?

  In the end, he just had no regard for others.

  However, humans didn’t live just for themselves.

  An You covered his head, in pain, and roared, his expression twisted. Ning Shu paid no attention to him and just locked the door.

  An Lingyun’s fever became very severe and she was starting to speak incoherently in her sleep. Ning Shu wiped her down, then fed her another dose of cold medicine. This was much more effective than drinking Chinese herbal medicine.

  Ning Shu remained calm and unhurried, which made the old madame’s anxiety ease slightly. She felt that this daughter-in-law was very strong. She was dealing with something like this even as she continued to manage the residence.

  She took Ning Shu’s hand and sighed. “Lingxian, don’t worry, I’ll forever be on your side. If it weren’t for you being here, these old bones would’ve long given out.”


  This was because she had no relationship with these people, none at all, so she wasn’t anxious in the slightest. Since she felt no heartache, she was naturally able to remain calm.

  An You no longer acted hysterically anymore. He ate when Ning Shu brought food and no longer had outbursts of rage. He seemed to have restrained all of his feelings.

  He’d often space out and sometimes he’d clench his fists. It was clear that he was struggling intensely with something in his heart. On one hand, there was his family, and on the other hand there was the only woman he loved. It felt like there was a knife that was forcefully cutting his heart in two.