The countryside manor, surrounded by green mountains, deep pine forests, and babbling streams.

The carriage from the Duke Shun Mansion had just barely stopped when an elderly woman with gray hair and a cane came striding over.

The old woman was exceptionally delighted: "General, why didn’t you let us know you were coming?"

Wei Zhao stepped off the carriage: "How have you been feeling lately?"

"This old woman’s bones are aging, but thanks for your concern, I’m doing well."

"This is Granny Ma."

Wei Zhao turned to help Yu Tingwan, who was half out of the carriage: "Her fish soup is the most delicious of all."

He rarely spoke like this, suggesting that Granny Ma was not a common housekeeper.

Yu Tingwan disembarked and softly greeted her: "Granny Ma."

Granny Ma looked Yu Tingwan up and down.

"Eh."

She joyfully acknowledged, holding Yu Tingwan’s hand as if she couldn’t get enough of looking at her.

"You’re Miss Shen, right?"

"Look at me asking such a question. Who else would the General bring other than Miss Shen? It couldn’t be anyone else."

"Just as the General told me before, you’re very handsome."

Yu Tingwan was slightly taken aback.

Granny Ma, seemingly oblivious to her reaction, clasped her hands: "Truly blessed by heavens, I always said to the General, after all these years of defending our country, he should talk with the one in the palace. Surely, Wei Family Army’s merits wouldn’t make him insist on bringing Miss Shen into the harem."

"An emperor can have any woman he wants; he wouldn’t deliberately choose the General’s favorite to annoy him."

This is...

Yu Tingwan pressed her lips together.

She mistook Wei Zhao for his uncle, General Jing Yuan.

And mistook her for Shen Zhiyi’s aunt, now the Consort Shen in the palace?

Granny Ma appeared lively and peered behind the two.

She frowned: "Your older brother didn’t come?"

Wei Zhao’s throat tightened: "He’s busy."

"Right, right, how could I forget? The eldest son is now the Duke, always busy with court affairs."

"Gui Zhi is now three, the first child of the Wei Family. Your brother once brought him to see me, and oh, do they resemble each other."

Wei Zhao listened quietly, not in a hurry to enter the manor.

Granny Ma started to laugh as she spoke.

She then looked at Yu Tingwan: "Miss Shen, our General is caring; if you marry him, he’ll cherish you dearly."

"When do you plan to marry?"

"The sooner you marry, the sooner you can have children. The Wei family is still too few in number."

Saying this, she fumbled around in her sleeve, looking for something.

But she came up empty-handed.

She seemed anxious.

"Miss Shen, come with me."

She took Yu Tingwan’s hand and led her inside.

Yu Tingwan, worried she might fall, hurried to support her: "Walk slowly, Granny, watch your step."

"I know."

Wei Zhao did not stop them, following behind.

Yu Tingwan was led inside by Granny Ma.

This was Granny Ma’s place, neatly kept.

Granny Ma retrieved a black box from the bedside cabinet and gestured for Yu Tingwan to sit beside her.

With a click, it opened.

Inside was a jade pendant.

Completely transparent, finely textured, intricately carved, with elaborate yet orderly patterns, it emitted a faint glow.

Yu Tingwan narrowed her eyes.

She had seen one exactly like this before.

"The jade was part of Madam’s dowry, finely crafted by her own hand into two pendants."

"She gave the other one to the Eldest Young Madam on the day the eldest son married."

"Before passing, Madam entrusted it to me, telling me to make sure it reached the hands of her second daughter-in-law."

Granny Ma glanced out, seeing Wei Zhao quietly instructing Rong Di.

She whispered conspiratorially.

"General once took this pendant from me, saying he had a lady he admired and planned to give it to her as a token of proposal."

Granny Ma: "But he didn’t succeed in the end."

Granny Ma pressed it into Yu Tingwan’s hand.

"How wonderful."

"Heaven has blessed you both; it will not break up a true love."

She teased, looking lovingly: "Miss Shen, since you have accepted the pendant, you are now the Wei Family’s daughter-in-law."

Yu Tingwan looked down, holding the pendant. Although small, it felt heavy in her hand, weighing her down.

What a pity.

The uncle never managed to place this pendant on the woman he loved.

Granny Ma quickly bustled off to showcase her cooking skills by preparing fish soup.

The commotion inside reached Wei Zhao too.

They would stay overnight here.

First, he took Yu Tingwan to the room they would stay in that night. It was evidently cleaned, with new bedding.

The room wasn’t large, but it had everything necessary.

Yu Tingwan thought for a moment and put the pendant away.

"Granny Ma, she..."

Wei Zhao set down the luggage he brought and led her outside, towards the rear mountain.

The manor was unlike Shangjing, quieter, but with fresh air and a breeze that rustled the towering trees.

The surroundings put one’s mind at ease.

"Granny Ma used to serve beside my grandmother, as close as sisters."

"She helped raise both my father and my uncle."

Wei Zhao: "When she was young, my grandmother matched her with a Wei Family Army soldier, but before they could marry, he died in service."

"She remained unmarried all her life."

"After grandmother passed away, her mental state deteriorated. Father sent her here to recuperate."

"It’s not a bad life. She no longer recalls that soldier. To her, the ones she cares for are still living well."

Yu Tingwan expressed her sentiments, not asking Wei Zhao where they were headed.

The two walked along a path, which became less smooth.

But Yu Tingwan was accustomed to country roads; even muddy ones wouldn’t faze her.

"Has Granny Ma always mistaken your husband for your uncle?"

Wei Zhao: "Not really."

He chuckled briefly: "The first time I won a battle at the border and rushed back here with Chi Yu, hoping to see her, stay overnight, and rejoin the Wei Family Army in the morning to march into the city."

"Road-weary and covered in mud with no time to clean up, I was indeed in a sorry state. But upon reaching the manor quite late, my first thought was to find something to eat in the kitchen and then rest somewhere. Alas, I inadvertently woke everyone."

"Then I scaled the wall to go inside."

"Who would have thought Granny Ma was awake? She didn’t recognize me and thought I was a thief, so she chased me out with a broom."

Yu Tingwan thought Wei Zhao seemed pitiful.

But...

"What about Chi Yu? Was he also beaten?"

Wei Zhao: "No."

"Granny Ma invited him in."

Yu Tingwan was puzzled: "Why?"

Wei Zhao: "Chi Yu was injured then, and Granny Ma believed he was stealing out of desperation and felt sorry for him."

Meanwhile, Wei Zhao, armored and armed with the Cloud-breaking Spear, exuded an intense aura.

Wei Zhao clearly didn’t want to elaborate, looking disinterested: "She said I didn’t look like a decent person."