Between three dukes, five marquises, and one king, none of the three dukes’ mansions and four marquis’ mansions sent anyone to deliver greeting cards. The Marquis of Jingling, of the Bai family, and the Duke of Lu, of the Su family, were all in-laws of the General’s Mansion. With the intervention of the Old General, they refrained from disturbing Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan. The other families had their own reservations. The Duke of An’s mansion was the first to send a greeting card.

Su Chenyi sneered. “The Duke of An’s mansion can’t seem to hold back.” Shen Bing smiled, opened the greeting card and said, “Times have changed. Setting aside how much the emperor despises them, just considering the current status of the Wang family, they must be regretting bitterly behind closed doors. Now, Jiang Moxi has become the adopted grandson of King Rong, and Duke An’s face must be quite painful, but it serves them right. When they kicked out the Jiang father and son, they showed no mercy.”

Su Chenyi asked, “What is written on the greeting card?” After reading it, Shen Bing said, “What else could it say? Visiting Zhengjun Wang Shao. But I think, most likely, they are here for Jiang Moxi.” Closing the greeting card, Shen Bing said, “We have to see what Lord Wife Wang Shao thinks about this. I’ll go find him.”

Su Chenyi immediately expressed his wish. “Sister-in-law, I’ll go with you.”

“Going together is fine, but you can’t be impulsive.”

“I won’t be impulsive. I just want to take a few more glances at that child.”

“Then let’s go.”

Shen Bing, accompanied by the anxious and excited Su Chenyi, arrived at the residence of the Old Lady. The two daughters-in-law first paid respects to the three elders, and Su Chenyi tried hard to control himself, appearing relatively normal. However, after asking about their well-being, when it was Su Chenyi’s turn to greet Shao Yunan, his eyes momentarily reddened, and he forcefully suppressed it.

“Madam, Lord, good morning.”

The three daughters-in-law of the Dai family all had titles. Su Chenyi, being a man, was called the Second Master by the people in the mansion and outsiders referred to him as Lord. Otherwise, if he were called Second Master, it might be confused with his husband, Dai Ming Rong.

“Good morning.” Su Chenyi forced a slight smile, glanced at the tea table, and asked, “Is it Longjing tea? It smells very fragrant.” Shao Yunan immediately responded. “It’s this year’s premium Longjing tea, not something you can buy outside. Madam and Lord, if you’re not busy, why not sit down and have tea together? I’ll brew it for you.”

The Old Lady immediately said, “Let the servants handle the affairs in the mansion. Both of you take a break. Come, sit down and taste the tea Yunan personally brewed.”

“Yes, Grandmother.”

Shen Bing and Su Chenyi sat down, and Su Chenyi deliberately sat next to Shao Yunan, asking, “Lord Wife Wang Shao, do you mind if I join and learn?” Shao Yunan looked at Su Chenyi, who was obviously suppressing something in his eyes, and gave him a big smile, saying “You are the elder; just call me Yunan. To be honest, being called Lord Wife by others feels quite awkward to me.”

Su Chenyi’s eye sockets were about to turn red. He lowered his head, pretending to look at the tea table, and forced back the tears before lifting his head to smile. “Indeed. It feels awkward to be called Lord at home. Call me Uncle.”

In the end, Su Chenyi’s throat was hoarse as he said the last three words. The Old Lady gave a reproachful look to Shen Bing, wondering why she brought him here. Shen Bing gave the Old Lady an apologetic smile; she couldn’t refuse him.

Shao Yunan lowered his head to wash the cup, pretending not to notice Su Chenyi’s reddened eyes. When he raised his head again, he had already prepared a cup of tea. Placing it in front of Su Chenyi, Shao Yunan only said, “Enjoy your tea,” without calling him Uncle.

Su Chenyi picked up the teacup and was about to drink, his tears almost overflowing.

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

Su Chenyi moved aside, not letting Shao Yunan see his unusual state. To avoid embarrassment, Shao Yunan lowered his head to make tea again. Seizing the opportunity, Shen Bing changed the topic. “Yunan, I won’t stand on ceremony with you either. Although you are a lord, you are younger than my son, Zhan Xiao, by a few years. Just call me Aunt together with Zhan Xiao.”

“Aunt.” Su Chenyi’s hand trembled. Shao Yunan unexpectedly called her Aunt so naturally; He couldn’t help but look at the three elders at the upper seat. The three who couldn’t be considered “old” were all feeling peculiar in their hearts. Did he?

Shao Yunan smiled and said, “Brother Jing was under General Wuwei in the military. Now, our whole family is bothering you in the General’s Mansion. It’s really fate. Calling Aunt is taking advantage of you.”

Su Chenyi clenched his fists, closed his mouth tightly, and stared straight at Shao Yunan. Shen Bing stood up and walked in front of Shao Yunan, blocking Su Chenyi’s line of sight. She took a purse from her waist and handed it to Shao Yunan, saying “Yunan, you consider us as family and we don’t treat you as an outsider. If you ever feel wronged at home, just come back. When your uncle is not at home, there is still Grandfather, Grandmother, and Young Master who can make decisions for you. We can make decisions for you too. This is not a rare thing, just a wolf tooth killed by your Uncle at the border. It wards off evil spirits.”

“Thank you, Aunt.” Such an item had been hanging on Shen Bing for a long time, and its significance was definitely different. This gift was a significant gesture for Shao Yunan. On Shen Bing’s side, regardless of whether Shao Yunan was the lost child of the Dai family or not, she had accepted him as her nephew. But Shen Bing’s words seemed to be poking a hole in the paper window between Shao Yunan and the Dai family at any moment. The three elders, including the Old General, the Old Lord, and the Old Lady, all had moist eyes. No matter how unbearable it was, they had to endure it.

Shao Yunan stood up, still with a smiling gaze and said, “Brother Jing won’t bully me. But if anyone bullies our family in the future, I’ll ask Aunt to intervene.”

The Old General spoke up. “Who dares to bully you, I won’t spare him!” Shao Yunan chuckled. “Actually, I was waiting for this line from you.” Shao Yunan’s playful remark lightened the atmosphere in the room. Shen Bing took the opportunity to speak. “Yunan, the future Duke of An’s wife sent a greeting card to you.” She picked up the greeting card placed on the table, handed it to Shao Yunan and said, “Seeing you is one thing, but I think their target is Jiang Moxi.”

“Hmph, shameless people in that family.” The Old Lady was angry. The Old Lord patted his sister’s hand, asking her not to get angry with such people.

At this point, Su Chenyi had calmed down a bit. He spoke. “Yunan, if you don’t want to see them, you don’t have to. Jiang Moxi’s surname is Jiang. What does he have to do with Duke of An’s martial family?”

Shao Yunan had finished reading the greeting card. He casually threw it on the table and said, “If they want to visit, let them come.”

“Yunan?”

Shao Yunan continued to brew tea, saying, “I won’t see them today, but I will have to see them in the future. Since my mood is good now, I’ll see them when I want to.”

The Old Lady looked at the Old Lord and said, “Then let’s meet. Master, you take care of it for Yunan. The date will be set three days later.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Aunt, come and have tea.”

Shao Yunan’s calling “Aunt” was smooth, Shen Bing had a smiling face, but Su Chenyi could only restrain himself. He didn’t understand why Shao Yunan didn’t call him “Second Uncle.” He couldn’t help but feel expectant.

After drinking two cups of tea, Shen Bing made an excuse to leave. Before leaving, she also found an excuse to take Su Chenyi away. Shao Yunan maintained a calm appearance throughout, and the three elders, including the Old General, the Old Lord, and the Old Lady, couldn’t help but wonder if he knew about his identity.

In the evening, when Wang Shijing returned, Shao Yunan told him about the events of the day and sighed. “If they knew the real Shao Yunan was already dead, I don’t know how sad they would be. Regardless, I have a responsibility to filially serve as Shao Yunan. I can’t bring myself to say that ‘Second Uncle,’ I feel if I said it at that time, it would be the cruelest to Uncle Su. I hope that the other Shao Yunan can also reincarnate like me, and have a new and happy life.”

Wang Shijing hugged him. “You are him and he is you. There is no other Shao Yunan. Darling, whatever you want to do, I’ll listen to you, but don’t say such things again.”

“What’s wrong?” Wang Shijing held him tighter, expressing his concern. “I’m afraid that if you say such things too much, you… you will go back.” Shao Yunan pushed Wang Shijing away. “Instead of worrying about me going back, it’s better to worry about the matter of the Spiritual Water.”

Being despised by his wife, Wang Shijing immediately returned to his normal state as a typical man and asked, “What’s the matter with the Spiritual Water?”

Shao Yunan said, “Do you think others will believe that we don’t have Spiritual Water anymore?” Wang Shijing immediately frowned.

“The emperor and Empress now look like teenagers of sixteen or seventeen. The Old General, the Old Lord, and the Old Lady don’t have a single white hair. Although there are wrinkles on their faces, they don’t have age spots. To your people here, living a hundred years is already a remarkable achievement. Now, if there is something that can truly make people live a hundred years, what do you think others would do? The emperor may protect us, but we must be able to protect ourselves. Not to mention others suspecting if we still have Spiritual Water, the emperor might also suspect.”

Wang Shijing nodded. “Darling, we need to discuss this seriously.”

Shao Yunan shook his head. “No, let’s not discuss it now. Go find the Old General first. In front of national affairs, both of us are rookies. If this were in my world, our family would definitely have to flee. I don’t regret presenting the Immortal Fruit. I thought of the possible consequences at the beginning. But we have no other choice than to conceal the existence of the Spiritual Milk.”

Wang Shijing also didn’t plan to rest. He put on his coat. “I’ll go find the Old General now.”

“Tomorrow, the Old General might already be sleeping.”

“No. As long as you don’t return to the General’s Mansion, the Old General won’t sleep well. I’ll go find him.”

Shao Yunan was helpless. “Okay. Tomorrow, many people will come and I need to prepare things in advance. I’ll go to the kitchen.”

As expected, as Wang Shijing guessed, Old General Dai hadn’t rested yet. The Old Lady and the Old Lord were also present, and the three of them were discussing matters related to Shao Yunan. Shao Yunan’s performance later in the evening made them suspect whether he already knew about his possible identity. Wang Shijing’s arrival was timely.

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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