Although Song Yixiao was extremely guarded against Er Shaonai, the next few days were calm and peaceful.

  Of course, this doesn't mean that the two young ladies have let it go, because when Song Yixiao went to pay her respects to Wei Mengying, she found out: "The Marquis of Ruan wants his younger sister, Young Mistress Ruan, to stay at the Wang estate for a few days. The past two days, the Princess has been following the orders of the Grand Empress Dowager and is discussing with the two young ladies how to arrange for Miss Ruan's accommodation, so she probably won't have time to see you, Miss Song!"

  Song Yixiao heard about the visit of Yuan's siblings from the second lady that day when she entered the Wang mansion, but it wasn't until now that she knew their background: The Grand Princess's biological grandson and granddaughter, although they were still young, had already lost both parents.

  Yuan Xuepei, the elder brother, had succeeded to the title two years ago. Calculating the days, it was only recently that he came out of mourning. Since there were elders at home who could teach his younger sister, it was a bit strange that he hastily sent his younger sister Yuan Xueshuo to stay in the Wang mansion for a short while.

  Wei Mengying's personal maid, Ling Tong, held the idea of pleasing her master and his biological daughter, and revealed the inside story to Song Yixiao: "The old lady of the Yuan family is the step-grandmother of the Marquis of Yuan. She has always hoped that the siblings of the Marquis would die, so that the entire Hou Mansion would belong to her own flesh and blood. The Marquis will soon be going out to battle, and he's afraid that his sister might have an accident while alone in the Hou Mansion. That's why he came up with a plan to visit the Wang Mansion and pay respects to the Grand Consort, asking her to allow his younger sister to temporarily stay at the Wang Mansion until he returns triumphantly."

  Song Yi Xiao couldn't help but sympathize: "Living under the stepmother's thumb is indeed difficult, I thought I had it tough back then, but I didn't expect even Master Hou would be so intimidated that he had to let his own sister live with another family for her safety!"

  Thinking of this, I feel that a mother is after all a mother, even if she doesn't help in times of danger, she won't intentionally harm her own flesh and blood.

  Knowing that Wei Mengying was busy with something important, Song Yishang didn't disturb her.

  She returned to the Xiangxia Small Villa and stayed for a few days before Wei Mengying had time, sending Lingzhong to summon her: "The Empress Dowager deliberately placed you in such a remote corner, even the main kitchen couldn't send food over, so you could only cook for yourself. This was clearly an attempt to isolate you from the rest of the people in the palace, letting you fend for yourself!"

  "So, you'd better go to the girls' school anyway. Although it's inevitable that you'll be ostracized after entering, it's still better than living alone in Huanxia Pavilion and learning nothing. Besides, you don't have any sisters, and if you get married in the future without even having a handkerchief to give as a gift, you'll inevitably be looked down upon by your husband's family!"

  She spoke reasonably, and Song Yi smiled naturally and respectfully accepted it.

  The mother and daughter settled on the matter of entering the girls' school, and Wei Mengying decided: "Tomorrow, Mother will take you out to buy some clothes and daily necessities, so as not to lose face in front of your classmates."

  As Song Yixiao is still young, cosmetics are temporarily unnecessary, and accessories don't need to be too many, so the focus of this outfit is on clothes.

  Wei Mengying had made an appointment with the silk store in advance, and when she arrived, the shopkeeper who had received the message was already waiting personally. Seeing the car stop, he hurriedly came to greet her.

  Wei Mengying bowed behind the curtain, and then got off the carriage with Song Yiliao. The shopkeeper glanced at her and flattered her, saying that she looked as beautiful as Princess Wang: "Your eyebrows and eyes are exactly like those of Princess Wang, your beauty is not to be mentioned, and your good fortune will surely follow you!"

  "I'm borrowing your auspicious words!" Wei Mengying hoped that her daughter would marry well in the future, and although these words were pleasant to hear, she still said, "I only hope that this child will be safe and smooth in the future, as for other things, it's up to her own destiny."

  "The princess is too modest!" The shopkeeper had already ushered the mother and daughter into the back hall to serve tea, and as soon as Wei Mengying put down her teacup, he turned the conversation back to business. "A few days ago, a new batch of woven cloud silk was delivered, and our master specially presented some to the Princess of Jin State. The princess said it's extremely good. Right now, the noble ladies in the imperial capital are all fond of this - would Your Highness like to show it to Miss Song?"

  Wei Mengying nodded quickly: "It's precisely for this batch of woven cloud brocade that I came, after all, what good things hasn't the Princess of Jin State seen? Even the princess praised it, so it must be right!"

  "Does this silk store have some connection with the Princess of Jin? Otherwise, how could she personally praise their goods?" Song Yi smiled upon hearing these words and couldn't help but speculate - however, this matter had nothing to do with her, so after thinking about it for a moment, she put it aside and turned to admire the woven cloud silk that was brought in: "The crimson base with four auspicious clouds pattern looks good on Mother!"

  Both praised her for being filial, and said that Wei Mengying doted on her daughter, it was only right to have such a joyful family reunion. Wei Mengying was over the moon with joy, constantly pulling out fabrics to compare with her daughter: "Mother's clothes are too numerous, let's pick some out properly, these soft colors are most suitable for a girl of your age! This one, that one, and this one, we'll take them all!"

  Seeing her generosity, the shopkeeper was secretly delighted and continued to flatter her with a stream of words, repeatedly praising both mother and daughter until an hour later when Wei Mengying finally reluctantly said: "Now that it's late spring and early summer, there's no need for spring clothes. Let's make summer clothes and autumn dresses first, and put off the winter wear for now. Who knows what new styles or fabrics will come out by then? What we have now is already sufficient."

  The shopkeeper put down the record of purple hair and smiled: "I'll read it to you once, see if this bill is correct?"

  Wei Mengying nodded, and the shop assistant suddenly came in to report: "The old lady of the Wei family happened to come to choose fabrics too. She heard that Princess Wang was here and wanted to pay her respects. Does Your Highness want to see her or not?"

  "Eldest Sister?" Wei Mengying hastily said, "Quickly invite her!"

  After a while, Mrs. Mu came in, exchanged greetings, chatted for a few sentences, and secretly winked at Wei Mengying. Wei Mengying immediately coaxed Song Yi into smiling: "Smile, you've been looking at fabrics for so long, aren't you tired? Why don't I have Zhiqin accompany you to the courtyard for a stroll? If you're thirsty or hungry, just tell the servant from the silk shop."

  Song Yi was beaten out of the door with a mixture of laughter and tears, sighing in her heart: "I thought Mother would really take me out to buy things today, but it turned out to be just an excuse to talk to my aunt privately?" Otherwise, why would she let herself out as soon as they met? It was clearly pre-arranged.

  She wanted to eavesdrop, but Wei Mengying only let Zhiqin accompany her daughter because she had personally checked the house inside and out, making it impossible for any secrets to escape. With a mischievous idea foiled, Song Yishuo was also frequently ringing the doorbell with a knowing glance, so he led Zhiqin away to a distance.

  The master and servant had never been out before, but the back hall of the silk house was arranged to entertain dignitaries, just like a wealthy family's backyard, with lush trees and rugged rocks, quite a sight to behold. The two of them frolicked and wandered around, unknowingly walking into a secluded area.

  "Oh! It's raining!" Just after picking a branch of pomegranate flowers, Song Yi suddenly felt something cold dripping on her face. She looked up to see that the clear sky from when she went out had become overcast without her realizing it. After a few raindrops, the rain quickly spread across the sky and ground.

  She hastily stuffed the pomegranate flower into her sleeve and looked around for a place to take shelter from the rain.

  "Doesn't that look like a cave?" Zhiqin's sharp eyes pointed to an entrance not far away, which was half blocked by a flower tree.

  Two people ran over and took a look. It was indeed a fake mountain cave. Although it was dark inside, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, so they could only take shelter first.

  Only

  Song Yi Xiao had just entered the house when a hand stretched out from the darkness and gave her a vicious push. Unprepared, she didn't even have time to cry out before she was pushed back, stumbling and colliding with Zhi Qin's body. In an instant, both mistress and servant were sent tumbling to the ground!