Old Mrs. Dai looked at her with a profound gaze and said, "She is my mother's sister."

  Seeing Song Yixiao's puzzled expression, she continued, "My mother's sister-in-law is also surnamed Jian. Before her marriage, she was the third young lady of the Jian family, with a personal name of Yi Mian. Speaking of which, in the future, she will be a relative of my younger sister - she is the elder sister of Jian Shu's paternal half-brother, and her birth mother is Jian Shu's father's first wife, Madame Wen!"

  However, after the Princess of Jin State took a liking to Jian Li Kou, Wen Shi, the original wife, had no choice but to step down and become an abandoned woman. Jian Yi Mian, the original legitimate daughter, also changed from being a pampered young lady to a timid and fearful little thing.

  Although the Duchess of Jin was not willing to make things difficult for her, she also did not tolerate her being overly affectionate. So this Miss Jian San grew up cautiously until she was sixteen years old, her grandmother had passed away, her stepmother didn't care about her, and her biological mother was sent back to her maiden home, they couldn't even have a conversation, and no one managed her major life events.

  Finally, it was her aunt from her hometown who remembered and helped arrange for her to marry into the Kong family.

  The threshold of the Kong family is not high, but compared to her situation in her mother's house, there is nothing to pick on. She is also not a proud person, after marrying in, she respects her parents-in-law, gets along with her uncle and aunt, and is very concerned about the eldest daughter who has already married, and has won the recognition of the Kong family, living like a fish in water.

  She told the old lady this time, also entrusted by her father: "Song Mei's life is destined to be a bit troublesome. Jian Shu's father pitied his son and didn't want to drag things on, heard that your stepmother came over last time but didn't succeed in talking it through, so he asked my sister-in-law to help pass the message to me, asking me to come talk to grandmother."

  Song Yixiao did not expect that just a few hours ago, Jian Xu Bai said that Jian Zhu Ma would intervene, and now it has taken shape - only Song didn't know, the so-called "Jian aunt's heartache for her son" refers to his eldest son, but not Jian Xu Bai.

  "This matter..." Song Yi smiled and thought for a moment about Wei Mengying's recent behavior, although suspicious, it was still difficult to confirm, but she couldn't help asking the young mistress, "Did my mother know about it?"

  "It's not that I, as a daughter-in-law, intentionally kept important matters from my mother-in-law!" The young mistress smiled ambiguously and glanced at her, "But the reason your stepmother didn't succeed in negotiating last time was because Grandmother didn't show up, only the Queen Mother received them!"

  He roughly told the empress dowager about what had happened between him and the crown princess, then said, "So I must first talk to Grandmother and get her permission before this can be told to Mother!"

  Jian Yu Bai mentioned this matter earlier, but was vague in his words. Song Yi Xiao only said that the Huang mother and daughter had already brought up the topic, and the Wang Fu was currently quiet because they hadn't yet discussed the outcome - it wasn't until now that he suddenly realized that the Wang Fu still didn't know about the instructions from the palace!

  "Since Madam Huang and her daughter came over that day mainly to pay respects to the Grand Princess, but didn't get to see her, maybe they also didn't mention this marriage matter to Mother? Does Mother know or not?" Song Yi smiled to herself, pondering deeply, when suddenly she heard Eldest Young Mistress say: "However, I suggest you don't go back to the Song household."

  Seeing Song Yixiao raise her head to look at herself, the young lady sipped a mouthful of tea. "Now that there's no outsider here, I'll be frank with you: I can see that you seem to have some distance from your mother-in-law. Such a big thing, and you didn't tell her about it, did you? But as for how the Song family treated you back then, I've also heard something! It's not that I'm speaking on behalf of your mother-in-law, but compared to your father, she is indeed much more reliable!"

  She paused for a moment, seeing that Song Yi was not going to turn against her, and continued, "Most importantly, sister, you didn't grow up in the Song household all these years, so the Song household doesn't know your magnanimity! As they say, 'a thief's heart is always nervous', if you go back to the Song household like this, who knows whether they'll be afraid that after you become the wife of the Duke, you'll investigate past matters? To be on the safe side, they might as well not let you become the wife of the Duke. It's really hard to say!"

  Song Yixiao sighed secretly: It's strange that Pang Shi would believe she'd let bygones be bygones, given how suspicious he is!

  To prevent trouble before it happens, what means will this grandmother not resort to?

  "Since you're kind enough to tell me these things, Madam, I suppose you also have a plan to deal with it?" Song Yi asked softly after a moment of contemplation.

  Old Lady Dai also said straightforwardly: "I really have a way to help you stay in the Wang Mansion, no need to go back to the Song family and take risks. But I hope you can help Sixth Sister!"

  "Old Madame just said that I'm a person who knows how to repay kindness, Sixth Miss was framed by Second Madame because she helped my maid, how could I possibly watch her jump into the fire pit?" Song Yi smiled faintly, "Is this the only request from Old Madame?"

  "I also hope you can help me deal with Jin's family!" The young mistress smiled, "But I think this is not worth mentioning, Song sister, your previous maid was ruined by her! Now this maid wouldn't have been saved if it weren't for Sixth Sister's intervention. I can see that you're a sentimental person, although six years have passed, but the scene back then, you shouldn't have forgotten it yet, right?"

  How could I forget!

  "Second Young Madam eats well, sleeps well, and still has the leisure to scheme against her younger sister! Seeing her so happy, I want to forget, but can't!"

  The two exchanged a glance, smiled tacitly, and suddenly felt a kind of silent understanding as if they had known each other for a long time.

  "Although the palace hinted that you should return to the Song family, it's not that they particularly like the Song family. It's just that they think this is good for you and will prevent you from being implicated with Jian in the future!" The young mistress smoothed her hair and said with a smile, "So as long as you don't leave any handles for gossip or affect Jian's younger brother, whether you are at the Song family or the Wang residence, the palace doesn't care!"

  Song Yi smiled respectfully and said: "Please instruct me!"

  "The meaning of 'Zhuang Gong' is to let your grandmother speak for herself, and you return to the Song family - as a daughter of the Song family, it's proper for you to marry out from the Song family, and with your grandmother's attitude, outsiders can't say that you're not grateful for the six years of nurturing in the Wang household! This way, both sides are satisfied."

  The old lady laughed and said, "So turn it around, let the Song family side express that they don't want you to go back, where else can you go besides being fixed in the Wang mansion?"

  "Just as you said, the Song family would probably be delighted if this marriage didn't happen, and they might even be hoping for my return! Especially the Empress Dowager wouldn't like to see me having a good future. If I were to go back to the Song family and cause trouble, the Empress Dowager would surely be pleased!"

  "This matter, just leave it to me!" The young mistress said firmly, "Within three days, I guarantee it will be done - of course, this way, your reputation for not being favored by your father's family will probably spread too!"

  Song Yi couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You make it sound like people think I'm favored by my father's family right now!"

  Her father is still alive and lives in the Hengshan Wangfu, a fact that has long been exposed and despised by her natal family!

  "Is that settled then?"

  "It's settled then—" Song Yi smiled and pinched the spot between her eyebrows, "However, regarding Sixth Miss's matter, I think that even if she escapes her fate of marrying Zhuo Ping'an now, there might still be trouble in the future when it comes to marriage."

  "To be honest, my sister-in-law only told me that your younger brother has taken a liking to you. And as for Sixth Sister being betrothed to Zhuo Ping'an, I only found out about it last night! The young mistress sighed, "Last night, I was in the garden attending to some matters when I ran into Sixth Sister standing by the lake. She looked like she was in a daze, so I pulled her back and that's when I discovered she had been crying uncontrollably!"

  "After coaxing for half a day, she finally told me the truth, saying that it's better to jump into the lake herself than to be beaten to death after marrying. I tried every means to persuade her, and promised to help her, before she reluctantly agreed not to seek death for the time being... This morning, I heard that the Empress is pregnant, and I know that with Father Emperor's concern for the Empress, he will definitely ask us to lend a hand, and the Empress will also definitely let me share her worries. So, I hastily sent someone to summon Sixth Sister to Huanxia Pavilion!"

  The old lady smiled wryly, "This is just a hasty idea, mainly to ask you to come over and talk without arousing suspicion! After all, we rarely have anything to do with each other."

  Song Yi smiled and nodded: "The young mistress's quick wit is already admirable!"

  "Sister Song, don't tease me anymore." The young mistress shook her head bitterly. "I had to be clever, why did I go to the garden last night? What do you think I was doing in the garden so late? Yesterday... yesterday was my child's memorial day!"

  A fierce hatred flashed in her eyes, "Back then, I was overjoyed to have given birth to a son, but that cheap woman Jin heard from someone that having a newborn boy stay in her room for a few days would make it easier for her to get pregnant! Although my child had just been born, she looked down on the illegitimate child and insisted on taking mine - my child had just arrived, and I, a first-time mother, was being extremely cautious, asking the wet nurse for advice on everything! How could I possibly hand him over to her?!"

  But Kung was young at the time, and because she had married a concubine's son and her family background was not as good as that of Second Young Master's wife, she felt embarrassed to refuse. Second Young Master's wife was a strong-willed person, and taking advantage of Kung's weakness while she was still in confinement after childbirth, she used both soft and hard tactics to snatch the child away!

  At that time, the two sisters-in-law had no grudges against each other. Although Da Shao's mother was anxious and displeased, she thought that Er Shao's mother would take good care of the wet nurse since she promised to do so carefully, and nothing bad should happen, so it wasn't too worrisome.

  Who would have thought that she had just finished her postpartum confinement and then received the devastating news of her child's sudden death!

  In fact, her son had passed away half a month ago. The people around her were afraid that she would be too grief-stricken during her confinement and hurt her body, so they didn't dare to tell her. Even so, the great sorrow of Mrs. Dashi still injured her vitality, and until now, she has not been able to become pregnant again!

  What made the eldest lady most resentful was not only that the second lady had not taken good care of her children, but also because when she went to question her, Jin Shi, apart from apologizing a few times at first, became very impatient.

  "In the end, she said: 'Your room has two children, one born to you and one born to your concubine, both boys, almost at the same time. Why did yours die after only half a month, while the one raised by your concubine is still alive? This clearly shows that you yourself have a weak body, and the child you gave birth to was destined to have a short life! If I hadn't taken him in to raise him, after the accident, I would have hidden it from you for half a month, and you wouldn't even be able to sit through your confinement properly, who knows what illness you might have fallen into?'"

  What mother who has lost her child wouldn't be heartbroken upon hearing such words?!

  But what Grandma cares about is not this, but: "My good child was taken to the second house by her, and finally disappeared in the second house. As a mother, can't I even ask a few questions? She actually said - how can I believe she will take good care of my child?"

  So all these years, Da Shao's grandmother has thought countless times that if her son hadn't been taken to the second house back then and had stayed by her side with her taking care of him personally, would he have died prematurely?

  The more she thought about it, the more guilty she felt; the more guilty she felt, the more she regarded Ersha as her archenemy who had killed her son!

  "If I had been quick-witted, I wouldn't have been caught off guard by her sudden request and would not have helplessly watched as she took my child away...". The young mistress sighed, slowly wiping away the tears that had fallen unknowingly, and smiled self-deprecatingly. "I've only given birth to one child, but because of my own incompetence, I couldn't protect it, so every time I bring it up, I... can't help but laugh at myself in front of Song Mei!"

  "You're too kind! Flesh and blood, how can it not hurt? I'm just an outsider, but just listening to you, I can imagine the heart-wrenching pain you felt back then!"

  Old Lady Dai heard this and instantly let out a sob - but she quickly controlled her emotions, her eyes red-rimmed as she took a deep breath, forcing a smile: "The past can't be chased after, let's talk about what's urgent now: Sixth Sister's matter, do you have any plans?"