Jiang Muxun has been claiming illness and never showed up since he was married to the Princess of Nanzheng by the Empress Dowager.

  Before, Song Yixiao had thought of countless ways to clear up the misunderstanding between them and hoped to have a face-to-face talk with her, but all were in vain. It wasn't until after marriage when Jian Yu Bai mentioned taking sides on the imperial court that this idea gradually dissipated.

  She didn't want to plant flowers intentionally, but the flowers wouldn't live; she casually planted a willow and it grew into shade——she came to the Leng Fox's house today just to respond to an invitation, but before even reaching the mourning hall, she ran into Jiang Muxiang.

  Hurriedly taking a few steps forward, she said with delight: "Sister Jiang? It's been many days since we last met!"

  "It's been a long time." Jiang Muxiu looked like she had lost some weight since the last New Year's Eve dinner, but perhaps it was because more than half a year had passed and her spirit was still good. She glanced at Song Yixiao a few times before stepping across the threshold, saying lightly, "I've been ill all this time, I only recovered two days ago."

  Everyone present knew it was a pretext, but no one was foolish enough to expose her, and they all advised her to take care of her body.

  Su's sister asked, "I heard that Mrs. Jiang Muxun and several aunts have recently caught colds. I wonder if they are feeling better now?"

  Jiang Muxun responded absent-mindedly, her mother and sisters-in-law were naturally not well, otherwise they would not have let her come to the Leng Fox family alone to pay their respects - this round of courtesy had not yet ended, when the maid who went to the mourning hall earlier came back to report that the mourning hall was now empty.

  The four of them stopped talking and stood up to tidy their hems, following the servant woman to pay their respects.

  Song Yixiao didn't know anyone from the Linghu family at all, so she just said a few comforting words and that was it. But Su sisters and Jiang Muxun were obviously related to the Linghu family, and they chatted for a while before saying goodbye.

  After leaving the mourning hall, Su's sisters originally wanted to talk to Song Yixiao, but Jiang Muxiu nodded at them and said: "Today is a strange cold day, I'll go first!"

  Song Yi smiled and said, "I'm leaving too. It's cold outside, be careful on the road!"

  Su's sisters saw this situation and couldn't persuade them to stay either. They exchanged a glance and said: "Let's meet again another day!"

  The horse carriage left the Leng Fox Mansion just in time to see a messenger wearing palace attendant attire galloping by, heading in the direction of delivering an imperial edict.

  Because she had already mourned, Song Yixiao didn't rush to look at it. She took a glance and put down the curtain, leaned back with her eyes closed, and concentrated on thinking about the trouble Wei Cui was facing: "Rushing into a distant marriage is not a good idea, but now that my cousin is in this situation, she will have to bear the reputation of having broken off an engagement with Lu Guanlun in the future..."

  Just as she was about to give up, a guard outside suddenly exclaimed and rode his horse to the window of the carriage, reporting in a low voice: "Milady, it seems that the carriage of your aunt from your husband's side has broken down over there?"

  Song Yi Xiao was taken aback, lifted the curtain and took a look. Indeed, not far away from the road, several people who looked like family servants were tinkering under a horse carriage. Beside the carriage, four or five maidservants surrounded a woman wearing a hood, and behind her, an old woman held a two or three-year-old little girl in her arms.

  "The person holding the child is Zhang Cuiniang, who has been to the Yan Guo Gongfu before. It seems that it was indeed my stepmother." Song Yi had some doubts at first, after all, the guard shouldn't have seen Lu Shi before, but when she saw Zhang Cuiniang, she suddenly realized and hurriedly called for someone to drive the carriage over.

  "Mother, what are you doing here?" The carriage stopped near the people, Song Yi smiled and called for a stop, letting someone take off her hood and get off the car. She quickly walked a few steps to Lu's side, lifted up a bit of her veil, and exclaimed in surprise, "Did the carriage break down?"

  Lu said that Song Yixiao was her stepmother, but in fact, the two women had never met until now. Suddenly seeing someone who was only a few years younger than herself rush over and shout "Mother", she couldn't help but look bewildered: "Who are you?"

  "I'm Song Yixiao!" Song Yixiao adjusted her hairpin, bowed slightly and smiled, "I've never paid my respects to you before, I only knew it was you when I saw Madam Zhang - please don't mind me!"

  Lu heard this and was taken aback, hastily lifting her veil to reveal her fair and delicate face. She said with a smile: "So it's you, young one? I thought so - that lively appearance, that elegant demeanor, surely not something an ordinary noblewoman would possess?" As she spoke, she took a step forward and helped her up by the arm, then scolded those around her, "What are you waiting for? Don't you hurry to pay your respects to the young mistress?"

  Everyone on the left and right hurriedly bowed down together, saying "Wishes for good fortune to our elder sister".

  Lu's mother made Zhang Cuiniang put down her daughter and personally took her to Song Yixiao, urging: "Yi Bao, why don't you quickly pay respects to your elder sister? You're always asking about your sister, aren't you? This is your own sister!"

  Song Yi Xiao smiled and sized up her younger half-sister, three-year-old Song Yi Bao, who was wearing a light blue top, a moon-white silk skirt, and wrapped in a small sable fur coat, looking like a little ball of fluff due to her short stature.

  The little one approached, and the faint scent of milk could still be smelled. Her face was clean and fair, with a pair of curved eyebrows, black and white eyes that resembled Song Yi's smile, a round nose, and a small red mouth. She had two braids tied up like sheep horns, seeming a bit shy, and called out in a mosquito-like voice, "Sister!" before being gently pushed by Lu Shi, then gathering her courage to say loudly, "Big sister, good fortune!"

  "Good girl!" Song Yi smiled unintentionally, transferring the anger from her past life with her half-siblings to Song Yibao's head. Seeing how cute she looked, he instead felt a bit fond of her. He bent down and picked her up, kissing her, and said in surprise, "Mom, have you and little sister been standing here for a long time? Little sister's face is freezing!"

  Lu heard this and was startled, reaching out to touch Song Yibao's small face, revealing a worried expression. "Originally, I came out to buy some things, but unexpectedly the car broke down just now, and there is no place to stay nearby, so we can only stand by the side of the road and wait!"

  "Come on, let's get in the car!" Song Yi laughed and said, "I'll take you and your sister back first, otherwise it looks like it's going to snow tonight, how can you and your sister bear it?"

  Although she didn't like to associate with the Song family, Lu was pregnant and Song Yibao was only three years old. On such a cold day, they couldn't just leave after running into each other.

  He said, seeing Lushi still hesitating, and simply holding Song Yibao to walk towards the carriage, "In broad daylight like this, are you still afraid that I'll harm you and your sister?"

  "How could it be?" Lu heard and hurriedly said, "I was just thinking of not delaying your important matter for our sake."

  "Now the proper thing to do is send you and your sister back home!" Song Yi smiled, thinking that there were indeed proper things to worry about in my household. If you don't want to hold me back, hurry up and get on the carriage, let me send you back home quickly!

  Lu's temperament was originally gentle, and she also had a complex feeling of awe and guilt towards Song Yixiao. This made Song Yixiao take the lead, and for a moment, Lu couldn't react in time, and subconsciously followed her onto the carriage. Zhang Cuiniang saw this and hastily pulled over a maid, telling her to go and instruct the carriage driver, while she herself hurriedly followed Lu.

  "Mother, you're pregnant, sit on this soft cushion." Once inside the carriage, Song Yi Xiang had Li Yu arrange a soft cushion on the already padded seat and then pulled out her own hand warmer, "This is what I usually use, there's only one in the carriage, don't be shy, mother, hold it close to warm up quickly!"

  While they were talking, Qiao Xian had already poured several cups of hot rose tea on the small table in the car. Song Yi smiled and gestured to Lu Shi, Zhang Cuiniang and others to help themselves, while she herself picked up a cup, blew on it, tested the temperature, and then fed it to Song Yibao's lips.

  Song Yibao looked at her timidly and then took small sips.

  "Yi Bao, aren't you going to thank your sister quickly?" Lu Shi saw this and hurriedly scolded her daughter, "How did I usually teach you manners?"

  "Thank you, big sister." Song Yibao rubbed the corner of her clothes and said in a low voice. If it wasn't for Song Yi holding her, she might not have been able to hear clearly.

  Lu was naturally dissatisfied and was about to continue scolding, but Song Yi smiled and intervened: "Sister is still young, and usually doesn't see me often, why be so distant?"

  She knew that Lu didn't expect to run into her today, so she wouldn't know how to react - so after saying this, she ignored her stepmother and softly coaxed Song Yibao: "Who braided your pigtails? The little bell on top is really fun, sister will take it down and play with it for a bit, okay?"

  Song Yibao's personality is not willful, at first she was a bit shy, but after a while she dared to speak, her gentle and lovely appearance is very likable. Song Yi couldn't help but use her finger to poke her cheek, laughing: "This little face is like an apple, sister wants to take a bite, okay?"

  Seeing her round eyes shrink back, afraid of being bitten for real, Song Yi couldn't help but laugh and coaxed: "Just kidding, baby is so cute, how can sister bear to?"

  "Look at how this young lady is with Bao'er, she doesn't seem to dislike her, at least. Lu Shi held the hand warmer to warm herself while watching the two sisters frolic, lightly biting her lip, "Even if it's just an act - considering how her husband and mother-in-law used to treat her, it's not easy for her to be like this."

  She hesitated for a moment, nodded to Zhang Cuiniang to take over Song Yibao, and lowered her voice: "Two days ago, my aunt's birthday, I went back to drink, and heard some news at the banquet, saying that Cui Ce Fei... seems to have some misunderstanding about you."

  Song Yi smiled and said: "Thank you for your concern, Xie Niang - but I don't know what kind of misunderstanding it is?"

  "It seems that Consort Cui has heard some words from the Jin and Liu families?" Lu's face flashed with a hint of unnaturalness, but after hesitating for a moment, she said, "I think these two families haven't seen you much, so what they say may not be reliable. However, I also didn't have the opportunity to pay my respects to Consort Cui on your behalf, and I couldn't speak for you. In the future, if you go to the Eastern Palace, it's better to find an opportunity to explain things to her. After all, she is the Crown Prince's legitimate cousin, and now that she's pregnant, even the Crown Princess has yielded to her in some ways."

  "Isn't this Cui surname having some problem with her brain?" Song Yi Xiang heard the words and secretly thought it was strange, "She still wants to harm me till now, it can be said that it's because of the grudge from back then when she made a move, wanting to eliminate me completely! But as the Crown Prince's consort, she even got pregnant with his child, yet she went to collude with the Liu and Jin families——the Jin family doesn't count, but Liu Zhen Chuan actually relied on Ju Xiang Xia, standing on the side of the Zhao King!"

  If the crown prince were to find out about this matter, he would surely be furious with her, no matter how much he usually indulges her.

  However, thinking again, she and her stepmother Lu met for the first time today, and whether this was true or false remained to be confirmed. So after taking note of it, she smiled and said: "Mother is absolutely right! Now that we don't live with our elders, everything has to be done by ourselves. I have no experience at all, if Mother hadn't reminded me, I would have unknowingly offended Concubine Cui and been flustered!"

  Lu didn't know if what she was doing was right or wrong, and her smile seemed a bit distracted: "It's all been like this since I got married, I used to make jokes all the time! It's still the same now, learning as I go."

  At about this time, in the State of Yan's imperial palace, in the Jìng Xīng Guǎn.

  After Song Yixiao left, Mu Shi first cried with her daughter and then explained the current situation of the Wei family: "Your uncle and aunt are all afraid that your aunt is reluctant to plead for your cousin, so they reluctantly agreed. What if the residual anger is not dissipated and they don't care about the future of you and your brothers? So they all want you to stay far away from the capital, so as not to affect your aunt's eyes!"

  Seeing Wei Chang's tears, she sighed and said, "Mother discussed with your grandmother for several days and finally came up with a solution!"