After rebirth, she became the favorite of the powerful minister.

Over the past few days, the people who were in a coma have gradually woken up.

The old man also woke up. Relying on his good health, he insisted on practicing his movements to warm up, ignoring all advice, saying that his bones would stiffen if he didn't move. However, he was defeated in no time—he twisted his back.

The old man, still groaning from his twisted back, wouldn't settle down, muttering that he'd be fine after walking around. The steward, however, refused to let him get up again, and finally brought up Young Madam Song. This old man, who had never obeyed anyone except his deceased granddaughter, upon hearing that it was Young Madam Song's doing, though he grumbled and cursed, he obediently lay back down. The servants on Zhixuan Mountain had long understood that this Young Madam was the Great Elder's nemesis.

Whenever the old man is disobedient and tries to be stubborn, just bring up this young mistress Song; she's just as effective as Miss Yuan was back then.

Although it's strange, it really works.

The young lady Yuan, now Mrs. Song, only has time to read Wen Yizhuo's thick family letter today.

"Qianqian." The opening was still in Wen Peiji's tone, "I've been swamped with matters lately and haven't been able to leave. How are you doing at Zhixuan Mountain? In all these years of studying away from home, I've traveled to many places and seen many sights, but I've never had the chance to visit Zhixuan Mountain. Every time I think about it, I can't help but sigh, and now I feel even more regretful. If you haven't returned by the time things are settled here, I'll take your sister-in-law to pick you up, and we'll also pay our respects to the Grand Elder of Zhixuan Mountain, shall we?"

The little guy's handwriting has improved a lot, and he writes each stroke very carefully. But then he changed the subject, "Auntie, dear Auntie, you must promise Daddy! Zhuozhuo wants to go pick up Auntie too!"

Yuan Ge could even picture the little guy clinging to her and acting cute. She smiled, her eyes crinkling, and continued reading. Just as A-Kun had said, the letter was indeed "a bit long." The little guy had spent several pages pouring out his longing, followed by several more pages of casual conversation, even mentioning how Wen Xiaobai had recently gained weight. It was clear that the young master had been feeling incredibly stifled these past few days. Yuan Ge was wondering why, with Xu Yi around, the little guy shouldn't have remembered her at all, when Wen Yizhuo changed the subject again, "Father has been leaving early and returning late these days, very busy. I wonder what he's been busy with. Great-Grandmother talks about him every day. Mother is also very strange. I've seen her staring blankly several times, and once it looked like she was crying, but she said it was just sand in her eyes. But that day the sun was shining brightly, there was no wind, and no sand."

"That night, Zhuozhuo overheard her father and mother talking loudly, as if they were arguing. Her father said something about the Tong family having ill intentions, like a weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken."

"But they denied it the next day."

Yuan Ge stared at the letter, momentarily stunned. The Tong family… Tong Mingru? His father was known for his neutral and tactful approach in court, and was quite favored by the Emperor. Even if he was at odds with the Tong family because of the Song family, it shouldn't involve his brother and sister-in-law. Moreover, judging from Zhuo Zhuo's words, the Tong family seemed more like targeting his sister-in-law… He wondered what had actually happened.

Yuan Ge got up and walked to the window, letting the warm spring sunlight fall on her face. She thought to herself, "I've really been out for too long this time..."

Just then, Song Wenyuan arrived. He brought news that Xu Chengjin had come down the mountain. "I heard that he came down the mountain alone before dawn, without even taking a servant... This kid is serious this time."

Xu Chengjin was intelligent from a young age, learning everything quickly, but he was never serious about anything, working only sporadically. His teachers always spoke of him with a mixture of love and hate, only saying it was a pity. Yes, it was a pity. He clearly possessed extraordinary talent, yet he only wanted to be an idle and wasteful son. His only goal in life was to end the Xu family line in his generation—to which he even plotted to commit some heinous act of exterminating nine generations of his family.

This time they're serious.

Yuan Ge smiled, a smile that held a deeper meaning, “Not counting one person.”

"Ok?"

"I don't know where Zhuang Mengdie found out he was going down the mountain. Yesterday, she kept asking me when he would leave. I guessed he was leaving this morning, so this little girl went to keep watch over him in the middle of the night." Yuan Ge recalled Zhuang Mengdie's hesitant and blushing appearance at the time, and his eyes softened even more as he teased, "This girl is not honest. One minute she said it was because she promised to protect Zhixuan Mountain, so naturally she would protect everyone on Zhixuan Mountain. The next minute she said Xu Chengjin's martial arts were not good enough, and she was afraid he would die outside, which would delay the teacher's treatment for nothing... It's worth it to have seen Zhuang Batian like this in my lifetime."

Song Wenyuan still had some impression of Zhuang Mengdie. She was easygoing and not very skilled in martial arts, but she had a strong sense of chivalry and was indeed a nice girl.

He glanced at Yuan Ge and sighed with relief, "I always felt sorry for my Ge'er during the years I didn't know. Fortunately, I still have these like-minded friends."

"Who is compatible with her personality?" Yuan Ge denied it without thinking. "Everyone knows that she and I are the worst enemies. We almost always fight as soon as we meet..." Despite saying this, there was a smile on his face.

It was a soft and warm smile, as if winter had passed and spring had arrived, with flowers blooming all over the mountains and fields.

If they weren't kindred spirits, why would they smile when they think of the past? Even Granny Dou said that Miss Zhuang was one of the few friends of Miss Zhuang, and also one of the few diners in their courtyard. Song Wenyuan lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, taking the hand of the young girl beside him, their fingers intertwined, without saying a word, only slightly squinting his eyes to enjoy the gentle spring sunshine of this moment.

Yuan Ge recalled what Wen Yizhuo had mentioned in his letter earlier, thinking that Song Wenyuan, having served in the court for many years, must know more than she did. However, after pondering for a while, she still didn't know where to begin, so she simply handed the page to Song Wenyuan. Seeing that he had finished reading it, she asked, "What do you think?"

Even Song Wenyuan was somewhat confused for a moment. He handed the letter back to Yuan Ge and said thoughtfully, "I can't see anything... From what I remember, the Tong family is very powerful, occupying half of the court, but your father is trusted by His Majesty, so he shouldn't be underestimated either. In recent years, although I don't know what the Wen and Tong families are doing in private, they have obviously maintained a relationship of not interfering with each other. After all... without absolute certainty, no one wants to be the snipe and the clam while the fisherman reaps the benefits."

"Besides, back then, you... that Wen Qian was close to the illegitimate daughter of the Tong family, and there was indeed no word of any grudge between them. If there was anything to it, it was that the legitimate daughter of the Tong family left home, completely extinguishing the Tong family's idea of ​​strengthening their power through marriage... This matter is more or less related to you, and your sister-in-law may have been implicated." After saying this, his face turned cold, and he concluded, "Tong Mingru's methods have always been very dirty."