Dressed as a middle-aged mistress, I want to lie down every day

"I was just about to tell you this. I only found out about it when I returned to my ancestral home."

He Wenyan started with his grandfather.

The He family came to the capital only with the generation of He Wenyan's grandfather. After he passed the imperial examination, he brought his wife and son to the capital. He passed the imperial examination and was lucky enough to stay in the capital and become a minor official.

After that, someone once came to the ancestral home, but was scolded and sent away by the He family's grandmother, and they never had any contact again. When He Wenyan was a child, he followed his father back to the ancestral home, and he doesn't remember much.

This is something the He family knows.

It was only when He Wenyan returned this time that he learned about his grandfather's situation at the ancestral home.

The grandfather of the He family married two branches of the family. His father's family married an orphan girl who had been engaged since childhood and grew up in the He family. She was considered a child bride.

The other family was betrothed by He's grandfather's aunt, because she was her daughter-in-law and the child born would be her grandson.

Before He's grandfather passed the imperial examination, both of his wives had children. The eldest wife gave birth to He Wenyan's father, and the other wife gave birth to a son and a daughter.

After passing the imperial examination, He's grandfather was going to Beijing to take part in the imperial examination. The He family decided to let the whole family follow him, and He Wenyan's grandmother stayed behind.

On the day of his death, He Wenyan's grandmother put a knife to her son's neck and told him that she and her son should leave her behind and die at the gate of the He family's house.

After He Wenyan knew about this, he first admired his own grandmother. His grandmother was an orphan, and the fact that she was able to grow up in the He family meant that she had no one else in her natal family.

She kept silent at first, and only threatened the He family with the lives of mother and son on the day she left.

If not, his family would have to stay in Xiangzhou, where it would be difficult for him to pass the exam.

No wonder when my grandfather wanted to arrange a marriage for my father in Xiangzhou, my grandmother refused to agree. It was my grandmother who arranged the marriage for my father with the Jiang family in Huai County, that is, my mother.

My grandfather wanted to have contact with the people in the ancestral house, but my grandmother hated them, so when someone came to the ancestral house, my grandmother went crazy and drove them away.

An orphan girl, with no family to rely on, can only rely on extraordinary means to gain a foothold.

After my grandparents came to Beijing, my grandmother never gave birth again, which shows that my grandfather preferred the branch that stayed in the ancestral home. This was also the reason why my grandmother risked her life and sacrificed both mother and son to win the opportunity to come to Beijing with him. Otherwise, they would have been forgotten by my grandfather in the ancestral home, and she and son would have had to live with the title of the eldest branch.

He Wenliang also understood why his grandmother did this. He felt a little resentful of his eldest brother for bringing the grandson from that branch with him. Wasn't this causing trouble for his family?

He Wenyan continued, "That year, it was my grandfather who sent a letter to the ancestral home, asking the eldest son of that branch to come over. My grandmother had no prior knowledge of this. When the man arrived, she simply drove him out, lying on the ground, and said she would kill the man from that branch if he entered the house."

He Wenyan was not yet here at that time. He knew about it from what his mother told him. His mother did not know the details of the matter. He only found out about it when he returned to the ancestral home this time.

In He Wenyan's memory, his grandmother was very good to him. Every time he came back from school, his grandmother would secretly save food for him, saying that eating well would keep him healthy. She also told him that when he married, he should never marry a virtuous woman, but a capable one.

My grandmother passed away in her sleep one year after my grandfather. Both my grandparents passed away suddenly without leaving a word.

He Wenyan thought that if his grandmother had left any message, it would probably be to tell them never to return to the ancestral home.

He Wenliang asked, "Why did you bring the people from that room here?"

"Shanqiao has excellent qualifications, better than I did at the time. The clan leader suggested that I take him to the capital to find a good teacher. I've also thought about it. Shanluo has no hope of passing the imperial examination, and Shankun is still young, so it's hard to say how he will perform in the future. Shanqiao... after all, his surname is He, and he's a He family member. Even if I don't bring him out, he'll still pass the exam in the future. So it's better for me to bring him out, which will also ease the relationship with the people in the ancestral home.

"At first, grandma was just afraid that grandpa would abandon our branch. Now that we have taken root in Beijing, if grandma were still alive, she wouldn't care whether the people from that branch come to Beijing or not. Besides, he passed the exam based on his own ability, and no one can stop him. If there are rumors in the future that our branch bullies the other branch, it's better to bring him here now."

He Wenliang felt that his elder brother was thinking long-term. Indeed, a similar incident had occurred in Beijing before, but it wasn't between two successors, but between brothers. Later, the younger brother's descendants from his hometown came to Beijing to cause trouble, and the elder brother's position was even lost. Outsiders said that if you can't even tolerate your own brothers, how can you survive in the world if you are not upright?

Others don't care whether you bullied your brother in the past or your brother bullied you. They only care that you are an incompetent brother.

Thinking of this, He Wenliang asked, "That family hasn't come to Beijing in so many years. Have you ever thought about making a fuss? After all, they are also my grandfather's wife and children."

He Wenyan smiled bitterly, "Grandmother told the people who came to the ancestral home that she had no family from her mother's side, and her husband had resented her all his life. She only had a son, and she wasn't afraid. If anyone tried to take her son away, she would make sure that Grandfather couldn't get a job as an official in Beijing, and when she became a ghost, she would bring shame to the ancestral home."

He Wenliang was speechless. Everyone was afraid of someone who didn't care about their own life. My grandmother was willing to sacrifice her own life, and she didn't dare to mess with the He family's ancestral home. It was so hard to get one person through the exam, so I could only endure it for the time being.

"My father took me back to the ancestral home to record the family tree, and my grandmother didn't stop me. This shows that she didn't really want to sever ties with the clan. She just didn't want anyone from that branch of the family to come to Beijing and steal my father's position while she was still alive."

The reason why He Wenyan said this was because his grandmother told him that if he studied hard and became capable, others would rely on him instead of ordering him around.

This "others" must be referring to the people from that branch. After all, no one can leave the family. Grandmother hopes that he will pass the exam and have a bright future. The people from that branch cannot do anything to the He family in Beijing.

He Wenliang said, "They're here now. Do you want to explain the matter of the ancestral home to your sister-in-law?"

He Wenyan said, "There's no need to tell us the details. Just say it's from the branch of the family that my grandfather inherited. Shanqiao is calmer than his peers, and he won't talk nonsense. You should also tell your younger brother and sister-in-law, so that if Shanqiao passes the exam and comes to visit the ancestral home, they won't know what's going on. I'll tell my second brother later."

Mo Chenxi only found out about this when He Wenyan told her the next day.

Her first reaction was that there was something else going on and it wasn't as simple as He Wenyan said.

It is normal to have two branches concurrently as the heir apparent. There is nothing secretive about it. Why didn't the He family know about it before?

She waited for He Wenyan to go to the yamen, then hurried back to her parents' home to ask her father if he knew.

Mo Yuanji was also surprised. When he got engaged to the He family, the He family only had Old Madam Jiang, and his son-in-law's father had passed away. He only knew that the He family's ancestral home was in Xiangzhou and they had no relatives in Beijing. After asking around, he found out that it was He Wenyan's grandfather who came to Beijing. He thought it was better to have no relatives so that there would be less trouble.

After that, no one from the He family came back. It was the daughter who came back and said that her son-in-law's grandmother had a bad temper and had driven away the people from the clan.

Mo Yuanji said, "If my son-in-law doesn't know, how could I know?"

Old Madam Mo said to her daughter, "I remember you once said that your son-in-law's grandmother was a child bride of the He family. I also said that your son-in-law's grandfather was a man of love and loyalty, and he never said that he abandoned his wife after passing the imperial examination. A child bride has no family background. If you marry someone else, a child bride will cry her heart out. There is nothing she can do."