After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

September 23rd, Frost's Descent.

This was the day Lu Zhiyuan was brought into the palace.

After his mother went to the border, his father, Lu Huai, requested a transfer and went to Qingping County. Qingping County was less than a hundred miles from the border of Beiliang. The land was barren and suffered from drought nine out of ten years. Since the death of the previous magistrate, no candidate official in the court was willing to take the post. Lu Huai volunteered to temporarily serve as the magistrate as the Marquis of Pingnan, promising to change the status quo of Qingping within three years.

The night before leaving for Qingping County, Lu Huai sought out Lu Zhiyuan to inquire about Ji Wanwan. Lu Zhiyuan didn't answer, but instead asked if he intended to take Ji Wanwan to Qingping County to live a simple life as a family of four, like they had in Weinan. Lu Huai looked ashamed and gently shook his head: "I just want to know if her disappearance is related to you? Yuan'er, you're still young; you shouldn't be involved in these things. I feel guilty towards you, towards your mother, and towards them as well. I'm going to Qingping to protect your mother… Don't worry, I won't disturb her. I just feel that Qingping is closer to her; if anything happens to her, it will be better for me…"

Lu Huai smiled, wiped his face, and said dejectedly, "I probably can't help her much. In the ten years since we got married, I've been the one dragging her down. In any case, I want to be closer to her and also want to make sure Ji Wanwan and her child are settled."

Lu Zhiyuan didn't believe in prodigal sons returning home. Lu Huai's actions were simply a result of remembering the kindness his mother had shown him in the past when he was in trouble, and he felt a little guilty.

Lu Jinyao moved into the Wei residence as the adopted daughter of Grand Tutor Wei. Grand Tutor Wei cared deeply for her and, to quell the gossip outside, held a grand family reunion banquet for her. In front of all the guests, Lu Jinyao changed her surname from Lu to Wei, and was transferred from the Lu family genealogy to the Wei family genealogy.

Madam Lu fell ill, sometimes lucid and sometimes confused. The Emperor, mindful of her advanced age, spared her the death penalty, but she would still have to spend the rest of her life in prison.

Fang Zhi married into the Jiang family, but the wedding was rather hasty. The reason for this was simply that the Jiang family looked down on the methods Fang Zhi had used. Jiang Yuntian owned a house outside the family, so that Fang Zhi did not have to live with her parents-in-law after the marriage, thus avoiding the elders' criticism.

The betrothal gifts for the wedding were prepared by Jiang Yuntian himself. They were not much, but each item was precious. Together with the dowry given by the Fang family, they made up for the lack of extravagance in the wedding and prevented it from becoming too embarrassing.

Lu Jingyuan stayed at the Marquis's residence, living in Lu Zhiyuan's Fangfei Courtyard. His situation was somewhat awkward: his grandmother was imprisoned, his mother's whereabouts were unknown, his father was too busy to take him to Qingping County, and his only sister had changed her surname and become the adopted daughter of the Wei family. He had become the superfluous one.

Seeing that he was both stupid and pitiful, Lu Zhiyuan gave up on trying to discipline him and instead worried about his future.

His birth was not of his own choosing, nor was becoming Ji Wanwan and Lu Huai's child his own wish. It seems a little unfair to attribute all the things Ji Wanwan and Lu Huai did to him.

Lu Zhiyuan left the housekeeper and all the servants in Fangfei Courtyard to him, and also gave him the portion of her mother's allowance for her expenses. As for whether he grows his hair straight or crooked in the future, that's entirely up to him.

As the morning light shone, Lu Zhiyuan and Liu Ying stepped into the palace gates, beginning a new chapter in their journey through the novel.

"Miss, is this the palace that Her Majesty the Empress assigned to us? It looks to me like the cold palace described in storybooks."

Fireflies surveyed the palace before them. The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, as if no one had lived there for a long time. The windows were still relatively intact, though the paint was peeling and mottled. Pushing open a door, a layer of dust fell. The items in each room were still relatively complete, but they couldn't be touched; if touched, they would tip over or collapse—everything was in ruins.

Liu Ying frowned: "Miss, the Empress likes you quite a bit, and the Princess likes you too. Why were you assigned to such a lousy place?"

"Who dares to speak ill of Her Majesty the Empress and Her Highness the Princess in the palace?" A burly old nanny strode in. "Miss Lu, is it? You're new to the palace and don't know our rules. The division of palaces is not Her Majesty the Empress's business. Even if Her Majesty the Empress did, there are no extra palaces in this palace."

"I understand. This place is quite nice, thank you for reminding me, Granny Xie."

"This servant is not reminding you, but warning you!" The old nanny rolled her eyes at her: "Although you are a noble lady, you are not a noble lady in the palace. If you want to live peacefully in this palace, you should behave yourself and not cause any trouble."

“I’ve remembered what you said, Granny. I also have something for you to remember.” Lu Zhiyuan walked up to the nanny and said, “No matter who you’re working for, I won’t fall for your show of force. I may be small, but I have a big temper. If anyone tries to trip me up, I’ll break their legs.”

The old woman was stunned, unable to believe that such words would come from a child's mouth, and even less could she believe that a child would have such a fierce look in his eyes.

She must have seen wrong!

Lu Zhiyuan took a step back: "Granny, please go back. Liuying and I still need to tidy up the palace."

Being chased away by a little girl who had come in from outside the palace, the nanny was a little embarrassed. She straightened her posture and said, "The rules of the palace are that all items can only be from the palace. If even one item comes from outside the palace, it is a violation of the palace rules, and even the Empress cannot protect you."

Liu Ying rolled up her sleeves and came over: "You're deliberately targeting our young lady! Can't you see what this palace is like? Not to mention the weeds all over the courtyard, the doors are broken, the windows are broken, and all the chairs and benches inside are broken. And everything in the cabinets is rubbish without exception. We don't have it in the palace, and you won't let us take it from outside. Do you want us to freeze and starve to death?"

The old woman sneered, "You can apply to the Imperial Household Department. Whether you get approved or not is your own business. Rules are rules, and no one can break them!"

"What grand manners you have, Granny!" Princess Ping Le said as she entered with her entourage, "You're even more imposing than I am!"

The old woman smiled ingratiatingly: "How dare I compare myself to the princess? I am just a servant. I was only telling Miss Lu about the rules of the palace so that she wouldn't make a mistake."

"Do you think Yuan'er is like you, always making mistakes!" Princess Ping Le glared at the nanny. "Don't think I don't know who you are. Tell your master that Yuan'er has a good temper, but I do. If she dares to harm Yuan'er, I will definitely complain to my father."

The old woman didn't dare to talk back and slunk away.

Princess Ping Le skipped over to Lu Zhiyuan: "If I hadn't gone to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager today, I wouldn't have known you'd come to the palace. Lu Zhiyuan, do you even consider me your good friend?"

Lu Zhiyuan bowed and said, "This humble woman greets Your Highness."

"Who told you to bow?" Princess Ping Le pouted. "I'm asking why you didn't tell me? Your mother went to the border, and your father was sent to Qingping County. It's a good thing you came to the palace; you could keep me company. Such a big thing and you didn't even let anyone know. Don't you consider me your friend?"

"Your Highness—" she drawled, her face full of helplessness, "It's not that I'm unwilling to inform Your Highness, it's that I'm unable to inform Your Highness."

Upon hearing this, Princess Ping Le raised her eyebrows high: "Who dares to threaten you? Tell me, and I'll chop him down!"