Meeting GrandMother

From the East Cross Courtyard to Ronghe Hall, there are two moon gates and a small garden in between.

It was a beautiful April, but at this moment, no one had the interest to visit the garden, and went straight to Ronghe Hall.

Compared with the simplicity and generosity of the East Cross Courtyard, Ronghe Hall is much more exquisite and magnificent.

The wall cover at the entrance is engraved with the words "floating with flowers and prosperity", and several well-trimmed cedars are planted under the corridor, standing in the corner like guards.

Just because Princess Rongkang likes it, a large feng shui vat is placed in the middle of the yard. The nine golden-tailed koi swimming in it were specially found by the Zhan Palace, and are said to be worth a hundred gold. The current head of the Zhan Palace is the younger brother of Princess Rongkang. The two have always had a harmonious relationship. In addition, Prime Minister Lin was also a figure who raised his arm in the previous dynasty, so the relationship between the two families is very good.

But here, the eldest house is the only one left out. Following Mama Liu's steps, the group walked to the corridor, and saw a maid coming out from inside to greet them.

"I, Guyu, greet the eldest lady and the second young lady. The old lady has been waiting for you for a long time, please come in quickly."

The attentive look made people wary, after all, when they usually paid their respects, they would not see this first-class maid coming out to greet them.

Madam Dong did not reply, but glanced at Lin Wanyi sideways, showing her worry.

But Lin Wanyi smiled faintly, calming all her mother's anxiety.

The mother and daughter tidied their clothes and walked into the inner hall, only to see that it was already full of people.

The leader was naturally the second wife of Prime Minister Lin, the stepmother of Master Lin, and the step-grandmother of Lin Wanyi and others, she looked at them with great affection at this moment.

She wore a luxurious round-necked double-breasted jacket with peony branches embroidered on her head, and a five-phoenix gold-inlaid jade hairpin, which made her look extremely luxurious.

Although she is nearly sixty years old, she looks as young as if she is in her early forties.

"Are you here?"

"Daughter-in-law Dong greets mother-in-law."

"Granddaughter greets grandmother."

No matter how unhappy the mother and daughter are, they have to pay their respects to Princess Rongkang properly at this moment, otherwise if others find out that they are wrong, wouldn't it make the eldest wife's situation even worse?

"Hurry up."

Princess Rongkang looked like an elder who loved the younger generation at this moment. She waved to Lin Wanyi and said, "I haven't seen you for a long time, girl Yi. Come over here and let me take a look."

Hearing this, Dong frowned even more.

Second wife Wang, who was sitting on the right, glanced at it and sneered in her heart again, but she said sweet words.

"Look, mother-in-law, my daughter said that girl Yi is as beautiful as a flower, and she is at a delicate age. Naturally, she needs to be nurtured by the good wind and water. Otherwise, it would be a pity if she fell into the mortal world and failed. "

Her words were all saying that she seemed to be born to enter the palace.

Princess Rongkang looked good, and if you look closely, she is more beautiful than Wanzhou, whom she raised with great care.

She is beautiful but not ostentatious, and she has a handle on her family, which is the easiest to control.

So she patted the back of Lin Wanyi's hand, glanced at Guyu who was standing next to her, and saw that the maid brought out a brocade plate, which was filled with extremely precious jewelry. Not to mention that they were priceless, they were all top-quality items.

"I ordered someone to make this from Zhenbaozhai. Since Yijie is going to enter the palace, she must have something to show her face. She won't let others laugh at her and say that the young lady from our prime minister's mansion is shabby." When the thing was delivered to Dong, the golden hairpin hurt her heart again.   

She immediately struggled and knelt down and said.

"Please have pity on us, mother-in-law. I only have this one daughter. If she is sent to the palace, it will be difficult to see her again in the future."

As soon as the first wife Dong said this, Princess Rongkang's face was not very good. She had been holding Lin Wanyi's hand, but now she let it go.

Seeing that she was so ungrateful, the second wife Wang next to her immediately mocked her.

"Sister-in-law, I also only have one daughter, Zhou Jie'er, and I sent her to the palace for the future of the family and her brothers. It's obviously a matter of enjoyment, but why do you say it as if Yi Jie'er is going to the battlefield? Be careful of your mouth!"

The second wife Wang relied on her father being the Minister of War, so she always looked down on the first wife Dong, who came from a merchant family.

Over the years, she has made a lot of problems, especially after her daughter entered the palace and was favored and promoted step by step, she didn't take the people of the first house seriously at all and treated them very maliciously.

Now she is worried that her daughter has lost favor in the harem, so she actually has her eyes on the daughter of the first house.

It sounds nice to say that she is going to accompany the emperor in the palace, but everyone knows why.

"Old lady, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are until you run the household. You have benefited a lot from the glory of the Xiangfu, but when it comes to contributing to the family, you keep refusing. Don't forget that you also have a husband and son. If not for others, you should also send Sister Yi to the palace for their future."

Princess Rongkang's words made the matter a done deal.

Dong gritted her teeth in hatred, but after years of humiliation, she had long been accustomed to accepting it. She wanted to say something else, but didn't know how to refute.

Lin Wanyi didn't want her mother's situation to be as difficult as before, after she left.

So she bowed respectfully to Princess Rongkang again and said,

"Grandma is right. My granddaughter is willing to contribute to the family's glory and the future of my father and brother. I hope that grandma will forgive my mother for the respect and diligence that my mother has always shown over the years."

Looking at the "granddaughter" in front of her, Princess Rongkang was quite satisfied.

"After all, she is the granddaughter of the prime minister. She has more knowledge than others. Well, the imperial edict to enter the palace has been issued. Someone from the palace will come to pick you up tomorrow morning. You should get ready."

"Thank you, grandma, for reminding me. I understand."

After saying this important part, Princess Rongkang was too lazy to talk to the mother and daughter anymore, so she found an excuse and sent them back to the East Cross Courtyard.

Dong tried to hold back her tears until she returned to her own courtyard and entered the main house, then she started crying softly.

"My daughter, what should I do?"

Lin Wanyi felt uncomfortable in her heart because of her mother's crying, but with the power of the first house, she would be courting death if she wanted to refuse the imperial edict.

Instead of relying on others, it is better to go along with it. When she enters the palace, I think her family will be able to live more comfortably.

So Lin Wanyi wiped Dong's tears with a handkerchief and comforted her softly.

"Don't worry, mother. I'm not going to die. I will find a way to protect myself after entering the palace. But you should be careful in this backyard. If you contradict the old lady like today, you would suffer so you'd better say less in the future."

"I just feel unwilling. Why should I use you to pave the way for Lin Wanzhou?"