The Outcome

"It must be hard for you, Granny, to come here every day."

Nanny Fan came to give Lin Yunwan a lesson, and when school was over, Lin Yunwan suddenly said this to her.

"It's worth the hardship for the girl."

Nanny Fan smiled, revealing deep dimples on her face.

Lin Yunwan paused slightly, then asked with concern, "I've noticed that Granny doesn't seem to be looking too well lately..."

Nanny Fan suffers from some chronic ailments that she developed when she was younger.

She smiled and said, "You're so thoughtful, young lady. I am feeling a little unwell, but it's nothing serious, just that I'm sweating a lot."

Lin Yunwan glanced at the sun outside. With day after day of clear skies, it seemed that Nanny Fan couldn't keep up with coming to class every day.

"Granny, I was thinking... if the Old Madam doesn't mind, I can go over to pay my respects to Old Madam every day, and you can give me lessons while you're at it."

"That saves you the trouble of coming over every day."

Lin Huabin had previously suggested that Nanny Fan stay, but she refused. Now her body can't take it anymore... We need to find a way to ease the situation.

Nanny Fan said, "I'll go back and discuss it with the Old Madam. If Old Madam agrees and the young lady isn't afraid of hard work, then we'll do it this way."

"Yes."

Lin Yunwan knelt down to see Nanny Fan off.

When she returned to the Old Madam's side, she told her about it.

After a moment of contemplation, Old Madam Lin asked Nanny Fan, "What do you think?"

Nanny Fan smiled and said, "I think... Miss Yun Wan is very considerate. Ever since I started teaching her, she has never been late or left early, and she has never missed a single assignment I gave her."

"Putting aside other things, as a female teacher, I don't want to think the worst of this kind of student."

Old Madam Lin then said, "Since you've put it that way, then let her come."

She closed her eyes and said softly, "I'm just a Matron; there's nothing she can take advantage of here."

Lin Yunwan then changed her plans and went to the back room of Old Madam Lin's Courtyard for her classes.

Nothing much happened a while ago, but less than ten days later, Dong Shuangshuang came to pay her respects to Old Madam Lin.

Nanny Fan found it strange. "... The Dong family moved away many years ago, why did she think of coming to pay her respects to you?"

Old Madam Lin was too lazy to see her, so sending Nanny Fan and the Eldest Madam to deal with her was a waste of their talents.

"I remember Yun Wan was very close to her when she was little. Why don't you let Yun Wan go over and talk to her?"

"Yes."

Nanny Fan then sent Lin Yunwan to see Dong Shuangshuang. Dong Shuangshuang left a small gift for Old Madam Lin and went with Lin Yunwan to the Lin Residence Garden.

"I never imagined the Lin Residence would be so grand now..."

Lin Yunwan said, "It's the Eldest Branch of the Lin family."

The Lin family had long since separated; the Eldest Branch's Garden was no longer related to the Second Branch's.

The two walked together to a place where flowers and leaves were abundant. Dong Shuangshuang talked about some things from her childhood. Lin Yunwan had no idea about those things, and Dong Shuangshuang assumed that she had forgotten them. She laughed and scolded herself, "Look at me! You were only four years old back then, what do you remember?"

Once they were in a secluded spot, Lin Yunwan pulled Dong Shuangshuang aside and asked, "How is your husband now?"

"He's paralyzed, and his leg is broken."

Dong Shuangshuang's tone was extremely cheerful; anyone who didn't know better would think she was crazy—her husband was paralyzed, yet she was still so happy!

She grasped Lin Yunwan's hand, pursed her lips, and said with undisguised joy, "... I cried every day at home, but I only dared to tell you my true feelings when I came here."

Lin Yunwan had another concern. "Has your husband become suspicious of you? What did your mother-in-law say?"

Dong Shuangshuang paused, then whispered, "Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine."

Lin Yunwan then asked, "The silver you sent over was fake, and neither your mother-in-law nor your husband questioned you about it?"

Dong Shuangshuang's gold necklace was fake, and the silver she exchanged was also fake.

Lin Yunwan didn't know how she got her hands on the fake items, but after what happened, the Lu family wouldn't just let it go.

Dong Shuangshuang said casually, "I just said that I was also deceived, and made up a story about a black market pawnshop, saying that the person who stole my collar had already run away, and they had nowhere to ask."

"With my usual personality, they all believe what I say."

"No matter how despicable the Lu family may be, the patriarch is still a man of official rank; the officials can't very well come to our door to interrogate me."

She felt incredibly lucky. "Yun Wan, I wonder who's backing Li Laosan up? I heard he was released too... and things just fizzled out like that!"

Things aren't that simple.

Lin Yunwan thought of Qi Lingheng and A Fu. Was it the Prince was putting pressure on them from behind?

Regardless, the Prince helped her again...

"By the way, Yun Wan, I'm pregnant."

Dong Shuangshuang suddenly said.

Lin Yunwan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Your arrival is perfectly timed."

Why not?

Dong Shuangshuang touched her lower abdomen and smiled.

The day her husband Lu Rong, was carried back home, he nearly died. Her mother-in-law, knowing the whole story, slapped her.

When the Physician said her husband was beyond saving and would be bedridden for the rest of his life, her mother-in-law felt like killing her.

But things changed when she suddenly became pregnant.

"Old Madam, if you want your daughter-in-law to pay with her life, I'll take my Little Miss and die right now!"

Seeing her daughter-in-law's suicidal expression, Old Madam Lu family was terrified and panicked. She quickly comforted her, saying, "Good child! What nonsense are you talking about? I would never bear to lose either of you or my Little Miss."

The Old Madam quickly came to terms with reality, sent someone to take care of her son, and then devoted herself to taking care of her daughter-in-law's unborn child and her only granddaughter.

No matter how unwilling he was, he could only prioritize protecting his daughter-in-law's unborn child.

Otherwise, the Lu family will end!

After regaining his composure, Lu Rong argued with his mother. "... It's all that bitch's fault! She exchanged the wrong money and ruined my life! Mother, beat her to death for me! I want to beat her to death!"

Dong Shuangshuang listened nearby, and after the Old Madam left, she personally fed her husband his medicine. "You'll recover faster if you take it. You heard what the Physician said; if you don't take your medicine properly, you'll never be able to stand up again, and lying down for too long will cause bedsores."

"Get out! You bitch! Get out of here!"

Lu Rong's hand could still move, and he knocked over the medicine bowl.

Dong Shuangshuang shook her head sadly, "I won't eat it then."

It's good not to eat...

She may not become a widow this time, but she will become one someday.

What are your plans regarding your Little Miss's marriage?

Lin Yunwan remembered that Dong Shuangshuang's daughter was engaged to someone else.

"It's already been refunded."

Lin Yunwan raised an eyebrow, surprised that Dong Shuangshuang had become so bold!

Dong Shuangshuang said, "I told the Old Madam that if she didn't annul the engagement for my Little Miss, I wouldn't live anymore."

She was carrying the only child in the Lu family who could possibly carry on the family line, so what could the Old Madam possibly refuse?

Lin Yunwan smiled faintly, "Do you still remember how afraid you were of your Old Madam when we were watching the play at Prince Huan's Residence?"

Dong Shuangshuang smiled bitterly, "... If it weren't for my Little Miss, how would I have dared to do this?"

A mother's love makes her strong.

After discussing the Lu family's affairs, Dong Shuangshuang and Lin Yunwan added, "We have a Ji Mountain here, and on the mountain is a Garden. Many scholars from Jiangqian gather there to exchange literary ideas, and I heard they even formed a society called the 'Ji Mountain Society'."

"Most of the scholars I've chosen for you are from the Ji Mountain Society."

"If you want to see them from afar, you can definitely see them from the Ji Mountain Society."

If one could get close to the Ji Mountain Society, wouldn't one be able to observe all the scholars she had her eye on?

Lin Yunwan was very tempted.