The Imperial Edict Arrives
Seeing that only her grandchildren were in the room, Mother Wei asked Zhao Jing'an, "Did your mother come looking for you?" Then she looked at Zhao Ruyu, "And you?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jing'an and Zhao Ruyu became uneasy. They thought that Mother Wei was there on behalf of Lady Wei to force them to lure Zhao Ruxi out.
"Grandmother, this... I can't do what my mother asked me to do," Zhao Jing'an stammered.
Upon hearing this, Mother Wei sensed something was wrong. "What did she ask you to do? What did she ask you to do?"
"Grandmother, you didn't know?" Zhao Jing'an asked in surprise. But then he understood.
His mother always did things secretly, so it's normal that she didn't tell anyone.
After thinking about it, he still felt he should tell his maternal grandmother what Lady Wei had done.
"She told me to lure my fifth sister out, and say, say..." He glanced at Mother Wei, "That as long as my cousin from the Wei Family married my fifth sister, she wouldn't be divorced by my grandmother and aunt."
"Hmm?" Mother Wei only wanted to ask about Wei Liniang's whereabouts these past few days, but she didn't expect to get such information out of her.
"What does it matter whether she gets divorced or not, or whether your fifth sister marries into the Wei Family?" she asked, puzzled.
"That's what I asked too. But she wouldn't tell me," Zhao Jing'an said, feeling wronged.
He looked up at Mother Wei again. "Grandmother, please persuade my mother. This is not good, really, it will ruin my fifth sister's life. I will not help her harm others. As long as you talk to my grandmother and aunt, they will calm down and bring my mother back. They won't divorce her, right?"
Mother Wei ignored his question, her mind racing as she considered the relationship between the newly brought-back Zhao Ruxi and the Wei Family.
After clarifying the relationship, she glanced at Zhao Ruyu and asked, "Did your mother also come to see you? What did she say to you?"
Before this month, Zhao Ruyu was always considered to be Lady Wei's biological daughter. The Wei Family treated her very well, especially Mother Wei, who doted on her.
In contrast, the old lady of the Marquis's mansion was not her biological grandmother, and her aunt was not close to her, only showing her a superficial relationship. Therefore, in the previous ten years of Zhao Ruyu's life, she was closer to the Wei Family.
In her previous life, Zhao Ruxi was taken back to the Marquis's mansion. After the news of the baby being switched at birth spread, even though Mother Wei knew that Zhao Ruxi was her own granddaughter, she still looked down on her and preferred Zhao Ruyu.
Later, the Marquis's mansion collapsed. As the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan, Zhao Ruyu had status and position, and the Wei Family was happy to associate with her. However, without the Marquis's mansion as her maternal family, Zhao Ruyu simply treated the Wei Family as her maternal family. She also needed Wei Qiu, a third-rank official, to support her.
Therefore, whether in her previous life or after being reborn in this life, Zhao Ruyu felt that the Wei Family were more like family to her than the people of the Marquis of Suiping's Residence.
But she's no longer the naive little girl she was in her previous life, who would open her heart to Mother Wei about everything.
Now that Zhao Jing'an had spoken frankly, she no longer hid anything and nodded, saying, "Yes, she said the same thing. But I don't understand why she did it."
She didn't say whether she had agreed or not. If she said no, she wouldn't get the better of Mother Wei; if she said yes, she worried that the walls might be overheard and the people in the Marquis's mansion might hear it.
Therefore, we'll just give this vague answer.
Over the years, as her husband's official position rose higher and higher, although she managed to retain her position as the principal Mother Wei and prevent Wei Qiu from divorcing her and marrying someone from a higher family, she was unable to stop him from taking concubines.
Her experiences of open and covert struggles with her concubines and daughters-in-law could easily fill a rich and intricate history of palace intrigue. Zhao Ruyu's ambiguous words might fool others, but they couldn't fool her.
She didn't expose him, but only gave Zhao Ruyu a deep look before turning to ask Zhao Jing'an, "When did your mother say that? Did she come to see you today?"
"I told her yesterday. She didn't come today; I didn't see her," Zhao Jing'an said.
Upon hearing that her daughter had not come to the Marquis's residence today, and without receiving any news from the Wei Residence, Mother Wei became anxious.
She then asked Zhao Ruyu and Zhao Rurui, "What about you? Did you see your mother today?"
Zhao Ruyu and Zhao Rurui both shook their heads.
Upon hearing the implication in those words, Zhao Jing'an's heart leaped into his throat. "Grandmother, what's wrong? What happened to my mother? Has something happened?"
Mother Wei had no desire to argue with them anymore. She stood up and said, "It's nothing. I just remembered I have something to do at home and need to go back. When your aunt arrives, just tell her."
As she spoke, she turned to leave.
But she had only taken two steps when a commotion suddenly broke out outside.
"Young master, young lady, hurry out and receive the imperial edict!" An old woman rushed in. Seeing Mother Wei, she paused for a moment, then quickly added, "Old Madam Wei, it's good that you're here too. No wonder the angel specifically asked you to receive the imperial edict as well. Hurry up, don't be late."
Mother Wei was stunned, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart: Why was she specifically chosen to go when the Zhao Family received the imperial decree?
Recalling the incident where Wei Qiu and she were reprimanded by the Emperor and Empress Dowager, she assumed that the Emperor had issued an edict ordering the Marquis of Suiping's Residence to divorce Lady Wei. Otherwise, how could such an imperial edict involve the two families?
Mother Wei thought of, Zhao Jing'an, Zhao Ruyu, and Zhao Rurui also thought of. The three of them looked extremely ugly.
Zhao Jingli entered from outside and, seeing the four people standing there motionless, said in a deep voice, "Old Madam Wei, the imperial envoy has summoned you to receive the imperial decree. Please move aside."
He then turned to Zhao Jing'an and the others and shouted, "Why are you still standing there? Hurry up. Don't delay and cause trouble for the manor!"
As if waking from a dream, Zhao Jing'an helped Mother Wei up and said, "Grandmother, let's go."
Zhao Ruyu also stepped forward and supported her other arm.
"Okay." Mother Wei gave a stiff smile.
Not only was their daughter divorced, but she was also officially divorced by imperial decree! This is a huge disgrace. How can the Wei Family ever face anyone again?
Thinking this, she remembered her daughter who had been missing all day, and her ominous feeling intensified—could the imperial edict announce something even worse than Liniang's divorce?
Cloud Crane Hall, where Mother Wei was received, was located at the junction of the outer and inner courtyards, very close to the main hall of the outer courtyard.
When Zhao Jing'an and Zhao Ruyu helped Mother Wei to the main hall, Zhao Yuanliang and Zhao Yuankun had just arrived— Zhao Yuanliang had gone drinking with friends that evening. It was only after Mother Wei arrived that Zhao Yuanxun sent someone to look for him, and he returned to the Marquis's residence.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, especially Wei Qiu's wife, the angel unfurled the imperial edict and began to read, "By the mandate of Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Emperor decrees: Wei Qiu, the Minister of the Marquis of Suiping's Residence Sacrifices, ordered Li Mu and others, servants of the Marquis of Suiping, to murder the grandson of Wen Chengyu. The circumstances are serious and the impact is egregious. Wei Qiu is hereby dismissed from his post, demoted to a commoner, flogged fifty times, and exiled to Lingnan; his wife, Lady Yu, is stripped of her imperial title and exiled with her husband; the remaining twenty-one members of the Wei Family are also exiled, and their servants are sold into slavery..."