The upper house of the British Consulate is located in the middle road of the British Consulate, it's a five-room and four-row courtyard, with the front yard, main hall and flower hall of the British Consulate in front, and a small garden with a Buddhist temple behind, from where Song Meikai lived in Yizhitang.

  He walked into the courtyard and saw his tall, slender, elegant and refined mother standing on the steps with a somewhat dazed expression, staring blankly at the camphor tree in the corner of the yard.

  The sachet in Song Mo's hand was suddenly like a burning flame, scorching and sweltering.

  This Cinnamomum camphora tree was sent by my eldest maternal uncle from Fujian when my mother was 20 years old, it was only as tall as a person at that time, now it has reached the eaves.

  "Here you are!" Jiang smiled and greeted her son, sitting down on a stone bench under the grape arbor.

  The grapevine had just sprouted, and the warm sunlight on a spring day shone through the sparse branches onto her face, where originally black and shiny hair now had a few strands of silver.

  Song Mo's heart ached, taking advantage of the maid serving them tea and water to walk behind his mother, smiling as he pressed down on her shoulders, intimately saying: "Mother, you have white hair now, let me pluck it for you?"

  Jiang pouted and smiled, looking at the long silver thread in his son's hand, and said with a mix of emotion and relief: "You're going to get married soon, and your mother should be old too!"

  Although Ren Songmo was calm and reserved, he was still just a thirteen-year-old boy. He suddenly turned bright red in the face and called out "Mother" in embarrassment.

  The son's rare embarrassment pleased Jiangshi, and she smiled and asked Song Mo: "How old is the girl you met in Zhending?"

  She can make her son eat bitter melon, it's clear that she is a brave and meticulous, clever and agile little girl.

  "What's with the question?" Song Mo's face turned even redder as he shouted back, "They're already engaged!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, both mother and son were stunned.

  The wind blows over the grape trellis, and the tender green buds sway back and forth in the spring breeze.

  Song Mo was so embarrassed that he couldn't go on.

  His mother just curiously asked him how he came up with such a sentence out of thin air?

  Thinking of this, he only felt his face burning with heat and became even more uncomfortable. He said: "Mr. Yan suggested that I get to know Wei Tingyu, and I think this idea is not bad either. Just thinking about how to tell Zong Yao a word, thinking of ways to get to know this person."

  Chiang smiled meaningfully.

  She felt a little sorry in her heart, but she knew that continuing to talk would inevitably tarnish the reputation of the young lady's family.

  Song Mo's face couldn't hold on anymore, and he looked around anxiously, saying: "Where's Father? Why can't I see him?"

  "He went to the Third Princess's residence." She changed the subject, following her son, "Your father doesn't dare ask the Crown Prince to show his face, fearing it would implicate the Crown Prince. He wants to invite the Third Princess to test the Emperor's attitude." As she spoke, her emotions sank, "I've already discussed this with Mr. Min. Since the Emperor has not acted on the memorial to protect your eldest uncle, we'll ask those who used to follow your eldest uncle to submit a memorial impeaching him... It's just that those who are too close to him can't show their faces, lest the Emperor becomes suspicious... What I fear is that the Emperor may have already made up his mind, and no matter what we do, it will be in vain..."

  The Third Princess is the daughter of Empress Shen, the emperor's eldest legitimate daughter.

  Xu Ma Shi Cong Lan is the younger brother of Changxing Hou Shi Duan Lan and has a very good relationship with Gong Yu, being childhood friends.

  Is this useful?

  It's better to hit the eunuch Wang Yu by the emperor's side!

  Song Mo thought for a moment and nodded casually.

  The atmosphere suddenly became oppressive.

  Song Mo pinched the embroidered pouch in her palm, and after a while, she mustered up the courage to call out "Mother". She said in a low voice: "I have something to tell you..."

  "What?" Jiang raised his head, with a lingering look of confusion in his eyes, clearly not having heard what his son had just said.

  Song Mo took a deep breath, just about to repeat what he had said earlier to his mother, when unexpectedly his mother suddenly became spirited and said seriously: "I want to ask for your marriage to your second uncle's daughter, Han Zhu, what do you think?"

  He opened his eyes wide and then slowly pursed his lips.

  Jiang sighed quietly in his heart, his voice somewhat indifferent due to rationality: "I know you've been close with your fourth uncle's daughter, Cui Xiu, since childhood. However, Cui Xiu is a concubine-born child. Although our Jiang family doesn't mind, your father is someone who attaches great importance to birth order and will not approve of this match. Your second uncle passed away early, leaving behind only your cousin as the sole heir...

  Song Mo hung his head slightly down.

  Pearl's elder sister-in-law liked her cousin, Yin Zhi, from the Jiang family where she learned martial arts.

  The paternal aunts knew about it. The elder paternal aunt even sent Yin Zhi to the military camp of her husband, and told him: "Our Jiang family girls do not marry losers, if you want to marry Han Zhu, then use your military achievements as betrothal gifts."

  Yin Zhen gave a gold hairpin to Han Zhu's sister when he left, which was entrusted to him to give to Han Zhu's sister.

  What is all this fuss about love and relationships when faced with life and death?

  The sunlight fell on his face, and his long eyelashes cast a shadow at the corner of his eyes.

  "Marriage is a big deal, and it should be up to the parents." He said softly, as gentle as a spring breeze brushing against one's face. "I'll listen to Mother!"

  The son who had always been strong-willed and never listened to others suddenly said something that deeply hurt Jiang, leaving her speechless and at a loss for words.

  Feeling Jiang's sadness, Song Mo grasped his mother's hand: "Mother, I don't feel wronged." He comforted his mother, "Hanzhu sister is also very good, she can ride a horse and write calligraphy. If she marries into our family, Mother will have someone to accompany her... I'll talk to Father, tell him it was my idea to marry Hanzhu sister, so he won't oppose it." He said with a smile at his mother.

  That smile, radiant and bright, like the rising sun, without a hint of cloudiness.

  Chiang's tears fell down.

  None of these are worth shedding tears for!

  Song Mo rubbed her mouth and took out a brocade pouch that had been clenched in her palm: "Mother, this was just sent by Xu Qing..."

  Jiang was taken aback and had a bad feeling in her heart. Before Song Mo could finish speaking, she hastily grabbed the brocade pouch.

  A thin note as wide as two fingers, yet weighs a thousand pounds.

  Jiang looked at it once, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. Only then did he raise his head to look at his son, his face already pale: "Is it true?" His voice was hoarse, and his eyes seemed a bit unfocused.

  Song Mo gritted his teeth and nodded heavily.

  Chiang felt dizzy and disoriented, unsure of where he was.

  A burst of cheerful noise was getting closer and closer. The second son's still somewhat childish voice came over clearly: "Hurry up, hurry up! I want to show Mother!"

  She composed herself and took the handkerchief handed over by her eldest son, hastily wiping away her tears.

  Song Mo also sat up straight.

  When Song Han rushed over with his bow and arrow, his mother and brother were elegantly seated at the stone table under the grape arbor drinking tea.

  He pulled his mother's hand and coquettishly said: "Mom, mom, look, look!"

  The little servant who followed knelt on the ground and held up the bright red lacquer tray high in his hand.

  In the lacquer box was a plump pheasant, with an arrow slantingly inserted in its back, revealing snow-white arrow feathers.

  "Am I better than you, brother?" Song Han said with a proud smile, looking at his brother. "When brother was ten years old and went hunting with Fifth Uncle, he didn't catch anything!"

  He is ten years old this year, three years younger than Song Mo.

  Jiang forced a smile and praised his younger son: "Hmmm, Tian'en is much more capable than his older brother!"

  Tian En was Song Han's milk name.

  Although he was very sad in his heart, some of Song Han's naive and romantic words still made Song Mo feel a lot lighter.

  That must be the peacock raised in the backyard of our home.

  His younger brother can't even pull his specially made bow full, how can he shoot so deep?

  Most of them were driven in front of him by those little servants and then shot at the golden rooster.

  It's also possible that those little servants had already shot and killed the pheasant, and then waited for my brother to fire randomly into the bushes. They would then run over and pull out the pheasant that was already hiding in the bushes...

  Whether it was the former or the latter, he had no intention of disappointing his younger brother.

  "It's pretty good!" Song Mo smiled and said, "The blue comes from the indigo plant but is bluer than the indigo."

  Song Han was even more pleased, he pointed at the lacquered plate with the golden pheasant and loudly ordered the young servant: "Take it to the kitchen, let the woman cooking on the stove add a dish tonight."

  The little servant nodded and bowed as he backed away with the lacquer tray.

  He sat down next to his mother and stretched like a little adult: "I'm really tired today!"

  Jiang and Song Mo both revealed a faint smile.

  Song Han's eyes rolled around and he suddenly jumped down from the stone pedestal. He said: "Mother, I want to go back and change my clothes."

  "Go!" Jiang still had important things to discuss with her eldest son, and she smiled as she instructed the maidservant beside Song Han for a few words. As the second son's figure disappeared from the doorway, her smile also slowly faded away.

  "Great!" As soon as she spoke, her eyes sparkled with tears. "Does Mr. Min know? I'll go to your place later and discuss with Mr. Min, Mr. Luo, and Mr. Yan what to do next!" Her voice was calm and peaceful, having already calmed down.

  Mr. Min was a staff member of his elder brother-in-law and came from Fujian after his elder brother-in-law got into trouble.

  Mr. Luo was a staff member left at home by his elder brother-in-law, helping Fifth Uncle with household chores.

  Mr. Yan had been a staff member of the elder uncle, but he followed him in his early years and was considered a person of the British Consulate General. The affairs of the elder uncle were mainly handled by Mr. Min and Mr. Luo.

  Mother did not collapse, Song Mo was very proud.

  He respectfully complied and told his mother the time of the business meeting, then withdrew.

  Chiang's hands and feet went limp as he sat there, his mind a complete blank.

  Song Mo saw his younger brother hiding at the door and waving at him under a thick fir tree.

  He walked over with a smile.

  "Brother," Song Han looked at Song Mo with concern and said in a low voice, "Is Big Brother going to be imprisoned by imperial decree?"

  Although both I and my mother have been keeping it from my brother, the news of my eldest uncle's affair has already spread like wildfire, and my brother is very clever, so he must have known about it. Continuing to keep it a secret will only make him feel deceived, so it's better to tell him the truth.

  "Don't listen to nonsense." Song Mo thought for a moment and said, "The eldest uncle is now only being questioned, it's fine if he explains clearly." Then smiled: "Not everyone has the qualifications to go to prison!" Trying to ease the atmosphere.

  Song Han carefully observed his brother's expression.

  His brother raised an eyebrow, with a hint of interest in his eyes.

  His face turned red and he ran away quickly: "I know!"

  A crisp sound floated in the air, causing Song Mo to reveal a hint of a smile.

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  Sisters and brothers, it's a bit late, sorry. I've been stuck on this article for a while, hesitating about how to write... I'll make up for the update on the 20th, then go fill up today's extra post... o(n_n)o~

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