An ugly girl starts off, then becomes a beauty

After greeting each other early in the morning, everyone dispersed in front of the Hall of Right and Wrong.

Nie Ce was called to Yunyue Pavilion by his mother, probably to be lectured - ever since he showed up yesterday, Madam Zhaoyu had been covering up for him and had never seriously asked him the reason. Now that she was finally free, she had to give him a good lecture.

But without bringing along his new daughter-in-law, Sang Ling, no one knew how Nie Ce would explain this to his mother.

Sang Ling just quietly returned to Wuyuan. He did not dare to rest for long because he felt really uneasy. Then he went to the backyard again. The well had been sealed, and several surrounding water areas were also sealed.

Not knowing how Madam Zhaoyu would investigate this matter, she stopped at the edge of the backyard for a while, thinking about going to Yunyue Pavilion in the afternoon to sit and test the waters, when by chance, the housekeeper came over and brought the two maids sent by Madam Zhaoyu to Sangling's room.

"These are Zong Xiang and Wei Chu. It's always good to have more people around the young lady to serve her."

Probably because of Madam Zhaoyu's instructions, although Fang Ai's tone was gentle, her attitude was unquestionable.

"Yes." Sang Ling replied with his eyes fixed on his nose and his heart. As his eyes moved, he asked again, "Is mother still at Yunyue Pavilion this afternoon? I'll go and say hello to her."

The Mu Wuhou Mansion was still a completely unfamiliar place to her. Even though she had some guesses about the murderer, if she wanted to find out more details, she could only get closer to her mother-in-law first.

At the moment, it seems that she and Madam Zhaoyu are at least in the same boat. The murderer can't be her. Doing this will not benefit her as the mistress of the house. On the wedding day, such an incident happened in the mansion. She rushed to deal with it. I'm afraid she hated the murderer even more in her heart. Sang Ling felt that in the entire mansion, apart from herself, Madam Zhaoyu was the only one who wanted to catch the murderer as soon as possible.

"Madam means that you have just married, so you don't need to worry about these things for now. The people below are investigating and will give you an explanation."

But she immediately understood the meaning of her words, which was not to interfere. She couldn't help but feel unhappy, but she didn't show it too much. This Fangmao was not an easy character to deal with. The reason why Madam Zhaoyu's work was done well in the past two days was mostly because of her. After a few words of instruction, the old lady quickly arranged everything.

Take the matter of "giving gifts back to the guests" for example. Madam Zhaoyu gave the order early in the morning, and it was done before noon. There were so many people coming on the wedding day, and she had to run back and forth from house to house, calculating the time spent and the people sent away, so there could not be any mistakes. The time was fast and the actions were quick, which shows how capable she is.

But thinking back, Madam Zhaoyu, Sang Ling's mother-in-law, is truly the most powerful person among all the powerful people.

Since the mistress of the Marquis's Mansion had told her not to interfere, what else could she do? It was not good to force herself to go further. Even though she was married now, she still felt like she was in someone else's house. Living under someone else's roof, she had not yet established a firm foothold, so she could only act passively.

Nie Ce returned home at sunset, on time, and took Sang Ling to the Hall of Justice to pay his respects to Grandpa Nie. ——This ceremony at dusk was different from that during the day, as only the newlyweds had to go.

The Nie family does not adhere to the regular morning and evening visits. Grandpa Nie is not a person who likes the hustle and bustle. It is enough for everyone to come early in the morning, and it is best not to disturb him at night.

Only Nie Ce and Sang Ling needed to make this trip because they were still within the six rituals.

There was a locust tree planted in the courtyard of the Hall of Right and Wrong. Under the tree was a stone-carved water tank with a few red carps in it. As winter approached, some frost and dew had formed on the edge of the tank. Two boys were quietly scattering fish food on the edge. The old man was still dressing inside, and the couple waited on the veranda.

Sang Ling was enjoying the scenery in the courtyard at first, and then slowly fixed his eyes on the two boys. The servants who served the old man seemed to be children, and after observing them for the past two days, he felt that these children were particularly calm and stable, not like children of this age.

Perhaps sensing the puzzled gazes of the people around him, Nie Ce tilted his head slightly and whispered in her ear, "The people serving grandpa are not children."

She was shocked, having just noticed something strange - the faces of the two boys were not smooth, but had the skin condition that only adults should have.

Before he could observe further, someone was called in. Sang Ling slowly withdrew his gaze, and only waves of fear remained in his heart.

This evening conversation was mostly between grandparents and grandchildren. Nie Ce reported today's itinerary to Nie Taigong, and the two of them joked a few words. The atmosphere was much more harmonious than yesterday.

"Where is your grandson's wife?" Grandpa Nie's next question was about Sang Ling.

So she nodded and half-saluted, and replied softly, "The eldest lady has arranged for someone to come to Wuyuan, and they are all familiar with the house today."

Confined to the inner house, a daughter-in-law can do only these things in a day.

"Okay, okay. We have a big family and it's lively. My granddaughter-in-law should get to know some people first, so she'll have something to talk about later. Otherwise, when Yue Xuanwen goes south to Jiaozhou, our house will be quiet for a while."

She raised her eyebrows and repeated in her mind: Xuanwen will go south to Jiaozhou next month.

No wonder the Nie family set the wedding date so tight, I guess they had already chosen a good day.

I can't help but think of the "Strategy for Reducing the Power of the Princes" mentioned by the Master when he was studying at the Gate Hall. Zhi Qutong was the former Grand Tutor, so of course he would know some news in the palace. It's hard to say that the Emperor had already made up his mind to reduce the power of the princes. King Cheng has been in charge of the military affairs in the south for many years, and now Nie Ce is going to Jiaozhou - such a reserve general, not to train troops beside the emperor, not to open up new territory in the northwest battlefield, but to go to the stable place in the south.

What this means is that, could it be possible that the emperor sent Nie Ce to regain military power in order to reduce the power of the feudal lords?

If this is true, then it is unknown how long Nie Ce will be gone. The lineage of King Cheng has been in charge of the military affairs of the south for many years, starting from the last three emperors. The current emperor wants to take action in the entire south, and he has to do it in such a stable period.

Thinking about it, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows secretly, feeling that the future political arena of the country would definitely be very lively.

And if Nie Ce can really accomplish this, his future will be limitless.

No wonder he often behaved strangely but was never actually punished.