As was expected by Song Yixiao, after struggling for a while, the woman still decided to do as told. After all, the woman had only two choices: one was to lose all reputation for abducting the eldest young lady of an official of the Hanlin Academy; the other was to receive moral praise after doing the girl a favor. It was an easy decision!

However, she still felt a bit worried, "The Wei Family is merely your mother's maiden line. Your mother has been remarried to a prince. What if they don't want to stand for you? Then…"

"Think with your brain!" Song Yixiao opened her eyes and gawked at her teasingly, "Prince of Hengshan is much superior to my father! My mother divorced my father and becomes a prince's second wife. Although it is true that she is loathed by my grandmother, others all accuse her of fawning upon the rich and despising the poor. Even the Wei Family are criticized for negligence of educating the daughter. I have three cousins who are still unmarried and they are not even engaged because of this scandal!"

"Now the Wei Family must yearn to see something disgraceful happen to the Song Family so that my mother's remarriage can be justified!" She sneers, "You had better think about how to brace up after being well received by the Wei Family!"

As expected, the carriage stopped at the back door of the Wei Family. The woman nerved herself to knock on the door and to convey her message. Then she also asked the doorman to raise the carriage curtain so as to demonstrate that the girl in poor clothes was Lady Yixiao indeed. After a while, the five mistresses of the Wei Family hurried to receive the girl, "Where are our poor niece?!"

Upon hearing their voices, Song Yixiao, who was eating pastries idlingly, changed her countenance quickly and gripped the carriage tightly, screaming and crying with tears in horror. No matter what good words the five aunties told her, she just wouldn't get off the carriage, frightened and afeared.

The aunties were not angry at all. Immersed in great sorrow, they cried sadly, "My good lord! She is the eldest legitimate granddaughter of the Song Family anyway! Despite their hatred for her mother, what fault has she made? After all, her family name is Song! How can the Song Family be so ruthless!"

Eventually, Song Yixiao's grandmother, Madam Cao arrived and cried in pain. Song Yixiao raised her skirt hem and moved towards the shaft slowly with tears, throwing herself to Madam Cao's arms. The woman with heavy makeup was struck dumb while all the people of the Wei Family were overjoyed to escort her and Song Yixiao into the house, just like winning a war!

When they arrived at the back hall, the Wei Family finally thought of the woman with heavy makeup. They hastened to offer her a superior seat and Madam Cao showed her grat.i.tude, "The Wei Family will never forget about your favor! My ruthless daughter has only one child! If she is really ruined by the Song Family, I don't know how to live on…"

The woman didn't dare to receive her grat.i.tude, even including the grat.i.tude of the five mistresses of the Wei Family. In the end, she just couldn't decline their enthusiasm and was made to sit beside Madam Cao. "As a saying goes, gra.s.sroots people always uphold justice while scholars always do things against their conscience. Today, I finally realize that the saying makes perfect sense. My granddaughter's grandfather of her father's line retires as the Grand Secretariat of the Hanlin Academy and her father is working in the Secretariat department now! Such a respectable family should not injure their eldest legitimate daughter of the first official wife. Yet, now they just show us otherwise!"

Madam Cao held her granddaughter, crying over Song Yixiao's miserable life and cursing about the Song Family's heartlessness. After a while, reminded by her daughter-in-law, she took a tumble, "Yixiao, don't be afraid. Since you are at your grandmother's home, the Song Family can never hurt you!"

She asked her eldest daughter-in-law, Madam Mu to bring Song Yixiao to take a shower and dress her back as a respectable lady. Then she ordered to prepare for a meal, "We must show grat.i.tude for Yixiao's helper!"

Before the table was completely set, the maid that accompanied Madam Mu to marry to the Wei Family, rushed into the back hall tearfully, "Your Ladys.h.i.+p! The Song Family are evils! The injuries of Lady Yixiao's body just scare Madam Mu to fainting!"

All the people at present were dumbfounded!

The woman felt so frightened and couldn't help thinking with sweat on her face, "She is only a little girl but she dares to scheme about selling herself in order to frame her stepmother, and she even hurts herself so harshly that her auntie even fainted out of shock!"

It was lucky for her that she had listened to the girl!

Otherwise, considering the cruelness of the girl, she would be killed for sure!

Actually, she kind of misunderstood Song Yixiao…

Song Yixiao did hurt herself and left the injuries, but the injuries were not that scaring. She did that only because she didn't want to see her stepmother get away with this in light of the baby she was carrying. And her auntie's fainting was merely a consequence of her on-the-spot performance!

Otherwise, Madam Cao wouldn't fall sick and lie in bed, angry and sorrowful. "Her ladys.h.i.+p is a senior in this family. Now that she is ill, everyone is occupied and flurried. Of course all shall serve her ladys.h.i.+p by her bed. How can they have time to attend to the other matters?"

They even had no time to inform the Song Family that their "lost" young lady was actually in the Wei's house, sound and safe!

After a few days, the news was spread in the whole city that the eldest young lady of the Song Family died of a sudden illness. Learning about the news, Madam Cao sneered and sat up. She lifted away the napkin on her forehead and threw it to a maid, saying in fury, "Call on some more people. Let's go to the Song's house and settle with Madam Pang!"

She thought to herself— "You old cat used to loathe my daughter for not giving birth to a son and even maltreat her so badly that she had to remarry. The Wei Family's reputation has been ruined even for that. Now you neglect your duty of managing the family and allow the new daughter-in-law to abuse the eldest legitimate granddaughter of the first official wife and to sell her to a brothel! If I let go of you on this, I will change my maiden name of Cao!"