On the grounds of Mount Manda Manor...
????: So what’s your reason for bringing her here?
????: I may have given you the privileges to stay. That doesn’t mean you can bring a stranger into my house, especially someone who is a child of that scoundrel Duan!
A middle-aged beautiful woman in yellow who is in her late thirties, is standing outside a house with Shang.
Shang: Do I have a choice?
Shang: I don't want a future emperor on my heels because I did not protect her daughter.
Shang says as he and the woman watch Wang Yuyan and Ah Zi playing together while the maids are standing aside watching.
Shang: Seriously, I didn’t expect you and Yuyan to be related to Duan Zhengchun.
Shang already knew but he's playing dumb.
The woman who Shang is speaking to was Li Qingluo, the mother of Wang Yuyan and one of Duan Zhengchun’s lovers. The reason for the Wang surname was because after Li Qingluo was abandoned by Zhengchun, she married a person of the Wang Family which is under the Murong Family.
Qingluo: Who would have relations with that scoundrel!
Qingluo turns away from Shang.
Shang’s thoughts: Tsundere…
Shang: No matter what you say, Ah Zi and Yuyan are still innocent. Your affairs with Zhengchun shouldn’t concern them.
Qingluo: That’s none of your business on how I do things around here!
Shang:...
Shang: Then I will say my last piece of advice.
Shang: Madam Wang, have you seen Zhengchun angry before?
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Qingluo:...
Qingluo only recalls how she falls in love with Zhengchun and how she was abandoned by him. When she was together with him, she has not seen him being angry before.
Shang: Once Zhengchun finds out what you have done to his lovers or his daughters, do you think he will still love or hate you?
Shang: I leave it to your imagination.
Shang walks away, leaving a stunned Qingluo behind.
The next day morning…
Shang: Yuyan, Ah Zi, it’s time to go.
Yuyan and Ah Zi appear from another path.
Yuyan: Teacher, where are we going?
Shang: We’re going to climb a mountain.
Ah Zi: Mountain climbing!? What’s so fun about mountain climbing?
Shang: To be precise, we are going to see Yuyan’s grandfather.
Yuyan: I have a grandfather? My mother never told me I have one.
Qingluo: She is right. She does not have a grandfather.
Qingluo appears from another side with two maids following her.
From her face, Shang could see she is hiding the dark circles around her eyes with makeup.
Shang: How’s your sleep yesterday?
Qingluo: Thanks to you, I couldn't sleep a wink last night.
Qingluo had a nightmare about Zhengchun that woke her up in the middle of the night.
Qingluo: So where are you bringing my daughter to? If you are bringing her to see my adoptive father, Ding Chunqiu, you can forget it as I have nothing to do with him.
Qingluo has to cut connections with Chunqiu because of his evil deeds in the martial world.
Ah Zi: Eh!?
Ah Zi was surprised to hear the head of her sect was related to her sister’s mother.
Shang: Of course, I am not bringing her to see that adoptive father of yours.
Shang: I am bringing her to see your real father.
Qingluo: My real father? What's wrong with him?
Shang: I have news that he is dying soon.
Qingluo: He's dying? Good, he deserved it. If he didn’t abandon my mother, I and my mother wouldn’t be in this kind of state.
Shang's thoughts: To be precise, it's your mother fault.
Shang: Hmm. I think it’s better if I bring the person here to explain himself than me telling you what has happened. Don’t you think so, Madam Wang?
Qingluo: ... Do whatever you like. I still have not forgiven him for abandoning us.
Qingluo walks away with the maids.
Shang turns to Yuyan and Ah Zi.
Shang: Let’s go. Your mother has given her approval.
Ah Zi: Mister Shang, do we really have to climb a mountain to see her grandfather?
Shang: Sorry, we don’t really have a choice.
Shang smiles to Ah Zi.