Upon returning to the manor, Chu Yunxuan did not even go to pay his respects to the Marquis of Wenxuan; instead, he headed straight for Lin Yanran’s main courtyard.
The last time Chu Yunxuan left was the day after the Lantern Festival, when his leave expired and he had no choice but to reluctantly return to the palace to serve as a study companion.
He had no idea whether his mother would be able to pull through after suddenly exposing the mistress his father kept outside.
Deeply worried about his mother’s state, Chu Yunxuan could not care less about paying respects to his father first.
After all, in his past life, once his mother found out about his father keeping a mistress, she became so consumed by grief and depression that she passed away within half a year.
In this lifetime, he had taken the initiative to expose this matter ahead of time, and Chu Yunxuan did not know if his mother’s choice would be the same as in his previous life.
With a tense and anxious heart, Chu Yunxuan rushed directly to Lin Yanran’s main courtyard. Yet, when he stood at the entrance of the courtyard, he hesitated to enter and paced back and forth outside the gate.
In his past life, he had always wondered if his father’s undivided love was truly that important—so important that he and his younger brother combined could not compare to it.
To avoid witnessing the sordid affairs of the manor, his mother had abandoned him and his younger brother, actively seeking death.
In Chu Yunxuan’s eyes, dying of grief and depression was equivalent to actively seeking death.
When Chu Yunxuan finally gathered his courage to walk in, he saw his mother sitting under the corridor, drinking tea and eating snacks while chatting and laughing with Wenmei and the others.
Chu Yunxuan had imagined many scenarios of his mother shedding tears, but the scene before him was so beautiful that it looked just like something he had seen in his dreams.
For a moment, he could not even distinguish between dream and reality.
The moment Wenmei and the others saw Chu Yunxuan, they immediately stood up with smiles and bowed. “Our respects to the Heir Apparent!”
Lin Yanran also waved at her eldest son, who was standing frozen to the side, gesturing for him to come over. “Why aren’t you coming over to greet me? We haven’t seen each other for barely ten days, and you’ve already grown distant from your mother?”
Chu Yunxuan walked over dazedly and paid his respects. “Your son pays respects to Mother. Has Mother been well these past days?”
“I am well. Do not worry about the manor; your mother is here to handle things! You just focus on taking care of yourself in the imperial palace.”
As Lin Yanran spoke, she tugged on Chu Yunxuan’s sleeve, signaling him to sit down.
Wenmei and the others quickly hurried to fetch some chestnuts and other treats to roast.
The moment Chu Yunxuan sat down, his mother stuffed a warm tangerine into his hands. Chu Yunxuan felt that the warmth of the tangerine in his palms was just like his heart at this moment—warm and cozy.
Chu Yunxuan loved this feeling. He loved that the moment he returned to the manor, he could see his mother alive and well.
Holding the warm tangerine, Chu Yunxuan remarked with emotion, “It truly feels wonderful to be back home!”
“Then you must study diligently by the First Prince’s side. In a few years, go out and pass the imperial examinations to become a jinshi. Once you are an official, you will be able to live in the manor.”
Lin Yanran would not say things like “you are already the Heir Apparent, so there is no need to study.” Whether one possessed strategic skills and whether one chose to use them were two entirely different concepts.
Chu Yunxuan did not reply to Lin Yanran’s words. Instead, he turned to Wenmei and the others. “Aunt Wenmei, please excuse yourselves for a moment. I wish to spend some time alone with Mother.”
Wenmei and the others immediately bowed politely and withdrew.
Once the serving maids had retreated, Chu Yunxuan focused his attention on carefully peeling the tangerine in his hands. He meticulously removed every bit of the white pith from each segment before placing the tangerine before Lin Yanran.
Lin Yanran smiled and accepted the filial offering from her cheap eldest son.
Only after she had finished eating the tangerine did Chu Yunxuan speak up to ask, “How did the aftermath of the Lantern Festival incident turn out?”
As Chu Yunxuan asked this, his gaze fell upon the teacup in front of him, but his peripheral vision quietly observed Lin Yanran’s reaction.
Lin Yanran’s face remained smiling. “Your mother cried for an entire night, then found someone to investigate your father. Afterward, we negotiated terms. I have agreed to let your father’s mistress enter the manor.
Rest assured, I did not lose out. I plundered your father’s personal treasury clean, and your position as the Heir Apparent has also been officially established.”
“Mother, you…” Chu Yunxuan’s eyes held a mixture of disbelief, shock, gratitude, and suspicion.
He could not help but feel that the mother before him was somewhat different from the mother in his memories.
In truth, Chu Yunxuan had not been back for very long. The very first thing he did after rebirth was to persuade his mother to go with him to the Lantern Festival, guiding her to witness the scene of his father accompanying his mistress and their illegitimate children.
Thus, he had not had much contact with his mother in this lifetime and could not claim to understand her well.
All of Chu Yunxuan’s impressions of his mother came from his distant past life, but he had been sixty-eight years old when he died in that life.
It had been over fifty years since his mother’s passing, so it was only natural for his memories to have some discrepancies, yet he still could not help but want to suspect and test her.
While Chu Yunxuan was observing and doubting Lin Yanran, Lin Yanran was also doubting Chu Yunxuan. After all, in the novel, the original owner was only supposed to discover that Chu Mochen was keeping a mistress six years later.
In this lifetime, she had discovered it so early, and it just so happened to be on a day when Chu Yunxuan insisted on dragging her out, even though the original owner had not wanted to go in the first place.
This inevitably made Lin Yanran think deeper. After all, she herself had transmigrated into a book, so it was entirely normal for someone else to have a secret as well.
Lin Yanran leaned back casually against her chair, completely disregarding her posture, yet looking immensely relaxed. “I haven’t had the chance to ask you yet. Back then, when you insisted on persuading me to go to the festival with you, did you already know something beforehand?”
Hearing that his mother had cried for an entire night, Chu Yunxuan felt quite regretful. Had he known that exposing it so many years early would still cause his mother so much grief, he should have simply found a way to quietly dispose of those three individuals outside.
However, at this moment, Chu Yunxuan still refused to admit to his mother that he had known about it beforehand.
After all, in this life, he was still just a ten-year-old boy who spent most of his days serving as a study companion in the palace. If he claimed he had known all along, he would need countless lies to cover it up later:
“If your son had known beforehand, I would never have brought you down that street; it was highly unlucky. It was not easy to get you to accompany your son to the festival for once.”
Lin Yanran did not say whether she believed him or not, nor did she pursue the matter further. However, judging by the occasional look of nostalgia that slipped into Chu Yunxuan’s eyes, she felt she had confirmed her eldest son’s identity. He must have reborn. She just did not know when he had died in his past life or whether he had lived well.
Nevertheless, having confirmed her eldest son’s identity, Lin Yanran felt a subtle sigh of relief. Having a clever ally who knew the future was a massive guarantee for her future retirement.
Lin Yanran smiled and promised, “When the Lantern Festival comes next year, your mother will accompany you again, and we will bring Heng’er along too.”
Upon hearing this, genuine joy appeared on Chu Yunxuan’s face, but he still could not help but press further: “In Mother’s heart, is Father more important, or am I… or are my brother and I more important?”
As someone who had also lacked love in her past, Lin Yanran instantly understood what her eldest son was being stubborn about.
Lin Yanran looked earnestly into Chu Yunxuan’s eyes. “In my heart, no one is more important than my sons.”
As for the original owner, perhaps nothing was more important than her own feelings.
But now, she was Lin Yanran, and these two boys were her sons. She would never tell anyone that she was not the original owner.