The onlookers who understood nodded their heads, among whom were many who had their own mothers or sisters remarry and serve as stepmothers. They knew all too well how difficult and awkward such a position could be for a woman.
It was sowhat easier when the children were too young to rember, for if raised from a young age, they may not be as close as one’s own flesh and blood but would at least not purposely trip up their stepmothers. So, while being raised, would constantly be compared by elder relatives with those who ca before. Any slight slip was t with accusations of being heartless. Stepmothers would wish nothing more than to display their hearts for all to see, to prove their compassion, suffering countless indignities in silence.
Of course, there were both good and bad stepmothers. Looking at the current situation, the Lady Marquis Weiyuan appeared not to be the vile sort. Otherwise, why would she wish for discord between her husband and stepson to profit from it? Why would she advise from the sidelines and secretly wipe away tears?
Idle commoners always delighted in the deep-seated grievances within noble households. Seeing Fatty pause at the climax, soone imdiately urged, "Co on, tell us more, what else happened?"
Fatty no longer dallied and continued, "Because of the Lady Wei Yuan Hou, frictions ultimately arose between General Xiao and Lord Wei Yuan. General Xiao felt that he had lost Lord Wei Yuan’s favor and feared the Princely Heir position might be taken from him. Thus, he used his authority to send his own brother, the second son of the current Lady Wei Yuan Hou, far away to their ancestral ho to guard the Ancestral Mausoleum. He even had people watch Xiao’s second son like a prisoner, forbidding him from leaving the Ancestral Mausoleum and preventing Lord Wei Yuan and the Lady Marquis Weiyuan from visiting. Lord Wei Yuan, valuing his eldest legitimate son more, couldn’t bear to see his reputation tarnished and publicly claid Xiao’s second son had misbehaved and was sent by General Xiao to reflect at the Ancestral Mausoleum as a punishnt. But privately, he pleaded several tis with General Xiao, hoping he would go easy on his youngest son. Every ti, General Xiao flatly refused. Because of this, the relationship between Lord Wei Yuan and General Xiao deteriorated more and more."
Hiss!
The audience did not expect to hear such an insider story. While they could understand and even expect the revered War God to dislike his stepmother or have a poor relationship with her, treating his own younger brother so harshly and ignoring his father’s pleas seed excessively cold and heartless.
However, so were skeptical of Fatty’s one-sided account, voicing their doubts, "Isn’t it possible that the current Lady Wei Yuan Hou or Xiao’s second son did sothing to offend General Xiao’s vision, leading him to dispatch them to the ancestral ho? After all, General Xiao is the Marquis’s Young Master. If that mother and son harbored designs on the Princely Heir position, deliberately saring General Xiao in front of Lord Wei Yuan, and being discovered by General Xiao, it’s not inconceivable that he would send them to the Ancestral Mausoleum as punishnt. I’ve heard that it was Elder Sir Xiao who, in his illness, personally obtained the Princely Heir title from The Emperor. Perhaps Elder Sir Xiao foresaw the malicious intentions of that mother and son and took preventive asures, petitioning for General Xiao to be nad the Princely Heir in advance."
In his day, Elder Sir Xiao, like Xiao Ruiyuan today, was regarded with reverence by all. Such an old man, plotting for his young grandson on his deathbed, must have had his compelling reasons, otherwise why would he have bypassed Lord Wei Yuan to do this? After all, bestowing the title of Princely Heir is sothing a father should do himself!
The man’s words seed logical, and as soon as he finished, many people agreed:
"That’s right, that’s right. The machinations within great mansions are more nurous than the hairs on us commoners’ heads. The current Lady Marquis Weiyuan seems magnanimous, a kind and gentle mother, but who knows if it’s all an act for Lord Wei Yuan to see?"
"Exactly, exactly. There’s a family who lives next door to with just two shops to their na. Yet, the stepmother is angling to get it all for her own son. She’s kind to the stepson, feeding him richly every day until he’s beco so obese that he can barely walk. She’s even stuffed his room with pretty maids, all at the tender age of thirteen... Who wouldn’t praise such a stepmother if they didn’t know better? But if she were truly kind, would she fatten her stepson up like waste? It wouldn’t be surprising if the current Lady Marquis is like that, outwardly displaying the image of a loving mother while harboring darkness inside, black-hearted as coal."
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