They walked slowly. Madam w.a.n.g decided to talk first, "I"m sure you are feeling confused at the moment. You can ask me any question about this family and I will answer you." Madam w.a.n.g turned around and talked to Xiao Liu – her trusted maid, "Stay a bit far from us! I need to talk alone with my daughter."

"Yes, Mistress." Without a second thought, she followed Madam w.a.n.g"s order. She stood a bit far from Madam w.a.n.g and Yao Ling, but close enough to hear just in case the mistress would call her later.

Yao Ling followed Madam w.a.n.g"s example. She only gave a signal to Xiao Yu and Xiao Yu already knew what she had to do. She went to stand beside Xiao Liu. When Madam w.a.n.g and Yao Ling walked again, they kept the same distance all the time.

After feeling satisfied, Madam w.a.n.g smiled softly at Yao Ling. "You can start asking now."

Yao Ling knew she had a lot to ask, but when the times came like this, she didn"t know where to start. She heard here and there through the gossip from Xiao Yu, but she knew perfectly clear how some words could be exaggerated. It made the real truth become distorted. Madam w.a.n.g gave her the chance to know firsthand about the situation inside this household. In a way, this was an acceptance from Madam w.a.n.g. Having this good chance, she wouldn"t refuse it.

She asked hesitantly, "I… I heard that Father and Mother is childhood sweetheart. But why…" She trailed off, didn"t know how to continue asking.

"Do you want to know why there are a lot of concubines?" Madam w.a.n.g continued her question. She knew that after listening to the matriarch"s stories, this question must have been in Yao Ling"s mind all the time.

Yao Ling nodded, feeling uncomfortable. She knew that she hit Madam w.a.n.g"s sore spot. But if she wanted to build a great relations.h.i.+p, they had to be open their heart to each other. They needed to trust each other. She had been skeptical with Madam w.a.n.g"s real intention because she had seen her scathing gaze when they first met. That"s why she couldn"t fully trust her yet.

"You are indeed right. We were childhood sweetheart." After saying that, she looked away from Yao Ling and her gaze wandered over the flower garden in front of them. Her eyes glazed over, thinking back to her past. She didn"t look at the blooming flowers in the garden, the movement of the small trees, or the flying b.u.t.terfly. All she saw was her younger self who was being hugged by w.a.n.g Luo Hai in the middle of the same garden.

She told Yao Ling her story while walking slowly along the garden path. She remembered the first time she looked at w.a.n.g Luo Hai. For her, it was love at first sight. As long as she could remember, w.a.n.g Luo Hai always had two people beside him, Lin Zheng and that beautiful girl. It was always a taboo to say her name, so she didn"t tell Yao Ling about that girl. She just skimmed through that part. She also didn"t mention the fact that w.a.n.g Luo Hai loved that girl – it was her sore spot.

"Both of our families are in a good relations.h.i.+p, so as long as I can remember, we already have a betrothal agreement."

Yao Ling watched Madam w.a.n.g"s face carefully. She saw a flash of sadness in her eyes. Although it was gone in a second, it was enough time for her to see. Childhood sweetheart? Betrothal agreement? She started to realize something. Was it childhood sweetheart because of betrothal agreement? Did it mean there was actually no love between them?

Yao Ling saw the way Madam w.a.n.g looked at w.a.n.g Luo Hai. She was one hundred percent sure that she loves him. Yao Ling never paid close attention to w.a.n.g Luo Hai"s behavior around Madam w.a.n.g, so she couldn"t say much about it. She sighed inwardly. She would probably step into the muddy water after listening to the whole story. Yes, she was young. However, she wasn"t stupid. The higher you were, there were bounded to be more complicated things to handle. This made her miss her simple life with her deceased mother.

Madam w.a.n.g was a bit conflicted. Should she tell the whole truth? She was born as a n.o.ble xiao jie. For her, pride is everything. If she admitted that w.a.n.g Luo Hai might not really love her, would it smear her own face? Truth to be told, she didn"t even know how w.a.n.g Luo Hai felt about her. She didn"t dare to ask. What if he still loved that beautiful girl? It would break her heart.

Yao Ling gripped Madam w.a.n.g"s hand softly. "Mother, if you are not willing to tell or not ready, then you don"t need to tell me. We still have a lot of times ahead." Yao Ling could feel the battle inside Madam w.a.n.g"s mind and she felt sympathetic to her. Besides, she already understood about it more or less. There was no need to push Madam w.a.n.g to tell the truth herself.

Madam w.a.n.g realized that Yao Ling knew her turmoil. She was grateful that she didn"t push her. Instead, Yao Ling was consoling her. Was this the benefit of having a daughter? She looked at Yao Ling"s face and let out a soft chuckle.

Yao Ling looked back in surprise. She wondered why Madam w.a.n.g"s mood suddenly changed. "Why are you chuckling, Mother?" She felt curious, so she couldn"t help but ask.

"I suddenly feel that having a daughter isn"t a bad thing." She patted Yao Ling"s hand and slightly smiled.

Yao Ling blushed. "Daughter still has a lot of things to learn." Then, she hesitantly added, "Mother… I know that we are both still new at this. I hope we can get along well. I used to live in a simple household. There was only my deceased mother and I. To live in peace, I will need Mother"s guidance."

Madam w.a.n.g let out another chuckle. "Of course. As a mother, naturally I will help you."

With a simple heart-to-heart talk, both of them naturally became closer. Yao Ling felt this was all because of the matriarch. She secretly praised her for her wisdom.

They walked until they arrived at the gazebo in the middle of the garden. It was built near a small pond, therefore, they could sit and enjoy the view. When they thought they could talk intimately, they saw an annoying person come toward them. Yao Ling could she Madam w.a.n.g started to frown, after realizing that their peacefulness would be gone.