Lu Yuan wasn’t sure if the timing of his mother-in-law’s departure was a coincidence or something else.

She said she wanted to set out in half a month.

Traveling from Taiping City to the Capital City, with stops along the way, would take well over half a month.

By the time she arrived, Empress Ma would be all but gone.

The timing would be perfect for her to pay her last respects.

He didn’t know if it was a coincidence, or something more.

In any case, Lu Yuan felt his mother-in-law must have some special abilities.

He’d noticed it before.

His mother-in-law had stayed at their house for a period of time.

She hadn’t stayed for long, just seven or eight days before heading back.

And during those seven or eight days, his mother-in-law had spent her time in the main house of the central courtyard, chanting.

Lu Yuan himself had also formally studied the teachings of the Celestial Master.

With just one look at his mother-in-law’s techniques, Lu Yuan could tell—even if he didn’t recognize all of them.

But the ones he did recognize looked truly orthodox.

How should he put it? They felt even more orthodox than the techniques of Daoist Longchuan.

In particular, she also had several old artifacts with her.

He felt they were on the same level as his own Celestial Master Sword.

Of course, he hadn’t examined them closely, so Lu Yuan couldn’t say for sure if that was truly the case.

But in any case, Lu Yuan just felt that his mother-in-law was no ordinary person.

’So, this time...’

Lu Yuan considered it for a moment, then decided not to dwell on it.

’It doesn’t really matter. She’s my mother-in-law, not some stranger. It’s not like she’d ever harm me, right?’

’I’ll ask her about it next time I have a chance.’

’If my mother-in-law is going...’

Lu Yuan glanced at Su Liyan, who had just gotten out of bed beside him.

"Liyan, do you want to go?"

Su Liyan was sitting on the edge of the bed, mulling over the same thing.

Su Liyan thought about it for a while, but she just lowered her head and said nothing.

Seeing his wife’s expression, Lu Yuan understood.

She wanted to go pay her respects to Empress Ma as well.

Lu Yuan could understand.

Although Lu Yuan wasn’t a member of the Half-demon Race, his wife was.

He naturally understood the status Empress Ma held in the hearts of Half-demons like his wife.

His wife surely wanted to go, but was held back by the baby in her womb.

Or perhaps, she was worried about him.

His wife was afraid something might happen to the baby.

Lu Yuan thought it over, then suddenly said:

"Why don’t you go?

You’re four or five months along now. In terms of both the season and the stage of your pregnancy...

...this is the safest time to travel.

Go and pay your respects. Otherwise, you’ll inevitably regret it later.

I’ll go with you."

Lu Yuan thought about it. ’Nothing bad will happen.’

After all, the fourth and fifth months of pregnancy were the most stable period for the fetus.

Of course, that was just the conventional wisdom.

The journey would still be exhausting, and certainly not as good as simply staying at home.

But he, Lu Yuan, would be with her.

’With a miracle worker like me around, nothing major can go wrong.’

Even though Lu Yuan himself felt it would be better if his wife didn’t go...

...he had just told her he understood.

’Since that’s the case, they should just go.’

However, before they left, Lu Yuan thought he should make some improvements to the carriage.

He’d add more shock absorption, making the carriage’s suspension like one of those multi-million-dollar luxury cars from Earth.

’That shouldn’t be too hard.’

Besides, it wasn’t winter anymore.

It was late spring verging on early summer; you could sleep outside at night and feel perfectly fine.

When Lu Yuan finished speaking, Su Liyan was moved beyond words.

’Where could she ever find such a wonderful man, one who indulged her every whim and went along with all her wishes?’

After Lu Yuan finished speaking with Su Liyan, Zhao Qiao’er, who was standing to the side, blinked and said:

"Then I’ll go too."

Hearing Aunt Zhao’s words, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

"You should just stay put at home."

’Letting his wife go was one thing...’

’...but what reason did Aunt Zhao have to go?’

After all, Aunt Zhao had no connection to Empress Ma.

Besides, Aunt Zhao had only just become pregnant; the fetus wasn’t stable yet at this stage.

If she went with them, something could easily go wrong.

Aunt Zhao naturally knew this. In fact, she was being more careful with her body than anyone else right now.

Aunt Zhao wasn’t like Su Liyan, who still moved about as usual and thought nothing of it.

Ever since becoming pregnant, Aunt Zhao had been the picture of caution.

Previously, no servants were assigned to the central courtyard.

The family felt it was better that way, as having outsiders around made them uncomfortable.

But ever since Aunt Zhao became pregnant, several young maids were kept on standby between the central courtyard and the front gate.

She had to call a maid in to help with everything.

The only reason Aunt Zhao wanted to go this time was that if Lu Yuan and Su Liyan left, she would be all alone at home.

She didn’t know if Song Meiqin would be going or not.

But even if Song Meiqin stayed behind, she had to go to the factory every day and wouldn’t be home to keep her company.

Naturally, she was unhappy about that.

Lu Yuan, of course, knew what Aunt Zhao was thinking. Before she could say another word, he quickly interjected:

"We’ll make it a quick trip, just about a month.

Besides, Aunt Song will still be at home."

At this, Lu Yuan turned to Song Meiqin and said:

"Aunt Song, while we’re away, please don’t go to the factory. Just stay home and keep Aunt Zhao company every day."

Song Meiqin, however, didn’t seem to take Lu Yuan’s words too seriously. While lightly dabbing rouge on her cheeks in front of a mirror, she said:

"Oh, it’s fine.

Your Aunt Zhao is as strong as a horse..."

"AH—"

With a cry of surprise from Song Meiqin, Lu Yuan pulled her to her feet.