The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

To show her determination, she increased the pressure in her hand.

A touch of red suddenly appeared on her snow-white neck.

"I agree! I agree!" The emperor was terrified, truly panicked: "Release your hand immediately!"

"We humbly request Your Majesty to issue a decree!"

Consort Miao demanded sternly.

The emperor was both angry and anxious. In a panic, he ordered the eunuch to find the imperial edict. He didn't even bother to move the calligraphy he had practiced, and just laid it on the table, his hand holding the brush almost leaving a blur.

Finally, he stamped the imperial seal.

He opened the imperial edict and showed it to Consort Miao: "Are you satisfied now?"

Consort Miao loosened her grip, and the gold hairpin clattered to the ground.

She lay on the ground, her shoulders trembling violently, it was hard to tell whether she was crying or laughing.

The official was also filled with mixed emotions. He quickly stepped forward, helped her up, and looked at the wound on her neck, his eyes glistening with tears: "Why did you do this to yourself!"

Consort Miao leaned against him, silently shedding tears.

When the news reached Huirou's palace, she was embroidering a handkerchief.

After hearing what the palace maid said, she dropped the needle and thread in her hand. She was stunned for a while before lifting her skirt and running towards her mother's palace.

Upon seeing the white cloth wrapped around Consort Miao's neck and the blood-stained gold hairpin beside her, Huirou's legs went weak and she almost fell over.

"Mother!" She rushed to her mother's side, tears streaming down her face. "How could you do this? How could you do this?!"

Consort Miao reached out and hugged her daughter, gently comforting her, "It's alright, it's all over now. Your father has agreed, our Huirou... can marry the person she wants to marry."

Huirou cried even harder: "If I had known you would do this... I definitely wouldn't have let you go! What if Father was determined? Mother, I'd rather marry Li Wei than have anything happen to you!"

Consort Miao felt an overwhelming pang of sorrow and hugged her daughter even tighter.

She whispered in her daughter's ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear, "It will be alright. Silly child, your father's greatest weakness is his soft heart, and his greatest strength is also his soft heart."

She stroked her daughter's back, just like she used to lull her to sleep when she was little, saying over and over again, "Good girl, Zhang Qin is a good person. The Zhang family has a good family tradition, the parents are harmonious, the younger sister is straightforward, and they are all protective of their own. You will definitely have a good life if you marry into the family."

Huirou nodded in her arms, her tears soaking her mother's clothes.

Consort Miao closed her eyes and silently prayed in her heart: My child, you must live a better life than your mother.

-

With the princess's marriage settled, the Li family was the most devastated.

Failing to marry the princess would mean the Li family would miss out on their greatest protection and glory, especially since the Emperor was no longer young, the Prince of Wei had grown up, and the Zhang family, the very foundation of the nation, stood behind them...

Yes, it's the Zhang family again!

The Li family added another grudge to the Zhang family's record.

Soon, rumors began to circulate in Bianjing about An Jie'er, saying that she was arrogant, domineering, fierce and jealous, that she publicly insulted the son of the emperor's brother-in-law, and that she was naturally seductive at a young age, causing the young men of high-ranking families to fight each other for her, both of them seriously injured.

Rumors are like the wind, penetrating everywhere.

Shilan naturally knew who was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

She certainly wouldn't sit idly by and wait to be killed; instead, she quickly launched a counterattack.

Anyone who spreads rumors, whether a storyteller in a tavern or a gossipy old woman in the inner quarters, will be dealt with as long as evidence can be found. They will either be slapped as a warning or the collected evidence will be sent directly to the yamen. If they can be implicated, they will not resort to the old trick of assigning blame to the wrongdoer.

The iron-fisted approach did indeed shock many people, and the spread of rumors was quickly brought under control.

Even so, words are like smoke, once they are spoken, they are hard to take back. Therefore, Shilan did not hesitate to completely break ties with the Li family.

Soon, the lawsuit filed by Li's mother's sisters for lending money at exorbitant interest rates was delivered to Shuntian Prefecture. News of Li Wei's past dalliances and even the murders he caused spread throughout the streets and alleys, and victims kept coming to the Li family seeking justice.

When the emperor's brother-in-law went out, the axle of his carriage broke for no apparent reason, and he almost lost his life.

Li's mother was on her way back to her parents' home when she was ambushed by bandits and lost her arm, which was adorned with a white jade bracelet.

During Li Wei's recovery, he couldn't resist the temptation of his beautiful concubine and couldn't wait to have sex with her. However, the result was the opposite, and his injury worsened. He was on the verge of death.

After all this, Li's mother finally realized that in terms of ruthless and vicious methods, she was no match for Qin Shi and could only leave in disappointment.

With his teeth stained with blood and broken, he had no choice but to pack up his belongings and flee Bianjing with his whole family.

This is the end.

Within the elite circles of Bianjing, everyone knew of Madam Qin's fearsome reputation.

No one dared to stroke the tiger's whiskers again.

But no one dared to come and propose marriage again.

On this day, Shilan went to the Duke of England's mansion with generous gifts.

She first went to pay her respects to her mother-in-law, Chen Ning.

Chen Ning, whose temples were graying, looked at the mountain of precious jade artifacts, jewelry, hair ornaments, and silk fabrics that she had brought, and couldn't help but chuckle: "You child, we're all family, why be so polite? It makes us seem distant."

Shilan lowered her eyes: "Although the first mistake was not mine, my daughter-in-law did not hold back when she retaliated, which caused trouble and implicated the other girls in the family. Consider these things my apology to Baojie."

"What right or wrong?" Chen Ning waved his hand, his tone indifferent: "I don't know about other people's daughters, but our Zhang family's daughters are precious and cannot bear the slightest grievance."

She smiled and said to Shilan, "It's not a bad thing for a young lady to have a reputation for being feisty. When her future in-laws find out that our daughter isn't a pushover, they'll definitely think highly of her. And once the marriage is finalized, they'll certainly not dare to mistreat her."

Hearing this, Zhang Guifen, who was standing to the side, smiled and replied, "Mother is absolutely right. Sister-in-law, if they don't propose marriage just because our daughter isn't easy to bully, then what's the point of having such a family? Do they think they're marrying our daughter just because she comes from a noble family and won't talk back or fight back?"

She scoffed, "What kind of dream are you having in broad daylight!"

Chen Ning was amused by his daughter's words and nodded, saying, "That's right. In that case, let's use this to test that boy from the Zheng family."

She looked at Guifen, a mischievous glint in her eyes: "If he dares to make a big fuss and come to propose marriage at a time like this, letting the whole of Bianjing know that he cherishes my daughter and begs her to marry him... I won't hold back anymore, I'll agree to him immediately."

"Oh dear, Mother!" Guifen blushed and stamped her foot in protest.

Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

Shilan covered her mouth and chuckled softly, creating a warm and cheerful atmosphere.

On the carriage ride back, she leaned against Zhang Yun, her brows relaxed and a smile playing on her lips: "Mother is so kind. Your family... is kind too."

Zhang Yun held her hand and said gently, "This is your home too."