The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

The Queen Mother's face turned pale and then red.

She recognized Xu Shi. Normally, she would have been embarrassed to even greet her with a smile, but now, faced with the other woman's obvious contempt, she was filled with hatred, yet she still forced a smile and managed to keep her voice steady: "Sister Xu, you've misunderstood. There must be something fishy about what happened today, but it's not something that can be explained in a short time. Besides, this isn't the place to talk. There are people coming and going outside; if things get out of hand, it won't be good for either of our families."

She paused, half-reminding and half-threatening, but then added in a tone that seemed to show weakness, "We have a daughter. If it really ruins our reputation, I can just support her for the rest of my life. But your son is a boy. I've heard he's excellent in his studies and has such outstanding looks. He has a bright future ahead of him. That's the one whose future we really can't afford to waste."

Madam Xu glanced at her, her expression neither pleased nor angry, her tone neither warm nor cold: "That's what I think too. Let's take the children back today, and the day after tomorrow, our two families will meet again to discuss everything clearly. Whether we need an explanation or to set some rules, we can discuss that then."

The Queen Mother had probably guessed what she meant by these words and rules, and her face grew increasingly grim, but she could only grit her teeth and agree.

"...Alright. I will accompany the master to visit and discuss this in detail the day after tomorrow."

Xu nodded slightly.

She turned to Mama Fang and said, "Help Brother out."

Sheng Hong, however, did not move immediately.

His gaze fell on Wang Ruoyu, and doubts began to arise in his mind.

How did things turn out like this?

Who was the sender of the letter that was delivered to him?

Why is Kang Haifeng here? And is the affectionate letter he mentioned real or fake?

"Wait a minute!"

Kang Haifeng suddenly spoke.

He stood to the side, watching as the adults from the Wang and Sheng families arrived and, in just a few words, seemed to have already settled the agenda for the meeting the day after tomorrow. He immediately felt indignant.

So, after all this fuss, it seems the two families are about to become related by marriage!

He was the only one who got dragged into this for no reason, got beaten up, lost face, and ended up being a complete joke.

How can that be?

Kang Haifeng's eyes darted around, and he suddenly chuckled, "You two aunts are quick to discuss things, but the more I listen, the more confused I get. Could it be that there were clearly three people present today who would become a couple, but now only two are left?"

The atmosphere in the room changed immediately after those words were spoken.

The Queen Mother's face turned even uglier, and Wang Ruoyu's face turned pale instantly.

Sheng Hong looked over with hostility, while Madam Xu showed some impatience.

The Queen Mother said in a deep voice, "What talk of family ties? Why are the three of you here today? Have you been framed? Do you have treacherous servants among yourselves? We don't know yet. What can we possibly discuss?"

She took a deep breath and said, "I know you, young master of the Kang family. My husband and your father served in the same court, and our two families often visited each other during festivals. We're all family, so I won't mince words with you. But this kind of matter is not something a young man like you can comment on. So, go back and tell your mother about this, and ask her to come along the day after tomorrow."

Xu stood aside, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Kang Haifeng scoffed.

"Does Auntie think I'm a three-year-old?" He raised his chin, his tone full of nonchalant disdain. "There are only three of us, two men and one woman. No matter how capable Auntie is, she can't possibly marry one woman twice, can she?"

At this point, he deliberately glanced at Wang Ruoyu, his eyes full of sarcasm.

"But don't worry, Aunt. Your third wife is too arrogant, shrewish, and fickle. She's not a good match for me, and I'm really not worthy of her. But I absolutely cannot swallow my anger and be dragged into this mess."

Then, he put on a magnanimous act, revealing his true intentions: "I've heard that Aunt Wang has two daughters, and the elder daughter is even more beautiful than the younger one. Why don't you give her to me in marriage?"

"Speaking of which, Brother Sheng and I are now classmates. If we could become brothers-in-law in the future, wouldn't that make our relationship even closer?"

Kang Haifeng spoke with great enthusiasm.

But before he could finish speaking, the whole room suddenly fell silent.

All eyes turned to Wang Ruoyu.

"Who do you think she is?"

A voice came from the doorway, tinged with disbelief.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the thin wooden door being pushed open from the outside.

Langhua stood at the door.

She was still wearing the same light blue dress she had worn when she left home that morning, and she hadn't changed the hairpin in her hair either. She was accompanied only by Ah Chang and Yu Die.

Her gaze fell on Kang Haifeng's face, and she slowly asked the same question again.

"You call her...Wang San Niangzi?"

Kang Haifeng was taken aback at first.

The next moment, a look of amazement involuntarily flashed across his eyes.

Although the woman before him lacked the delicate beauty of Wang San Niangzi, she was incomparably beautiful, with exquisite features and an aura that seemed to shimmer like moonlight. Just by standing there, she exuded elegance.

He instinctively straightened his back and asked, "Yeah, so what?"

Langhua didn't answer, but instead asked, "Who invited you to this place?"

Kang Haifeng said, "Naturally, it's Wang San Niangzi."

As soon as he said that, the expressions on the faces of the others in the room turned even more grim.

Especially Sheng Hong.

He turned sharply to look at Wang Ruoyu as if struck by a heavy blow, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Upon hearing this, Langhua simply chuckled softly.

"Then do you know who I am?"

Kang Haifeng was taken aback, and then subconsciously straightened his clothes and bowed to her respectfully.

"Please enlighten me, young lady."

Langhua did not look at him, but turned her gaze to the Queen Mother.

"Mother, tell me, who am I?"

The Queen Mother closed her eyes.

By this point, she had already vaguely understood many things.

The more she understood, the more her heart ached, and she felt an urge to sweep everyone out of the room right then and there.

She suddenly opened her eyes, staring intently at Langhua, her voice deep and resonant: "Where were you just now? Why did everyone at the orphanage say you went to the storeroom when I came looking for you?"

Langhua said calmly, "Didn't I tell Mother? A child has a high fever, and we're short two vital medicinal herbs. I picked up Doctor Wu on my way here; he's out there administering acupuncture. As for why I came to the storeroom..."

She looked up and glanced at the mess inside the room, her gaze lingering briefly on Wang Ruoyu.

"I heard that thieves have broken in here. After all, the warehouse contains a lot of disaster relief supplies donated by various families. They are all acts of kindness and good deeds, and we can't afford to lose them. So I brought some men over."

In an instant, the Queen Mother seemed to understand everything.

"Good, very good."

The Queen Mother spoke slowly, her face as cold as ice.

For a moment, no one in the room made a sound.

Xu's gaze finally fell on Langhua, scrutinizing her discreetly.

The Queen Mother turned her head and looked at Kang Haifeng and Sheng Hong, saying each word clearly, "If you want to marry my daughter, then bring a matchmaker and formally come to propose marriage."

After saying that, she grabbed Wang Ruoyu's hand and practically dragged her outside.

Wang Ruoyu's legs felt weak, and her arms ached from her mother's pulling, but she didn't dare to utter a single cry of pain.

Xu glanced at Sheng Hong and then turned to leave.

Sheng Hong hurriedly followed.

In the blink of an eye, only Kang Haifeng and Lang Hua's servants remained in the room.

"You call Aunt Wang 'Mother'..." Kang Haifeng hesitated, then looked at Lang Hua, his eyes lighting up: "Could it be that you are the eldest daughter of the Wang family?"

Langhua gave him a half-smile, then turned and left without even bothering to reply.

Kang Haifeng was unwilling to give up and hurriedly took a step to chase after her: "Hey, young lady, why are you so unapproachable—"

Seeing this, Ah Jian grabbed a long stick that was standing nearby, held it in front of him, and raised his eyebrows: "Try taking another step forward!"

Kang Haifeng was startled by the stick and didn't dare to actually chase after them. He could only watch helplessly as the three of them, including Lang Hua and her servant, left the storeroom.

In an instant, the place that had just been in such a chaotic state was deserted.

-

On the return journey in the carriage, Ah Chang finally couldn't hold back and laughed so hard he slapped his thigh.

"That was so satisfying!"

Her eyes were shining, and she held back for a long time, but finally couldn't help but say, "It's just a pity that I couldn't embarrass her any further."

Langhua leaned against the carriage wall and glanced at her indifferently upon hearing this.

Ah Chang, however, was speaking excitedly and simply poured out his heart: "When the eldest lady came to find the young lady in such a fierce manner, but was led to the storeroom, she had already attracted a lot of attention. Which of those stewardesses left behind by powerful and wealthy families doesn't love to join in the fun? They all wanted to go and see. If the young lady hadn't been prepared in advance and specifically borrowed a few men from Li Liulang, how could the few women the eldest lady brought have stopped them?"

After listening, Langhua smiled and shook her head, saying softly, "Two 'kings' can't be written in the same stroke. I only want to humiliate her, not to die with her."

"Ah Chang, remember this: we're aiming for great heights. We'll find a way to drag those with ulterior motives down into the mud, and that'll be enough. We, however, cannot go down and join them."

Ah Chang listened, seemingly understanding but not quite.

But this didn't stop her from looking at her daughter with admiration, her eyes sparkling.

When Langhua saw her like this, she couldn't help but smile.

It would be best to leave them in the mud forever.