The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

As soon as Wang Ruo returned to her room, she immediately rushed towards the incense burner.

She practically went mad, emptying all the incense ash from the container and reaching out to turn it over, but no matter how she turned it, there was nothing inside.

The taste has changed too.

There was no unusual fragrance, nothing out of the ordinary.

"How could this happen..." Wang Ruoyu murmured, "How could this happen!"

She didn't believe it, so she rushed over to search the dressing table and chests next to her, and even tore down the bed curtains to examine them, as if she could find evidence of harm to herself if she searched carefully enough.

But there was nothing there.

I can't find anything.

She was so angry that her vision blurred. She grabbed a porcelain bottle and smashed it on the ground, shards of porcelain flying everywhere. Then she swept the jewelry box, embroidery hoop, and teacup off the table, leaving the room in a complete mess.

"Have you made enough of a scene?"

The Queen Mother arrived at some unknown time and stood at the doorway, looking at the shards scattered on the ground, and at her eldest daughter with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, her face terribly gloomy.

Upon seeing her, Wang Ruoyu burst into tears, rushed over, and cried out, "Mother! It's Wang Ruofu! That vile Wang Ruofu is the one who's ruining me! She set up this whole mess today, she's trying to destroy me, Mother! Kill her, kill her!"

"Snapped!"

A loud slap landed unexpectedly on her face.

Wang Ruoyu was knocked to the side by the blow, completely stunned.

After a long while, she covered her face and turned around in disbelief.

"You hit me?" Her voice trembled, her eyes wide. "You actually hit me? From childhood to adulthood, you've never laid a finger on me, and now you're hitting me for her?"

The Queen Mother didn't bother arguing with her about these things, her voice chillingly cold: "I'll ask you a question, and you'd better answer me honestly."

She stared at Wang Ruoyu, her eyes colder than ever before: "Which one, from the Kang family or the Sheng family, was it you who summoned?"

Wang Ruo's lips moved, but she didn't make a sound, and her eyes instinctively tried to look away.

"explain!"

"If you don't explain yourself clearly to me, you won't get anything when your father comes back! He'll send you to the family temple and make you spend your life in seclusion!"

The color drained from Wang Ruoyu's face instantly.

What she feared most was never her mother's anger, but her father, who was upright and intolerant of any sordid behavior within the household.

She was trembling all over, and finally spoke, her voice trembling.

"Kang...Kang Haifeng."

The Queen Mother closed her eyes, her chest heaving.

"And what about Sheng Hong?"

Wang Ruoyu shook her head frantically, her voice trembling with tears: "It wasn't me who called him, absolutely not! Mother, Sheng Hong wasn't called by me!"

The Queen Mother stared intently at her for a long while before finally asking the most crucial question.

"So, which one do you want to marry?"

Wang Ruoyu bit her lip, extremely embarrassed, and after a long while, she finally uttered two words in a low voice: "Sheng Hong".

"You want your sister to marry Kang Haifeng?"

Wang Ruo's lips trembled, and before she could nod, her mother coldly pressed, "In what way is Kang Haifeng inferior to Sheng Hong?"

This question was extremely harsh, as if it were forcing her to reveal all her most private and secret thoughts.

Knowing she could no longer hide it, Wang Ruoyu decided to stop, crying, "He's inferior in every way! He's just a good-for-nothing who's all show and no substance!"

"Mother, please help me! Aren't you the one who loves me the most?" She gripped her mother's hand tightly. "What's so good about Wang Ruofu? She's just a country girl. No matter how well she learns manners, it won't change the fact that she's not close to you! In her heart, her second aunt is her mother! Don't you know how different the things she makes for you and her second aunt every year are, Mother!"

"mother!"

The Queen Mother closed her eyes.

She simply said slowly, "This matter is probably beyond your control."

Wang Ruoyu suddenly looked up: "W-what?"

The Queen Mother looked down at her, her eyes no longer showing the tenderness that was once so biased that bordered on indulgence; only a cold, clear-headedness remained.

"Do you think Madam Sheng and Madam Kang are easy to fool?"

Wang Ruoyu was taken aback.

Immediately, my heart sank.

-

Kang family.

After hearing her son's account upon his return, Kang's mother's lips twitched slightly, before a cold smile appeared on her face.

"I never expected it," she said, gently setting down her teacup. "The Wang family's house is so lively, it's almost as bustling as a southern opera troupe."

Kang's mother glanced at her son and said slowly, "If it were before, I would indeed have wanted to ask for a marriage proposal from the Wang family for you. But now..."

She gave a soft hum.

"Now that you've seen through the filth within the Wang family, my son should choose someone better."

Kang Haifeng scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed.

"Mother, if you had said this before, I wouldn't have dared to disagree. But now, now..."

Seeing his expression, Kang's mother guessed most of what was going on and said with exasperation, "What? You don't actually have your eye on that Wang San Niangzi, do you?"

Kang Haifeng immediately waved his hand: "No, no, no, how could I possibly fall for such a fickle and wicked woman? I have my eye on the eldest daughter of the Wang family."

Kang's mother rolled her eyes and poked him on the forehead.

"My silly son, don't you understand yet?"

She sneered, "The one who deliberately seduced you and led you to the orphanage was the eldest daughter of the Wang family. The one who appeared later was the real third daughter. You and she were almost killed by that eldest daughter's schemes today."

"what?"

Kang Haifeng was stunned.

Seeing his bewildered expression, Kang's mother mocked him without restraint: "The affairs of a woman's household are a complex matter. Forget it, I'm too lazy to explain it to you in detail. Just tell me one thing: are you still certain that you want that Third Sister?"

Kang Haifeng then slowly came to his senses.

It turns out that the person I met at the very beginning was the eldest daughter of the Wang family.

That is, the woman who still has an ambiguous relationship with Sheng Hong today.

The beautiful woman who appeared at the warehouse door later was the real Wang San Niangzi.

It turns out that the eldest daughter of the Wang family had been approaching him from the very beginning by posing as his younger sister.

The reason they lured him to the orphanage this time was most likely to exploit his reputation as a scoundrel.

How could there be such a vicious woman in this world?

Kang Haifeng gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on the table.

"I want her!" he said bitterly. "I want Third Sister! I'd rather marry anyone else than a viper like her!"

Upon hearing this, Kang's mother smiled slowly.

Yeah.

-

On the other side, the Sheng family.

Sheng Hong knelt in the center of the courtyard.

Madam Xu was not in a hurry to punish him. She simply sat to the side, slowly flipping through an account book before speaking calmly, "This matter will eventually need to be addressed."

"It's not just for the Wang family, it's for yourself too."

"You are destined to take the imperial examination. Right now in Bianjing, there is no one with a better reputation and future than Minister Wang. And there is no one more suitable for you than a daughter of the Wang family."

Sheng Hong's throat moved slightly, but he didn't dare to make a sound.

Xu looked at him, her gaze still calm, almost cold:

"But I made that clear beforehand."

"If you want me to personally propose marriage on your behalf, I don't want someone who had a secret rendezvous with you before the wedding and who was also having an ambiguous relationship with another man under the guise of being your sister."

"I only want to marry the second daughter of the Wang family, Wang San Niangzi."

"Should you answer or not?"

Sheng Hong was stunned.

After a long silence, his muffled voice finally came through: "...It's up to Mother to decide."

Xu curled her lips into a sarcastic smile.

-

in the palace.

Upon hearing the report, Zhao Zhen's face darkened completely.

"Outrageous! How dare they bully Third Sister like this?"

Zhang Maoze stood aside and whispered, "Your Majesty, please calm down."

Zhao Zhen, however, could not calm down.

He paced back and forth in the hall, growing angrier the more he thought about it, feeling as if a fire was burning in his heart.

Even someone like Third Sister had to endure such scheming and torment at home, and her reputation was almost ruined.

After a moment, he suddenly stopped and said resolutely:

"Minister Xuan!"