The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

"I hear from my in-laws that they want to instigate their son-in-law to divorce his wife? Fine. If you dare to divorce her because of this, I'll go and beat the drum to appeal to the Emperor. Let all the officials and the people of the world judge this! Let's see how you, Gu Jia, will ever be able to hold your heads high in Bianjing again!"

At this point, the expressions of the people in the room varied.

Madam Gu suddenly chuckled.

She stared at Qin's mother and slowly asked, "You're saying that Qin's dowry was all given to my Gu family?"

Qin's mother replied matter-of-factly, "Of course! My son told me himself. Things have come to this point, are you still trying to cover it up?"

Madam Gu gave a cold laugh.

"The fourth son's family."

The fourth son's wife immediately stepped forward: "Mother."

"You tell me. Has my Ningyuan Marquis's mansion ever touched a daughter-in-law's dowry?"

The fourth son's wife lowered her eyes and said, "Mother is forgiving; there is no such thing."

Qin's mother's expression changed slightly.

Old Madam Gu then looked at the fifth son's wife: "And you?"

The fifth son's wife quickly replied, "No, there isn't any."

Old Madam Gu chuckled softly: "That's strange. The eldest daughter-in-law keeps saying I touched her dowry, but I really didn't. Where did the dowry go?"

She paused deliberately, her voice suddenly turning cold: "Then it seems we'll have to interrogate them properly."

Therefore, Madam Gu immediately ordered her men to seize several of Qin Yanyun's head maids and torture them in public to extract a confession.

The first thing to be affected was jade mining.

Caiyu initially tried to deny it, saying that her dowry was given to the Gu family for financial support.

But the old lady's maid was no pushover; she slapped Caiyu hard several times, and Caiyu confessed in tears.

The dowry is still in Qin Yanyun's own hands and has not been touched.

Qin's mother swayed, her face filled with disbelief.

Qin's father's face also turned pale instantly.

The courtyard suddenly became eerily quiet.

Madam Gu sneered, "The Qin family has truly raised a fine daughter. She appears pure and innocent, but in reality, she's a liar and malicious. Our Gu family dares not keep such a daughter-in-law any longer. Men, take her back to the Qin family."

The servant hesitated and said, "Madam, the eldest daughter is weak after childbirth and should not be moved."

Old Madam Gu, however, became furious, slamming her cane heavily on the ground: "Then tear down the door, tear down the wall, and carry her out, bed and all! Let whoever wants this blessed daughter-in-law take her. My family certainly doesn't want her!"

Gu Yankai cried out urgently, "Mother!"

"Shut up!"

Old Madam Gu glared at him: "Don't think I was joking just now. If you don't break ties with this woman today, I'll die right here in front of you!"

Knowing he could no longer maintain that pointless air, Qin's father couldn't help but speak up: "Mother-in-law! Does your family really intend to go to such extremes?"

Madam Gu said, "So what if it is?"

Seeing that Old Madam Gu wouldn't budge despite her pleas and threats, Qin's mother was completely desperate: "Since that's the case, I'll go and appeal to the Emperor!"

She pointed at the Gu family members, her voice cracking: "I'm going to tell the officials that you're colluding with the salt merchants! You're in cahoots with them! You conspired with that salt merchant to take my daughter's life!"

"At worst, we'll all die together, and nobody survives!"

For a moment, Madam Gu was stunned by her frenzied energy.

But soon, she narrowed her eyes and sneered, "Utterly foolish. If I were you, I would take her back right now. After all, we've all fallen out. If she stays in my house, I have plenty of ways to make her obey."

The murderous intent implied in those words startled Qin's parents, and Qin's mother trembled.

"Bringing her back now means our two families can divorce amicably. To outsiders, it will seem like a peaceful separation. You can even take your dowry back intact. With this money, won't the title of Marquis of Dongchang be preserved?"

Madam Gu looked up and reminded her with a smile, "You don't only have this one daughter."

"I heard that your second son went to the border to join the army? He does have some guts, but it's a pity. It's true that the military can toughen people up, but once war breaks out, life and death are unpredictable."

"You only have one son."

"Even if we can't repay the entire amount in the end, we can at least repay half. Who knows, the officials might be kind and only demote us by one rank, instead of stripping us of our title."

"Don't you even intend to leave him a count or a viscount title?"

"If you disregard everything for this daughter, and in the end you leave nothing behind, won't your other children hate you to death?"

"Aren't they your own flesh and blood?"

Qin's parents were completely speechless. Judging from the flicker in their eyes, it was clear that their hearts were in turmoil.

At that moment, the servants of the Gu family had already dismantled the doors and windows, and carried Qin Yanyun out, bed and all.

Through the bed curtains, everyone could vaguely see the sleeping figure on the bed.

Such a humiliating experience made Qin's father feel a sweet taste in his throat, almost vomiting blood, but he held on and finally looked at Gu Yankai.

"What did you say?"

Gu Yankai looked at Old Madam Gu with a pained expression, but she only gave him a cold look.

After a long silence, he finally said in a muffled voice, "After Father passed away, I became the eldest son and it was my duty to uphold the family name and establish a new household..."

Qin's father closed his eyes.

He didn't say another word, but instead gave his wife a half-forceful hug and turned to leave.

No sooner had the Qin family returned to the Dongchang Marquis's residence than the Gu family servants followed them there, delivering a letter of divorce.

It wasn't the divorce that was agreed upon at all.

The Gu family couldn't wait even a moment longer, and they didn't care about their reputation at all. They didn't care about the reputation of the Dongchang Marquis's Mansion, but also the reputation of their own Ningyuan Marquis's Mansion.

Qin's father could no longer suppress the anger that had been building up in his heart.

Qin's mother also fainted.

The Qin family was thrown into chaos and had no choice but to go to the Prince of Yan's residence to ask Qin Yanwan to return and take charge.

Zhou Wanru was stunned and it took her a long time to figure out what had happened.

Well, this eldest aunt of the Qin family is truly a woman of great hidden depths. To behave like this after marrying into her husband's family is quite remarkable. No wonder Yanwan married herself off so early and doesn't want to have much connection with her family after leaving home.

Even when her family was facing a life-or-death crisis, she would hide the money from them and lie to her mother, saying that she had given it to her husband's family.

What else could this be but an ingrate?

And then there's the Gu family.

What kind of Marquis Ningyuan is he? He sounds like he's got the most debt among all the noble families in Bianjing, right? Other families might have a debt of 100,000 to 200,000 taels at most, or 400,000 to 500,000 taels at most, but his family has created a hole of 800,000 taels.

That's like piercing the sky!

What's even more despicable is that, instead of selling his family property and scrimping and saving to pay off his debts, he was after the salt merchant's daughter and using her dowry to cover his debts.

If a perfectly good girl refuses to become a concubine, they then plot to divorce their daughter-in-law who has just given birth.

How could there be such a destitute family in this world? Aren't they afraid of having no descendants?

and many more.

Yangzhou salt merchants?

Zhou Wanru suddenly turned her head to look at Langhua.

"That damned Gu family, are they perhaps after the Bai family?"

Langhua nodded helplessly.

Indeed, after going around in circles, they still ended up coming to the Bai family.

Zhou Wanru's face instantly darkened.

"OK."

She gave a cold laugh and began to roll up her sleeves.

"parking!"

Langhua was taken aback: "Mother?"

The carriage had already stopped, and Zhou Wanru lifted the curtain and nimbly jumped down.

Langhua was dumbfounded, and quickly leaned out, asking, "Mother, what are you doing?"

Zhou Wanru didn't turn her head: "You go and keep Wan'er company, and tell her not to be too sad. I'll go to the Gu family myself."

As she spoke, she turned to look for another carriage.

Langhua hurriedly got out of the car and took a few steps after her, calling out, "Mother!"

Zhou Wanru was talking to a driver by the roadside when she noticed out of the corner of her eye a wooden mallet used for starching clothes placed in front of a shop next door.

Her eyes lit up, and she simply walked over, picked up the wooden mallet, and gave the man two coins.

She weighed it in her hand a couple of times and found it to be very handy, becoming increasingly satisfied.

"They dare to make a move on my daughter-in-law. Well, I'll have to go over there and have a serious talk with them."