The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

When Zhou Wanru came out of the Ningyuan Marquis's residence, she walked with her head held high and her body swaggering. Behind her was a group of people from the Imperial City Guard. She didn't look like someone who had just caused a scene at someone's house. Instead, she looked like a great general who had won a great victory and was returning in triumph.

As soon as I reached the street corner, I saw a familiar horse-drawn carriage.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and Langhua leaned out first. Seeing that she was alright, she breathed a long sigh of relief.

The Imperial City Guards immediately bowed to Langhua upon seeing her.

"Greetings, Madam."

They were very respectful.

Zhou Wanru saw this and felt extremely pleased.

Langhua, however, disregarded all that and quickly got out of the carriage to help her up, looking her over from head to toe: "Mother, are you hurt?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wanru immediately laughed: "Those good-for-nothing trash think they can hurt me? They'd need at least another eight hundred years of cultivation! Besides, you sent these youngsters here so quickly. Once they recognize me, how could they dare to make things difficult for me? They'd be too busy flattering me to even think about it."

Langhua laughed as she listened. She waved her hand, signaling the Imperial City Guards to leave, and then personally helped Zhou Wanru into the carriage. Once they were all seated, she said, "The Qin family will be coming to the Ningyuan Marquis's residence to carry the dowry in a little while."

Zhou Wanru's eyes lit up: "That's the right thing to do! We can't leave them a single penny!"

After she finished speaking, she remembered the important matter and asked, "How is the Qin family? Is Wan'er still there?"

Langhua nodded: "She's still here. She has to take charge of the Qin family's affairs and can't get away right now. I only escorted Ji'an to the gate of the Dongchang Marquis's residence and waited outside for a while before going in. Mother, you know that with my current status, if others recognize me, they should give me some face. But if I were to go to their door at this time and interfere in their family affairs, it would inevitably give them something to talk about."

She paused, then added, "Besides, this isn't something I should be getting involved in. Yanwan knows what she's doing; now that she's back, she'll naturally handle it. I just need to stay outside and use this as an excuse to shield her, and that will be enough."

Zhou Wanru nodded repeatedly: "Third Sister is so thoughtful."

The daughter's future empress status is certainly useful, but it cannot be used indiscriminately.

Having a high position of power and abusing one's power are two different things.

Just like when she caused a scene at the Ningyuan Marquis's residence, she wasn't afraid of making a scene no matter how badly she acted, since she was in the right.

Langhua sent the Imperial City Guard to protect her only because she was afraid that she would suffer a loss.

If Langhua were to personally enter the Ningyuan Marquis's residence or the Dongchang Marquis's residence to meddle in the Qin family's affairs, she would easily be seen by others as someone who abuses power.

If things go wrong, the Gu family might make false accusations first, claiming that the Wang family forced Bai into marriage first, which could be unpredictable.

Thinking of how despicable the Gu family was, she recalled how she had been invincible just moments before, single-handedly giving the three Gu brothers a thorough dressing-down.

He couldn't help but talk to Langhua about it with great interest.

"You didn't see it! The way the Gu family looked when I told them the Bai family had already arranged a marriage between us!"

She laughed so hard she almost fell over.

"They all looked like they had swallowed a bitter pill, especially that old lady Gu. She originally wanted someone to gag me, but when she heard that I was your mother, her face turned pale."

Zhou Wanru got more and more excited as she talked, and repeated the few curses she had hurled at him.

When she got excited, she couldn't help but slap her thigh and laugh.

Langhua laughed along, and after laughing, she didn't forget to comment: "Mother's trip will probably make the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion unable to hold its head up for a long time."

"They deserve it!" Zhou Wanru snorted.

Langhua lowered her gaze slightly and said slowly, "Indeed, evil has its retribution. They squandered their wealth and couldn't repay such a huge debt, so they set their sights on the Bai family. First, they wanted to take a concubine, then a secondary wife, and when they saw that there was no other way, they wanted to divorce the wife and marry another. Even if the Bai family eventually marries their daughter to them, they probably won't have a good ending."

"It was because of this matter that Yanwan made the decisive decision to bring the dowry back. Indeed, there is no one in charge of the Qin family now. Lord Qin vomited blood, Madam Qin fainted, and Qin Yanyun just gave birth and is barely alive. The three of them are all lying in bed, and none of them can speak a complete sentence."

Zhou Wanru frowned as she listened: "What kind of nonsense is this?"

Langhua said, "Fortunately, this is the case, so Yanwan can make all the decisions. The Qin family has always doted on this eldest daughter, and gave her a considerable dowry when she got married. Although she is not good at worldly affairs, she has not really squandered the money, and there should still be tens of thousands of taels left. Even if she really cannot repay the money in the future and is stripped of her title, she can still live a stable life with this dowry."

Zhou Wanru was listening and nodding.

But upon hearing this, she suddenly laughed and said, "My son, you are still too young. The Gu family will most likely have to go back to the Qin family's eldest daughter to reconcile since they can't marry the Bai family's daughter now."

Langhua looked puzzled.

Zhou Wanru then counted on her fingers, explaining to her in detail as if she were teaching her to read accounts when they were children: "Think about it, now it's clear that we can't pay back the money, and we probably can't escape having our property confiscated and our titles stripped. But if we don't want to end up with nothing after the confiscation, we should start planning our escape route now."

"Since ancient times, a woman's dowry has been separate from her husband's property. Even if the family is raided, they won't find that. Then there are some unspecified pieces of silver and valuables. Of course, it's not good to hide too much, but if there's a little, probably no one will really care."

"Besides, they are descendants of nobles and have not committed any heinous crimes except for defaulting on debts. When the time comes, do you really think the emperor will let them walk out empty-handed? I think at most he will take back the big items like houses and estates, but he will probably turn a blind eye to the other valuables."

"In the days to come, we will naturally not be as prosperous as we are now, but if we can still have the dowry and valuables of a woman to support us, even if we are not as well off as before, we will certainly be better off than an ordinary well-off family."

"At least buying a house, a few acres of land, or even a shop and finding work shouldn't be a problem."

"As long as one can be content with a simple life, stop thinking about the days of being surrounded by admirers and spending lavishly, live a quiet and diligent life for ten or twenty years, and raise one's children and grandchildren well, there may be a day when one can make a comeback."

Langhua listened thoughtfully.

"As for how far the Gu family can go, it depends on how patient that old lady is. But in my opinion, even if Lord Gu can't think of these things, he will definitely still come to beg this eldest daughter of the Qin family to reconcile."

Langhua nodded gently, indicating that she had learned something.

That's exactly what Madam Gu thought.

When she slowly woke up, she heard the sounds of her three sons accusing each other and shifting blame in front of her bed.

"Damn the Bai family! They tricked us!" Gu Laosi said viciously. "They got engaged to the Wang family this summer without telling us a word, and even encouraged my elder brother to divorce his wife. They're despicable!"

Gu Laowu turned to Gu Yankai and asked, "Brother, what exactly did you say to the Bai family when you went to Yangzhou? Did you say something wrong and offend them? Is that why they deliberately didn't tell you about the engagement with the Wang family?"

Gu Yankai's expression stiffened slightly.

He recalled that when he first came to the Bai family's house, he hadn't even finished a cup of hot tea before asking to marry the Bai family's daughter as a concubine. After being rejected, he mocked the Bai family for being greedy and for not even considering whether their daughter was worthy of being the eldest daughter-in-law of the Marquis's mansion.

Looking back now, every word felt like a resounding slap in the face.

Young Master Wang.

That was the future empress's cousin.

It is said that this empress was raised in the second wife's household since childhood, and her relationship with this cousin was only deep.

Moreover, he has now been formally adopted by the second wife.

Given the current dynasty's tradition of treating maternal relatives with great favor, the second branch of the Wang family is bound to receive a Duke's title. Even if it's not hereditary, how old is the current empress-to-be? As long as she doesn't make any mistakes and remains as virtuous as rumored, she can at least hold onto her position for twenty or thirty years.

Once a royal heir is born, the position will be more secure, and there will be no need to worry about not being able to secure other rewards for the brothers.

Even if it can't, on the surface, it's actually no less impressive than the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion.

For the Bai family, it was naturally the best place to go.

He arrived at the door with such confidence, and immediately asked to be treated as a concubine.

...How is this any different from bringing shame upon oneself?

Gu Yankai's face turned pale and then red.

Gu Lao Si and Gu Lao Wu saw this and immediately knew that what was said was true, and they were even more disappointed in their lack of ambition.

"Brother, I'm not trying to be mean," Gu Laosi stamped his foot, "How come you can't even handle such a small thing?"

Gu Laowu also looked regretful: "I thought you and the Bai family had everything agreed upon, and that you could go and place the betrothal after you divorced your sister-in-law. Who knew you... sigh, now look what's happened, you can't marry into the Bai family, and your sister-in-law has gone home too."

"Your sister-in-law is something else. The divorce papers were delivered to her door, and the very next step she brought the dowry list and took all of your sister-in-law's dowry!"