The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

But it seemed like his imagination.

Because Lin Qinshuang only glanced at him, and after saying that sentence, she quickly lowered her eyes again: "I didn't know when you would be back today, brother. I borrowed a few books a few days ago, and when I was tidying up my trunk today, I saw them and thought I would return them as soon as possible. But when I returned the books, I saw a few more good books and couldn't help taking them. Please don't be offended, brother."

When Sheng Hong heard her explanation, he believed her most of the time. It was true that it was common knowledge that he and Wang Ruoyu had gone to the Yue family. It was unclear when they would return. How could she possibly come to block him?

On the contrary, he glanced at the book in her arms and couldn't help but think that she probably wanted to return the book quickly while he was not home, so as to avoid running into him again in the future.

Recalling the harsh words Wang Ruoyu had said during breakfast, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. So she softened her voice and said, "Sister, you don't need to be so reserved. The books are right here; you can take as many as you want. Also... about what happened this morning, your sister-in-law's words were a bit harsh. I hope you won't take it to heart."

Lin Qinshuang hurriedly shook her head, her expression growing increasingly distressed: "Brother, please don't say that. What sister-in-law said isn't entirely wrong. I was just staying at the Sheng family's place, and it was thanks to Madam Sheng's kindness that I've had these few days of peace. I've received such a favor, so I should have kept to my duty. I shouldn't have been so happy to see you and sister-in-law return home that I forgot myself and said things I shouldn't have said."

Sheng Hong quickly said, "Your sister-in-law is just impatient and speaks without thinking. She's tired from her journey today and is thinking about going back to her parents' home, which is why she lost her temper. Don't take it to heart."

Lin Qinshuang's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she said in a low voice, "How could I dare to blame my sister-in-law? It's already very kind of my brother not to hold it against me. In the end, I'm just a person without father or brother, without anyone to rely on. If it weren't for Madam's kindness, I don't know where I would be now."

As she spoke, her voice lowered, even becoming slightly choked with emotion: "To be honest, I don't ask for much. I only hope that there will be harmony in this household, and that Madam will have fewer worries. She hasn't said it all these years, but I know she has always been concerned about my brother. Now that he's back, I sincerely hope that you and your son can reconcile."

Hearing her gentle yet sensible words, Sheng Hong felt an even stronger pity for her.

He already felt guilty towards Madam Xu, and the breakfast incident had weighed heavily on his mind. Now, seeing Lin Qinshuang, who had clearly suffered injustice, still thinking of Madam Xu and himself, he felt that Wang Ruoyu was being excessively mean today.

Lin Qinshuang's expression shifted slightly as she looked at Sheng Hong, a fleeting glint of light flashing in her eyes, which she quickly suppressed.

She seemed to hesitate for a long time, wanting to speak but stopping herself several times, before finally looking up at him as if she had mustered up her courage: "Brother, there's something I don't know whether I should say or not."

Sheng Hong said, "Go ahead and say it."

Lin Qinshuang gently bit her lip, as if she were going all out: "Over the years, I've seen that my brother hasn't written a single letter home, and I've secretly resented him. I thought, Madam raised my brother, and even if she didn't expect him to be by her side every day to be filial, shouldn't he at least deserve a simple greeting? So I used to... I used to think my brother was an unfilial person, and I cursed him behind his back several times."

Sheng Hong's brows furrowed suddenly.

Lin Qinshuang, as if afraid of angering him, hurriedly said, "But now that I've seen you, brother, I realize I was wrong before. You clearly have feelings for Madam, and Madam clearly has feelings for you too. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been sending people to Dengzhou all these years. In my humble opinion, there's clearly... there's some misunderstanding between you and your mother."

"Wait a minute."

Sheng Hong interrupted her, his face immediately darkening: "What do you mean I haven't written a single letter home all these years?"

Lin Qinshuang looked puzzled: "Yeah, even during the holidays, you didn't make any explicit videos—oh!"

She seemed to suddenly realize that she had let something slip, her eyes widened, and she quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth.

In just a moment, her face visibly paled: "I...I don't know anything, brother, please don't ask me. I must have remembered wrong, or perhaps I misheard what the servants were saying."

"I still have some nourishing soup simmering on the stove for my wife, I should go and keep an eye on the heat."

She grabbed the books and was about to leave, but in her panic, she lost her composure and the books in her arms slipped and fell to the ground one after another.

She hurriedly squatted down to pick them up, but as soon as she picked up one, another rolled away, her movements becoming increasingly frantic.

Sheng Hong, feeling helpless, could only bend down to pick up the books for her and hand them back to her.

Lin Qinshuang's fingertips trembled slightly as she took the book, and she whispered, "Thank you, brother."

She didn't give Sheng Hong a chance to ask further questions. She hugged the book tightly, curtsied, and turned to leave quickly.

His back view was hurried and flustered, as if he were fleeing for his life.

Sheng Hong stood there, his expression inscrutable.

The next moment, he returned to his courtyard, and as soon as he entered the house, he coldly and rudely drove all the servants out.

Wang Ruo frowned at him: "What's wrong with you?"

Sheng Hong ignored her, only going to close the door himself before turning to Wang Ruoyu and asking, word by word, "Have you delivered all the letters I've written to my mother over the years?"

Wang Ruoyu's face stiffened for a moment.

But she quickly straightened her back and said confidently, "Of course I do. I am the legitimate daughter of the Grand Chancellor of the current dynasty. Do you think I don't even know this basic etiquette? The annual gifts are always sent on time and prepared according to regulations. What are you questioning me about?"

Sheng Hong stared at her: "My mother was also the only daughter of the Marquis of Yongyi. So, all these years, she really hasn't sent anything?"

Wang Ruoyu's eyes flickered again, and just as she was about to continue being stubborn, Sheng Hong suddenly grabbed a teacup from the table and smashed it hard on the ground.

The sound of porcelain shattering suddenly rang out.

Wang Ruoyu was so frightened that she froze.

Sheng Hong pointed at her, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, his face filled with regret and shame: "You still want to lie! Mother clearly sent me things, but you kept them all, didn't you? You didn't deliver my letter either, which is why you hurt Mother so much and caused her to become so estranged from me! Wang Ruoyu, what exactly are you trying to do!"

Wang Ruoyu's eyes widened, and anger surged up instantly: "What nonsense are you spouting! What's so great about that piece of junk? It's not even worth a penny if you sell it. I could give it to a beggar in Dengzhou and he probably wouldn't even want it."

She grew angrier with each word, and finally stopped hiding her true feelings: "I didn't want you to be heartbroken, to pour your heart out to that vile woman. Do you think she's truly sincere to you? Do you know that when she married, she practically emptied the entire Yongyi Marquis's mansion, and she has countless valuable possessions? But what has she given you? Since you entered officialdom, how many times has she paved the way for you with real money? Isn't your current position entirely due to the efforts of my Wang family?"

Wang Ruoyu gets angry just thinking about it.

In her past life, when that little bitch Sheng Minglan got married, her dowry was truly magnificent, stretching for miles, even more impressive than the two legitimate daughters of Wang Ruofu.

While it's true that Wang Ruofu, that fool, was tricked by them because of Rulan's affair and lost half of Rulan's dowry, the main reason was that the old hag gave away too many good things.

The old woman hid her mountain of private savings for most of her life, ultimately giving it not to Sheng Hong, Sheng Changbai, or Hua Lan and Ru Lan, but only to Sheng Minglan, a child born out of wedlock.

Just thinking about it makes her want to vomit.

Before marrying into the Sheng family, she had made up her mind to gradually take possession of Xu's dowry.

Originally, she wanted to take things slowly and put on a show of maternal love and filial piety with that old woman, but that wandering ghost was one step ahead, forcing her to break ties with the old woman before the wedding.

They all live their lives in the inner quarters; who can't tell the other's back?

Xu was also a proud woman. Since she had once called her an "old slut," even if she were to act subserviently now, it would be impossible to restore their relationship to what it was before.

She simply decided not to bother with it.

Anyway, Sheng Hong is the only male heir in the Sheng family, and the old woman is already quite old. Her maternal family has also fallen on hard times, so it's impossible for her to have anything to do with her anymore. So what if she doesn't try to please her? Can she fly out of the Sheng mansion and out of her grasp?

So when Wang Ruoyu first received the ordinary New Year's gift from Xu Shi in Dengzhou, she sneered, not even bothering to look at the gift list, and unhesitatingly gave the gifts to a female relative of Sheng Hong's subordinate who came to curry favor with her.

She did have someone deliver the letters Sheng Hong wrote to her at first.

However, after giving birth to Changsong, her eldest grandson, Xu only gave him a longevity lock.

You know, even though the old lady of the Kang family was so stingy when she gave birth to Kang Jin in her previous life, she still knew to give him two pairs of gold bracelets as a gift.

After that, Wang Ruoyu completely cut off these correspondences, determined to ensure that Xu would never again experience the joy of being surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

Let's just take her little bit of gold and silver with us!

However, if these things were told to others, Wang Ruoyu knew that she was in the wrong, and she also knew that Sheng Hong was raised by Xu Shi, so she would definitely be embarrassed. Therefore, she kept it a secret from Sheng Hong.

How did Sheng Hong find out?

As she thought this, the tip of her nose twitched slightly.

A faint, delicate fragrance suddenly wafted into my nostrils.

Sheng Hong was still shouting angrily, "How dare you! She is, after all, my legal mother, a widow who raised me after many years of widowhood. Logically and emotionally, you—"

"Who were you with just now!"