The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Not to mention Zhang Bihua, who treated her daughters like the apples of her eye.

Even Zhou Wanru herself almost lost her composure as an elder and wanted to hit Wang Ruoyu out with a big stick.

Fortunately, the youngest son still looks somewhat like a man.

Seeing Wang Ruoyu's behavior, he got up and left with his wife and daughter without saying a word.

He humiliated Wang Ruoyu on the spot.

This finally allowed Zhang Bihua to get her revenge.

"Keep her pipe dream alive!"

Upon hearing this, Langhua's expression changed slightly. Since everyone present was a close relative, she didn't bother with formalities and said directly, "Even if every young woman in the world were to die, I would not allow Ye-ge'er to marry her daughter."

Zhang Bihua immediately felt relieved and her face was full of joy.

Bai Qing hurriedly added, "I'm not tired of living, so of course I wouldn't invite such a scourge into the family. To be honest, that Yuan Jie seems like a good person. She's well-mannered and gentle. But just thinking about becoming in-laws with that person makes me shudder."

She patted her chest, her face still showing lingering fear, and said, "Marriage is ultimately a union between two families. With parents like those, even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare to marry her."

After saying that, she looked at Bai Ye, who was grilling meat with his younger siblings not far away: "Besides, Ye-ge'er is going north now, and his return date is uncertain, so we need to keep his whereabouts a tight secret. I don't want to arrange any marriage for him at this time."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Qin Yanwan, upon hearing this, remembered what her son had learned when he came home last night and couldn't help but look at Bai Qing: "You really are willing to give up so much."

The smile on Bai Qing's face gradually faded. She looked at her son in the distance, her eyes filled with both reluctance and relief.

"We were reluctant to part with him, but we had no other choice. His father and I just couldn't handle his temper. We had no choice but to send him to my father as a last resort. Unexpectedly, he has really improved a lot in the past few years."

As she spoke, a soft smile appeared in her eyes: "But his heart has also wandered wild. He's always traveling around, living a lively life, and he can't stay in the capital anymore. He just came back, and he's already leaving again, to go to even farther places... Sigh, I thought to myself, well, he's a man after all, how can I always keep him by my side? I might as well let him go and explore."

Ultimately, as long as he's happy and safe, that's all that matters.

Qin Yanwan listened and slowly nodded, then couldn't help but turn to look at her son.

Zhao Yu was fighting with Bai Ye for a skewer of grilled meat, complaining that Bai Ye had grilled it too burnt, but his hands were just as quick.

Qin Yanwan sighed inwardly and couldn't help but think how proud she would be if Yu-ge'er could be like Bai Ye, with a world in his heart, a path under his feet, and the courage to venture and fight.

But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she quickly snapped back to reality, smiled, and shook her head.

Always envying others is ultimately not a good thing.

Bai Ye and her Yu Ge'er are ultimately different in nature and status.

Besides, it was she who resolutely decided to marry Zhao Xu in the first place.

She earned her son's current position as the heir apparent of the Prince of Yan.

He was raised in a wealthy and privileged environment, where he had no worries about food or clothing and everything went smoothly for him.

How can we blame him now for not having the same ambitions and aspirations as others?

In all things under heaven, there are gains and losses.

The hereditary title of prince is a lifelong fortune that many can only dream of. If one were to further encourage their child to be ambitious, even to the point of having lofty aspirations, it might not be a blessing, but rather a curse.

As Qin Yanwan thought about this, the regret in her heart gradually dissipated.

That's good enough.

As she was thinking this, Zhou Wanru suddenly asked, "Since we're talking about the children's marriages..."

"What are the Emperor's thoughts on Jingning's marriage?"

Zhou Wanru looked at Lang Hua, and unusually hesitated, "Could it be that, as people outside are saying, Jingning is to be betrothed to the Li family?"

Langhua was taken aback at first, and then her eyes gradually turned cold.

"What's being said outside? Who said it?"

Upon seeing her reaction, Zhou Wanru knew that what she had heard was probably not the truth, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Her tone became as straightforward as ever: "Who else could it be? That woman from the Li family, Madam Yang! These past few days she's been telling everyone that the reason the Emperor rejected the Liao Kingdom was because he had already agreed to betroth the princess to her family. She's making it sound so convincing, as if the imperial decree for the marriage will be issued tomorrow."

The Yang family, the Li family.

Langhua frowned.

That was the maternal home of Consort Li, Zhao Zhen's birth mother.

A few years ago, ten years passed since Consort Chen's death. Whenever Zhao Zhen thought of her, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep, his heart breaking. Therefore, he overruled all objections and posthumously honored Consort Li as Empress Zhangyi and Empress Dowager. As a result, the Li family received generous rewards and became true imperial brothers-in-law.

The current head of the Li family, Li Yonghe, is the younger brother of Consort Li, and thus Zhao Zhen's maternal uncle.

Li Wei was his son, and in terms of seniority, he was Zhao Zhen's cousin.

Emperor Zhao Zhen channeled all his regret and love for his birth mother into tangible blessings, bestowing them generously upon the Li family.

Titles, honors, and wealth—it has everything.

Langhua had no objection to this.

That was Zhao Zhen's obsession. If doing so could allow him to sleep peacefully at night and reduce his guilt when facing his birth mother in the afterlife, she would naturally be willing to support him.

But the Li family is truly wretched.

Before Zhao Zhen recognized his birth mother, the Li family was not prominent, and even felt inferior because Consort Li was sent to guard the imperial tombs early on.

Li Yonghe's wife, Yang, came from a humble background.

Langhua did not mean to look down on people from humble backgrounds, after all, in this life, her mother, Zhou Wanru, also came from such a background.

As a child, she herself wandered the streets and alleys, growing up amidst the everyday life and vibrant atmosphere of the city.

However, Yang was completely different from Zhou Wanru.

Vulgar speech and behavior are secondary.

What people dislike most about Yang is her wicked intentions.

When he first attended a family banquet in the palace, he made unrestrained comments about several princesses.

From the beaded flowers in the children's hair to the clothes they wore, and even during meals, there were too many people serving them, and the pomp and circumstance were excessive.

Finally, she added with a smile, "If princesses are pampered like this now, their in-laws will probably not be happy when they marry into wealth."

At that moment, Langhua's expression had already faded. Seeing the children suddenly fall silent, especially Huirou's flustered look as if she had done something wrong, she immediately said, "What do you mean by husband's family and wife's family? They are princesses, daughters of the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty. No matter who they are betrothed to in the future, they will always be princesses of the Great Song Dynasty and the face of the royal family."

No one should be slighted.

Yang then shut her mouth sheepishly, lowered her head to eat, and dared not say anything more.

But who knew that something similar would happen to the young men as well.

At that time, Li Wei was only ten years old. Relying on his status as the emperor's cousin, he acted arrogantly and spoke out of turn at the banquet.

He also provoked Bai Ye at every turn.

He also said that the emperor had already agreed to give him the princess in marriage, and that he would become the imperial son-in-law in the future.

Bai Ye should be sensible and serve him meals as soon as possible.

It's easy to imagine that someone like Bai Ye, with his temperament, couldn't stand such provocation.

Before long, he lured Li Wei to a secluded spot and gave him a severe beating.