The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

"How could I not remember! The Sheng family!" Wang Ruofu curled her lip and continued, "Didn't Shilan say that that heartless brat from the Yuan family was trying to instigate her to bully others with his power! Like mother, like son. In my opinion, rejecting this marriage proposal from the Sheng family couldn't have been better! The mother is like this, and so is the eldest brother. That Yuan Wenshao is definitely no good either!"

Wu Yueyin slammed her hand on the table, causing the fruit and tea on it to tremble three times: "You were absolutely right! I was delayed by something before I left home, so I took a detour to make sure you were waiting. I passed a quiet alley and saw the carriage of the Marquis of Zhongqin's mansion parked in the distance. It was a snowy day, and there was no one else in the alley, except for one house with its gate open. Out of curiosity, I sent someone to ask them what was going on."

Shilan glanced at the undried snow and cement stains on her skirt and shoes, knowing better but saying nothing.

Why send someone to inquire? It's probably not that our Madam Wu herself got out of the carriage and climbed over the wall to watch the show, is it?

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Wang Ruofu asked anxiously.

Wu Yueyin lowered her voice, her tone full of excitement: "That second son of the Marquis of Zhongqin, Yuan Wenshao, has taken a mistress outside! They even have a child together! Now he's begging his mother to bring her into the household and give her a proper status!"

what?

Wang Ruofu covered her mouth, her face filled with disbelief.

Shilan's hand trembled upon hearing this, and some of the tea spilled out.

Wu Yueyin couldn't help but smile.

Nothing is more awe-inspiring and satisfying for a messenger than witnessing firsthand the news they bring.

She slowly dropped an even more explosive follow-up: "That's not all, I heard... my men heard it clearly, that mistress, it seems, even sang for a few days."

"What?!"

Wang Ruofu couldn't sit still any longer, and her voice even rose a little.

"Yuan Wenshao is, after all, the second son of the Marquis of Zhongqin! How could he, how could he demean himself to such an extent?!"

Wang Ruofu couldn't help but say, "With such a background, how can they possibly find a decent family to marry into? And what about the other children in the Yuan family? What good marriage prospects will they have? Has he gone mad?!"

"Who knows?" Wu Yueyin said, "When I arrived, cough, I mean, when my people arrived, I heard Yuan Wenshao shouting about separating the family, saying that since no one in the family could rely on him anyway, he might as well set up his own household and leave Bianjing with his mistress to be an ordinary couple."

Wang Ruofu was stunned. After a long while, he murmured softly, "If he really has that kind of backbone... then he does have some sense of responsibility."

Shilan, who had been listening intently, suddenly asked, "What is the mistress's surname?"

Wu Yueyin said uncertainly, "I didn't hear clearly, but it sounded like... something like 'madam'?"

Shilan tentatively asked, "Zhu Manniang?"

"Wow!" Wu Yueyin clapped her hands suddenly, her eyes shining with astonishment. "Amazing! Shilan, were you there at the time? How do you know so much!"

Shilan thought to herself, "What a small world!" and casually said, "I heard Gu Tingye mention it when I was in Yangzhou. He said that before he went to Yangzhou, he had also saved a girl like this in the capital and almost got entangled with her. It is said that the woman is good at using this 'hero saves the beauty' trick and targets young men from good families. She also has an older brother who helps her in doing so."

She just blurted it out.

Anyway, Zhu Manniang wasn't wronged.

In the original story, wasn't Zhu Manniang after all, who had her eyes on Gu Tingye's status as the legitimate son of the Marquis's family, and used every trick in the book to entangle him into becoming his concubine? She had children out of wedlock and still dreamt of becoming the Marquis's legal wife; her ambitions were truly sky-high!

Of course, the one who was even more clueless and arrogant than her was Gu Tingye.

Having taken in such a concubine, and already having given birth to his eldest son and daughter, he still fantasizes about marrying a noblewoman from a respectable family, who will manage his household and accounts, sit in the central hall, and have the magnanimity to tolerate this concubine and allow him to linger in the pleasure quarters.

He's so handsome!

Thinking of Gu Tingye in the original story, whose ambition surpassed even that of ordinary princes, Shilan felt a nameless anger rise up, wanting to give him a full ten feet of red ink!

If it weren't for the fact that Madam Bai is still alive, constantly offering gentle advice, and Gu Yankai is strict in his discipline, using harsh discipline to teach him a lesson, and that he hasn't gone astray yet, she would have long ago ordered Fu Ge'er to stop associating with him.

But to everyone's surprise, Gu Tingye has now calmed down and obediently gone to the border to start as a common soldier, while Zhu Manniang is like a leech, and has actually managed to climb up to the eldest son of an earl's family.

Life is truly unpredictable.

Shilan gently shook her head, but she was happy to see it happen. Whether these people were good or bad, alive or dead, it was none of her business. She was happy to watch the show.

However, there is one thing we must be wary of.

She said coldly, "This incident should serve as a wake-up call for us. The boys are all grown up now. The outside world is full of all sorts of strange and dangerous things. We can no longer hide the truths they need to know and the dangers they need to be aware of. We also need to carefully examine the people who serve us. If there are any who are self-righteous, like to make decisions for their masters, or deceive their superiors, we should show them no mercy and send them far away. We must never allow such a sordid thing to happen in our own family."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ruofu and Wu Yueyin both straightened up and agreed.

Just then, a maid came to report that Zhang Yun and Qin Zhengyang had come to pick them up.

The play had ended, and the melon had been eaten. The three of them got up, chatting and laughing as they left the private room.

As expected, Zhang Yun and Qin Zhengyang were already waiting outside the door.

They had just gone to the Sheng family to pick up Chengbai and Fuge after school, and then detoured to the Duke of Ying's mansion to pick up Anjie and Rujin, who were playing there.

The two families' carriages were parked side by side. From the Qin family's carriage came the clear laughter of children. Hua Jie'er had also arrived and was showing her younger sisters some little gadgets.

Both families were loving couples with many children around them, a picture of harmony and happiness.

As Wu Yueyin looked at him, a faint hint of disappointment flashed across her eyes, but it was quickly covered up by her usual cheerful smile.

She bid farewell to Shilan and Wang Ruofu politely and boarded her family's carriage.

Shilan also took Anjie back and said goodbye to Wang Ruofu and the others.

On the way back to the Dongchang Marquis's residence, Wang Ruofu suddenly remembered something and said with a smile, "The jewelry I ordered for Hua'er at Linglong Pavilion the other day should all be ready. Since we're on the way anyway, let's go take a look together. If the craftsmanship is good, we can pick it up directly, saving them another trip."

Qin Zhengyang naturally had no objections, and Ru Jin was also quite excited to hear that she could go look at jewelry.

The group had just entered Linglong Pavilion when they ran into Sheng Hong.

He was accompanied by a slender woman wearing a light veiled hat.

Upon seeing the Qin family, Sheng Hong's smile froze, revealing a hint of embarrassment.

Cheng Bai, who was studying at the Sheng family, was the first to perform the junior's etiquette.

Sheng Hong agreed and greeted Qin Zhengyang and Wang Ruofu in turn.

As for the woman beside him, he had already pushed her into a corner beforehand, without introducing her.

His identity is self-evident.

The smile on Wang Ruofu's lips faded, and a hint of disdain flashed through his mind.

She has a straightforward personality. Over the years, she has married well and has a high social status. However, she has not mastered the art of self-cultivation and has never even touched the threshold of self-control. Her thoughts are reflected on her face.

Sheng Hong, who was looking up at the scene, saw it right in front of him.

Sheng Hong paused almost imperceptibly, his face showing even more embarrassment, and even a faint blush of shame.

He was filled with regret. If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have succumbed to Shuang'er's soft pleas and brought her out to buy jewelry today.

Fortunately, at that moment, the manager of Linglong Pavilion came forward with a smile, carrying a tray covered with brocade.

The crowd's attention was temporarily drawn to the dazzling set of jewelry.

Taking advantage of this moment, Sheng Hong almost rudely tugged at Lin Qinshuang's sleeve, who was still huddled in the corner, and whispered, "Go take a look over there."

His voice carried obvious displeasure and anxiety about getting out of the predicament.

Lin Qinshuang stumbled as he pulled her, her face beneath the veil paling slightly, her heart filled with grievances she could not confide in anyone.

She only wanted to buy a new hairpin, so how did she end up running into the entire Dongchang Marquis's mansion?

It's freezing cold. People of their high social standing could have anything good delivered to their homes to choose from, so why did they have to come all the way here in person? It's just making her suffer this humiliation for no reason.