The temperamental white moonlight is back, and the entire Marquis's family obediently calls him

The gates of Lanfang Pavilion were tightly shut, so Zhao Xianglan stepped forward and knocked on the door.

When the old woman inside heard that the old lady had arrived, she was so frightened that she pushed the maid beside her and told her to go and inform the mistress inside, while she herself opened the door tremblingly.

Inside the room, Liu Muqiu was looking at the account book with a headache when she heard from the maid that her mother-in-law had arrived, which made her headache even worse.

The head maid, Qin Xin, hurriedly ordered someone to make tea, then turned around and helped her mistress to her feet.

A few breaths later, when he looked up again, he unexpectedly saw Lu Mingzhao at the door.

Both master and servant shuddered.

Why did the old lady walk so fast?

Then they saw that the old lady was dressed in a bright and beautiful way today, with her hair full of pearls and jade, looking like a peacock. The two of them were shocked again.

"Greetings to the old lady..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Mingzhao had already stepped forward and supported Liu Muqiu's arm.

"You don't need to worship me, I just came to see you."

Liu Muqiu was taken aback. When she looked up, she saw that her mother-in-law's eyes were full of amazement, and there seemed to be a hint of... affection?

Liu Muqiu felt a strange sensation in her heart. She concealed the emotions in her eyes and quickly put on a gentle and obedient smile: "Please sit, Madam."

As soon as Lu Mingzhao sat down, he couldn't help but look Liu Muqiu up and down.

Liu Muqiu was born with bright, beautiful eyes, and her every move exuded the elegance of a well-bred lady. Her voice was gentle and soft, and Lu Mingzhao liked her at first sight.

"Mu Qiu, are you looking at the account books?"

Lu Mingzhao glanced at the ledgers spread out on the table.

"Yes. The money that Second Master paid to that person was sent over this morning. I just put it in the account. I was planning to tell Madam when I paid my respects tonight."

As she spoke, Liu Muqiu handed over the account book, pointed to two places, and said gently, "And these are the profits from the Xinghualou and Baiyuege jewelry shops for the first half of the month. Please take a look."

Lu Mingzhao nodded with a smile.

Hearing that Liu Muqiu was only eighteen years old, Lu Mingzhao didn't think he was that much older.

As long as she is sincere enough, they will definitely have common topics and become friends.

Thinking this, Lu Mingzhao happily took the account book, glanced at it, and then quietly put it down again.

She was a true farmer, working in the fields during the day and lying in the yard watching the stars at night.

Having lived for twenty years, she only recognized six characters: "Lu Mingzhao" and "Zhou Ningchuan".

Asking her to look at the account books is as difficult as asking an ant to lift a tripod.

Liu Muqiu waited for a long time, but her mother-in-law didn't say anything, and her heart skipped a beat.

Of all the people in the family, the second most troublesome was his younger uncle, and the first most troublesome was Lu Mingzhao, who was standing right in front of him.

Ever since she married into the Marquis's mansion, her mother-in-law has never looked at her with a second glance. She does nothing of importance and only wants to cause trouble for the family.

She endured and yielded repeatedly, always humbled herself, but her mother-in-law became increasingly unreasonable.

She had only been married for a year when her mother-in-law had already put two concubines in her husband's room.

The only saving grace was that her mother-in-law had taken away her control of the household before she even married into the family, and her husband and father-in-law had always been in charge of the household.

After she married into the family, the power to manage the household fell into her hands.

Even so, she couldn't escape being tormented by her mother-in-law every few days.

Liu Muqiu was a woman of principle and initially resisted, but the more she resisted, the more her mother-in-law went mad, causing chaos throughout the Marquis's mansion.

In order not to put her husband in a difficult position, and to keep the household quiet, she had no choice but to learn to endure it.

If her mother-in-law wanted to make a fuss, Liu Muqiu would let her do it for a while. Sometimes she would break a few teacups, sometimes she would rush into her room and smash some ornaments. At most, she would just point at her and curse a few times, and then she would just let it pass.

However, what she feared most was that her mother-in-law remained silent, just like now.

Who knows what kind of trouble she'll cause this time?

"Mu Qiu..."

As Liu Muqiu waited anxiously, Lu Mingzhao finally spoke with emotion.

Lu Mingzhao touched the account book, then looked at her daughter-in-law with envy in her eyes: "You're really amazing, you can understand all these account books."

Liu Muqiu was taken aback, thinking that her mother-in-law was being sarcastic towards her again.

She paused for a moment, then gave a somewhat awkward smile.

Before she could think of something to ease the tension, her mother-in-law grabbed her hand and began to stroke her fair hand.

"I'm serious, you're so capable and beautiful. It's such a blessing for our family that Li'er married you!"

"Look at your hands, so white, delicate, and tender. And look at mine, a little rough isn't a big deal, the main problem is I have no strength left. People really need to do more work..."

Lu Mingzhao spoke his mind freely, then suddenly his eyes lit up: "By the way, can you teach me to read?"

If she could read, maybe she would have more to talk about with this daughter-in-law?

Fearing her daughter-in-law wouldn't believe her, she specially picked up a pen and wrote down the only word she knew on the white paper next to her:

"Lu Mingzhao and Zhou Ningchuan".

Liu Muqiu was completely bewildered by her mother-in-law's words and actions.

She thought her mother-in-law was going to make fun of her appearance—after all, when she first married into the family, her mother-in-law had secretly cursed her for being frail and delicate, and that she looked like she wouldn't be able to have children.

But then her mother-in-law suddenly touched her hand.

Liu Muqiu thought her mother-in-law was going to mock her for not doing housework, but instead the topic of literacy came up.

This subtle, almost imperceptible goodwill is even more perplexing than blatant malice.

This time, Liu Muqiu really couldn't handle it.

Just as she was about to lose her smile, a deep male voice sounded at the door:

"Madam, what are you doing now?"

Liu Muqiu quickly seized the opportunity to pull her hand away and rushed forward as if fleeing: "Master, you're back."

"Rei-er!"

Lu Mingzhao unconsciously stood up and looked at his eldest son, Zhou Shili, whom he hadn't seen for fourteen years.

When Lu Mingzhao was possessed, Zhou Shili was only five years old.

Despite her young age, she has already learned to take care of her mother and younger brother.

The day Lu Mingzhao went into labor, it was Zhou Shili who ran to the midwife with his short legs and dragged her back.

Lu Mingzhao still remembers that day. After the midwife arrived, Zhou Shili, who was panting, went to boil a large pot of water and made her a bowl of hot brown sugar water, which he placed by her bedside.

After finishing everything, Zhou Shili sat down at the door with his two-year-old brother, Zhou Shixu, and waited anxiously.

The last time the mother and son spoke was after Lu Mingzhao gave birth to her daughter.

Zhou Shili fed her sugar water with red eyes.

She smiled and patted her eldest son's head: "Don't be afraid, Mom is fine."

"Tomorrow, after I've rested, I'll steam some egg cakes for you, and put in plenty of eggs."

After saying this, Lu Mingzhao fell into a deep sleep, and the next time they met was fourteen years later.

Her eldest son has grown so tall and strong, and has even become a sixth-rank official.

She's far more capable than she and Zhou Ningchuan were back then.

Look at those slightly upturned phoenix eyes and those lips; they really resemble her.

However, his nose resembled Zhou Ningchuan's, adding a sharp edge to his originally gentle and kind face.

however……

Zhou Shili addressed her as "Madam" in a distant manner, his body turned away from his wife, as if he wanted to stay far away from Lu Mingzhao, his eyes filled with wariness.

Even though Lu Mingzhao had made preparations before coming, experiencing this feeling firsthand still caused her heart to ache uncontrollably.

It was all the mess left behind by the time-traveling woman that caused such a rift between the mother and son.

Her own flesh and blood were so close, yet she dared not approach them.

"Li'er..."

Lu Mingzhao called out softly, then pointed to the scar on Zhou Shili's forehead: "What... happened to you?"

Zhou Shili paused slightly, then, seeing the tears in the other person's eyes, felt even more sarcastic.

After not seeing her for a while, she's become even better at acting.