The clingy concubine ran away, and the sickly prince lost control.

Luo Qingyan finished speaking, got up and went out, and behind her came the sound of teacups shattering.

"Auntie, you've hit the Second Madam where it hurts." Liu Yue pursed her lips, suppressing a laugh.

"I'm just following her example, an eye for an eye." Luo Qingyan raised an eyebrow.

"In the entire Duke's mansion, you are the only one who dares to come here and provoke the Second Madam."

The master and servant talked as they walked.

The second wife, under the guise of doing what's best for the Duke's mansion, went to the eldest son's house and bossed them around. They could only listen and couldn't say anything.

"I only dared to do this because I have the old lady's support," Luo Qingyan said with a smile.

Hearing Madam Qian first smash a teacup and then throw a tantrum in the courtyard, the old lady straightened her back, straightened her clothes, and thought to herself, "There will always be someone who can handle you."

She really doesn't know how to do that with Luo Qingyan.

When the old lady saw Luo Qingyan approaching, she felt a little embarrassed. She had called Luo Qingyan back to argue, so she immediately took out the jade bracelet she had prepared: "Qingyan, you are young, this bracelet is just the right color for you."

"Thank you, Madam." Luo Qingyan smiled and accepted the money. Judging from its quality, it was worth no less than five hundred taels. It was worth it to earn so much from just one argument. Besides, Madam Qian usually acted arrogantly in the mansion, which was indeed infuriating.

A comfortable place to live.

Luo Qingyan chatted and laughed with the old lady.

Suddenly a dark shadow flashed by.

"Who is it?" the old lady shouted. The Duke's mansion was heavily guarded, and even if someone was highly skilled in martial arts, they would still make a sound if they broke in.

"Young Master, Master!" Yuan Qing ran in, panting.

"Yuanqing?"

The old lady and Luo Qingyan both looked at him in surprise.

"Your Highness, have you returned?"

"Could that figure be... Yuan'er?"

The old lady looked up at the roof but saw no one.

"Mother." Pei Shiyuan suddenly appeared in front of the old lady from behind.

He rushed back, so he used his light-footed skill, only to find Luo Qingyan chatting and laughing with her mother. Since everything was alright, he was about to leave.

The old lady was overjoyed to see Pei Shiyuan: "Yuan'er, why have you come back like this?"

"I was worried that things would get chaotic in the Duke's mansion, and it has indeed come to pass." Pei Shiyuan raised his head, but a smile he couldn't suppress was playing on his lips.

The mother couldn't argue, so she asked Luo Qingyan to come back and argue for her.

Her son laughed at her.

"Yuan'er, I'm just angry that Madam Qian made fun of our eldest son's family for having no heir."

Upon hearing the mention of offspring, Pei Shiyuan tensed up: "Mother, I must go now."

If he stays any longer, his mother will probably tell him to marry Cui Hui and then take a concubine.

"Madam," Heng-ge'er's voice came from outside.

Pei Shiyuan darted behind the screen.

Jing Bufan's treatment was very effective; he even felt that he was completely cured and had no illness.

But Jing Bufan insisted that he had not yet found the cause of the illness and was racking his brains every day to study it.

"Heng-ge'er is here!" The old lady waved with a smile.

She used to dislike Heng Ge'er, but ever since Heng Ge'er secretly asked Luo Qingyan for snacks behind Qian Shi's back, she gradually grew to like him.

Madam Xu looked haggard, with dark circles under her eyes. She carried Heng Ge'er as she entered, saying, "Greetings, Madam."

"No need for formalities, get up quickly." The old lady reached out her hand, and Hengge ran into her arms.

"Grandma," Heng-ge'er said softly.

"Hehehe," the old lady laughed heartily, saying to Madam Xu, "This child has such a sweet tongue."

The crowd could vaguely hear Madam Qian yelling and shouting angrily at her servants from the other side.

Ms. Xu looked embarrassed.

"Aunt Luo, Heng-ge is just a child and doesn't hold back. He told you that his mother-in-law wants to ask the clan elders to preside over the adoption. Don't take it to heart, I don't agree with it either."

Upon learning that her mother-in-law wanted to ask the clan elders to force Hengge to be adopted, she didn't sleep well all night, and was worried about what to do. Her mother-in-law had often suggested adoption before, but as long as the madam disagreed, it would be fine. This time, however, it was serious.

She could never tolerate this again, no matter how tolerant she usually was.

Her husband, Pei Xu, had many concubines, and it was hard to say whether he had any mistresses outside the marriage, so he didn't care about her.

All her attention was focused on her two sons.

Giving away a son was like taking half her life.

Now that Heng-ge'er has told Aunt Luo, why don't we see what their countermeasures are?

Xu's voice was weak; she was someone who had been tormented by Qian for years, and she didn't even have the strength to speak. Her voice was small and weak.

Luo Qingyan looked at Xu Shi with sympathy. In her previous life, she had also been tormented by her mother, Sun Shi, to the point that she was timid and afraid to even breathe.

"Madam Xu, are you capable of managing the household affairs?" the old lady asked earnestly.

Luo Qingyan was the only one who knew how to provoke her. Madam Qian would come and bother her all the time, morning and evening, and would say unpleasant things for no reason at all—things like Pei Xu's concubine being pregnant again, saying she was getting old, and even saying she couldn't live without a man...

This time, she'll have to suffer.

"Yes, I will, but I'm worried I won't be able to manage the accounts of our second wife's family."

Xu spoke softly, but hinted that Qian's accounts were problematic and might be difficult to manage.

"That's good enough. Don't worry about anything else. Just take good care of Heng-ge'er. Come over and play whenever you have time. No one can take your Heng-ge'er away from you." The old lady couldn't help but worry when she saw that Xu Shi's complexion was worse than before after giving birth to her second child.

Seeing that the old lady had a solution, Xu's sallow and weary face broke into a smile: "Thank you, old lady. I'll take Heng-ge'er back first."

The old lady nodded.

"Madam, will the clan elders side with us?" Luo Qingyan asked tentatively, as the Luo clan elders only cared about money and not reason.

She just asked the old lady if it was really feasible to ask the clan elders to force Madam Qian to hand over the management of the household affairs. She said this in front of Madam Qian to tease her a little first.

Even if the clan elders don't oversee the handover of family affairs, that's the clan elders' fault for not upholding the proper order, it has nothing to do with her. She's right.

"The elders of the Pei family will uphold justice. I didn't contact them before because I had my own reasons, worried that Heng-ge'er would really be adopted. Now that the young master is in good health, there's no need to worry about the heir for the time being. As for the matter of managing the household affairs, we can ask the elders for their help." The old lady nodded with satisfaction.

"Madam, we won't invite her. We'll wait for Madam Qian to invite her." Luo Qingyan smiled and looked at the old lady.

The old lady smiled and nodded. The eldest son's family had to spend money and favors to invite the second son's family; secondly, others would think that the eldest son's family was targeting the second son's family, and that it was not a good thing for the brothers to fight.

Luo Qingyan is good in every way—smart, upright—but unfortunately, she comes from a lowly background and can't have children now.

"I'm going back to Kangning Pavilion, are you coming or not?" Pei Shiyuan's voice came from behind the screen.

Luo Qingyan is really capable; she can even help her mother control the second wife. It's possible that she'll come up with a way to get him to have a child.

Ultimately, it's because he has no children that's causing the trouble; it's best to stay away from him.

"Young Master, please continue with your work. I'd like to stay and have lunch with the Old Madam." Luo Qingyan smiled ingratiatingly at the Old Madam. Right now, in her eyes, the Old Madam was more reliable than Pei Shiyuan.

"Alright, alright, have dinner with me." The old lady smiled broadly. She was pleased that Luo Qingyan didn't cling to Yuan'er. She gave Zheng Mama a meaningful look.

Granny Zheng nodded and went out.