The concubine, a former cannon fodder, becomes pregnant, and the childless prince spoils her rotten.

Cheng Huilan was already in dire straits herself, and instead of thinking about how to beg her sister to let her go and avoid truly falling into slavery.

But he was only thinking about killing Lin Zhizhi, as if he was afraid that she would come back alive.

Even the woman who was meeting Lin Zhizhi for the first time noticed something amiss.

He glanced at Lin Zhizhi sideways; she was just a little girl, even younger than Lin Shangya.

She was beautiful, but there were plenty of beautiful women in the capital, and she didn't seem particularly special to them.

A sense of curiosity arose within her, and she asked, "What did you do to offend her so much that she hates you so much?"

Lin Zhizhi knew perfectly well that her aunt was still eyeing the silver that the guards had taken away, and wasn't she afraid that she might have the life to take the silver but not the life to spend it?

At that time, Feng Yao was not confined to his quarters for fear of being disliked by the prince, so he had to keep a low profile.

Regardless of whether Lin Shangya actually succeeded in harming Lin Zhizhi, the first thing Feng Yao would do afterward was to deal with her aunt's family.

Furthermore, the curses and scorn they endured during their time being expelled from the Prince's mansion and forced to live under someone else's roof were all blamed on Lin Zhizhi.

Although neither of them showed it, they noticed that Lin Zhizhi had so many wounds on her body.

He secretly imagined that Lin Zhizhi's life was not easy after offending the concubine in the Prince's mansion, which was why she was tormented like this.

Feeling a sense of relief, he grabbed Lin Zhizhi tightly, only able to vent his frustration by seeing her in such a disheveled state.

Lin Shangya's gaze fell on her second aunt's son, her eyes darting around as she looked at him with obvious grievance.

She dared not openly plead for him, but simply looked at him, hoping that this foolish man could understand her meaning.

Unfortunately, the other party only found it amusing that Lin Shangya was tied up.

Even though she didn't know what she meant by being stared at, she clapped and cheered.

"Tie them up, tie them all up, it's fun."

Lin Shangya was furious, feeling a tightness in her chest that she couldn't let go of, wanting to curse but not daring to.

She's been so good to this idiot lately, but when it really matters, he can't help at all. He's not even as good as a dog.

The woman noticed her movements and saw the resentment and disdain in her eyes.

He couldn't possibly not understand what Lin Shangya meant. He stepped forward and slapped her across the face, saying, "You shameless bastard, now you want to seduce my son to help you?"

Lin Shangya was stunned. She had never suffered such humiliation in her life.

At this moment, she looked at her second aunt with disbelief, "I didn't."

"Still trying to argue!" The woman's eyes were bloodshot; what she hated most in her life was being looked at with strange eyes by others.

She was already sensitive about this. Her son was born mentally challenged and had no choice in the matter. It wasn't like her son wanted to be a fool.

What right does Lin Shangya have to look down on people?

Lin Shangya was unaware that her action had touched a nerve with her second aunt, who was now afraid of being beaten again and could only shrink back.

She looked at her second aunt with a blank and helpless expression, revealing a bellyful of grievances. She looked as if she had been bullied, and even her eyes were red.

Seeing her cry, the mentally challenged man realized this was no joke and grabbed his mother's arm.

With a silly grin on his face, he said with concern, "It hurts, Mom won't hit me, it hurts."

He doesn't like being beaten, nor does he like watching others be beaten.

When Lin Zhizhi looked at him, she became much calmer, without the slightest disgust, and simply regarded him as an ordinary person.

I only felt that he was mentally deficient, but kind-hearted by nature.

I don't know if he was born this way, or if the couple raised him so well.

Seeing Lin Shangya's discomfiture, and knowing that her family's future would certainly not be easy, he did not continue to pursue them to sell them off.

Judging that the time was almost up, she took the initiative to suggest, "Why don't you let me go back? Lin Shangya said before that I had been in contact with someone. They can see that person, and that person can see them too. If they see that I haven't gone back for a long time, they will definitely report it to the authorities."

Lin Zhizhi wore an expression that said, "I'm doing this for your own good, but you'd better think it through carefully." She continued, "They've been keeping quiet because they want to wait for the officials and constables to come, swindle your money, and then arrest you. Think about it carefully. They'll be living a carefree life with the money, while you'll be stuck in jail. Five taels of silver isn't a small amount for you, is it?"

She didn't offer any gentle guidance, but rather helped analyze the facts.

Cheng Huilan felt guilty and wouldn't let Lin Zhizhi continue, scolding, "You wicked woman with ill intentions, sister, don't listen to her nonsense. She's just getting revenge on us. How could we think that?"

The woman pondered that she could only afford less than five taels of silver, but she could manage to scrape together the money by borrowing from her neighbors.

After that, all that was left was the house deed and the goods that could be exchanged for some money. Upon careful consideration, it became clear that the amount Cheng Huilan wanted was intended to drain their family's coffers.

After raising them for so many days, they turned out to be such a family of ungrateful wretches.

"You bastards, a bunch of shameless wretches!" the woman cursed, now wishing she could tear Cheng Huilan apart.

The man slammed his hand on the wooden table and sneered, "Good, very good."

When he got angry, Lin Yue's body trembled.

Just now, my uncle thought that what Cheng Huilan and Lin Shangya did was really shameless, but now that he's been scared like this, he doesn't dare to say another word.

Lin Ye listened for a while, but now he was furious. He yelled, "What makes you so great? When I become the top scholar in the imperial examination, I'll send you all to jail. The rubbish you gave me—just dry biscuits and rotten vegetable leaves all day—I wouldn't even eat that, and you dare to take advantage of my kindness? Let me tell you, you should be happy to spend your money. My sister kindly sent you a wife, and you just accepted it? And you dare to help us?"

These outrageous words made the man and the woman's faces turn pale and then red. The man didn't tolerate him and kicked him directly in the stomach.

This time, he used all his strength, and Lin Ye's face turned pale instantly.

He was groaning and crying out, "You dare hit me? I'm not finished with you, just you wait... just you wait..."

They couldn't utter a complete sentence after that; all they could hear were gasps of shock.

"I'll wait my whole life and you still won't get into high school. What can you do to me?" the man mocked. He had long seen through Lin Ye's lack of academic talent.

Unfortunately, Cheng Huilan spoiled him so much that he developed an arrogant and conceited attitude, believing that everyone's kindness to him was a given.

They don't respect anyone and have no idea what gratitude is.

After venting his anger, the man looked at Lin Zhizhi and asked, "You're also from the Prince's Mansion?"

This little girl must be the niece that Lin Yue's family mentioned before, the one who works at the Prince's Mansion.