After getting married, she spent every night alone in her room; when she asked for a divorce, he kne

At this point, Xiao Jinghan was also tired, but he still added, "If your plan had succeeded, Yuan Sheng would have married Su Rong's nephew, meaning she would still be in your hands, and you could continue to torment her. But Wu Zifan is timid and loyal to the Princess's residence, so he refused Su Rong's arrangement, even though you offered him a hundred taels of silver. Left with no other choice, you turned to Wang Hanxuan, that good-for-nothing, lecherous devil, but unfortunately, it still didn't work out."

After explaining the whole story, Xiao Jinghan stretched and said, "Alright, I've explained everything. How to deal with this mother and daughter is up to you, Father-in-law."

Liu Jingyuan sat on the couch, staring furiously at Su Tinglan and Liu Nianxi. His expression could no longer be described as mere anger.

"He... what he just said is all true?" As if unable to believe what Xiao Jinghan had said, Liu Jingyuan asked again, "What he just said is all true?"

The guard released Su Tinglan's mouth, but she kept her head down and couldn't utter a single word.

"You slut! You slut!" Liu Jingyuan roared in fury. "You actually secretly brought the child you had with your lover right under my nose, making me her father, and then sent my own flesh and blood away, forcing me to suffer the pain of separation from my child. You!"

Liu Jingyuan grabbed the medicine bowl beside him and threw it at her, yelling, "You shameless, heartless slut!"

Su Tinglan got a big bump on her forehead from Liu Jingyuan's blow. She didn't move, just shrank her neck and sobbed, letting Liu Jingyuan hit and scold her without uttering a word in rebuttal.

Liu Jingyuan stood up unsteadily, looked at Liu Nianxi whom he had cherished for more than ten years, and felt like a joke.

Helping someone else raise their daughter, especially one born from his own woman's affair with another man—if others found out, where would he put his face?

Looking at Liu Nianxi again, he found her increasingly repulsive and disgusting! He hadn't thought much of it before, but now it seemed she really did look like Su Tinglan!

"Where is Su Rong? I'm going to kill him!"

Enraged, Liu Jingyuan lost his temper. "Quickly, bring that Su Rong to me!"

Upon hearing that Liu Jingyuan wanted to arrest Su Rong, Su Tinglan finally raised her head and pleaded, "Master, we've been husband and wife for a time. Are you trying to drive me to my death?"

Liu Yunheng stepped forward and solemnly advised, "Father, these are only the Crown Prince's side of the story. Even the Crown Prince himself may have been misled. The truth can only be known after a careful investigation."

After listening, Liu Jingyuan was stunned for a moment, then, as if grasping at a lifeline, he eagerly asked Su Tinglan, "Tell me, did you do those things? Tell me!"

As long as Su Tinglan says no, he'll believe her to some extent!

But Su Tinglan didn't dare to speak at all.

She was so guilty that she didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.

Because she didn't know how much evidence Xiao Jinghan had in his possession. Xiao Jinghan had just said that Su Rong and his parents were currently in the capital!

"I am devoted to you, Master!" Su Tinglan avoided the main issue and began to flatter Liu Jingyuan. "Master, ask yourself honestly, since I entered the manor, have I ever kept your affairs in mind, and have you been the only one in my heart and eyes?"

"My heart has always been with you, and my affection for you is genuine. How can you listen to gossip and doubt my devotion and loyalty?"

"Aunt Su's feelings for her father-in-law are truly as clear as day and night," Xiao Jinghan continued. "But you still have to answer the questions everyone has raised. Do you admit to what you did?"

Upon hearing this, Su Tinglan fell silent once again.

"If you don't admit it, we'll go to the yamen and have a blood test to prove our kinship. No one can deny the blood relationship. But if we do that, it will inevitably become public knowledge. I don't care. It all depends on whether you have any shame left."

Have you no shame?

Liu Jingyuan's lips twitched, feeling that his dough had long been stripped away by Xiao Jinghan, no, by Su Tinglan.

"You wretch, still won't admit what you've done?" Liu Jingyuan scrutinized Su Tinglan's expression, his mind already shifting. He knew that self-deception was useless; he had indeed fallen into the Su family's trap.

Thinking about how Su Tinglan had deceived him for so long, Liu Jingyuan even felt a strong urge to kill her with his sword. Ignoring his headache, he tried to recall the past, his voice trembling, "So that's why you disappeared for over a year after we got together—you were having a baby with your lover!"

"Su Tinglan, how dare you betray me! Who gave you the audacity!"

Su Tinglan covered her face and cried uncontrollably.

"Stop crying! Don't let your tears soil my mansion!" Liu Jingyuan stepped forward, glaring down at Su Tinglan. "It's one thing to have a child with another man, but why be so vicious as to exchange your daughter for someone else's? And then you abused my daughter like that, not only mistreating and beating her in the mansion, but also ruining her chastity and marriage! Do I owe you anything? Or does Yuan Sheng owe you something?"

"I knew long ago that the Princess's affair was related to you, but I was so stupid back then. I was blinded by you and your daughter, and I was only thinking of protecting you. I thought I could just marry Yuansheng off to her and make a big problem a small one, and a small problem a nothing. But, but, oh dear!"

Liu Jingyuan slapped his thigh hard, utterly heartbroken, "What kind of mess have I made?!"

Su Tinglan cried even harder, gasping for breath, as if she could cry herself to death.

Normally, Liu Jingyuan would have softened his tone and tried to coax her, but today he grabbed her and rudely demanded, "Tell me, why are you treating me like this? Tell me!"

Su Tinglan was lifted up by Liu Jingyuan, her legs limply kneeling on the ground, looking like a half-dead lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Liu Nianxi had never seen Liu Jingyuan so ruthless in her life. She took a few steps back in fear, trembling as she pleaded for Su Tinglan's life, "Father, don't believe the young master's words! He'll make up anything to avenge Liu Yuansheng!"

"If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear," Liu Yuansheng said. "Today, I will find out the truth and get justice for my mother. Otherwise, I will not leave!"

"Fairness? It's all because of you that our family has become like this, and you still have the nerve to talk about fairness here!" Hearing Liu Yuansheng's voice, Liu Nianxi's heart surged with jealousy, and she said hoarsely, "You jinx! If you hadn't come back, our family would be living a good life! I wouldn't have had to marry that Wang Hanxuan, my second brother wouldn't have become like that, and my aunt wouldn't have been blamed by my father! It's all your fault! All your fault!"

As Su Tinglan spoke, she lunged at Liu Yuansheng.

Liu Yuansheng shuddered.

That approaching, beautiful yet hideous face appeared countless times in her nightmares.

Liu Nianxi lunged at her like this more than once, and each time she would pounce on her hard and slap her face a few times.

Su Tinglan will always stand by Liu Nianxi's side, letting Liu Nianxi bully her, or helping Liu Nianxi bully her.

She didn't understand before, but now she finally does.

It turns out that Su Tinglan's favoritism towards Liu Nianxi was because she was Liu Nianxi's biological mother.

Furthermore, Su Tinglan was so jealous of her mother, Bai Yinzhu, so how could she possibly be kind to her, Bai Yinzhu's daughter?

But she never owed them anything.

Thinking of this, Liu Yuansheng suddenly raised his hand and slapped Liu Nianxi hard across the face.

"Snapped!"

Caught off guard, Liu Nianxi stumbled and fell heavily to the ground. "Ah!" she cried, clutching her face and staring at Liu Yuansheng in disbelief. "You dare hit me?"

"You never dared to hit me before! Even when I hit you, you never dared to fight back!"

Liu Nianxi struggled to her feet, eager to rush forward and teach Liu Yuansheng a lesson, but was held down by the guards and forced to kneel on the ground.

Ying'er had long disliked Liu Nianxi, so she rushed forward and, on Liu Yuansheng's behalf, slapped Liu Nianxi several times, saying, "My young lady is hitting you, so you'd better take it! If you dare say another word, I'll tear your mouth off right now!"

"You, you all!" Liu Nianxi gritted her teeth. "You dare hit me! Liu Yuansheng, you dare hit me! You never dared to lay a finger on me before, you trembled at the sight of me!"

"You said it yourself, that was before. Just because you didn't dare before doesn't mean you won't dare now. From now on, you'll be the one trembling in fear before my young lady!" Ying'er said, hands on her hips. "Look at your behavior, always looking down on this and that, and you're just a bastard born from someone else's affair. I'd rather not hit you than get my hands dirty!"

Xiao Jinghan sat quietly in the armchair, looking at Liu Nianxi with disdain, and said, "Su Tinglan, control your daughter. If she dares to be arrogant again, I'll have her hands chopped off first."

"Nianxi, Nianxi, how are you?" Su Tinglan rushed to Liu Nianxi, hugged her in her arms, and comforted her gently.

Liu Nianxi trembled in Su Tinglan's arms, feeling utterly hopeless at the thought that she might really be the child of Su Tinglan and some Su Rong—a country bumpkin.

Once, she was a high-ranking young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion. Later, Liu Yuansheng returned. Although she went from being the Prime Minister's daughter to an adopted daughter, she was still a young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion. Under Liu Jingyuan's protection, no one dared to bully her.

But Xiao Jinghan's words plunged her into the dust and trampled her into the mud. From then on, her identity became that of Su Yiniang's mistress, and an illegitimate daughter born to a mistress with no status and extremely low position. If anyone saw her, they would gossip about her and mock her. How could she hold her head high?

"Don't touch me! I feel disgusted by you!" Liu Nianxi stood up and threw herself into Liu Jingyuan's arms. "Father, I don't want Concubine Liu. Divorce her, make her leave the Prime Minister's residence, and tell everyone to shut up and not to tell anyone about what happened today, okay?"

As she spoke, she grabbed Liu Jingyuan's clothes and slowly knelt down, crying helplessly, "Father, please have pity on your daughter! I only want to be your daughter, I don't want to see this Aunt Su again, not even once!"

"Nianxi, do you dislike me that much?" Su Tinglan stared wide-eyed at Liu Nianxi, whom she had always cherished and pampered.

"Yes, I despise you. I feel uncomfortable even looking at you," Liu Nianxi said. "If you have any shame, get out of here yourself, so your father won't have you thrown out!"

"Nianxi, you can't be so heartless! Have you forgotten what I've done for you?"

Seeing her carefully nurtured daughter dislike her so much, Su Tinglan felt as if a handful of nails had been thrown into her heart, and she was extremely distressed.

"Now that things have come to this, you have to accept it whether you want to or not. I am your mother, Nianxi. I am indeed your biological mother. Look how much we look alike!"

Upon hearing Su Tinglan admit to their relationship, Liu Nianxi nearly went mad. She covered her ears forcefully and cried out, "No, you're not! You're not my mother, I don't have a mother like you!"

Su Tinglan was stunned.

She inexplicably thought of Bai Yinzhu and inexplicably believed that the reason Liu Nianxi refused to acknowledge her was because she preferred Bai Yinzhu and only wanted Bai Yinzhu to be her mother!

It's Baiyinzhu again, it's Baiyinzhu again!

Why does everyone like Bai Yinzhu and think she's so good? What's so good about her? All she can do is read a few medical books and pretends to be alluring and refined every day!

Su Tinglan grew angrier and angrier, almost losing her temper. She crawled a few steps forward, grabbed Liu Nianxi's hand, and said, "Nianxi! Don't blame your mother. I had no choice but to send you away!"

"At that time, I was pregnant. I knew you were a child of the Su family, but Su Rong's parents didn't like me. Even though they knew I was carrying Su Rong's child, they wouldn't allow him to marry me, not even as a concubine!"

"Your father is even more despicable. He clearly couldn't resist my temptation and took my body, but he cared about his own reputation and looked down on me from the bottom of his heart, thinking that I wasn't even worthy of being a mistress."

"That Bai Yinzhu is always hypocritical, and she had just given birth at the time, so she had no time to care about me. Hah, what a good sister! When it really matters, she only thinks about herself!"

"I figured if they were heartless, they couldn't blame me for being ruthless too. So, I steeled myself and, under the guise of visiting Bai Yinzhu at the Prime Minister's residence, switched you with Liu Yuansheng! Think about how clever my plan was! It allowed you to live a life of luxury from a young age, and also gave me revenge on Bai Yinzhu—who told them to be so indifferent to my life or death!"

"You're insane!" Liu Yunheng exclaimed, dumbfounded. "You're absolutely insane."

"I went mad because of your mother!" Su Tinglan spat and said, "So what if your mother was powerful and popular? She still died young! And her death was shrouded in mystery!"

"After she died, I entered the manor and was reunited with my daughter without any trouble! How could this not be a thoroughly satisfying revenge! Even your father was tricked by me, all because of that little bitch Liu Yuansheng! If it weren't for her, my Nianxi would have married the prince long ago, and I would have become the prince's mother-in-law... How smug! Hahaha!"