A grandmother and granddaughter swap souls, causing chaos throughout the entire court.

Zhao Lihua did not disturb her husband, Zhong Tingyu, who was drinking and exchanging toasts with many adults in the front hall.

In her view, her husband had just taken up the post of the deputy commander of the Five Cities Patrol Battalion, and this was a crucial time for him to make connections with powerful figures and expand his network at banquets.

If I were to hastily recall him just because of some lowly servants spreading rumors in the mansion, wouldn't it make me, the mistress of the house, seem utterly incompetent and unable to even control the inner quarters?

Furthermore.

Zhao Lihua was born into a noble family; her father was the Minister of Revenue, and she herself was bestowed the title of Princess Anyi by the Emperor.

In the Yongning Marquis's mansion, besides the old lady, she held the highest position.

The old lady always cherished the third branch of the family, and she especially favored this well-educated and reasonable daughter-in-law from a prominent family who could bring great help to the third branch.

What kind of trouble can those two good-for-nothings from the first wife's family, who have been stuck in the mud for five years, possibly cause?

She immediately apologized to the ladies, not even having time to call the children from both households, leaving only a maid, and hurriedly returned to the Yongning Marquis's residence.

As soon as the carriage came to a stop at the front gate of the Marquis's residence, Zhang Xuerong and her entourage were already waiting in the courtyard to greet it.

Zhao Lihua, supported by her maid Chunmei, got out of the carriage and slowly straightened her gorgeous clothes.

She dressed extremely elegantly for the banquet today.

The upper garment is a short, narrow-sleeved crimson blouse made of four-warp gauze, with narrow gold trim at the collar and cuffs. It is entirely embroidered with intertwined lotus flowers, the petals outlined in gold thread, and the leaves depicted in blue silk thread, adorned with delicate pearl embroidery. It is light and breathable. The outer robe is made of smoky blue single-strand sheer gauze, the sleeves four feet wide, semi-transparent like mist. The body is plain, except for the hem, which is embroidered with a beaded peacock pattern, outlined in gold thread around the beaded circle. Within the circle, the peacock holds auspicious herbs. As the garment moves, the light gauze covers the shoulders, subtly revealing the red skirt underneath. The lower skirt is a twelve-panel crimson and turquoise long skirt reaching the chest, with a cinched waist and gold-threaded sashes. The skirt is covered with gold-embroidered flowers and birds, with tiny bees, butterflies, and hibiscus scattered along the hem, trailing three feet to the ground. The hem is woven with light gold wave patterns. The shawl is a long, moon-white gauze shawl with gold trim, embroidered with lotus branches at both ends, draped around the arms in the wind.

Their headdresses were adorned in a magnificent and opulent manner.

She wore a high bun adorned with nine gilded trees and inlaid with red glass and lapis lazuli; earrings of red gold teardrop amber; a gold and jade necklace with a gilded incense ball pendant; and a pair of gilded lotus scrolls on her wrists, layered with delicate red chalcedony bracelets.

Her outfit at the birthday banquet was exceptionally outstanding among all the ladies.

Looking at her sister-in-law's outfit, Zhang Xuerong could barely suppress the jealousy in her eyes. Afraid of revealing her emotions, she lowered her eyes slightly.

She was, after all, the second wife of the Marquis's mansion, yet her decent attire was not even a fraction of what her younger siblings owned.

Although her dowry was much larger than that of her younger brother and sister-in-law, it was all taken away by them and the old lady for various reasons.

They used their dowries to live extravagant and carefree lives, while I, on the other hand, had a mountain of gold but dared not even afford decent clothes.

Otherwise, if she had anything good, the third branch of the family and the old lady would find all sorts of excuses to borrow it, and she would have no way to refuse. It was really hateful!

But in order to have a peaceful life in the Marquis's mansion, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and endure it.

To avoid ending up like the first wife.

"Madam, you're finally back!" Zhang Xuerong's eyes were red as she leaned close to Zhao Lihua and whispered, "You didn't see it, but something terrible happened at Songhe Hall... My elder brother, using some unknown means, managed to seduce Mother..."

Zhao Lihua glanced at Zhang Xuerong and interrupted her.

"My second sister-in-law comes from a wealthy family, so why is she becoming more and more unruly?"

Zhao Lihua's voice was gentle, yet it carried a condescending, admonitory tone.

"My elder brother is already a disabled person who cannot take care of himself, and my sister-in-law is heavily pregnant and has difficulty moving around. How could the two of them hold Mother hostage as you say? You must be delirious."

She strongly suspected that her second sister-in-law was upset that she hadn't taken her to the banquet, so she deliberately made an excuse to call her back early.

"No, Madam!" Zhang Xuerong exclaimed anxiously, slapping her thigh. "I saw that little girl who appeared out of nowhere today; she looks exactly like the Fourth Prince and that short-lived Fifth Prince!"

"That girl insists the old lady has been cursed by the eldest son's family! Now even the gatekeepers, Wang Da and the others, are acting like they have a mandate, and they're even stopping me from entering Songhe Hall!"

When Zhao Lihua heard that there was a strange little girl in Songhetang, she frowned slightly, but didn't think much of it.

"The servants don't know the rules, so just kill two of them."

Zhao Lihua, holding Chunmei's hand, strode towards Songhe Hall with the speed of the wind. "Let's go, I want to see who in this mansion dares to block my way."

Seeing that the mistress of the house was so confident, Zhang Xuerong felt much more at ease. She quickly fell half a step behind and followed Zhao Lihua, ready to wait and see how the lackeys of Songhetang would be punished.

Not long after.

The group arrived at Songhe Hall in a grand procession.

On the bluestone steps still stood Wang Da's four burly servants, who had previously argued with Zhang Xuerong.

Zhao Lihua didn't even glance at them, and with a swift movement, she started to walk up the steps.

"Madam, please wait!"

Wang Da gritted his teeth and took a step forward, slamming his cudgel on the bluestone slab with a dull thud, landing just three inches in front of Zhao Lihua's toes.

Zhao Lihua's head maid, Chunmei, turned cold and stepped forward to reprimand her.

"Are you blind?! Open your eyes and see clearly, this is the mistress of the house! The old lady is unwell, and the mistress has specially rushed back from the Cheng'an Marquis's residence to attend to her. How dare you lowly creatures obstruct her? Get out of the way!"

Wang Da steeled his resolve, lowering his eyelids: "Miss Chunmei, please calm down. I naturally recognize Madam. However... this was a death order personally given by the Old Madam before she went to sleep."

"The old lady said that the eldest madam has just suffered greatly from childbirth and has also been frightened, so she needs absolute peace and quiet. From today onwards, without the old lady's permission, not even a fly is allowed to enter Songhe Hall. Anyone who dares to trespass will have their legs broken and be thrown out of the manor!"

"You—how dare you!" Chunmei was so angry that her face turned red.

Zhao Lihua's originally gentle almond-shaped eyes instantly turned cold.

She has been the mistress of the Yongning Marquis's mansion for five years now.

Ever since that good-for-nothing couple from the main branch were driven to the side courtyard, everyone in this mansion bows and scrapes before her, not daring to utter a sound.

Today, she personally went to the door, under the excellent pretext of taking care of an ailing elder, but was actually blocked at the bottom of the steps by several rough gatekeepers!

What's even more infuriating is that Second Sister-in-law Zhang Xuerong was covering her mouth with a handkerchief, her shrewd eyes darting around, clearly seeing the way this mistress of the house was humiliated.

The indescribable sense of humiliation shot from the soles of Zhao Lihua's feet to the top of her head, causing her fingers, gripping the silk handkerchief, to dig into her flesh.

But she was, after all, a daughter of a high-ranking family raised by the Minister of Revenue, and she was extremely shrewd.

After a brief moment of fury, she forcefully suppressed the rage within her.

Zhao Lihua's mind raced, and she quickly came up with a plan.