Listening to her daughter's heartfelt words, the pregnant Lady Hou went on a killing spree.

"Brother, let's hurry up and leave, don't wait for that wicked woman."

"I wasn't waiting for that wicked woman, I was waiting for my aunt. Why hasn't she come out yet?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Daddy put Auntie under house arrest yesterday, so she can't come with us to the Yu family's house for Grandmother's birthday banquet today."

"Why didn't you say so earlier? What did my aunt do wrong?"

Lin Wanwan shook her head.

"I don't know, I only heard it from the maids in the courtyard."

"Since my aunt can't come, let's leave first. I don't want to be with bad women."

Although the two children are only four years old, they are quite intelligent and already have their own ideas.

She hated her stepmother to the core from the moment she entered the family. In fact, half the responsibility for this matter still lies with the old lady and Lin Yuxue.

The two parents instilled in their children the idea that their stepmother was wicked from a young age, so it's no wonder the two children were influenced.

However, this is also closely related to the temperament of the two children. After all, Ji Yueru has been very devoted to the two children since she married Marquis Anshun, treating them as her own.

The same was true in her previous life. After knowing that she would not have her own children, Ji Yueru let go of the matter of Lin Wanwan pushing her away less than two years later, and treated the two of them as her own children afterward.

But an ingrate is an ingrate; no matter how good you are to him, his heart will remain cold.

Unfortunately, Ji Yue Ru only understood this principle on her deathbed in her previous life, and she will never make the same mistake again in this life.

When Ji Yueru brought Zhiyi to the gate of the mansion, it was empty. The two children had already gone to the Yu mansion with the servants.

Ji Yueru was not surprised at all, as this had happened in her previous life, but Zhiyi was quite indignant.

"Madam, you usually treat the young master and young lady as your own children, but in my opinion, they have never treated you as their mother."

"Alright, I've noticed you've been harboring such resentment these past few days. From now on, you need to think carefully about what you should and shouldn't say in the manor."

The two families who provided her with dowry were both elderly women from Jiangnan who had previously served her maternal grandmother and only came from Jiangnan when she got married.

These people are all skilled at managing accounts and household affairs, which is a real waste to keep them in the mansion. She put them out to manage her dowry shops.

She felt she didn't need many people around her, so she had already arranged two first-class maids to serve her. The other maids were all sent to do errands after she came to the mansion.

Last year, Qingning was assigned to an outside manager, and no one else was added to her side after that, leaving only Zhiyi.

Thinking that she would need two more people by her side when she returned from the Yu residence, since she was pregnant and it would be good to have a few more people with her.

[Mother, let me tell you, when you come back from the Yu residence and walk down South Street, there will be a little girl on the street who sells herself to bury her father.]

You can buy her and keep her with you. Although she's young and eats a lot, she's very strong—strong enough to be two or three adult men. With her by your side, I won't have to worry about your safety.

Ji Yueru's eyebrows relaxed, and An'an always seemed to think the same way as her.

"Okay, Mother will listen to you."

The carriage swayed and rocked along the way, with An'an's chatter filling all around.

"Mom, I've almost forgotten what candied hawthorns taste like. When I grow my first teeth, you have to buy me some to try."

"Okay, Mom will buy it for you then."

That donkey roll looks delicious; I want to eat it right now.

"parking."

"What's wrong, Madam?" Zhiyi asked hurriedly.

Go buy me a serving of donkey roll.

Although Zhiyi had never been married or pregnant, she had heard the old women in the mansion say that pregnant women's tastes changed a lot compared to usual, and that the madam used to not like to eat these things.

They went down and came back up with a plate of donkey rolls shortly after.

"Madam, please eat quickly. We'll be at the Yu residence shortly."

"I can't finish it all by myself, so you should have some too."

Zhiyi didn't refuse. Seeing that the lady had picked up a piece, she also picked up a piece with her chopsticks and ate it.

Ji Yueru ate very happily; An'an's favorite food was indeed delicious.

An'an in the womb was full of anticipation, but in the end she found that she was still a soul and could not eat anything, so her excitement was in vain.

However, she didn't want to disappoint her mother.

"Mom, donkey rolls are so delicious!"

Growing up in Jiangnan, she followed her maternal grandmother in practicing vegetarianism and chanting Buddhist scriptures. She was not a glutton and never cared much about food, so she didn't mind the kitchen cutting back on her food.

However, if An'an likes to eat, she doesn't mind eating more so that the little one in her belly can taste it in advance.

Based on what she's heard these past few days, she can already guess that An'an's personality is the complete opposite of hers, but she likes it.

She loves any daughter, no matter what she looks like.

The carriage arrived at the entrance of the Yu residence, and the master and servant alighted from the carriage.

Mr. and Mrs. Yu greeted the guests at the door. When Mrs. Yu saw that the visitor was Ji Yueru, her previously upturned smile immediately fell. Although her sister-in-law's death had little to do with the current Lady of Anshun, they shouldn't have given her such a hard time.

However, when the two nephews came to the Yu residence, they mostly spoke ill of Ji Shi, saying how badly she treated them.

Over time, the Yu family members gradually took his advice to heart, and naturally, they didn't give Ji a friendly look when she came to the Yu residence.

Ji Yueru pretended not to see anything, and with Zhiyi's help, she went up the steps and nodded to the two of them.

"Master Yu, Madam Yu."

She is now the wife of a marquis, and the two men are from merchant families. She does not need to bow to them; on the contrary, they should bow to her.

But Ji Yueru had never received this treatment in the Yu family, and she didn't care.

Madam Yu gave a forced smile.

"The Lady of the Second Marquis has arrived."

When Dr. Yu spoke of "this succession is not a season," she emphasized the word "succession."

Ji Yue Ru wasn't stupid. How could she not know that Madam Yu deliberately emphasized her tone when calling her? She just couldn't be bothered to make a fuss about it.

Now that I think about it, how different is the Yu family from her? They are both pitiful people who were kept in the dark, and they have no intention of making a fuss.

Madam Yu only said one sentence and then gestured to the maid behind her.

"Take Lady Hou to the backyard."

Those around them were already used to it. Because of the twins of the Marquis of Anshun, the relationship between the Yu family and Lady Ji was very delicate, which was no secret in the capital.

But then again, they really had never heard of a stepmother who would treat her stepchildren as her own.

Now that Lady Ji is pregnant with her own child, it's normal that her heart is biased even though the child hasn't been born yet, since the two families have always been adversaries.

[Hmph! Just wait until they find out that the girl they've doted on isn't actually born to a woman from the Yu family, then let's see if they'll still be so arrogant.]