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

Throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, apart from Prince Shun, Xiao Ce, there was no one else with snow-white hair.

As the wife of the Marquis of Anshun, she naturally knew a great deal about the intricate relationships between the imperial family and various other families in the capital.

To be honest, Prince Shun, Xiao Ce, was a pitiful person in the royal family.

His birth mother was just a palace maid who died in childbirth.

When Xiao Ce was born, he had a head of snow-white hair, and the Imperial Advisor believed that he was incompatible with the royal family.

Shortly after his birth, he was sent to Dajue Temple to practice Buddhism on behalf of the royal family. After reaching adulthood, he was bestowed the title of Prince Shun by the emperor.

The title "Shun" was an insult to Xiao Ce.

Ji Yueru kept her head slightly lowered as she bowed, when a pair of black boots stopped in front of her.

【Huh, I can't tell where he came from. He looks just like the person I saw at the Yu residence that day.】

Why isn't he leaving yet? Doesn't he know it's tiring for you to be half-squatting while bowing, Mother?

An'an began to feel sorry for her mother.

If Ji Yueru were to look up, she would definitely see the shock in Xiao Ce's eyes.

It wasn't his imagination; he had heard the voice of a maidservant beside the Lady of Anshun Marquis at the Yu residence that day, and he heard it again today.

The other party calls Lady Anshun the Marquis's wife "mother," could it be...?

Xiao Ce's gaze shifted downwards and landed on Ji Yueru's slightly protruding belly.

A clear, gentle male voice came from above.

"Madam Hou, you may dispense with the formalities."

Ji Yueru was puzzled. She usually kept to herself and rarely went out. How did Prince Shun know that she was the wife of the Marquis of Anshun when she was at Dajue Temple?

"Thank you, Your Highness."

I stood up straight, but the boots in front of me showed no sign of leaving.

Ji Yueru was very self-aware; she was not so naive as to think that the Prince Shun in front of her had taken a fancy to her, a married and pregnant woman.

I don't know what the other party's intentions are.

But she didn't want to delve into the other party's intentions. Her only goal in life was to bring down the Marquis of Anshun's family and raise her daughter.

She had never even considered divorce.

This was all owed to her by the Marquis of Anshun's family in her past life; she would only choose divorce over losing her husband.

[Mother, you'd better leave quickly! This man must be out of his mind. He's staring at you like that. Does he have a thing for women? Mother, you'd better get away from him.]

Xiao Ce's lips twitched. He hadn't expected that the little girl would describe him as so despicable.

"I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first."

After speaking, he bowed again before turning and leaving.

Even after the person had gone far away, Xiao Ce could still hear the little girl's chattering voice.

He was still quite puzzled when he sat down in front of the abbot.

"Master Liaowu, why could I hear a maid's voice beside Lady Anshun?"

Having grown up in Dajue Temple, Xiao Ce considered Master Liaowu to be no different from his master. He could tell Master Liaowu anything that he couldn't tell outsiders.

"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed; Your Highness will know when the time comes."

After all that fuss, it was nearly dusk. Zhiyi asked the young novice for a guest room, and the three of them, master and servant, stayed at Dajue Temple.

That evening, Marquis Anshun had just finished his business and entered his residence.

"My lord, you're finally back!"

The gatekeeper quickly went to greet them.

"My lord, you don't know, the whole manor is in complete chaos today."

In the morning, the lady brought two dead venomous snakes to pay her respects to the old lady, which frightened the old lady so much that she fainted.

We've seen three or four doctors today, and I only just heard from someone in the old lady's courtyard that she's just woken up.

Marquis Anshun abruptly stopped in his tracks.

"Where is Madam?"

"My lord, please don't mention Madam again. She left early this morning and hasn't returned yet. We don't know where she went."

The servants of the Marquis of Anshun's residence were on the same side as the Marquis and the old lady, so they naturally knew what their masters wanted to hear.

Marquis Anshun gritted his teeth and hurried to the old lady's courtyard. Without waiting for the maid to report, he rushed into the inner room.

"Mother, what's wrong?"

At this moment, the old lady was being served bird's nest by Granny Chang. She had indeed fainted this morning, but it wasn't as serious as the gatekeeper had described.

She had been awake for a long time, but only the servants in the room knew that she hadn't made herself sound serious, so how could she get her son to punish Ji Shi?

Suddenly, her son burst in, and the old lady choked on a mouthful of bird's nest, making her eyes roll back in her head.

Granny Chang was startled and quickly tried to soothe the old lady.

"Please wait a moment, Madam."

After a while, the old lady finally swallowed the bird's nest that was stuck in her throat, and she was panting heavily.

Now, she doesn't even need to pretend; she just looks unwell.

Lin Mufeng was quite frightened.

"Mother, your son has only been gone for two days, how have you become like this?"

The old lady was also a master of acting; she could shed tears at will.

"Feng'er, it has nothing to do with the Ji family, it's all my fault."

"I didn't let the servants guard the courtyard properly, and a poisonous snake got into Ji's room. It's only natural that she took her anger out on me."

"This is utterly absurd! Isn't it Ji Shi who's been managing the entire household? She can't even manage the household herself, yet she's blaming her mother for it."

Lin Mufeng was right; Ji Yueru had been in charge of the entire Anshun Marquis's mansion from top to bottom and inside to outside.

The housekeeper, Ji Yueru, is indeed a capable manager. Since she married into the family, she has managed to bring order to the chaotic Anshun Marquis's mansion.

But while she managed the household, the whole family treated her like a beast of burden, so how could the servants in the mansion possibly respect her?

This resulted in the entire Anshun Marquis's mansion using her hard-earned money, yet no one treated her as the Marquis's wife.

"Let's not talk about that for now. I heard from the servants in the manor that Lady Ji still hasn't returned."

She's your wife, and she's pregnant now. Send someone to look for her; make sure she doesn't get into any more trouble outside.

He already had little affection for Lady Ji, and with his mother constantly trying to sow discord between them, he no longer cared about Lady Ji's life or death.

"She'd better never come back. If she does, I won't let her get away with it since she treated you like this."

Don't think you can bully your mother just because you're pregnant.

Don't worry, Mother, I'll give you an explanation when she gets back.

Lin Mufeng also had someone investigate Ji Yueru, and her movements in the mansion these past few days were no different from usual.

No one knew why she was behaving so strangely, and Lin Mufeng didn't want to know either.

Having discovered that no one was guiding her, Lin Mufeng had long harbored the idea of ​​replacing Ji Yueru.

All he needed was a mistress who could manage the manor, serve his mother, and take care of his two children.

If this woman doesn't listen to him, he doesn't mind replacing her with another one, just like with Madam Yu back then.

He was very annoyed. Why couldn't there be a woman who treated him the same way Chun Jiao did?

He also understood that Jiaojiao was only suited for romance and poetry, and that letting her manage the affairs of the entire household was not the right thing to do.

Regardless of whether Jiaojiao is willing or not, he will still feel sorry for her.

An'an was fine, and the next day the three of them packed their bags and returned to the capital.

After getting off the carriage and walking down the street, all I could hear were the voices of the people talking.