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

Upon hearing that it was Stone Town, Marquis Anshun's brows furrowed involuntarily.

He had heard about the case three days earlier; an entire family of eight had been murdered, and the local magistrate, having no leads, reported it to the Ministry of Justice.

Stone Town is a hundred miles from the capital. A round trip, plus the investigation, would take at least half a month to get back.

Thinking that his younger sister's wedding was in half a month, he wanted to refuse, but when he saw Minister Fang's face turn black with anger, he swallowed his words back.

Thinking that if he hurryed up, he could finish investigating the case and come back in time.

"Yes, sir, I will certainly not disappoint you."

"That's for the best, get out of here."

Minister Fang doesn't want to look at Lin Mufeng even once more. He used to think Lin was a good person, but now he seems more and more like a heartless man.

As they passed by the Marquis of Anshun's residence on their way out of the city, Changqi went to pack some clothes to change into, while he hurriedly went to the old lady's courtyard.

"Have the young lady go to the old lady's courtyard."

Seeing that the Marquis was in such a hurry, the servants dared not delay.

"Mother, I have to go out of the city to investigate a case. It will take at least ten days to half a month before I can return."

Don't worry, I'll definitely be back before my little sister's wedding.

The old lady was making incoherent noises, and no one could understand what she was saying, but she was gesturing frantically with one hand.

Even with her son there, that vicious woman dared to treat her like this. If her son were gone, how would she live her life?

The old lady didn't want her son to leave, but at this moment she couldn't utter a single complete sentence.

Lin Yuxue, who had just entered, immediately became dissatisfied upon hearing this.

"Brother, I'm about to get married and you still want to go out."

"Little sister, listen to me. You can't skip this trip. I lost my chance to be promoted as Minister, and I've been taking too many leave lately. Lord Fang has long been dissatisfied with me."

If I don't obey orders to investigate the case, I'm afraid I won't even be able to keep my position as Vice Minister. You know how hard it was for me to climb to this position.

Listen to me, I will definitely be back before your wedding.

When you're at home, take care of your two nephews and nieces. Also, make sure you visit your mother more often. We can't count on Lady Ji for now.

But don't worry, I've already given her instructions regarding your dowry, she definitely won't dare to treat it carelessly.

After finishing his sentence, Marquis Anshun left in a hurry without waiting for Lin Yuxue to say anything. The people outside were still waiting for him, and he couldn't let anyone find fault with him again.

"Big brother, big brother!"

Lin Yuxue called out twice from behind but couldn't stop the person. Seeing that the person had walked away, she stomped her foot angrily, turned around, and sat down in front of the old lady.

"Mother, my elder brother doesn't care about me at all now. Even after he's gone, the Ji family will still prepare a good dowry for me. Why is my life so miserable?"

"If I marry in a shabby manner, what will people think of me? I am, after all, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Anshun's family."

As he spoke, his expression changed, and the room reeked of feces.

It turned out that the old lady was too excited and couldn't control her lower body, so she defecated.

Lin Yuxue hurriedly stood up.

"Mother, I suddenly remembered that I haven't finished embroidering my dowry yet. I need to hurry back and finish it."

After saying that, he left in a hurry, completely ignoring the old lady's outstretched arm.

The old lady's tears fell in large drops; she knew from her current appearance that her son and daughter both disliked her.

As soon as the person left, the two maids who were in charge of serving the old lady came in. As soon as they smelled the familiar scent, their faces showed impatience.

The two turned to prepare water for their bath.

But when the old lady saw the two of them going to prepare water, she was already trembling with fear.

The bathtub behind the screen was filled with water. The two men, one lifting her by the hand and the other by the foot, lifted the old lady from the bed and placed her directly on the ground behind the screen, and began to strip her clothes off.

After their clothes were stripped off, revealing the filth on their lower bodies, a maid took a toilet brush, poured some water, and began to scrub.

After they had finished washing her, the two men lifted the old lady and threw her into the bathtub.

It's winter now, so the water in the bathtub isn't really hot; it's just lukewarm.

If it weren't for the fear that the cold water would kill the old man, An'an would have liked to give him a cold water bath.

That's right, the idea to get back at the old lady was all An'an's; Ji Yueru only verbally explained it.

Having witnessed it firsthand in her past life, she knew best how this old man had humiliated her mother.

That old hag had diarrhea and still needed her forty-something-year-old mother to take care of her, not only wiping her bottom but also washing her.

An An said that her mother in her previous life was truly a Ninja Turtle, yet she still didn't go crazy.

If it were her, she would have burned the Marquis of Anshun's mansion to the ground long ago, and they might as well die together.

While the person was soaking in the bath, one person went to make the bed and the other to clean the soiled clothes. As for the old lady soaking in the bathtub, the water was only half full, so they weren't worried that she would drown herself.

The two women were taking care of the old lady exactly as the madam had instructed. In their opinion, the old man had brought it on himself; he used to be so capable in front of the madam.

Now look, the tables have turned, haven't they?

Therefore, one must have a conscience, otherwise retribution will come upon oneself sooner or later.

After cleaning the outside, the two of them lifted the old lady, who was shivering from the bath and whose skin had turned white, out of the tub.

I put her on a chair, dried her off, dressed her, and then carried her to the bed, where she slept and was covered with a blanket.

Aside from being a bit dirty at times, they actually quite enjoy doing this job.

The two of them happily left with their dirty clothes. They didn't need the clothes washed, and they didn't need to be taken care of tonight. They could just come back tomorrow morning.

The old lady, lying on the bed, sobbed and tried her best to control her lower body, knowing that if she had an accident now, she would have to endure the stench all night, and no one would come back to clean her up.

Marquis Anshun did send someone to check if the old lady had any injuries. The person who checked found that the old lady had no injuries and had not lost weight, so he went back to report.

What they don't know is that there are many more ways to torment people in the world, and sometimes mental torment is the most despairing.

"Madam, good news! The Marquis has been sent away on official business, and I heard he won't be back until the eldest daughter's wedding."

Ji Yueru raised an eyebrow; this was indeed good news for her.

Now that people have left the capital, there's no need to be so vigilant anymore. It seems I can finally enjoy a few peaceful days before Lin Yuxue gets married.

In the east wing, after everyone had gone to sleep, Mo Da waited anxiously, finally seeing his master return.

Xiao Ce had actually woken up quite early and even went to the Yu family's house, but only Mo Da knew about it in the entire courtyard.

"Master, are you hungry? This is some food I've prepared for you. Please have some."

Xiao Ce didn't say much. He ate the food that Mo Da had prepared for him, then lay back down on the bed and fell asleep. Judging from his appearance alone, you couldn't tell that he had been seriously injured.

In fact, the wound on his chest was nothing to Xiao Ce. Every month on the fifteenth, his cold poison would flare up, and the pain during the flare-up was so intense that it made him wish he were dead.

Mo Da took the empty bowl out of the house, and the maids and servants who passed by were not surprised to see him.

Since their fight with the princess's guards, the two brothers have been able to freely enter and leave Ji Yueru's courtyard, while the other guards can only wait outside.

He was a guard in the courtyard, so it was normal for him to be there.

The next morning, Ji Yueru, who had just gotten up, was taking a walk in the yard to breathe in the fresh air when she unexpectedly encountered a tall and upright figure.

"My dearest mother, he is Prince Shun."