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

Thinking of Ye Simiao's fate in her previous life, Ji Yueru sighed inwardly.

"An'an, forget it. The jade quality isn't very good anyway. Let's just give it to her since she doesn't have much time left to live."

"Your mother asked the jade craftsman at the shop to make you another string of beads using the finest jade, even better than this one."

Upon recognizing Ye Simiao, An'an's anger vanished instantly.

Oh, it's her.

Her past life must have been quite tragic, so let her have it. Anyway, soon she won't have the chance to take things from others.

Ye Simiao frowned and looked around. Why did she hear a little girl's voice?

But after looking through the entire shop lobby, she didn't see a single person with a child.

That's strange, really strange.

Across from them, Ji Yueru had already turned her head to discuss something with the female shop assistant next to her.

"Could you make another one from your shop, using the finest jade?"

I thought the two sides would quarrel, but I didn't expect Lady Anshun to be so easy to talk to.

The female shop assistant felt relieved.

"That's certainly possible, but it might take a while, at least two or three months."

Just in time for An'an to be born, so that she can receive it.

"Okay, I can wait."

"Please have a seat here, Madam. I will go and bring over the jade material for you to choose from. Once you have selected the material, you can wait in line for the master craftsman to carve it."

There were tables and chairs for guests to rest on the side of the lobby. Zhiyi helped Ji Yueru sit down, completely ignoring Ye Simiao.

What's the point of arguing with someone who's about to die when you only have six months left to live?

"Mother, Mother, do you want to know the truth about Ye Simiao's death? In my previous life, what was said outside was just the surface; her death was anything but simple."

Just as Ye Simiao was about to get angry, she heard the little guy's cheerful voice.

Ye Simiao?

Are you talking about her?

She's dead? How could that be?

"Oh, then An'an, tell me."

Anyway, I'm just idling around now, so I might as well listen to An'an's story.

The story is quite long. It begins with the Prime Minister's wife and Consort De from the palace, when they went to the Summer Palace together twenty years ago.

At the time, both of them were still in their late thirties when a group of assassins came to the Summer Palace to kill the emperor one night.

In the end, all the assassins were killed, but Consort De and the Prime Minister's wife were both startled and began to act.

When they gave birth, the two were moved to a side hall, and in the end, they both gave birth to daughters.

Consort De fainted after giving birth, but the Prime Minister's wife did not.

Thinking of her mother-in-law who favored sons over daughters, and looking at the unconscious Consort De beside her, a bold idea popped into her mind.

At that moment, there were no servants with the two of them. The emperor had just had a daughter, and everyone had gone out to kneel and thank him for the reward.

The Prime Minister's wife swapped the children she had with Consort De. From then on, her child went to the palace and became a pampered princess, while the legitimate princess born to Consort De went to the Prime Minister's residence and was disliked by the old lady of the Prime Minister's residence, and suffered a lot in her childhood.

It wasn't until her mother passed away when Ye Simiao was in her teens that her life became a little easier.

Ji Yueru never imagined there would be so many twists and turns inside, and Ye Simiao was truly pitiful.

The real princess ended up being wrapped in a straw mat and thrown into a mass grave.

"Madam, these are the only good jade materials left in the shop. Please take your pick. If you don't like them, we can have them brought from elsewhere, but it will probably take some time."

"An'an, take a look and see which piece of fabric you like first."

"Madam, what's wrong?"

When Ye Simiao's personal maid noticed that her mistress's expression was not right, she quickly helped her up.

The waitress who had been waiting nearby was completely baffled. Even though the Lady of Anshun hadn't intended to hold her accountable for the theft, what was the meaning of her standing there motionless?

"Mother, I like the third piece; its jade color is a bit darker."

Ye Simiao suddenly looked up at Ji Yueru, who was selecting jade materials.

She was now quite certain that the child's voice was related to Ji Yueru. Looking down at her lower abdomen, she wondered if it was the voice of the child in her womb.

Thinking about this, and then about what was said earlier that she was Consort De's biological daughter, and why she said that her past life was very tragic.

Thinking of this, Ye Simiao quietly instructed the maid beside her.

"Help me to sit on that chair over there."

The maid didn't think much of it and helped her mistress to a chair next to the main hall.

She sat two seats away from Ji Yueru, and after sitting down, Ye Simiao looked unwell and closed her eyes to rest.

The female shop assistant didn't dare to go forward and disturb them, and took the things that Ye Simiao had just snatched to pack them up.

"This one will do. Carve me a flower pendant that looks exactly like the one I just saw."

"Yes, Madam Hou."

"An'an, see if there's anything else you like. This year you're a rabbit, so how about we carve another little rabbit jade pendant? What do you think?"

I like it, but I have to choose the style myself.

"Alright, alright, you choose."

"Bring me all the jade pendants with rabbit patterns that your children wear. I want to pick out a style."

"Yes, Madam, please wait a moment."

The female shop assistant went downstairs to get the jade pendant.

[Mother, where were we?]

Ye Simiao, who was sitting to the side, became more solemn.

"Since the passing of the old lady of the Prime Minister's mansion, Ye Simiao's life has become a little easier."

The Prime Minister's wife was so eager to see her daughter that she recently met Princess Qixia by chance at a palace banquet and couldn't help but tell her the truth about what happened back then, which led to the disaster in the Prime Minister's mansion.

Princess Qixia could tell who was better and who was worse, one being the legitimate daughter of a prime minister and the other a princess.

In order to eliminate the potential threat from the Prime Minister's residence, she seduced Zhao Kuo. By then, Zhao Kuo had become her devoted follower and was completely obedient to her.

Zhao Kuo, believing Princess Qixia's words, placed the evidence of treason in Prime Minister Ye's study under the pretext of seeking advice from his father-in-law.

Ten days later, following a tip-off, the Imperial Guards searched the Ye residence and found the letter of treason in the Prime Minister's study.

With the evidence irrefutable, Prime Minister Ye was unable to defend himself, and in the end, the entire Prime Minister's residence was exterminated and executed. Ye Simiao, being a married woman, escaped this fate.

Ye Simiao's hands were trembling slightly.

How could she?

How could he dare?

[Later, as you know from my previous life, after the Ye family fell from power, Ye Simiao had no family to rely on.]

Zhao Kuo took a prostitute into his mansion and favored her over his wife. He humiliated Ye Simiao, his legal wife, to the extreme, and she was eventually tortured to death. She couldn't even preserve her chastity when she died, and was eventually thrown into a mass grave with a straw mat.

In truth, she never knew until her death that all of this was Princess Qixia's doing, ensuring she wouldn't have a good end even after death.

As soon as she finished speaking, two female shop assistants came over with two trays, and An'an picked out a jade pendant that suited her taste.

After the mother and daughter finished paying and left the shop, a gasp of surprise came from inside the shop as soon as they got into the carriage.

"Madam, what's wrong?"