Unexpectedly, Xu Chang seemed even more surprised than she was. "Of course I recognize you. You are Madam Shuyao. The young mistress instructed me not to neglect you and not to make you feel uncomfortable in the mansion. May I ask what the servants did wrong? I can deal with them immediately," he asked anxiously.

Upon hearing this, Shu Yao felt a wave of darkness wash over her, nearly losing her footing, and the hairs on her body stood on end. How could Xu Chang play such a joke on her?

Her mind was racing. As she closed her eyes and awaited the dizziness, a piercing bird cry suddenly rang out from the sky, sounding exactly like a desperate scream, mournful and desolate. Looking up in surprise, the bird inexplicably jumped and fled, then spread its wings and flew away. Instantly... a terrifying restlessness and panic rose in her heart.

The experience of waking up in the servants' quarters in each of her past lives kept flashing before her eyes. Could it be that she really died, and this was the eleventh life, thus starting a new and different cycle of reincarnation? She felt as if she were in a fog, staring at Xu Chang and the little maid in front of her. Everyone in the mansion recognized her, but called her Madam Shu Yao. They also knew that she was a widow whose husband had died, and that Madam Yue Fang had taken her in to live in the Huo mansion out of pity.

Everything was the complete opposite of yesterday. Her identity had been switched with Yuefang's overnight. How could this be? What happened?

One big question mark after another crashed into her mind, leaving her completely battered and bruised, yet she had no answers!

The night before, she and Huo Jingsha were passionately entwined in the bedroom, their lovemaking intense. His embrace was so warm, his movements so forceful, and he tirelessly told her how much he liked and loved her. How could everything have changed so much after she woke up?

Huo Jingsha's wife became someone else, and she became a widow whose husband had died...

Exhausted from further arguing, she returned to her guest room in a daze. Facing the completely unfamiliar and cold room, she sat alone by the window, lost in thought. After an unknown amount of time, the maid from before rushed in to report…

"Madam Shuyao, the young mistress has returned with young master Xiaobao."

Before returning, she specifically instructed her maid to inform her immediately upon Yuefang's return; the maid was quite obedient. Shuyao bit her lip as she got up. She had been waiting for a long time, just waiting for Yuefang to return so she could ask her about the matter clearly. Arriving at the main courtyard, she saw Yuefang lovingly carrying a child into the front hall from afar, but the child's appearance was unclear. She quickened her pace to catch up, wanting to take her son first.

"Little Bao, Mommy's here!" She eagerly reached out her hands, but her voice stopped abruptly the moment the child turned his head.

This child wasn't Xiao Bao at all; it was a boy who looked just like Xiao Bao, only five or six months old.

"Yuefang, where's Xiaobao? Didn't you take the child out?" she asked anxiously, looking around anxiously.

Yuefang looked completely bewildered. "Shuyao, are you still asleep? How come you don't even recognize Xiaobao? Isn't this my son?" Yuefang said, bouncing the chubby baby in her arms. Even the child stared at her with wide, surprised eyes.

Shu Yao's face darkened. "Yuefang, don't joke around. This child isn't Xiaobao, and you're not Xiaobao's mother!" Her anger was churning inside her.

Huo Jingsha had never touched any of the concubines in the back courtyard, so how did she get pregnant? Even if she did, the child wasn't Huo Jingsha's, so how could she become the young mistress of the Huo family?

“Who says I’m not Xiaobao’s mother?” Yuefang said confidently, holding the child close to her face. “Look, don’t we look alike? No one would believe we’re not mother and son.”

You don't know until you compare them, and once you do, you're shocked. The child really does look 80% like Yuefang. People say that sons resemble their mothers, and that's absolutely true. In particular, Yuefang has a mole below her lip, and the child has one too.

Shu Yao was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained her composure and argued clearly, "You know better than I whether Huo Jingsha has ever stayed overnight at any of the concubines' houses in the backyard. Maybe this child is really yours, but it can't possibly be Huo Jingsha's. But none of that matters. Where is my child? Where did you take my little treasure?" She was eager to find her son, and her voice was dark and somewhat frightening.

"You Shuyao, how dare you slander me like this? You even dare to say things that ruin my reputation. I am Huo Jingsha's lawfully wedded wife, not some concubine from the backyard. Naturally, the children I have are his. Your own husband is dead, and you have no children. How dare you come to claim my children? I was kind enough to take you in, and you've completely ungrateful!" Yuefang spoke with righteous indignation, as if Shuyao were truly an ungrateful, ungrateful woman who was taken in and then tried to steal someone else's child.

Shu Yao felt betrayed and was furious. "Liu Yuefang, you've gone too far! Since I married into the family, I've never mistreated anyone in the inner quarters, nor have I ever deliberately made things difficult for you. Yet you've hidden my son and even tried to replace me as Mrs. Huo. Who would take such kindness for granted?"

"Oh dear, Madam Shuyao, has your illness flared up again? Have you been missing the medicine that Doctor He prescribed? No wonder you've been talking incoherently."

The one who spoke was Chunlu, who came out of the house. Shuyao stared at her in disbelief. Even she... even she was like this?