"Moon, moon."

When Aunt Xiang heard from her maid that Fifth Miss had an accident at the banquet and that Princess Kangle was treating her, she was shocked.

She and Xiangling originally thought that the maid came to deliver the message on behalf of Madam Wu, wanting her to make a fool of herself at the banquet and be completely disliked by the general.

But Xiangling ran to the banquet, and what she saw with her own eyes could not be a lie. So Aunt Xiang disregarded everything else. Even though she knew that there might be a bottomless abyss ahead, she had no choice but to rush over for her daughter's sake.

Ever since the general complained about Xiang's unpleasant smell, he has stopped setting foot in her room. As a result, Madam Wu even reduced her allowance.

They deliberately sabotaged her postpartum recovery.

Due to insufficient nutrition, the baby cried day and night, and feeding had to be done by herself. Her body became increasingly thin, and she would be out of breath after running just a few steps.

Aunt Xiang rushed into the room, and Lu Qiqi held the child. Whispers began to circulate among them.

The woman in pink asked, "Who is this woman? I've never seen her before."

The woman in the apricot-colored dress said, "She must be the birth mother of this illegitimate daughter, otherwise who else would be so nervous?"

As the legal mother, Madam Wu didn't even bother to come and see her illegitimate daughter when the latter had an accident at the banquet.

"This concubine must have a death wish, daring to barge into the master's banquet. How can the General's Mansion be so unruly!"

After these words were spoken, the voices criticizing Aunt Xiang for being uncouth became even more numerous.

Aunt Xiang finally managed to stand in front of Lu Qiqi, swallowed her dry saliva, and carefully examined the child's condition.

Lu Qiqi gently comforted her, "Don't worry, it's all over now."

Seeing the dried tear tracks on Xiao Lingyue's face, Aunt Xiang's heart ached terribly. She asked in a trembling voice, "Yue'er, what happened to her?"

This matter cannot be kept secret. Moreover, she has to say it in public so that everyone can see Madam Wu's evil intentions and make her think twice in the future.

After all, from now on, if anything happens to Aunt Xiang and Xiao Lingyue, people will associate it with what happened today.

She said, "The red marks on her body are from being pinched. Her right shoulder is broken, but I have already set the bone."

But children are delicate and need to be nourished with the best medicine; otherwise, they can never recover their health in their lifetime.

The first half of the sentence tells everyone what insidious things Madam Wu did to Xiao Lingyue.

The second half of the sentence, however, struck at Madam Wu's spine, letting her know that if Xiao Lingyue had any aftereffects in the future, it would be because of her, the legal mother, who had mistreated her, causing such a young child to suffer so much and leaving her with an incurable illness.

As long as Madam Wu didn't want to be forever branded with bad reputation, she could only send nourishing things to Aunt Xiang's courtyard.

Otherwise, if her reputation is truly ruined, the two legitimate sons born to Madam Wu will have to think twice before marrying, even among the wealthy and powerful in the border town.

With such a vicious mother-in-law, even if both sides still want to arrange a marriage, the woman's family has to consider what others will say, for fear of being stigmatized as selling their daughter for personal gain.

If Madam Wu disliked Lu Qiqi for meddling in other people's business before, now she wishes she could slap her to death!

He presented her with lavish gifts, but she ended up helping a lowly concubine!

How dare this lowly village head disrespect himself like this!

......

The Wu residence, study.

The servant served four cups of tea, then bowed and withdrew.

Wu Guangping and two men of different ages sat together at a round table, drinking tea.

The banquet had already begun outside. Wu Guangping made a brief appearance at the banquet, then used the excuse of recuperating from his injuries to stay in the study.

He took a sip of tea but couldn't taste anything. He put down the teacup and said, "It seems that the matter of the Cen family is still unclear. It's obvious that whoever got the item doesn't dare to take it out easily."

In this way, it would actually be beneficial to us.

The youngest of the three, the man in the green robe, asked in a low voice, "General Wu, are the conditions agreed upon earlier still valid?"

Wu Guangping and the man in the Tibetan robe exchanged a glance and burst into laughter. "It's a done deal. Our great undertaking is about to be accomplished. From now on, we will both be regional kings."

Having received another positive reply, the green-robed man's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally calmed down.

He secretly calculated his future wealth and glory, so what was there to fear in taking such a risk now!

The three reached an agreement. Wu Guangping sipped his tea, observing the expressions of the two men, while harboring another set of plans in his mind.

Just then, there was a knock on the study door.

Wu Guangping guessed it was a servant who had brought the food.

He called out from outside the door, "Come in."

A servant dressed in coarse blue clothes entered the study empty-handed, walked to General Wu's side, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Upon hearing this, Wu Guangping breathed heavily through his nose, as if he was trying his best to suppress his anger.

The two men, who were still drinking tea, were unaware of what had happened, but judging from Wu Guangping's sudden change in expression, they knew that nothing good had occurred.

After the servants left, Wu Guangping said, "I'm sorry, something happened at the banquet today, and I have to go and take care of it."

Since many people will be leaving the mansion afterward, I fear this might cause complications. I will have someone escort you out of the mansion first.

We apologize for any shortcomings in our hospitality.

Both men waved their hands, saying that General Wu was too kind, and that once their great cause was accomplished, they would no longer need to stay in this hidden compartment and would be able to speak freely.

The two were led out of the study by servants, and Wu Guangping then went to the women's banquet.

During the journey, Wu Guangping asked, "What exactly happened? How did it escalate to this point?"

The servants honestly recounted the situation at the banquet, and they didn't dare utter a single word of Granny Gui's embellished stories in front of General Wu.

Upon hearing about the situation at the women's section, Wu Guangping's brows furrowed even more deeply.

It seems that his first wife is becoming increasingly reckless, doing such a despicable thing in front of everyone.

And of all things, the head of Kang Le Township happened to bump into him.

The good mood I was in the study just now has been completely ruined by rushing to deal with household matters!

That foolish woman, the First Madam, was smug after defeating Concubine Cen, unaware that it was all done on purpose.

Otherwise, the First Madam's petty tricks would be no match for the people behind Aunt Cen.

Not to mention that even if Aunt Cen were to die along with her unborn child, she wouldn't be accused of being jealous of her concubine and murdering her illegitimate son.

Now that the township head of Kang Le has caught them red-handed, how to clean up this mess is a real headache!

Thinking of this, Wu Guangping quickened his pace, wanting to stop the matter from escalating.