On second thought, it seems not impossible. Back then, I caught Master Xiao's eye with my innocent and harmless appearance, which led him to keep me outside. Later, I found the right opportunity to enter his household. They are father and son, so it's possible that they share the same interests.

However, she had pretended to be gentle, kind, and frugal for so many years in order to gain the power of managing the household. If she wanted some personal money, she had to manipulate the accounts. But this woman in front of her didn't have to do anything. Xiao Youzhi would rush to hand over the money to her. Thinking of this, a trace of gloom appeared on her delicate face.

"How could that be?" Dong Heqing suppressed his resentment and forced a gentle smile. "Youzhi is a very loyal and affectionate child. How could he harm you?"

Upon hearing this, Meng Zhao nodded as if relieved. "That's true. A few days ago, he said that if I really didn't want to run the business, he was willing to buy back the shops at the original price and would definitely not let me lose money." She twisted her handkerchief in distress. "It's just that the ownership was transferred not long ago, and it's still within the transfer restriction period, which is why I haven't been able to resell them."

Upon hearing this, Dong Heqing's eyes widened slightly. Looking at the innocent Meng Zhao in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. As expected, they were father and son of the same ilk. They used her and then discarded her like worn-out shoes, showing no mercy. She and he were both pitiful people who were being played with by the men of the Xiao family.

The thought that those priceless shops might fall into Xiao Youzhi's hands made Dong Heqing's eyes flash with a shadow. She sighed softly and took Meng Zhao's hand with feigned concern: "Good child, Youzhi's mother and I are like sisters. Now that I see how much he cares about you, I can finally put my mind at ease."

Meng Zhao blushed slightly upon hearing this. "Madam Dong, you flatter me. Young Master Xiao and I are just ordinary friends."

"Alright, alright, we're friends, we're friends." Dong Heqing smiled, his eyes crinkling with fine lines, but his tone suddenly turned heavy. "My heart aches for Youzhi. His love life has been so bumpy since he was little. Miss Lin, who grew up with him and was engaged to him, was such a perfect couple. But alas, fate is jealous of beauty, and she passed away at such a young age."

Later, his family arranged for him to marry the eldest daughter of the Minister's family. The girl was beautiful and talented, and the betrothal gifts were almost ready. But then... sigh, ever since then, Youzhi has calmed down. Now, hearing that you are by his side, I feel a little more at ease.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Xu Yunrong, who was selecting items nearby, exclaimed loudly, "What! Zhaozhao, you've never mentioned this to your mother before? Young Master Xiao has such a past?"

Meng Zhao trembled, her eyes instantly reddening. "Mother, I... this is the first time I've ever heard of this."

Dong Heqing covered his mouth as if suddenly waking up, a hint of triumphant pleasure flashing in his eyes, which quickly turned into a look of regret: "Oh dear, look at my mouth, what? Youzhi didn't even mention it to you? How could this child be so foolish."

"Two fiancées died?!" Xu Yunrong's voice suddenly rose. "To put it nicely, it's called a bumpy road in love; to put it bluntly, it's just..." She suddenly stopped, glanced around, and lowered her voice, each word like a knife, "A curse on wives? Our Zhaozhao is a lively and healthy girl, she's never been seriously ill since she was a child, how could she marry someone like that!"

With that, she grabbed Meng Zhao's wrist and started to pull her outside. "Zhao Zhao, let's go back now. We have to get to the bottom of this!"

Seeing this, Dong Heqing hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, pretending to support Meng Zhao's other arm: "Madam Meng, please wait! It was all my fault for being so talkative just now. Please don't take it to heart. Youzhi's life has been a bit hard, but he is truly devoted to Miss Zhao Zhao."

However, Xu Yunrong pulled him away, and as he watched the mother and daughter leave, Dong Heqing's lips curled into a triumphant smile.

After the two left the shop and turned the corner, Xu Yunrong stopped, leaned against the wall and let out a deep breath. When she turned to look at her daughter, her eyes gleamed with a mischievous light: "Zhaozhao, how was Mother's performance just now?"

Meng Zhao couldn't help but laugh out loud, "The acting couldn't be better, especially that shocked sound, it was so vivid."

"Silly girl." Xu Yunrong gently poked her daughter's forehead, but her expression gradually became serious. "But I wasn't just acting. That Xiao Youzhi, he looks dignified and speaks eloquently, I genuinely thought he was quite good. Who would have thought he would hide such a big thing from us? It seems he's not someone we can entrust our lives to."

Although Meng Zhao knew that Dong Heqing's words might not be the truth, she did not refute them. Seeing her daughter's silence, Xu Yunrong asked again, "But Zhao Zhao, aren't we going a bit too far? After all, if he hadn't told you this news, we wouldn't have been able to buy so many shops that were about to increase in price."

A sharp glint flashed in Meng Zhao's eyes. "So what? He can scheme against me, so why can't I scheme against him? I don't want to get involved in the mess that's going on with the Xiao family. Don't worry, Mother. They've been fighting for so many years, they'll definitely be wary of each other. Xiao Youzhi isn't so easy to bully either. Right now, I just hope that Dong Heqing can focus on dealing with Xiao Youzhi and just pretend I don't exist."

If this were the first time the mother and daughter had heard about this, they naturally wouldn't have wanted to go shopping. So, to make the most of the act, Meng Zhao and Xu Yunrong reluctantly boarded the carriage to go home, wasting the rare good weather.

The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the Meng residence. As soon as the two got out of the carriage, they saw Shen Qinghe, dressed in a dark long robe, standing at the bottom of the steps. He had obviously been waiting for a while. Xu Yunrong glanced between the two of them and knew that they had been having a conflict recently. She sighed and said, "Zhaozhao, I think Qinghe is waiting for you. You two talk things out. I'll go in first."

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