Upon hearing this, Eunuch Xiang quickly replied, "Perhaps Lady Mingzhao is new to the capital and unfamiliar with the place, so it is only right that His Highness Prince Chen takes extra care of her."

Upon hearing this, the emperor sighed. That was exactly why he felt aggrieved. Yan Qingqing had done a great favor for his son, so it was only right that Xiao Mochen should take good care of her.

The emperor thought for a moment and then said, "The palace examination is the day after tomorrow. After the palace examination, summon Lady Mingzhao to the palace."

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Xiang quickly agreed.

Yan Qingqing was chatting with Xiao Mochen when A'da hurriedly walked in and said, "Madam, I just ran into the second steward of the Wu family at the gate of our mansion when I returned from running errands."

He said he had urgent business to attend to with the lady, but dared not make a grand entrance.

The servant then quietly led him in through the back door.

Yan Qingqing frowned upon hearing this. She had been in the capital for so long, and Li Xinniang should have paid her a visit by now.

But half a month has passed, and Yan Qingqing simply doesn't believe that Li Xin's mother didn't know she had gone to the capital.

Moreover, Yan Qingqing has been busy with business matters lately and hasn't really paid attention to the Wu family's affairs.

Yan Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "Bring him in."

Soon, Butler Wu was brought in and respectfully bowed to Yan Qingqing.

Yan Qingqing looked at Butler Wu kneeling on the ground and said, "Get up. Butler Wu, did your young mistress send you here today to convey some message?"

Butler Wu replied, "No, I sneaked out. My young mistress is under house arrest."

Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing stood up abruptly, her face grim, and asked, "Say it again, what happened to Xinniang?"

Butler Wu suddenly felt a sense of pressure and replied tremblingly, "My mistress wants to marry my young master a concubine, but the young mistress disagrees."

The lady said the young mistress was jealous and lacked tolerance, so she confined her to her quarters.

Xiao Mochen spoke up from the side, "Aunt, you don't need to worry. I've sent people to keep an eye on things. It's just a house arrest; there's no danger."

Xiao Mochen looked down on the Wu family, a merchant family, and the reason he didn't take action against them was simply because he didn't know Yan Qingqing's attitude towards the Wu family.

Manager Wu looked up at the young man who was speaking and was startled. He saw that the young man was wearing a white jade dragon-shaped hairpin, a five-dragon gold and leather belt around his waist, and a nine-clawed dragon-shaped jade pendant hanging from his waist.

With that kind of attire, he's at least a prince.

Considering the recent rumors that His Highness Prince Chen and Lady Mingzhao have a very good relationship, it's not hard to guess who this person is.

At the same time, I was also worried for the Wu family.

I don't know what their wife was thinking. Did she think that just because the Wu family had been operating in the capital for many years and was deeply rooted there, they could treat the young mistress like this?

Lady Mingzhao is clearly not someone to be trifled with, especially with Prince Chen as her powerful backer.

Everyone knows how to make the right choice, but his wife deliberately did the opposite.

Their husband is even more obsessed with the backyard.

The entire Wu family is being supported by the young master alone. Who knows what will happen in the future?

Just as Butler Wu was feeling uneasy, Yan Qingqing looked at him and said, "No matter what, I have to thank you for coming to tell me about your young mistress being confined to her quarters."

After saying that, he gave Ruyi a wink, and Ruyi quickly took out a purse from her sleeve and stuffed it into his hand, saying, "This is a small token of our madam's appreciation. Please have some tea, Steward Wu. Thank you for making this trip."

Upon hearing this, Steward Wu repeatedly said he dared not, and then said a few more flattering words. Yan Qingqing waved her hand and told Ah Da to see Steward Wu out.

After Steward Wu left, Yan Qingqing looked at Xiao Mochen and asked, "Mochen, since you know that Xinniang is under house arrest, you must have been sending people to keep an eye on her."

How is she doing at the Wu family's house? Is it not good for her?

How has Wu Jingzhi treated her? When he proposed to Xinniang, he promised to treat her well.

Xiao Mochen knew that Yan Qingqing would never let go of her mother-daughter relationship with Li Xinniang, so he replied, "To be honest, it's not a good thing."

The old woman from the Wu family made things difficult for her time and time again, making her stand in the rules every day, and even trying to find a concubine for Wu Jingzhi and put people in his room, but Wu Jingzhi refused.

I refrained from taking action against the Wu family only because Wu Jingzhi's attitude remained relatively firm.

However, a few months ago, my older cousin had a conflict with Mrs. Wu, and since then the two have been at odds.

Madam Wu even wanted Wu Jingzhi's cousin, Qiu Channiang, to marry him as a secondary wife.

Yan Qingqing had a premonition when she heard the name Qiu Channiang. She knew that the daughter-in-law that Madam Wu had chosen was Qiu Channiang, because a very large jade pendant was among the betrothal gifts sent by the Wu family.

As expected, Xiao Mochen continued, "The Qiu family has a strong foothold in Xishan Prefecture. Qiu Channiang's father is an inspector in Xishan Prefecture, a third-rank official."

Qiu Channiang's mother and Madam Wu were sisters, but Qiu Channiang was an illegitimate daughter. Her mother was just one of Lord Qiu's concubines. Over the years, the Wu family had given the Qiu family a lot of money.

The two families were mutually beneficial, so both were interested in forming a marriage alliance.

However, Wu Jingzhi later married his cousin, disrupting their marriage plans, so no one in the Wu family except Wu Jingzhi liked his cousin.

Yan Qingqing took a deep breath upon hearing this. She knew that Li Xinniang wouldn't have a good life in the Wu family, but now, hearing Xiao Mochen say this, Li Xinniang was probably even more miserable than she had imagined.

No wonder Madam Wu looked down on the Li family; it turns out she wanted to curry favor with the Qiu family.

This is understandable, even though she has been granted the title of Lady Mingzhao today, her foundation is still much shallower than that of the Qiu family.

If she had known it would turn out this way, she should have opposed the marriage to the very end.

However, it's not too late now. Even if they get married, they can still get a divorce. Yan Qingqing's daughter will never be bullied by her in-laws.

Her daughter, Lady Mingzhao, would never share a husband with another man.

Thinking of this, Yan Qingqing instructed A'da, who had just returned from seeing Steward Wu off, "A'da, prepare the carriage. I'm going to the Wu family to visit the eldest daughter."

Upon hearing this, Ah Da quickly agreed and then hurried off to hitch up the cart.

Seeing Yan Qingqing's suddenly rising aura, Xiao Mochen asked, "Auntie, are you going to support my older cousin?"

Yan Qingqing replied, "After all, she is my own daughter. If a child is bullied, a mother will naturally stand up for her."

Xiao Mochen nodded and said, "In that case, Mochen will accompany Auntie."

Yan Qingqing waved her hand and said, "No need, Mo Chen. Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? If you go yourself, wouldn't that be giving the Wu family too much credit? They're not worthy."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Mochen could only nod and give up, as he actually thought the same thing.

The reason he didn't take action against the Wu family was partly because he looked down on them, and partly because he didn't want to make enemies with the Qiu family.