That evening, Qingyou also had her bodyguards keep an eye on Huo Jiwen and Shi Lingqiao.

Whenever the two were about to get intimate, Qingyou would have her maid call Huo Jiwen and supervise him to go to the study to read.

Or they could say they were feeling unwell and ask Shi Lingqiao to attend to their illness.

They were truly attentive, having Shi Lingqiao do this and that.

At night, Shi Lingqiao was not allowed to go back. Instead, a narrow tatami mat was placed in front of her bed so that Shi Lingqiao could sleep there at any time.

Every time Shi Lingqiao had just fallen asleep, Qingyou would wake her up to serve her, such as asking her to pour water if she was thirsty.

After Shi Lingqiao brought the water, she would be scolded whether the water was cold or hot.

After finishing her fuss and pouring water, Shi Lingqiao had just fallen asleep when Qingyou would wake her up again, saying she was hot and asking Qingyou to fan her.

Or she might suddenly feel cold and want the other person to cover her with a blanket.

Or you might suddenly feel hungry and want a snack, so you ask the other person to get it for you.

After bringing it back, they complained that it tasted bad, etc.

In short, Qingyou cleverly used every excuse a truly wicked mother-in-law would find to torment her daughter-in-law.

Shi Lingqiao once said that the original owner of this body had made her take care of the sick and had been deliberately tormenting her, so Qingyou will let her experience what real torment is like.

Huo Jiwen also suffered a lot.

Every time he gets intimate with his wife, before he can do anything else, his mother's maid will forcibly take him away to read or run errands.

It was incredibly difficult to endure.

Moreover, recently, at his mother's behest, he has been subjected to double the training by the martial arts instructor, leaving him exhausted every day.

Besides this, Qingyou will also suddenly crave food from restaurants outside.

So they sent Huo Jiwen to buy it himself.

Even after buying it, they still found fault with it in various ways.

After enduring such torment every day, Shi Lingqiao and Huo Jiwen were both physically and mentally exhausted.

Neither of them wanted to go to Qingyou's courtyard to pay their respects and serve her anymore.

One day, they skipped the trip, but Qingyou took the initiative to have her maid call them over.

After being scolded, he continued to cause trouble and torment.

She portrayed the wicked mother-in-law so vividly that Shi Lingqiao hated her to the core.

She had neither the right nor the ability to resist, so she could only endure being tormented.

Huo Jiwen himself was exhausted, so even though he felt sorry for Shi Lingqiao, he didn't have much energy to help her.

I had helped them before, but Qingyou punished me even more severely.

If they showed even the slightest displeasure, Qingyou would sarcastically accuse them of being unfilial and tell them to get out of the Duke's mansion.

What else could the two of them do? They didn't want to move out, so they were forced to continue being tormented.

As time went on, both of them felt like they were going crazy.

Just when the two were about to reach their breaking point, Huo Xi returned to Beijing.

That day.

Qingyou had just finished having Shi Lingqiao serve her a meal, and then she finished dealing with her.

A servant boy entered, led by Granny Qi.

He bowed to Qingyou and said, "Madam, the Third Young Master has returned and is already at the main gate. The steward sent me to inform you."

Qingyou, who had been expressionless, instantly broke into a delighted smile upon hearing his words.

"Xiao Xi is back!"

She then got up and said, "I'll go take a look."

After saying that, she quickly walked towards the door, and Granny Qi and the head maid hurriedly followed.

Only Huo Jiwen and Shi Lingqiao, their faces now pale, remained in the room, staring at each other in bewilderment.

Huo Jiwen snapped the chopsticks in his hand.

He had received a message from the Fourth Prince a few days ago that Huo Xi had been ambushed several times, but each time a number of experts would suddenly appear to protect him, so the ambushes failed.

We can only regretfully accept this fact.

Shi Lingqiao was unaware of Huo Jiwen's plot with the Fourth Prince to assassinate Huo Xi, and she was happy that Huo Xi had returned.

This way, she could scheme against her wicked mother-in-law and Huo Xi.

Shi Lingqiao noticed her husband's unpleasant expression and thought things weren't bad enough.

So she deliberately stirred things up, saying, "Husband, my uncle is back. Mother looks so happy and surprised. She even went to the door to greet him herself."

If the wicked mother-in-law does this a few more times, Huo Jiwen's heart will be completely on her side.

Once she gains control of the household, Huo Jiwen probably won't care how she deals with her wicked mother-in-law.

Sure enough, Huo Jiwen's face darkened even more.

He said self-deprecatingly, "It's because my mother values ​​my uncle more now."

Shi Lingqiao said, "Husband, since Mother has gone, let's go see her too."

She was somewhat curious about Huo Xi.

Whether she was the daughter of the Vice Minister of Revenue or after becoming Shi Lingqiao, she was unfamiliar with Huo Xi and had never met him before.

The other party is very low-key. When people mention the Duke's Mansion, they only mention the Eldest Princess and Huo Jiwen, but almost never Huo Xi.

Therefore, she was very curious about what kind of person Huo Xi would be.

Huo Jiwen didn't want to go. "He's just going home. Do we all need to go pick him up?"

They all went, making it seem like Huo Xi was having a huge fuss when he went home, which made him uncomfortable.

Shi Lingqiao knew Huo Jiwen quite well and could guess that he was unhappy.

She thought for a moment and said, "I'm just curious how Mother will treat Uncle."

She shook his arm playfully, "Let's go take a look."

After hearing what she said, Huo Jiwen suddenly wanted to know his mother's current attitude towards Huo Xi.

He looked at her with a doting expression, "Alright, whatever you say."

Shi Lingqiao smiled gently at him and said, "My husband, you are so good to me."

So the two of them joined hands and quickly chased after him.

As soon as I arrived at the front yard, I saw a tall, handsome young man in a white brocade robe enter with his servants.

Qingyou was standing in the courtyard when she saw Huo Xi come in, and immediately walked up to him with a smile.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!