"Can't figure it out? Aren't you resentful? Do you hate me to death?"

Song Xia looked at Liu Fangniang mockingly: "Do you think that just because your daughter has married into a high-ranking family, she can act like a tyrant in this mansion? Let's not even talk about how your daughter is just a concubine. Even if she becomes the phoenix on the branch as you think, this county princess is not afraid of you."

Liu Fangniang lowered her head, constantly telling herself it was alright. She had endured it for so many years, she didn't mind enduring it for a little longer.

Song Xia's smugness won't last long; he's just putting on a brave face. The reason he's torturing himself is simply because he's not convinced!

"Tsk, how pitiful. Your daughter is about to become a concubine of Prince Huai, yet you still have to serve me."

Liu Fangniang kept her head down, appearing docile, but she was already seething with hatred.

“Liu Fangniang, let me tell you this: no matter how successful your children are, you can never escape my grasp.”

Hearing such arrogant words, Liu Fangniang gradually calmed down. She felt that Song Xia must be panicking, and must be pretending to be calm. Who wouldn't be anxious when the enemy is getting stronger and stronger? Song Xia was just showing his last fangs in this way.

However, just as she was comforting herself, Song Xia glared at her fiercely and said, "Believe it or not, before you even have a chance to enjoy your good fortune, this county princess will kill you?"

Liu Fangniang's eyelids twitched suddenly. How dare Song Xia?

Song Xia sat back down and scoffed, "Just kidding, scared? How could I let you die so easily? After all, I'm not one of you."

What? Liu Fangniang pondered the meaning behind Song Xia's words, her heart pounding. Had she discovered something?

Impossible. So many years have passed, there are no witnesses or physical evidence left, what could possibly be found? If they had found it long ago, why have they endured it until now?

Song Xia watched Liu Fangniang guess without saying anything. This was so interesting. She kept Liu Fangniang hoping, but her body was being tortured. In the end, when her hope collapsed, her breakdown would be quite a sight.

"Go get Aunt Liu a bowl of beans to pick, so she can calm down."

The so-called "bean picking" involves mixing red and green beans together and having people pick them out one by one. It doesn't seem tiring, but few people can persist for a long time, since you can't stop to rest in the middle.

Inside Yingyue Pavilion, Zhou Ying heard that her aunt was still being tormented by Song Xia, and she endured it all.

He tried several times to get Song Xia to come to the main courtyard, but he managed to hold back.

She hasn't married Prince Huai yet, and everything is uncertain until things are settled; she can't gamble.

"Mother, wait for your daughter, I will avenge you soon."

The next morning, the Empress's decree arrived at the Zhou residence. Zhou Yongli excitedly accepted the decree and rewarded the messenger with a generous amount of gold ingots, but he did not notice the cold expression on the eunuch's face.

"Although the marriage at such a young age was a bit rushed, it also proves that Prince Huai truly loves Ying-jie."

Zhou Yongli's words made Zhou Ying blush. Although she had only met Prince Huai once, she had already begun to fantasize about her life after marrying him. She was sure it would be as loving and affectionate as her father and aunt's. As for the other people in the Prince's mansion...

It's impossible for her not to mind, but His Highness's status is special, and he often has no choice in the matter, which she can understand.

After that, Zhou Ying happily prepared for her wedding, while Song Xia tormented Liu Fangniang every day, quickly making her haggard.

Aunt Meng felt relieved and her health improved slightly, so she came to watch Liu Fangniang's jokes every day.

Sure enough, only by following the wife can one have a good life. What can the master do? So what if his daughter has married into a higher social class? In the mansion, she still has to listen to the wife.

"It's all about fate, and you can't just change it all, Sister Gao, don't you think?"

"Who can argue with that? Some people spend all day thinking about random things, not realizing that all their thinking is in vain, a waste of time."

"Do some people really think their children can compare to the eldest son? They are concubines, and their daughters who marry out are also concubines. In the future, the children their daughters give birth to will still be illegitimate. How ridiculous is that?"

“Sister Meng, you can’t say that. People are different after all. He’s aiming for great things.”

"No matter how lofty your ambitions are, you still have to obediently serve your wife."

Song Xia listened to the sisters talking about Liu Fangniang while teasing Lin Jie'er, the daughter of Aunt Gao.

Although Lin Jie'er was born prematurely, she is not as weak as Yu Qing was when she was given the medicine. Now she is no different from a normal baby, fair-skinned and tender, and especially cute.

“Our Lin’er will definitely be blessed in the future. Only those who are forced to become concubines will become wives if they have a choice.”

Aunt Gao was overjoyed to hear this: "I thank you on behalf of Lin'er, Madam. With Madam's love and care, Lin'er will surely have a bright future."

In the years since she came to the capital, she has learned many secrets of the inner quarters. There are those ruthless mistresses who specialize in raising illegitimate daughters and then sending them to the backyards of nobles and powerful officials to make profits, treating them like business transactions and not as human beings.

She said from the bottom of her heart that the lady was truly the best mistress in the capital, but Liu Fangniang was never satisfied.

Over the past few years, she has basically figured out the meaning. It seems that the young master and Liu Fangniang were childhood sweethearts, but in the end, the madam took a fancy to the master, and Liu Fangniang became a concubine.

Tsk, she really didn't know what Liu Fangniang and her two children had to blame the madam for. Even she could see that even if the master hadn't married the madam back then, he wouldn't have married Liu Fangniang.

After all, at that time, the Zhou family only had one son, the master, who was also a top scholar in the imperial examination. Why would he marry his cousin, who had no social status and was always freeloading? Even if the master insisted, the elders of the Zhou family would not have agreed.

If the master truly loves you so much and is willing to persevere, given the lady's pride, knowing about this affair between you, would she still marry you?

So she didn't understand where Liu Fangniang's hatred came from. Moreover, she heard that before the eldest young master fully recovered, the madam was particularly lenient with Liu Fangniang. Why didn't she cherish such a good madam? Why did she have to be hostile and covet things she shouldn't have? If the madam didn't get angry, wouldn't she be a pushover? How could a member of the imperial family not have a temper?

Seeing that Yingjie had climbed the social ladder by marrying Prince Huai, she noticed that the lady was not flustered at all, which proved that the lady had already made her plans.

Liu Fangniang, Liu Fangniang, no matter how successful your children are, a wife is still a wife. Can you rely on your children's power to surpass the Prince Cheng's mansion and religious laws to make you the principal wife?

Even if that day ever comes, before that day arrives, your wife will torture you to death.

In the years since she came to the manor, she felt that she had seen through it all: the madam was just toying with the master and Liu Fangniang, but it seemed that no one but her could see through this.