Zhou Wan sighed softly, feigning sadness: "Alas, I came here for my grandfather and younger brother."

Hesitantly wiping away her tears, Zhou Wan revealed the purpose of her trip: "The Crown Prince cannot openly interfere in this matter. I am extremely anxious about rescuing my brother, so I had to come up with a compromise..."

"What method?" the First Madam asked urgently.

"The son of the Vice Minister of Justice is twenty-five years old and still unmarried. If we marry our third sister to him, as the Vice Minister of Justice's in-law, he will surely take care of the younger brother, and perhaps even be able to rescue him in the future."

Mr. Zhou paused, then said, "This..."

"I heard that the son of the Vice Minister of Justice has a face as big as a pig and is an idiot. Wouldn't it be a disservice to your sister to marry him?"

Zhou Yu grew up in his presence. Third Aunt was deeply loved by Zhou's father. Although his son was more important than his daughter, he still felt a little reluctant to let her go.

Zhou Wan pinched her palm to steady her emotions and sighed, "I don't want my sister to marry into that family either, but for the sake of the only bloodline of the Zhou family, this is the only way."

See? Even now, Father still thinks about Zhou Yu! No matter how well she does, in Father's eyes, she is ultimately not as important as Zhou Yu.

Zhou Wan felt a pain spreading through her heart. She had wanted to consider family ties, but her father's attitude truly chilled her to the bone.

When she was to marry the Crown Prince, he pushed her away without saying a word.

Knowing full well that the Zhou family and the Crown Prince were at odds at the time, and knowing that the Crown Prince hated everyone in the Zhou family, they still used her as a pawn and pushed her out.

He even more shamelessly ordered her to observe the Crown Prince's every move and report back regularly.

Thankfully she didn't, otherwise, she would have been the one to suffer a terrible fate.

"Father!" Zhou Wan's expression was a little pale. "It's getting late, and I'm a bit tired." Qingci raised her hand to support Zhou Wan and stepped out the door.

The carriage drove out of the alley. Zhou Wan sat in the carriage with her eyes closed, resting. Qingci hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Your Highness came up with this idea. I wonder if Master will marry the Third Miss to him. Master really loves the Third Miss to the core."

Qingci secretly wanted Zhou Yu to marry that fat, pig-like idiot. She had been slapped before, and she still hated him to the core when she thought about it.

Zhou Wan opened her eyes, her gaze shifting, and a cold snort escaped her cherry-red lips: "So what if Father is reluctant? The First Madam is willing to risk everything to save her son."

That's right. The principal wife is in charge of the marriages of the concubines' children in the mansion. If the third concubine dares to obstruct her, the principal wife will sell her out in no time.

Overjoyed, the master and servant completely forgot that the Zhou family was only able to survive because of the help from the third concubine's family.

Without the Third Concubine's money, where would the three-courtyard mansion have come from? Who would pay for the household's daily expenses and social obligations?

After Zhou Wan left, the First Madam acted swiftly and decisively, immediately taking the Third Concubine into custody. Zhou's father tried his best to stop her, but was severely reprimanded by the First Madam.

"Do you still think you're the pampered son of a high-ranking official? Look at you, so pathetic that everyone hates you, even dogs despise you. And you're still protecting that slut and her daughter. Let me tell you, not a chance."

Zhou's father was still relatively clear-headed: "Right now, all our expenses are paid by Third Aunt. If you marry Yu'er off to a fool and then take away the house, won't we be left to wander the streets?"

"Look at your useless appearance, you can't even control a concubine. When the Zhou family is in trouble, shouldn't she contribute money?" The First Madam had been bewitched by Zhou Wan's words, believing that as long as Zhou Yu was married off, her son would be saved.

“Even if she is willing, Zhou Yu is not. If he takes everything away, we won’t be able to save our son, and we’ll even have trouble eating.”

"She dares?"

As it turns out, Zhou Yu really dared to do it!

Her nature has always been to follow her heart rather than her body. Even in her current predicament, no one can force her to do what she doesn't want to do.

When she heard that the First Madam was going to marry her off to a fool, the Third Madam first argued with the First Madam, and then Zhou Yu called her maternal grandfather's family to take back the three-courtyard house.

He returned to his maternal grandparents' home with his third aunt in high spirits.

When Zhou Wan heard about this, she was so angry that she almost miscarried.

He berated the First Madam as a useless piece of trash who couldn't even control a concubine.

...

Gu Nanjiao had just finished a bowl of grape stewed with watermelon when Zhou Yu came to her door.

After listening to Zhou Yu recount the gossip about the Zhou family, Gu Nanjiao was speechless with astonishment.

It had been quite a while since I'd seen Zhou Yu. I'd thought this rich young lady would be extremely jealous of her, but she was still the same loud and arrogant woman.

“Gu Nanjiao, now that I’ve left the Zhou family, I want to learn how to do business with you, specifically how to make that stinky mandarin fish. If you teach me, I’ll give you the shop at Meiweizhai.”

"Wow, so generous!" Gu Nanjiao gently patted her slightly protruding belly. She had eaten a bit too much and felt the little one inside kick her, as if protesting that she shouldn't eat so much in the future.

"Of course, I always keep my word. You will definitely not lose out by cooperating with me."

What Zhou Yu said was true. Her maternal grandfather only had one daughter, his third concubine. He had always wanted to get in touch with officials. Finally, he spent all his money to marry his daughter into the Zhou family as a concubine. Unexpectedly, the Zhou family collapsed halfway through, and he had to marry his granddaughter to a fool.

Zhou Yu's maternal grandfather was furious and swiftly brought his daughter and granddaughter back home. Needless to say, he left all the family property to them, so Zhou Yu was very confident.

Gu Nanjiao thought this was a good deal, but she didn't plan to give the recipe for stinky mandarin fish to Zhou Yu, since it was the signature dish of Meiwuzhai!

With nothing else to do, Gu Nanjiao led Zhou Yu toward the kitchen.

Zhou Yu, puzzled, asked, "Gu Nanjiao, what are you keeping me in suspense for? Why are you bringing so many snails?"

Looking at the densely packed snails, Zhou Yu felt a chill run down his spine.

"I'll teach you a novel, pungent delicacy that I guarantee you'll love!" Gu Nanjiao smiled mysteriously, not forgetting to slice the pickled bamboo shoots in her hand into shreds.

I fried some peanuts, cooked the rice noodles, and then poured a bowl of thick, pungent snail rice noodle broth over them.

A bowl of pungent snail rice noodles is ready!

Gu Nanjiao squinted and sniffed. She finally understood why Yingniang liked smelly food after she became pregnant. She liked it too, especially durian.

Lu Yanzhao specially asked someone to bring it from the south, and he peeled the durian while holding his nose.

Gu Nanjiao ate with great relish.

I still vividly remember Lu Yanzhao's indescribable expression.

Zhou Yu pinched her nose and fanned it in disgust: "This is too smelly. It's not even in the same league as stinky mandarin fish. I still prefer stinky mandarin fish."

She couldn't even bear to look at that stinky snail rice noodle soup.

Gu Nanjiao filled two bowls and pushed the other bowl towards Zhou Yu: "Try it, if you don't like it, come find me!"

Zhou Yu shook her head; she would rather die than eat it!

Gu Nanjiao admired her fortitude; she would eat even if she refused.

He slurped up a mouthful of noodles with satisfaction and sighed, "Nothing could be more delicious than this."

After a while, Zhou Yu was somewhat intrigued: "Is it really that delicious?"

"More real than real gold!"

Zhou Yu pinched his nose and took a bite. Sure enough, the pungent smell was even more overpowering than stinky mandarin fish. Most importantly, it was addictive.

As soon as Lu Yanzhao finished his court session, he smelled a familiar stench.

His face was slightly cold, and his eyes were so dark they seemed to drip water.

It must be Gu Nanjiao who secretly ate snail rice noodles. I've told her so many times that she can't eat these things during her pregnancy, but she just won't listen.