In the shop, Su Qiuya was embarrassed to call Liu Yulian "little sister". Based on what they had done before, they had no right to call Princess Rongning "little sister". The eldest wife didn't owe them anything, and the eldest wife didn't owe Miss Cen anything either.

The position of Qianhu appointed to Miss Cen was also appointed after the eldest branch of the Liu family left the northwest.

Su Qiuya felt that these people were all idiots. They didn't live a good life, so they blamed others. If blaming others could make life better, then go ahead and blame them. The key point was that blaming others wouldn't make your own life better.

That's clearly making things difficult for others and yourself.

"Whose daughter-in-law are you?" asked Aunt Qing.

"What about you? Whose biological mother are you?" Su Qiuya asked. "We have no relationship with the Cen family. Whether the Cen family girl breaks off the engagement or not, what's the big deal?"

Su Qiuya didn't think this matter had anything to do with her. She had long realized what kind of person Qing Yi Niang was. Qing Yi Niang was someone who refused to admit her own faults and only wanted to criticize others, especially the eldest wife.

Earlier, when the title of the eldest wife was not restored, Concubine Qing was very proud. After the title of the eldest wife was restored, Concubine Qing did not go in front of the people of the eldest wife, but she did warn Su Qiuya and Liu Yanbo.

Aunt Qing constantly instilled in her son and daughter-in-law the idea that the first wife was bad, which was also the reason why Su Qiuya had misunderstood the first wife before.

Who would have thought that Concubine Qing was so capable? Su Qiuya was lucky that the eldest wife did not come to ask them for money, otherwise, Concubine Qing would have had more to say.

Su Qiuya now feels that the eldest wife was in a difficult situation at that time. If the eldest wife had asked them to borrow money... maybe she would have given it, but she would also think that the eldest wife was not a good person, and would agree more with Qing Yi Niang's words.

It was obvious that the eldest wife did not ask them for money, nor did she get too close to them, but Aunt Qing still said that.

Su Qiuya also blamed herself for having preconceived ideas.

There was a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. During their exile, Liu's father paid more attention to the legitimate Liu Yanjing and his children. That was perfectly normal. Furthermore, Liu Yanjing was injured at the time.

"Mom, please don't worry about these things." Su Qiuya said, "Don't wait until later, when others are laughing at our family."

"What's there to laugh at?" Aunt Qing didn't think there was anything about her that was worthy of being laughed at by others. Even if her son broke off the engagement with the eldest wife, it didn't matter.

"..." Su Qiuya was too lazy to say anything. It was impossible for Aunt Qing to listen to her anymore.

Aunt Qing has been living like this all these years, and it is impossible for her to change.

In Shiyuan Village, Liu Yanqing was combing the cotton. The cotton they had planted earlier hadn't been combed yet. When the baby was born, it would need swaddling clothes, small clothes, and a soft blanket.

The winter in the northwest is cold, and Liu Yanqing doesn't want his children to be cold.

For the sake of his children, Liu Yanqing still works very hard.

Lin Xiaowan looked at Liu Yanjing playing with cotton balls and thought that if others saw him doing this, they would not think that Liu Yanqing was such a lazy person. But Liu Yanqing was really lazy in normal times, except when it came to children's affairs, when he would sometimes do more.

"This cotton is really hard to fluff." Liu Yanqing looked at Lin Xiaowan who was sitting next to him, "There's so much cotton, it needs to be made into clothes and cotton cloth."

Liu Yanqing thought cotton cloth was excellent, far superior to linen. It was softer and more absorbent. If a child wet their pants, using this kind of cloth would be much better. He'd asked around, but ordinary families wouldn't use cotton cloth for their children's diapers; they'd just use old clothes.

Liu Yanqing didn't want to use old clothes to make diapers for the child. Even though he was no longer in the Marquis' Mansion, they weren't that short of money, so they still had to prepare some things for the child. They didn't want people to think they couldn't even prepare such a small thing. They couldn't let the child hear others say that when he grew up, he couldn't let the child feel that they, as parents, didn't care about him.

Other families are poor and don't have that much money, so they use old clothes to make diapers for their children. But their family has some money, so they can use better fabrics.

"You don't have to make cotton thread or cotton cloth." Liu Yanqing said, "Mom can make small clothes. As for cotton cloth, we can buy it ready-made."

Liu Yanqing didn't intend to let Lin Xiaowan do those things while pregnant, that would not be good.

"That's fine." Lin Xiaowan nodded. She had no intention of spinning cloth.

Lin Xiaowan is still pregnant, so of course she wants to take good care of her body.

"I'll go cook some noodles later." Liu Yanqing said, "You should eat some too."

"Yeah." Lin Xiaowan said.

Liu Yanqing rarely went out recently, only occasionally going out to buy groceries. He thought that gossip was not as important as his wife, but when he went to town a few days ago, he heard a piece of news.

"Do you know the Cen family?" Liu Yanqing asked.

"Who from the capital doesn't know about the Cen family?" Lin Xiaowan rolled her eyes. "The girl from the Cen family even offended my younger sister before."

"Yes, it's her. Her family arranged a marriage for her with a captain of a thousand households. She looked down on that family and asked her maid to ask for the marriage to be cancelled. The captain of the family then went directly to the Cen family to cancel the engagement." Liu Yanqing felt that the girl from the Cen family deserved to have bad things spread about her, as she herself did not value her reputation.

The girl from the Cen family actually had the nerve to ask a maid to go and cancel the engagement. Isn't this an insult?

"If it were me, I would have broken off the engagement with her long ago." Liu Yanqing sneered, "If she marries a girl like this, who knows if she will cheat on her husband in the future. She simply despises that captain. Even if she marries him, she won't be able to treat her husband well."

"The girls of the Cen family have always been obedient to the three obediences and four virtues." Lin Xiaowan said.

"The Three Obediences and Four Virtues aren't necessarily good." Liu Yanqing said, "I think you're doing quite well. You even pulled my ears, which isn't at all the Three Obediences and Four Virtues. But even if this isn't good, isn't it also quite good?"

Anyway, Liu Yanqing thought Lin Xiaowan was pretty good. With Lin Xiaowan planning all the things at home, he could live comfortably. He also wanted Lin Xiaowan to give birth to the child smoothly. He didn't want Lin Xiaowan to have a difficult birth or anything like that. He still wanted Lin Xiaowan to get better.

"You have good taste." Lin Xiaowan said, "The daughter of the Cen family is not something you can bear."

"Of course, I'm of low status, how could I bear it?" Liu Yanqing said, "I'm even worse than that captain, I know that."

Liu Yanqing held no official position, was not very good at studying, and had no intention of joining the army. He certainly knew what kind of person he was. He admitted that he was not that great, and he did not think that he had to do anything big.

"It's a good thing that big brother married Princess Zhaoyang instead of her." Liu Yanqing said, "She wanted to marry big brother before."

"You know?" Lin Xiaowan asked in confusion.

"I heard it from others," Liu Yanqing said. "There's no such thing as a wall that's impenetrable. They must have said it, and that's why it spread like that. Didn't the Cen family girl want to control my younger sister? She wanted to control her before we even had a chance to have children."

Liu Yanqing thought that the girl from the Cen family was a very ridiculous existence. Who was she to say that she had no right to care about so many things?

"Fortunately, Big Brother doesn't like her and hasn't paid any attention to her." Liu Yanqing said, "Look at someone like her. Even in the end, her father asked for a thousand households for her, and she still acted like this. In the future, it will be even harder for her to find a good family."

"Who knows." Lin Xiaowan didn't care about the affairs of the Cen family's daughter. She and Miss Cen were not friends.

People just like gossip, and the Cen family girl is the one that everyone will blame.

In the capital, Madam Cen wanted to leave the Cen family but was stopped. The soldiers guarding the Cen family did not let Madam Cen go out. If Madam Cen needed something, she would ask someone to buy it.

However, Madam Cen couldn't touch the Cen family's money any more. The emperor had already ordered that the people in the palace buy food. If Mr. Cen and his wife were sick, they would see a doctor, and the doctor's expenses would be paid separately, without Mr. Cen and his wife having to ask.

The emperor's meaning was very clear: the Cen family was going to be confiscated.

The Qin family provided conclusive evidence, and in less than half a month, the matter of the Cen family was settled.

Mr. Cen had suffered a stroke, so he and Mrs. Cen were allowed to live out their old age in the capital. The rest of the Cen family were either beheaded or exiled, and Mr. Cen's youngest son was of course among those exiled.

In ancient times, a serious crime would basically result in the entire family being punished.

After the officials presented so much evidence, the emperor certainly couldn't protect Mr. Cen. He allowed Mr. Cen and Mrs. Cen to stay. It was only because Mr. Cen had suffered a stroke, so Mrs. Cen was asked to take care of him. Besides, the Third Prince's Concubine Cen was still there, so she could also take care of Mrs. Cen and Mr. Cen.

There is no need for other members of the Cen family to stay, and three generations of the Cen family are not allowed to enter officialdom.

This meant the Cen family had to endure many years before they could take the imperial examinations. If they themselves didn't persevere and didn't study diligently, it would be difficult for their descendants to return to the imperial court. You have to understand that when a person's education doesn't lead to officialdom, they might not want to study anymore. For three generations, that would take nearly a hundred years. Even fifty or sixty years would be enough.

According to the lifespan of ancient people, fifty or sixty years is a very long time, which is enough for a family to decline.

In the Third Prince's Mansion, the Third Prince looked at Concubine Cen who was kneeling in front of him.

"Your father committed a grave crime," the Third Prince said. "No one could save him. Since you're a married woman, you haven't been implicated. You don't have to go into exile with him. That's already very good."

"Father is going to be beheaded." Concubine Cen didn't want to watch her father die, so she thought that if her father could keep his life, then the Cen family would still have hope in the future.

"That's because they committed a great crime." The third prince repeated.

"They are all doing this for you." Concubine Cen felt heartbroken. If the Third Prince did not have such great ability, if the Third Prince could not defeat the Crown Prince, then how could her family members think of assassinating the Crown Prince?

Concubine Cen always knew that the Third Prince was very timid, but she still hoped that the Third Prince could rescue her father.

"I didn't ask them to do this. They keep saying they're doing it for me. I've already said it before: I don't want to be emperor. I don't want to be emperor." The Third Prince was annoyed. He had said that before, but these people didn't listen to him. "Your father and his men just want to use me as a puppet."

How could the Third Prince not know this? Just because he is a little stupid doesn’t mean he knows nothing.

Throughout history, there have been many cases of imperial relatives and powerful ministers who liked to treat the emperor as a puppet.

The Third Prince didn't want to be a puppet emperor at all. Being a puppet emperor was meaningless. It would be better to be a rich and noble prince. If he were a rich and noble prince, he wouldn't have to live in the palace and could go to many places. If he lived in the palace, he wouldn't be able to move around and would be trapped there.

He didn't want to be a machine for giving birth to princes, or an adult puppet emperor. How could a baby puppet emperor be better?

The Third Prince once feared that if he ascended the throne, those people would try to force Concubine Cen to give birth to a boy as soon as possible, so that he would become seriously ill and die. The Third Prince did not want that at all. He had woken up from a nightmare before, and he did not want to be the emperor.

"You should return to the Cen family," the Third Prince said. "Although you are listed in the Imperial Genealogy, that doesn't mean you can't be removed. Since you are my cousin, I will not divorce you. You can go back and take care of your grandparents. With this relationship, others should be less likely to give you any trouble."

The Third Prince thought that the most he could do was not to divorce Concubine Cen. If he was a little cruel, he could just let Concubine Cen die of illness. He didn't plan to do that because he felt sorry for Old Master Cen and Old Lady Cen.

Even though Mr. Cen is the Third Prince's grandfather, the Third Prince doesn't want to go there too often.

The Third Prince hadn't dared to go out much recently. Even if the Qin family hadn't been dead set on him, the Emperor would have protected him. He was still afraid, afraid that he would be thrown into prison by those people. He still wanted to stay alive.

"You..." Concubine Cen opened her mouth. She knew that the Third Prince was timid and afraid of trouble. The Third Prince did not divorce her, which must have taken a lot of courage on his part.

But Concubine Cen was not afraid of being divorced. She knew that the Third Prince would never favor her again, and she just wanted her father to be alive.

"There's no need to talk about your father anymore," the Third Prince said. "Old Master Cen and the Old Madam don't have anyone to serve them, so it's a good opportunity for you to go over there."

"They are your grandparents." Concubine Cen felt even more heartbroken when she saw that the Third Prince was unwilling to call them grandparents.

"They are your grandparents," said the Third Prince, "and you are my concubine, so it's just as easy for you to take care of them."

The Third Prince believed that this was his last act of mercy. If Concubine Si Cen did not want this mercy, then so be it.

"..." Concubine Cen didn't say much in the end. She knew that the Third Prince would not change his mind.

Concubine Cen packed some things. She wanted to take her jewelry and other things with her, and she couldn't leave without any silver. If she didn't leave, she would wait until the Third Prince sent someone to drive her away, and then she wouldn't be able to pack those things.

When the Third Prince's wife learned that Concubine Cen was driven out like that, the corners of her lips curled up slightly. The Third Prince was just soft-hearted.

The Cen family's mansion had been raided, and the house where Mr. Cen and Mrs. Cen now lived was a two-room house. This house was a bit shabby, except for the two rooms, there was a kitchen and a woodshed, which was quite good for ordinary people.

But for Old Lady Cen, this was a very simple existence. Old Lady Cen had to take good care of Old Master Cen and make sure he was alive, or at least not die so soon.

If Mr. Cen had died this year, Mrs. Cen might have had to follow those people into exile in the northwest.

Old Madam Cen was unwilling to go to the northwest, fearing death on the way. She didn't think her son and daughter-in-law would be very filial to her. Her eldest son had been beheaded, her second son exiled, and her youngest son in the northwest would also be stripped of his official position and exiled.

Some of the Cen family's daughters who married out are already seriously ill.

Madam Cen still wanted to stay in the capital, where she could survive. If she followed her son and daughter-in-law to the northwest, how would they support her? Would they cause a lot of trouble?

Old Madam Cen understood that poverty and hardship bring many sorrows. If she stayed in the capital and couldn't survive, she would find a place to quietly wait for death. If she could still survive, she would try her best to live on.

When Concubine Cen came back, Old Lady Cen realized that the Third Prince had once again abandoned Concubine Cen.

"Grandma." Concubine Cen's eyes were red.

"You..." Old Madam Cen couldn't ask anything else. Her granddaughter had a miserable life.

"From now on, I will be with you." Concubine Cen said. She had nowhere else to go.

The royal family was so kind that they allowed Mr. Cen and Mrs. Cen, who had suffered a stroke, to stay, and the Third Prince even asked Concubine Cen to take care of them. The royal family was truly kind-hearted. Who among the old ministers outside dared to say that the emperor was cruel? The emperor knew that sending Mr. Cen into exile would be tantamount to taking his life.

So the emperor allowed Mr. Cen, who had suffered a stroke, to stay, and also asked Mr. Cen's first wife to stay. Aren't the daughters-in-law and daughters of the Cen family role models for women? So, let Mrs. Cen take good care of Mr. Cen.

"Then stay here." What else could Mrs. Cen do? It was good that her granddaughter came. She thought her granddaughter should have some money in her hands.

Old Madam Cen didn't have much money, and she didn't have any maids or servants at home. Even if she cooked for herself, she still had to buy food. There were so many things the family needed money for, and they also had to take care of Old Master Cen, who had suffered a stroke.

At the Jingning Marquis Mansion, He Xiyuan came to find Liu Yulian.

He Xiyuan hadn't seen Liu Yulian for several days. Sometimes when he came to the mansion, he was told that Liu Yulian was out. When he went outside the research institute, Liu Yulian was not necessarily there.

However, Liu Yulian still liked to read books in the Marquis' Mansion, and sometimes she would take books back to the Mansion from the house where the books were kept.

Just then, He Xiyuan met Liu Yulian.

"What book are you reading again?" He Xiyuan asked.

"Reading books about talented scholars and beautiful women," Liu Yulian replied. "I'm just trying to relax these days and not read anything that requires brainpower. But why do women in these books always give up everything for those down-and-out scholars? They clearly had no emotional connection and had never met before, only once. And then there's the maid who stands between her master and the down-and-out scholar. Is this maid trying to betray her master?"

Liu Yulian didn't think she really liked these books. She didn't like these kinds of storybooks. Men might find them enjoyable, but as a woman, she didn't find them enjoyable. Perhaps it was because she came from a later era, not this one.

"Maybe he's going to betray his master." He Xiyuan thought Liu Yulian was right. "That scholar is either attracted by her beauty or wants to get close to someone powerful and famous."