When Mrs. Tao finished speaking, the women at the other table also looked over, with inquiring expressions in their eyes.

Mrs. Xu's face was not very good. She was always gentle and calm, but this time she could not hold back and said to her, "It depends on fate. The eldest daughter has been married to the Chongyuan Marquis's mansion for three and a half years, but she still has no children. Some people wait longer, and it's hard to say even after twenty years. Our Baoning is fifteen years old, so there is no need to rush."

​​Mrs. Xu's words were meaningful. Mrs. Tao's eldest daughter, Ji Xiang, was the legitimate wife of the Chongyuan Marquis's son, but perhaps because the son had a hidden illness, neither the wife nor the concubine had a child so far, which was criticized by outsiders, and even his mother was anxious.

The latter sentence was satirical of Mrs. Tao. Tao had no children, and she had the final say in the mansion by relying on her brother's power, but she was not confident enough. Without a legitimate eldest son in the mansion, the crown prince could only be Ji Yan. If Duke Rong died in the future, her good days would be over.

Fortunately, her efforts paid off. Seventeen years after giving birth to her second child, she finally had another child with a pointed belly. Everyone said it was a son.

Tao slammed the cup on the table with a "bang", said "yes" with a fake smile, and lowered her eyelids to touch her belly.

Bao Ning heard everything, but she didn't say anything else. She sat down at the table as if nothing had happened, and greeted Tao with a smile.

Tao curled her lips and said, "It's really great to be a prince's consort. It doesn't matter if the prince has a future or not, at least her status has been raised. What is this? On the surface, she returns home in glory and wealth, but secretly she is suffering. Baoning, don't you think so? I think you'd better use some tricks to entangle the fourth prince. No matter how thin a camel is, it is still bigger than a horse. If this thin camel also has some problems, no one will want you."

Baoning smiled and turned away without looking at her.

Tao's words were a bit harsh and mean, but after she got married, Baoning could understand her feelings.

It was normal for her to feel bad when concubines were brought into her good family one after another. It was her father's fault that he was sentimental but incompetent, and couldn't handle the affairs of the inner house well, causing his wife and daughter to be implicated, and his face was not in harmony with his heart. Baoning could understand her harshness, but he couldn't understand her viciousness.

After hitting cotton with two consecutive punches, Tao felt uncomfortable all over. She was sulking for a while, but she felt unwilling to give up. She tried every means to make things difficult for Baoning. She was sure that Baoning must be dissatisfied with marrying the fourth prince, so she turned around and attacked Pei Yuan to hit her.

Tao touched the teacup with her hand and asked with a smile: "Baoning, when are you going to leave Beijing?"

Baoning didn't react and looked at her in confusion.

"You also know that the Fourth Prince is a criminal and he has no ability anymore, but he is a thorn in the side of the people when he stays in the capital." Tao patted her hands, as if to comfort her, "Mother advises you not to be greedy for this glory and wealth. It is better to leave early and find a secluded place in the countryside to live out your days. You too, should straighten your mind and don't think you can become a phoenix by flying up to a high branch. You are not destined for that."

Baoning looked at her, a little dazed.

Tao thought she had touched her sore spot, so she smiled even more: "Let's not talk about anything else, from childhood to old age. Mother watched you grow up, just look at the things you did when you were a child, other good girls like to appreciate flowers and drink tea, embroider and play the piano, but you hang out with the maids and servants in the kitchen all day, beckoning cats and playing with dogs, how can you be rich and noble. People still have to accept their fate, some opportunities can't be stopped. Just like your fourth sister, she thought she had lost her marriage to the fourth prince and was still regretful, but who would have thought that in the blink of an eye... , His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually came to visit, and now she is the Crown Prince's concubine."

Tao still cared about her face and lowered her voice so that only the family members of the Duke's Mansion around her could hear it: "Let alone other things, you have been the Crown Prince's consort for such a long time, how many of those respectable people have you met, and who is willing to be your close friend? Don't they all look down on you and your husband's family? You are not up to the standard after all. Do you understand?"

With a glance at Xu's lips that were blue with anger, Tao achieved her goal.

She straightened her back, picked up the teacup leisurely, and was about to take a sip of tea when she heard a clear and bright laughter from a young man.

"Fourth sister-in-law, you are sitting here." Pei Yang came over and bowed to Bao Ning. "I just passed by Madam Qiu's table. She asked me where you were and wanted to invite you to come over for tea and talk."

The people around recognized the fifth prince and stood up to greet him. Tao was stunned for a moment, then stood up and bowed, standing there awkwardly.

"I didn't expect to meet you here." Bao Ning smiled at Pei Yang. "I won't go to Madam Qiu's place. It's rare to see my family. Let's talk together. I'll apologize to Madam Qiu after I go back."

Pei Yang glanced at Tao and his voice became colder. "If you don't like it, sister-in-law, don't put yourself in a difficult position. You are a nobody and don't need to endure the anger of some idiots." Tao's face turned pale

. It was unknown whether she was angry or scared.

Bao Ning smiled and shook her head, and said a few more words to him. Pei Yang said, "I'll come to your house to bother you in a few days. Sister-in-law, please don't think I'm a bother." Bao Ning asked, "Why not?" Pei Yang smiled again, squeezed his eyes at her, and left with his hands behind his back.

People around sat down one after another, and looked at Tao Shi with a bit of a sense of joking. After a moment of silence, they returned to their usual noisy state.

Tao Shi took a deep breath and stopped talking. She sat there sipping tea, her eyes occasionally looking in other directions.

When the figure finally came into her sight, she breathed a sigh of relief, and the smile on the corner of her mouth rose again. She suddenly tilted her wrist, and the water in the teacup spilled out, splashing on Bao Ning's skirt.

Baoning was talking to Xu when she felt a burn on her legs. She looked down and saw that they were all wet.

Tao smiled apologetically, "I'm old and have some old problems. My wrists are always sore and I accidentally did this. Baoning, you don't mind, do you?"

"Ah, how did this happen?" Before Baoning could answer, a female voice interrupted, with some regret, "Such a nice skirt, it's a pity, and it's a banquet, it's not good to wear a dirty skirt. Fourth Prince's wife, the Crown Princess and I are old friends. I used to come to the Crown Prince's Mansion and play, and we are familiar with each other. I'll ask someone to take you to change clothes."

Baoning frowned, turned around, and met a pair of beautiful fox eyes. This series of coincidences seemed like an accident, but perhaps it was intuition that made Baoning suspicious.

Qiu Lingjun wiped off the tea foam on her skirt and said with a smile: "I am General Qiu's sixth daughter and Yanzi's sister. You haven't met me yet, have you?"

When she mentioned Yanzi, Baoning felt relieved because they were an acquaintance. Baoning thought Mrs. Tao felt offended just now and wanted to find fault with her. She was a little angry, but she didn't take it seriously. It would be shameful to argue in public, so it would be better to resolve the issue quickly.

"Then thank you for your help." Baoning stood up and smiled embarrassedly, "I'll come to thank you in two days."

"You're too polite." Qiu Lingjun waved her hand and called her maid over, "Songlan, go say hello to the Crown Princess and take the Fourth Prince's wife to find a room to change clothes."

Xu looked at Baoning worriedly. Baoning shook his head, motioning her not to worry, and followed the maid named Songlan.

Qiu Lingjun sat down next to Tao, and greeted her with tea: "Aunt, congratulations to you and Jiaying. I am also happy that you have found such a good marriage..."

They smiled at each other.

...

Before leaving, Songlan asked Baoning to wait at the door for a while. She went to inform the Crown Princess. Baoning waited for her. Songlan came back soon and took Baoning to the backyard.

She was very enthusiastic and talked to Baoning. She smiled and said: "My sixth daughter is a cheerful person. She likes to make friends with everyone. The Crown Princess is her close friend, and the newly married Concubine is also her close friend. What a coincidence, you and the Concubine are sisters, and my daughter will be sisters-in-law in the future. You can get together often in the future, and you won't be lonely."

They walked along the long gallery. Under their feet was Wanghu Lake, where lotus flowers were blooming. Baoning looked at the scenery absentmindedly, not wanting to talk too much to Songlan, so he responded with a smile.

After walking a few more steps, they arrived at the Moon Gate. There was a cluster of swaying tree shadows in front of them. Several men were chatting and laughing behind the trees, each hugging a beautiful concubine.

One of them said, "Brother Yuan, how are you? I haven't seen you for a long time, and you look so good. You married a beautiful concubine a few days ago, and maybe she has taken care of you too much. Take advantage of this festive day to get away from her and have some fun."

The man called Brother Yuan laughed loudly. To Baoning, this laughter sounded familiar, but also a little strange.

Songlan's eyes flashed, and she took her around a corner, and from this angle, she could just glimpse the backs of those men. One of them was wearing black clothes and black pants, with a very thin waist and an emerald jade buckle hanging from her waist. Baoning's pupils shrank and she recognized it at a glance. It was Pei Yuan's buckle.

That day, she was fixing the laces on Pei Yuan's jade buckle. She put half of it there and wanted to finish it when she had time in the evening, but she didn't expect it to disappear in the blink of an eye.

Songlan coughed lightly and whispered, "Men are really bad, always love to hug left and right, three wives and four concubines. Those who say sweet words to you may not be thinking what they mean in their hearts. They are newlyweds, and before they have even gotten used to being clingy, they are already cheating on you. If I were that man's wife, I would definitely have a good quarrel with him and teach him a lesson!"

"You talk too much." Baoning stopped, turned to look at her, and said coldly, "Is this how your Sixth Lady taught you? You are not afraid of ruining your own teeth by gossiping about others."

Songlan was stunned when she was suddenly scolded.

She thought Baoning was a soft-tempered person, so she said everything Qiu Lingjun taught her, but she didn't expect that she didn't feel sad, but scolded her instead.

Bao Ning narrowed her eyes and looked at her: "Put away your little thoughts!"

She had been with Pei Yuan for a long time, and she was influenced by him. Although she could not learn all of Pei Yuan's cold and ruthless aura, she was also immersed in a little bit, which was enough to scare Song Lan.

Song Lan apologized to her tremblingly, shut up, and walked with Bao Ning to the arranged house in silence.

Not far away, among the lush branches of the elm tree, Pei Yuan held a leaf in his mouth and stared at Bao Ning's back.

Wei Meng raised his eyebrows and said, "Did you hear clearly what they said just now?"

Pei Yuan said, "I roughly know."

"I didn't expect my sister-in-law to have this trick." Wei Meng chuckled, "Your wife has a bad temper, young general. Your life must be hard on weekdays, right?"

"She has a good temper." Pei Yuan watched Bao Ning enter the room and close the door. His mind was not on the conversation with Wei Meng. He listened to his question and answered casually.

Suddenly coming to his senses, Pei Yuan elbowed Wei Meng on the shoulder: "You talk so much nonsense, asking, asking, it's none of your business."

Wei Meng raised his hand and rubbed his shoulder, not mentioning the matter, and asked: "Does General Qiu know about today's plan?"

"Yes." Pei Yuan turned his neck, "I didn't let him intervene."

"I always feel that there may be a hidden story between you two." Wei Meng thought about it, and still spoke, "How could the general do such an inappropriate thing with the portrait of the Concubine Xian, maybe you saw it wrong, or there is another misunderstanding."

"He was disrespectful to my deceased mother and unfaithful to my biological father. What misunderstanding can smooth over these two things?" Pei Yuan said lightly, "I am helping him now, and I am also trapped in disloyalty and injustice, in order to avenge my personal grudge."

Wei Meng snorted, "Your biological father is not a good guy either. Pei Xiao framed you for poisoning him, and he believed it and ignored you like this. But then again, he did a good job. After all, he was willing to let you go after such an incident. I just don't know where the former prince is now..."

Wei Meng asked: "Young general, are you really going to carry the stigma of patricide for the rest of your life?"

"It doesn't matter if I carry the stigma. There are many people who scold me, and this one doesn't matter." Pei Yuan raised his chin, "But I have to take back what belongs to me!"

...

In the side room, the clothes were ready, and Songlan was eager to help Baoning change.

"No need for you." Baoning said, "You can go out."

Songlan's eyes flashed with a trace of helplessness: "Prince's Consort, let me help you..."

"No need." Baoning refused again, Songlan was unwilling to give in, and helped her take off her hairpin. During the tug, Baoning's hairpin was knocked off by her. The jade hairpin fell to the ground and broke into two pieces. Songlan hurriedly

knelt down to apologize, and when she lowered her eyes, a trace of happiness appeared on her face.