The next morning, Tao Ti and Pei Yan boarded a carriage heading to the Yongwei Marquis's mansion.

The Yongweihou Mansion is a typical ancient large family, with all kinds of relatives such as uncles, brothers, aunts, sisters, etc., which makes people dizzy just thinking about it.

Leaving these relatives aside, let’s just talk about the lineage of the original owner’s father, Yongwei Hou. This old guy had a very strong desire to reproduce. Over the years, he took in eight concubines, giving the original owner eighteen half-siblings. The youngest brother is only two years old this year.

Tao Ti, who was the only daughter in her previous life, suddenly had so many brothers and sisters... well, she was very panicked.

As the carriage left the palace, the surroundings became lively.

Tao Ti was somewhat curious about what the streets in ancient times looked like, but was afraid of violating the rules, so she subconsciously glanced at Pei Yan standing beside her. However, she saw that he had his head against the wooden panel, his eyes closed, and his pale face, which was almost transparent, made him look like a peaceful jade-faced Bodhisattva.

Did he fall asleep... or could his body not bear such a long carriage ride?

Tao Ti felt a little sympathy in her heart, turned around, lifted a corner of the curtain and looked out.

Zhuque Street is the main road of Chang'an City. It is wide and flat, with shops lined up on both sides. The sounds of hawkers coming and going are endless, and it is really bustling.

A warm spring breeze blew, bringing with it the sweet scent of locust flowers and the crispy aroma of lamb pancakes.

Tao Ti looked in the direction of the aroma and saw a small stall at the entrance of the market. The baker was deftly picking out long, golden, crispy cakes from the oven. He held them with a piece of wax paper and applied a little force with his fingers, and the crispy crust made a crackling sound.

Thinking of the feeling of filling her mouth with the delicious meat filling mixed with the crust, Taoti couldn't help swallowing her saliva.

The meals in the East Palace were too bland. If this continued, she would probably starve to death.

"What's going on outside? You seem so engrossed in watching." A gentle voice sounded softly.

When Tao Ti turned around, she met Pei Yan's calm eyes. She quickly lowered the car curtain and sat up straight. "Nothing, I just took a look."

Seeing her sitting upright, Pei Yan smiled and said, "We are going back to your home. Why do you look more nervous than me?"

Tao Ti whispered, "I did such a stupid thing, and for a moment I didn't know how to face my parents..."

Pei Yan's smile faded slightly, and he said, "I have tried my best to suppress the news that you took poison. This matter concerns the reputation of the royal family, and no one dares to spread nonsense outside."

After a pause, he looked at her, "Besides, I am with you. I will protect you if anything happens. You can rest assured."

Tao Ti was so moved that she nodded heavily at him.

After about half an hour, the carriage stopped.

The eunuch opened the curtain. Tao Ti wanted to get off first, but Pei Yan stretched out his hand to stop her, "I will get off first."

Tao Ti was startled, "Oh, okay."

I couldn't help but wonder if I had broken the rules again.

But Pei Yan got out of the car first, stood up, and stretched out his hand to her with a smile, "Come."

Tao Ti felt warm in her heart, it turned out that he was trying to help her.

She pursed her lips, slowly stretched out her little hand, and placed it in his large and slender palm.

His hands were still cold, he wrapped them around her soft little hands and helped her down steadily.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome." Pei Yan said this, but he had no intention of letting her go.

Tao Ti was a little surprised. Just when she was about to ask, she caught a glimpse of the scene on the side and her words got stuck in her throat.

So, so many people!!

In front of the imposing mansion of Marquis Yongwei, there were more than fifty people standing in a large crowd, each of them dressed neatly and dignified, standing in neat rows.

Pei Yan caught the frightened expression on her face and his lips twitched silently.

The leader, Marquis Yongwei, took the lead in saluting, and the rest of the family followed suit, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to the Crown Prince, and to the Crown Princess."

Pei Yan said softly, "Everyone, get up."

After everyone stood up, he pulled Tao Ti forward and said politely, "We are all family, there is no need to be so polite."

These words made Marquis Yongwei extremely frightened. While he stepped aside to invite Pei Yan and Tao Ti into the house, he quickly glanced at his silly daughter.

Seeing that Artie was wearing all kinds of gold and silver, she seemed to be doing well. Moreover, the prince helped her get off the carriage and held her hand. It seemed that they were so affectionate and didn't seem to be pretending.

Yong Weihou thought about it again, maybe it was because Ah Ti served the prince very well that they forgave each other? After thinking about it, it seemed that this was the only explanation.

Between women and men, it's just a matter of sex.

Everyone entered the hall and took their seats. After a few simple greetings, Marquis Yongwei looked at Marquis's wife Zhang and Tao Ti with a smile, "Madam, please take A Ti to the inner courtyard to talk."

Zhang responded, glanced at Tao Ti, and said calmly, "Let's go."

Tao Ti nodded slightly and said to Pei Yan, "Your Highness, I will go first."

Pei Yan smiled and said, "Well, don't worry, let's talk slowly."

Tao Ti smiled on the surface, but felt bitter in her heart: Let's talk slowly, I'm afraid if the conversation goes badly, something will go wrong and be exposed.

She followed Zhang obediently. Upon hearing the sound, the women in the side hall left their seats and surrounded Tao Ti and the others as they went to the backyard.

There are four rooms in the mansion of Marquis Yongwei. The first and second rooms are the old lady's legitimate children, while the third and fourth rooms are illegitimate children. Because the old lady is still alive, the fourth room has not separated and they still live together happily.

Today, Tao Ti returned home, and almost all the people from the four families were present, which led to the lively scene at the door.

While the men stayed in the front hall to accompany the prince, Tao Ti was also busy in the backyard. She put on an awkward yet polite smile and greeted various aunts, uncles, sisters and younger sisters in a polite manner.

This feeling is like returning to my hometown during the Chinese New Year and being forced by my parents to greet a bunch of elders I don't even know. It's simply a social phobia nightmare and suffocating.

The aunties and sisters from each room were talking in a flurry, asking about Tao Ti's well-being and looking her up and down, as if they wanted to see every strand of her hair clearly.

It was spring, and Tao Ti was not dressed in a grand and gorgeous manner, but in a gentle and generous outfit.

She was wearing a goose yellow embroidered gown with a bright pine green round blessing pattern. She had her hair in a flying cloud bun, two delicate palace flowers behind her temples, a gorgeous tassel phoenix hairpin inserted in her hair, and two jadeite pendants on her white and tender earlobes.

She put on a little makeup and a touch of red lips, and she was as beautiful as the morning glow reflecting the snow, and she was unparalleled in beauty.

When people saw her like this, they were surprised, confused, and mostly filled with amazement.

Is this still the sad-looking, old-fashioned eldest daughter of the Marquis' Mansion, Tao Ti?

Although it is said that a woman's marriage is like a second reincarnation, isn't this a bit too thorough? The whole person feels different.

There were several sisters who usually didn't get along with Tao Ti. They originally wanted to see Tao Ti's haggard and ugly appearance, but now seeing her glamorous appearance, they couldn't keep the smiles on their faces.

Fortunately, this scene of family love did not last long. Zhang politely asked everyone to leave. The reason was very simple, "This is the first time that my daughter A-ti has come back home. Let us have a private conversation for a while."

Everyone left tactfully, and the courtyard of the main house suddenly became quiet.

Tao Ti pinched her palm uncomfortably and stared at Zhang.

After a moment's silence, Zhang sent all the servants and maids out of the room, and the room suddenly became quieter.

Seeing that there were no outsiders around, Zhang's no longer young face suddenly became gloomy and she slammed the table heavily.

There was a muffled "pop" sound, and Tao Ti's heart was shaking with fear.

"You are really capable. You dared to commit suicide by taking poison! How did we wrong you that you want to hurt us like this? Tell me!"

“…”

Tao Ti looked at the woman in front of her with her hands on her hips and a look of dissatisfaction in shock, and the memories of Zhang also flooded into her mind.

Zhang is old-fashioned, fierce, and capable.

As the mistress of the Marquis's mansion, she handled the household affairs of such a large mansion in an orderly manner and never made any mistakes.

As the mistress of the main house, she managed the beauties and concubines in the backyard of Yongwei Hou in an obedient manner, and no one dared to disobey her.

But as a mother, Zhang failed.

Ever since she arranged this marriage for Tao Ti, she has been holding her daughter to the standard of a "Crown Princess", and the method she adopted is also the usual method of beating and education used by Chinese parents -

Words like "Why are you so stupid? You are going to be a crown princess in the future, how come you can't even learn this? Look at how capable and virtuous a certain girl from the family of a certain duke is, and look at how stupid you are?" are on her lips almost every day.

The original owner did not receive enough love and encouragement from his mother, and his father Yong Weihou did not pay much attention to his children, which led to a lack of love since childhood and subtly developed an inferiority complex, sensitive and people-pleasing personality.

So when the Third Prince Pei Changzhou treated her a little better, she couldn't help but fall into it...

Thinking of this, Tao Ti couldn't help but sigh.

The influence of the original family on children is huge. Psychologist Adler once said: Lucky people are healed by their childhood throughout their lives, while unlucky people spend their entire lives healing their childhood. Unfortunately, the original owner did not have time to heal his childhood and ended his life prematurely.

"Are you dumb? Don't you think you can get away with it by not saying anything?" Zhang's angry voice rang out again.

Tao Ti came back to her senses, looked at her calmly, and asked, "What do you want me to say?"

Zhang didn't expect her to react like this and was choked for a moment.

Tao Ti said calmly, "It was my recklessness to commit suicide by taking poison. I apologize to you. But... before this, I said many times that I didn't want to marry into the Eastern Palace. Have you ever heard my wishes?"

The original owner had said this before, but he was crying hysterically and had never said it so calmly.

Zhang wanted to scold with a stern face as usual, but for some reason, looking at Tao Ti's clear and serious eyes, she just felt a little uneasy.

Tao Ti continued, "Mother, I want to ask you, when you heard the news that I took poison, was your first reaction anger or worry about my safety?"

"I, I..." Zhang's throat tightened and she turned her head away awkwardly, "Aren't you fine now? Don't talk nonsense to me."

Tao Ti clenched her fingers, her eyelashes drooping slightly, "I know."

She straightened her dress and slowly stood up from the couch.

Zhang was a little panicked for some reason, and asked hurriedly, "Ati, where are you going?"

"I'm going out for some fresh air. If mother still wants to blame me..." Taoti gave a polite yet distant smile, "I've been listening to this for so many years, and I'm tired of it."

Zhang stood there in a daze. She had a lot to say, but she couldn't utter a word. She could only watch her daughter leave the room.

Bright sunlight shines through the carved wooden windows, casting mottled shadows.

Zhang sat on the couch in a daze, feeling her heart become empty.

After a moment, she covered her face with her hands and sobbed, "No, it's not what you think. You are a piece of flesh that fell from my body after ten months of pregnancy. How can I not feel sorry for you..."

——

After coming out of the main room, Tao Ti didn't know where to go, so she asked Zishuang to take her to the back garden so that she could find some quiet time.

Unexpectedly, this back garden is not quiet at all, but extremely lively.

"Did you all see it just now? Wu Niang seems to have become a different person."

"Yeah, I think so too. Although she has always been good-looking, she looks much more beautiful today than before!"

"Tsk, what's so strange about that? Clothes make the man. Her clothes were all bought by the imperial palace. If I were to wear them, they would look good too."

The young ladies from the four rooms of the Marquis' Mansion gathered together and chatted idly, and the topic naturally revolved around today's protagonist.

"But did she really commit suicide by taking poison? She looked fine to me, and there was no sign of suicide at all."

"I don't know either, I just heard something about it." The speaker was the daughter of the second house, Tao Ti's cousin, Tao's fourth wife. She held her embroidered handkerchief and spoke in a low voice, "Anyway, on the night of her wedding, my uncle went to my aunt's room and had a big tantrum, saying something like the whole family would be implicated..."

As soon as these words were spoken, the girls' faces changed, and they were filled with fear and resentment.

"If she really did something like that, we would all be trapped and killed by her! How could she be so vicious even though she seems to be so quiet on weekdays?"

"That's right! She has been engaged to the prince since she was a child, so she should have accepted her fate long ago and not done anything stupid..."

"I've heard from my second brother before that the prince is as beautiful as a fairy from exile. Seeing him today, it's true. Not only is he handsome, but he's also so gentle that he even helped her get off the carriage himself. It's a pity that the prince is weak and sickly, otherwise he would be the most perfect husband in the world."

"Humph, if the prince is as healthy as an ordinary person, how can Wu Niang be qualified to be the crown princess? I'm afraid she is not even worthy of carrying the prince's shoes!"

These harsh words caused the girls to laugh quietly with their hands covering their lips.

Tao Ti's mouth twitched when she heard this behind the rockery. She wanted to rush up and say: I am not worthy of being the Crown Princess, are you worthy?

In fact, she did so.