After the replacement marriage, I was forced to fight at home

"Ah!" Meng Qi was about to get angry as her skirt trembled. Su Qing quickly stepped forward and grabbed Meng Qi, saying to Second Madam Hong, "Please find a room for my sister to change her clothes."

Second Madam Hong said apologetically, "This is really the case. It's all because of the child's ignorance. If Fourth Miss doesn't mind, I just made a new one the other day. I haven't put it on yet. Why don't we..."

"No need. I brought clothes with me. Ask someone to take me to change." Meng Qi said as she continued to shake her skirt, looking at the little boy who got into trouble but was still smiling with a look of disgust on her face.

The maidservant beside Second Madam Hong stepped forward quickly and said, "Miss Fourth, please follow me."

Su Qing turned around and told Lixia, "Go get the clothes that the fourth girl brought."

Young ladies always prepare clothes before going out, just to prevent accidents like this from getting them dirty.

Seeing Su Qing walking back with Meng Qi, Meng Juan asked, "Isn't Second Sister coming with us?"

"No, I'll go with my fourth sister. It doesn't matter whether we go to see it or not. It's better for the eldest sister to get more familiar with it so that you won't get lost when you enter the door next time." Su Qing said while covering her mouth and laughing.

Meng Juan really didn't understand what she meant by this. She was very surprised by Su Qing's performance today. Since she was identified as the second daughter of the Meng family, she didn't have many opportunities to spend time with her. She only went to the Song family to pay her respects.

In her impression, Su Qing was a quiet, somewhat shy person who only answered questions one by one. But today she said so much to Xie Fen, her future sister-in-law. She didn't know whether she was really acting like this today or whether she was really speaking up for her own maid. After all, she was once a maid and could empathize with her.

Second Madam Hong frowned as she watched Su Qing accompanying Meng Qi out. She leaned over and whispered a few words to her personal maid, who then quickly ran out along the path next to the warm room.

Following the girl from the Hong family, I entered an exquisite courtyard. There was only one house opposite, which was neither big nor small and was very clean.

"My two ladies, this is where the ladies change their clothes on weekdays."

Su Qing nodded and walked in first. Opposite him was a screen, and around it was a kang. Under the window was a long table and two chairs. It was very simple, with no place for people to hide.

Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief. After what just happened, she was really afraid that the Hong family would do something against her or Meng Qi again.

Su Qing said to Liu's housekeeper who came with her, "Take a good look at Chuan'er and make sure there is nothing inappropriate."

Today, only Liu brought her mother here, and the other Miss Mengs only brought a maid.

After that, he turned to the girl from the Hong family and said, "Go check on the person who just helped the fourth young lady get her clothes. Don't get lost again."

Meng Qi sat in the chair unhappily, "What's going on with the Hong family? They have no rules. The young master doesn't have a maid by his side? We don't have such a thing in our family."

"Maybe you had too much fun." Su Qing patted Meng Qi soothingly, "Ask Mama Liu to accompany you for a while. Chuan'er and I will wait outside the screen."

Su Qing is now anxious to know what is going on. She clearly gave the jade pendant to Chuan'er, and it is impossible for Chuan'er to lose it under the watchful eyes of so many people. Why couldn't the old woman from the Hong family find it?

Chuan'er followed Su Qing around the screen and saw the Hong family's servant sweeping snow in the yard.

"Second Miss, the jade pendant is in the hands of Meng Zhi just now." Chuan'er said in a low voice.

"What?" Su Qing looked at Chuan'er in surprise, with a look of disbelief on his face.

"When I saw that it was the grandmother of the Zhou family who was attacking you, I knew that the princess and the Hong family must have discussed this and were deliberately embarrassing you. Therefore, I knew that the jade pendant must not be thrown away. I thought that if there was really no other way, I would pretend to fall or bump into someone, even if I was in danger of being punished..."

"Excuse me, is Madam Liu, who serves the Third Madam of the Huainan Marquis' Mansion, in the house?" asked a round-faced maid at the door.

Mother Liu walked around the screen, bowed to Su Qing first, then pushed open the door and said, "It's her."

"Your wife has lost something and wants you to come over."

Madam Liu agreed and said to Su Qing, "Second Miss, I will be back soon."

Su Qing nodded, and Meng Qi asked in the room, "Why hasn't Lixia come yet?"

The maid just now smiled and said, "Don't worry, Fourth Miss. Your maid has to go to the carriage outside the second gate to get it. The road here is slippery, so you have to wait for a while. Otherwise, I will go and get you the new dress made by Second Madam for you to change into?"

"No, I don't want to wear hers."

The girl smiled, closed the door and walked out.

"And then? Could it be that she took it away when she touched you?"

"Yes, after Meng Zhi finished speaking, she came towards me, deliberately leaned towards me, and then took the jade pendant away very quickly. Not to mention others, even I didn't react in time."

Su Qing nodded. It was obvious that this man named Meng Zhi was helping him.

When searching those maids and old women, he was struggling over whether he should say some things himself or let Meng Qi say them.

She didn't want to expose herself to the Zhou family too early. Xie Fen was obviously someone sent by Hu to set up this trap. The Hong family fully cooperated, which was not surprising. Zhou Yu had said last time that Mr. Hong San and Zhou Zheng were very close. Hong Zhe even seduced Meng Qi and asked his mother to help Hu again when his niece got married. He must have cooperated.

It is easy to understand why Hu did this. First, he wanted to embarrass himself, and second, he wanted to test his bottom line and see if he could handle this emergency.

Therefore, she did not want to show her strength. She whispered a few words to Meng Qi, and it would be best to let Meng Qi frame the woman who searched her body to see if she had the jade pendant.

Later, nothing was found in the string, and when Xie Fen made a slip of the tongue, Su Qing was not in a position to teach Meng Qi what to say. She simply said it herself, and she had thought it through, and the words were not excessive. After she said it, she explained it one by one, pretending to be a little panicked, which made Xie Fen even more confused.

Moreover, if Xie Fen did not handle the matter well, Mrs. Hu might get angry when she returned. Xie Fen was kicked out by Mrs. Hu when she was pregnant and had just given birth, which showed that the eldest lady of the Zhou family lived very cautiously in the palace. Therefore, dealing with Mrs. Hu's accusations and anger was enough for Xie Fen, so she would not care about what she said or what her attitude was at that time.

But why would Meng Zhi help me? Logically, she should hate the Meng family. If the Meng family had not wanted to curry favor with Prince Cheng, how could they have let her become a concubine at such a young age?

To outsiders, being able to be a concubine of a prince, especially one whose son is born to the queen, is an earned blessing.

But the problem is that this prince likes little girls, the kind of little girls who have not grown up.

Su Qing thought that Meng Zhi was so young, but dressed very maturely and wore makeup that didn't suit her age. It was really heartbreaking.

However, Meng Zhi was also quite capable. As a concubine of the royal palace, she was able to attend the wedding at the baron's mansion, especially since the wedding was from the in-laws' family of Prince Jing, Prince Cheng's mortal enemy.

Of course, even if everyone disliked Meng Zhi, she was on the jade plate, and among all the female members today, her status was second only to Princess Jing.

Su Qing began to understand why Princess Jing had never appeared in front of everyone. Mrs. Hong had told the public that because her eldest great-granddaughter was getting married, the old lady of the Hong family was sad, and Princess Jing had been accompanying her all the time.

In fact, Princess Jing just didn't want to, and wasn't willing to, meet face to face with Meng Zhi, the concubine of Prince Cheng.

As for the reason why Meng Zhi helped him, Su Qing thought that the answer would come soon. She would not ask for help for no reason. She must have something to ask for. He just had to wait patiently, because no matter how much he thought about it now, no matter how hard he racked his brains, there would be no result.

"Tell me more about what happened when that woman searched you."

"Yes, it was obvious that the old woman came prepared..." Chuan'er continued to speak in a low voice. Su Qing stood by the window, looking at the snowflakes outside and listening quietly.

"Go to Wang's Iron Shop tomorrow. If the Second Master is there, that would be great. If not, go find Hei Da Ge or Liu Zi. Tell them that I want to know everything about the Xie family, including how Xie Fen got into the Zhou family. The more details, the better."

Su Qing knew that if she married into the Zhou family next year, she would not be able to get anything out of Hu. Therefore, she needed a fulcrum, that is Xie Fen. Pulling down Hu's vanguard would be very beneficial to her.

Watching Lixia enter the courtyard, Su Qing stroked his forehead. It was no wonder Meng Qi was unhappy. Could it be that the Baron Bo's Mansion was bigger than the Marquis Huainan's Mansion? It took so long to go to the second gate.

"Is Miss Fourth impatient? I was led astray by them and went around in circles for nothing."

"It's okay. Go and help Fourth Miss change. I think Third Aunt should have finished her discussion by now."

Lixia nodded and walked around the screen with her bag.

"Ah? Where's the fourth young lady?"