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

"That's because the Third Master's biological mother is the woman the old prince has loved all his life. The old prince agreed to marry the old princess just to marry her, and he also promised to wait until the old princess gave birth to two sons before marrying her."

Meng Wan really didn't know about this. It turned out that the old prince was so infatuated. Then it seemed that Zhou Yiheng's obsession with Hu was hereditary.

"But the Third Master's birth mother, my own mother-in-law, was a woman of little luck. She became unwell after giving birth to the Third Master. Even though the old prince invited an imperial physician to see him, she died after only a few years. After she passed away, the old prince's heart also passed away. During that time, he was obsessed with praying for her in the temple, asking her to come back in the next life and meet him again. Instead, he threw the four or five-year-old Third Master directly into the hands of the old princess."

Meng Wan rubbed his forehead, thinking that this old prince was also a confused person.

"You can imagine what kind of life the Third Master leads. It's certainly not a good life for him. It's not easy for him to grow up without any missing limbs, but it should be better than Brother Yu's." Lin sneered.

"On the day I recognized my relatives, the old princess deliberately made things difficult for me and invited all the relatives from the corners of the Zhou family. I was caught off guard because I didn't prepare so many gifts. In particular, there were many unmarried young girls standing in two rows, and my family didn't prepare so many gifts for me to give to them."

Lin gently scraped the lid of the teacup, "It was my eldest sister-in-law. She probably noticed that the number of people who came to my family recognition ceremony was different from hers. She guessed my difficulties and asked someone to bring a box of uterine makeup flowers. With that box, I didn't lose face in front of the Zhou family relatives."

Lin sighed again, "Since then, I have been going in and out of Qinghe Garden frequently, and my second sister-in-law has been making sarcastic comments behind my back. But I have a righteous mind. Since the old princess treats us like this, there is no benefit for me to stick with her. I will only be her thug. Instead of that, I might as well make friends with my eldest sister-in-law who is the wife of the prince.

"And what really made me sincere to my sister-in-law was because of Jun Ge."

"Cousin Jun?"

"Yes, at that time, the old princess was angry because my eldest sister-in-law had not made any move since she gave birth to Rong Jie, and she couldn't raise a concubine for my eldest brother, after all, the late Empress Dowager was still in power. I got pregnant as soon as I entered the family, and gave birth to another son, who was only a few months younger than the eldest son of my second sister-in-law's family.

"What a coincidence. The old prince left the Third Master's biological mother and ignored her for so many years. When I gave birth to Jun Ge, he fell in love with me again. He said that Jun Ge looked exactly like the Third Master's biological mother. He came to see her every day and brought all the good things to our yard. Don't you think it's strange? They are all children of the Shenjun Palace, but why is Jun Ge's name written on the side of earth, while Yu Ge and the others' names are written on the side of gold?"

Meng Wan was stunned. She really hadn't noticed it. She thought that this was because the Third Master was a concubine's son. Could there be some hidden story behind this?

Without waiting for Meng Wan to answer, Lin sneered, "Jun's original name was Zhou Jin, and it was the old prince who personally gave him that name. The old prince said that the future of Prince Shen's mansion depends entirely on Jun."

This, even if the old prince thought so, he couldn't say it like this. This would only bring hatred to the third house.

"So, how could the old princess allow such a thing to happen? After the old prince passed away, she changed Jun Ge's name and even banned the use of the character jin."

"It doesn't matter whether Jin Pang is used or not. Cousin Jun is full of energy and ambition now. He will be able to carve out a bright future for himself." Meng Wan said softly.

Lin nodded, "Let's continue. For various reasons, the old princess's eyes always scared me when she looked at Jun Ge, especially with Luo's brainless wife following behind and making trouble, I dare not let Jun Ge leave my side for a moment. But there are always unexpected things. Jun Ge has grown up and will run around. I have to take care of my own yard, so there will always be times when I am careless."

Looking at Lin's cold expression, Meng Wan knew that the old princess must have attacked Zhou Jun.

"Jun Ge had two accidents. One was the common 'falling into the water', and the other was 'getting lost' when the whole family went out. Both times, it was my eldest sister-in-law who helped me. The first time, I accidentally discovered that Jun Ge had fallen into the water. The maidservants around Jun Ge had been sent away. When my eldest sister-in-law found out, she called the maidservants to rescue him, but they said they couldn't swim and pretended to be anxious. It was the maidservants around my eldest sister-in-law who jumped in to save Jun Ge even though they couldn't swim either."

Lin's eyes were full of hatred. "The other thing was that my sister-in-law discovered the intentions of the mother beside the old princess. She wanted to find someone to tell me but couldn't find the chance, so she had to send someone to arrange it herself. It was because of that incident that the old princess disliked my sister-in-law even more. When that incident happened, Hu had already been carried in. It was also from then on that the old princess paid more attention to Hu."

Lin sighed, "I often think that the reason why my sister-in-law is so unpopular with the old princess is probably directly related to her protecting me."

"No, according to what Second Aunt said and what Second Master told me, Grandmother is simply a person who seeks profit and avoids harm. When the late Empress Dowager was alive, she held Mother in high esteem, and when the pillars of the palace were gone, she wanted to step on them a few times. She has always been that kind of person. Even if the prince married a princess and the dynasty changed, Grandmother would still do the same."

Lin's mouth showed a trace of contempt. There was one more thing she didn't say. The last time the old princess fell ill, she happened to meet me when I went to see her. There was no one in the room. She stretched out her hand to let me pass the emergency medicine to her, but I threw it all on the ground in front of her. Seeing her open her eyes in disbelief, I was so happy. I walked out before the servants came in. Not long after, I heard the news that the old princess had passed away. Then I heard from the doctor that if the old princess hadn't knocked over the medicine bottle when she was taking the medicine, she could live another year or two if she took the medicine in time.

Lin let out a long breath, "Okay, I've said a lot, but I haven't gotten to the point yet."

"Main topic?"

"Yes, the main topic I want to talk to you about today is why the prince hates the eldest sister-in-law so much, and even dislikes Sister Rong and Brother Yu."

Meng Wan nodded, it was exactly what he thought.

Seeing that Meng Wan was not surprised at all but was listening attentively, Lin nodded slightly in her heart, thinking that it was right to say it at this time.

So he poured a cup of tea for both parties and said, "I learned the truth about this matter less than half a year before my sister-in-law passed away."

"Although the Third Master said that the relationship between the Prince and the eldest sister-in-law was good when they first got married, they were no longer very close after I entered the house. At that time, the late Empress Dowager was still alive, and the eldest brother did not have a legitimate son. The old princess would never allow the Prince not to enter the eldest sister-in-law's room, and the eldest sister-in-law also knew the importance of not having a legitimate son. The two of them occasionally came from Qinghe Garden to pay their respects to the old princess awkwardly. But at that time it was just awkward, and the conversation lacked the intimacy between husband and wife.

"I've gone off topic again. If you like to hear about those old stories, come over when you have time and I'll tell you in detail. Let's talk about the important things today. As I said before, I knew this shocking secret half a year before my sister-in-law passed away."

When Meng Wan heard the words "shocking secret", she couldn't help but sit up straight and looked at Lin nervously, but Lin didn't look at her either and spoke softly.

——————

After Wang gave birth to Zhou Yu, she had not been in good health and had been recuperating. She was sometimes better and sometimes worse. Hu had been brought in. For some reason, she was favored by the old princess, or even valued. She went to Qinghe Garden with her belly held all day, asking questions in the name of the old princess, and even ordered the servants of Qinghe Garden to follow her. Wang was already weak, and Zhou Yiheng didn't care about her. She was also disappointed with the Zhou family and didn't take Hu's little calculations seriously.

Even though the mother next to her noticed that Mrs. Hu seemed to be pregnant, Mrs. Wang just smiled coldly. Having already given birth to Zhou Yu, Mrs. Wang now had no hope for Zhou Yiheng.

Wang Shi endured for several years like this, caring nothing about anything except her two children. When Zhou Yu was about five years old, Wang Shi's health deteriorated. At that time, influenced by the rumors about the late Empress Dowager and the Emperor, the Emperor put the blame on the Wang family. The Wang family suffered a devastating blow from top to bottom, and the former glory was gone. Under such circumstances, Wang Shi's situation can be imagined.

Qinghe Garden was so deserted that even the old women and servants began to look for a good place for themselves, for fear that if Wang went there, they would be locked up in Qinghe Garden.

At that time, Lin would visit Wang every now and then to talk and relieve her boredom, and Wang did not avoid her when she was packing her dowry. This was one of the reasons why Lin knew so much about Wang's dowry.

Lin knew that Zhou Yingrong and her brother had always believed that Wang's death was caused by Hu. Of course, she also suspected this, but she felt that it was not just Hu's fault.

The downfall of the Wang family and her hostile relationship with the prince had exhausted Wang mentally and physically. In addition, her body had not recovered after giving birth. These several circumstances combined led to Wang's ending.