In ancient times, she gave birth to seven daughters and was divorced by her husband's family.

Bai Chuyao stepped forward, facing Zhao Bingyu in the carriage, facing heaven and earth, and facing all the witnesses present, and solemnly declared, word by word:

"I, Bai Chuyao, along with my second brother Bai Liezhao and third brother Bai Qingze, hereby swear: From this day forward, I sever all ties with my biological father Bai Yansong and my biological mother Zhao Bingyu, cutting off all affection and ties!"

"From this day forward, the debt of gratitude for being born and raised is wiped clean; the blood ties end here."

"From this day forward, good fortune and misfortune will be unrelated. On the road to the underworld, no distinction will be made between relatives and strangers; on the Bridge of Helplessness, no question will be asked about the afterlife! Heaven and earth bear witness, the sun and moon are our witness!"

"Heaven and earth bear witness, the sun and moon are our witnesses!" Bai Liezhao and Bai Qingze repeated in unison.

After the three brothers finished speaking, they turned around at the same time and bowed deeply to Bai Lu.

“Sister, from now on, you will have no more obstacles.”

"We are no longer bound by shackles."

Looking at the three great mountains that sheltered her from the wind and rain, and seeing how they risked being labeled "unfilial" and severing their closest ties with the world for her sake... Bai Lu's eyes instantly welled up with tears.

She knew that they did all this not only because of the grudges of the older generation... but also... so that she could walk her own path without any worries.

This sentiment is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold.

She dismounted and helped her three elder brothers up, her voice choked with emotion: "Eldest brother, second brother, third brother... thank you for your hard work."

"Silly girl," Bai Qingze ruffled her hair and smiled, "we're family."

Inside the carriage, Zhao Bingyu listened to the resolute vow and watched the scene of deep affection between the brother and sister, her heart filled with despair.

She knew it was all over.

She lost, completely.

She slowly lowered the carriage curtain, shutting out everything from the outside world.

The carriage was dimly lit, just like her heart at that moment.

Ru Bao, who had been observing coldly from the beginning, finally spoke up quietly: "Mother, do you see? These are the good sons and good daughters you raised."

"They don't even want their own parents anymore, that's so unfilial!"

"If it were me, I would never abandon my mother!"

The carriage continued to roll forward.

This time, it wasn't Bai Lu herself who drove the carriage to take Zhao Bingyu and Ru Bao back to the Western Regions; instead, the prefect of Qingzhou sent people to escort them.

Bai Lu and the other three have finished everything.

Inside the carriage, Zhao Bingyu listened to Ru Bao's endless, heart-wrenching words for a long time, until tears streamed down her face.

Finally, she couldn't help but yell, "Shut up!"

"If you hadn't been saying all this nonsense and jumping around like this, how could you have left such a bad impression on Bailu as soon as you arrived in Kyoto?"

"How could I possibly have such a bad relationship with Bai Lu?"

"How could I possibly have such a bad relationship with those three?"

"Woooooooo..."

"These are all my sons, my daughters, they are all flesh and blood of my own body!"

"How could I, as their mother, possibly be so willing to give them up?"

"How could they be so heartless, cutting ties with me, their mother... just like that? Waaaaah..."

Zhao Bingyu considered many possibilities, but never this one...

She wiped away her tears, sobbing uncontrollably: "I could accept the death of my son and daughter, but I just can't accept that my son and daughter would rather pretend I'm dead... than acknowledge that I have such a mother!"

Zhao Bingyu cried bitterly, "How could I not have thought of this? How could I not have thought of this!"

"If I had known, I wouldn't have sent Lotus and the others to Dawu, and I wouldn't have come to Dawu myself! Waaaaah..."

Ru Bao found it increasingly absurd, and she couldn't help but roar, "Mother, what are you saying? They're the ones who are unfilial! You're our mother, how could you be wrong?"

"Mother, knowing how they treated you, you're now blaming yourself. You can't let them manipulate you!"

"Didn't you always tell me that before...?"

"What PUA? What do you know?!" Zhao Bingyu glared at Ru Bao, a look that made Ru Bao feel somewhat unfamiliar.

Why would my mother be so mean to me?

Then Zhao Bingyu screamed, "You were pampered and spoiled by me in the Western Regions. I never mistreated or treated you harshly, so you know nothing!"

"Now they've actually come to Dawu to show off their power and have beaten up the people of Dawu!"

"If it weren't for you, how could our family have ended up like this?"

"Bai Lu and the others are probably still resentful of me, thinking that I'm biased towards you, or even that I'm a bad person!"

"How much have I sacrificed for you?"

Ru Bao was completely bewildered by what she heard.

She didn't quite understand why her mother, who had been abandoned by her son and daughter, was suddenly turning on her. What did this have to do with her?

Zhao Bingyu scolded Ru Bao, and the more Ru Bao listened, the more aggrieved she felt, until she burst into tears.

Seeing Ru Bao cry, Zhao Bingyu glared at her and said sternly, "You still have the nerve to cry? Am I wrong? Huh?"

"If it weren't for your wickedness and vicious nature, how could things have come to this?"

"Mother, you're so mean! Waaah... Who's really mean?" Ru Bao sobbed as she spoke to Zhao Bingyu.

"You're taking all your anger out on me!"

"You can't scold Bai Lu, because Bai Lu and the others ignore you, so now you're tormenting me!"

"Waaah... You're not a good mother anymore, I don't want you to be my mother! I'm leaving now, I'm leaving now!"

"Once I return to the Western Regions, I will run away from home. Like Bailu, I will go out and do business on my own, and become a female general!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Bingyu immediately sneered and launched into another tirade against Ru Bao: "You want to go out and become a female general or go into business? Do you think you're cut out for that?"

"From childhood to adulthood, when have I never been waited on hand and foot?"

"Whenever the sky falls, isn't there always someone at home to hold it up?"

"You've never even gotten a scratch outside, let alone become a female general or go into business!"

"If anyone outside treats you even slightly coldly, you'll be killed!"

"The people of Dawu didn't do anything to you, but look how badly you beat them up!"

"You have really disappointed me!"

Upon hearing these words, Ru Bao felt immense pain and sorrow, and burst into tears.

The mother and daughter cried together.

Ru Bao criticized Zhao Bingyu, saying that she shouldn't have spoken so harshly.

Zhao Bingyu then criticized Ru Bao, asking her if she could be more ambitious.

If Ru Bao had been more ambitious, things probably wouldn't be like this now!

I won't let Ru Bao cause me to sever ties with my children!

"For example, Baolai Dawu was whipped; these were the triggers for the whole incident!"

If it weren't for Ru Bao, I probably wouldn't have used Bai Liezhao to threaten Bai Lu and the others at Bai Liezhao's wedding banquet, and all the subsequent events wouldn't have happened!

The two of them argued until they were exhausted.

Two days later, they arrived in the Western Regions.

Zhao Bingyu and Ru Bao got off the carriage, their eyes looking somewhat dazed.

From then on, the bond between the mother and daughter was no longer as strong as before.

Instead, a rift and estrangement have appeared.

After returning to the Western Regions, Zhao Bingyu lost her appetite and couldn't eat or drink.

She thought of her daughter, her three sons, and her ten grandchildren.

She didn't cherish what she used to have easily.

Now that it's completely gone, I've started to cherish it.

I have to say, people are just shameless.

Ru Bao was truly heartbroken this time.

For the first time, she realized that in her mother's heart, she was not a perfect treasure, but a "trouble" who would cause trouble and drag people down.

The mother and daughter lived under the same roof, yet they often didn't exchange a single word all day.

That day, Ru Bao looked at her haggard face in the mirror and remembered her mother's question, "If you were more ambitious, things wouldn't be like this."

"I'm ambitious! I'll prove it to you!"

"I don't need you, I can live just fine!"

"I can also achieve great things like Bai Lu!"

Once this idea takes root, it can easily lead to disaster.

She stopped crying and stopped trying to repair her relationship with her mother.

She began to take stock of her personal assets—the New Year's money, jewelry, shops in the Western Regions that Zhao Bingyu and her elders had given her over the years... all added up to a considerable fortune.

She secretly sold some of her jewelry and inconspicuous assets, raising ten thousand taels of silver in cash.

She intends to use these ten thousand taels to achieve something in the familiar land of the Western Regions that is no less impressive than Bai Lu's!

She wanted to make her mother regret it, and to make everyone who looked down on her look at her with new respect!

But... what kind of business should we do?

Ru Bao heard that a new weaving method had recently come from Da Wu, producing brocade that was as light and thin as gauze, with intricate and exquisite patterns, and was extremely popular among the nobles of the Western Regions.

She felt this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Bai Lu can provide relief to disaster victims, and she can also change people's lives, make a lot of money, and gain fame through business!

After making inquiries from various sources, she finally found a caravan in a large settlement of foreign merchants who claimed to be from the "Suzhou and Hangzhou Textile Factory" of Dawu.

The caravan leader was a middle-aged man named Qian Wanli. He had a shrewd face, and his eyes would light up with a new idea. He was eloquent and praised the brocade as if it were the best thing in the world.

“Miss, you have excellent taste!” Qian Wanli stroked his goatee and took out a piece of brocade as beautiful as clouds from an exquisite wooden box.

“Look at this ‘Yunmeng Brocade’. It’s the latest weaving technique from Suzhou and Hangzhou. It’s as light as a feather and as tough as spider silk.”

"The pattern changes color when viewed in sunlight, and it's impervious to water and fire!"

"These are tributes we're offering to the Great Wu Imperial Palace. I went through a lot of trouble to get this batch; it's the only one of its kind in the entire Western Regions!"

Having grown up around Zhao Bingyu, Ru Bao knew that one couldn't completely trust what merchants said, so he pretended to be mature and asked, "How much is it?"

"If they're asking for an exorbitant price, I'm not going to be a sucker."

Qian Wanli laughed heartily: "Miss, you're straightforward! You're a discerning person, so I won't beat around the bush with you."

"This batch of goods consists of three hundred bolts, and the price is a flat 10,000 taels of silver!"

"Once you get your hands on it, you can resell it to those princes and nobles. Forget about 20,000 taels, there will be people scrambling to buy it even for 30,000 taels!"

Ru Bao's heart warmed.

But he forced himself to remain calm and picked up the sample to examine it carefully.

The brocade felt cool and silky to the touch, with a shimmering sheen; it was indeed a treasure she had never seen before.

She mimicked her mother, gently scratching the surface with her fingernail, then examining it against the light, and said critically, "It looks good, but who knows if all the items in this box are the same? What if you've passed off inferior goods as superior ones?"

"Oh, my dear lady! I, Qian Wanli, have traveled all over the country, and I rely on nothing but 'trust'!" Qian Wanli patted his chest, making a solemn vow.

"If you don't believe me, you can open the box and inspect the goods on the spot! If there's anything wrong, I'll compensate you tenfold!"

His openness and confidence dispelled Ru Bao's last remaining doubts.

She didn't have the energy to check each box one by one, so she randomly picked a few boxes and opened them. Sure enough, they were all top-quality brocades that were exactly the same as the samples.

"Great! I'll take the whole batch!" Under the other party's boasting and flattery, Ru Bao made the decision on the spot without much hesitation.

She handed over all the 10,000 taels of silver she had painstakingly collected to Qian Wanli, in exchange for boxes upon boxes of heavy, top-quality tribute.

Qian Wanli smiled and said, "There are so many things, Miss, you can't carry them all back. Let us help you take them back."

"I'll find you another camel to carry you away."

"Row."

Ru Bao sat on the camel at the very front, completely unaware of the merchant's subtle actions behind him.

When she got home, the merchants had left, and she was dumbfounded—except for the few boxes she had randomly checked, and the top layer of each box was genuine high-quality brocade, the bottom layer was all crude imitations made of inferior silk blends!

These fabrics have a rough feel, a dull luster, and some even have broken threads and flaws.

Let alone selling it to royalty or nobles, even ordinary wealthy families might not be interested.

Ru Bao felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, chilled to the bone.

She then realized that she had been scammed.

That Qian Wanli was nothing more than a seasoned con artist who meticulously planned scams, waiting for naive and greedy "fat sheep" like her to take the bait.

She frantically sent people to search for the caravan, but they had already absconded with the money without a trace.

Ten thousand taels of silver, almost all of her private property, went down the drain.

When Zhao Bingyu heard the news, she rushed into Rubao's warehouse.

The daughter sat on the ground, looking lost and dejected, surrounded by cheap fabrics; the room was a mess.

“Ru Bao!” Zhao Bingyu’s voice trembled with anger.

"Is this what you mean by 'doing business'?"

"Is this the result you wanted to prove to me?"

"Ten thousand taels! What do you take our family for? A money exchange you can squander as you please?"

With her intelligence, she also knew that Ru Bao had been making moves lately.

Zhao Bingyu also thought that if Ru Bao could make a name for herself with Bai Lu's skills, she would turn a blind eye and let her do it.

Unexpectedly... he pooped a huge one!