My stepmother is here, all the rebellious sons and evildoers should kneel down!

Wen Qiqi looked at Xinyi in shock. Her parents were both servants of the Wen family. Her father’s name was Di Qiu, and her mother was also Wen’s mother’s former personal maid, named Feng Yan.

Both of them were servants of the Wen family who knew each other well. Wen Qiqi had never heard that Di Qiu and Feng Yan had a daughter who married the prince!

"Miss, what I said is true. My father and mother have a daughter, my sister Xinying." Xinyi said.

"But as far as I know, you have three older brothers and one younger brother. They all grew up in your hometown. Why did Uncle Di hide the existence of your sister?"

Wen Qiqi looked at Xinyi in confusion. Xinyi said, "According to my father, my mother had not yet married him at that time. After she found out she was pregnant, she didn't dare to make it public. Fortunately, the old lady agreed to help my father and mother get married."

Wen Qiqi finally understood.

It turns out that Di Qiu and his wife Feng Yan had secretly given birth to a daughter and sent her back to the countryside.

"If that's the case, and your father and mother have already been married, so why did you keep this a secret?"

"Firstly, my mother was worried that this matter would be known by the people in the mansion and become a topic of gossip. Secondly, my sister Xinying was sent back to her hometown when she was young and was adopted by my second uncle's family. So, although she is my biological sister, she can only be regarded as my cousin later."

After hearing what he meant, Wen Qiqi finally understood.

After all, it was a big deal for a woman to get pregnant before marriage. After the divorce, she would have to leave Kyoto with the child in her belly, not to mention that the mother she loved was just a servant in the Wen family.

"Although my sister was born to my second uncle, my parents loved her very much. She was beautiful since she was a child, much prettier than me. When she grew up, my second uncle happened to deliver coal to the Prince's Mansion. He learned that the Prince's Mansion was in need of people, so he sent my sister to the mansion."

Xinyi said that her sister was the eldest child of her parents, and was 19 years younger than her.

"After my sister entered the palace, she was soon noticed by the prince, who wanted to take her as a concubine. My sister was educated at my second uncle's house, and my second uncle only had my sister as his adopted daughter, so he took good care of her."

Xinyi said that at that time, her second uncle's family thought that the prince was truly in love with her sister, and that it was a blessing they had earned in eight lifetimes. After discussing it with Di Qiu and his wife, they agreed.

Who would have known that the elder sister whom he loved had been married to the prince for only one year, had just given birth to a child, and had not even finished her confinement, but she was already ignored by the prince.

The prince even despised his sister for her humble background and said she was unworthy of being the mother of his child, so he announced to others that Xinying's child died before the full month and gave the child to the princess to raise.

Xinying cried so much during her confinement period that her eyes were hurt, but she couldn't get any sympathy from the prince.

Later, the elder sister missed her child so much that she secretly peeked at him. However, the princess used family rules to punish her. In front of many people from the prince's mansion, she was beaten until her body was covered in blood and her clothes were torn.

In ancient times, no woman could keep herself from this!

Xinying went insane because of this, and the prince sent her directly back to her mother's home, gave her some silver, and never saw her again.

Because she was crazy, no one believed what my sister said anymore.

People in the Prince's Mansion said that the elder sister had a wild imagination because her own child died, saying that the Princess of the County had taken possession of her own flesh and blood. In fact, Xinyi's family knew it very well. The Prince of the County had no true feelings for elder sister Xinying. He was just greedy for her beauty and took advantage of her and gave birth to this child.

When the past was revealed, I felt very aggrieved and cried uncontrollably.

"Miss, I have known about this since I was a child. We are from a small family, and we can only swallow our anger when we encounter such bullying. Besides, men in this world are inherently cold-hearted. Let alone a prince, even if he is an ordinary playboy, what can he do?"

She grabbed Wen Qiqi's hand excitedly and said, "Miss, for the sake of Die Jiu and I being with you since childhood, you must persuade her not to marry the Fourteenth Prince."

"Because, people of our status will never be truly loved by others. In the end, I'm afraid Xiaojiu will end up as pitiful as my sister Xinying!"

Wen Qiqi touched the back of Xinyi's hand, comforted her, and said, "This matter needs Diejiu to decide for herself. You treat her well and worry about her. But it is not necessarily the case that the Fourteenth Prince will be the same as the original Prince!"

Xinyi was confused: "But my parents have always taught me this. They told me to never marry a heartless man and just take good care of the young lady."

Besides, the Lu family.

After Lu Xingcheng returned to Beijing last time, Aunt Mei had been looking forward to and thinking about him every day.

I just hope that Lu Xingcheng can be more favored by the Queen Mother in the Cining Palace, and return home as soon as possible to bring her back to Kyoto from his hometown.

Lu Shengshi also gave Aunt Mei a better meal than the four children. For breakfast, she had porridge, half a whole grain steamed bun, and a piece of pickled radish. Once a week, she would also give Aunt Mei a boiled egg.

Now in the Lu family, only Aunt Mei and Old Madam Lu have the privilege of eating boiled eggs, while everyone else can only watch.

The four children were as thin as bean sprouts. They walked unsteadily and spoke weakly.

However, there was no news from Lu Xingcheng, and even Lu Zhanyao did not come back.

There is not much food left at home.

Even the half bag of rice bran in the side room was locked up by Lu Shengshi as if it were a treasure.

Aunt Mei knew that the reason why Lu Shengshi was still treating her as well as possible was all because of Lu Xingcheng.

But seeing that there was no news from Lu Xingcheng, Aunt Mei began to panic.

She was afraid that she would end up like the third and fourth wives...

"Mom, I don't think Lu Xingcheng will be able to come back. It's common for eunuchs and maids to die in the palace. There's no guarantee that he will be able to make it out of this."

Lu Shengshi was already very thin, but fortunately he had a big frame, so he looked relatively strong.

Madam Lu leaned against the wall and nodded weakly.

If this continues, the whole family will starve to death.

"But the nobleman said that the Lu family must have at least one heir..." Lu Shengshi looked at Old Madam Lu and said in a low voice.

"Mom, you are so hungry! If there is one less mouth to feed, you can have one more bowl of rice."

Mrs. Lu naturally knew what her daughter meant by this.

"But she is Lu Xingcheng's mother after all."

Old Madam Lu still held a glimmer of hope for Lu Xingcheng.

"He serves the Empress Dowager, so there will always be some benefits. If he can come back, we will always benefit from it. But if his mother disappears, how can we explain it?"

Lu Shengshi said fiercely: "It's not certain whether he can come back or not. It's just an extra mouth. We may not survive the winter. If he comes back, we can just say...he died of illness and that will fool us."

Mrs. Lu didn't say anything, which was considered as her tacit consent.

Soon, Lu Shengshi went to prepare, intending to let Aunt Mei have her last meal of watery rice porridge at the Lu family.