The mistress is not a cannon fodder, the cold prince falls in love with her every night

Su Li smiled and looked at the Marquis's wife with a smile.

The Marquis's wife was very pleased to hear this. She straightened her back unconsciously while sitting on the chair, and a look of joy finally appeared on her tired face.

This cheap daughter-in-law is not stupid. She knows how to please her mother-in-law on the first day she enters the house.

No matter how arrogant and domineering you are in your parents' home, you still have to behave yourself when you go to your husband's home, right?

Moreover, she had put in a lot of effort in Qingshan Courtyard. Everyone knew that she treated the prince like her own son and cared deeply for him. Su Li's words today were proof of this.

After hearing this, Marquis Jinyuan nodded with satisfaction.

"This is what your mother should do."

As he said this, he glanced at the Marquis's wife.

The Marquis's wife immediately smiled, waved her hand to take the box handed to her by Nanny Qian, and reluctantly handed it to Su Li herself.

"Be good. Before Heng'er got married, I had to worry about all the affairs in his courtyard. Ruyi and the other four were carefully selected by me to serve Heng'er, and they are quite useful. Now that you are here, it will be difficult for you. Take it, this is a gift from your father and me."

Su Li thanked him and opened it to read.

Another neat 100,000 taels. This family is really sincere. They even give money directly as a gift.

For some reason, my mood became very good.

I felt even better when I stole a glance at the Marquis's painful face.

Songzhi helped her up. Then the uncles and aunts from the East and West Mansions also came one by one.

"This is your second uncle and second aunt."

"This is your third uncle and aunt."

Su Li knelt down and greeted them one by one.

The second aunt had a round face and always had a smile on her face. She looked very amiable. She took Su Li's hand and praised her, and gave her a whole set of ruby ​​head ornaments.

In comparison, Third Aunt was much colder and seemed a little distant. She also gave some jewelry, but it was slightly inferior to Third Aunt's.

Su Li asked Song Tao and Song Zhi to accept them one by one.

Finally they sat down and exchanged a few more pleasantries. Su Li found an opportunity to turn his head away, covered his mouth and nose and yawned deeply.

The third aunt opposite immediately became alert and leaned forward and said with concern:

"What's wrong? You don't look like you slept well?"

Su Li waved her hands quickly, but before she could say anything, Song Tao behind her spoke up.

"In the second half of last night, a few stray cats came out from nowhere and kept meowing all night long. I've always been a light sleeper, so I couldn't stand it..."

"Song Tao, shut up."

Su Li turned her head and scolded softly, and Song Tao stopped talking reluctantly.

"Third Aunt, I'm just a little shy. It has nothing to do with the wild cat. But the prince stayed awake until dawn before falling asleep."

As soon as Su Li finished speaking, Third Aunt said coldly:

"The back mountain is just across the wall from Qingshan Courtyard. It's a remote mountain with many wild cats and dogs. However, it would be bad if it affected the prince's rest, right, sister-in-law?"

The Marquis’s wife’s expression changed.

Pei Heng was moved to Qingshan Courtyard to recuperate because of its secluded location. The old lady and the marquis praised her for her thoughtful consideration.

In fact, she just disliked Pei Heng, so she moved him to that remote place so that out of sight, out of mind.

For so many years, no one has talked about the issue of wild cats.

She smiled awkwardly.

"It's spring now, so it's perfectly normal to hear wild cats calling for mating. Li'er, mother will have those wild cats and dogs sent away later."

Su Li smiled and thanked him, but said:

"Mother is already busy enough managing such a large mansion. How can she possibly take care of everything? For a small matter like stray cats and dogs, Li'er can just ask the servants in Qingshan Courtyard to take care of it."

Madam Hou nodded.

"Indeed, now that you're here, the affairs of Qingshan Courtyard will eventually be handed over to you. Madam Qian, go to Qingshan Courtyard and tell them that from now on, all matters within the courtyard will be under the Young Madam's control. Also, tell them to make sure to clean up all the stray cats and dogs in the back mountain today."

Nanny Qian agreed.

Marquis Jinyuan stood up and saluted the old lady.

"Mother, my second and third brothers and I have discussed this matter, so I will stay with you for a short time."

After that, he left with his second and third uncles, leaving behind a room full of women chatting.

As soon as Marquis Jinyuan left, the old lady got up and went back to take a nap.

The Marquis then raised her teacup and glanced at her second aunt. Her second aunt giggled, raised her head, and began to look around, as if she was looking for something. As she searched, she asked:

"Eh? Sister-in-law, why don't the two children come out to play today?"

Oh, here it comes. Su Li immediately became alert.

"child?"

She also pretended to be curious and followed her second aunt's gaze outside the hall, "What child? Is it my second aunt's grandson?"

"Oh my, my two disappointing grandsons are in school right now. How can they have time to play around? I'm talking about Brother Huan and Sister Xi!"

"Brother Huan and Sister Xi?"

Su Li looked curious.

"What, you don't know?"

The second aunt was surprised, and then she realized that she seemed to have said something wrong. She looked at the marquis's wife with an apologetic look.

"Sister-in-law, I don't know. I thought you told her everything!"

The Marquis's wife frowned slightly, her face full of resentment.

Second Aunt cried out, slapped her mouth repeatedly, and apologized repeatedly: "Oh, oh, look at my mouth! Sister-in-law, I really didn't know. I was saying, Li'er is still a child, how could she be willing to be your stepmother? It turns out she didn't know!"

Although Second Aunt apologized, her voice got louder and louder. When she mentioned the word "stepmother", she almost wanted to shout it out, and looked at Su Li with an apologetic look on her face.

Su Li felt amused. The acting skills of her second aunt and the marquis' wife were too poor. One played the villain and the other played the hero. They were going to put on a show for her today!

She cooperated very well, her face turned pale, her brows knitted, and she said in a lost voice:

"stepmother?"

Seeing that the effect had been achieved, the second aunt shut up and lowered her head to drink tea.

During this process, ever since Third Aunt had offended the Marquis's wife by telling her about the wild cat, she had remained silent. She just drank tea, ate snacks, and watched coldly.

Madam Hou sighed and looked at Su Li with a worried look on her face.

"Li'er, don't be anxious. Originally, I wanted to tell you about this in a few days. But..."

She glanced at her second aunt unhappily and said angrily:

"You're so careless with your words. If you scare Li'er, I won't forgive you later."

My second aunt seemed to shrink back.

Then the Marquis's wife said:

"Now that things have come to this, it would be my fault if I didn't tell you. Li'er, Heng'er had a concubine when he was young, and few people know about it. But don't worry, that concubine was unlucky and passed away long ago, leaving behind only a pair of children. The son is called Huan Ge'er, now 8 years old, and the daughter is called Xi Jie'er, who is also 4 years old. How about we meet them today?"

Su Li shuddered when he heard this.

Nanny Li and Songzhi and Songtao behind her took a step forward distressedly. Su Li raised her hand slightly to stop them, biting her lips tightly and said in a barely audible voice:

"I am fine."

"Oh, how could she be alright!" Second Aunt looked at Su Li, whose face was pale, body was trembling slightly, and whose hands were pinching the arms of the chair until the veins were bruised, and she shouted, "Li'er, you have such a miserable life. With Heng'er in such a state, you will be a widow in the future, and you even gave birth to a bastard son and daughter. Who from a good family can stand this?"

Then he turned to the Marquis's wife and said:

"Sister-in-law, you are such a fool. We all know that you love your son so much and are anxious to find a good girl for him to celebrate his marriage, but you can't lie to others! If Su Li gets anxious and makes a fuss about going back to her parents' home, how will it end? Su Li, don't scare Second Aunt! If you have something to say, please talk to her. Don't make yourself sick!"

In the hall, the Marquis's wife, the second aunt, and the third aunt were all staring at her. Su Li closed her eyes, bit her lip, and said coldly:

"Mother, we'll have to see each other sooner or later. Now that we've talked about it, bring him up and let me see him."

The Marquis's wife raised her eyebrows and signaled to Madam Qian to bring the child up.

After a while, a tall maid came in with two children, one tall and one short.

Huan Ge'er has red lips and white teeth, and is very pretty. He is serious and has a stern face, which makes him look a little thin.

Xijie'er's round little face is very cute, especially her big eyes, which twinkle and make Su Li's heart melt.

In the original novel, Pei Heng actually had no concubines, and these two children were not his at all. Huan Ge'er was picked up by Pei Heng at the border, and Xi Jie'er was the posthumous child of Pei Heng's deputy general.

Pei Heng never told his family about the two children's backgrounds because he was afraid that they would not take them seriously and would criticize them. So, he just said that they were his own.

In the book, after the decline of the Jinyuan Marquisate, the two children were pardoned because of Pei Heng's relationship, but they were still forced to live among the people and depend on each other for survival.

Huan Ge'er later passed the imperial examination and became the top scorer.

And Xijie'er also grew up to be bright and beautiful, with both talent and beauty.

But the two are ultimately just supporting characters, always serving as stepping stones for the protagonist in the book.

Huan Ge'er passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar, but he went to work in the Dali Temple as a civil servant.

He had a dark childhood and his heart became extremely twisted. During his time in the Dali Temple, he created countless tortures, becoming a sharp weapon for the new emperor to consolidate his power and eliminate dissidents.

Later, he was involved in a power struggle and was executed by Pei Yan, who had become a powerful official. After his death, he was branded as a cruel official and was despised by people.

After her brother's death, Sister Xi was left alone and ended up on a painting boat, where she became a courtesan with her beautiful arms being slept with by thousands of men.

Thinking of the two children's bumpy lives, Su Li's heart was wrenched.

If her child in her previous life were still alive, he would be about the same age as Huan Ge'er.

She said to herself, Brother Huan, Sister Xi, now that I'm here, I will never let you endure such a terrible fate again.