She got pregnant after the swap marriage, and the scumbag's family regretted it so much they cr

Shen wiped away her tears, "When I married into the village, I had family to back me up if anything happened. Unlike now, there's not a single word from me!"

Fang Lai was lying on the warm kang (a heated brick bed), feeling comfortable as he drifted off to sleep. In his drowsy state, he heard someone crying.

He peeked through a crack and saw it was the child's mother, and immediately felt extremely unlucky.

He kicked Shen in the waist, "What are you crying for so early in the morning? Aren't you afraid of crying away all my good luck!"

After yelling, Fang Lai's drowsiness vanished.

He rolled over, reached into the wooden box on the kang (a heated brick bed), wrapped himself in his new cotton-padded coat, and walked outside in his mud-covered boots.

Shen stood there stunned for a while before she came to her senses.

"Dad, it's almost noon, where are you going?"

"Mind your own business!"

At this moment, a commotion came from the east wing, and the Fang brothers, Dahai and Dahe, rushed out of the room.

The cotton-padded jackets they wore were neither new nor old, far less presentable than their father's, but it was much better than the previous situation where the two brothers took turns going out.

Fang Dahai jumped up and down a few times, put on his shoes, and turned to Shen Shi, saying, "Mother, Father and I are going out to find some work! Don't cook lunch for me!"

"Don't worry about me!" Fang Dahe followed behind his older brother, catching up with Fang Lai's steps.

Soon, the courtyard became quiet.

Shen looked blankly at the small house where Fang Xiaoyu used to live, "Xiaoyu..."

On the other side, Gao Yan followed the guards of the Prince's Mansion to a row of side rooms next to the main hall.

The sounds of loud conversations coming from some of the private rooms reminded Gao Yan of the times when he would deliver wild game to restaurants and often encounter students gathering.

He tightened his grip on the box and took a deep breath.

Fortunately, the guards only walked past the door and did not go in, and then led him to the innermost few rooms.

He gestured and led Gao Yan to the door of one of the side rooms. "Young Master Gao, please wait in the side room for a moment. The Prince will come over when he is done with his business."

Gao Yan nodded. "Thank you for your trouble."

There was no sound from the room, so he thought no one was inside.

To my surprise, when I opened the door, I was met with two faces staring at me.

Gao Yan was startled at first, but quickly laughed, "Brother Tian! Bian Tongsheng!"

Bian Tao sat upright in his chair, holding a book in his right hand. A slight smile played on his lips as he nodded, which was his way of greeting him.

Tian Youze stood up, walked a few steps to Gao Yan, and patted his arm.

"It's a good thing you informed me beforehand, otherwise I would have thought I had offended some important person and they were going to punish me!"

"We've caused Brother Tian a lot of trouble! And so has Bian Tongsheng!"

"Brother Gao, you're being too formal! Zhiyong and I are practically classmates and friends, so don't be so reserved!"

The next sentence was spoken by Tian You to Bian Tao.

Bian Tao then put down the book in his hand, stood up, and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "Brother Gao."

Gao Yan returned the greeting, "Brother Bian."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Tian You exclaimed, "Fate is truly wondrous! Who would have thought that you and your sister-in-law would be looking for someone to copy a book, and you just happened to go to Zhiyou's study."

Bian Tao was also secretly observing Gao Yan.

Although he couldn't understand most of the books he had copied before, the small portion he did understand was enough to alarm him.

He originally thought that copying so many family treasures would ruin his life, but to his surprise, Master Lü didn't make things difficult for him at all and actually let him go home after he finished copying the books.

The next few days were peaceful and uneventful, and it turned out that the reason was right here.

Bian Tao was now very curious about what kind of person the young lady that Master Lü had mentioned was.

He possessed so many extraordinary books, yet he was not secretive at all, and dared to openly share them for people to copy.

And this young master in front of me is said to be the young lady's husband.

After sizing up Gao Yan, Bian Tao asked, "May I ask how you are addressed, Young Master Gao?"

“Just call me by my name,” Gao Yan scratched the back of his head. “I don’t have a courtesy name.”

Bian Tao's eyes flickered, and he chuckled, "Wouldn't that be impolite? Since Young Master Gao is a bit younger than me, I'll take the liberty of calling you my worthy brother!"

Seeing that the two had become familiar with each other, Tian You brought up the question that had been on his mind.

"When my sister-in-law asked Zhiyong to go to the Lü family to copy books, it was just a matter of making another copy. Why did they have to invite us to the Prince's Mansion?"

“That’s a question I’ve been pondering too,” Bian Tao echoed.

Just as Gao Yan was about to answer, a hearty laugh came from outside, growing louder as it approached.

Soon, Hong Yuanzhou pushed open the door and walked in.

"Young man Yan, I heard your wife brought out all the books from her maternal family's collection. I want to see what kind of books those old folks hid so well!"

Tian You and Bian Tao stared at the uninvited bald man, unsure of how to address him.

You call out "Master," but he's dressed in ordinary clothes; if he weren't a monk, what kind of decent person would shave their head?

Gao Yan frowned. He knew very well the importance of his maternal grandfather in Lu Huan's heart.

If Huan'er heard someone speaking so rudely, she would definitely be upset.

Gao Yan clutched the small wooden box in his hands. "If you continue to call my wife's maternal grandfather that, believe me, I'll take the books and leave right now!"

Hong Yuanzhou's smile faded. "I'm sorry, it was my oversight. If you're still not satisfied, I'll go apologize to that girl myself!"

"Alright!" Gao Yan pursed his lips awkwardly. "Be more careful next time. My wife's maternal grandparents' family is different from those other people!"

“Yes, yes, yes,” Hong Yuanzhou held out his hand, “Now you can hand over all the books!”

Gao Yan placed the wooden box in his hands.

Although it was a copy, Gao Yan still gave him a word of advice: "Be careful, don't damage it!"

"I know, I know!" Hong Yuanzhou, carrying his book box, walked over and sat down.

Tian You and Bian Tao then walked up to Gao Yan and asked in a low voice, "And this gentleman is...?"

Gao Yan was somewhat at a loss for words; in truth, he didn't understand the relationship between Hong Yuanzhou and the Prince of Yan.

"Could he be... one of the prince's advisors?"

Tian You and Bian Tao quickly exchanged a glance and returned to their previous positions in perfect unison.

Fortunately, Gu Chengbin arrived quickly.

As Gao Yan was regretting for the third time that he hadn't brought the Zuo Zhuan with him, a series of footsteps sounded outside.

He jumped to his feet. "Someone's coming!"

Just as Gu Chengbing was about to push the door open, it opened from the inside.

"Your Highness Prince Yan, you've finally arrived!" Gao Yan didn't forget the proper etiquette in front of outsiders.

Seeing that he was about to kneel down, Gu Chengbing frowned and said, "Alright, there's no need to bother with these formalities."

He turned his head and said to the people behind him, "Come in, everyone!"

Gao Yan then noticed that behind Gu Chengbin and in front of the guards stood two middle-aged men with goatees.

"These two are both staff members of the Prince's Palace. From now on, they will be copying books with you two young friends!"