The legitimate daughter returns, and everyone in the Marquis's mansion regrets and begs for for

"Since it's a trumped-up charge, I might as well make sure it's proven true. That should get me out of here."

Qu Muya stood to the side with her arms crossed, watching coldly.

The moment Qu Qingwan fell into the water, the old lady hurriedly pulled the old nanny and walked outside.

After all, she had watched the child grow up, and the old lady still had feelings for him; she even wished she could jump in herself to save him.

But after hearing Qu Muya's words, she hesitated for some reason.

After a short while, before the maids and servants could call for help to rescue her, everyone saw Qu Qingwan in the lotus pond gently wave her hand and swim to the shore on her own in a couple of strokes.

Aside from her hair being a little messy, she didn't even choke on a drop of water.

"This……"

The old nanny supported the old lady, her face filled with disbelief.

Young ladies from aristocratic families would not go into the water, let alone be able to swim.

Even among the maids and servants around her, none of them could swim, so when did Qu Qingwan learn to swim?

"Grandmother, Grandmother, you must stand up for me! My older sister is jealous of how much you love me, and she's trying to kill me!"

Qu Qingwan cried her eyes out.

If the old lady hadn't witnessed her own murder and was considering her blood relation with Qu Muya, that's why she hesitated to take action.

Now, she should be able to speak up, right?

However, this also shows that no matter how kind the old woman is to me, she is actually very blood-related.

Indeed, I still need to find a way to return to the Duke's mansion in order to enjoy wealth and luxury forever.

Qu Qingwan kept shaking her shoulders, looking truly pitiful as she cried.

Hibiscus, carrying a cloak, ran over and draped it over herself.

"Madam, my young lady has such a hard life. She suffers from the bullying of the eldest young lady every day. Now, the eldest young lady dares to lay a hand on my young lady in front of you. It's clear that she really wants to kill my young lady!"

The two of them, master and servant, were shouting with such sincerity that Qu Muya couldn't help but want to applaud and cheer for them.

"Qingwan, I've watched you grow up since you were little. I don't even know when you learned to swim."

The old lady had a stern face.

As Qu Muya said, Qu Qingwan had far too many flaws.

Now, even if she wanted to disbelieve Qu Muya's true feelings, she couldn't.

"I..." Qu Qingwan was stunned. Shouldn't she be dealing with Qu Muya at this time? Why was she questioning her instead?

"It's probably because when she was seven years old, after meeting Qin and learning her true identity, she would go to the temple to burn incense on the first and fifteenth of each month to talk with Qin about their mother-daughter relationship, and that's how she learned it."

"If she weren't good at swimming, how could someone as afraid of death as her dare to use the same trick to frame me every few days? Taking a cold bath can get rid of a major threat. If it were me, I would want to do the same thing."

At the same time, Qu Muya's inner voice came again.

The old lady was filled with mixed feelings and couldn't help but glance at her.

Qu Muya was puzzled and thought to herself, "Why are you looking at me like that? If you can't even tell that Qu Qingwan is faking it, then this old lady must be really old."

Qu Muya's words were honest, but they were also incredibly unpleasant to hear.

If it weren't for her previous experience, the old lady definitely wouldn't have been able to stand her making up like that.

“Grandmother, I was just worried about the family and afraid that you would be sad if something happened to you. That’s why I was in a hurry and just thrashed around a bit, and I learned how to do it on my own. Grandmother, your granddaughter will stay by your side for the rest of her life and will never make you sad.”

That's a beautifully crafted statement. If I hadn't already heard Qu Muya's true feelings, I probably would have been fooled by her.

The old lady was being knelt down and had her legs hugged by Qu Qingwan. In the past, she would have personally helped the old lady up.

But now, she hesitated.

A moment later, she had the old nanny help the person up.

"Qu Muya, it is despicable that you publicly humiliated your sister. However, for Qingwan's sake, and to prevent the rift between you two sisters from deepening, I will punish you by confining you to your quarters for three months to reflect on your actions. Furong, take your young lady home to rest well, and call a royal physician to check on her, lest she catch a cold."

They just let it go so easily.

If the old lady hadn't added a few more words of concern, Qu Qingwan would probably have wondered if she had lost her mind.

"Yes, grandmother."

Qu Qingwan lowered her head, forced to suppress her resentment for the time being.

Just as she was about to leave, a man's voice suddenly came from under the corridor.

"Wait! Madam, Qu Muya deliberately harmed people. Everyone, including myself, saw it. Is it not inappropriate for you to let her off so easily?"

Looking over at the sound, they saw Xiao Yuliang walking steadily toward Qu Qingwan, and disregarding the proper boundaries between men and women, he took her hand in public.

Feeling the coldness in Qu Qingwan's hands, Xiao Yuliang felt a pang of heartache and immediately glared at Qu Muya.

"Oh, so it's the son-in-law of the Marquis of Pingnan, the future crown prince."

Qu Muya, not to be outdone, also glared back defiantly.

Although her words were unpleasant to hear, the second half of her sentence was quite agreeable.

Xiao Yuliang raised his chin slightly, about to feel smug, when he heard her add another sentence.

"Hahaha, the cuckolded prince, he probably has no idea how many hats he has on his head."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuliang was furious.

"Qu Muya, how dare you!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Qu Muya and all the maids and servants around her knelt down.

After all, he is a prince, so we should always give him some face.

"This humble woman knows her crime."

Although he didn't know what had gotten into Xiao Yuliang this time, he figured he might be able to go to the manor if he confessed his crime.

Qu Muya is now completely passive, neither resisting nor arguing, and simply accepting whatever comes her way.

Despite the favorable situation, Qu Qingwan still couldn't get what she wanted.

Xiao Yuliang threw a tantrum, but in the end, he only made the old lady punish Qu Muya by making her copy Buddhist scriptures hundreds more times.

As for Qu Qingwan's explicit and implicit hints, he didn't catch a single one.

After the punishment was handed down, Xiao Yuliang immediately took his men back to her courtyard, not giving Qu Qingwan any time to continue slandering Qu Muya.

"What's this? Have all of them changed their ways today?"

Qu Muya, left behind, was completely baffled.

She had thought that she would suffer some physical pain when Xiao Yuliang came over, but she didn't expect to get away with it so easily.

"Well, since we're here, let's make the best of it and go back to rest for a while."

Although she was recognized as the legitimate daughter, Qu Muya's treatment was not good; she didn't even have a personal maid.

She had no choice but to take a shortcut back to the courtyard, soaked to the bone.

But when she was halfway there, Qu Muya saw a group of servants beating someone up at the side gate.

"So what if you're a prince of Xia Kingdom? You've become our hostage. With your lowly birth, what difference does it make if we kill you?"

Among a group of servants dressed in coarse cloth, there was a young man in white.

The boy was tall and handsome, standing out like a crane among chickens.

Unfortunately, beneath such a handsome exterior lies a dark heart.