No reconciliation, no forgiveness! Mr. Pei leaves with nothing.

"Stop! No one is letting you leave without my permission."

Song Qingran suppressed her humiliation and turned to leave awkwardly. Looking at him, she felt as if her heart was being torn apart, the pain like being slowly sliced ​​to death.

He wasn't like this before.

He wouldn't do that to her.

Immediately afterward, Xia He's icy words fell, "I've tolerated your usual arrogance and domineering ways, turning a blind eye to you. But this is the Huo family, where you can't be so disrespectful. Don't bring your upbringing from the Jiang family to the Huo family. Do you really think you're the matriarch of the Huo family? If it weren't for A-Jue's sake, do you really think I would acknowledge you? Let me tell you, his status as the man who married you doesn't count at all. He is Huo Jue, my son, the head of the Huo family, not Pei Zhan."

"So your marriage can be null and void as long as I don't allow it."

“Qingran… is not an outsider. She has been raised by Ajue for several years, and he has watched her grow up. Whether it is time or feelings, she is deeper than you. Besides… I have already decided to recognize Qingran as my goddaughter.”

"With such a status, no one is more qualified to enter the Huo family's banquet or the Huo family's gate than her."

"She must stay!"

Xia He didn't want to say these things, but the Jiang family had embarrassed her in front of the Huo family, and in a fit of anger, she no longer cared about anything else.

"It seems you've been holding these words in for quite a while now. What you said is indeed true. I married Pei Zhan, not your son Huo Jue. But... that means the Huo family matriarch's ring is indeed on my hand. Does it matter whether you acknowledge it or not?" The moment Jiang Hua raised her hand for her to see for herself, Xia He's expression changed drastically. The jealousy and anger in her eyes were no longer concealed, revealing a ferocious look.

"Just because Pei Zhan kept her as a mistress for a few years doesn't mean you're going to take her in as your goddaughter. I don't think there's ever been a case of the matriarch of the Huo family supporting a mistress to take her place. Are you trying to make an exception?"

Xia He: "Jiang Hua, don't distort the truth here."

Jiang Hua: "Whether I'm distorting the truth or not, you know better than I do."

Song Qingran hurriedly explained, "No, Mr. Pei and I don't have that kind of relationship..."

Jiang Hua gave her a cold look. "Did I ask you to speak?"

Song Qingran was so frightened by Jiang Hua's appearance that she fell silent.

"Since Xu Zhoulan is Huo Tingshan's acknowledged illegitimate son, can I also assume that he is qualified to be recognized as such?"

Xia He's face was dark and she couldn't say a word. The anger in her eyes made her look like she wanted to tear her apart. Jiang Hua restrained herself a bit to avoid upsetting her.

"You'd better not say anything, lest these younger people, or even these elders, laugh at you. The more you say, the more mistakes you'll make."

"Since when has a shady identity been allowed to be brought into the open? A lover? A goddaughter?"

"Those whose identities cannot be revealed should stay where they belong."

"You think you can get everything by currying favor and currying favor, something you weren't born with?"

"Not everyone is as lucky as you..."

Indeed, Xia He was born in a rural village, and only because she saved Huo Tingshan's life did she get the opportunity to enter the Huo family. No one knows what methods she used to become the matriarch of the Huo family. Given how much Xu Zhoulan resented Huo Qianxue's death, it wouldn't be surprising if Xu Zhoulan sought revenge if she had died because of her.

Xia He was so angry she could hardly contain herself, and her hands were trembling. "Are you trying to teach me how to do things?"

Jiang Hua: "How could that be! I'm just telling you that you should say less of these things in the future. Family members won't say anything, but outsiders will just laugh at you. Is it really honorable to talk about someone with such a status?"

"Ms. Song, do you think what I said is correct?"

Song Qingran looked at Jiang Hua with red eyes, appearing extremely aggrieved. "Yes, it's my fault for coming." Her weak voice sounded like she was about to cry.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Xia, I'm sorry, Mr. Pei... I've caused you trouble."

Jiang Hua didn't bother to look at her again. She had seen this weak and frail figure countless times. She picked up her teacup and took a sip. "Since you're already here, I can't let you leave empty-handed. Aunt Xiuhong, take this Miss Song around the Huo family's place."

Xiuhong was taken aback, not expecting that the madam remembered her name. "Yes, madam."

"Miss Song, just tell her what you'd like to eat; after all, you're a guest."

Xia He: "You..."

Seeing that she was about to say something more, Jiang Hua interrupted her directly, "If you can't sit here, you can leave with your goddaughter."

"No one will stop me."

Xia He slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "Good, good, Jiang Hua! You're doing great!"

"Let's see how long you can stay in this position."

"Qingran, let's go!"

As Xia He stepped out of the inner hall, her eyes were filled with a cold frost, and a fleeting killing intent flashed across them.

You're just like your pretentious, despicable mother, relying on your looks and good for nothing but seducing men. You just wait, I will never let this go.

Jiang Hua said these words with some consideration for Pei Zhan's feelings. After all, she was his birth mother. She restrained herself a bit in her words just now, otherwise... she could have said even more hurtful things.

Her sidelong glance met his indifferent gaze, which didn't seem to indicate anything was wrong. However, her hand under the table was gently grasped by him. Jiang Hua tried to pull away, but he didn't let go. Instead, their fingers intertwined and she was hidden under the table. She sat to his right, and Pei Zhan's habit of using chopsticks with his left hand didn't bother him at all.

A four-year-old child suddenly spoke, breaking the previous unpleasant atmosphere, "Mama... Mama... It's so pretty. Fairy... Fairy... I want a hug..."

The elegantly dressed woman, holding a child in her arms, smiled apologetically at Jiang Hua: "He's like this, please don't mind."

"It's nothing." Jiang Hua asked again, "What's his name?"

"Ju'an." This woman is Yue Simiao, the wife of Huo Siye's second son. She has only been married into the Huo family for a few years.

Pei Zhan leaned slightly closer to Jiang Hua's ear and whispered a few words, "Do you want a hug?"

"Go and bring it over to play with."

Everyone around was quiet. Jiang Hua's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for everyone to hear. Aunt Xiu Hong stepped forward and took the child into Jiang Hua's arms. Seeing that she was unfamiliar with the process, she even taught her how to hold the child. The child sat on Jiang Hua's lap, with his hands resting on her chest, and rubbed against her with a satisfied and happy expression.

"fragrant…"

"Soon, we'll have that too." He whispered these words in her ear. Jiang Hua raised her eyes to meet his gaze, her long eyelashes trembled slightly before falling back down, showing little emotion.

Jiang Hua hadn't really considered having children, and she didn't particularly like them either. Mainly, her health wouldn't allow it. Even if she risked her life to give birth to him, he would be all alone in the world without her support, and Jiang Hua was afraid he would be bullied. Secondly… Jiang Hua knew her own limitations. Her father had worried a lot about her; how could someone who didn't even know her future think about having children?

When the three children were still alive, Jiang Hua didn't feel much. She was angry because Pei Zhan didn't care about their children. Later... she thought it didn't matter whether there were children or not. Even if she got pregnant, even if she risked her life to give birth, the child might not be so lucky to survive.

I simply didn't want to bother with it anymore...

Later, she slowly came to understand that her responsibility was to ensure the continuation of the Jiang family lineage, to have at least one person who could represent the Jiang family and continue to inherit everything from it. Only in this way could the Jiang family not truly perish. Jiang Hua did not want the legacy left by her ancestors to be destroyed in her hands.

Xiuhong stood behind Jiang Hua and brought over a bowl of steamed egg custard. "You can feed him the steamed egg custard." She held the spoon out to Jiang Hua with both hands.

Looking at his adorable appearance, Jiang Hua couldn't help but poke his cheek. The child seemed mesmerized by Jiang Hua, just laughing happily. When Pei Zhan tried to touch him, he whimpered and fell to the side, pouting as if he was about to cry.

What good can someone be if even children hate them?

Pei Zhan didn't let her hold the child any longer. After the child was taken back, he cried and tried to stay with Jiang Hua.

Then a pair of chopsticks were brought out, and someone said, "Eat, madam."

When she arrived, Jiang Hua had taken her medicine and eaten a bowl of sweet soup. She wasn't very hungry and didn't have much of an appetite. After a while, the farce that had just happened was quickly forgotten and the dinner table became lively again. People chatted about all sorts of things, mostly everyday conversations.

At first, the women of similar age to Jiang Hua thought she was difficult to get along with, but gradually they became familiar with each other and the atmosphere became lively.

The meal lasted for more than an hour. After the meal, Jiang Hua was dragged by them to play mahjong. At first, she didn't know how, but after an expert taught her, Jiang Hua understood and they quickly formed three tables.

Sitting opposite Jiang Hua were the daughter-in-law of Huo Sanye's eldest son, Huo Siye's youngest daughter, and Yue Simiao, who had just given birth. They were all a year or two apart in age and had entered the Huo family mainly through family marriages.

"Mistress, you were really impressive just now. That mistress really had the nerve to show her face. We've seen plenty of that kind of person. Huo Beishen is the same way, completely infatuated with a minor celebrity, he's almost in a hurry to get back together with her." The one who said this was Wen Man, the daughter-in-law of the eldest son of Huo Sanye's heir.

Jiang Hua typed a three of a kind, "Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

Wen Man said, "What's there to interfere with? It's just a matter of each person getting what they want. There were never any real feelings involved, so it's just a casual fling."

"Sister-in-law, stop talking, my cousin is looking over here." Wen Man glanced at the icy face not far away, then looked away with boredom. Jiang Hua followed her gaze, and Pei Zhan's gaze also happened to be looking over. The person he was talking to must be Huo Beishen. It has to be said that all the men in the Huo family gathered together were good-looking, none of them were bad-looking, and they were all equally handsome, each with their own unique features, making them quite pleasing to the eye. Even Pei Zhan seemed to be slightly better looking among them.

"Of all the men in the Huo family, I used to think my cousin was the best-looking, but now I think the head of the family is the most handsome, right, cousin's wife?"

Wen Man: "I agree with that."

Yue Simiao: "Cast a vote."

Jiang Hua: They don't shy away from talking about these things at all.

Yue Simiao looked at Jiang Hua and said, "Please don't mind."

"You want them? I'll give them to you?"

As soon as Jiang Hua said this, all three of them waved their hands in the same way, saying, "No, no, no, we dare not."

"What's there to be afraid of? Is he that scary?" Jiang Hua looked at them strangely. Pei Zhan was indeed quite handsome, but that shouldn't be enough to frighten them like this.

Huo Sisi whispered, "Those who can become the head of the Huo family are never ordinary people; I also heard... when my second uncle took over, he had no intention of keeping anyone in the Huo family alive, wanting to eliminate them completely to shut them up. Later, for some reason, only my third and fourth uncles survived. My eldest cousin was sitting in the main seat just now, not saying a word, which was quite frightening, as was yours..."

"We thought you were difficult to get along with, but we didn't expect you to be able to chat with us for a while."

Jiang Hua curled her red lips into a slight smile: "You Huo family members are really interesting."

Her smile stunned the three men, who were all captivated by her beauty. The circles of the powerful were never short of beautiful women, but those as stunning as her were extremely rare. Her features were alluring yet refined, possessing no trace of vulgarity. Her mesmerizing eyes could bewitch even women.

Jiang Hua played for half a round, and a group of children surrounded her, standing three steps away, not daring to come closer and look at her.

The moment the maid put down the child that Jiang Hua had just been holding, the baby ran to Jiang Hua's side, crying, "Hold me..."

"Ju'an, don't bother your aunt, come to your mother."

"No." She looked at Jiang Hua and said coquettishly, "Hug me."

"It's alright." Jiang Hua picked him up and placed him on her lap.

Yue Simiao said, "If you're tired, just let me hug you."

After playing a round of mahjong, Jiang Hua didn't know if they were deliberately letting her win, but she won the first round. In the second and third rounds, Jiang Hua didn't lose a single game.

"Sister-in-law, you're so lucky!"

Jiang Hua: "You didn't deliberately let them win?"

All three shook their heads in unison; Jiang Hua had won several hands in a row.

Pei Zhan, who was not far away, glanced at his watch and was about to step forward when a woman wearing a red V-neck tank top suddenly blocked his way. She lost her grip on her wine glass, which fell to the ground…

This sound made Jiang Hua, whose attention was focused on the mahjong table, look up.

"You... are the head of the Huo family? I was too far away to see you clearly just now, but now that I can see you... you are indeed quite impressive."

Her voice was alluring and seductive. She reached out her hand, her fingertips slowly sliding down the man's chest. Her behavior was quite bold. Whether it was because she was drunk and acting recklessly, or whether she was deliberately playing hard to get and trying to attract the man's attention, it was hard to tell.

"Want to sleep together?"