Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window and fell onto Xiao Lan's soft bed. She slowly woke up, stretched, and savored this rare moment of languid comfort. Dangdang, who had been waiting nearby, rushed to serve her upon seeing her mistress awake.

Under Dangdang's skilled and gentle care, Xiao Lan began her daily routine of washing and grooming. Dangdang carefully combed her silky long hair, arranging it into an exquisite bun, and then adorned it with a dazzling pearl flower. Next, Xiao Lan gently washed her face and applied fragrant balm to make her skin appear even whiter, more delicate, and smoother like jade.

However, in stark contrast to the peaceful and serene scene here, the Xiao Marquis's residence was in complete chaos. None of the matrons and helpers who were supposed to arrive on time for work had shown up! This was truly astonishing. The most troublesome problem was the absence of the kitchen matron. Normally, this experienced matron would methodically direct the other cooks in preparing delicious dishes, but now that she was gone, the cooks were thrown into disarray.

When breakfast time arrived, as the meticulously prepared dishes were served, Marquis Xiao Zhenwei frowned after only a few bites. Clearly, today's breakfast, in both taste and texture, was far from satisfying to him. However, having weathered the years, he was no longer as impulsive and easily angered as he had been in his youth, prone to flying into a rage at the slightest inconvenience. Despite his slight displeasure, he ultimately chose to remain silent, quietly putting down his chopsticks and rising from the table.

Having finally finished this incredibly awkward meal, Xiao Zhenwei felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly got up, walking quickly towards the courtyard. He was thinking that he needed to get away from this oppressive atmosphere as soon as possible, to get some fresh air in the courtyard, take a stroll, stretch his muscles, and perhaps practice a set of martial arts to soothe his mood.

After Xiao Zhenwei's figure disappeared outside the door, Xiao Jinshi gently patted her chest and let out a long sigh of relief. She turned her head, stared sternly at her daughter-in-law Xiao Houshi, and said in a low voice, "Houshi, what's wrong with that old woman Wang in your family? Even if she didn't come to work today, she should have arranged breakfast in advance! Didn't you see your father-in-law's face just now, so gloomy it was almost dripping with water? If it weren't for the fact that she's a distant relative from your maternal side, I would have had her kicked out long ago! I really don't know what use such an unreliable person is!" As she spoke, Xiao Jinshi gave a dissatisfied snort.

Xiao Jin had three children: her eldest daughter Xiao Jing'an, her second daughter Xiao Li'an, and her youngest son Xiao Dayi. Her eldest daughter, Xiao Jing'an, was only one year younger than Xiao Daren. The remaining children were an enviable pair of twins—Xiao Li'an and Xiao Dayi. These twins were a full six years younger than Xiao Daren!

Once, Xiao Jing'an married in grand style to the only son of a local gentry in Xiwu Prefecture. However, fate seemed to enjoy playing tricks on people. After the marriage, she gave birth to two lovely daughters. Perhaps because of this, she was ultimately cruelly divorced by her husband's family. Helpless, Xiao Jing'an had no choice but to take her two daughters back to her parents' home, the Xiao family, and have them change their surname to hers, so that they would all take the surname Xiao from then on.

Let's talk about the second daughter of the twins, Xiao Jinshi. She was also married and had a daughter. However, she had married far away to Huaibei Prefecture, so Xiao Lan, who was from the same clan, had never had the chance to meet this cousin.

Finally, we must mention Xiao Jinshi's beloved son, Xiao Dayi. He married Hou, the only daughter of Linzhou Prefecture, and the two lived a happy and fulfilling life after their marriage. Soon, they welcomed the fruit of their love—a lovely baby boy. They named the child Xiao Chengliang. Now, Xiao Chengliang is fourteen years old, and coincidentally, he was born in the same year as Wu Yuyu!

Surprisingly, this fellow named Xiao Chengliang always acted like a well-behaved and obedient child in front of his dignified grandfather, Xiao Zhenwei. But in reality? He was a complete wastrel! Because the people of Xiwu Prefecture didn't know his true nature, this brat dared to be arrogant and brazenly claim to be the eldest grandson of the Xiao Marquis's mansion. This, of course, caused him a lot of trouble!

Normally, Xiao Chengliang idled away his days with a group of scoundrels. They were domineering and bullied the innocent, causing chaos throughout Xiwu Prefecture. Even worse, he often used the prestige of the Xiao Marquis's mansion to swindle and extort money from others. These heinous acts aroused great indignation among the people, but due to the power of the Xiao Marquis's mansion, they could only dare to be angry but dare not speak out.

Fortunately, the women of the Xiao family—Xiao Jinshi and Xiao Houshi—would help him. Therefore, whenever Xiao Chengliang caused trouble outside, they would always try their best to clean up his mess and quell the disturbances. However, this was not a fundamental solution in the long run. If Xiao Chengliang did not restrain his behavior, he would likely bring even greater disaster to the Xiao family sooner or later.

Some matters were truly thorny, and no matter how hard Madam Jin racked her brains, she couldn't handle them properly. Whenever this happened, she would cleverly embellish and tailor the story before telling it to Xiao Zhenwei. The core message she conveyed remained consistent: her grandson was completely innocent, and all the problems stemmed from those with ulterior motives outside. These people couldn't bear to see the Xiao family prosper and flourish, so they deliberately provoked trouble, hoping to find fault with the Xiao family. Poor Xiao Chengliang was merely being used as a pawn.

Meanwhile, Madam Xiao watched helplessly as her mother-in-law once again adopted that arrogant, domineering "mother disciplining her son" posture, and a surge of resentment welled up within her. However, no matter how displeased she was, she was helpless; after all, the other woman was an elder, and she dared not openly express her dissatisfaction. Therefore, Madam Xiao could only silently lament that her mother-in-law lacked the dignified demeanor and refined manners expected of a lady of high birth, instead resembling a vulgar commoner from the streets. She truly couldn't understand what her high-ranking and renowned father-in-law had considered in marrying such an uncouth woman.

After Xiao Houshi and Xiao Jinshi responded in unison, they hurriedly turned and left, intending to go together to find Granny Wang and find out how things had developed into this state. However, before they even reached the courtyard, they saw a servant running towards them in a panicked and hurried manner. Upon seeing Xiao Houshi, the servant, as if grasping at a lifeline, gasped and shouted, "Madam...Madam! Something terrible has happened! Many people from our Hou family have been arrested!"

Upon hearing this, Lady Xiao was startled, her face turning deathly pale. In this territory of Xiwu Prefecture, the Xiao family's Marquisate was renowned and held a prestigious position, its influence no less than that of the Prefect's residence. It was no exaggeration to say that even the Prefect himself would have to bow respectfully to her father-in-law, Marquis Xiao! Otherwise, how could such a powerful family have married her off to Xiao Dayi, a good-for-nothing second-generation rich kid who lacked both literary talent and martial arts skills, and was utterly incapable of riding a horse?

Over the years, if Xiao Dayi hadn't relied on his prestigious status as the eldest son of a marquis, and had only relied on his questionable intelligence to do business, he probably would have lost everything long ago! However, for Madam Xiao, she didn't actually have many other expectations for Xiao Dayi. After all, when she married Xiao Dayi, she herself had some selfish motives. Now, as long as she could ensure that her precious son Liangliang was doing well, she was content to just make do with what she had.

Just then, the servant standing nearby, upon hearing the lady's question, looked troubled and stammered, "Madam, I truly don't know who kidnapped those people. I've only heard that quite a few people have suffered this calamity, and it's said that those who kidnapped them sneaked in at night, their faces covered. They didn't seem to steal any valuables, and as for their purpose, I really have no idea! Madam, do you think we should report this to the authorities immediately?"

Upon hearing this, Lady Xiao was greatly alarmed and panicked. After a moment's thought, she hurried towards the backyard, intending to find her mother-in-law, Lady Xiao Jin, to discuss a solution.

Meanwhile, Xiao Lan sat in front of her dressing table, letting her maids style her hair. After carefully finishing her makeup and dressing, she moved to the table to begin her breakfast. Just as she was slowly eating, the crisp sound of horses' hooves came from afar. Before long, Dingding rode a fast horse and galloped into the courtyard like lightning.

Xiao Lan looked up and immediately saw that Dingding's return must have been fruitful. She quickly put down her chopsticks and instructed the Imperial Guards outside the door, "Leave two people outside to keep watch, the rest of you do your duties." Then she turned to Dangdang, who was standing to the side, and said softly, "Go and guard the door. Don't let anyone get close. I want to hear the results of Dingding's investigation."

Dangdang accepted the order and quickly went to the door, standing guard like a door god. Only Xiao Lan and Dingding remained inside, and the atmosphere became somewhat heavy.

Dingding stepped forward quickly, first bowing to Xiao Lan, and then eagerly reported, "Miss, Li Yuan and I stayed up all night last night. After some investigation, we finally found out everything that Xiao Jinshi had done! This woman is really audacious, and what she did is outrageous!" At this point, Dingding couldn't help but grit her teeth in anger.

Xiao Lan frowned slightly, signaling Dingding to continue. Dingding took a deep breath, calmed herself, and continued, "We not only uncovered her recent misdeeds, but also traced the clues back to many previously unknown past events. It turns out that this little Jin has been secretly colluding with outsiders for many years, attempting to seize our family's property..."

Not long after the death of Lady Da Jin, Xiao Zhenwei made Lady Xiao Jin his principal wife, his second wife. Originally, Xiao Zhenwei considered that Lady Xiao Jin was Xiao Daren's maternal aunt and hoped that she could take good care of his eldest son. In addition, he was busy with official duties at the time and had no time to spare, so he simply entrusted all the affairs of the inner court to Lady Xiao Jin.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Jin was not a kind person. Especially after her elder sister, Da Jin, passed away, her true colors were gradually revealed. At first, Xiao Jin pretended to be very caring towards Xiao Da Ren in front of Xiao Zhenwei, which made Xiao Zhenwei quite trusting of her. However, after Xiao Jin gave birth to twins, the situation quietly changed.

She began to torment Xiao Daren in secret. It is called "abuse" only because in front of everyone she still maintained the image of a loving mother, but behind the scenes she instructed the nanny beside her to instruct the other servants to deliberately distance themselves from and isolate Xiao Daren, and even refused to give him a full meal.

Furthermore, to avoid arousing Xiao Zhenwei's suspicion, Xiao Jin would occasionally bestow upon Xiao Daren so-called nourishing foods. However, these foods actually contained excessive amounts of certain ingredients. For young children, long-term consumption would not only fail to nourish their bodies but would also cause serious damage to their internal organs over time.

These memories come from various sources. Some of them are from Xiao Lan's memories from her previous life, while others are the results obtained by Dingding and the others through interrogation yesterday.

However, based solely on the conclusions drawn from Dingding's interrogation yesterday, Xiao Lan couldn't help but ponder. She felt that this Little Jin Shi didn't seem to have developed evil intentions only after Xiao Dayi's birth, as her mother had claimed. Perhaps she was inherently a cruel person; otherwise, no matter how much she schemed and plotted for her son, she would never resort to such cruel and vicious methods to abuse a young child with whom she shared blood ties.