After being reborn, her aloof ex-husband and her crazy deceased husband got into a fight.

Before coming to Kyoto, Lan Tingzhou sent a letter and silver notes to Lu Qingning, asking him to buy his family's old house. Therefore, after arriving in Kyoto, Lan Tingzhou, Gan Cai'er, and their entourage went directly to the Lan family's old house by carriage.

The Lan family's old residence is located at the foot of the city wall in the eastern part of the city, far from the imperial city in the very center of Kyoto. It's just a few more steps to get out of the city, making it a very remote place.

The only advantage of this place is that the houses are cheap. Given the Lan family's generations of poverty, they could only afford a house here if they lived in Kyoto.

In her past life, Gan Cai'er had complained about this quite a bit. So, after living there for less than half a month, she bought a new house and moved her whole family there.

In this life, Gan Cai'er became very hesitant about whether or not to buy that house again.

If we don't buy it, the Lan family's old house is indeed very dilapidated. Since the Lan family's property was confiscated, this house has mostly been inhabited by low-ranking officials, and the house has not been repaired much.

Over the past ten years, the house had fallen into disrepair. Whenever it rained, it was a constant drizzle inside while the outside was pouring down. Gan Cai'er could no longer bear it.

But Gan Cai'er was unwilling to buy it.

In her past life, that small yet exquisite mansion of the Grand Tutor was something she had spent most of her dowry money on, and countless hours of painstaking work, personally overseeing the craftsmen's work step by step. It was both expensive and meticulously planned, but sadly, she herself only lived there for a few years...

If I were to buy another one in this lifetime, I'm afraid I'd live there for an even shorter period, which wouldn't be worthwhile.

Just as she was struggling with her decision, the carriage carrying her and all her belongings stopped in front of the Lan family's old house.

Looking at the door frame covered in cobwebs and the lintel with five or six cracks, Gan Cai'er immediately decided to buy a house the next day, and could no longer bear it.

The world is vast, but the most important thing is to live and sleep comfortably.

The Lan family's old house was just a small courtyard. When Gan Cai'er stepped through the door, she saw Lu Qingning leading a few people to sweep and tidy up the courtyard, just like in her previous life.

"Tingzhou, you arrived so quickly?"

Even this sentence is exactly the same as in my previous life, conveying the same warmth and intimacy.

Gan Cai'er couldn't help but smile.

In her past life, she was very angry with Lan Tingzhou because of this.

In her past life, she only learned at this moment that Lan Tingzhou had friends in the capital, and they were even close friends. But he had never mentioned it to her, while she herself wanted to tell him everything, one thing after another.

In this life, she is no longer angry.

"And who is this young master?" Gan Cai'er asked politely with a smile.

"This is my brother's friend, and also my fellow disciple, Lu Qingning, Brother Lu!" Before Lan Tingzhou could speak, Lan Tingzhi jumped over and introduced him quickly.

He was actually a disciple of Xuancang Mountain, something I didn't know in my previous life. No wonder Lan Tingzhou sent Lan Tingzhi so far away to learn martial arts; it turns out there was this connection.

"Thank you so much for your hard work this time." Lan Tingzhou walked over and thanked him with a smile.

"It's not exactly easy work, it's just something I did along the way. These are all my brothers. Today's work counts as my training." Lu Qingning laughed heartily.

Gan Cai'er gave Xiao Hong a wink, and Xiao Hong immediately took out a handful of silver ingots and stuffed them into Lu Qingning's hand.

"You've all worked hard today, Lord Lu and my brothers. Here's some silver to treat everyone to a drink and relax. I hope you'll accept it, Lord Lu."

Lu Qingning didn't stand on ceremony and threw all the silver ingots to the guards beside him, saying generously, "Take them. Those who aren't on duty tonight can all go drinking."

"Okay~~~~"

"Thank you so much, sir!"

"That's wonderful, sir! Next time there's something like this, you must call me!"

The people in the courtyard laughed loudly and swept even more diligently.

“Qingning, let them go and drink their wine. Come and talk to me,” Lantingzhou said.

“Okay,” Lu Qingning replied with a smile.

Lan Tingzhou and Lu Qingning entered the study, and Mo Yan poured tea for them.

"What's wrong? Is this trip to the capital going badly?" Lu Qingning picked up a cup of tea and slowly took a sip.

"How did you know?" Lan Tingzhou asked.

"Ha, if nothing had happened, you wouldn't have invited me in for tea," Lu Qingning scoffed.

"It's just a cup of tea, why would I be so stingy?" Lan Tingzhou smiled faintly.

"However, you guessed right. Something did happen."

So Lan Tingzhou told Lu Qingning about Du Ke's matter, explaining the whole story and his own speculations.

With a loud "smack!", Lu Qingning slammed the teacup in her hand onto the table, then stared wide-eyed in shock!

"What you said is true?!"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Lan Tingzhou glanced at him indifferently.

"Wait, wait, let me sort this out properly..."

As she spoke, Lu Qingning stood up and paced back and forth in the room, wandering around like a headless fly, muttering to herself.

"Is Du Ke not Du Chong's son, but the current emperor's son?"

"When Du Chong was transferred to a post outside the capital, it wasn't because he was ostracized and couldn't stay in the capital, but because he wanted to take him away and secretly raise him?"

"She's seven years old now, and then she was sent back..."

"Wait, something's not right!"

Lu Qingning suddenly stopped and looked at her fingers as she counted.

"What's wrong?" Lan Tingzhou asked.

“The ages don’t match up; Du Ke is half a year older than that child,” Lu Qingning replied, frowning.

After a moment of contemplation, Lan Tingzhou asked, "Is that child still in the palace?"

Lu Qingning was silent for a moment before replying, "Gongsun Yun died in an accident when he was three years old."

"The Empress was heartbroken and fasted for a month to pray for his passing. She also fell seriously ill afterward."

“That’s it.” Lan Tingzhou sighed softly. “When Du Chong left, Gongsun Yun was already over a year old. If Du Ke were a little thinner, it would be easy to confuse him.”

"Moreover, I believe this switcheroo was not a spur-of-the-moment arrangement, but rather a long-planned scheme by both parties, so the differences between the two children should be kept to a minimum."

A shiver ran down Lu Qingning's spine.

"So, the one who died in the palace was actually the real Du Ke?"

"However, now that we've managed to send him out safely, why not wait until he's a bit older, or until His Majesty has fully regained power, before sending him back?"

Lan Tingzhou looked at Lu Qingning and slowly said, "So, has anything happened in the palace recently?"