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

"Heh heh, your mother is nothing but a lowly prostitute, not even worthy to carry my mother's shoes!"

"You really think you're a proper young master of the Du family? You dare call me 'brother'? Do you deserve it?" Another child stepped on the hand of the child lying on the ground.

"That's right, who said we're brothers!"

"I think you're only fit to be our dog!!"

"Yes, yes, yes, let him be a puppy."

"Come on, you little bastard, bark like a dog a few times, then crawl over here and kowtow a few times, and we'll let you go~~~"

"Hahaha, look at his filthy appearance, I think he's not even as good as a dog."

......

Four or five older children surrounded the little boy who was being held down on the ground. They laughed and cursed, occasionally kicking and stomping on him. They spoke the most vicious words in the world in their clear, sweet childish voices.

The little boy in the middle kept calling out "brother," crying out in pain, and then crying uncontrollably until he was breathless and his face turned bright red.

Gan Cai'er hardened her fist.

She originally didn't intend to get involved in other people's gossip; she would avoid it if possible. As the saying goes, family scandals should not be aired in public. If outsiders were to discover it, who knows what kind of resentment it would bring.

Gan Cai'er had seen many people bully others by taking advantage of their numbers, and she had done it quite a bit in Qingshui Town, but at most it would just result in a physical fight. But this kind of humiliation... she just couldn't stand it.

"Where did this pack of stray dogs come from, barking like that?"

Gan Cai'er lifted her skirt and gracefully walked out of the bamboo forest.

When the younger children saw someone suddenly appear, they panicked and hid behind the oldest child.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my house!" the leader of the children asked fiercely, his tone full of hostility.

"Hehe, I'm a fairy from heaven." Gan Cai'er said with a smile, then casually broke off a bamboo branch and waved it in her hand.

"What, what are you going to do?!" The leader's expression changed, and he took a few steps back.

"I was just passing by in the heavens when I heard that someone was going to force someone to be turned into a dog, so I came down to investigate. Young master, since you like turning people into dogs so much, why don't you demonstrate it for me first?"

As Gan Cai spoke, she swung the bamboo stick in her hand, making a whooshing sound, forcing the group of children to take several steps back.

Xiao Hong stepped forward and quickly helped the child up from the ground, protecting him behind her.

"How dare you speak so disrespectfully to me! I will make sure my father punishes you!"

"Whoosh!" "Snap!"

Gan Cai'er swung a bamboo stick and struck the shouting child hard.

Wearing only light summer clothes, she didn't hold back in her slap. The child cried out in pain and jumped three steps away.

"You dare hit me? I'll fight you to the death!!!" With that, the child charged forward.

"Come on, I'll beat you to death! You're not even fully grown yet, and you dare to bully others and act like a tyrant!"

Gan Cai'er rolled up her sleeves and swung the bamboo stick in her hand with great force.

The child only took two steps before he didn't dare go any further.

He could tell that Gan Cai'er was really capable of slapping him! Even after he introduced himself, she completely ignored him. For a moment, he was unsure of her background, and his small eyes darted around nervously.

"Fifth Brother, we're having a banquet at home today, and this lady is probably a distinguished guest. If this gets to Father's ears..." another child said cautiously.

"Hmph, do you think I'm afraid of her? You just wait, I'm going to find my mother right now!"

The child in the lead turned around and ran away.

Seeing him run away, the other children scattered in a panic, and were gone in no time.

"Miss, what should we do now?"

Xiao Hong watched the children run away with worry. From the children's conversation, it was clear that these children were all from the Du family, and that the other party had obviously gone to complain to someone.

Gan Cai'er threw away the bamboo stick in her hand and remained silent.

In the heat of the moment, she acted without thinking, even if the King of Heaven himself came, she would still vent her anger first. Now that the children have run away, she has calmed down and is filled with regret.

How dare I go and beat up Du Zhong's child?! Du Zhong is the most powerful person in Danzhou, a fourth-rank official of the imperial court!!

Gan Cai'er was extremely annoyed. She could have easily chased away those unruly children in a gentler way, but instead, she chose to hit them.

Alas, this impulsive and reckless temper can really kill people.

Or should we run away before anyone comes looking for us?

Just then, a soft sobbing sound came from behind, and Gan Cai'er felt her skirt being pulled.

"Ke'er is not a bastard, Ke'er is the child of my father and mother."

She looked down and met a pair of big, red, swollen eyes. The child was sobbing and wiping away tears.

Gan Cai'er could roughly guess what had happened. Looking at the child's disheveled and pitiful appearance, her heart ached, and she felt an indescribable pang of sorrow.

She suddenly thought of her son, also an illegitimate son from a prestigious family. She wondered if he was being bullied in the same way in the Duke of Wei's mansion after she left.

On the Lantern Festival of the twenty-fifth year of Jinghe, Meng Beihai did not see his mother, but instead saw his father who had already passed away.

"You've been sitting here all day, what are you trying to do?" Meng Yu lowered his eyes and looked at his eldest son sitting in the pile of weeds by the wall.

This is a neglected vegetable garden in the Duke of Wei's mansion, which has been untended for a long time.

"Father, Mother didn't cheat on me." Meng Beihai stared at Meng Yu, answering a question that seemed irrelevant.

"I know."

"Then can you bring Mother back to the manor?" Meng Beihai's eyes suddenly lit up.

Meng Yu was silent for a moment, then said, "Come with me."

Meng Beihai turned to look at the wall, somewhat hesitant.

My mother said she would bring him a sugar painting today. What should I do if he leaves and I can't find him?

Meng Yu noticed his hesitation and guessed that he was waiting for someone.

"Wen Jian, stay here and report immediately if there is any unusual activity," Meng Yu instructed.

Wen Jian was a bodyguard personally chosen by Meng Yu for Meng Beihai, and he had been by Meng Beihai's side since Meng Beihai was three years old.

Meng Beihai finally followed Meng Yu to the study in the outer courtyard, turning back every few steps.

"Bring the person up," Meng Yu said in a deep voice after taking his seat.

A moment later, two guards escorted in a tall man. Upon seeing Meng Yu, the man knelt down with a thud.

Upon seeing this person, Meng Beihai's eyes flashed with intense hatred! If looks could kill, this person would have been torn to pieces long ago!

It was he who publicly accused his mother of having an affair with his father's guard and implied that his sister might not be his father's child, which led to his mother and sister being expelled from the Duke of Wei's mansion!

"Zhuo San, what did I say before I asked you to come back?" Meng Yu's voice was calm and unwavering.

"My lord has ordered me to protect Lady Ru." Zhuo San's voice trembled.

"And what about Consort Ru?"

Zhuo San shrank back, not daring to answer.

"Zhuo San, where is Zhuo Wu?" Meng Yu asked slowly.

"My lord, spare me! Spare me! It's not that I intentionally framed Lady Ru for having an affair with Zhuo Wu, but the First Madam kidnapped my wife and daughters to threaten me. I had no choice." Zhuo San lay on the ground, weeping and begging for mercy.

Meng Yu chuckled lightly, stood up, and walked over. He stopped in front of Zhuo San, looking down at the kneeling man, placing one foot on his head, and said calmly:

"Zhuo San, have you forgotten that you are a soldier, and I gave you military orders?"

"You think you can frame your comrades and disobey orders just because you threaten your family?"

"Are you being threatened, or are you taking advantage of my death so that no one can punish you, while the lady can offer you more?"

Zhuo San was covered in cold sweat and trembling uncontrollably, like a leaf, so much so that he couldn't utter a single word.

If I had known that the Duke was still alive, I would have beaten him to death, and he would never have dared to falsely accuse Lady Ru of having an affair with Zhuo Wu.

Meng Yu drew his sword from his waist, raised his hand, and swung it down towards the head at his feet. The movement was swift and decisive.

With a "poof," a spray of blood mist gushed from Zhuo San's neck, splattering half of the study.

A head rolled around on the ground, its eyes wide open, as if it couldn't believe it had died like that.

"Military orders are absolute; those who disobey will be executed."

Meng Yu looked at those round eyes and said in a cold, indifferent voice, then slowly sheathed his sword.

Meng Beihai was so shocked that he sat down on the ground with a thud. He covered his mouth tightly with his hand to prevent himself from screaming.

Meng Yu glanced at him and said calmly, "The Duke of Wei's family has been guarding the borders of Dayong for generations. As the heir apparent, you must get used to bloodshed and killing as soon as possible."

"I am not the crown prince."

"If I say you are, then you are."

Meng Beihai lowered his head and remained silent.

"Who are you waiting for, guarding that abandoned courtyard?" Meng Yu asked.

"Waiting for Mom. She said she'd come to see me on the Lantern Festival and bring me a sugar painting."

Meng Yu remained silent for a long time before standing up and saying, "Let's go, Dad will take you to buy sugar paintings."

"No, I want to wait for my mother."

"Your mother isn't coming."

"You're talking nonsense! Mother will come! She always comes whenever she promises me!"

Meng Beihai glared at Meng Yu with anger and almost hatred, his fierce expression seeming to make Meng Yu swallow his words.

Meng Yu's mind flashed to the dilapidated house in the south of the city, where his memorial tablet was kept very clean, and three sticks of incense were still burning in the incense burner.

He knew Gan Cai'er was in trouble. Only that idiot Lan Tingzhou would deceive himself, saying she was just hiding because she didn't want anyone to find her. He even said she had moved many times to avoid him.

But he knew that his daughter would never abandon his memorial tablet, no matter what.

He heard that the blizzard on New Year's Eve buried many people, and those people were all thrown into mass graves. He searched the mass graves for many days, but the mass graves were piled high with corpses, too many, too many.

He couldn't find his daughter.

Even if we can't find it, at least there's still some glimmer of hope.

If only I could have come back a few days earlier.

Meng Yu restrained Meng Beihai, who was about to explode.

"Let's go, I'll go with you to wait."

Inside the Cuihan Courtyard of the Duke's Mansion

"Madam, Madam, something terrible has happened!" Mei Wanyin's head maid, Qiaoque, rushed in in a panic.

"What's all this fuss about? You have no manners!" Granny Wu scolded sternly.

"Madam, the Duke has killed Zhuo San!"

With a "crack," the teacup in Mei Wanyin's hand fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces.

......

Meanwhile, Lan Fu, the eldest daughter of the Lan family, also refused to go out to see the lantern festival.

The Lantern Festival in the Great Yong Kingdom is always a lively affair. On this day, every household decorates with lanterns and colorful decorations, and a grand lantern festival is held in the city. As night falls, everyone goes out to enjoy themselves.

"There are lanterns tonight, Fu'er, don't you want to go see them?"

“Yes, I’m not going.” Lanf nodded vigorously.

Shen Yunxi found it strange. In previous years, Lan Fu would run out the door before it was even completely dark on the Lantern Festival. This year was truly odd.

"What does Fu'er want to do?"

"I want to play in the little garden."

Shen Yunxi found it even stranger now. The little garden was dark and gloomy, what was there to play in? And even if the little garden was fun, she had already spent the whole day there.

"Mom, I want to play in the little garden~~~ Please let me go~~~"

Lan Fu spoke in a childish, coquettish voice, blinking her big, watery eyes as she looked at Shen Yunxi.

Looking at the fair-skinned, soft-spoken, and delicate little girl, Shen Yunxi's heart melted completely. How could she possibly refuse? So, she had several lamps lit in the small garden and assigned two reliable nannies to look after her.

Lanf happily ran back to the little garden. There she played shuttlecock, hopscotch, and swung on the swings. Later, when she got tired, she squatted down and counted ants...

As she played, she would occasionally glance at the artificial hill next to her.

Gradually, she began to feel anxious.

Why isn't Mother here yet? The Lantern Festival will be almost over soon. Mother used to come to see her very early on New Year's Eve, but she's been waiting all day and Mother still hasn't come.

"Plop," "Plop," a few tears fell.