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

That night, Gan Cai'er didn't sleep a wink. Sometimes she hated Ding Peilan for scheming against her, sometimes she blamed herself for being too stupid, but most of the time she was sad.

She knew that Lan Tingzhou thought she was stupid, uncouth, and unfit for refined tastes. She knew this in her past life, but she was still very saddened by Lan Tingzhou's merciless criticism.

She should leave as soon as possible, even if Lan Tingzhou and Shen Yunxi weren't together yet. A woman as intelligent as Shen Yunxi was the one who should be standing beside Lan Tingzhou. She told herself this as she watched the dawn break.

That night, Lan Tingzhou also didn't sleep a wink. Every time he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with the image of Gan Cai'er leaving. He knew his words had hurt her; he had been consumed by anger and resentment, and the words had slipped out without his notice. Gan Cai'er had left heartbroken, and he longed to comfort her, but he was never used to explaining himself and didn't know how to begin. Lost in thought, the night passed.

That night, two other people also stayed up all night. One was Zhao Cen, and the other was Ding Peilan. Zhao Cen was furious after hearing the rumors. When did Ding Peilan and Pei Zhang become lovers, and she was accused of stealing someone else's love? Clearly, she and Pei Zhang were childhood sweethearts, and their marriage was arranged by a matchmaker!

So she led a group of servants and maids from the Zhao family into the Ding family's camp. The Ding family was small and poor; the only people who came to participate in the hunt were Ding Peilan and her daughter, plus the servants and maids, a total of five people.

So when the Zhao family stormed in, the Ding mother and daughter were completely overwhelmed. Relying on their numbers and their perceived right, the Zhao family started beating people after only a few words.

Zhao Cen hated Ding Peilan for seducing Pei Zhang, and even more so for deceiving him. So he instructed his nanny to "accidentally" cut Ding Peilan's face with a shard of porcelain. Ding Peilan's shrill screams echoed throughout the silent camp.

Finally, the fight between the Zhao and Ding families reached the Emperor and Empress. A perfectly good trip had turned into a quarrel and discord among ministers in just one day, and Gongsun Rui's face darkened considerably.

He glanced at the two families kneeling in the imperial tent, then looked at Gongsun Yi and asked, "What does Your Majesty think of this matter?"

"The Empress is the mother of the nation. Matters concerning the women of the inner palace should be decided by the Empress." Gongsun Yi said impatiently.

He glared at Ding Xianzong and Zhao Shanyi. Being woken up in the middle of the night to deal with these trivial matters would annoy anyone. Ding Xianzong and Zhao Shanyi immediately held their breath when Gongsun Yi looked at them, not daring to utter a sound or voice any objection.

Yao Ji had heard about the matter when the rumors started circulating in the afternoon. Although she didn't fully understand the intricacies of the situation, there was no doubt that Ding Peilan wanted to frame Gan Cai'er. Thinking of the child she had seen from afar on the grassland, she decided to stand up for Gan Cai'er this time.

Therefore, Yao Ji, on the grounds that Ding Peilan had "secretly met with a man outside the family, behaved improperly, and failed in her virtues as a woman," sent her back to her ancestral home in Ding's hometown to reflect on her mistakes at home, and forbade her from ever entering the capital again. As for Zhao Cen, who led his servants to cause trouble, he was confined to his home for three months and made to copy "Women's Virtues" and "Women's Script" every day.

"Miss, I heard that the Zhao family and the Ding family got into a fight last night. Ding Peilan's face was scratched by the Zhao family! The doctor said the scratches are quite deep and will definitely leave a scar!" Xiao Hong heard the news early in the morning and ran back excitedly to tell Gan Cai'er.

"And another thing, they said the Ding family's ancestral home is in the wild south, where wild animals roam year-round. There are hardly any Ding family members there, only a few ancestral graves. Ding Peilan was sent back to guard those graves!"

"Hahaha, this is what they call 'what goes around comes around,' 'evil will be punished, and good people will not be deceived by heaven!' Miss, look, even the heavens are helping you."

Gan Cai'er was stunned, momentarily dazed. She had just been thinking about how to deal with Ding Peilan, how could this person have suddenly met with retribution? The wealth and glory that Ding Peilan had enjoyed in her previous life were now just a mirage to her.

"Miss, are you feeling alright after the poison dissipated yesterday?" Xiao Hong asked.

Gan Cai'er blushed and silently turned her head away: "There's nothing wrong with it."

"Oh, that's good. Sister Xuan Ying said that although the medicine is highly toxic, as long as it is neutralized in time, there shouldn't be any major problems." Xiao Hong suddenly sighed softly.

She also heard Xuan Ying say that those who have been drugged with the Soul-Sealing Pill are insatiable and often need to exert themselves to stop. The young master was injured in the leg yesterday... Although her young mistress later cut her wrists to bleed and maintained a sliver of consciousness, the young master must have suffered terribly before that.

"Miss, shall we go see the young master?" Xiao Hong suggested.

"I'm not going." Gan Cai'er turned around and fell onto the bed.

Xiao Hong was taken aback. What happened this time? Why did she get so angry?