My wife wants a divorce; if she ruins my life, I'll leave.

Upon hearing this, the second wife grabbed Song Chen'an and said with delight, "Don't listen to your father. He may not take sides, but what future does he have if he spends his whole life hovering around the fifth rank? I'd be too ashamed to go out as a guest!"

She pulled Song Chen'an aside and reminisced about the glory days of the Song family, then looked at him expectantly, saying, "Whether Mother can get an imperial title in the future depends on Chen'er!"

"I'm finally able to enjoy the blessings of having a son!"

Later, when Shen Yunlan heard about it, she was very curious and pulled him aside to ask him a lot of questions. She longed to visit the Prince Qi's mansion, saying, "I wish I could go and see it for myself."

These words greatly spurred Song Chen'an. He wanted to ask his mother for an imperial decree and also wanted his sister Lan to enjoy great fame.

Which man doesn't dream of becoming a high-ranking official, a nobleman, and having his wife and children protected? Therefore, Song Chen'an didn't take Song Chang's words to heart.

In the time that followed, Song Chen'an and Fan Chengyun got along even better, and he visited the Prince Qi's residence more often. There were even rumors that he was going to be promoted.

Meng Ruohua, on the other hand, was also very clear about Song Chen'an's affairs, which made her guess that the person behind Song Chen'an was the Second Prince.

The second prince was born to Consort Shu and came from the Zheng family of Jiangnan. The Zheng family had a history of more than 300 years and had produced more than 100 Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) and Juren (successful candidates in the provincial imperial examinations). They had a great influence in Jiangnan. Moreover, before retiring, Prince Qi's maternal grandfather was the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy and had many students, one of whom was Fan Zhengxian of the Fan family.

The Second Prince has been involved in politics for seven or eight years now, and has made friends with many civil officials and scholars. He holds the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites in his hands, but he still cannot rival the Crown Prince because he does not have military power!

Military power is of paramount importance. Although the Crown Prince only holds military power in Yinghe Guard, this alone is enough to surpass his authority.

Therefore, the second prince was eager to gain military power!

This was Meng Ruohua's guess. Later, she wrote a letter to Meng Xin in secret, telling him her guess. If it was true, it would also make her father more cautious.

In addition to sending people to keep an eye on Song Chen'an, Meng Ruohua also asked Uncle Yang to send people to keep an eye on Shen Yunlan.

It was through Shen Yunlan's affair that Prince Qi got to know Song Chen'an. Although Shen Yunlan's wine was good, there was no shortage of wine in the capital, whether it was strong, mild, sweet, or fragrant, and there were also colorful fruit wines. Shen Yunlan's Autumn Dew White was not particularly outstanding.

Qingfenglou is one of the most prestigious restaurants in the capital. It has plenty of wines that are more expensive and better than Qingfenglou's, so why did it choose to accept Shen Yunlan's wine?

Meng Ruohua had to assume the worst about this.

I saw Yang Sanli once at the Meng residence these past two days. Yang Sanli was very angry and said that he would definitely keep a close eye on the two of them. He also called back Yang Shu and Ding Xiaoquan and replaced them with more experienced people.

They were all people trained by Yang Sanli for many years, and they were much more efficient than the two children.

With someone's help, Meng Ruohua's tense heart could relax a little, but only for half a day.

Seeing that there was no movement from the Song family for three days in a row, Meng's mother could no longer hold back and kept nagging Meng Ruohua for acting too impulsively and for not leaving the Song family.

"Now that things have come to this, how will you save face if the Song family doesn't send someone to pick you up?"

If I slink back home like this, wouldn't I be laughed at to death?

Meng Ruohua said helplessly, "Mother, even if someone from the Song family comes to fetch me, I won't go back!"

"Are you planning to never go back home for the rest of your life?" Mencius' mother asked. "What kind of nonsense is this? It's fine to go back to your parents' home for a few days occasionally, but how can you live there for the rest of your life?"

"When your nephew grows up, he'll be the subject of gossip too."

It was lunchtime, and Meng Sixiu, with his little face raised and baring his teeth, said, "Anyone who dares to talk about my aunt, I'll beat them to a pulp!"

Enraged, Mencius' mother kept patting her chest, saying, "Look at him, he doesn't study properly all day long, all he knows is how to fight and be fierce."

Qi Sixiu muttered under his breath, "What's so good about studying? I want to learn martial arts!"

Seeing that Meng's mother was angry again, Fang Ling quickly had the maid taken away by Meng Sixiu.

She said softly, "If you want to stay at home, then stay at home. Not only will your nephew like it, but I like it very much too."

When Fang Ling first married into the family, Meng's mother hurriedly pushed all the management responsibilities onto her. It was Meng Ruohua who helped her establish her authority and smooth out the affairs of the whole family.

Moreover, Meng Ruohua was genuinely good to her sister-in-law, and she was grateful to her.

Upon hearing Fang Ling's words, Meng Ruohua could only manage a weak smile and said to her mother, "I've been staying at the mansion for two days now, it's time to go back. I'll leave after lunch."

"My mother wouldn't be so stingy as to not even let me have a meal, would she?"

Thinking she was going back to the Song family, Meng's mother asked with some concern, "Are you going back like this? Won't they deliberately make things difficult for you?"

Meng Ruohua shook her head firmly, "No, who would dare to make things difficult for me?"

She knew that Mencius' mother had misunderstood, but so be it; it was better than her constantly nagging.

Fang Ling tried to persuade her to stay a few more days, but Meng Ruohua refused. She pulled Fang Ling out the door and whispered, "If Mother sends someone to the Song residence to ask, and you can't stop them, just point them to Huisheng Street and tell them to come to my courtyard to see me."

Fang Ling looked at her in surprise, "Aren't you going back to the Song residence?"

Meng Ruohua firmly replied, "I won't go back!"

Fang Ling asked worriedly, "If you're not going back to the Song residence, where are you going?"

"Didn't I just tell you, sister-in-law? That house at the very end of Huisheng Street was the one you picked out for my dowry!" Meng Ruohua said with a smile. She shook Fang Ling's arm and said coquettishly, "Mother, then I'll have to trouble you, sister-in-law."

Meng Ruohua seems easy to talk to, but once she makes up her mind, even her mother can't persuade her. Fang Ling could only sigh, "If Mother knew, she would be worried to death."

"That's better than my mother being sad every day."

For the past two days, although Meng's mother hadn't nagged her, she felt guilty and wanted to cry every time she saw her. Although the maids persuaded her not to cry, her eyes were still brimming with tears, which made Meng Ruohua feel bad too.

It would be better to separate now, so that everyone can live in peace.

After lunch, Meng Ruohua really packed her things and left. When Meng Sixiu woke up from his nap and couldn't find his aunt, he threw a tantrum.

Mencius' mother said angrily, "That is your aunt's home, of course you should go back."

Fang Ling coaxed softly, "Let's go see Auntie in a few days."

After Fang Ling's repeated promises, Meng Sixiu reluctantly agreed, but a big seed was planted in his young heart.

He will practice martial arts diligently so that if anyone bullies his aunt in the future, he will beat them to a pulp.

So he practiced horse stance for an extra quarter of an hour that day, and martial arts for an extra half hour.

When Meng Ruohua returned to the house on Huisheng Street, Shi Mama and the others had almost finished tidying up, and everything in the kitchen was ready. Aunt Li asked her with a smile what she wanted to eat.

"I want to eat whatever Aunt Li wants to make!"

A few words were enough to make Aunt Li smile and go back to the kitchen, followed by a series of loud banging noises.

The house was not large, with only three courtyards, and there were not many people in the family either. Including Mama Shi's family and Shi's family, there were only about twenty people in total. At first glance, it was still empty.

They were mostly women, with only five men in total, three of whom were children.

Yang Liu said, "We should invite a few guards."

Even if you don't know much kung fu, you still need to be strong and able to handle things.

Meng Ruohua said with a worry, "We can't hire someone whose background we don't know, and Uncle Yang doesn't have many men left. Where are we going to find guards?"

I thought of everything, except for the matter of guarding the courtyard.

If all else fails, we can go to the Meng family and ask my sister-in-law to borrow a few people!

But she didn't want Meng's mother to know, otherwise she would nag her to go back to the Song family.

Hey!