After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

"My lord, please don't hold it against Jingyuan! Mother is right, this child has been fatherless since childhood, and probably regards you as his own son." He patted his clothes. "As for Madam Zhu, Yunniang will explain on your behalf. As for my cousin, I believe the Commandant's Office will make a fair judgment. My lord, please rest early, you have to go to court early tomorrow morning."

Lu Huai instantly snapped out of his daze. He had been away on assignment for two years, waiting for this day.

Just as I was about to leave, I heard a soft voice from inside the house.

"Didn't you say that Jin Yao and Jing Yuan are both your children? What's with this blood?"

Xie Chaoyun paused slightly, and Qingzhi couldn't help but say, "The Marquis is also confused; he can't even tell if the child is his own."

Not only was Lu Huai confused, but Xie Chaoyun was also completely bewildered. Before the blood test, she was convinced that Lu Jinyao was Lu Huai's child, and she had even planned out how she would get angry.

As it turned out, Lu Jinyao wasn't!

Thinking back to what the fireflies said in front of the Marquis's mansion today, it has truly become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Why did you stop the Marquis, Madam?" Qingzhi glanced around and said in a low voice, "If Lu Jingyuan is not the Marquis's biological son, Madam can just kick them out."

"Do you remember when we were little, during Chinese New Year? Our parents would always prepare new clothes well in advance, and we would be so anxious before we even got to wear them." Xie Chaoyun turned around and glanced into the house. "I've been married to him for ten years, and I think I know him pretty well. Believe it or not, he no longer has the courage to take a blood test with Lu Jingyuan."

Qingzhi was puzzled. In her opinion, the bloodline of the Marquis's family was of utmost importance, and the Marquis was not so magnanimous as to acknowledge someone else's child.

“He’s not magnanimous, he’s just afraid.” Xie Chaoyun pinched the corner of his eye. “For ten years, he’s been raising Ji Wanwan and her son in Weinan behind my back. He always thought Lu Jinyao and Lu Jingyuan were his blood relatives, and that Ji Wanwan was deeply in love with him. Now that Lu Jinyao’s identity has been confirmed, she’s neither the Marquis’s child nor the Zhu family’s child, so whose child is she?”

Qingzhi shook her head, and Xie Chaoyun laughed, her smile full of mockery.

"The Marquis doesn't know either, and it's precisely because he doesn't know that he's in so much pain. He's loved Ji Wanwan for ten years and protected her for ten years, but now it's all turned out to be a lie. How can he possibly cope with this? Right now, he's extremely conflicted. He wants to take a blood test, yet he's also afraid of it. He wants Lu Jingyuan to be his child, yet he doesn't want him to be his child either."

Lu Jingyuan's background will become a seed that takes root and sprouts in Lu Huai's heart, tormenting him to the point of unbearable pain.

Xie Chaoyun did not return to her room, but instead took Qingzhi to Fangfei Garden.

Lu Zhiyuan sat cross-legged on the bed, while Liu Ying applied medicine to her fingers. Lu Zhiyuan yawned repeatedly, squinting her eyes, and told Liu Ying to just apply it casually.

Seeing this, Xie Chaoyun didn't want to go in, but Qingzhi spoke up, waking up Lu Zhiyuan, who was already slumped on the bed.

"Did Mother come about Leng Ru?"

"That girl's name is Leng Ru?" Xie Chaoyun looked at Lu Zhiyuan with heartache: "If you are sleepy, go to sleep first. Mother will come again tomorrow."

"It's not that I'm sleepy, it's just that the medicine is taking effect." Lu Zhiyuan leaned back on the bed and patted her side. "If Mother doesn't mind, please stay with me. I can say a few words."

Sleeping in the same bed as her daughter was something Xie Chaoyun had thought about for many years.

In families like theirs, children were usually cared for by wet nurses, who, along with maids, took care of their eating, drinking, toileting, and sleeping. Yuan'er was different; she was born with an illness and often struggled on the brink of death. Her mother-in-law was worried and held her from birth until she turned one year old, when her mother-in-law sent her to another house.

For the first six months after they parted, she cried every day, her heart aching from missing her daughter, and she could only fall asleep while holding her daughter's little clothes.

In the blink of an eye, her kite has grown up. She feels no distance from her; on the contrary, she feels a sense of trepidation, like someone returning home for the first time.

While struggling, Liuying had already pulled the quilt on the inside up and urged, "Madam, please keep Miss company. Miss is suffering from heart disease. With Madam taking care of her, we servants can feel more at ease."

After saying that, she pulled her sister Qingzhi out.

This was the first time mother and daughter had slept together in a bed after many years of separation. Xie Chaoyun was a little nervous, afraid of pressing down on her, squeezing her, or startling her. Lu Zhiyuan turned to face Xie Chaoyun and said in a slightly dazed tone, "Leng Ru's father, Leng Feng, was once the magistrate of Weinan County. Leng Feng was a good friend of Zhu Guozhi. The day after Zhu Guozhi was murdered, Leng Feng died a violent death. Leng Ru suspects that Leng Feng's death is related to Zhu Guozhi's murder."

These were all things Leng Ru said in court, and Xie Chaoyun already knew them. What she wanted to know was whether Yuan'er knew these things when she bought Leng Ru.

She didn't ask directly because she felt the idea was somewhat absurd. Her Yuan'er was only eight years old and had been confined to the separate courtyard for most of the year; how could she possibly have foreseen the future?

Lu Zhiyuan muttered that she bought Leng Ru because Leng Ru was from Weinan, and she wanted to find out about her father and Ji Wanwan from her. She had just bought her and hadn't even had a chance to ask, when the Zhu family came to her door, and Leng Ru testified against her in court, which surprised her greatly.

Xie Chaoyun breathed a sigh of relief.

There's no need to ask about the indentures anymore; the slave market has its own operating methods. To conceal the true information of the slaves, they would forge some indentures. With the King of Qi as their backer, this is easy to do.

The Marquis's Mansion and the Prince Qi's Mansion had a so-so relationship, and the Prince Qi looked down on Lu Huai from the bottom of his heart. Even if Old Madam Lu came to their door, they would not reveal Leng Ru's true information.

Whether by accident or coincidence, Ji Wanwan was sent to the prison of the Commandant's Mansion.

This made her feel happy.

Just as dawn was breaking, Xie Chaoyun and Lu Zhiyuan were woken up by a commotion. It was the old lady's maid who came, and the one arguing with her was Qingzhi. Judging from their conversation, it seemed that Liuying had been beaten.

When the mother and daughter went out, the old woman was jumping around in the courtyard with her hands on her hips. She only put her hands down when she saw Xie Chaoyun.

"The old lady's medicine is out of stock. Please have someone buy some as soon as possible."

The health-preserving pills that Madam Lu takes are made from more than a dozen kinds of precious Chinese herbs, and the century-old ginseng alone is worth a fortune. In the past, Xie Chaoyun spent tens of thousands of gold coins to search for them from all over the place and then asked Physician Jiang to make them into pills that were not bitter to the taste for Lu Huai.

Despite her hard work, Old Madam Lu never considered her efforts. She not only constantly tried to manipulate and torment her, but also conspired with Lu Huai to deceive her.

For ten years, the mother and son treated her like a fool, deceiving her for a full ten years.

To expect her to spend money on medicine now is simply wishful thinking.

Xie Chaoyun lowered her eyes and said calmly, "The prescription has been given to the Marquis, the storeroom key has been given to Cousin Ji, and Mother's medicine is gone. You can buy more yourself; there's no need to ask me again."

The old woman pouted, "Madam, have you forgotten that Miss Biao is currently in the prison of the Commandant's Mansion?"

"The person is locked up, but the key is still there. Just take the key to the storeroom and get the money. It's such a simple thing, why do I have to teach you?" Xie Chaoyun walked up to the old woman and said, "You're an old man in this household, how come you can't even handle such a small matter?"

The old woman gritted her teeth: "Madam, are you pretending to be ignorant? Then this old servant must remind you, if you want the old lady to remember your kindness and speak well of you to the Marquis, you'd better hurry up and buy the medicine. If you delay, it will be difficult to explain to the Marquis."