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

She stumbled and fell, carrying her child, to the pharmacy. Because of the strong wind and heavy rain, the shopkeeper had closed the door. She knelt before the door, pleading for a full half hour before the shopkeeper finally opened it, cursing. It was too late; her beloved Shuran lay lifeless in her arms.

Back at the manor, the old Marquis berated her, as if she wouldn't have died if she hadn't taken Shuran to seek medical help.

Their second child was a boy, but he was delayed outside due to other matters when he was about to give birth. The baby had a large head, making labor difficult. She struggled alone and finally gave birth to the stillborn child.

Upon hearing the news, he didn't even return to the Marquis's residence before heading elsewhere. Yet, this seemingly cold-hearted man showered all his care and tenderness upon Layue. She only had a minor cold, and he summoned the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital, staying by her side all night to prevent her from suffering. Everyone in the manor said he had truly fallen for her and would marry her as a concubine sooner or later.

All these differences must have made the young Madam Lu feel disheartened and jealous.

Layue bent down, her pale, bloodless face facing her, and slowly said, word by word, "He was good to me because he wanted to make it up to your daughter. He said that if your daughter were still alive, she would be about my age. He never thought of taking me as a concubine, and even if he did, I wouldn't want to."

"That sounds nice." Old Madam Lu looked at Layue with a mocking gaze: "He's ridiculous, and you're ridiculous too! If it's compensation, why don't you go and visit your daughter's grave? Why don't you treat me, the child's biological mother, any better? He's trying to make up for his debt to his daughter by putting it on you, but he's stabbing me in the heart. What kind of compensation is that? And who are you? What gives you the right to accept this compensation that doesn't belong to you in the first place, on behalf of my daughter?"

"You keep saying you don't want to, but if you really didn't want to, you wouldn't have gone back to the capital with him, and you wouldn't have felt comfortable taking advantage of him." Old Madam Lu's eyes turned sinister: "I'm not a good person, and neither are you! Don't try to scare me with your ghost stories. If I can kill you once, I can kill you twice."

Old Madam Lu lunged forward and forcefully grabbed Layue by the neck.

"Madam, Madam, please wake up! It's me! You're about to strangle me!"

When Madam Lu opened her eyes, she saw a familiar face.

"What's wrong with me?" Old Madam Lu looked at her hands. "I think I see the twelfth lunar month!"

"The old lady had a nightmare, so I had someone brew some calming tea." The old woman caught her breath. "You almost scared me to death. I've served you for so many years and I've never seen you like this before."

Madam Lu wiped the sweat from her brow: "I remember now, this Fangfei Courtyard is that courtyard, isn't it? In the twelfth lunar month, the remains of those people were buried under the flowerbed. They knew I was back and deliberately came to scare me. I'm not afraid of them! At worst, I'll kill them again."

"Madam, be careful what you say, for walls may have ears!" the nanny whispered. "Madam is blessed with good fortune, how could she be afraid of those wandering ghosts! Once we can leave this mansion, I will accompany you to the temple to ask for a talisman."

"No need!" Old Madam Lu rubbed her temples. "They can't leave this courtyard! Tomorrow morning, you will come back to Fulin Courtyard with me."

"The Marquis and Madam Ji..."

“They have to stay here.” Old Madam Lu glanced at the nanny. “If they all go back, what will happen to their food and drink? Do you expect me to take everything from Fangfei Courtyard back? As a grandmother, how can I be expected to eat the food of the younger generation? Letting Lu Huai and Ji Wanwan stay here and having their three meals a day delivered to Fulin Courtyard is a way of showing respect. You blockhead, how can you not even understand this simple principle?”

"This servant is dull and cannot compare to the old lady." The nanny brought over some calming soup.

On the rooftop, Lu Zhiyuan and Lu Yun exchanged a glance before landing elsewhere.

The idea of ​​a vengeful spirit claiming a life is nonsense. The reason Old Madam Lu had nightmares was because Lu Zhiyuan had tampered with her room. She added something to the incense the old lady used and mentioned the name of December while the old lady was in a state between dreaming and waking.

The original text only mentions that she beat to death a maidservant named Layue who served the old Marquis, without mentioning the causes and consequences. Upon closer examination, all the evil deeds she committed were caused by the old Marquis Lu.

As a husband, he doesn't cherish his wife. Knowing she's having a difficult childbirth, he stays away from home, ignoring her completely. What woman wouldn't go crazy? As a father, his daughter is ill and on the verge of death, and he doesn't even call a doctor. His child dies in childbirth, yet he doesn't return home. This isn't a father; he's a beast!

No, he's not even as good as an animal!

As for the maidservant Layue who was beaten to death, perhaps she truly deserved to die.

If she and the old Marquis were innocent, the old Marquis would not remain silent, nor would he allow Madam Lu to disregard human life. He would take the opportunity to propose a divorce, or even send Madam Lu to court.

While it was certainly inappropriate for the mistress to kill a servant, the old marquis's act of upholding justice even at the cost of his own family might not be entirely without merit. His silence suggests that he felt guilty about the matter and that he did indeed have an ambiguous relationship with that woman in December.

Lu Yun, carrying his sword, followed behind Lu Zhiyuan: "What are your plans, Miss?"

Lu Zhiyuan stepped on the corrugated tile: "What, what are your plans?"

Lu Yun stared at her feet, afraid that she might slip and fall.

"The old lady is going back! She's leaving the Marquis and that Ji Wanwan to divide the young lady's food."

"It's alright, let them eat if they want to." A glint of light flashed in Lu Zhiyuan's eyes.

Assassins kill not only with swords and poison, but also with food. Lu Huai was a womanizer who betrayed his mother, so he lost the very essence of being a man. Ji Wanwan relied on her beauty to interfere in other people's families, so she ruined the figure and face she was so proud of.

Old Madam Lu, unable to distinguish right from wrong, originally intended to use food to inflict a tormenting chronic illness on her, but unexpectedly, she drank Ji Wanwan's laced tea out of anger. Although the extent of the tea's toxicity is unknown, judging from her mother's description, she would suffer from amnesia or even become mentally impaired.

Lu Jingyuan, the hope of the Pingnan Marquis's family, naturally had to be nipped in the bud.

The dog stopped on Ji Wanwan's roof, lifted a tile, and peered inside. Like Old Madam Lu, Ji Wanwan was trapped in a nightmare under the influence of the calming incense. Her dream seemed different; it was a beautiful, enchanting dream.

She twisted her body and called out a name that was unfamiliar to her.

"Don't look at what you shouldn't see, Miss, don't listen." Lu Yun covered her ears and eyes: "This Ji Wanwan is truly shameless, even her nightmares are like this..."

Lu Yun kicked the tile back to its original position.

Lu Zhiyuan pried his hand away, her eyes shining: "Do you know who Lu Jinyao's biological father is? It's the Prince of Yong'an! She calls him by his name, his nickname."

Prince Yong'an's childhood name was Fuquan, meaning "blessed with both fortune and prosperity." Unfortunately, his mother died early, leaving him an orphan without protection. Popular legend says that if his mother were still alive, the throne would surely be his. Because of this, he was unwilling to remain a mere prince and constantly plotted to dethrone the emperor.