The beloved is reborn as a substitute, and the tyrant begs for forgiveness every night.

Li Huanian was once a man, and now he can understand Jiangsu's predicament.

However, he is currently working for Zheng Zhihe, and he absolutely cannot do anything against his wishes.

"My lord, you should start preparing as soon as possible. The Emperor is waiting."

After saying this, Li Huanian bowed to Xu Leyao.

"Young Miss, you mentioned before that there was a delicious dessert at the Xiaoyao Inn, so I've brought it with me."

As he spoke, Li Huanian clapped his hands.

The next moment, a young eunuch stepped forward.

He had his head slightly lowered, his back bent, and he was holding a plate in his hand.

After he stood in front of Xu Leyao, Xu Leyao glanced at him.

It was the very pastry I had mentioned was delicious.

She mentioned it casually, but Zheng Zhihe took it to heart.

Indeed, Zheng Zhihe has always been adept at putting on this ingratiating act, and now, five years later, he has become even more skilled at it.

Despite her disdain, Xu Leyao nodded and let Zhu'er accept it.

"Please thank His Majesty for me."

Having heard the answer he wanted, Li Huanian didn't linger any longer and took his leave.

After he left, everyone stood up.

Father Jiang stared at Xu Leyao with a livid face. "Did you speak to the Emperor about the ancestral hall?"

Faced with his questioning, Xu Leyao shook her head and denied it.

“Father, how could I have such great abilities? Don’t forget that I was punished by you and made to kneel in the ancestral hall as soon as I returned to the manor yesterday.”

As she spoke, Xu Leyao gave a slight snort, perfectly portraying the spoiled attitude of someone who had someone backing her up.

Hearing her words, Mr. Jiang's doubts subsided somewhat.

He still knew whether Xu Leyao had left the manor yesterday.

But if this news wasn't spread by Xu Leyao, could it be that someone else's spy has appeared in the Jiang family?

But if there were spies, why would they be watching these trivial matters?

Unless they were there specifically to supervise him or Xu Leyao.

Only Emperor Zheng Zhihe of the current dynasty possessed such ability and such "leisure and refined taste".

The thought sent a chill down Jiang's spine.

He believed that he had always sided with Zheng Zhihe in the court and had never done anything against his wishes.

But now, Zheng Zhihe has begun to doubt him.

These repeated reprimands made Jiang's father lose face in public.

What's more, the paper was received in front of the mansion today.

It's likely that within half a day, the news that the Jiang family is going to add Xu Leyao's name to their family genealogy will spread throughout the capital.

Jiang's father had also lost all face.

Thinking about all this, Jiang's father glared fiercely at Xu Leyao.

"You are truly useless."

After letting out a cold snort, Jiang's father turned and left.

However, despite his behavior, Xu Leyao remained unhurried.

Now that Zheng Zhihe is openly supporting her, how could Jiang's father dare to disobey his orders?

Not only must we not disobey, but we must also do our best to comply.

Given this connection, it's likely that Jiang Yuwei's name will be added to the Jiang family's genealogy in just a few days.

Xu Leyao herself would definitely not be happy about it.

But when she thought of Jiang Yuwei, who had died tragically in front of her, she couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted.

Now that she has taken over Jiang Yuwei's body, she naturally wants to take back what Jiang Yuwei deserves.

In this way, the debt of gratitude can be considered repaid.

In a sense, Jiang Yuwei did indeed do Xu Leyao a favor.

"Jiang Yuwei, just you wait, I will get back everything they owe you."

She thought to herself, and then she felt a gust of wind blow by.

This gentle breeze seemed to be Jiang Yuwei's response to her.

With this matter settled, Xu Leyao naturally no longer needed to kneel in the ancestral hall.

She took Pearl directly back to the courtyard.

And this time, the journey back was uneventful.

However, there was another person waiting for her in the courtyard: her mother, Jiang.

Seeing Jiang's mother approaching anxiously, Xu Leyao felt impatient.

"Weiwei, your mother went to bed early last night, but I never expected your father to punish you like that." As she spoke, she wiped away non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Don't worry, I will definitely go to your father today to get justice for you."

Hearing her confident words, Xu Leyao didn't respond at all.

If she really wanted to stand up for her, why would Jiang's mother wait until now?

Moreover, there's the matter of his own daughter being forced to kneel as punishment.

Xu Leyao didn't believe that any servant would dare to keep it from Mother Jiang.

All of this is just her trying to justify herself.

The idea that you go to bed early is just a convenient excuse.

Besides, even if she really went to bed early, Jiang's mother should have been up long ago by now.

She never appeared near the ancestral hall, simply because she felt Xu Leyao was unimportant.

Why bother putting in so much effort if someone can be easily appeased with a few perfunctory words?

Xu Leyao could see clearly the thoughts that she had kept hidden in her heart.

"How does my mother plan to seek justice for me?"

Xu Leyao not only ignored the question, but even asked it back.

This time, it was Jiang's mother who was stunned.

Jiang's mother was just talking the talk; she never actually intended to seek justice for Xu Leyao.

Not to mention that her status at home was never as high as that of Mr. Jiang, who was always the one in charge.

Besides, they had been married for many years, so how could she dare to offend Mr. Jiang?

Jiang's mother originally only intended to say a few words to express her attitude.

But now that she had been pointed out so bluntly, Jiang's mother was losing face.

"It's not that I'm unwilling, it's just that I only found out today. You have to give me some time."

Sensing the reluctance and evasion in her tone, Xu Leyao snorted coldly.

She couldn't touch Jiang's father yet, which was why she was being so patient.

The Jiang family does have some influence in the capital, and Xu Leyao is just waiting for the day she can bring them down.

But what assets does Jiang's mother have that she should be wary of?

"What Mother said is really interesting."

Xu Leyao didn't hold back and immediately retorted.

“I have been forced to kneel in the ancestral hall for half a day now, so my mother must have heard the news by now.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang's mother was about to retort.

However, Xu Leyao didn't give her a chance at all.

“If Mother doesn’t receive the news, then it’s the servants deceiving their superiors, which is enough to prove that Mother is mismanaging the Jiang family. But if you do receive the news and do nothing, then it means that Mother doesn’t care about her daughter at all, so why bother coming here now to put on this act?”

Xu Leyao's words struck right to the heart of Jiang's mother.

It's not that she doesn't care about her biological daughter.

However, since Xu Leyao was not close to her before, Jiang's mother was inevitably somewhat distant from her.

Is there anything wrong with this?

Seeing the resentment on Jiang's mother's face, Xu Leyao sneered again.