He Le'an felt that the atmosphere was a bit strange when she came out after buying things, and casually asked, but Xi Xie said it was nothing. He naturally took over the large brocade box in her hand and held her other hand.

  Xue Shizi took his leave after recognizing the situation.

  Xie Ye walked hand in hand with He Le, strolling slowly and reluctantly to leave the lively scene. She saw a sugar gourd and even bought her a string of them.

  He Le'an happily tore open the sugar paper, delightedly bit down half of it, and just as he was about to savor it, his hand holding the sugar gourd was grabbed away. The remaining half of the sugar gourd on the bamboo stick instantly disappeared into someone's mouth. He smiled at her with a relaxed expression, but she couldn't help but blush, "Why didn't you buy another string if you wanted to eat it?!" Wow, his heart almost jumped out!

  "It's fine like this." Xie Xie led her to continue walking forward, his smiling eyes gazing at her who was shy and exceptionally cute, his heart gradually overflowing with happiness, it would be great if he could spend the rest of his life like this with her.

  Until she returned to the Hou Mansion's side courtyard, He Le'an's face was still burning red. She took out an embroidered handkerchief from her dresser drawer and continued embroidering. It was a unique brown small fruit with a half-peeled white pulp and hollow center resembling a bowl-shaped brown small fruit, along with two elegant characters - "Night Bright".

  He was like a night pearl that lit up her dark world, and it was also the name she gave him, a name that only she could call. He Lian's soft fingertips gently stroked the two characters outlined in brown and white cotton thread, whispering softly: "Ye Ming." Then came an uncontrollable, silly, and foolish laughter, as if she had picked up some rare treasure and was secretly delighted...

  The next day, He Le'an was awakened by Xing Yu. She worriedly said, "Miss, Mrs. Shao has arrived and is making a fuss, insisting on seeing you."

  He Le'an opened her eyes and saw that it was just dawn, she knew that He Shi must have come to settle the score. She didn't feel like dealing with this scoundrel, so she turned around, hugged the quilt and said slowly: "Go to the Zhuo Yi Bo's mansion to ask Uncle to bring people over, if not, report to the officials."

  "Go tell Grandmother that there's no need to bother with her nonsense. The whole town of Fengzhou has witnessed this, and wherever you go, people will say that Shao Yingxiu is being unreasonable. I don't need to waste any more useless words arguing with her."

  Apricot rain received orders and left.

  He Le'an thought that after such a reminder, there would be no more problems. However, just as she had fallen asleep in Zhou Gong's arms, the door creaked open with a loud "bang" and was kicked open violently. She was startled awake to see He Shi, her eyes swollen from crying, holding a kitchen knife and rushing towards her crazily, shouting: "I'm going to kill you, this cheap bitch, to avenge myself!!"

  The maidservant in the courtyard, who had just reacted, screamed in terror and tried to stop He Shi, but He Shi was like a god or Buddha, killing anyone who approached her. She saw whoever came near her and swung that sharp kitchen knife without mercy, forcing He Le'an down from the bed, "You dare to ruin my daughter's looks, I'll take your dog life, take your dog life!"

  He Le'an calmly grabbed a corner of the quilt and waited for He Shi to approach, then quickly lifted it up and covered her face with it. The maid who followed also made a swift move. Before He Shi could react, she kicked her knee pit and forced her to fall to the ground, struggling continuously under the quilt. At this time, Shao Da Shu, with a worried look on his face, hurried over.

  "Waaaahhhh..." He Le'an's calm demeanor immediately turned fearful and wronged. Tears poured down, and she cowered in the corner of the bed, just as the maid happened to be standing beside Ge Shi, who was struggling on the ground. When Shao Da Shu came in, he thought the maid had bravely stopped Ge Shi, and with a guilty conscience, he said to her:

  "It's your uncle's fault, not keeping an eye on your aunt. Are you alright?" His eyes were filled with exhaustion and he let out a heavy sigh of painful helplessness, then continued: "I've already heard about what happened. It has nothing to do with you, don't blame yourself. It's all my fault for not teaching them well enough, letting them make foolish mistakes again and again. You really have been wronged in the worst way."

  "Ah!" At this time, He Shi struggled out of the quilt. She coldly spat out a mouthful, staring with her eyes full of red blood vessels, and cried out in anger: "You surnamed Shao, that foolish one is you, do you know how good your niece is at pretending, you've all been deceived by her, it's she who ruined your face, didn't you hear the doctor say that there will definitely be scars left?"

  "My poor her, she hasn't even settled down with a husband yet, and she's been ruined by He Le'an like this. You actually say she's not at fault! You don't know that she's a cheap woman who can even seduce the late Prince Yue -" Slap!

  A ruthless slap, like shattered glass, was slapped on He Shi's face without emotion. She stared at the man in front of her, who had a expressionless face and an icy demeanor that made him seem like a stranger. Her eyes wide with anger, she exclaimed: "You, you, you dare to hit me!"

  Shao Da Shu said: "I'm just hitting you too little, that's why I call you a person who doesn't know how to behave and is narrow-minded by nature. If she's a cheap woman, then what is her mother? And I, who share the same blood with her mother, what am I?"

  "You think I really don't know what you're doing behind my back?! You can disagree with her background, and you can look down on her background in private, but as my wife, can't you just give me a little face and be nice to her?! At least don't use such lowly language! Even if it's just pretending!"

  Shao's uncle was furious, his face turned black and red as he said: "You can't even show genuine concern and care, but instead you pretend to be polite. If you don't want to, that's fine, but do you have to treat her with malice? What has she done wrong again?! This face of hers that you're so resentful of was given to her by her mother, it's not like she had a choice! You should blame yourself instead of blaming her, are you shameless or what?!"

  He was scolded by him, feeling like a knife cut in his heart, and his lungs were about to be drowned in bitter tears. He thought of the gentle look of the man in front of him when he treated his concubine. The anger that had just been extinguished flared up again:

  "If you really cared about your niece, why didn't you say anything at the beginning? Now that it's too late, you're coming to accuse me. To be honest, you've been deceived all along. You just want to find an excuse to divorce me and let her take my place, don't you? Don't even think about it!"

  "You, you, you really don't know what remorse is!" Shao's uncle was so angry that his kidneys were about to collapse, pointing at her nose and saying: "I've never exposed your little tricks because I see they can't hurt clever people. I gave you chance after chance to change, but what did you do?!"

  "It will only become more excessive, secretly tripping and falling, but instead bringing it to the surface. Previously, wasn't it all thanks to the Duke of Yue? Otherwise, who knows what kind of crime you would have framed me for, causing misunderstandings. Old Lady He has been trying to mend the relationship between the two families, but you personally severed the ties between them. If I were to keep you in the Bo Manor today, the reputation of the Bo Manor would be ruined by you!"

  Enraged He's face turned red with anger, and his heart finally began to stir up a thread of fear: "You, what do you mean by this——"

  "Enough! Wife!" Shao Da's uncle angrily exclaimed.

  He Le'an, who was hiding in the corner of the bed and wiping away tears, suddenly froze. She had never thought that Shao Da would say such cruel words. After a moment's pause, He Xi cried out in anguish and rushed towards Shao Da like a madwoman, trying to scratch his neck. However, she was ruthlessly pushed away by Shao Da and fell to the ground as weakly as a cut reed. She then pounded the floor in anger.

  "You actually fired me, this wretched wife of yours, you will be struck by lightning and die a terrible death! The General's Manor will never let the Zhuo Yi Bo Manor get away with this!" She cried until her face was covered in tears and snot, her already swollen eyes looked even more hideous, and the cheek that had been slapped by Shao Da Shu began to twist and contort.

  Shao Da Shu looked down at this ugly woman with a condescending attitude, and his heart was increasingly disgusted. Although he wanted to turn around and leave, this was not the Bo Mansion after all. If he left He Shi here, who knows what kind of trouble she would stir up again? So he ordered the guards who followed him:

  "Someone, send the lady back to General Wei Wu's mansion and tell them that if she is still so crazy and doesn't make sense, don't let her come back to the Zhuo Yi Bo mansion again."

  The guards dragged the person away amidst He Shi's ear-piercing wails. In the sudden quiet that followed, He Lian wiped away her tears and tried to speak several times, but seeing Shao Da's suddenly aged appearance, she couldn't bring herself to say a word. All she could hear was his bitter laughter, which looked even more painful than crying, as he said:

  "If it weren't for her meddling and arguing with your mother, your mother wouldn't have left home, and she wouldn't have suffered such treatment, ruining her life and affecting your birth. All these years, not being able to give birth to a proper legitimate son is probably retribution."

  He Le'an's heart was no longer able to express the slightest sympathy for He Shi, nor could he utter the words of advice he had wanted to say earlier. If his mother had liked his father and was willing to be a concubine, she would not have blamed anyone. But his mother had been forced, and that life which should have been glorious was thoroughly destroyed.

  She didn't regret her birth as an illegitimate child, but only pitied that her mother had fallen from a high place into the mud and was willing to give birth to her. She gave her a life that could touch this world, but it slipped away from her. With her birth, she could have married into a good family again, but her mother loved her, and later abandoned this world for her sake, leaving this world behind.

  Shao's uncle reminded him a few words of concern and left, before leaving, he also apologized for the disturbance caused by his wife and daughter at home last night and today.

  He Le'an was no longer sleepy, and she took out the pomegranate-shaped silver hairpin with a flowing jade pendant that her mother had left for her. She thought about the various things her mother used to tell her, and slowly dispersed the chaotic thoughts in her mind. Then, she took out the handkerchief she hadn't finished embroidering last night and continued to work on it. Just as she was about to finish, a maid came in to report:

  "Miss, Miss Xue Si has arrived."