Soft contact, evil spirit transforms passivity into initiative, with excitement advancing bravely, with awkwardness attacking the city and plundering the land. But someone's response, apart from shyness, also has a hint of familiarity, which leads to his tongue playing tricks on him, and he suddenly stops moving.

  She cautiously approached him, and he suddenly gently nipped at her tongue tip, hearing her wince in pain.

  "Who would have thought that my An's kissing skills are so good?"

  "What!" He Lian's heart skipped a beat. She quickly said, "That's what the books say, don't they?" She blinked her big, sincere eyes at him, with an innocent face.

  "What's the use of your daughter reading these books at home?"

  Before he finished speaking, she said: "Just take a look! I like reading books! All kinds of illustrated books and whatnot, are bought back by the maids because they think they're interesting. When I'm idle and have nothing to do, I'll take a look!"

  She saw him tense up, afraid of being misunderstood, and smiled: "Alright, tomorrow you can bring these books with you. As a husband, I should also learn more about this aspect of knowledge. But before that, let's put your learning into practice first..." Before she could finish speaking, he covered her slightly parted lips with his own, lingering in the scorching hot breaths.

  **

  The next day, as soon as it was dawn, He Le'an had arrived at Mrs. He's Xuan Su residence to pay his respects. After dismissing the attendants, the grandmother and grandson had a secret conversation. She said: "Last night, my granddaughter went out to ask for leave from the Xu family, originally thinking that today she would go with Third Uncle and others to offer sacrifices to our ancestors. Unexpectedly, on her way back, she heard the voices of Yanniang and the maids in a secluded courtyard."

  "She actually deceived my third uncle, wanting to find a cheap father for the devil in her belly. The maid advised her to take the money and leave, but unexpectedly, she still had her eyes on our Hou Mansion's vast family property, not satisfied until she emptied it!"

  He Lao Tai was shocked, and He Le An said with a worried tone: "I heard Jiu Mei say that San Shu had an affair with her, but they hadn't consummated their relationship yet, and he intended to make her his legitimate wife. San Shu wouldn't be so foolish as to treat her like a concubine."

  "Just look at her intentions last night, it's clear that she's taking advantage of us. If we rashly expose her, who knows how she'll distort and deceive, those who are barefooted have nothing to fear from those who wear shoes, even a rabbit will bite when it's desperate. A shameless woman like her, if she were to slander Brother San for being unscrupulous, taking advantage of his youth and inability to argue back, and causing Uncle and Brother to become estranged, wouldn't that be a great loss?"

  "You're absolutely right." A flash of ruthlessness flickered in Old Lady He's eyes, and despite her benevolent appearance, she too had crawled out of the blood and water of the inner chambers to reach her current position. She patted He Le'an's hand reassuringly and said, "You don't need to worry, Grandma has a way to deal with her. When your Third Uncle comes to pay his respects, just propose going to worship our ancestors as usual."

  He Lao Tai sighed and grasped He Le An's hand, saying: "You're a thoughtful child. Your third uncle has just returned, and these days are his leisure time. You know to consider him. Let him go pay respects to the ancestors to show some filial piety, and before taking office, he'll get a good reputation."

  He Le'an tilted her head and smiled mischievously: "We're a family, Third Uncle is great, and as his niece, I'm proud of it!"

  Bai Xing's filial piety comes first, and when it comes to ancestor worship, He San Shu has no reason to shirk. Yan Niang has not yet entered the door as a daughter-in-law, so she cannot go together with them. After one trip back, night had already fallen, and only after entering the mansion did the senior maid by Old Lady He's side invite He San Shu into the rear courtyard. Another maid told the three younger ones to go have dinner first.

  He Le'an certainly knew what was going on, fortunately He Le-xuan and He Le-yu didn't think it was unusual, they went to the side hall with her, He Le-yu even laughed: "Luckily sixth sister prepared some pastries, we can fill our stomachs when we get back, otherwise we would have starved."

  "The sixth sister's swallow nest cake tastes different from the ordinary ones. I heard that you are still outside learning and mastering your skills, this determination makes me admire you, at first I thought you were just playing around, but you persisted. He Le Xuan praised: "Having a special skill is a good thing." The difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, the illegitimate one seems to be more outstanding. In the future, she can also marry better."

  He Le'an understood his implicit meaning and smiled in response: "Mm-hmm."

  Late at night, He Lian learned from Xiao Shu's mouth that Yan Niang had been sent out of the mansion. At the hour of Chou, she changed into men's clothes, carried a package, and quietly left the mansion. She took the most secluded and least noticed small path, and made her way to a burial mound in the city where she saw a corpse wrapped in a new mat lying among a pile of rotting bones.

  She endured the stench and walked up to the front, kicking away the mat to confirm it was Huan Niang. She then opened the package and began a simple ceremony - regardless of whether the child in her belly was He Le Xuan's or not, this child was innocent, and she still had one more thing to verify.

  After the worship, He Le'an lifted up Niang's collar and saw a black totem on her left shoulder near her arm. His heart sank, and then he heard a familiar voice suddenly exclaim in surprise, "Sixth Sister!"

  He Le'an was startled and let go of the hand that was grasping the collar of her clothes, as if she had been electrocuted. She turned around to see He Le Xuan walking towards her with a strange expression on his face. "At this time," he asked, "you..." His question trailed off when he saw the remains of the offerings on the ground that had not yet finished burning. It was as if he suddenly understood something. He forced a bitter smile and said, "Today's ancestor worship, you were helping our grandmother to open us up."

  "Third Brother is clever." He Le'an said lightly. "Grandmother's move was intentional, Third Brother will definitely understand, don't blame her." She didn't know what He Le Xuan thought about this matter, but there was one thing she had to tell him first, so he wouldn't reveal his own flaws. So she continued in an indignant tone: "Besides, it's really that woman who is no good, Third Brother probably doesn't know, Grandmother has a maidservant who knows medicine, and she accidentally discovered that this woman is already three months pregnant, but Third Uncle clearly said they hadn't consummated the marriage yet. Then she..."

  "It's clear that she wants to marry Third Uncle, yet she still consorts with those disreputable men, gets pregnant with a bastard child, and foolishly hopes to make Third Uncle take the fall. It's really detestable. If we keep her around, she'll only bring ruin to our noble house. Grandmother didn't even bother to listen to explanations, directly ordering Momo to poison her, so as not to prolong the agony."

  He Le'an clearly saw the flash of surprise and sudden relief in He Le-xuan's eyes, and she sighed: "I know you and Ninth Sister both regard Huan Niang as half a mother. I was afraid that if you knew, you would be sad, so I only came out tonight to take care of this matter. I didn't expect you to have noticed something and followed me out. Third Brother must not tell Grandmother, I left a thread of kindness for this wanton woman."

  This remark gave He Le Xuan an excuse and dispelled his doubts. It was his own secret, as long as she continued to hide it and he didn't expose himself, no one else would ever know the truth about this matter again.

  "He Lexiong said: 'You are full of kindness, it's the fault of our three houses, and you've provoked such a shameless slut. Almost ruined the Hou Mansion, but you want to make amends with your grandmother for us, take on this kind of sin, I as an older brother, really feel ashamed!'"

  "He pitied and said: 'However, Father has always had feelings for her. It's too cruel to leave the corpse in the wilderness. Let's send her off on her last journey since she treated us siblings well in the past.' After speaking, he took out a lighter from his pocket and ignited the mat that wrapped the body."

  With the intention of destroying all traces.

  However, after learning that Yanni was the force behind that person and was intentionally sent to slowly destroy the Hou Mansion, He Le'an did not stop him. Instead, he pretended to be a normal woman in the depths of the mansion, reacting with a mix of fear and reluctance as she tightly grasped her brother He Le'xuan's sleeve until Yanni was no longer visible, at which point they left.

  **

  On the day He San Shu took office, the whole city of Fengzhou was talking about it. The eldest son of the Zhi Yi Bo Fu, who had just returned to the city, was willing to give up his position as heir to his younger brother. Xue Huiyu also told He Le'an that Zhong Sun Si had been betrothed to the new heir, Dongfang Er. This did not surprise her at all, because in her memory, the heir of the Zhi Yi Bo Fu was indeed the second son, and the second son had indeed married the eldest daughter of the Yi Qin Wang Fu.

  At that time, she was not in Fengzhou City and never thought that this marriage would have such a calculation.

  Xue Hui said gloomily: "The war in the southern border has started again, and I don't know when Prince Wang will have time to come and play again."

  Without him holding the border, what peaceful years are we talking about? He Le'an smiled as he wiped his hands with a handkerchief. The southern rebels had been suppressed by King Yue of Vietnam and did not dare to invade easily. This time, it was still King Yue of Vietnam who deliberately provoked the war as a prelude.

  Xue Huiyu glanced at the strange green fruit she had been embroidering, and sighed with a hint of meaning: "The Duke's elder brother is indeed a hero. Unfortunately, among the thousands of women in the world, there are always a few who don't care about heroes. He protected his country but lost his beauty, as often written in paintings, earning hot tears. But when the time comes, beauties will still be married off and happy."

  He Le'an was speechless after being turned around eighteen times, "As I said before, the Duke of Yue's treatment of me is not what you think. He just thanked me for cooking a few days of vegetarian dishes for his wife, Princess Jian, at their home."

  Xue Hui rolled her eyes elegantly. "Are you misunderstanding the Marquis, he's not a cold and ruthless person, but he's never been one to repay kindness, if he treats you differently because of gratitude, I wouldn't believe it even in my dreams, besides...” On the day they left the city, she still heard the Marquis instructing her brother to take care of He Shu.

  She smiled and said, "Besides, a beauty should match a hero, what a great beauty." Even if they were friends, she shouldn't have tied up He Le'an's emotional belonging, but it was okay to say a good word for her poor cousin occasionally.

  At this time, Gan Ju rushed in hastily and said breathlessly: "Sister! There's terrible news from the southern border. It's said that the King of Yue is seriously injured by the enemy and won't survive!"