The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

Before long, the carriage of the Marquis of Yongchang arrived at the gate.

With her husband's help, Wu Yueyin stepped down from the carriage.

She is now completely different from the haggard woman she looked three years ago when she came to borrow money.

He exudes an air of grandeur, his brows radiating intelligence and spirit.

As a major contributor to leading the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion through difficulties and restoring its reputation, the old Marquis formally passed the title to her husband before the new year. She is now the de facto mistress of the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion, Madam Wu.

The couple turned around and led a chubby-faced boy, about two years old, out of the carriage.

This is Liang Xu, the eldest son of the Liang family in this generation.

The family of three separated at the second gate. Liang Hou went to the front hall where the male guests were, while Wu Yueyin, with the child, was led to the warm pavilion in the plum garden.

"Our distinguished guest has arrived."

The adults quickly got to the same point, and Liang Xu, accompanied by his nanny, also joined Hua Jin and Gu Tingyu's small circle.

Three children of similar age gathered together. Hua Jin was lively, Gu Tingyu was quiet, and Liang's son was honest. The scene quickly became lively, and their childish words made the adults chuckle.

Wu Yueyin and Shilan exchanged a knowing glance, and soon started talking to Bai Qing.

She is known for her social skills and can chat with anyone. When she genuinely wants to befriend someone, she is even more considerate and thoughtful.

Bai Qing was flattered and quickly realized that this was a return favor from the Qin family, which further solidified her determination to befriend the Qin family.

The warm pavilion was bustling with activity when the gatekeeper suddenly announced loudly: "The Duchess of Yingguo has arrived—the Princess Consort of Anjun has arrived—"

The room fell silent instantly.

Everyone rose to greet them, but were deeply surprised.

As nobles who held real power and military authority, and were deeply favored by the Emperor, the Duke of England's family had always maintained a low level of interaction with other households in order to avoid forming cliques and engaging in corruption. Not to mention that the old Princess Consort of the Prince of An's family had also come along.

This elderly princess is of a very high generation and is quite old. She usually lives a secluded life and cannot be invited to go out on ordinary occasions.

What merit or ability does the Dongchang Marquis's mansion, with its dwindling population, possess?

Only Wang Ruofu perked up, quickly straightened his clothes, and hurried to the second gate to greet them.

Lady Chen Ning, wife of the Duchess of England, was seen helping an elderly lady with silver hair, a kind face, and an air of dignity as she slowly approached.

"Greetings to the Princess Consort, may the Princess Consort be well; greetings to the Duchess of the State, may the Duchess be well."

Wang Ruofu led the women in performing the proper courtesies.

The old princess smiled and gently helped him up, saying, "Please get up. Today is a special day for your family, no need for such formalities."

Her gentle gaze swept over the crowd, landing on Hua Jin, who was being held by the wet nurse, and Gu Tingyu, who was being led by Bai Qing. Her smile deepened. "These two children are so beautiful. Just looking at them makes one's heart ache."

She then looked at Bai Qing, her tone kind: "Lady Gu is pregnant too? Good, good, you have both a son and a daughter, and your family is thriving. You are a blessed person."

Bai Qing quickly returned the greeting, feeling both surprised and grateful.

The old princess's two sentences undoubtedly gave her a great deal of face in front of everyone.

After a few words of small talk, the old princess sat down in the main seat, with the Duchess of Yingguo sitting beside her at the lower end. However, she gave the seat to Wang Ruofu on her right, saying, "Madam Wang, please take a seat as well. You are the hostess today, so there is no reason for you to stand."

With this seating arrangement, anyone with a discerning eye can immediately tell what's going to happen next.

Their eyes instinctively searched for a certain figure.

Immediately afterwards, when Shilan personally served two cups of hot tea to the two distinguished guests, the old princess took her hand with great care and kept praising her.

Most of the people in the room understood.

He couldn't help but marvel at how lucky this Miss Qin was, keeping such a quiet life!

Madam Wang's eyes changed slightly first. This Miss Shilan is now eighteen years old. Because she has been observing three years of mourning, she is quite old. Moreover, the current head of the Dongchang Marquis's Mansion is her elder brother, not the former Marquis Qin. It is hard to say who is closer or less close to her.

After considering all factors, many people thought that her marriage would be difficult since she was out of mourning.

Based on the few words her youngest daughter occasionally uttered, Madam Wang knew that this girl came from a wealthy family and wanted to take this opportunity to help one of her own family's descendants.

If it works out, not only will the youngest daughter's position in the Qin family be more secure, but her own family might also be able to take this opportunity to rise to prominence.

But unexpectedly...

The old princess didn't care what the people in the room thought. She was here today at the request of the Zhang family to give Shilan face.

Therefore, she smiled at Wang Ruofu, then at Qin Zhengyang who had rushed over upon hearing the news, and said softly, "I heard that before the passing of your esteemed Marquis Qin and his wife, they had a verbal agreement with the Duke of Ying's family to form a marriage alliance. Now that your family's mourning period has ended, I wonder if that agreement still stands?"

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Duchess Chen Ning of England also looked over with a smile, her gaze gentle yet expectant.

Qin Zhengyang and Wang Ruofu exchanged a glance, both overjoyed.

Wang Ruofu quickly stood up and stood beside her husband, while Qin Zhengyang solemnly bowed and said, "Your Highness, how could I dare disobey my parents' wishes? Moreover, Zhang Erlang is of outstanding character and comes from a noble family. It is my sister's blessing and the Qin family's good fortune to have such a fine son-in-law. The Qin family will wholeheartedly agree to this marriage."

The old princess's smile deepened as she looked at Shilan, who stood quietly to the side: "Good child, what do you think?"

Shilan raised her eyes, a hint of shyness in them, her cheeks flushed slightly, adding to her radiance.

However, she still curtsied to the old princess and the Duchess of England, with graceful demeanor, and said generously, "Since it is my parents' command, Shilan will naturally obey."

The Duchess of England's eyes were brimming with laughter, she stood up, took Shilan's hand, and patted it gently: "Good child, don't worry, if my boy dares to treat you badly, I'll be the first to not forgive him."

The old princess also smiled and said, "In that case, this auspicious marriage is settled. Once an auspicious day is chosen and the betrothal certificates are exchanged, it will be perfectly legitimate."

The guests then came to their senses and came forward to offer their congratulations.

With the marriage arranged, the Qin family's plum blossom viewing banquet was more than half a success. In the evening, the Emperor issued an edict sending Qin Zhengyang to the Ministry of Works, which further heightened the atmosphere of the banquet.

Everyone sensed that the Qin family was on the verge of resurrection, and even on a higher level.

The desire to curry favor arose.

The banquet lasted until late at night, and everyone returned home in their own carriages.

They have different thoughts.

Liang Shuo leaned back in the carriage, tilted his head slightly, and looked at his wife who had just put the child to sleep. He felt rather bitter: "What goes around comes around. Back then, everyone knew that the Qin family was struggling to make ends meet and had to pawn their belongings to survive. Qin Zhengyang was a notorious playboy who drove away countless teachers. Yet now he's taken the job before me."

They were about the same age and both were legitimate sons of marquises, so they were naturally familiar with each other and couldn't escape being compared since childhood.

Of course, he was always the winner.

Who would have thought that when they grew up, Qin Zhengyang would be ahead of them?

Just by looking at the grandeur of the Qin family's banquet today, one can tell that the Qin family now has a profound foundation.

It's clear that the 200,000 taels they pulled out three years ago was far from the Qin family's limit, not to mention that his wife later lent them another 100,000 taels...

Now that Qin Zhengyang has taken on a new job and has a powerful in-law relationship with the Duke of Yingguo's mansion, his life is visibly getting better.

Thinking of how the families of my two childhood friends were stripped of their titles for failing to repay their debts three years ago, and how some of them even became despondent and their entire families declined, forcing them to move back to their ancestral lands and rely on the charity of the collateral relatives who had once depended on them for survival, I couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes, that shows that you should never kick someone when they're down. Things are unpredictable, and they might be back at their peak in a few years."

Wu Yueyin echoed, but what she was thinking of was Wang Ruofu, who had been in the limelight today.

If she hadn't distanced herself from Shilan all those years, but instead offered timely help to the Qin family, given her childhood friendship with Shilan, perhaps...

I heard that Qin Zhengyang's room is still clean and tidy, and even though Wang Ruofu only gave birth to one daughter, he still has a very deep affection for her.

"Sister...Brother."

Her son's babbling in her arms interrupted her bold idea.

Wu Yueyin snapped out of her thoughts; once a move is made, there's no going back, and further contemplation is pointless.

It was already a stroke of luck that Shilan was able to help him retain his family's title three years ago.

Otherwise, that little bitch's child might be born before my own Xu-ge'er and become the eldest son of a concubine.