After the milk ball arrived, the father who had no heirs had a string of good luck.

In the end, Qin Zhiyan couldn't continue speaking; her face was as white as a ghost.

Tang Rui could feel the hand holding her shoulder trembling slightly.

"Mother!" Tang Rui said with exasperation, "I meant to say, you need to work harder too!"

"Effort...what?" Qin Zhiyan didn't understand what Tang Rui meant at first.

Tang Rui: "Of course, I should try my best to win over Daddy as soon as possible. Look at Gu's stepmother, she's smarter than you and was the first to try it."

"..." Crabs are so ugly, how can they be compared to your dad?

However, the little boy's mature and sophisticated appearance somewhat eased Qin Zhiyan's distress.

Qin Zhiyan smiled slightly, brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and said, "I know, but I am your father's legal wife, so I should be generous and virtuous. I'm just a little sad, but I'll adjust myself."

How could I not be sad!

She's the principal wife, so why doesn't Situ Che sleep with her first?

Baby is upset, but baby won't say anything!

"Alright, I'm off to the Imperial Academy now. Goodbye, Mother!"

Tang Rui turned around and let out a barely perceptible sigh.

This kind of thing was bound to happen sooner or later!

Qin Zhiyan and her several stepmothers were all Situ Che's women, and it was Situ Che's responsibility to favor them.

We can't just have Situ Che divorce them and keep only one of them, can we?

Are these stepmothers even going to live?

It's just that this era is too unfriendly to women.

The idea of ​​"one love for life" is simply impossible in reality, no matter how well it's described in novels.

Even with modern laws in place, so many men still cheat; imagine how much more common it is in this era where having mistresses is legal.

Situ Che is a prince, and he may rise even higher in the future; his women will only increase.

Therefore, fulfilling one's responsibilities and giving due respect are the standards of a good man in this era!

After seeing Tang Rui off, Qin Zhiyan returned to her courtyard in a daze, only to find Situ Che already waiting in the house.

"Your Highness..." Qin Zhiyan composed herself and greeted him with a smile.

Even though her heart was bleeding, she had to offer some insincere blessings: "I heard that Sister Gu rested in Master's study last night. That's wonderful! Congratulations, Master, and congratulations, Sister Gu."

"Get up!" Situ Che said, giving him a slight help. "I came here to tell you to remember to send Consort Gu some contraceptive soup later."

Qin Zhiyan was taken aback upon hearing this: "This... do we still need to send contraceptive soup? Does Sister Gu know about this?"

Situ Che nodded: "She knew, and she brought it up herself. You are the principal wife, and no woman in the household can get pregnant before you; that's the rule."

"I see..." Qin Zhiyan felt a little relieved upon hearing this, and her uncontrollable jealousy towards Gu Ruoxue lessened considerably. She smiled gently and said, "These days, few people follow these rules. Since you only have one daughter, Ruirui, how about this contraceptive soup..."

"Zhiyan, these are the rules!" Situ Che looked directly into her eyes and emphasized again, "Without rules, there can be no order. My favoring of Consort Gu first has already broken the rules. I will not repeat this mistake in the future. Tonight..."

At this point, Situ Che awkwardly looked away: "Tonight, I will be resting in your room..."

Qin Zhiyan's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and her face slowly flushed: "Then... this concubine will wait for you, sir..."

"Ahem... I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving now!" Situ Che practically fled from Qin Zhiyan's courtyard.

Once they were far away, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, he suddenly admired his father. With three thousand beauties in his harem, how could he sleep with so many women without any burden?

He only favors one woman, and even then, he feels incredibly awkward.

...

Before long, the news that Situ Che had favored Gu Ruoxue reached the ears of several other women.

Consort Zhu, enraged, gnawed on three pig's trotters, cursing as she did so: "That Gu Ruoxue, I knew she was the most cunning!"

Consort Li gritted her teeth in anger and slammed her hand on the table: "What a waste of a good cabbage! The Princess Consort is still here, why is Gu Ruoxue the first one? I refuse to accept this!"

Consort Zhang didn't say anything in front of her maids. After returning to her room, she looked around, pulled down her transparent yellow gauze bed curtains, and held them up against herself, muttering to herself, "Should I make some clothes too, and go seduce someone tonight?"

What if you're lucky enough to get some meat?

Tang Rui was completely unaware of the thoughts of the women.

The supervisor of traditional Chinese studies is approaching noon!

As soon as it was time, Tang Rui was the first to rush into the cafeteria.

Situ An followed closely behind: "Zhaohua, I told you not to run so fast, be careful not to fall!"

"It's been going on for more than a day or two, you should be used to it by now!" Gu Nanyu followed him into the cafeteria.

Finally, there was Situ Tan.

Even after his health improved, he still retained the appearance of a frail scholar.

"Zhaohua is growing and gets hungry easily, that's normal!" After saying that, he took out a side dish from his food box and placed it in front of Tang Rui: "Zhaohua, my mother knows you like food, this is a hundred-flower pastry she made, and she told me to make sure to bring it to you."

"Thank you, thank you!" Tang Rui couldn't wait to pick up a small piece and taste it, exclaiming in surprise, "Wow, it's so delicious!"

The fragrance is rich and varied, no wonder it's called Hundred Flower Pastry!

Most importantly, each pastry is shaped like a flower, making them both beautiful and delicious!

Situ Tan smiled slightly: "Eat as much as you like, it's all yours!"

Situ An rolled his eyes in annoyance: "If you ask me, my third sister-in-law is just biased. All these years, why has she never cooked me anything delicious?"

Gu Nanyu looked at her with disdain and retorted, "You have the nerve to compete with a five-year-old girl for food?"

Situ An: "Oh my, so you're already protecting her? You two aren't even married yet!"

Gu Nanyu also took out a plate of chestnut pastries from his food box and placed it in front of Tang Rui, then picked up a piece and stuffed it into his mouth: "Shut up!"

Situ An took the pastries and exclaimed, "Gu Nanyu, I am a prince! How dare you treat me like this?"

"You bit me?" Gu Nanyu remained expressionless and arrogant throughout, which made Situ An so angry that his teeth itched.

The two bickered as usual, while Tang Rui and Situ Tan remained the audience, watching and eating at the same time.

Amid the commotion, other children gradually entered.

Tang Rui listened intently to their whispers.

Don't underestimate these kids just because they're young; they're all shrewd and know a lot of inside information that's not widely known in the entertainment industry.

Every time, she gets to eat her fill of gossip.

But today, she heard something that concerned her.

At the next table, the two legitimate daughters of the Fifth Prince Rui were whispering about the disappearance of their cousin, the Crown Princess.

The only illegitimate daughter, who was also their half-sister by the same father, stood beside the two girls, serving them their meals like a little maid.

"Now I finally understand why Father has been so angry these past few days."

Why?

"They say it's the Crown Princess's cousin, named He Yaozu, who has been missing for several months. Now that Father is in charge of Shuntian Prefecture, the He family keeps coming to cry, saying their son is missing. Father is so annoyed by them that he's out looking for him every day and coming home later and later."

"The He family? Isn't that the maternal family of the Marquis of Yong'an's wife? They seem to be just a fifth-rank prefect, yet they dare to cause such a scene? Aren't they afraid Father will get angry with them?"

"What can we do? Father is in charge of Shuntian Prefecture. If someone reports it to the authorities, we can't just ignore it."

"But we're the ones who suffer! I heard that He Yaozu from the He family is a scoundrel who frequents brothels. Who knows where he's having a good time? Why should we suffer for him?"

...