Forcing me to become a concubine? Remarrying the Ninth Prince, she'll be pregnant all over the

After paying his respects to Chen Shi in the morning and evening, Lin Wantang was still punished by being forced to return to his room to pay his respects.

She had no complaints and never expected to cause any disturbance to Lin Rucong.

The inner chambers of the mansion were always managed by the mistress of the house. After a few days, the maids gradually realized that Lin Wantang seemed to have really changed her personality. They guessed that she was afraid of angering Madam Chen again and bringing about even more severe punishment.

One by one, they began to whisper amongst themselves, "What's wrong with the young lady? No matter how noble she is, can she surpass the madam?"

"What's wrong with mother and daughter? The young lady has done such a disgraceful thing, not only ruining her reputation but also becoming the talk of the town. She's a jinx; she brings bad luck to everyone she goes around!"

"I think the Madam's punishment was too lenient; she was still showing consideration for their mother-daughter relationship. If you ask me, she should..."

Before Su Xin could continue, the other maids glared at her and cautiously said, "What nonsense are you spouting? No matter what, she's our eldest daughter, born of the main wife! Don't you want your tongue? Or are you tired of living?"

Su Xin pouted and rolled her eyes without any restraint as she looked towards the room: "Who's the legitimate son is still uncertain!"

The maids were shocked.

Su Xin sneered, a hint of smugness in her voice: "Yesterday I accompanied Madam to the palace to visit the Crown Princess. If you ask me, it was our Second Miss who truly brought honor to our household!"

"It's no wonder Madam dotes on the Second Miss. She's the Crown Princess now, how noble! She'll be the Empress in the future, and our Lin family will have an Empress. What an honor! And from what Madam was saying..."

The maids looked at each other, then leaned forward to whisper in each other's ears.

Su Xin smiled smugly and said, "It seems like the Second Miss is the Madam's biological daughter! Then tell me, if this secret were made public, would it even be necessary to say who the legitimate daughter is?"

The maids gasped in shock, speechless with fright.

Lin Wantang and Lin Qinglian, the eldest and second young ladies of the Grand Tutor's Mansion, are the same age, differing only by one month in birth month. However, the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children has created a world of difference between them since childhood.

But if it weren't for this, the two sisters would have been switched at birth...

There were still too many suspicious points, and the maids dared not speculate wildly. Only Su Xin, gazing into the room, sneered, "Times have changed, and who knows, things might really change in the future!"

Lin Wantang sat at the octagonal table in the room, embroidering a sachet with her head down. Listening to the sounds outside, which were neither too loud nor too soft, she continued her embroidery without stopping, slowly and methodically.

After a long while, once she had finished the last stitch, she glanced out the window, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully: "Times have changed?"

She gave a faint, enigmatic smile: "That's quite novel."

If it were said that she and Lin Qinglian were switched at birth, that would make sense, explaining Chen's favoritism. However, there is still one thing that doesn't make sense.

Sixteen years ago, the two were born a month apart. In other words, Lin Wantang was a month old when Lin Qinglian was born.

Then how can we switch them?

Moreover, Lin Qinglian's birth mother, Li Fuquan, was just a maidservant who accompanied Chen Shi when she married into the family. Her rank was even lower than that of the maids who were busy and chatting in the courtyard. Even if she was full of scheming, it was already difficult enough for her to climb into the master's bed. How could she possibly switch the children?

unless……

The birth date is wrong!

Lin Wantang and Lin Qinglian were not separated by a month, but only by a few days.

This could be considered a possible exchange, but Chen's family was powerful, and she was a noblewoman from a prominent family. As soon as she married into the family, she took over all the keys to the storeroom and managed the household. If she later found out that her daughters had been maliciously switched, how could she let it go? How could she not try to find a way to switch her two daughters back?

No legitimate mother would allow her own child to be bullied and reduced to the status of an illegitimate child.

So there must be more to this than meets the eye; it's not that simple.

Lin Wantang's thoughtful eyes were deep and dark. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was in the room, she quickly got up, went to the desk, ground the ink, picked up the brush, and wrote a letter.

Time flies, and as December arrived, everyone in the household became even busier. Madam Chen was busy taking stock of the income from the estates below and checking the tenants' harvests. She was so busy that she didn't have time to come to Lin Wantang's courtyard anymore.

Taking advantage of the situation, Su Xin kept a close eye on Lin Wantang's confinement while preventing the news from leaking to Lin Rucong, and secretly reduced Lin Wantang's food allowance.

"Oh my, the master really dotes on the young lady. These past few days, the things that have been sent by messengers have almost filled our courtyard. Especially this water-gloss brocade, I've never even seen it before."

Su Xin greedily stroked the bolts of brocade, feeling their water-like texture and light-like luster, and exclaimed with delight and envy, "Even Madam has never used such fine brocade."

"This was sent by Lord Wei," a maid couldn't help but reveal. "Eunuch Jiang is still ahead, waiting to see the young lady, but he was stopped by Madam. I guess he's been sent away by now."

Another maid said, "Weren't the remaining half of the things sent back to the young lady by the eldest young master through someone? I heard that the eldest young master saved up quite a lot of dowry for the young lady while he was in office."

Su Xin rolled her eyes in exasperation and snorted coldly, "No wonder. But she might not even be the legitimate daughter, so why is she so popular?"

The maids wanted to advise Suxin to be more careful with her words, but Suxin had become increasingly arrogant and domineering these days. Lin Wantang acted as if she couldn't see her and ignored her. Helpless, the maids were about to carry boxes of things into the room when Suxin stopped them.

"Are you all stupid? Don't you know who's in charge in the backyard of this mansion? We don't have to listen to the madam in everything, but at least we don't have to spoil that young lady inside anymore! Let's secretly take some of these things, and send the rest to the storeroom."

"No, that won't do..."

The maids were terrified and timid. They dared not offend Su Xin, nor did they dare to deceive Lin Wantang. Hesitantly, they were too cowardly to ask for anything and let Su Xin do as she pleased, since Su Xin had Chen Shi backing her up anyway.

Su Xin was pleased with herself and took a piece of shimmering brocade to compare it to herself, thinking about how to get new clothes. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a little maid carrying lunch and trying to enter the room.

"Hey, wait a minute! Leave those dishes behind; they're leftovers from the day before yesterday. Take them in."

The little maid was stunned, and then looked at the other maids in surprise. Everyone dared not speak out, and the little maid was afraid of being tormented by Su Xin every day, so she could only shrink her neck and carry the leftover food into the room.

"Young Miss, it's noon, time for lunch."

The little girl's voice sounded like she was about to cry as she entered the room and bowed.

Upon opening the food box, a foul stench assaulted her nostrils. The young maidservant immediately knelt down in fear, pleading, "Young Miss, please spare me! It's truly... I don't know what to say, but Su Xin has gone too far! What should we do, Young Miss...?"