The mistress who remarried has returned.

When Su Yunxi heard that it was Lin Shanbao's wife who had come to propose marriage again, her eyes flickered. A few days ago, the Eastern Palace had just been raided, and the women had either fled or been sold off. At that time, Lin Shanbao's wife had spoken on behalf of her youngest son two or three times, hoping to get things done quietly.

"Lin Shanbao's family came to me several times, but I did not agree to the marriage. Lin Shanbao injured his back while in office many years ago and has been bedridden ever since. He has three sons: one loves to gamble, another is lazy and gluttonous, and the youngest son, Lin Enxiao, works as a bodyguard and earns a small salary to support the whole family."

Madam Su was furious. "Lin Shanbao's wife is exhausted from serving those masters in her own household. She's not doing this out of kindness to find a wife for Lin Enxiao. She's just taking Xi'er away to make her a ready-made maid and servant. You're planning to sell your daughter for a hundred taels of silver? You think Xi'er can't be sent away because of her Liangdi background, so you're just buying and selling her off like that? Don't even think about it. I'll take care of my daughter for the rest of her life."

He paused angrily, "Don't even mention a hundred taels of silver, even if it were a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, or a million, I would never agree to this marriage."

Su Yuanzhou slammed his hand on the table, making a loud cracking sound in the quiet night. "You have no choice but to agree to this. I've already taken the money. Xixi will come with me to the Qin residence tomorrow. I've ascertained the eldest son of the Qin family's opinion. If he doesn't object, then we'll hold the wedding immediately. Tomorrow happens to be the Qin family patriarch's birthday, and people from the palace will also be coming. Lin Shanbao's wife is also serving Consort Shu at the Qin residence. Tomorrow, I'll take Xixi to report back to the eldest son of the Qin family. If there's no objection, Lin Shanbao's wife will immediately arrange for Lin Enxiao to take her home. Lin Enxiao has already taken leave tomorrow and will be waiting at the Qin residence to pick up Xixi and take her to the bridal chamber."

"What kind of hell is that? How could you say that, how could you even look at it? My perfectly good daughter, and you let someone drag her to the bridal chamber like that!" Su's mother thought Su Yuanzhou was utterly unreasonable. She immediately put down the medicine bottle she had used to treat Yunze on the table, raised her hand, and said, "Let's go, no need to delay, let's go to the government office tonight. Divide the family property!"

Su Yuanzhou immediately grabbed his wife's wrist. Upon touching it, he realized how much weight she had lost. Wang Guirong had never mistreated her. It was clearly Su Yuanzhou who made things difficult for Guirong, making her do all the dirty work and swearing. Su Yuanzhou was the grandmother here, so how could she have become so thin? He said, "If you insist on making trouble and not letting me have peace, I will embarrass you in front of the two children. Don't blame me."

As she spoke, she glanced at the half-finished incense powder in the mortar that Su Yunxi had just ground. "Or I could smash my daughter's mortar, and she'd be upset, but don't blame me. Look, it's already turned into incense paste, almost finished. Wouldn't it be a waste to smash it?"

Su Yunxi instinctively reached out to protect her clay mortar. Her fingertips, gripping the mortar, were even colder than the mortar itself. Looking at her father, she finally couldn't hold back her tears. She really hated her father. But her current situation was unbearable, and she couldn't completely escape his influence; she felt utterly helpless.

"You're truly inhuman!" Su's mother tried to break free from her husband's grasp, but he held her tightly. After over twenty years of marriage, this unexpected turn of events in middle age chilled her to the bone. "You'd better kill me. Otherwise, don't even think about selling my daughter. I've tolerated everything in the past because I didn't want my two children to suffer from our constant discord and conflict. It's not that I'm afraid of you; if we can't get along, we can just fight it out. If you smash the girl's mortar and pestle, I'll smash your head in!"

As she spoke, Su's mother reached for the water glass on the table.

Su Yuanzhou was finally enraged and threatened in a low voice, "Qingniang, then I'll just have to smash your perfumed mud."

"Mother, let's do as Father says. Yunze is still in school, and it's quiet at night, so let's not make any more noise."

If a fight really breaks out, how could Mother be a match for Father? Mother has been advising her to be patient all day long, which shows that she lost her mind today because she was protecting her. It can only be said that Father has no bottom line and always pushes people to the brink, even forcing the most good-natured person to lose their composure.

Before her father could become violent towards her mother and embarrass her, Su Yunxi gently spoke up to stop the exhausting argument.

Although she didn't know why her father needed to ask Qin Huai's opinion before selling her to Lin Shanbao's family as a laborer, she had just overheard from her father's words that the Qin family would be celebrating Qin's father's birthday tomorrow, and Consort Shu would also be attending.

If Consort Shu attends, then it's possible that Zhou Yuan will also be present. Consort Shu usually likes to perform benevolence and morality in front of the Emperor, and having Zhou Yuan with her makes her appear magnanimous and dignified, befitting an empress.

Hearing his daughter's concession and that Qingniang would no longer cause trouble at the government office because of her daughter's words, Su Yuanzhou released Qingniang's hand. He looked his daughter up and down at her old clothes.

"What kind of shabby clothes are you wearing? Not to mention the money Gui Rong used to give you as tribute, didn't she take forty or fifty taels from me the other day? Tomorrow, all the people going to the Qin residence are high-ranking officials and nobles, so you can't dress so casually. If you don't have any clothes, go and buy some. Otherwise, people will see you and laugh at you. Why do you embarrass me every day?"

With that, Su Yuanzhou turned and left.

Su Yunxi thought her father was a complete idiot and a fool, who was blinded by Wang Shi and thought she was a good person.

Her father was far removed from the invincible hero she remembered. He was still handsome and good-looking, but he was a completely different person.

Su's mother couldn't understand why her daughter would knowingly jump into a pit of fire by going to the Lin family, so she went to her daughter's side.

"Xixi, why did you agree to him? Going to the Lin family and serving that family is a nightmare. Not only are the two younger brothers useless, but the old man is bedridden like a limp eel. You, a young girl, would definitely suffer if you took care of them. Once you go, Lin Shanbao's wife will surely abandon you and order you around all the time. Besides, none of the three in her family are married. You might suffer some kind of humiliation if you go there."

Su Yunxi said, "Mother, Consort Shu will also be going to the Qin residence tomorrow. I wonder if Zhou Yuan will be there too. If I can meet with Zhou Yuan and tell her that the Crown Prince's condition has improved, I hope she can find a way to go to the Cold Palace to inform Empress Xiao. That way, I think Empress Xiao won't die. Mother, you see, there's always a way out. I still see an opportunity and hope. I must seize this opportunity and try."

"So you've thought of that." Su's mother pondered for a moment. "But Xixi, I, as your mother, don't completely agree with you sacrificing your entire life's happiness to repay Zhou Yu's kindness. Although you owe him a debt of gratitude from the past four years, you can't treat yourself too unfairly. One still has to plan for oneself."