“Marry an unvirtuous wife and ruin three generations” — how true that saying is.
Cheng Lan was truly exasperated by the shallow-minded original owner of this body. Such a promising seedling—if nurtured and cultivated, with great medical skills in the future, having someone like that serve her would make her overjoyed.
Suddenly, a child’s crying disrupted her thoughts. She glanced toward the corner, but before she could speak, Li Xuerong had already hugged Nannan and fearfully hid behind a chair.
“Mother, Nannan is just hungry. I’ll calm her down right away, please don’t be angry!”
As she spoke, she nervously patted her daughter’s back, her heart aching at the sight of her little girl crying her eyes out.
Xiao Qin’er glanced fearfully at Cheng Lan, terrified that her mother might sell Nannan again in a fit of anger.
Clutching her clothes tightly, she mustered all her courage to take a small step forward, her voice timid as she said, “Mother, Nannan is still young. Please don’t be angry. I’ll go find something to eat right away.”
No sooner had she spoken than her stomach growled several times.
The room was already empty, making the rumbling sounds especially noticeable.
Cheng Lan looked at them and was momentarily stunned, a strange feeling stirring in her heart.
She was used to being alone. If someone dared treat her like this, she would have long since chopped them up and fed them to the dogs. But these juniors, who clearly hated her to the core, still held a fearful reverence for her as an elder.
The bonds of family were far stronger than so-called loyalty built on money.
A corner of her icy heart inexplicably softened.
“We just had our home raided—where would there be any food left?” Xiao Yunqing clenched his fists, his face covered in sweat, his lips pale and chapped, clearly starving as well.
That scoundrel Sun Tong claimed there wasn’t a single coin left in the house—he must have pocketed it all himself. How could he possibly be kind enough to leave any food for them!
Cheng Lan curled her lips in amusement, silently using her consciousness to return the food from her spatial dimension to the kitchen before saying, “Since they didn’t take it, there must still be food. If you’re hungry, go check for yourselves.”
As for her, she had more important matters to attend to.
The original owner’s entire family fortune had been swindled away by the newly appointed general, Zhang Kui, through a mix of coaxing and deception. Taking it back before leaving wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
A cool smile flickered in Cheng Lan’s eyes.
When the night was deep and all was quiet, she quietly arrived at the base of the wall.
She hadn’t yet seen her own face in a mirror, but she could see her voluptuous figure—curvaceous in all the right places. Even after giving birth to two children, her skin wasn’t saggy, though there was a layer of flab around her belly due to the original owner’s laziness.
But that didn’t matter. She took a deep breath, leaped onto a nearby thick tree branch, nimbly pushed off, and steadily climbed the two-meter-high wall.
However, climbing up had already made her break into a sweat. It seemed she needed to intensify her training when she returned.
Fortunately, aside from the main gate, there were no guards around.
Feeling her way in the dark, Cheng Lan followed a familiar path. Having been there so many times, she quickly found Zhang Kui’s general’s residence and stealthily infiltrated it using the same method.
Perhaps Zhang Kui had grown too complacent with his recent rise to power, as the vast general’s residence had only a few guards on duty.
Holding her breath and focusing, her figure moved like a ghost through the shadows and darkness.
Not far away, a room was lit by candlelight, casting the silhouettes of a man and a woman. A faint voice, somewhat familiar, drifted out.
Cheng Lan frowned slightly and silently pressed herself against the window, catching a clear glimpse of the two figures inside.
Aside from Zhang Kui, with his rough features dressed in plain brown clothes, her third sister-in-law, Liu Manwen, was also there!
She recalled that the original owner had never set her sights on Zhang Kui initially. It was Liu Manwen who constantly praised General Zhang Kui’s might and virtues, extolling the benefits of marrying him…
If not for Liu Manwen’s instigation, the original owner would never have plunged headlong into this!
After all, Zhang Kui’s appearance could only be described as “not ugly”—his features were utterly ordinary, not even comparable to one of Xiao Jinpei’s fingers.
So the two had long been secretly involved, deliberately scheming against her! But why? The Xiao family had been raided and exiled, and her own branch could not escape either.
Cheng Lan’s eyes turned cold. Presumably, Zhang Kui was also afraid that his affair with Liu Manwen would be exposed. Having driven away the nearby guards, it was now convenient for her to continue eavesdropping.
“So you’re saying there’s no way out!” Liu Manwen’s shrill voice pierced the eardrums.
Zhang Kui’s tone was filled with impatience: “There really is no way. Your family being exiled together is already a settled matter. But don’t worry, once the storm passes, I’ll bring you and your daughter back to continue enjoying a life of luxury.”
“Do you have any idea how many people die on the road to exile?! If you don’t help me, I’ll expose all your dirty secrets. If we’re going down, we’ll go down together!”
When soft tactics failed, Liu Manwen’s brows furrowed in anger, and she immediately grew furious. “Don’t forget, if General Xiao hadn’t died, you wouldn’t have gotten this position… mmm?!”
Zhang Kui, startled, clamped his hand tightly over her mouth. “Shut up! Saying these things benefits neither of us! If I fall, you and your daughter will never dream of returning in this lifetime!”
“What do you mean?!” Liu Manwen glared at him viciously.
Zhang Kui’s face darkened. “This matter was personally ordered by His Majesty! Do you think I could have easily succeeded in bringing down that wretched woman’s family without His Majesty truly knowing the inside story?”
Mentioning the Son of Heaven, Liu Manwen’s seething resentment was doused as if by a bucket of cold water, chilling her to the core.
A cold glint flashed in Cheng Lan’s eyes, and in that instant, she understood.
Merit overshadowing the sovereign!
Xiao Jinpei died on the battlefield, revered by the people. Xiao Muchen, young as he was, had achieved illustrious military exploits, further bolstered by his father’s prestige—he would only surpass his father! But by the same token, he posed an even greater threat to the emperor.
Thus, he had to be eliminated!
And the mastermind behind it all, Zhang Kui, also feared that the position he had worked so hard to obtain would be taken by Xiao Muchen. Therefore, the Xiao family had to perish!
The original owner had been nothing but a pawn in this game of power from start to finish.
This clarified why Zhang Kui never refused her advances, offering her sweet promises—all to make her obedient and willing to hand over the family fortune, solidifying the charge that the original owner had incited him to raise troops in rebellion, thereby implicating the entire family!
What a vicious scheme!