anted to adopt Gu Xiwen into the third houseGu Jingxi saw her staring intently at her son's departing figure, lost in thought. After a moment, she waved her hand, signaling the maidservant to retreat....In the house, Meng Jiny Yao slowly relaxed her fist which she had been gripping tightly.

Two tiny white hands, each with a light pink palm print, bore crescent-shaped marks.

The mark was a dark red, the color of blood clotting. Her fingernails were smeared with dried bloodstains, showing just how hard she had struggled to injure herself with her own nails.

Meng Jin Yao lowered her eyes, glanced at him briefly, then shifted her gaze away.

Actually, it hurts, but she feels the pain makes her feel a little better.

She has three younger brothers in total. Her youngest brother, Chengxing, is the son of Sun Shi, while Chengyu and Chengzhang are twins born to Du Shi, a concubine.

When Du gave birth to twins, she said she dreamed of giving birth to a pair of lovely girls. Even the servants in her household, upon looking at Du's belly, felt it was two girls.

Therefore, the father did not have high expectations for the child in Du's womb. After all, he already had two daughters, both named He and Meng Jinyu. All he desired was a son to carry on the family line, so he didn't elevate Du, who was very likely carrying twins, to the position of concubine.

To everyone's surprise, Du gave birth to twin sons. He was overjoyed with two sons in one go.

And because Du gave birth to a son, she was raised to the position of concubine by her father. He also showed Du more affection and allowed her to raise the child. He visited her quarters more frequently.

Looking back, Du was quite intelligent; otherwise, it's doubtful that both children would have been born smoothly.

Identical twins, not only her father loved them dearly, but she adored them too. She was especially fond of these two brothers. Whatever fun toys her grandfather bought for her, she would take them to her brothers and show them, playing with them.

Even after Sun gave birth to a younger brother for her, a plump and white little dumpling, she found him quite likeable. But she still loved Cheng Yu and Cheng Zhang, who looked exactly alike, the most. However, with Cheng Xing's birth, her father's attention was diverted by half. After all, a legitimate son is far more important than a concubine's son.

Ching Yu and Ching Zhang learned to walk because of her teaching. When the two younger brothers staggered towards her, she felt a particular sense of accomplishment. The two brothers also speak because of her teachings, even their first words were "Big Sister". The three siblings are often inseparable.

But the good times didn't last.

When Cheng Yu was two years old, he fell ill and died. After that, Du shi (Du aunt), his adoptive mother, became gravely ill from the grief of losing her son and eventually passed away.

Chengyu seemed to have died from illness, but his grandmother believed that Chengyu was killed by her. She wanted to confine Chengyu in a Buddhist hall to dispel the evil spirits, but because of her younger brother's death, she cried day and night, refusing to go anywhere, only wanting to stay with her brother. Sun shi then pleaded for her, sparing her from being confined to the Buddhist hall.

Sun said to her, "Ayao, don't be afraid. Chengyu died from illness, and your grandmother is just heartbroken. Don't blame her."

Back then, Sun was truly kind. She adored this stepmother and relied on her greatly, until one day, she overheard Sun talking to her confidante: "It's a pity that Du died so early. Otherwise, I would have had another rival in the inner courtyard to keep me company."

That confidant said, “Who could have thought that she died a son, and she herself followed A maidservant born, after all, is a lowly wretch. She was destined for misfortune and a short life.”

Sun lightly smiled and said, “But this is also thanks to Meng Jinyang, that little vixen. If it weren't for her good relationship with those despicable twins, feeding them the medicine personally, I wouldn't have solved the trouble so easily. Tut tut... Born a mother-killer, then killing her younger brother as well, what a jinx. Raised for years, she finally proved useful and wasn't raised for nothing.”

The confidant flattered, “Madam, your strategy is brilliant. It kills two birds with one stone.”

When she heard the kind and gentle stepmother say those words, she felt her blood run cold, her mind went blank, and her whole body trembled. She wanted to rush out and ask Sun Shi why she had done such a thing. In the end, she quickly thought of a way out, remembering that she was still a child, and no one would believe her words.

So, she swallowed her anger and left like a walking corpse. She went to tell her grandfather about it, but her grandfather, already frail and weak on his deathbed, no longer had the energy to deal with such things.

Grandfather told her, "Ai-yao, be good, don't cry. Let's not talk about this anymore. Just pretend you never heard them say anything."

She didn't understand why her grandfather wouldn't help her brother get justice. She asked puzzledly, "Doesn't Grandfather want to help Brother catch the bad guys"

His grandfather's eyes were cloudy and dim, filled with tears. His voice choked as he said, "Grandpa is old, he can't keep up with the bad guys, he can't catch them. Ayao is still young, she can't beat the bad guys. Let's just let the bad guys have their way for a while, okay"

She nodded vaguely: "When can we go catch the bad guys"

The grandfather replied, "When Ayao has the ability, and her ability is stronger than that of the bad guys, then she can go catch the bad guys."

Worried that she might disobey and run off, her grandfather held onto her little hand, repeating over and over: "Ayao must be good, Ayao wait a little longer. Our Ayao is a good child, wouldn't disobey, right"

She listened, and in her repeated nods, her grandfather closed his eyes unwillingly, never to open them again.

That day, she learned the truth about Chengyu's death. The grandfather who cherished her dearly was gone forever.

It was on that day that she seemed to have grown up suddenly.

However, she was still a child after all and didn't know how to hide her emotions well. In front of someone she hated deeply, her acting skills were not very good. Her dislike for Sun quickly became apparent, and her attitude towards her grew worse and worse. Sun wasn't going to play the role of a kind stepmother either, so their secret battle began.

She hates it.

She hated the Sun family's viciousness, and also hated herself.

Chenyu wouldn't take the medicine, crying and refusing to drink it. Even when Du shi personally fed him, he wouldn't cooperate. Every time she had to feed him the medicine herself, coaxing him to drink it.

She spoon-fed the poison into Chengyu's mouth, one spoonful after another. It was a deadly concoction, accelerating his death with every swallow. Although Sun had orchestrated this plot from behind the scenes, it was her own hands that led her brother to the underworld. This pain was more unbearable than if she had killed him herself.

Borrow a knife to kill.

Sun's calculations are so good.

Because they had a close sibling relationship, and since it was she who personally fed him the medicine, no one suspected there was anything wrong with the medicine when Chengyu died. No one thought Chengyu's death was suspicious.

She only said that Chengyu died because she killed him, and that if she didn't go near Chengyu, he probably wouldn't have died prematurely. Even her grandmother and father believed it, and her grandmother was even more disgusted and afraid of her, fearing that she would continue to kill relatives.

Over the years, she has always kept her grandfather's dying words in mind and hasn't exposed the truth. Firstly, it was because dealing with the Sun family had been a lot of effort, and staying alive had been difficult enough. Secondly, she lacked evidence and couldn't prove anything without solid proof.

Now that she is married, she has left Yongchang Bo's estate and become the wife of Changxing Hou. Even her own family can't control her anymore.

She thought, now she should be capable, and more capable than the bad guys, but things had passed so many years. All clues were gone, and she had no idea where to start.y Marquis' Mansion.Although the Meng family has fallen from grace, there are still many guests who sympathize with them and come to celebrate Mrs. Meng's birthday. There are already a dozen carriages...