Su Ruoyun valued her son immensely.

She could do without Lu Wenzhao, but Yangyang was her lifeblood—her only son.

When she gave birth to Yangyang, she suffered complications that left her unable to bear more children.

Otherwise, she would never have agreed to let Lu Wenzhao bring those two countryside children into their home.

Originally, she had planned to keep the child by her side and raise him well, but the little girl kept crying for her mother, which frustrated her.

In the end, she sold the girl just to get some peace.

She never expected that Lu Wenzhao’s new wife would actually care so much about these two children and even make a scene over them.

If anything happened to Yangyang, she would never forgive those people.

Lu Wenzhao wanted to say something, but just then, Prime Minister Su entered the room with an impressive entourage of guards.

Prime Minister Su had only two daughters, both legitimate, and he cherished them dearly.

The moment he heard that his second daughter had been bullied, he rushed over with his men, though he was still a step too late.

“Father! Wuwu… Yangyang has been taken!”

As soon as Su Ruoyun saw her father, she ran into his arms, sobbing.

Prime Minister Su, nearly fifty, had a short beard and a towering, imposing figure.

His deep-set eyes gleamed under thick brows, his broad chest stood firm, and his entire presence exuded an unshakable, noble pride.

Seeing his daughter so aggrieved and his grandson kidnapped, his expression darkened, radiating authority. “What happened? How could Yangyang be taken?”

Lu Wenzhao shrank back at the prime minister’s glare.

“F-Father-in-law, it’s… it’s…”

Lu Wenzhao stammered, unable to find the right words. Su Ruoyun, growing anxious, spoke up herself.

“Father, it was the woman Lu Wenzhao married from the countryside before going to war—his second wife. She took Yangyang! She even claimed she was Lu Wenzhao’s real wife and that I was just a concubine. Wenzhao said he only brought her back to care for the children, that they never had a formal wedding or shared a room. But now she’s come here, not only beating me and Wenzhao but also kidnapping my son!”

She lifted her injured hand to show her father.

Though the bones weren’t broken, it was badly swollen and bleeding.

Prime Minister Su immediately ordered someone to summon a physician.

“Father, I’m fine. Just help me get Yangyang back! I’m worried that woman will harm him. He’s still so young—he can’t be away from me!”

At his daughter’s plea, Prime Minister Su wasted no time sending people to track down Shen Qingwan.

In the capital, finding someone was not difficult for him.

However, none of them had expected that a mere village woman like Shen Qingwan would be connected to the Duke of the Nation’s military household.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingwan had taken Old Madam Lu to a quiet place to cremate Old Man Lu’s remains and placed his ashes in an urn.

Old Madam Lu wanted to take her husband back to Dahe Village, and the only way was to carry his ashes.

Although Shen Qingwan’s spatial ability could transport a body, cremation was simply more convenient.

Shen Qingwan had always respected Old Man Lu.

Though he was sometimes rigid and stern, his care for her was genuine, and he had helped her greatly.

She had been content with this father-in-law, never expecting that he would meet such a tragic end.

Afterward, Shen Qingwan, Old Madam Lu, Xiaochen, and Lu Tianyang returned to the general’s manor.

Ye Minglan had been worried about Shen Qingwan’s delay, but before she could go to greet her, she saw Ye Minghui and Ye Lingxue approaching as well.

“Oh, Wanwan, you’re back? I had the kitchen prepare a meal for you. I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I had them make a variety of dishes. And these people are…?”

Ye Minghui looked at the people behind Shen Qingwan with curiosity.

Shen Qingwan glanced at Ye Minghui’s eager expression, her own face remaining cold. “This is my mother-in-law and son.”

She had never hidden the fact that she was married, nor did she see any need to.

Ye Minglan didn’t approve of her daughter’s marriage, but she respected her choice.

Upon hearing that Shen Qingwan had not only married but had become a second wife, Ye Minghui secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

So what if she was beautiful?

She was still just a stepmother to someone else’s child.

Her own daughter was destined to marry a warlord prince—how could Shen Qingwan compare?

Ye Lingxue was also surprised that Shen Qingwan had married into a family as a second wife.

What a waste of such a face!

It seemed she wouldn’t need to deal with her—Shen Qingwan would never be a threat to her now.

“Oh, so she’s your in-law. Let’s all go inside and have a meal,” Ye Minghui said, acting like the hostess.

But Shen Qingwan ignored her and turned to Lu Laotai, explaining that Ye Minglan was her birth mother. Lu Laotai acknowledged Ye Minglan with a greeting, and Ye Minglan, for her daughter’s sake, warmly invited them in.

After that, Shen Qingwan handed the unconscious Lu Tianyang over to Rong Yunfei.

“Change his appearance and sell him to a trafficker outside the capital. Just track where he ends up, but don’t interfere.”

She was not a merciful person, and she had no intention of taking care of this child.

People might say children were innocent, but was Xiaoyu not innocent?

She wouldn’t return kindness with kindness—she would take revenge for every injustice.

Whatever fate awaited Lu Tianyang would depend on his luck.

Rong Yunfei would track his whereabouts, but whether Su Ruoyun got her son back depended on her willingness to return Xiaoyu unharmed.

If anything happened to Xiaoyu, Su Ruoyun’s entire family would pay in blood.

Rong Yunfei didn’t fully understand the relationship between Shen Qingwan and the child, but he followed her orders without question.

Lu Tianyang regained consciousness shortly after being taken away.

Seeing him struggle, Rong Yunfei simply knocked him out again.

After disguising him, he took him out of the capital and sold him to traffickers for just two taels of silver, as the boy’s face had been darkened with soot and his clothes tattered.

Since Shen Qingwan had ordered him to track the boy, Rong Yunfei stayed behind to monitor the situation.

Just as Shen Qingwan finished dealing with Lu Tianyang, Prime Minister Su arrived with his men.

Shen Qingwan thought he must be quite capable to have found her so quickly—only to realize that it was Ye Lingxue who had overheard someone looking for Shen Qingwan and had taken the initiative to lead them straight to her.