Shi Qingluo's face was filled with shock.
"How could the former princess consort of Prince Jin with such a personality have made such a friend?" she voiced out what she was thinking.
Xiao Hanzheng replied, "Before Mdm Wu married, her biological father took in a concubine.
"He made that concubine hold equal status as his wife. So, she and her mother did not have a good life.
"The daughter of his other wife even wants to steal her engaged fiancé.
"At that time, Ruan Songling happened to run into her. Maybe she saw what happened to Mdm Wu and thought of her past self, so she helped.
"And she helped Mdm Wu marry into the Tu family smoothly.
"With the help of Ruan Songling, Mdm Wu won the favor of the young master of the Tu family, who was not the master of the family at that time yet.
"After giving birth to two sons in a row, Mdm Wu gained a firm foothold in the Tu family.
"Therefore, Mdm Wu and Ruan Songling are very close.
"After Ruan Songling was divorced by Prince Jin, the Tu family asked Mdm Wu to cut off all contact with Ruan Songling in order to protect themselves and not offend Prince Jin.
"However, she still helped Ruan Songling in private. Perhaps she wanted to return the favor."
Shi Qingluo nodded. "So there was such a thing."
"Then, does Mdm Wu treat her maternal family the same way Ruan Songling does?" she asked curiously.
"She used Ruan Songling to constantly suppress her family, but her father did not compromise," Xiao Hanzheng replied.
"Before Mdm Wu's husband became the master of the Tu family, the Tu family didn't participate in suppressing the Wu family.
"Actually, the situation of Mdm Wu and Ruan Songling's maternal family seems to be similar, but there is a reason why the Master Wu favors his concubine and forsakes his wife.
Xiao Hanzheng paused for a moment and continued, "The head of the Wu family and his wife have been engaged since they were young. They like each other.
"But Mdm Wu's mother took a fancy to Master Wu. At a banquet, she schemed to make Master Wu fall into the water with her.
"At that time, he saved Mdm Wu, who fell into the water, and the two of them also had intimate skin-to-skin contact.
"Mdm Wu's maternal family is also an aristocratic family. They wanted Master Wu to break off the engagement and marry their daughter, but he refused.
"In the end, Mdm Wu's maternal family came forward with all kinds of threats and promises, making Master Wu's father force him to marry Mdm Wu's mother.
"But he didn't touch her after he married her.
"She used another method to consummate the marriage with Master Wu and had Mdm Wu.
"Master Wu has been schemed against twice in a row, he's very angry.
"At the moment, the woman he likes is willing to be his concubine and marry into the Wu family, so he accepted her.
"Master Wu is very capable.
"He chased his father away and inherited the family head himself.
"He led the Wu family to develop better and better, surpassing Mdm Wu's maternal family. Then he helped the person he liked to hold a status equal to his wife.
"He doted on his other wife's children, but he was much colder to Mdm Wu. However, he didn't abuse or humiliate them, he just ignored her and her daughter.
"Because of this, Mdm Wu hated him.
"Because Mdm Wu is the eldest legitimate daughter, although Master Wu hates Mdm Wu's mother, he still arranged a marriage between her and the Tu family.
"Mdm Wu's younger sister wants to snatch her fiancé from her. It's not just to snatch him, but to avenge her mother.
"After all, Mdm Wu's mother caused the original pair of lovers to break up and become like this.
"Mdm Wu's younger sister didn't plot to harm Mdm Wu.
"She was only prepared to use the same method to pull the Tu family's young master into the water.
"It's just that with Ruan Songling's interference, not only did Mdm Wu's younger sister not succeed, she was also saved by a local ruffian who jumped into the water.
"He even deliberately hugged her in public and ruined her innocence.
"Ruan Songling even came forward to let Mdm Wu's younger sister marry that local ruffian, but Master Wu strongly refused and left Mdm Wu's younger sister at home.
"After a few years, he then let Mdm Wu's younger sister marry the legitimate son of a small family in another city.
"With the Wu family's support, her life is not bad."
Shi Qingluo did not expect Mdm Wu to make such a move.
"It seems that it is understandable for Master Wu to favor his concubine and destroy his wife."
He was forced to divorce the woman he was engaged to due to pressure from Mdm Wu's mother.
Master Wu was also unlucky.
There was nothing wrong with liking someone, but Mdm Wu's mother's way of doing things was very despicable.
Xiao Hanzheng nodded. "That's right. After his other wife married into the family, Mdm Wu's mother caused her to miscarry her first child.
"That's why Master Wu completely despised her.
"Previously, although Master Wu was cold towards Mdm Wu's mother, he did not go out of his way to suppress her. After all, she was his wife in name.
"The matter of Mdm Wu harming his other wife also stepped on Master Wu's bottom line and she lost her right to manage the family as the first wife.
"I've checked. After his other wife entered the Wu residence, she didn't harm Mdm Wu's mother. It was because she truly loved Master Wu that she was willing to be taken in as a concubine.
"However, because Mdm Wu's mother caused her to have a miscarriage, she became more daring and began to suppress Mdm Wu and her mother
"Mdm Wu's mother is not a victim.
"Instead, she has been acting like a demon.
"She is even a little demonic. She is not worthy of sympathy.
"In fact, Mdm Wu also tried to frame his other wife and her children at home. It was just that Master Wu didn't believe it, so it failed.
"Because of this, she hated her biological father even more and asked Ruan Songling to help suppress him.
"The Tu family's original master, who is also Mdm Wu's father-in-law, died of an acute illness.
"After her husband inherited the Tu family, she had a lot of pillow talk, which helped her suppress her maternal family.
"However, because Ruan Songling helped to suppress it before and because the Wu family is not as good as the Tu family, many people don't know about the grudges of the previous generation.
"Because of the additional advantage Mdm Wu had due to Ruan Songling's help, it transformed other people's impression of Master Wu.
"He became an ungrateful and heartless man who favored concubines and destroyed his wife, an ungrateful lover who doesn't differentiate between his legitimate and illegitimate children.
"After Mdm Wu became Lady Tu, she didn't torture her illegitimate children like Ruan Songling.
"She pretended to be a kind mother and deliberately indulged and pampered them.
"Because of this, Master Tu also thinks that Mdm Wu is a good wife and mother. He gave her all the power and didn't interfere with the affairs of the backyard.
"So now, in the Tu family, except for her two sons who are more successful, the other illegitimate sons are all useless.
"The illegitimate daughters are either timid and weak or unruly and willful. They are far worse than the legitimate daughters."
Xiao Hanzheng added, "Lady Tu just met Ruan Songling not long ago. My guess is that Ruan Songling asked her to invite you to the banquet. Then she wanted to take the opportunity to make a fool of you.
"Or think of a way to deal with you."
Ruan Songling and her daughter bullied the weak and feared the strong.
It was clearly Prince Jin who drove them out of Prince Jin's residence, but they insisted on putting the blame on his little wife.
They had hired assassins and exchanged favors for others to set up a trap.
If they could, why didn't they seek revenge from Prince Jin?
After Shi Qingluo finished listening, she couldn't help but sigh. "It's true one would make friends with someone of a similar type.
"Then it seems that Lady Tu's character is not very good."
The banquet three days later would be the Hongmen Banquet.
She touched her chin and smiled. "That's good. They want to make a fool of me. I'll use them as an example."
She was no longer a farmer's daughter. Not only was she Princess Fubao, but she was also the magistrate's wife.
She didn't believe that all the ladies and young ladies of the aristocratic families in Northern City wanted to be on bad terms with her.