“How could she possibly leave? She would only try even harder to please Aunt. After all, without Aunt, her comfortable life would surely decline by eighty or ninety percent. However, as a counterfeit replacement for Fourth Sister, the genuine Fourth Sister probably hates her to the bone.”

Wenren Ying let out a cold sneer. Wu Yaru once harbored murderous intentions toward her and had always hoped for her death. Now that Fourth Sister had returned, Wu Yaru must be cursing her deeply at heart. However, Fourth Sister was now the apple of their mother’s eye. If Wu Yaru dared to do anything to her—even if Fourth Sister lost just a strand of hair—mother might very well personally kill Wu Yaru.

Wenren Ying understood all too well. Her mother never truly liked Wu Yaru as much as outsiders thought. It was just that her mother was wealthy and didn’t care much about material things. Although it seemed like she gave a lot to Wu Yaru, the real treasures were still reserved for her own brothers and sisters. What her mother did for Wu Yaru on the surface was merely lip service.

In truth, Wu Yaru’s status in her mother’s eyes was probably no different from that of a long-kept cat or dog. Some actions had just become a habit and led to those who were oblivious confusing them for rightful treatment.

Her mother wasn’t a bad person, but all her tenderness and love were reserved for her family. If an outsider touched her reverse scale, she would risk everything to fight back. As for a pet that harms its owner, she would not hesitate to put it down.

Knowing this, Wenren Ying didn’t take Wu Yaru to heart. Sometimes, if Wu Yaru tried to provoke her in private, she would just retaliate. After all, Wu Yaru didn’t dare make a scene. It was even more amusing than telling their mother and having her cast Wu Yaru aside. At times, when she was in a bad mood, venting her frustration on Wu Yaru wasn’t a bad option either.

Xiao Cao found herself somewhat speechless. She’d heard of people like Wu Yaru before. The more you give to them, the more they think they are entitled; even when you give them everything, they still crave more, wishing they could bite into your flesh and blood. Wu Yaru’s birth mother wasn’t someone who gave in to her whims, so Wu Yaru had to bottle up her bitterness, waiting for the right moment to act.

Still, Xiao Cao found it absurd that their mother had brought back someone else’s child just because of some emotional projection. The Wu family might have gladly accepted it, but the very act itself was perplexing to Xiao Cao. That’s not how things should be handled.

Wu Yaru approached their side, her smile masking the fury in her heart. She hadn’t heard all of the previous conversation, but Wenren Ying’s expression was unmistakable, filling her with resentment. However, she had to maintain her pleasant facade.

Greedy she might be, but Wu Yaru wasn’t stupid. As a child, she didn’t know how to control her emotions and often quarreled with Wenren Ying. Back then, her mother could smooth things over as childish squabbles. But as they grew older, repairing the relationship became impossible. Unable to mend things with Wenren Ying, she turned her attention to pleasing and currying favor with others. Deep down, she was full of hatred and unwillingness, constantly questioning, “Why? Why me?” But she had no choice but to endure. She could not afford to lose her aunt’s favor!

As for Wenren Ying, she could be dealt with in due time. But the one who’d been lost—the one who should have died out in the wild—had come back? Returned, indeed!

When Wu Yaru first heard the news, it was like a bolt from the blue, leaving her completely flustered. Would Aunt still treat her the same once she was no longer of any use? She couldn’t stop herself and immediately rushed to her maternal family to consult her mother.

Wu Yaru believed her smile remained flawless, but something in the way others looked at her felt off. Was there something wrong with how she appeared? She wondered, but she had double-checked everything before leaving the house.

When Xiao Cao looked up at her, Wu Yaru could hardly keep her composure. Just based on her face alone, no one would even doubt that Xiao Cao was a member of the Wenren family. Wu Yaru’s mother had been jealous of Aunt not merely for her status and the attention she received growing up, but also because Aunt was admired by many after marriage, boasting enviable beauty. She stood out as the most radiant among the Han family women and in the entire social circle. Wu Yaru’s mother often lamented that she wanted to disfigure Aunt’s face. Wu Yaru now deeply understood her mother’s feelings. She also wanted to lunge forward and destroy Xiao Cao’s face right then and there.

Wu Yaru’s gaze fixated on Xiao Cao, while Xiao Cao reciprocated with her own scrutiny. From a professional perspective, Xiao Cao noticed that Wu Yaru’s makeup was well done, though there was a subtle difference in skin tone between her face and neck. Additionally, there were other telltale signs: red eyes, dry lips, dry skin on her hands, faint perspiration around her neck and hairline, and despite her measured pace, a trace of unsteadiness in her steps. Occasionally, she would lift her hand to her temple, her brow furrowed in subtle discomfort—probably feeling dizzy. Her liver heat was surely flaring up. She likely hadn’t been this angry in a long time, and her temper had grown irritable. More crucially, her hand hovered protectively over her lower abdomen, and the maid behind her stayed especially close. Xiao Cao had seen too many pregnant women not to notice these signs.

Common wisdom dictates great care during the first trimester, especially for those who struggle with conceiving. Most would choose to rest in bed during the first three months. Wu Yaru appeared to be at most two months along, and yet, despite her poor health, she was still out and about. She certainly seemed to be “important” to Wenren Xuan. It remained unclear whether she was hiding her pregnancy from the family for the time being, or if her husband’s family valued the Wenren family more than their unborn child.

Ninety percent of the time, it was the former. After all, Wu Yaru’s tangled “love-hate relationship” with the Wenren family was certainly not something she’d display openly to her husband’s household. That mentality, on its own, was problematic. Judging by her figure, this seemed to be her first child. No one wouldn’t take that seriously.

Xiao Cao’s opinion of Wu Yaru plummeted to a deep negative.

While others might not have noticed Wu Yaru’s physical condition, the minor details in her movements didn’t escape Xiao Cao’s sharp observation. Most of the women present were either unmarried girls or a few young married women, and among them was an “old fox” like Wenren Ying, who couldn’t help but notice.

Wenren Ying’s eyes narrowed. What exactly happened at this time in her previous life? It had been two or three decades; she didn’t remember much. Wu Yaru was likely pregnant around this period. However, that child was never born, and Wenren Ying herself was somehow involved. It hadn’t been her intention to target Wu Yaru, nor had Wu Yaru intentionally used her pregnancy to trap her. It was just some mundane argument that accidentally spiraled out of control. Wu Yaru cried and wailed, and Wenren Ying ended up getting blamed severely. Who was truly at fault was never clear, but it was a fact that Wu Yaru lost her child. Wenren Ying had no way to clear her name. To smooth over the situation, she not only faced house arrest, but her mother also gave Wu Yaru a large amount of gifts as compensation, and even leveraged the Wenren family’s influence to elevate Wu Yaru’s husband’s position.

Wenren Ying’s gaze swept toward Wu Yaru’s belly. Unlike Xiao Cao, who was only vaguely suspicious, Wenren Ying was certain Wu Yaru was hiding her pregnancy. Not only could Wu Yaru put on a show in front of the Wenren family, but she was adept at fooling her own in-laws as well. Her husband’s family placed significant value on her. If they ever found out she’d recklessly put their unborn child at risk for something and things didn’t go well, who knows if Wu Yaru would still be able to thrive in the Song family as effortlessly as she had in her previous life.