Wang heard the servants report back, then went with Ruan to the flower hall.

  "You're saying that Yin Zhu falsely accused her of hitting someone because she had an improper thought about Lang Ge, and was caught by Wan Jie, so she framed her?" She took the tea from Su Luo's hand, her two delicate willow-leaf eyebrows twisted into a knot.

  "Is this also fake?" Ruan Shi leaned forward and said, "Now it's been secretly spread outside. Didn't Dan Xiang Temple dismiss two servants this morning? According to the rumor, it was from a young servant named Bao Mo that the news came out. Bao Mo was dissatisfied because when he was dismissed by Lang Ge this time, he wasn't given anything, so he revealed the truth."

  Wang stared at the door, his face gradually becoming more serious. After a long time, he nodded and said, "No wonder I felt that something was off about this matter. Although Yin Zhu is indeed arrogant, it's not possible for her to have the audacity to hit the young mistress."

  "Exactly!" Mrs. Ruan hastily said: "This brother and sister's methods are really vicious, but it's just a few words, the second young master is a man and won't suffer any losses, yet he got Silver Pearl beaten by Master until her skin was lacerated! Think back to when Silver Pearl was in front of Madame...

  As they were talking, Su Luo suddenly turned her face away and coughed. Ruan Shi hastily stopped the conversation and accompanied Wang Shi with a smile before sitting back down.

  Wang said calmly, "Don't mention the silver pearl again. Not to mention that Silver Pearl's words are unstable and have already broken the rules, even if it is the master's young master, it is an unforgivable sin! Even if it is reported to the old master, will the old master still punish the girl for supporting a maid?"

  Ruan slapped his horse's thigh and fell silent with a scowl on his face.

  "Madam, two maidservants have arrived from Danxiangyuan and are now coming to pay their respects to you." At this time, the maid walked in and reported.

  "Let them in."

  Yu Xueyu Fang followed the maid's footsteps and entered, arriving at the center of the hall. They both knelt down and kowtowed three times, saying: "The servants greet Madam."

  Wang nodded and looked at them with a glance, saying: "You were originally serving in front of the second lady, what's going on in the house now?"

  Yu Fang said, "As for what Madam said, we servants were originally serving Second Mistress. Later, Yu Xue was assigned to serve Second Master. Everyone in the house except us servants were dismissed by Second Master."

  "Is this the second young master of the Wang family?" The lady's eyebrows slightly furrowed, "Isn't there a servant in front of the second young master?" After finishing speaking, it seemed like she thought of something else, her eyebrows moved again, and then she carefully examined the two of them before saying: "Why were only the two of you left behind?"

  Yu Fang looked at Yu Xue, who was half-nodding her head and said: "As Madam Hua said, Second Madame gave us two maids to Second Master at the beginning of the year. This time, Second Master said he's used to having us by his side serving him. Since Third Miss is short-handed, someone came to bring us back."

  Wang was shocked and went to see Ruan, whose eyes were also filled with astonishment.

  "Bring a few silver ingots." After half a day, Wang's wife finally came back to her senses and instructed the maid.

  Yu Xue and the other two thanked them and retreated together.

  Wang stared at Yuxue's back for a long time, his hand on his forehead muttering: "The second couple has always been strict and proper, especially with their children, they are so precious. Langlang is only 13 years old, how could the second family...". The rest of the words got stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.

  The Xie family has been thin for generations, and they are very particular about health preservation. In the mansion, there is a rule that young masters cannot get close to women before marriage. If a maid dares to sneak into the master's bed, she will either die or become disabled. Although Xie Qigong now has three concubines in his harem, he has not been intimate with them for many years since he lost hope of having children. The second wife is proud of being the legitimate heir of the Xie family, and Xie Teng is a man who follows rules, so how could he possibly arrange a concubine for his only son prematurely?

  But the words that came out of Yuxue's mouth made people believe - not a newcomer who had just entered the door and didn't understand the rules, how dare they move stones to hurt their own feet? What if Xie Ceng denied it, wouldn't she end up harming herself?

  Wang recalled Yu Xue's appearance when she spoke, indeed with a hint of shyness amidst her politeness, and on her wrist was a bright golden cuff - if she hadn't become Xie Ceng's person, where would she have gotten the nerve to wear such an ostentatious accessory?

  She thought of the heavy bangle worth forty or fifty taels of silver, and her heart ached again. She also recalled what Ruan Shi had told her about the silver pearl earlier, and she felt more and more suspicious, but still couldn't be at ease. She called Su Luo: "You go and ask around to see if such a thing happened."

  Su Luo said, and stepped out of the doorway.

  Ruan saw Wang lying on the couch with her eyes closed, so she got up and said: "I'll go back to my room to see Qisister."

  Ruan Shi came out of the main hall and saw Su Luo walking towards the second door, so she hurriedly took a few steps to catch up and said: "Su Luo, slow down!"

  Su Luo heard the sound and stopped in her tracks, turning around with a smile: "What instructions does the Grand Madam have?"

  Ruan Shi pulled out a ingot of silver from her sleeve and said: "Last time, thank you for helping me out in front of the mistress, today you reminded me again, you are my benefactor, this little bit of silver is my way of repaying you, don't be polite with me!" As she spoke, she grasped Su Luo's hand and heavily placed the ingot on it.

  Su Luo glanced at the ingot with a smile, and pushed it back into Ruan's hand. "Madam values me, I'm delighted, how can I still have the nerve to accept Madam's silver? I have something to attend to for my wife, so I won't keep Madam company any longer."

  Regardless of whether Ruan Shi was still there, she had already turned and left through the second gate.

  Ruan was left hanging there, but she was so angry that she couldn't say a word.

  Xie Qi was doing needlework by the window in her room when she saw her mother come in, muttering to herself, and asked: "Mother, what's wrong?"

  "We've told you how many times, call me mother! Why do you always follow those rustic people and yell 'mom' 'mom' everywhere? Don't you have any manners?"

  Xie Qi was scolded for no reason and threw down her embroidery work, sitting sullenly on the edge of the kang.

  Madam Ruan originally came to complain to her daughter, but now she has offended someone and it's not good to say anything or not say anything. She had to lower her tone a bit, took out a handkerchief from her waist, sighed and wiped away tears: "Your mother is just a little better than those maidservants, in reality, I'm afraid even the maidservants are not as good as me!"

  Xie Qi coldly said: "Where did you get angry again?"

  Ruan Shi put down her handkerchief and pointed in the direction of the main courtyard, saying: "The plain silk fabric in front of Madam was pulled like something else in front of me! I kindly promoted her, thinking that she had helped me once because of your Tong Ge's matter in front of Madam. Today, I specially brought a five-tael silver ingot to give it to her, but who knew she not only didn't accept it, but also didn't give me any face at all, turned around and left! Do you think I'm angry or not?"

  "Five taels of silver for a maid?! Xie Qi raised his voice, sneering: "In a few days it's Madame Ren's birthday, and yesterday I asked you to get me three taels of silver to buy a new outfit, but you refused. Yet you're willing to spend five taels of silver on a maid?!"

  Ruan Shi's face turned red with rage, and she pointed at Xie Qi's forehead, scolding: "New clothes, new clothes! All day long, all you know is new clothes! Even if you wear new clothes every day, Lord San Gongzi wouldn't give you a second glance!"

  "You're talking nonsense! What makes him look down on me?" Xie Qi shouted loudly.

  "The Ren family is the richest in Nanyuan, with so much money that it's growing mold! What does your father have? Nothing at all! He just borrowed the name of Xie Dage, and in the future, you won't even get half of the family property. You don't have a dowry, what can you use to marry into the Ren family and enjoy wealth?"

  Ruan was also feeling suffocated, and suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her chest again.

  At first, her father had thought that marrying her into the Xie family would be a good thing, relying on their powerful background to live a comfortable life. She too had thought that by marrying in, she would become the respected mistress of the house, but she hadn't realized how deep the waters were in the Xie household. Although Xie Hong was an adopted son, he didn't have any share in the family's property, and as soon as Wang Shi died, he would have to leave the family and live on his own! He had no skills and no property, so what could he use to support his wife and children? What could he use to curry favor with the wealthy and influential families?!

  She felt that her life was ruined by her father, and she could only swallow her teeth and be obedient in front of her parents-in-law, accompany her husband carefully, and maintain the dignity of a lady in front of the servants!

  She's had enough of this life!

  "Nonsense! Nonsense! Mother is so fond of Father, in the future when I get married, she will definitely prepare a dowry for me!"

  Xie Qi wailed, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't accept this blow. She had known Ren San Gongzi for so many years, they had played together since childhood, and now her mother said she didn't have a dowry, wasn't good enough for him!

  "I'm going to find my wife!" She shouted loudly at Ruan Shi and rushed out of the door.

  Ruan Shi hastily chased after her: "Qí jiě!"

  Wang had just finished lunch when Su Luo came back.

  The slave went for a walk in the mansion and found out that Yuxue was indeed serving Lang Shao. The slave was afraid of misinformation, so she made a special trip to Huangshi Town, and the second house was indeed locked up. However, when the slave left the town, she ran into Li Pozi, who used to work in the second house, and stopped to ask questions.

  "That old woman Li said that Master Rong deliberately sent them away because he remembered his hatred for her son's request to marry Yu Xue, and also said that Yu Xue was favored by Master Rong only because she had an affair with him, so Master Rong kept only the two of them behind while sending everyone else away."

  Wang furrowed his brow and said: "So in that case, is this thing true?"

  Su Luo murmured, "Yuxue said she was pointed to Lang Jun by the second madam, but Li Pozi said it was Yuxue who hooked up with him herself. However, I think whether it's clear or hidden doesn't matter anymore, now that the second madam has passed away, naturally everyone in the second household will be speaking with one voice, and we can't ask any questions even if we want to. In short, this matter isn't entirely true, but at least eight or nine parts of it are."

  Wang nodded and suddenly smiled, "It's really a case of 'you reap what you sow'."

  Su Luo smiled: "Yes, Lang young master is still in the midst of his filial piety, and the old master is someone who values etiquette the most. If this matter were to reach the old master's ears..."

  Wang's family let out a breath, patted the bed frame, "Pass on my orders, have Yu Xue follow Lang Jun to Xiangxiang courtyard. Also, pick a pair of pearl flowers and send them over."

  Su Luo smiled and said: "Yes."