(Jiang Wanru was listening to the commotion outside, and when she heard Jiyuan speaking to Lianhao with a casual self-reference, she slightly tensed up and gripped her hand tightly, thinking that she should remind Jiyuan not to speak out of turn again. It wasn't until she heard Shuhua use the same self-reference that she relaxed a bit. As soon as Lianhao entered the room, Jiang Wanru, who had been sitting upright, smiled and stood up to greet him: "Greetings, Third Young Master!")

  Lian Hao nodded slightly and sat down directly in the master's seat. Jiang Wanru didn't sit down until he was seated, then slowly took her own seat. After they were both seated, a pretty maid immediately came in with tea, followed by Shu Mei who had come in behind Lian Hao. She walked over to the doorway, reached out and took the tea set from the maid's hands. Turning around, she smiled at Lian Hao and said: "Master, I smell that this is new tea prepared for you." Lian Hao slightly raised his eyes to look at her, indicating for her to serve the tea.

  The beautiful Lian Hua poured tea like flowing water, and smiled as she retreated to the side. She immediately became gentle and warm, unlike her usual boldness when serving tea. Jiang Wan sat quietly in her seat, her eyes slightly lowered. As Lian Hua savored her tea, she secretly sighed, realizing that being a high-ranking maid in a noble family was not an easy job for ordinary people. At least the depth of this work was a height she could never reach, and she would probably never be able to treat others with such precision and thoughtfulness.

  Lian Hao finished a cup of tea, and Shu Mei came over to refill his cup. After Lian Hao waved at her, the people in the room retreated, leaving only the two by the table. Lian Hao glanced at Jiang Wanru, who sat upright with her eyes cast down, occasionally fluttering like a butterfly. Her mouth curved up slightly, looking gentle and elegant. Jiang Wanru wore a pale pink spring dress with light-colored flowers embroidered on it, which brought out her gentle demeanor.

  Lian Hua thought back to when she was at Old Madame Wang's place, listening to the two women who were sent to teach her etiquette. They said to Old Madame Wang: "Third Young Mistress has always been very generous and warm towards us. Her manners are just a bit stiff. But after practicing for so many days, her movements have become naturally elegant. Apart from being extremely quiet, we really can't find any fault with her." Old Madame Wang listened and then asked again, somewhat disbelieving: "You've observed her closely? There's nothing else that's not quite right?" The two women nodded in unison, smiling: "Actually, Third Young Mistress has a very good temper. Even when doing the same movements over and over, she is always warm and polite towards us."

  After the two women withdrew, the old queen looked at Lianhao and said: "Those two have been with me for many years, and after staying with her for a few days, they actually came back to speak well of her. That woman, I originally thought she would bring shame to the palace. Unexpectedly, she is so thorough in her actions. Such a woman, if not for being particularly cunning and having an exceptionally strong temperament, must be born intelligent. Alas, the people of the Jiang family are getting worse with each generation, even our own people will sometimes misjudge."

  Lian Hao sat quietly in the room, not saying a word. Jiang Wanru also didn't dare to speak out of turn. She maintained the same expression, her eyes cast downward, carefully thinking back on herself, wondering if there was anything improper she had done recently that would cause Lian Hao to come knocking on her door from time to time. After the new year, Lian Hao would occasionally come to the courtyard, each time only staying in the courtyard and asking the housekeeper a few questions. At first, when Jiang Wanru heard the sound of him coming to the courtyard, she thought he would enter the room, so she quickly tidied up the room and erased any traces of her own activities.

  Lian Hao had never entered the room, nor had he ever mentioned himself. Gradually, Jiang Wanmu relaxed, and sometimes when she heard Lian Hao's voice, she would hastily wipe away the water marks on the table and sit properly in the room. A while ago, after lunch, she felt a bit lazy due to spring fatigue, thinking that there was no one else in the room, so she leaned against the edge of the table with her body tilted, smiling as she looked at the embroidered shoes on the floor, softly saying: "This flower is embroidered well, let me take a look, my family's Jiyuan is full of joy."

  Ji Yan's face couldn't hide his joy since he got engaged to Mu Gen. The maids in the courtyard, upon hearing the news of his engagement, each presented him with gifts. Ji Yan was shocked and whispered to Jiang Wanru: "Miss, should I accept these gifts? I'm not particularly close to them." After asking about the value of the gifts, Jiang Wanru understood the intentions of the maids. She smiled and said: "Accept them. Having one more friend in the courtyard is always a good thing. In the future, when they have something good happen, remember to return gifts of equal value."

  Ji Yan is now lowering his head to do chores, listening to Jiang Wan's teasing words. He blushes and slightly raises his eyes, just in time to see her lazy appearance. He immediately says: "Miss, if you feel sleepy, go take a nap first. I'll stay here and wake you up after a while, so you can sleep well at night." Jiang Wan is the type of person who sleeps a lot during the day but can't fall asleep at night. Hearing Ji Yan's words, she shakes her head lightly and says: "I'll just sit like this for a while. Once I fall asleep, it's hard to wake me up. Sleeping a bit more during the day means sleeping poorly at night."

  Jiang Wanru and Ji Yan were leisurely in the room, until they heard Lian Hua's voice asking for them in the courtyard. The two thought Lian Hua wouldn't enter the room, so one was leaning against the table with a slouch, while the other had her head down doing needlework. When Lian Hua pushed open the door and entered, Jiang Wanru raised her eyes, showing obvious displeasure. As soon as she saw Lian Hua clearly, she immediately straightened up from her lazy posture, stood up, smiled, and greeted Lian Hua with a bow. She caught sight of the surprise in Lian Hua's eyes, and Ji Yan followed suit, also greeting him with a bow. Her clear voice startled Lian Hua awake.

  Lian Hao's face turned cold as he glanced at the two people in the room, without saying a word, and then left. Ji Yan was frightened, her small face pale, and said to Jiang Wanru: "Miss, what do we do now? We've made Third Young Master angry." However, Jiang Wanru felt relieved, thinking that Lian Hao's behavior was a normal reaction. She comforted Ji Yan, saying: "Third Young Master just came in to take a look, he's magnanimous and won't bother with such trivial matters."

  Jiang Wanting thought it was a trivial matter, but as a result, Lian Hao would enter the courtyard and glance into the room every time, without saying a word, then turn around and leave. After many times, Jiang Wanting just thought that the host was suspicious and worried that the guest would damage the valuable things in the house, so he came to check again and again. Jiang Wanting's mood was calm, and Jiyin relaxed as he looked at her peaceful appearance.

  Lian Hao slowly finished his second cup of water, looking at the person opposite him, still sitting upright as before, without even a slight movement in the corners of his mouth. He remembered the first time he entered the house, just out of curiosity about why that woman always stayed inside whenever he came to the courtyard, never coming out to take a look. At the time, he thought the woman was not there and asked the caretaker, only to learn that she was indeed in the house.

  He had made several attempts to probe her, but the woman never came out of her room. Even in the courtyard, no unusual noise could be heard from her room. This time, he was suddenly curious about what the woman was doing alone in her room, and he pushed open the door to take a look. He saw a woman sitting lazily, and before he could even frown, he saw that she was clearly unhappy with being startled. However, as soon as she saw him, she immediately stood up and politely greeted him.

  Lian Hao had always been the one to whom women would lower their heads and try to please, women in front of him were always cautious and careful, trying to show off their best side. Even Ya Zheng Gongzhu sometimes said nice things to him. He looked at the woman who stood up, her gentle expression, but her eyes seemed especially distant and cold. For a moment, he felt a sense of unease, turned his head and left. After leaving, he couldn't help but think that this would also make the woman understand some things.

  He remembered Jiang Wan's calm and gentle eyes a few days later, thinking that his sudden departure the other day should have made her understand some things. He found another excuse to come to the yard, directly pushing open the door. As soon as he looked up, he saw a woman sitting upright, looking at her standing straight, making a standard courtesy. Her face still had no flattering expression, and her eyes were calm like water. Lian Hao felt extremely uncomfortable, naturally not even giving her a glance, turning around and leaving. It was like this every time he tried again and again, each time seeing the woman with a calm demeanor.

  Lian Hao sat in the room for the first time, after finishing his second cup of tea, he personally poured himself a third cup. The woman in front of him still sat in the same posture. Lian Hao's eyebrows gradually showed anger. He looked at Jiang Wanru and said: "Tomorrow is grandmother's birthday, what do you have to say?" Jiang Wanru heard this and raised her eyes to look at him, smiling and saying: "I'll listen to your orders." Lian Hao was directly choked by her words, then said: "Don't you have any ideas? Eldest sister-in-law prepared a screen for grandmother, second sister-in-law prepared clothes for grandmother, what about you?"

  Jiang Wanru understood Lian Hua's words in an instant. For the first time, Lian Hua sat down and spoke to her in a gentle tone, but Jiang Wanru realized that he was actually setting a trap for her, waiting for her to make a mistake so he could criticize her. Everyone in the palace knew how Old Queen Wang treated Jiang Wanru. She had long since decided to just be a freeloader. Jiang Wanru thought to herself that even if she gave Old Queen Wang a gift with great care and value, it would still be met with disdain, and might even lead to more trouble.

  Jiang Wanru never thought of preparing a birthday gift for the old queen, she smiled and said: "The young master's wife has good eyesight, the screen she chose will definitely make the old queen satisfied. I heard that the second young madam's needlework is very good, the clothes she sent will definitely delight the old queen. My eyesight is not good, I'm clumsy and don't know how to do needlework. These days, I've been thinking and thinking, but really can't think of any gift ideas. I also don't want to randomly send a gift, which would only make the old queen unhappy. I think the third young master has good eyesight, his birthday gift will definitely be well-prepared, so I'll just follow him."

  Jiang Wanmu said as she sized up Lian Hao's expression, she still had to stay in the Lian Wangfu for more than two years. The master in front of her was absolutely someone who couldn't be offended. Jiang Wanmu had a sincere and serious look on her face, with some panic in her eyes. She looked at Lian Hao and saw that his expression became calm when he listened to her words, and she secretly let out a sigh of relief, knowing that this hurdle had been passed.

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  Hard study