(Jiang Wanru heard Ji Yan's words, looked at her urgent expression, and couldn't help but raise her hand to feel Ji Yan's forehead. A moment later, she said in a low voice: "Ji Yan, you don't have a fever, why are you talking nonsense in the middle of the day? You're forcing your own tasks onto me for no reason.") Ji Yan still blocked Jiang Wanru's path, and she said in a low voice: "Miss, let's go out later."

  Jiang Wanru raised her eyes and looked at Jiyuan, who was blocking her way. She suddenly remembered the person she had seen earlier and asked in a low voice: "Jiyuan, is Mingtou still in the courtyard? What did she do to make you so worried that I'll run into her if I go out? Today it's snowing outside, we have things to attend to, and we can't be delayed because of her. Let's go, I haven't done anything wrong, why should I be afraid of running into her?" Jiyuan slightly moved aside and whispered: "Even if you haven't done anything, she has already hated you because of the Third Master and the matter of leaving the Wang Manor."

  Jiang Wanru listened to Jiyuan's words and thought carefully, it was indeed this reason. Since she came to this world, she hadn't even had time to do anything bad, yet one by one, people hated her. She smiled brightly at Jiyuan and said: "There are too many people who hate me for no reason, I'm not afraid of adding another case like this. She hasn't left until now, she must want to see me before leaving. People like this hide, but it would only delay my important matters, better to meet early and end it early."

  Jiang Wanru walked out of the house with a calm and collected expression, followed closely by Jiyu. After opening the door, Jiang Wanru saw the delicate woman standing under the crystal clear snow tree, silently weeping. Her pitiful appearance made one feel sympathetic towards her at first glance. Jiang Wanru's eyebrows twitched secretly several times - this was exactly the kind of person her stepmother had been in her past life, using men's natural sympathy for gentle women to break up a good family. By the time the man realized the true nature of such a woman, everything would be irreparable.

  Jiang Wanru's heart actually hated this kind of woman the most. She coldly sized up the people under the tree, seeing her crying with a broken heart. Her gaze shifted lightly, and she turned to say softly to Jiyuan: "This year's first snow is earlier than in previous years, I'm afraid it will snow even more heavily later on. We should prepare more things when we go out this time." Jiyuan glanced at the woman standing under the tree with a package, seeing her look up at Jiang Wanru in surprise. Jiyuan secretly rejoiced and smiled as he nodded: "Miss, then let's take a look at the fabric store."

  Ming Tuo arrived at the Jiang's residence early in the morning, carrying a package and wanting to see Jiang Wanru. She had many things she wanted to say to her. After entering the courtyard, she saw the people inside, still smiling and welcoming her, secretly pleased that her relationships with others were always very good. Smiling, she said she wanted to see Jiang Wanru, and immediately everyone in the courtyard made excuses to leave. She stopped a slow-moving little maid, who shook her head repeatedly, saying: "Ming Tuo sister, it's not that I don't want to announce you, but you came too early. If I disturb Madame now, after Master finds out later, I'll be sold out."

  Ming Tuo slowly released his grip on the maid's hand, staring blankly at her quickly retreating figure. She used to enter Jiang Wanruo's room, often standing outside and saying a word or two before pushing the door open without waiting for a response. When Lian Hao came to Jiang Wanruo's room, she would think of ways to come over and serve him in order to take better care of him. Ming Tuo felt that he treated Lian Hao with more importance than anyone else, and no one else would be able to serve Lian Hao as meticulously as her.

  After Mingyu left, Lianhao became even colder. Ming knew that what she and Mingyu said in front of the princess had probably already reached Lianhao's ears. Ming didn't think it was a big deal, thinking that with time, Lianhao would understand her good intentions. She looked down on Jiang Wanting's behavior, feeling that she wasn't worthy of Lianhao in any way. As the mistress of the house, she couldn't even manage the household affairs properly. During festivals, she was stingy and didn't know how to reward the servants to win their hearts.

  Ming Tuo couldn't have imagined that Lian Hao would notice that woman, and come to see her again and again. Later, because of that woman, he warned himself: "From now on, when you enter the mistress's room, let the people in the courtyard report it. Don't take the initiative to report yourself. The mistress is a quiet person, if there's no important matter, don't go near her." Ming Tuo listened to Lian Hao's words and followed them afterwards. Every time he came over, he had the people in the courtyard report it, and Jiang Wanru never refused him entry.

  Ming Tong thought of something and saw Ji Yan coming over, so she quickly intercepted her and said that she wanted to see Jiang Wanru. Ji Yan looked at her with a difficult expression and shook her head, saying: "The master has not gotten up yet, and will not see anyone at this time." Ming Tong was about to say more when the housekeeper came over, and Ji Yan immediately turned around and left. The housekeeper looked at Ming Tong who was carrying a package and shook her head, saying: "Ming Tong, you are an intelligent person, why must you insist on seeing the mistress? You also know that the mistress never interferes with things, no matter how much you say to her, it will be useless."

  Ming's tears fell slowly, and she said in a low voice: "I don't believe it, she must have said something to grandfather, or he wouldn't be so cruel to me." The housekeeper's expression changed after hearing this, and she couldn't hide the anger on her face as she looked at Ming and said: "Ming, what have you done? Grandfather already knew. You say good things about the mistress in front of people, but behind their backs, you say bad things about her to anyone who will listen, saying she's narrow-minded and lacking in knowledge. But the truth is, the mistress has never interfered with anything, she just stays in the courtyard. She may seem cold and distant to the people in the courtyard, but she has never arbitrarily ordered anyone around. Ming, you can't be too wicked."

  The busy woman walked away, and the food delivery woman came and went. In this crowded courtyard, everyone was busy and had no time to pay attention to Mingtong. She stood under the tree, thinking of that time when Lianhao spoke to her on the side of the road by the study, and thought of his words to Jiang Wenyu. Lianhao's eyes usually didn't look at anyone except for a few close people, but that day he spoke to Jiang Wenyu with such care, and after hearing her response, his face was filled with joy.

  Ming Tuo was thinking about many things, and from that day on, she secretly resented the woman and didn't want to appear in front of her again. Ming Tuo spent some peaceful days afterwards, not hearing any other news, and the princess treated her as usual. Gradually, her heart fell into place, feeling that Lian Hao's words that day were just anger, after all, he still remembered their old affection and couldn't bear to give her up. After Ming Yu left, only she understood Lian Hao's love and hate best. Who knew that the other day, the princess summoned her over and directly told her: "Ming Tuo, you have always been someone I can use."

  "You three keep telling me that if you really want to be good to me, don't delay my marriage. These days, I've been carefully selecting a person for you, and finally found someone from a decent family...". Mingtou felt at the time that the queen's voice was distant, but the meaning of her words was especially unclear. She murmured: "Master, you once said that in the future I would be your madam, I will listen to your words carefully and serve master and mistress diligently." The woman standing behind the queen quickly rushed over and pulled Mingtou down to kneel, saying: "Master, my family and I thank you and master for your great kindness."

  Mingtu followed the woman out in a daze, on the winding path, the woman shook her head and said: "Mingtu, the master has chosen someone for you who is not bad, although it's a continuation of marriage, but that is the main wife of a small official. You will have the opportunity to visit Wangfei frequently in the future, with the Wangfu as your backing, it's better than being a concubine by San Ye's side." Mingtu looked at her absent-mindedly and said: "Sister-in-law, you said that I should listen to you and be a concubine, in the future, relying on my appearance, I will definitely receive favor and become a concubine. Life will definitely be good..." The woman covered her mouth and whispered: "Mingtu, we misjudged San Ye, he is not lustful, no matter how beautiful you are, it's useless. Now it's great, being the main wife ah."

  In the Wang Fu, those who were close to her heard the news and came privately to congratulate her. Some people even envied her, saying: "Ming Tong, the princess treats you well, I heard that man is not old, his family has no concubines, his children are already grown up, and he doesn't want you to take care of them, what a good marriage!" Ming Tong had thought it through after one night, and smiled as she accepted their congratulations. She went to ask her elder sister-in-law about the situation, and found out that it was introduced by the head steward, who had investigated the person and found him to be decent, with no bad habits. The only drawback was that he had been too good to his wife in the past, and had never taken a concubine.

  Ming Tuo felt disheartened and lazy, thinking that her elder sister-in-law should have heard the rumors early on but had been keeping them from her. Ming Tuo's elder sister-in-law saw the look in her eyes and scolded her, saying: "You're not doing your duty as a wife, but instead want to be a concubine - unless you're foolish. Don't look at me like that, later you'll understand our good intentions for keeping this from you. Now get out, it's still okay. Go ask around about Ming Yu's daily life and you'll know that the master and husband still have a heart for you. You can go back home tomorrow and prepare your dowry."

  Ming stood under the tree, snowflakes falling thick on her shoulders. She knew that from now on, there would be no more such prosperity. She heard footsteps and looked up to see Jiang Wanru and Ji Yan walking out talking. Her hand clenched tightly on the bundle, she was crying so hard, yet that woman seemed not to have seen her at all as she passed by. Ming wiped away tears from her face with her sleeve, rushed over to block Jiang Wanru's path and said: "Madam, I will be leaving the Wang Manor soon, I have something to say to you."

  Jiang Wanmu gazed at the snowflakes on her shoulders, not feeling like they had anything to say to each other. Still, she nodded and said, "You speak." Ming Tuo looked at Jiang Wanmu's indifferent face and blurted out, "Did Grandfather drive me away because you spoke too much in front of him?" Jiang Wanmu smiled lightly and looked at her, saying, "You just wanted to ask about this?" Ming Tuo nodded vigorously. Jiang Wanmu gazed at her with a deep gaze, speaking in a low voice, "Ming Tuo, to me, you are someone unrelated. I won't mention unrelated people or things in front of anyone."

  Ming Tuo wiped away the tears in her eyes and quickly cleaned her face. She angrily confronted Jiang Wanru, saying: "I've always been good to you, Madam, how can you be so heartless and say such cruel words?" Jiang Wanru rarely smiled and shook her head, saying: "Ming Tuo, you're very clever, but you don't use it in the right place. You can deceive others, but not your own eyes. Your eyes have already betrayed you. You've only been good to me with your words, but who knows what's really in your heart? You should leave now, we've known each other for a while, and I wish you happiness and fulfillment in the future." Jiang Wanru left with a huff, leaving Ming Tuo stunned behind her.

  Hard study