Yi Xin as a concubine

Xin Baoer saw her elder sister off in a daze, and then was taken care of to sleep by Mother Lin and Lancao. Maybe because she had just recovered from an illness and had been busy all day, she slept very soundly.

Just when Xin Baoer dreamed that her mother's face in the previous life turned into the image of an older sister and was speaking to her gently and carefully.

She had no idea that another rumor about her was spreading on the streets.

When Master Xin found out about this, he was so angry that he overturned the tea that had just been served. Fortunately, no one got scalded.

"Master, what's going on? Bao'er never goes out, and it's impossible for her to offend anyone. How could someone be so vicious and throw dirty water on her?"

Cheng asked as soon as she arrived at the study door, but she was not careful and almost slipped on the broken porcelain pieces.

Madam Cheng got up early in the morning and was waiting for the steward to report the situation in various places. As a result, she heard the report from her personal servant Mama Qi. She didn't even have time to verify whether it was true, and hurried to find her master.

Just when the couple ordered people to investigate the source of the rumor, the second brother Xin Chengzhi had already started fighting with someone.

Here's what happened. Xin Chengzhi helped his elder brother Xin Chengfeng to deal with some matters at the farm outside the city last night. Things turned out to be a bit tricky, and it was already late after they resolved them, so they stayed there overnight.

Fearing that his eldest brother would worry, he rushed back early in the morning. He was the first wave to enter the city as soon as the city gate opened, and found a restaurant planning to have breakfast before going back. While he was eating, he heard someone mention the Xin family. He immediately stopped eating and pricked up his ears to listen.

It was not a big deal to hear this, but I heard several men whose bodies were hollowed out by alcohol and sex, talking nonsense, saying that the Xin family had an eighth daughter who could obviously be the main wife, but she wanted to use her beauty to seduce others and become someone's concubine, and she rejected all the decent men that Madam Xin had tried to find for her.

Several of them spoke in a very vulgar way, describing Xin Baoer as a girl from a brothel. Xin Chengzhi could not stand it any longer, so he knocked the person closest to him out with one punch.

Master Xin brought the men back from the yamen. Xin Chengzhi was beaten black and blue, but he was ruthless enough. The other three were not much better off, and one of them even had an arm broken.

In the afternoon, the eldest sister Xin Feng'er and the second sister Xin Huang'er both sneaked back home to inquire about the situation. It can be seen how quickly the rumor spreads. Even Concubine Xi who was in the Prince's Eastern Palace received the news.

The three grandfathers of the Xin family mobilized all their connections to investigate the source of the rumor. It was not until the evening that they found out that it was a business competitor of the Xin family who heard it from Miss Zhang. The competitor wanted to involve the Xin family in a scandal so that they could vent their anger about having their business taken away.

"The Liu family and the Zhang family are related by marriage. They are in cahoots with each other and are a bunch of jerk." Mrs. Miao, the third wife of Xin, is also related to the Liu family by marriage. Miao's eldest brother married the daughter of the Liu family, and she and the eldest sister-in-law do not get along well. Whenever they meet, they have to make sarcastic remarks to each other.

"This is something that Liu family thinks that if they reach the fifth rank official, they can rest assured that they are overestimating their abilities!" Mr. Xin Er has the hottest temper. If the Liu family had not been in front of him, he would probably have been able to go up and punch him twice.

"The Liu family has been causing trouble for us over the years. It's really like a toad falling on our feet - it's not scary but annoying. It's better to get rid of it early." The eldest lady, Mrs. Cheng, is not a patient person. She likes to cut the Gordian knot when doing things.

"Well, the small Liu family is nothing to be afraid of, and the Zhang family is not a big deal either. But I always feel that something is not right about this matter. From the information we have found, although the Zhang family is the source, the Zhang family did not participate in the spread. Just relying on a small Liu family..." Master Xin shook his head. The meaning was very clear. The Liu family could not do it at all. It could spread so quickly.

"Brother, what you mean is that someone is fanning the flames." Master Xin San was thoughtful and immediately thought of the key point.

"But no one knows Bao girl's identity. On the surface, she is just a little concubine's daughter. It is not uncommon for her to be given away as a concubine in an unscrupulous family. What's the point of spreading such rumors?" The Third Master analyzed.

"I can't figure it out for the moment. I'm afraid we have to dig deeper and find the people who are behind the scenes fanning the flames before we can know what is going on." Master Xin's words were quite earnest, giving people a feeling that a storm is about to come.

"Don't let Bao girl hear about this for now. She is a very worried girl and will probably be sick for a few days if she finds out."

Thinking of his timid daughter, the master couldn't help but give another instruction.

Everyone nodded and responded in agreement.

"Alright, let's just leave it at that for now. There's no better solution for now. Let's send someone to suppress the rumors first and see what the results are. Let's wait and see what happens!"

However, before the Xin family could take any action, the matchmaker who came to propose marriage almost broke down the threshold of the Xin family.

At first, the eldest lady was happy to welcome people in, but after listening to them, she found that none of them were worth mentioning. They were either the seventh concubine or the eighth concubine.

Cheng was so angry that she almost flew into a rage and drove out wave after wave of matchmakers. Then she angrily closed the door of her house and refused to see visitors.

Never underestimate people's ability and desire to spread gossip. Although the master of the Xin mansion repeatedly ordered his servants not to gossip in front of Xin Baoer, it did not stop Xin Baoer's puzzle-solving ability.

Now that the library is gone, in order to integrate into this big family as quickly as possible, Xin Baoer goes out for a walk several times a day, observing the people and things around her, trying to get familiar with the surrounding environment as quickly as possible. A familiar environment can make her relax and reduce her fear and tension.

Whenever she went out these few days, she felt that the atmosphere in the mansion was a little strange, which made her, who was sensitive, more attentive.

She heard those rumors here today and there tomorrow. After a few days, she pieced them together and actually guessed the whole story.

Xin Baoer no longer went out to hang out, and sat in front of the window in a daze all day long. She didn't understand whether she wanted to be a wife or a concubine, what did it have to do with others? Shouldn't this be her own business? In a broader sense, it was just the Xin family's business, so why did it become the fuse for others to attack the Xin family.

Xin Baoer became more and more silent, and her expression, which had just become rich, withered again, leaving only sorrow and confusion on her face, which made Mother Lin and Lancao feel distressed.

But no matter how hard she tried to figure it out, the rumors outside were getting more and more intense, even affecting the married daughter of the Xin family.

Each branch of the Xin family was extremely busy, busy with planning, busy with checking for deficiencies and filling in the gaps to prevent outsiders from taking advantage of the opportunity, busy with investigating the driving force behind the rumors, and busy with comforting their married daughters.

Xin Baoer, who is at the center of the storm, seems to have been forgotten by everyone. It's not that no one cares about her, but that they care about her too much. Everyone is afraid to show it in front of her and make her sad, so they deliberately avoid contact with her.

Xin Baoer is like a delicate flower held in the hands of her family. She can enjoy the sunshine and rain to her heart's content, live in her own circle at will, ignore the orders of her parents and the words of the matchmaker, and live according to her heart.

All the ups and downs in the outside world were isolated layer by layer, and she just had to live safely in the greenhouse they built for her.

But why?

Xin Baoer began to doubt this perfect goodness. She was not the real Xin Baoer. She was Xin Rubao who had experienced the evil of human nature. Although she was only a teenager, she was no longer naive enough to believe that there would be goodness in the world for no reason.

She didn't want to make malicious assumptions about the Xin family, but she also didn't want the day to come when they would take advantage of her to repay her.

She had no control over her own life in her previous life, but in this life she has started to save herself. Although the road ahead is difficult, there is always a glimmer of hope.

Xin Baoer warned herself: Since I no longer have the courage to fight again, I will struggle to grasp this glimmer of hope.

Five days passed by unknowingly, and the rumors continued to ferment, as if they were determined to nail Xin Baoer to the pillar of shame, and they spared no effort to slander and abuse her.

Xin Baoer went out for a walk again that day, trying to find out more news from the outside world. However, after walking around the garden, she didn't hear any useful information. Instead, she saw the pity, anger, and hesitant expressions in the eyes of the servants when they looked at her.

There was no need to think too much. With Xin Baoer's sensitivity to other people's emotions, she knew that the rumors outside were probably not very nice, and her heart sank again.