Peach Blossom.

Tao Ye certainly did not recognize this woman, but judging from her appearance, which was about fifty years old, and her dignified appearance and calm gait, she guessed that this must be Xiao Rui, the beloved mother-in-law, the mistress of the Wang family, and the wife of Prime Minister Wang Yi.

Tao Ye remembered that the servant of the princess's mansion said in a message that Mantangjiao was persuaded by her mother-in-law to leave the Wang family. So, she guessed that Mantangjiao was unwilling to give her mother-in-law a good face.

She imitated Mantangjiao's mentality, looked up and ignored Xiao Rui, without saying a word. Her eyes were as cold as ice and as sharp as a sword, but they were full of thousands of words.

Xiao Rui had a trace of apology on his face. He lowered his head to glance at the dead and injured bodies, not daring to ask loudly: "Ah Jiao, Shuangshuang... What happened to Shuangshuang?"

Tao Ye immediately understood that "Shuangshuang" must be the name of the dead maid.

She thought that if the person who killed Mantangjiao's master and servants was the princess, the Wang family might not know about it. But since the princess was about to become the Wang family's new bride, this matter was ultimately related to the Wang family.

Tao Ye showed a sinister smile. She was so cold that her voice was trembling: "People are the butchers and I am the meat. You ask me, who should I ask?"

"You mean, the one who did it was..." Xiao Rui seemed to have guessed what his daughter-in-law meant, but he didn't dare to rashly say the word "princess".

"Besides her, who else could it be?" Tao Ye imitated Man Tang Jiao's rage, pointed at the dead body on the ground, and shouted: "The only person in the world who was still kind to me is dead! She died for me! Otherwise, I would be the one lying here today! In that case, there would be no one to hinder your rapid success!"

"Ah Jiao, how... why do you say that? Last time, I told you... You also know that it is difficult to disobey the emperor's order... We can only regard it as a great honor..." Xiao Rui sighed softly, his tone full of helplessness and embarrassment.

"Glory! Yes! That is your glory! But it is my disaster!" Tao Ye felt dizzy after saying this. It was probably because he had not eaten or drunk anything for a whole day and night, and had been walking with a heavy load, and had been caught in a heavy rain. He was too excited when he spoke at this moment, and he was exhausted and fainted on the ground unconsciously.

Xiao Rui was startled and hurriedly ordered the maid who served him: "Hurry up and have someone help the Second Madam in!"

The servants hurriedly lifted Tao Ye, and another group of people lifted the dead maid. They were busy arranging for calling a doctor and funeral matters. The entire Situ Mansion had almost no sleep all night.

When Tao Ye woke up again, it was already daybreak. She lay in a warm bed, her wet clothes had been changed, and there was a sweet scent in the room.

When she tried to sit up, she found a seven-year-old girl in the room.

When the little girl saw that she was awake, she ran over in a hurry, got into her arms and cried, "Mom, you finally woke up, you scared me to death!"

Is this Mantangjiao’s daughter?

Tao Ye felt nervous. She had seldom come into contact with such a young child in her life. Suddenly, a good girl fell from the sky and called her so affectionately. How should she respond?

She wanted to call her affectionately, but she didn't know the little girl's name, so she had to pretend to be "long time no see, I miss you so much": "My dear daughter, are you doing well at home? Mother misses you so much!"

The little girl shook her head: "No! I don't want to be separated from my mother. Please don't leave me, okay?"

After hearing this, Tao Ye felt sad, because the real Mantangjiao was already dead, but the poor little girl didn't know it.

The little girl jumped onto the bed, got into the quilt, and snuggled up to Tao Ye. She pulled up the corner of the quilt to cover her face, and then put it down again, like playing hide-and-seek.

Looking at the happy face of the little girl, Tao Ye couldn't help but shed tears. She really hoped that the person sitting here at this moment was the real Mantangjiao, and not her, a fake.

The little girl quickly wiped away Tao Ye's tears and put on a strong look in all seriousness: "Don't be afraid, mother. If that bastard princess dares to come, I'll beat her up! I will protect you!"

Tao Ye couldn't help but hug the girl tightly in her arms, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. She silently swore that she would protect the child well.

At this moment, she felt as if she had become the girl's mother.

The two embraced each other affectionately, intoxicated by each other.

At this time, someone knocked on the door: "Ah Jiao, are you awake?"

Tao Ye could tell that it was still Xiao Rui's voice.

The door was not locked, so knocking was of course polite.

Since Xiao Rui took in the daughter-in-law who had been kicked out of the house last night, Tao Ye should not turn her mother-in-law away in return.

So Tao Ye left the girl on the bed, put on her shoes and opened the door.

Not only Xiao Rui appeared in front of Tao Ye, but also a large group of people, all of them women.

Seeing so many people at once, Tao Ye didn't know who was who. She remembered Chen Ji said, "Nowadays, a powerful man should be indifferent to everyone except his own daughter." So she pretended to be indifferent, still without saying a word, and stepped to the side of the door to make way for these people.

Most of the group of people stayed outside the door. Only two people walked in. In addition to Xiao Rui, there was a woman with a shiny bun, who looked to be around thirty years old and did not look like a maid.

When Xiao Rui walked inside, he saw the little girl on the bed and called out, "Yu'er, it's already noon, why are you still in the room? Go study!"

Yu'er rolled over and got out of bed. Her little body was very nimble. She walked to her grandmother in two or three steps, with a stubborn look on her face: "I won't go! You want to drive my mother away while I'm in school! I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here and watch over her!"

Tao Ye remained silent. She had a common sense that when she didn't understand the situation, it would be easier to make mistakes by talking less and listening more.

The woman standing next to Xiao Rui squatted down, took Yu'er's hand, smiled kindly, and advised: "Yu'er, you misunderstood grandma! Why would grandma drive your mother away? Go find the master quickly, your brothers and sisters are waiting for you there!"

Yu Er still pursed her lips: "I don't! You always say that!"

The woman had no choice but to stand up and turn her gaze to Tao Ye, still speaking softly: "Sister-in-law, this child only listens to you, so please persuade her! Mother has something to tell you, and it's not good for the child to hear it!"

Tao Ye now understood that this woman was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Wang family and a very spoiled sister-in-law. The "brothers and sisters" that this sister-in-law had just mentioned to Yu'er must be the grandchildren of the Wang family's eldest branch.

Tao Ye gave her sister-in-law a favor, stroked Yu'er's head and said, "My dear Yu'er, you must not be ignorant. Go to the master and learn. I promise you that when you come back, I will wait for you in the house."

Yu'er pouted and looked up at Taoye: "Mom, you must keep your word. Let's make a pinky promise!"

Tao Ye then stretched out her little finger and made a pinky promise with Yu'er.

Only then did Yu'er go out.

When Grandmother Xiao Rui saw this, she hurriedly ordered the maid outside: "Xiuping, be careful to send the second young lady over!"

Some of the maids left with Yu'er, while others closed the door and stood guard outside, leaving only the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law in the room.

The eldest daughter-in-law Zhou Yunniang helped her mother-in-law sit on the chair, then clasped her hands at her waist and stood by her side.

Tao Ye imitated Zhou Yunniang's posture and stood on the other side of her mother-in-law Xiao Rui.

Xiao Rui looked at Tao Ye and said, "Ah Jiao, you may have already known that tomorrow... is the wedding day of Jing'er and the princess..."

Tao Ye calculated silently that Mantangjiao left the Wang family only the afternoon before yesterday, and the newlyweds will be getting married tomorrow. This speed is simply unbeatable.

Xiao Rui added: "I have arranged for Shuangshuang to be buried with honor and have also given her parents a sum of money. Her family has stopped pursuing the matter. Do you... have any other requests?"

Tao Ye thought, if she couldn't make any demands, should she just pack up and leave?

Therefore, she absolutely could not be satisfied with Xiao Rui's arrangement, so she spoke up: "Mother, do you think that as long as Shuangshuang's family doesn't pursue the matter, this matter will be over?"

Xiao Rui frowned slightly and asked, "Do you still want to file a complaint at the government office?"

"Why not?" Tao Ye said arrogantly.

Zhou Yunniang hurriedly moved forward, took Tao Ye's arm, and said something serious: "Sister-in-law, you can't always be so arrogant! The princess is a princess after all, how can we fight against the stone with an egg?"

Tao Ye was a little surprised when she heard the words "arrogant and proud". She always thought that Mantang Jiao must be a submissive, magnanimous and virtuous wife and mother, which was why she was bullied so badly!

Xiao Rui echoed his eldest daughter-in-law's words and nodded repeatedly: "Your eldest sister-in-law is right. No matter how loyal Shuangshuang is, can she be more important than your husband? Jing'er is so sick now, and I don't know when he will be able to get out of bed. Can't you feel sorry for him again?"

Wang Jing’s illness?

Tao Ye was confused. How could she know what disease Wang Jing had? How serious was his illness? And what caused his illness?

But Mantangjiao must know all these things!

Tao Ye didn't dare to respond blindly to something she didn't know, and could only remain speechless once again, thinking it was just "arrogance".

Mother-in-law Xiao Rui added: "And what about your father-in-law? What if the princess finds out? You are a very filial child!"

Father-in-law's matter? What's that?

In Tao Ye’s mind, a group of alpacas were galloping past.

Xiao Rui held Tao Ye's hand affectionately, as if begging: "Ah Jiao, let's still abide by our last agreement, okay?"

The last agreement? What was that agreement?

In Tao Ye's mind, there was another group of grass mud horses...

This is a thousand horses galloping! How can there be so many things that we should know but don’t know? She was a little upset...

She remembered what Chen Ji had said, "If there is anything you can't handle, I can help you."

This is really nonsense! How can two people help each other when they are in two different places and have no contact methods such as phone, WeChat, QQ, etc.?

Seeing that his daughter-in-law seemed to be hesitant, Xiao Rui sighed again, as if persuading and sighing: "Remember the two choices Jing'er gave you? One is divorce, and the other is to become a concubine. No man in our Wang family has ever taken a concubine. How can I let you down?"

After hearing these words, Tao Ye's heart was suddenly filled with turmoil: Oh my goodness! Divorce? Become a concubine? Wang Jing could really come up with such two vicious choices!

Divorce? Making room for the princess so quickly is too easy for that scumbag!

Become a concubine? Let Wang Jing enjoy the happiness of having two wives. It would be too good of a bargain for that scumbag!

Tao Ye thought to herself: No one can succeed! I will fight you till the end!

But at the moment, the high degree of information asymmetry made it impossible for her to deal with her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. She needed to find an opportunity to slow down and ask Chen Ji for advice...

Suddenly, Tao Ye had a flash of inspiration and came up with a good idea.

She looked at her mother-in-law Xiao Rui calmly and said softly, "My parents have passed away a long time ago. Mother, are you willing to accept me as your daughter and be a matchmaker for me?"