Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

"Jiang Ping said... he wants to marry you."

These words were like a thunderbolt, striking Birui directly.

She was originally filled with righteous indignation, but the moment she heard these words, her whole body froze in place.

Her eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief.

"I'd like to ask for your opinion on this matter." Shen Chuning, who was sitting next to him, said softly.

However, at this moment, the entire room was shrouded in a strange silence, without a single sound.

Only the occasional clear and melodious bird calls coming from outside the window break the suffocating silence.

After a long while, Birui seemed to finally come to her senses, but she still looked a little flustered and at a loss.

She said anxiously, "Miss, I will not marry."

Although she said the words of refusal, a faint blush appeared on her fair cheeks.

Shen Chuning, who had been observing Birui's reaction, naturally saw all of this and couldn't help but think to herself: It seems that this girl is not completely without feelings for Jiang Ping.

So, she gently took Birui's hand and said softly, "You're almost twenty, and you have to consider your lifelong affairs. You've always been by my side, so what can't we talk about? Tell me, do you simply not want to marry Jiang Ping, or do you not want to get married, or do you already have someone you like in your heart? No matter who it is, as long as you tell me, I will do my best to make this fate come true for you."

In her previous life, Birui was forcibly taken away by Wu Desheng, the eunuch beside Xiao Yuanlang, and was tortured to death in less than a month.

In this life, she absolutely cannot let Birui repeat the same mistakes and suffer those hardships again.

However, at this moment, Birui's mood suddenly became depressed.

She lowered her head slightly and said softly, "Miss, if I get married, I will have to devote a lot of energy to taking care of the household. If that happens, I'm afraid I won't be able to serve you wholeheartedly. Moreover, Jiang Ping is now an official, and I'm just a little maid. If I really marry him, wouldn't it become a stain on his life? I really can't bear to hurt him like this..."

Hearing Birui's words, Shen Chuning couldn't help but sigh softly.

She said softly, "Although you always call yourself a slave, your indentures have long been returned to you. From that time on, you are no longer a slave, so there is no need to be so self-deprecating. As for your concern about not being able to continue serving me, I have discussed this with Jiang Ping before. I told him that I can't do without your help for the matters I have on hand. He said that his parents have passed away, so you don't need to stay at home to serve your parents-in-law and can go out and work as you please."

Even though he was no longer a lowly servant, his origins were a fact that could never be changed.

Jiang Ping is destined to make a difference in officialdom in the future. If he can find a marriage that is beneficial to him, with the support and help of the Yue family behind him, his career path will surely be much smoother.

Thinking of this, Birui couldn't help but smile slightly at herself, and then slowly said: "I am of low status, how can I be worthy of him? Miss, you also know that everyone in this capital city attaches great importance to family background. I really don't want to make it difficult for him to hold his head up in the future because of me!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Chuning frowned and retorted, "That's not the way to say it. Whether a man is respected or not depends on his own ability and status. Those who blame it on women are nothing more than incompetent people looking for an excuse for their own failure. Besides, if you really want to marry Jiang Ping, I will beg my mother to adopt you as my adopted daughter. Then you will marry out of the Shen Mansion in a grand manner. Who in the whole capital will dare to look down on you?"

However, despite Shen Chuning's good intentions, Bi Rui still shook her head gently and insisted, "Even if everyone doesn't say much in front of us, they'll inevitably discuss it behind our backs. Besides, I don't want to gamble, for fear that it will become a reason for him to complain in the future."

Seeing that she couldn't change Birui's mind, Shen Chuning sighed helplessly, then slowly took out a stack of banknotes from her bosom and gently placed it in front of Birui.

"Miss, this is..." Birui stared at the stack of banknotes with a puzzled look on her face and couldn't help asking.

Shen Chuning lowered her eyes slightly and explained softly, "This is the money Jiang Ping wants to use to buy your indenture. He said that this is all the money he earned from writing storybooks over the years. He spent some of it on the funeral when his parents passed away, and later on he spent some on taking the imperial examinations. Now all the money is here. He also said that if I am not satisfied with this money, he will definitely make up the difference when he receives his salary from the court. Since you don't want to marry, then return this money to him intact."

As Shen Chuning spoke, she carefully observed the changes in Birui's expression. She saw a barely perceptible trace of struggle flash across the depths of Birui's eyes.

However, this struggle only lasted for a moment, and soon her eyes became firm again.

Birui took a deep breath, stretched out her hands and carefully collected the banknotes on the table. With a serious and solemn expression, she said, "I know what to do. I will definitely return these banknotes to Jiang Ping in full."

Hearing Birui say this, Shen Chuning nodded, and then added: "From now on, there is no need to ask Jiang Ping to write the storybook."

Birui looked at Shen Chuning in astonishment and asked in disbelief, "Miss! Although I really don't want to marry him, Jiang Ping is a man with absolutely no faults. Why are you suddenly not letting him write?"

Shen Chuning smiled slightly and said, "Didn't you just say that? He is now an official and receives a monthly salary. In addition, he will receive corresponding compensation for every copy of the storybooks he wrote before."

As she spoke, her eyes fell on the not-so-thin stack of silver bills in Birui's hand.

"That way, he wouldn't have to rely on writing storybooks to make a living. Besides, if this were to get out, it would certainly have an impact on him. If he were to become the head official someday, and local people held onto his storybooks and said, 'This book, 'The Cold-Faced Official's Beloved,' was written by that official in the government office, where would that official's authority be?"

Hearing this, Birui was stunned at first, and then she couldn't help laughing anymore.

Seeing that Birui's mood was finally not as heavy as before, the smile on Shen Chuning's face became brighter.

Then she continued, "From now on, you can no longer address him by his given name. You must address him as Lord Jiang."

After hearing this, Birui's eyes instantly turned red. She nodded gently and responded in a low voice: "Yes..."