The legitimate daughter returns, and everyone in the Marquis's mansion regrets and begs for for

"Sister, sister, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. I need your help, please help me."

"How...how can I help you?"

Su Muya said, "I want to go to the capital to take the imperial examination. My mother disagrees. Can you think of a way to persuade her?"

Lin You shook his head and said, "Mother won't agree."

Su Muya was so uncomfortable that she kept coughing.

Lin You looked at her and said, "Sister, don't worry, I will definitely find a way to marry you. Sister, I will not let you down."

He actually harbored quite a bit of resentment towards the Lin family. When Su Shi went to Fuzhou with his father, the entire Su family abandoned him. And Su Muya's biological father, Old Man Su, was a good-for-nothing who hadn't offered any help whatsoever. If it weren't for Su Shi, he wouldn't have his current promising future. Unfortunately, he lacked the ability to get the Su family into the county government.

Upon hearing his words, Su Muya's eyes welled up with tears: "Ayou, thank you for marrying me."

"I won't treat you unfairly. As long as you help me, I will do my best to promote you and I will never let anyone bully you." He was currently at a low point and couldn't let Su Muya out of his sight. If Su Muya escaped, all his efforts would be in vain.

"Yes, I won't leave."

When Su Daya came in and heard these words, her heart ached, and she sneered, "I'm not deaf, what are you talking about?"

Su Muya looked at her in terror, then collapsed to the ground, wailing, "Mother, I don't want to leave Jiangzhou, I'll die. Mother, Mother..."

This time, Su Daya wasn't fooled. She dragged her outside and slammed the door shut.

Hongmei frowned as she watched her cry: "Girl, don't cry, or the eldest madam will scold you again if she hears you crying."

Su Muya cried, "If my mother wants to force me to marry, I'd rather die."

Hongmei said, "Girl, I don't mean to be nosy, but what you're doing will only anger the eldest mistress."

She felt that the girl had become increasingly spoiled lately, and her personality was becoming more and more like that of an old man and woman.

Su Muya wiped away her tears and said, "Mother is forcing me like this because she must know what I'm thinking. If Mother doesn't agree to let me go to Jiangnan, I definitely can't leave Jiangzhou, otherwise I'm doomed."

She had been in love with her cousin since she was a child, so she couldn't let her mother ruin her reputation.

Hongmei paused for a moment and then said, "So, what does the young lady plan to do?"

With tears welling up in her eyes, Su Muya said, "If Mother doesn't agree to my request, then I'll have no choice but to jump into the river or hang myself."

Hongmei sighed and said, "Girl, the eldest mistress will definitely not allow you to jump into the river or hang yourself. If you want to die, you'll have to get rid of her first."

Su Muya was stunned.

Hongmei continued, "We don't need to kill her. We just need to trick her into going to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, and then we can secretly run off to Jiangnan to find Young Master Biao."

Su Muya hesitated for a moment and said, "If my mother finds out, she will definitely send people to kill us."

"Don't worry, your mother is too preoccupied with the Lin family's wealth and glory to care about us. As for the young master, do you think my parents will let him off the hook?"

Hearing this, Su Muya felt relieved.

Hongmei then said, "Young lady, if you want to stay here, I suggest you follow the eldest mistress to study and learn to read."

Su Muya nodded.

When Su Daya returned, Hongmei brought the medicine and fed it to Su Muya.

Su Muya obediently drank all the medicine and then sat leaning against the pillow.

Su Daya asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Mom, I'm feeling better. I want to eat."

Su Daya didn't refuse and went to cook porridge for her.

After dinner, Su Muya said to Hongmei, "Come with me to buy rouge and face powder tomorrow night! We can't go out looking like this every day; our acquaintances will definitely laugh at us."

Hongmei hesitated for a moment and said, "I have to go back to my parents' home. It will be about half a month before I can come back."

She dared not make a decision on her own and had to inform Lin You first.

Lin You nodded and said, "Go back and tell your mother-in-law that I will visit her tomorrow."

In this era, it was common for men to have multiple wives and concubines, so Madam Su didn't suspect that Lin You was lying to her. However, Su Daya didn't know that Lin You and she were cousins, nor did she know that he was already married. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had her daughter-in-law accompany her to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

The next day, Lin You sent Hongmei back to her parents' home. When she returned, he told Su Daya that he was going to take Su Muya to Fuzhou to participate in the preliminary examination for the imperial examination.

Upon hearing this, Su Daya angrily retorted, "Are you crazy? What are you going to do all the way to Fuzhou?"

She didn't approve of going to Fuzhou. Going to Fuzhou would not only mean suffering and hardship, but also cost a fortune, and you'd have to pay taxes for five years. That was no small sum.

“Mother, Fuzhou is close to Jiangzhou, I will go to find my cousin then.”

Seeing that Su Daya remained silent, he continued, "If I go to Fuzhou, my aunt and cousin will definitely come too. Mother, can you bear to let them go to Fuzhou?"

After hearing this, Su Daya said, "Since you insist on going to Fuzhou, then go!"

Although I'm reluctant to leave my child, there's nothing I can do to stop it. I just hope they can return safely.

Lin You persuaded Su Daya, but he might not be able to persuade Madam Lin. After all, she controlled the Su family's estates, and with Lin You gone, she would have no say in their affairs. However, Madam Su wasn't worried; she liked her nephew Lin You very much and would definitely protect him and his sister. Furthermore, Su Daya also mentioned in her letter that the matter had been kept strictly secret.

After thinking for a while, Madam Lin wrote a letter to Lin You and asked him to take it with him.

Su Muya got up early, washed up, and dressed herself neatly. Because she wasn't feeling well, she wore loose-fitting clothes. While dressing, she had her personal maid help her to the washroom.

Looking at her emaciated daughter in the mirror, Hongmei couldn't help but shed tears. She had served two generations of masters and had deep feelings for the Su family, but Su Muya was someone she had raised.

Su Daya waved her hand and said, "Alright, stop looking so sad. We are servants now, so we should accept our fate."

"girl……"

"Don't call me 'Miss,' just call me 'Second Miss' from now on!"

Hongmei wiped away her tears.

After having breakfast, Su Muya went to pay her respects to Old Madam Lin. Her mother had specifically instructed her to dress nicely to attract Old Madam Lin's attention. However, due to her slender figure, even in the most beautiful dress, she appeared sickly to the maids beside her.

Su Muya stood in the courtyard, looked up at the sky and murmured to herself, "The sky is so gray, it looks like it's going to rain again today."

As soon as she finished speaking, large raindrops pelted her cheeks.

Su Muya touched her face and found her cheeks burning with pain: "Ah..."

A scream echoed through the sky, startling Old Madam Lin, who was watering flowers in the garden.