Best friends dressed up in ancient times to become mistresses? You run, I run too!

"Miss, please calm down. Master specifically instructed that..."

"Snapped--"

Before the little maid could finish speaking, she was slapped hard across the face by the head maid next to Li Jiaojiao. The force was so great that she turned her face to the side, lost her footing, and fell to the ground.

"How dare you! Miss, you dare to stop me? Don't you want to live?"

Li Jiaojiao smiled with satisfaction at the head maid.

"Well done! You're worthy of being my man. Go and collect your reward later."

Huaping's face lit up with joy, and she gave a pleased curtsy, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Miss. It is my honor to be able to share your burdens."

The maid on the ground tried to stop her, but Huaping winked behind her, and two maids immediately came up, covered the maid's mouth, and dragged her away.

The room fell silent.

Li Jiaojiao then turned her attention back to Shen Ningzhu, looking her up and down with disdain, as if she were inspecting some kind of merchandise.

The more he looked at her, the uglier her expression became.

Despite her reluctance, she had to admit that this vile woman was indeed beautiful; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her stunningly beautiful.

Delicate yet not seductive, with an innate allure.

In all her life, she had never seen a woman with such outstanding temperament and natural beauty. This made her extremely jealous.

His anger reached its peak when he saw the food laid out on the table in front of her.

"You wretch, why don't you tell me honestly who you are and who allowed you to stay here? Do you think you deserve to enjoy such a sumptuous meal?"

As the legitimate daughter of a county magistrate, a proper and respectable daughter of an official, her usual allowance in the courtyard was less than half of the lavish portion on this table.

Why does this suddenly appearing, lowly woman deserve such good treatment?

And her appearance...

Could it be a mistress Father secretly keeps at home? Or a newly acquired concubine?

Li Jiaojiao's mind was racing with various guesses, while Shen Ningzhu was also quietly observing Li Jiaojiao.

With her delicate nose, cherry lips, fair skin, and beautiful features, if one ignored the twisted malice in her eyes, she actually appeared charming and lovely.

Her hair was styled like that of an unmarried woman, and she wore a long silk dress embroidered with gold threads, with a plain silk sash around her waist, which accentuated her graceful figure. She was charming and lovely.

She wore a satin-woven, embroidered, double-breasted outer garment, her long black hair styled into a flying moon-chasing bun, adorned with a red-gold twin-flower hairpin, gold-threaded openwork pearl flowers, and a sapphire blue and kingfisher feather hairpin.

The white jade teardrop earrings swayed gently in the bright sunlight.

A silver-threaded lotus-embroidered sachet was tied to her left waist, and a white jade lotus pendant was tied to her right waist.

Her slender fingers gently held the translucent thorny chrysanthemum-patterned fan, swaying it slightly.

"Are you the county magistrate's legitimate daughter?"

"That's right, it's me. Stop trying to change the subject, tell me who you are."

Shen Ningzhu blinked.

"I can't really say for sure. Why don't you go and ask your father yourself?"

Li Jiaojiao's face flushed red, and she raised her hand to slap Shen Ningzhu's face, but Shen Ningzhu blocked it.

A cold laugh.

"Young lady, there are some people you can't mess with. I advise you not to be impulsive, or you won't even know how you died."

"What a joke! My father loves me the most. He will always find a way to give me whatever I want."

"You're nothing more than a woman with a little bit of looks. Even if I beat you to death, so what?"

"Would Father punish his own daughter like me just because you're a lowly wretch?"

Shen Ningzhu frowned, looking at the aggressive Li Jiaojiao and the dozen or so maids and servants behind her. She immediately felt a headache coming on, thinking that if this continued, she might get beaten up.

With so many people, she can neither escape nor defeat them.

So she tried to reason with the other person.

"I am the Prince of Chen's man, you cannot touch me."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiaojiao completely lost her temper. "You... what did you say?"

"You say you're Che-gege's person? No, how could that be? Absolutely impossible! You slut, you must have seduced Che-gege! Let me tell you, Che-gege is mine! You dare to try and take him from me? Dream on!"

"Guards, quick! Hold this vixen down and slash her face with a hairpin!"

"Once she loses her vixen face, let's see what she'll use to seduce Brother Che."

Shen Ningzhu quickly pushed him away to stop him.

"Wait, actually the county magistrate specifically summoned me, saying that I was to serve His Highness Prince Chen. In reality, I've only been here for a short time."

"Since you like Prince Chen, how dare I compete with the magistrate's daughter? Otherwise, how about you let me leave the manor?"

Looking at that beautiful face, Li Jiaojiao was so jealous that her eyes almost turned red. Her gaze was like poison, so how could she let her go so easily?

Shen Ningzhu clearly saw this as well, and she appealed to their emotions and reason, explaining...

"Miss, Prince Chen is in the manor. You want to leave a good impression on him and don't want him to see your hands stained with blood, do you?"

The other person furrowed their brows, realizing the point.

So, with a face full of resentment, she gritted her teeth and gave a wink to the maid who was holding Shen Ningzhu down. The two maids immediately let go and stepped aside.

"Why should I trust you?"

Li Jiaojiao fell in love with Jiang Yanche at first sight, finding him breathtakingly handsome. She told her father about her feelings, but he rejected her.

She cried and begged her father to allow her to marry him, but her father only said that the time was not right and everything would have to be decided depending on the situation.

What do you mean, "it depends on the situation"?

So he found someone else. Was it because he thought she wasn't pretty enough? She's his own daughter. How could he treat her like this?

Shen Ningzhu: "The magistrate said that as long as I serve Prince Chen well and speak well of him in front of Prince Chen, he will give me a large sum of money. In addition, he will do his best to help me become the Princess Consort of Prince Chen."

Li Jiaojiao's eyes were bloodshot.

No, the Princess Consort of Chen can only be her.

"Guards, throw her out of the manor now!"

"Let's see who dares."

Two voices rang out simultaneously, one from Li Jiaojiao and the other from Jiang Yanche, followed by Magistrate Li, whose face was ashen, and several attendants.

"How are you, are you injured?"

Before anyone could react, Jiang Yanche walked towards Shen Ningzhu, asking her with concern as he went.

Shen Ningzhu pursed her lips, hesitating to speak.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Yanche's face darkened completely. "What explanation do you have for what just happened, Lord Li?"

"This……"

Magistrate Li hurriedly walked up to Shen Ningzhu, bowing and scraping respectfully, and said:

"Please calm down, Your Excellency. My daughter is young and ignorant and has offended you. It is all my fault for not teaching her properly. I will apologize to Your Excellency on her behalf and hope that Your Excellency will forgive my daughter's unintentional mistake."

Shen Ningzhu's eyes were red, and she tilted her head slightly to look at Jiang Yanche. Her delicate, shimmering fox-like eyes were watery, revealing endless grievances.