She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

After the eldest princess displayed her power, the officials' wives became restless. However, to maintain some semblance of decorum, they could not leave the Marquis's residence in advance and could only endure until the banquet began.

They barely touched their chopsticks before, as if by prior arrangement, they all stood up and said their goodbyes.

Lady Yongyi looked at the empty side hall and angrily picked up a teacup and smashed it on the ground.

The teacup shattered with a "crack," startling the servants in the hall into silence.

Lady Yongyi instructed her maid, Hu Mama, "Send someone to investigate who is targeting our manor behind our backs."

She said with a sinister look in her eyes, "If I find out, I will make them pay the price!"

Mrs. Hu replied, "Yes."

Lady Yongyi let out a deep breath and asked, "Where is my great-aunt?"

“Grandma… has already left.” Knowing that the Lady of the Earl was asking about Madam Shen, Mama Hu hesitated before saying, “Grandma left you a message. She said that the Princess had lost her temper at the Earl’s residence and it was still unknown how things would be handled. She advised the Earl’s residence to avoid suspicion for the time being and not to go to the Marquis’s residence.”

"She's afraid we'll implicate the Marquis's mansion." The Lady of Yongyi's face turned pale, and she sneered, "The Marquis of Chengen treats us like dogs. When he needs us, he'll squeeze a little bit out of us to give us, and when he doesn't need us, he'll kick us aside."

Mrs. Hu did not dare to answer.

Liu Ruojiao stepped into the side hall and happened to hear these words. She said with a face full of resentment, "Mother, you always tell me to get close to my second cousin. I have been trying to please her for half a year and I only got a gold hairpin. She is so stingy. Today is your birthday and she gave you a pair of fakes. We are so embarrassed."

When Lady Yongyi saw that her daughter couldn't keep her mouth shut, she immediately dismissed the servants who were attending to her.

"My eldest cousin is the best. Every time I visit her, she gives me a lot of good things. She's much more generous than my second cousin." Liu Ruojiao said, holding her aunt's hand. "So what if my eldest cousin isn't my aunt's biological daughter? My second cousin, who is her biological daughter, treats us worse than my eldest cousin, who isn't her biological daughter."

Lady Yongyi's heart stirred slightly, as if she had been awakened by those words.

Throughout history, blood ties and family bonds have been less reliable than the bonds of mutual benefit.

She said gently, "Jiaojiao, your older cousin dotes on you, so you should spend more time with her."

After today's events, Lady Yongyi felt even more disillusioned with Lady Shen.

She realized that she couldn't place all her hopes on the Marquis's mansion and had to find another way out.

-

Shen Qingtan, along with the First Madam and Zhao Wan, arrived at the side gate of the Earl's Mansion.

Suddenly, the First Madam stopped in her tracks.

Shen Qingtan looked up in confusion and saw the First Madam glancing across at the other side with a smile on her face.

Following the First Madam's gaze, she saw a familiar carriage slowly pull up across from the Earl's residence.

The First Madam smiled kindly: "Tan'er, hurry over there."

Shen Qingtan glanced at Zhao Wan subconsciously.

Zhao Wan realized what was happening and stood behind the First Madam: "Second Sister-in-law, I'll go back in one carriage with my Aunt."

Shen Qingtan's cheeks flushed slightly, and her eyes seemed to be filled with tears: "Mother, Sister Wan, then I'll take my leave first."

After saying that, she went down the steps and walked to the other side.

Just then, the First Madam's voice came from behind: "Tan'er, I'll borrow Tingxue and Liuyue for a while, and return them to you when I get back to the manor."

Shen Qingtan paused, realizing that the First Madam had become playful and was deliberately teasing her.

She whispered to Tingxue and Liuyue, "Go and serve Mother."

Having said that, she quickened her pace and, just as she reached the carriage, she heard the First Madam's laughter.

Suppressing her shyness, she quickly lifted the carriage curtain and was caught off guard when she met the man's dark eyes, causing her heart to skip a beat.

"You've ended the banquet so quickly?" Zhao Yi extended her hand to her and said with a light smile, "We almost missed each other."

"Something happened at the Earl's residence, so the banquet ended early." Shen Qingtan placed her hand in his palm, followed his lead into the carriage, and looked at his handsome profile, asking, "Why are you here?"

Zhao Yi waited until she was seated comfortably beside him before letting go of her hand: "I heard that the Princess had arrested a group of people at the Marquis's residence after I left the palace, so I came to take a look on my way here."

Shen Qingtan believed that the couple were a community of shared interests, so she would not hide anything and would tell Zhao Yi in detail what happened at the banquet, and then explain her own plans.

"Before I married you, I had a close relationship with the Lady of Yongyi and had some understanding of their character."

"Family ties are insignificant to them; what they value more is how much benefit the relationship can bring them."

"Over the years, they have done a lot for the Marquis's family, but the Marquis's family has only given them a small share. On the surface, the two families seem to have a very good relationship."

"Actually, from Liu Ruojiao's complaints, I could tell that the Earl and his wife had long harbored resentment towards the Marquis's mansion because of the unequal distribution of benefits."

"It's just that the Yongyi Earl's Mansion couldn't climb any higher branches, and only the Marquis's Mansion was willing to lend them a hand, so the Earl's Mansion suppressed its dissatisfaction and continued to work for the Marquis's Mansion."

"I warned the Lady of Chengen Marquis to be wary of the Earl's Mansion, but they didn't take it seriously. In their minds, the Earl's Mansion and the Marquis's Mansion were already in the same boat, so they weren't afraid that the Earl's Mansion would have any ulterior motives."

Shen Qingtan finished her rambling, a mysterious smile appearing on her face: "The Marquis's idea is not wrong; the Earl's Mansion will not betray them. The premise is that the Earl's Mansion cannot find any other backers and can only rely on them."

After listening to the contest between Shen Qingtan and Shen Mingzhu at the birthday banquet, and combining it with Shen Qingtan's words, Zhao Yi understood what she was going to do.

She wanted to amplify the dissatisfaction of the Marquis's wife with the Marquis's mansion, make the wife disloyal, and then send a powerful backer to the Marquis's mansion to push them to break apart.

Sure enough, Shen Qingtan's next words confirmed his guess.

"The Lady of Yongyi is very petty. When she is dissatisfied with someone, no matter what that person does, she will magnify their shortcomings and use great malice to speculate about their intentions."

Shen Qingtan said unhurriedly, "The pair of fakes that Shen Mingzhu gave me already displeased the Madam. If she also finds out that the opera troupe was Shen Mingzhu's doing, she will hold a grudge against Shen Mingzhu."

"My original intention was to push the aunt's dissatisfaction with the Marquis's mansion to its peak, layer by layer, and then use Liu Ruojiao as a fuse to ignite it."

At this point, Shen Qingtan smiled and said, "It seems that I am quite lucky now. The play I wrote accidentally angered the Eldest Princess. Given the Marquis's cautious nature of being afraid of death, he will definitely sever ties with the Earl's Mansion before the Eldest Princess punishes the opera troupe. I'm just afraid that this fire will spread to them."

Zhao Yi smiled slowly. She was very good at understanding people's hearts and her analysis was very accurate.

“This gives me an opportunity.” Shen Qingtan tapped her knee with her finger, and said thoughtfully, “Liu Ruojiao can’t get any benefits from Shen Mingzhu, so she wants to turn around and curry favor with me. I’m deliberately ignoring her today. With her impatient nature, she’ll come to me for reconciliation in a few days.”

Zhao Yi asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Shen Qingtan stared intently at him with her watery eyes: "That depends on whether Second Master is willing to help me."

Her tone was very natural, as if asking him for help was something she should take for granted.

Because she didn't treat him as an outsider.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Zhao Yi's gaze softened unconsciously as he looked at her: "How can I help?"