My wife wants a divorce; if she ruins my life, I'll leave.

“If you keep arguing with Second Master like this, you’ll be the one who suffers.” Madam Lin gestured towards the direction of Lianxiao Courtyard. “They’ve already had two children over there. You should start thinking about yourself. You can’t let your legitimate son be too much younger than your illegitimate son.”

The eldest son born out of wedlock is older, and it will be difficult to control him once the legitimate son grows up.

Meng Ruohua understood these principles, but she no longer cared.

"Don't worry about me, wet nurse. When you have time, take better care of my brother. Getting him well is the most important thing!"

As for getting married, let's not talk about it. My brother was spoiled rotten and later got involved in gambling. Let's not ruin any girls' lives.

When Lin's mother heard her mother's refusal, she knew that her words had been wasted.

Seeing Meng Ruohua's unmoved expression, she sighed inwardly, "I'll go check if dinner is ready."

I can't persuade her myself. I'll find an opportunity to go back to the mansion and talk to my wife about it sometime.

Lianxiao Courtyard.

While cracking melon seeds, Lü Ningshuang listened to the little maid Qiao'er talk about Qingfeng Courtyard.

"Did she really make Second Master leave in anger?"

"Yes, Madam Lin was all smiles behind him, but Second Master didn't even look at her. He just flicked his sleeve and left," Qiao'er said obsequiously.

Lu Ningshuang had asked three times already. Just thinking about how Meng Ruohua had angered the Second Master made her feel all comfortable.

That's incredibly rude and disrespectful. It takes skill to drive people away so many times!

But isn't this the perfect opportunity for her?

She glanced at Yunzhu beside her, a hint of disdain in her eyes, "Go to the kitchen and see if there's any soup or porridge ready, bring back a bowl."

Yunzhu responded and left. Lately, Aunt Lü had been constantly ordering her to do these errands, and if she hesitated even slightly, she would be met with a barrage of angry scolding.

Aunt Lü was becoming increasingly unreasonable towards her.

When will this ever end?!

Aunt Lü used to be just stupid, but now she's become more arrogant and smug, and she's getting more and more into making trouble for people, always ordering her, a first-class maid, around!

She walked quickly, not noticing anyone around the corner.

"Ouch!" Yunzhu staggered and barely managed to avoid falling by holding onto the wall.

The little girl across from Yunzhu put down her lunchbox, ran over to help her up, and apologized repeatedly, "Sister Yunzhu, are you alright? Did you get hurt? It's so dark I can't even see where I'm going."

Upon closer inspection, Yunzhu realized it was Chunxiu, a young maid from Qingfeng Courtyard.

She patted the dust off her palms and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Chunxiu patted the lunchbox next to her and pointed to another little girl, Chunhong, saying, "We just got our dinner. We thought we could go back quickly so we could eat something hot."

"It's getting colder and colder. If we don't hurry, the food will get cold," Chunhong explained. Yunzhu was a first-class maid. If she offended Yunzhu, it would be fine if Yunzhu didn't hold it against her, but if she did, she would have to obediently endure a few scoldings.

Chunxiu's eyes darted around, and she asked with a smile, "Where are you going, sister? Tell me and I'll run the errand for you."

Yunzhu brushed the corner of her clothes with a handkerchief, glanced at them, and said, "I'll go to the kitchen to get a bowl of soup for my aunt. You don't need to run errands."

Serve soup to Aunt Lü? Wasn't Aunt Lü's dinner already prepared?

Just now in the kitchen, the two of them chatted with the little girl from Lianxiao Courtyard for a while.

Chunxiu and Chunhong exchanged a glance, tacitly refraining from asking the question.

"Then Sister Yunzhu, hurry up and go. It's so cold. The food will get cold as soon as it's served. We'll have to reheat it before taking it back to eat."

I heard from Sister Coral that Yunzhu is often beaten and scolded by Aunt Lü, and she doesn't dare to utter a sound even when her hands are injured. She's truly pitiful. We're all servants, so who's more noble than whom?

Yunzhu smiled and said, "Then why don't you hurry up and leave? Do you still have time to argue with me?"

The two chuckled and said, "Then we're off. Sister, you should hurry back too."

The two groups waved goodbye, but Chunxiu's words kept swirling in Yunzhu's heart.

The food got cold as soon as it was served...

Yunzhu clenched her scabbed hand, and the piercing pain returned. It wasn't her fault, so why were they hitting and scolding her?

She guessed Aunt Lü's plan, and recalling the radiant beauty of Pearl, her infatuation surged wildly.

If Pearl can do it, why can't she?

If I were separated from Aunt Lü, she wouldn't be able to beat or scold me at will!

Since Pearl went to Hengxi Courtyard, the Second Young Mistress has never found an excuse to punish her. This shows that as long as she has the Second Master's favor, no one can mistreat her at will!

Thinking about it all the way, I soon arrived at the kitchen.

After explaining their purpose, Wang Gui's wife, who was in charge of the kitchen, declined with a troubled expression: "Auntie, there is only a bowl of green rice porridge for dinner today. No fresh soup has been arranged. Even if it is made fresh, it will not be ready in a short time. Miss Yunzhu, please wait here a little longer?"

Although Aunt Lü didn't manage the kitchen, her two sons were the only two grandsons in the household, and also the second madam's niece. She was incredibly influential, and even Wang Gui's wife didn't dare to treat her carelessly.

Yunzhu peeked out and pointed to the clay pot steaming slightly on the stove, asking, "What's that?"

"That's the second madam's chicken soup!" Wang Gui's wife slapped her thigh. "Oh dear, look how confused I am! Luckily, there's still some chicken soup left, so I can fill a bowl." With that, she swayed her plump body and personally filled most of the bowl.

After the chicken soup was delivered to Rongxi Courtyard, there wasn't much left. She wanted to take it home for her son, but then someone unexpectedly intervened and intercepted it.

What a stingy family! They eat lavish meals every day, and now they're even drinking leftover soup. I've never seen a master of the house so uncouth!

Under Yunzhu's watchful gaze, Wang Gui's family had no choice but to ladle out all the chicken soup, leaving only a layer of scraps of meat and bones.

The chicken soup simmered for two hours, and the meat was so tender it practically melted in the broth.

Although Wang Gui's face was smiling, there was a hint of impatience in her eyes. Yun Zhu thought for a moment, then poured a handful of copper coins from her purse and stuffed them into Wang Gui's hand, saying, "Auntie, buy some wine."

Yunzhu carried the food box and walked slowly. From a distance, one could only assume that she was walking carefully because it was dark.

When they returned to Lianxiao Courtyard, Lü Ningshuang had already finished her dinner. Seeing her dawdling steps, she couldn't help but scold, "You little hussy, I asked you to bring me a bowl of soup, and you've been dawdling for so long. Do you have a problem with me, or do you think you're too noble to do these things?"

Yunzhu's fingers, which were carrying the food box, were red from the cold, and her fingertips were gradually losing feeling. As soon as she entered the door, she was berated by Aunt Lü. She listened to the scolding with her head down, her eyes scanning the surroundings. In the room, besides Xuan Ge's wet nurse, there was also the little maid Qiao'er.

He insulted her in front of a third-rate girl; he was utterly disrespectful!

Yunzhu slowly clenched her fists until she felt pain in her joints, then she slowly released them.

"Bring it out so I can see it!" Aunt Lü snapped angrily. "Besides seducing men, what else can you do?"

Yunzhu bit her lip tightly, afraid that she would make the slightest sound, which would only invite more unbearable insults.

She stepped forward, opened the food box, and lifted the lid of the soup bowl, revealing a bowl of golden and fragrant chicken soup.

Lu Ningshuang nodded in satisfaction, but her gaze swept over Yunzhu's slender fingers, and she couldn't help but feel disgusted again. "Aren't you going to come in and help me change my clothes!"

Upon hearing this, Yunzhu slightly shifted her body, using the table to block everyone's view. She lowered her left hand, took something out of her purse, quickly put it into the food box, closed the lid, and went to the inner room.

Lu Ningshuang changed into a pink satin jacket with embroidered plum blossoms, paired with a light yellow trimmed cotton skirt, and a snow-white satin cloak with green patterns. She looked pretty and young.

She looked at herself in the mirror and felt that she had recovered well. The excess fat around her waist had also decreased a bit, and she thought that it wouldn't be long before she could get back to her previous figure.

Lu Ningshuang's eyes flashed as she saw Yunzhu's slender figure in the bronze mirror. She couldn't help but say resentfully, "You don't need to follow me anymore. Go down and eat."

Yunzhu curtsied and withdrew, glancing at Qiao'er, who was secretly pleased with herself, before leaving.