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

Lotus Garden.

Aunt Sun, who had been burning up all night, finally had her fever break. Song Xi, whose eyes were bloodshot from staying up all night, was relieved to see her aunt wake up.

Last night, Song Xi persuaded Song Chang to leave by saying he had to work tomorrow. He couldn't help anyway, and staying here would only incur the jealousy of his stepmother.

He drank a few sips of hot water from Song Xi's hand before asking, "How was yesterday? Did anyone bully you?"

Song Xi took the hot towel wrung out by Xinghua and wiped her aunt's face little by little. "No one bullied me. On the contrary, the young ladies from the military families took good care of me." She paused and then said, "It's all because of my second sister-in-law. She used to take good care of those young ladies, so everyone took care of me too. Moreover, my second sister-in-law entrusted us to Princess Pingyang. With the princess around, no one dares to bully us."

Aunt Sun was taken aback. "Your second sister-in-law has a very good relationship with Princess Pingyang?"

"It seems to be very good. Princess Pingyang is not as unreasonable as rumored. She is very obedient in front of my second sister-in-law."

What they didn't know was that Meng Ruohua often played with Princess Pingyang when they were little, and Princess Pingyang was even more well-behaved when she was young!

At that time, her father was on the frontier, and her mother was often bedridden. The Meng family would visit them from time to time. For Princess Pingyang, that was one of the few sources of warmth.

Aunt Sun pondered for a while until Xinghua brought over some white porridge. She drank the porridge and then the herbal medicine, and then asked Song Xi to sit on the low couch under the window to prevent her from catching a cold.

“Since the Second Young Mistress is willing to help us, we will accept her kindness.” She looked at Song Xi’s pale face. “In the years that the Second Young Mistress has been in charge of the household, she has never mistreated the servants. On the contrary, she has been kind to the elderly and cared for the young. She has taken good care of both the old and the young.”

These past few days, she has been carefully reviewing the recent events in the mansion and found that Meng Ruohua's thoughts are hard to fathom. After voluntarily relinquishing her duties as housekeeper, she has been living a very leisurely life. On the contrary, the Second Madam is busy every day, managing the household and teaching Song Tian and Lü Ningshuang. She is so busy that she has no time to cause trouble for Meng Ruohua.

Thinking back to the past, Meng Ruohua would finish her work every morning and rush to Rongxi Courtyard to serve the Second Madam, helping her eat and rest until she was put to bed at night. Only then could she return to Qingfeng Courtyard to rest. She was exhausted by the end of the day.

Now, apart from exchanging greetings in the morning, he spends the rest of his time leisurely in Qingfengyuan, showing no signs of being in a hurry.

Aunt Sun didn't want to tell Song Ximing, but she secretly made up her mind. Originally, she didn't want to do anything with the second madam. She only hoped to gain the master's favor so that he would take better care of the two children in the future. But the second madam was so intolerant of them. She punished her by making her stand in the cold wind for half a day just for a set of jewelry.

She suppressed her resentment and urged Song Xi to rest quickly so that she could go to Qingfeng Courtyard to thank Meng Ruohua for her care after she had rested in the afternoon.

Song Xi nodded; she thought so too.

Rongxi Courtyard.

After Aunt Sun fainted in her yard yesterday, she was worried that Song Chang would come looking for trouble. She hadn't intended for Aunt Sun to get sick, but she had been so busy that she forgot she was still standing in the yard.

The second wife pointed at Qi Mama, Jixiang, and Ruyi and berated them, blaming them for not reminding her. The three women, full of grievances, dared not speak and could only swallow their anger.

The second wife finally breathed a sigh of relief when Song Chang did not come over after the door was locked in the evening.

It seems this matter is over!

In the morning, Song Xi sent someone to ask for leave, saying that she had to take care of her aunt and couldn't come. This angered the second madam so much that she almost smashed her teacup.

Meng Ruohua smiled coldly. She felt that the Second Madam was reluctant to buy another teacup, which was why she didn't break it.

She was right. The second madam thought that Aunt Sun was not as valuable as a teacup, and it wasn't worth breaking a teacup for her.

Yesterday, the Second Madam heard about the Wang family banquet from Song Tian, ​​and her opinion of Meng Ruohua changed significantly.

"Ruohua, since you have so many close friends, you should get to know them better so that someone can lend a hand if you ever need anything in the future."

Meng Ruohua's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "What could possibly happen to our family, Madam?"

In her past life, she was trapped in a small courtyard, and it's unknown whether anyone helped her.

At that time, Li Furong had gone to her post in the south with her husband, Princess Pingyang had married far away to Luanzhou, and Gu Qiongfang was in the capital. She didn't want to think the worst of people, and besides, Gu Qiongfang was the next matriarch of the Wang family, so she couldn't do whatever she wanted.

Moreover, before the Meng family's incident, he had already been under house arrest for half a year. With the rebellion of Pearl and Lin's mother, hadn't he even deceived his own mother?

She snapped out of her reverie and chuckled, "If you say that, Madam, I'll take it seriously. If someone invites me out, I'll definitely go!"

"Go, go ahead." The second wife's wrinkles gradually appeared at the corners of her eyes. "You can hold a banquet at home at a certain time. I think we should hold a banquet when the plum blossoms bloom. Our plum tree is an old tree that is decades old, and it has many fragrant flowers."

Meng Ruohua nodded and praised, "Madam's thinking is indeed very thorough."

She didn't want to bring anyone to the Song residence. Besides, Shen Yunlan was arriving at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, and she didn't want to be laughed at.

The second wife assumed she had agreed, and after chatting for a few more minutes, she let her leave.

Outside the side hall, the crowd, who had been waiting for half an hour, finally welcomed the Second Madam and Aunt Lü. Where was Song Tian? She said she was too tired yesterday and needed to rest all day; she was still lazing in bed!

Nothing happened that day, and everyone thought that Aunt Sun's matter was over. Unexpectedly, after Song Chang finished his shift that evening, he went to Rongxi Courtyard and made a scene.

The commotion was so loud that Meng Ruohua couldn't pretend not to know. Looking at the howling north wind outside, she reluctantly put on a silver-white cloak embroidered with red plum blossoms. "Everyone, wear something thicker. Who knows how long we'll be standing outside!"

She brought Yu Ye and Shan Hu to Rongxi Courtyard. The servants in the courtyard stood quietly under the eaves. When they saw Meng Ruohua, they all bowed and quietly led her to the front.

Meng Ruohua asked Ruyi, "Do you know why?"

Ruyi shook her head. She really didn't know, but from the few words coming from inside the house, she could roughly guess that it was about the Third Miss spending money to buy jewelry and Aunt Sun's matter.

Where is Aunt Qi?

Jixiang replied softly, "Qi Mama's grandson is turning one year old today, and she went to the estate to see him."

Meng Ruohua nodded, instructed Tuanfu to find Song Chen'an, and then stood there like a wooden statue. Hearing the Second Madam's scolding, she felt she had arrived too early; the two were arguing fiercely, so she decided not to go in and disturb them.

Jixiang and Ruyi exchanged a glance and silently lowered their heads.

If even their master isn't showing himself, why should they? Anyone who goes in at this time will be in trouble!

Hearing the crisp sound of porcelain breaking inside, Meng Ruohua couldn't help but feel sorry for the Second Madam. The teacups in her room were all in sets, and if one broke, the whole set would be unusable.

As the sounds inside gradually subsided, Meng Ruohua hesitated whether she should go inside to try and persuade him, when she saw Song Chen'an walking out of the darkness. She suddenly found his not-so-strong figure more pleasing to the eye.

Meng Ruohua hurriedly stepped forward and said with a worried expression, "Second Master, please go in and persuade them. The Master and Madam only listen to you. No matter who we try to persuade, it won't work."

Jixiang, standing to the side, secretly rolled her eyes. Second Young Madam, did you try to persuade her?