After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Just as Amber left, Lu Jinyao arrived, accompanied by her maid, Lianxiang.

Lianxiang was originally a second-class maid in Madam Lu's courtyard. Influenced by her surroundings, she didn't take Lu Zhiyuan, the legitimate daughter, seriously. As soon as she entered the door, she started speaking sarcastically: "Some people, they're so sickly they can't even hold a teacup, yet they still try to blame others. If you ask me, they deserve to be scalded to death."

"Lianxiang!" Lu Jinyao shook her head at Lianxiang, looking like a pure white lotus: "Sister didn't knock over the teacup on purpose. It was my fault for not holding it properly. Don't blame your sister."

Lu Zhiyuan watched coldly, wondering what they were up to this time.

“Miss is too soft-hearted, that’s why she gets bullied.” Lianxiang wrinkled her nose. “She caused you to be confined to your quarters, and you, on the contrary, came to bring her medicine. What’s wrong with a good-for-nothing having a scar? He can still get married when he grows up. In all the wealthy families in the capital, who would marry a sickly man?”

Lu Zhiyuan couldn't stand it anymore. She lifted her eyelids and ordered, "Liu Ying, slap her face. Smash her face until it's smashed."

Liu Ying rolled up her sleeves and slapped Lian Xiang several times, leaving her stunned.

Lianxiang, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, covered her face and squatted on the ground: "You dare hit me? I'm the old lady's servant."

Lu Zhiyuan said coolly, "The maids in front of Grandmother are still maids, and maids cannot be disrespectful to their superiors. What did you just say? I'm deaf, I didn't hear you clearly."

Lianxiang's eyes were full of mockery: "You useless, sickly brat! You're deaf, you didn't hear me, you deserve it!"

Lu Zhiyuan clapped her hands, her eyes icy cold, as if she were looking at a dead man: "Lu Yun, did you hear me clearly?"

Seeing Lu Yun suddenly appear, Lianxiang felt a chill run down her spine. His gaze was terrifying, the kind only an executioner on the execution ground would have. She grabbed Lu Jinyao's sleeve and took two steps back, her voice trembling, "What are you going to do?"

"Of course I'll gouge out your eyes, sew up your mouth, and plug your useless ears." Liu Ying said fiercely, just like a little rabbit baring its teeth and claws: "Don't worry, Lu Yun's ancestors were criminals for three generations, so he's very careful with his actions and won't take your life."

"Sister, are you joking?" Lu Jinyao clutched the hem of her clothes. "Lianxiang is, after all, Grandmother's person."

“Sister Jinyao is wrong. Since Grandmother gave Lianxiang to you, she is now your person.” Lu Zhiyuan curled her lips into a smile that was neither a smile nor a smile, but it carried an air of pressure. “Sister doesn’t know how to manage servants, so I will do it for you. As for the maids who serve you, there are plenty in the mansion. I will ask Grandmother to find you a sensible one.”

With a single glance, Lu Yun grabbed Lianxiang and dragged her away. Screams echoed through the courtyard, turning Lu Jinyao's face pale, yet she couldn't believe Lu Zhiyuan would actually do such a thing. She was the legitimate daughter of a marquis, frail and sickly, kept in a separate courtyard by her maternal grandmother. Her wet nurse and maids were her mother's people, and they had made her suffer greatly.

From the correspondence between the wet nurse and her mother, she learned that Lu Zhiyuan was timid and taciturn, and her most frequent activity was sitting by the window looking at the sky. She would not, and dared not, treat Lianxiang that way.

Thinking of this, Lu Jinyao suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to speak, Lianxiang was pushed in by Lu Yun. Her eyes were blind, and her mouth was stitched up, the stitches covered in blood beads, obscuring their original color. Blood was seeping from her ears, and it was unclear where she was injured.

Lu Jinyao's legs went weak, and she had to lean against the back of the chair to stand up.

Lu Zhiyuan's expression remained unchanged as she touched the light-colored wound on her wrist caused by the tea and said, "Useless trash, let the butler sell her off."

Lu Jinyao's vision went black, and she slid to the ground.

Lu Jinyao fell ill after leaving Fangfei Courtyard, running a high fever for two days in a row. It was said that her dreams were full of Lu Zhiyuan, who would poke her eyes with a needle and sew her mouth shut with thread, scaring her so much that she would scream and squeak.

Ji Wanwan was distracted by the accounts and hired a shaman to call back Lu Jinyao's soul. When the news spread, it became a laughing stock.

Lu Zhiyuan didn't care about any of that; she was busy inspecting the shop.

In the capital of Northern Liang, right under the emperor's nose, shops lined the streets, a scene of bustling prosperity. An inconspicuous carriage stopped in front of a rouge shop. This was the very shop that Lu Huai had given to Ji Wanwan earlier.

The carriage came to a stop, the bamboo curtain was lifted, and a maidservant of about thirteen or fourteen years old jumped down from the carriage. She wore a light blue long dress, with a jade pendant unique to the General's Mansion at her waist. Her hair was simply styled, and she had delicate features and a pair of large, clear eyes.

"Miss, is this the shop? The signboard is all fallen off."

“This is the only rouge shop in the East Market that went bankrupt due to poor management.” Lu Zhiyuan reached out her hand, and Liu Ying helped her out of the carriage.

She wore a dress in the same color scheme, and instead of a bun, she braided her slightly yellowish hair. Because she was afraid of the cold, she wore a white embroidered cloak, which made her features appear even more delicate.

Taking out the key and opening the shop door, the sense of desolation that greeted her made Liu Ying frown.

"Miss, has our rouge shop been vandalized?"

The counter was overturned, unsold cosmetics were scattered all over the floor, and there were also torn clothes. Liu Ying covered her nose and walked around for a while, then picked something out of the trash heap.

“These are Manager Lu’s little walnuts, his most cherished possessions. How did they end up here?” Liu Ying wiped the dirt off the walnuts. “Manager Lu is a distant relative of the Lu family, and the only manager in the Lu family shop who is kind to his wife. He was originally a schoolteacher in the village, but he had to go to the city to make a living because his daughter was ill. Now that the shop is gone, his daughter’s illness is probably incurable.”

Do you know where Manager Lu lives?

"I know, they live in Wutong Lane, not far from here. I've been there with you, Madam." Liuying raised her hand, holding the small walnut.

The small courtyard, teeming with people, exuded the vibrant atmosphere of ordinary life among the common folk. The courtyard was quiet, save for the faint sounds of conversation coming from the house on the north side, interspersed with the barely audible cough of a little girl.

Just as I was hesitating, I heard a woman's angry curses mixed with sobs coming from inside the house.

“You’ve worked for the Lu family for a long time. Go and beg the Marquis and the Old Madam to spare Xuan’er’s life, considering how hard you’ve worked for them all these years.”

The man said something that earned him a beating from the woman, followed by sobbing.

Lu Zhiyuan and Liu Ying exchanged glances, and in the end, Liu Ying stepped forward and knocked on the door. The person who opened the door was Lu's wife, a woman in her early thirties who looked like she was fifty. She was not only weathered, but her hair had also turned quite white. She wore patched clothes, her eyes were red, and she stood there looking confused and helpless.

“We are from the Pingnan Marquis’s residence, and this is my young lady.”

"From the Marquis of Pingnan's residence?"

The woman glanced back at her husband, and Manager Lu came out of the house, rubbing his hands together. Lu Zhiyuan looked very much like her mother, Xie Chaoyun, but upon closer inspection, her features also bore a resemblance to Lu Huai. Anyone who had seen her father and mother could recognize her as the eldest daughter of the Lu family at a glance.

Manager Lu pulled his wife to bow, and she grumbled reluctantly.

Manager Lu scolded her a few times, and she stubbornly glanced at Lu Zhiyuan before turning her back and going into the house. A short while later, a string of complaints poured out from inside.

“You’ve already been kicked out of the Marquis’s mansion, yet you’re still kneeling before their young lady with such longing eyes.”

"What are they doing here? Just here to laugh at us? Haven't they ruined our family enough?"

"You're afraid of them, but I'm not. At worst, I'll die with Xuan'er."

After saying that, another bout of sobbing and whimpering began.