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

After repeated examinations by the royal physician, Lu Jinyao's wrist was found to be perfectly fine.

Lu Huai asked her to explain. She held her wrist and looked at Granny Jiang. When she saw the smile in Granny Jiang's eyes, she realized that she had been tricked.

"That's not true, she really broke my hand! Jinyao wasn't lying, it really hurt."

"Do you really think I'm blind and deaf?" Lu Huai couldn't take it anymore and slapped Lu Jinyao hard across the face. "Lu Jinyao, how did you become like this? I've cherished you for so many years, and you've really disappointed me."

Lu Jinyao was so badly beaten that she saw stars. She wanted to cry but didn't dare, and hunched her shoulders.

Did she change, or did he change? Who disappointed whom?

Lu Huai had never hit her before; this was the first time he'd ever done so. She covered her face and looked at Lu Zhiyuan, who, instead of gloating, looked surprised.

Everyone present, except for Granny Jiang, dared not speak.

"Young lady, you come from a humble family and are unaware of the rules of wealthy families in the capital. You may think that I am deliberately making things difficult for you. Little do you know that what I am teaching you is what young ladies from noble families and wealthy heiresses learn from birth. There are rules and regulations in everything you do, from clothing and food to housing and transportation."

Granny Jiang took the ruler and gently tapped Lu Zhiyuan's shoulder, signaling her and Liu Ying to give a demonstration.

Although Lu Zhiyuan was a transmigrator, these rules were already ingrained in the original owner's very bones, forming stubborn muscle memory. Liu Ying came from the Xie family, and although she was lively, she was flawless in her adherence to the rules.

Granny Jiang was very satisfied.

"I would like to ask Miss Jinyao to walk through this in front of the Marquis, so that the Marquis will not accuse me of being biased and deliberately making things difficult for you."

Even when Lu Zhiyuan was demonstrating, Lu Jinyao had already noticed the difference between the two and understood that Granny Jiang wasn't deliberately targeting her. She was unwilling to admit it, holding her breath, but a moment's effort was equivalent to ten or even more years for others. When she stepped on her dress and fell to the ground in an extremely disheveled and ungraceful manner, Lu Huai's face darkened.

Jiang Mama suppressed a laugh, "My lord, do I still need to defend myself?"

Lu Huai felt ashamed and quickly cupped his hands, saying, "It's all Jin Yao's fault, please forgive her, Granny!"

"It's not a matter of taking responsibility; I'm just here on the Empress's orders to teach you manners. If you're unwilling to learn, I won't force you. I just need to ask the Prince to come to the palace and explain the reasons to the Empress. That way, when Miss Jinyao enters the Yue Prince's residence in the future, His Highness the Yue Prince won't blame the Empress."

After hearing those few words, Lu Huai broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly apologized again.

After Lu Huai left, Granny Jiang came to Lu Jinyao and asked with narrowed eyes, "Would you like to continue, Miss?"

Lu Jinyao cursed inwardly, but said perfunctorily, "Jinyao was wrong, please correct me, Granny."

Granny Jiang glanced at the sky and said to Lu Jinyao, "The sun is rising, and we're afraid it will scorch the young lady. Let's find another place to learn the rules of walking, lying down, stepping, and sitting."

Lu Jinyao never expected that Granny Jiang would take her to the Lu family ancestral hall and have Liu Ying help her take off her clothes.

During the day, the ancestral hall was dark, without any candles. The ancestral tablets of the Lu family seemed like eyes in the darkness, making Lu Jinyao's scalp tingle. She subconsciously wanted to pull her clothes tighter, but Jiang Mama pinched her hard. Being from the palace, she knew how to torture people; the spot she pinched was something she couldn't tell anyone about, much less let anyone see.

The newly changed clothes looked like they'd been soaked in glue; they were stiff and prickly against the skin. And that wasn't all—Jiang Mama then pulled out a handful of embroidery needles from her bosom and pinned them to the clothes.

"Please, Miss Jinyao, learn the proper etiquette from me. Miss Zhiyuan, please observe and point out any improprieties immediately."

Lu Zhiyuan obediently agreed, took the candy from Liu Ying's hand, placed a few on the offering table, and then pulled over a prayer mat to sit on the ground.

While she was suffering, she was enjoying sweets. Lu Jinyao was furious, but soon she couldn't bring herself to hate her anymore. Because of that specially made dress, because of the embroidery needles pinned to it, every step she took and every movement she made felt like torture.

The moment she lost focus, Granny Jiang pressed the ruler against her chin. She instinctively leaned back, and her neck stung from the cuts from her clothes.

"Smack!" The ruler landed on his back.

"Don't lean back, keep your eyes looking straight ahead."

"Smack!" The ruler struck his forearm, and he felt a prick in the crook of his arm, making him cry out in pain.

"Cover your hands naturally and don't make a sound."

"Smack!" The ruler landed on the hem of the skirt, the calf was rubbed by the clothes, pricked by needles, and the face was in disarray.

"I've told you several times, don't take big steps and expose your entire instep."

Lu Jinyao looked down and was hit again, hearing Jiang Mama's icy voice in her ear.

"Don't bow your head, don't speak, walk slowly and gently, keep your hands folded and speak softly. Do you even have a brain? You can't even remember something this simple..."

Until the middle of the night, Lu Jinyao suddenly woke up from her dream and shouted at the roof, "Jinyao remembers!" Then she got out of bed and, as if in a nightmare, walked around the room. When she came to her senses, she couldn't help but sob.

The maid pushed open the door and came in. Seeing Lu Jinyao barefoot, squatting there with her face covered, she couldn't help but ask, "Miss, are you in a lot of pain? Perhaps... I can call the physician for you."

"No...no need, I just had a nightmare."

With red eyes, Lu Jinyao lay back down in bed. Never before had she felt such hatred for the capital and for the Pingnan Marquis's residence.

She missed Weinan, missed that small house with its many rules. In that house, she wasn't an adopted daughter, but her parents' eldest daughter. The servants all respected and feared her; none dared to show her any disrespect.

Lu Jinyao looked at the pink gauze curtain above her head, bit her quilt, and cried silently.

Half-asleep, half-awake, she endured a torturous night. Before dawn, Lu Jinyao was shoved by Granny Jiang.

Her whole body ached, even more than yesterday, as if the pain had been amplified after a night's rest. She had thought that if she could get through yesterday, someone would rescue her today, but Jiang Mama saw right through her thoughts.

Granny Jiang sneered, "Miss, you should learn the rules properly! The old lady went to Hanshan Temple to burn incense, and the Marquis accompanied the lady to inspect shops in a neighboring county. As for your birth mother, although she has left the woodshed, she is still bedridden. Moreover, the Marquis left a message that you must not slack off in learning the rules."

Lu Jinyao pursed her lips and remained silent.

She had long known of the Lu family's cold-heartedness and selfishness, but she hadn't been the one who suffered injustice before. The moment the blood test results came out, the ties between the Lu family and her ended. They could ignore Lu Zhiyuan, abandoning her in the villa for ten years, leaving her to fend for herself, so why would they care about a "granddaughter" who was neither related to them by blood?

If her mother were favored and her younger brother were valued, she could benefit from their influence. However, her mother was disliked after arriving in the capital, and although her brother was of the Lu family bloodline, he only benefited from his gender. To gain a foothold in the Marquis's mansion and in the capital, the only people she could rely on were His Highness Prince Yue and herself.

She wanted to make herself useful, to make Lu Huai rely on His Highness the Prince of Yue and her just as he relied on the Xie family and Xie Chaoyun.

Biting her lip, with a few drops of bright red appearing at the teeth marks, Lu Jinyao curtsied and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Granny Jiang! Don't worry, Granny Jiang, I will definitely learn the manners properly from you today."