Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

After he left, Lin Rong looked at Su Wanshan and Aunt Liu on the ground. "Over the years, although I have not liked you, I have never mistreated you. And this is how you repay me? You are truly heartless and ungrateful... Granny Li, give the order that from now on, their food, clothing and daily necessities shall be provided in accordance with the prescribed standards, and no one shall be allowed to exceed them by even a fraction."

"Yes".

"Second Miss, you are wicked and reckless, plotting to harm your elder sister. This is extremely rebellious. You are to be punished by copying the 'Women's Virtues' and 'Women's Precepts' one hundred times each. Aunt Liu, you have failed to properly educate your daughter. You are to be confined to your quarters for one month and punished by copying Buddhist scriptures one hundred times."

“Yes,” Su Wanshan and Aunt Liu replied, and then the two said, “Your daughter/concubine takes her leave.”

After they left, Su Haoyu said indignantly, "Mother, are we just going to let this go? She wanted to kill my sister!"

"Then what should we do? Kill her, or drug her too?" After saying that, Lin Rong walked to the side and sat down.

Su Haoyu wanted to say something, but found himself unable to refute it. So he looked at Su Qianrou and said, "Sister, why did you exempt her from the twenty strokes of the cane? Look at her now, Father only put her under house arrest. Don't you think that's too lenient on her?"

“It’s not that I want to be exempted, but that my father wants me to be exempted.”

"What do you mean? What does this have to do with Father? Didn't Father say he was going to punish her?"

“You’re still too young,” Lin Rong said.

Su Haoyu looked at her and Su Qianrou with a blank expression.

Su Qianrou explained, "Although Father's attitude towards Su Wanshan is usually rather cold, she is still his daughter. How could he possibly be so cruel to her? Besides, I am still alive and well. And to put it bluntly, even if I were to be killed by Su Wanshan one day, Father would not take her life. At most, he would just send her away."

"How could that be? Your father always dotes on you the most."

"Both are flesh and blood; if one is lost, we have to save the other."

“Your sister is right. Your father doesn’t like Su Wanshan because she was obtained through Aunt Liu’s schemes. But in the end, she is still his daughter.”

Su Haoyu was somewhat unable to accept it, feeling that his understanding had been overturned. He had always thought that Su Jing'an's kindness to them was unconditional, until today he realized that it was not like that. At times, they had to suffer some grievances, and these grievances were inflicted by their own family.

Lin Rong and Su Qianrou stared at him in a daze, and couldn't help but sigh, "He's still too young."

Meanwhile, Su Wanshan and Aunt Liu were walking on the road.

Su Wanshan said angrily, "That bitch Su Qianrou knew I drugged her a long time ago, but she never said anything. And today, she knew I was going to scheme against her, but she pretended not to know and then schemed against me instead. When did she become so clever?"

"Maybe she was faking it all along."

"Hmph, she really is a despicable person."

"Behave yourself during this time and don't do anything else, otherwise if your father finds out, he will definitely kick you out of the manor."

"Dad is just biased."

"Keep your voice down, or your father will hear you and you'll get twenty lashes."

Su Wanshan stopped saying anything, but her face was full of resentment.

Afterwards, Su Qianrou returned to her Qifeng Courtyard. She had just sat down and was about to have a sip of tea to quench her thirst when Juxia came in. "Miss, the master sent two books and a piece of fine pine soot ink to you as compensation."

"Just leave it there," Su Qianrou said casually.

"Yes".

“I always thought that Master favored Miss, but it turns out he was nothing special. Master knew that Second Miss had drugged you and almost killed you. Today he wants to ruin your reputation, but he only punished Second Miss by confining her to her quarters for a month. This punishment is far too lenient.”

"Didn't we already know this would be the outcome? What's there to be angry about?"

"Why did you plead for the Second Miss when the Master said he was going to give her twenty lashes? Otherwise, she would be half-dead by now."

"How can you be as naive as Xiaoyu? Do you think my father asked for my opinion? He just wanted me to ask for a waiver of the twenty strokes of the cane. If I pretend to be stupid, what do you think my father will think of me?"

Chen Mama, who had not spoken until now, said, "Master will definitely think that Miss is heartless and does not care about sisterly affection at all. This will not only leave a bad impression on Master, but may even cause him to distance himself from Miss. On the contrary, if Miss pleads for her, it will make Master feel guilty and want to make amends to Miss."

"As expected, the old nanny sees things clearly."

"If Miss is heartless for not pleading for her, then is Second Miss heartless for wanting Miss's life? Master is being too unreasonable."

"Alright, as long as we've achieved our goal, that's fine."

"So, what exactly is Miss's purpose in doing this? I still don't understand."

Su Qianrou smiled as she looked at her innocent appearance.

Granny Chen couldn't help but laugh.

"No, what are you laughing at?"

"Let me ask you this: after what happened today, do you think my father will believe me more or Su Wanshan more in the future?"

"Of course it's Miss. I reckon that even if Miss were to say out of the blue that Second Miss was trying to harm you again, Master would probably believe her."

"So, this is the purpose. First, to let my father see Su Wanshan's true colors so that she won't dare to act rashly again. Second, to gain my father's trust. If I do something to Su Wanshan in the future, even if Su Wanshan complains to my father, he may not believe it. He might even think that Su Wanshan is framing me. What do you think?"

"Miss is so clever."

"It's alright, it's just taking precautions."

"Has Miss decided what she wants to do to the Second Miss?"

Su Qianrou put down her teacup and said unhurriedly, "No rush."

Chunzhu didn't ask any more questions.

Just then, Juxia came in again. "Miss, I had the soil for that plum tree changed."

"The plum blossoms may be damaged."

"no".

"That's good."

"How do you know what the Second Miss will do today?" Chunzhu asked curiously.

“I don’t know, but I know she definitely won’t let this opportunity pass her by.”

"That's why Miss had Juxia pour the poison under the plum blossoms beforehand."

"Ok".

Half a month ago, many dead ants appeared under the plum blossom tree. After Su Qianrou learned about this, she immediately thought that Yuehong must have buried the pastries there. So she asked Juxia to dig them up and found some residue. She then asked Juxia to pour a cup of poison on them.

“Miss, I have never understood why you didn’t tell Master and Madam directly when you discovered the hiding place of the pastries, but waited until today.”

"The time is not right."

"What's the meaning".

“Revealing it today is more convincing.”

Chunzhu seemed to understand, but not quite.

Su Qianrou didn't think there was anything wrong with her being so naive. After all, being a servant didn't require being very smart; loyalty was the most important thing.