How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Yanru laid out several jade pendants. She didn't know which one her father-in-law truly valued. At this moment, the safest course of action was to scatter them.

If you don't know which is more important, then all of them are important.

Four jade pendants: a pair of green jade dragons playing with a pearl, a white jade phoenix carved in openwork, a yellow jade tiger roaring in the wind, and a pair of ink-wash fish holding a ring. In an instant, he made his decision.

When the door opened again, Yan Ru's expression had changed; it was calm yet sorrowful.

She was already beautiful and delicate, and this demeanor made her appear even more pitiful.

She was once jokingly called "Daiyu" or "Xi Shi," which shows how beautiful she was.

In fact, Yan Ru was perfectly healthy; she was just born with a sickly appearance, and from a young age, she was always the one who evoked pity, whether at home or out in public.

The little thing was most jealous of her appearance, thinking that "seductive and charming" was pretentious, because she herself was voluptuous and rather vulgar, and disliked girls who were light and clean.

Upon seeing Yan Ru emerge, she made no attempt to conceal her disdain, raising her head and letting out a snort through her nose.

The old women were filled with trepidation, fearing that Yanru might misunderstand and complain to the master, causing them to lose their jobs and their families to starve.

Several people crowded together, and finally one of them was pushed forward, leaving the old woman who stepped forward in a very difficult position.

“Miss Yanru, we didn’t say anything bad about you, we pulled her away.”

The little thing twisted the old woman's arm hard.

"You're trying to please her? You don't know if you'll live to see tomorrow."

Yan Ru nodded to the old woman, "I know, and I won't hold it against you. You can leave once you're done cleaning. I don't need so many people here."

The usual practice was to stay downstairs and wait for the master to give them a reward, but the little thing caused a scene, so the old women didn't dare to stay and quickly took their things and left.

The little thing was quite unconvinced and casually sat down in the side room.

"What do you want?"

Yan Ru laughed instead, "I don't want to do anything, but you, with your rudeness, you're no good as a concubine."

When her secret was exposed, the little one was the first to deny it, "What concubine? Who wants to be a concubine?"

Her eyes were clearly evasive, but now that Yan Ru was facing her, she became calm and composed, and did not answer her directly.

“I once heard someone in school say that the most important thing in winning someone’s favor is to cater to their preferences and be obedient to them. Then even the hardest steel will turn into a soft touch.”

These words flashed through the little girl's mind, and seeing that she had taken them to heart, Yan Ru added fuel to the fire.

“At the time, I didn’t take it seriously, thinking that such a method could not possibly be useful. But I never expected that the woman would turn around and marry a county magistrate. By catering to his preferences and being obedient to him in every way, she went from being an ordinary person to becoming the wife of a county magistrate.”

The little creature became interested. "Are you telling the truth? You're not lying, are you? How could a commoner become the county magistrate's wife?"

“Of course it’s true,” Yan said with certainty. “If you don’t believe me, go and ask around and see if any of our female students have married the county magistrate.”

The little creature's eyes darted around, but it was still a bit suspicious. "Why are you telling me all this?"

Yan Ru smiled innocently, "I don't need these things. I can tell you have a lot of influence in the Song family. I'm just doing you a favor, hoping that you'll get what you want in the future and stop targeting me."

The little thing was very proud of itself, "My dad is the second-in-command by the steward's side. No one's words carry as much weight as his."

Yan Ru looked at her with a very convinced expression, while the little thing proudly raised its head.

"Just try to please me. I'll tell my dad, and you can have anything you want here."

The little thing felt extremely smug and satisfied. She took advantage of the fact that Yanru had never seen the other concubines and "lady of the pavilion" so arrogantly, and only cared about crushing her, a newcomer. She had a strange sense of pleasure in stepping on the former nobles.

"Hmm," Yan Ru smiled even more obediently as she looked at the little thing's smug face.

Taking advantage of her good mood, Yanru asked, "Sister Fang, where does Master Song usually stay?"

"In the study, or in the main courtyard."

Since Yanru can't go out anyway, the little one doesn't mind giving her some "benefits".

Yan Ru knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so she took the chance to ask more questions, "My family is poor and I don't know much about the world. I don't know where the main courtyards of most wealthy families are located?"

"The main courtyard is naturally in the center."

The little thing was very proud of himself. So what if he was a college student? He still didn't have as much knowledge as he did. No wonder people say, "It's better to marry a maid from a wealthy family than a wife from a poor one."

Seeing her like this, Yanru stopped asking.

Yanru waited in the room, just waiting for the little one to return to the servants' quarters to rest.

She took a box, put a jade pendant in it, and quietly went downstairs. She was light-footed and deliberately made her footsteps as soft as a cat's.

Seeing that the little thing hadn't noticed her, she quickly left the yard as if she were on grease.

I went outside and checked the sun; it was setting. I determined my direction and guessed that in a grand mansion like this, the main house would typically face south, so I headed in that direction.

But this courtyard is really big! It's not a straight road leading to the main courtyard from her direction; it's a maze of twists and turns, with covered walkways and gardens here and there.

Along the way, the servants were all doing their own work, only secretly glancing at her, and did not take the initiative to talk to her.

Some clever servants, noticing she was unfamiliar, quickly informed the steward. Yan Ru saw this but did not stop them.

She should have the servant inform the master so she could meet with Master Song as soon as possible.

Just as I passed a rockery, a maidservant came towards me. I was about to ask her for directions when the maidservant darted away and disappeared into a recessed area beside me.

Yan Ru glanced at it curiously, remembering what her teacher had said: some large mansions would have a "maid's room" specially left in the passageway to deal with situations where servants would run into their masters.

Unexpectedly, the Song family also had this rule, so Yanru no longer had much hope of living in the Song family.

After winding and turning, we arrived at the center of the garden, where there was a clear pond with mottled bluestone along its banks. The main buildings and artificial hills were arranged around the pond, but we didn't know its exact location.

Yan Ru climbed up the tiered covered walkway to a small pavilion.

It was a three-bay gabled building perched atop an artificial hill. Benches were set up on the west side, and wrought iron railings were set up on the east side. Outside the railings was a set of exquisite and delicate lake stone rockery with the three characters "Chengxin Pavilion" inscribed on it.

Yan Ru was tired from walking, so she sat down to rest.

This artificial hill must be the place where the Song family can enjoy a panoramic view. Yan Ru watched the servants of the Song family bustling about, decorating with lanterns and colorful streamers, and couldn't help but be lost in thought.

By the time she heard voices, she had nowhere to hide. She could only wait for them to come over so she could grit her teeth and deal with the situation.

Song Wenqu had already received a report from the servants that Yan Ru was currently searching for him all over the mansion.

Intrigued, he instructed a servant to lead her to Chengxin Pavilion so he could make his appearance. He deliberately spoke to the steward, making noise to attract her attention.

Sure enough, she immediately put away her embarrassment and anger, and put on a well-behaved appearance.

He was just too slow to conceal his expression, and the other man had already seen everything. He was in a good mood, even through the artificial hill.

This was the first time I had seen Yanru up close during the day. Compared to her serene beauty at night, she was even clearer and more radiant, like a lily in bloom.

beautiful!

He approached her with complete confidence.

Yan Ru had her eyes downcast, but when she felt the light in front of her dim, she looked up.

The newcomer stood with his hands behind his back, his sword-like eyebrows reaching his temples, his phoenix eyes exuding authority, his appearance elegant yet not arrogant, his actions gentle and approachable, easily winning people's favor.

Yan Ru stood up and called out, "Master Song."

The beauty's voice was as beautiful as jade shattering in Kunlun Mountain or a nightingale singing in a valley.

Mr. Song unconsciously lowered his voice, "What, you're in the mood for a stroll today?"

They didn't immediately pursue her "mistake" of running out of the building.

Yan Ru was a little shy. "How could that be? I don't have any particular interest in such things. I came out specifically to see you."

Only then did Master Song take a closer look at her. He saw that she was wearing a school uniform and tightly clutching a wooden box in her hand, probably containing something important.

"what is this?"

When Master Song asked, Yanru handed over the box in her hand.

This is a rectangular wooden box with painted cloud patterns, slightly larger than an adult man's palm.

The lid is shaped like a gable, with the top painted red. The body is covered with white powder, and cloud patterns are painted on the body and lid in red, black and blue, with lively and smooth lines.

At first glance, it looks like a woman's makeup box, but seeing how seriously Yanru is handling it, Master Song has some doubts.

"what is this?"

"Jade pendant".

Yan Ru lowered her head. "The day I came, my father hurriedly told me to give this to you."

Song Wenqu became interested. "Is there any special significance to this jade pendant?"

Master Song did not open the box; there were too many people around, and it wouldn't be good if he revealed it to them.

Yan Ru looked around. "Mr. Song, this item seems very precious. My father said it can only be given to you; it's not allowed to be given to anyone else."

Her serious demeanor made Master Song take it seriously, guessing that his family might have some collections.

After all, even a wrecked ship has three thousand nails, and the Lü family ancestors might have left behind some incredible treasures.

Holding the box in his hand, he waved to Yanru.

"Come on, let's go to my study."

Song Wenqu's study was very large, divided into inner and outer rooms, filled with bookshelves everywhere. It was bright, clean, and tastefully decorated.

Yan Ru sat down at the desk, leaving only the two of them in the room.

Without hesitation, Yan Ru took the box, opened it, and took out a jade pendant.

It was a piece of green jade, depicting two dragons playing with a pearl. Its color was like bamboo green, the jade was clear and free of impurities, its color was elegant and its texture was smooth and lustrous, and its quality was serene and calming.

What's even more wonderful is that the carving is not overly complicated, but rather fluid and lifelike, with twists and turns.

The two dragons faced each other, their expressions fierce and domineering, baring their fangs and claws, their eyes wide open, their tails swaying as they playfully fought over the flying dragon pearl.

With its powerful scales and claws, and its naturally coiled body, the dragon forms a harmonious contrast with the wave patterns at the bottom, surrounded by auspicious clouds, resembling a flying dragon in the sky.

This jade pendant is indeed precious and exquisitely crafted, but Master Song is used to seeing rare treasures, so why would he find it strange?

However, he seemed to have been looking at it for a rather long time.

"Master Song?" Yan Ru called out to him.

Song Wenqu snapped out of his daze and composed himself.

"Yanru, do you know... what this is?"

"I know, the Twin Dragon Jade Pendant."

Looking at the double dragon jade pendant in front of him, Song Wenqu did not immediately take it.

Instead, he asked, "I've heard that your family owns a priceless jade pendant shaped like two fish. Are you aware of that?"

Thinking that she was holding four jade pendants in her hand, Yan Ru became slightly nervous.

"I'm not entirely sure either. My father and sister have always managed the family shop. When I ran away, my father gave me this jade pendant and told me to make sure I delivered it to you."

I hid outside all night with my luggage, and as dawn was breaking, I hurried to your residence following the route my father had given me.

Master Song looked at the jade pendant, his head bowed, seemingly lost in thought.