The cousin's family is extremely wealthy; she deserves to be a concubine.

Even so, Jin Yaoyao still wanted to ask Xiaoya, "I believe I have treated you well. Even when you don't do your job well, I haven't punished you severely."

Sometimes I even had to cover for you, and I've never hidden anything about myself from you. But how have you treated me? Have you ever considered me your master? How could you turn around and betray me like that?

Xiaoya looked puzzled. "Miss Jin, although I am assigned to serve you, I am paid by the Marquis's household. So naturally, I will always put the Marquis's household first."

"I have already advised you against what you are about to do. But you still insist on doing something that would harm the Marquis's mansion. How can I just stand by and watch?"

She was sent by the Third Madam to serve Jin Yaoyao. Whenever Jin Yaoyao returned to the Jin family, she would follow her. This seemed to give Jin Yaoyao the illusion that Xiaoya had become Jin Yaoyao's private property.

This is why Jin Yaoyao doesn't shy away from Xiaoya's opinions when she does things, and it is precisely because of her arrogance that her plans today have backfired.

Hua Sirong secretly sized up this girl named Xiaoya, and couldn't help but feel a little worried for herself. Fortunately, no one else had entered her Qingwu Courtyard back then.

The servants in this noble household have been passed down through generations; how could outsiders like them be easily bribed?

But since they are also personal servants, whatever they want to do is under the watchful eye of their master, which is somewhat terrifying to think about.

Jin Yaoyao felt that all the suffering she had endured today was due to Xiaoya's inaction and betrayal.

So, she mustered all her strength and slapped Xiaoya hard across the face.

Xiaoya endured it all.

The people in the Marquis's mansion didn't have time to stop it, or rather, they didn't intend to stop it.

From the perspective of the Marquis's family, Xiaoya's actions were righteous and awe-inspiring. From Jin Yaoyao's perspective, Xiaoya's actions were betrayal.

After Zhan and Jin Yaoyao breathed a sigh of relief, they asked, "Miss Yao, you failed to outmaneuver others today and ended up harming yourself instead."

When the scandal came to light, they even tried to drag Miss Rong down with them, which shows that they've been wasting their time at the Marquis's mansion's girls' school these past few years.

Since our Marquis's family's education for young ladies is insufficient to teach Miss Yao Biao, why not take this opportunity to return to your Jin family?

Furthermore, I see that you and the young master of the Zeng family, as cousins, have a very good understanding; marrying him would certainly be a wonderful thing.”

"As for your illicit affair with the young master of the Zeng family today, our Marquis's Mansion is, after all, related to you by marriage. If you know what's good for you, we'll be happy to be magnanimous and cover up your affair for a while."

Perhaps because He Zhilang had escaped a calamity, Madam Zhan attributed the credit to Hua Sirong, and thus treated her with a more amiable demeanor.

"Rong girl, you've been dragged into this innocently today. My third sister-in-law meant well, thinking of setting up a separate table for you. Who knew that her relatives would be so shameless, taking advantage of her kindness to scheme against you."

My third sister-in-law certainly didn't know about this. If she had, she wouldn't have ruined her own family's two children so easily. Rong, don't you think that makes sense?

However, my third sister-in-law is indeed at fault for oversight, and I ask that you, Rong'er, be forgiving of her for this.

Hua Sirong bowed and said, "I dare not."

Jin wanted to protect her two children from her maternal family, but Zhan gave her a sharp look, and Jin immediately shut up.

Madam Zhan continued, "Rong is the eldest sister-in-law's niece, and Yao and Young Master Zeng are the third sister-in-law's nieces."

I have no relation to any of the three of them, so today I will presume to bypass my sister-in-law, the matriarch of the Marquis's household, and act as an intermediary to settle this matter.”

"Third sister-in-law, please take some time to go back to your parents' home tomorrow and set a wedding date for your two children. As for the engagement, they are childhood sweethearts and must have been betrothed long ago."

"What happened in our household today, even if it's brought up again later, can only be attributed to the fact that the two children were already engaged, had a deep bond, and couldn't wait for their wedding... so there's not much fault to be found."

"As for Sanhao, return her indenture as soon as possible and let her do as she pleases."

When Sanhao heard that she was being set free, a bright light flashed in his eyes for a moment, but it was extinguished when he saw Zeng Ke and Jin Yaoyao.

For people like them, simply getting their indentures back doesn't guarantee they'll regain their freedom.

She couldn't help but glance at Xiaoya, wondering if she had made the wrong choice.

But as she gets older, how much time does she have left to choose a good ending for herself?

Mrs. Zhan is a cunning old fox; she knows all about Sanhao's little schemes perfectly well.

However, Sanhao conspired with outsiders to plot against the Marquis's mansion. Even though the target of their scheme was Hua Sirong, who was not the true master of the mansion, they still violated the taboos of their masters.

Her seemingly generous act actually blocked all of Sanhao's escape routes.

If she were still a servant in the Marquis's mansion, even if she was disliked by her masters and ostracized, her life would certainly be safe.

As for the future, Sanhao can only hope for the best.

Xiaoya couldn't help but empathize with Sanhao's ending.

If she stood firmly by Jin Yaoyao's side today, offering her advice and scheming against the masters in the mansion for her.

Even if Jin Yaoyao gets what she wants in the end, as a maid in a marquis's mansion, she is destined for a tragic end.

Of the three mistresses in the Marquis's mansion, Lady Zhan seemed the most easy to talk to and unassuming, but in reality, she was the hardest-hearted and the most ruthless.

As a mere maidservant bound to the Marquis's mansion by a contract of servitude, how could she dare to scheme against He Zhilang, the legitimate son of Lady Zhan?

If Jin Yaoyao were determined to scheme against the Fourth Prince, she might just give in for greater benefits.

Could she possibly be an enemy of the Zhan family? Absolutely not for Xiaoya.

Sure enough, after dealing with Sanhao, Ms. Zhan began to extend goodwill to Hua Sirong.

“Rong’er has suffered an undeserved misfortune today. Now that the truth has come out, Madam, why don’t you let these young people go back?”

Just as the old lady was about to nod, young master Zeng suddenly cried out in protest, "My actions today were indeed inappropriate, but it is true that I received a message from the little maid earlier."

Madam Zhan gave her a sharp look. She had intended to let the matter drop and go home, but Zeng Ke was not thinking clearly and insisted on getting to the bottom of it.

"Oh? Why didn't Young Master Zeng take out that letter in the first place? Don't try to fool people with just anyone's letter!"

The implication is that you should know when to stop. Since the Marquis's mansion didn't lose face because of you, you should just keep this to yourselves.

Young Master Zeng usually relies on the Jin family's support when he goes out, and he is not the kind of person who knows how to read people's expressions.

"The letter said to let me read it and then destroy it. I was afraid of leaving any evidence against me, so I destroyed it."

Madam Zhan sneered. If there really were any letters, wouldn't that be a handle to use against Hua Sirong? How could she possibly destroy them so easily?