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

She's her mother-in-law's niece, after all. Whether she's genuinely sincere or just pretending, she has to put on a show.

Du Juan seemed hesitant to speak, which amused Yuan Tiaotiao. "What's wrong? You've only just come to the Marquis's mansion with me, and you're already trying to hide things from me?"

"Just say what's on your mind. Can't we even have a heart-to-heart talk?"

Du Juan then said seriously, "I was lying just now. That Miss Rong is a stunning beauty who makes people forget the world when they see her."

Yuan Tiaotiao paused for a moment, then forced a smile and said, "Didn't we find out that my mother-in-law is looking for a suitable husband for my cousin Rong?"

It can't be that Cousin Rong doesn't want to get married and just wants to climb the social ladder by marrying into the Marquis's family.

Du Juan continued, "After seeing that young lady's true face, I inquired around the manor and heard... I heard..."

She hesitated for a moment, but finally mustered up her courage and said, "I found out that when this young lady came to the Marquis's mansion, she claimed that the two families were joking about a marriage alliance."

Yuan Tiaotiao's face immediately turned pale. "Are you serious?"

Du Juan: "This servant dares not lie in the slightest. This servant is just afraid that this cousin is shameless and wants to become our son-in-law's concubine."

Yuan Tiaotiao's hand holding the teacup trembled slightly. She took two deep breaths, forcing herself not to lose her composure. "If the two families have really arranged a marriage between our children, the Marquis's mansion will not discuss marriage with our Duke of Li's mansion."

After thinking about it, Du Juan nodded in agreement.

Yuan Tiaotiao continued her analysis, "Since my mother-in-law is choosing a husband for my cousin Rong, it means that even if my cousin Rong wants to marry the young master, my mother-in-law will resolutely disagree."

Even if my cousin wanted to, she couldn't do anything if her mother-in-law disagreed.

Yuan Tiaotiao, who had previously felt uncomfortable having to follow the rules in front of her mother-in-law, suddenly perked up. "No way, I have to follow my mother-in-law closely these days, and it would be best to subtly help her find a husband for my cousin as soon as possible."

To avoid any more nightmares.

Although He Zhizhang said many sweet words when he was having sex with her, and didn't seem to notice anything wrong when he asked her to take care of her cousin, men are always attracted to beauty, so she had to be careful.

Du Juan now also felt that Madam Shen was a good person. "Our girl is lucky to have met such a sensible mother-in-law."

Unlike some families where the mother-in-law would love to fill her son's harem with ten or eight beautiful concubines, fearing that her son might favor his first wife.

Yuan Tiaotiao also suddenly developed a liking for Shen Shi, "Did you find out anything else in private? About Miss Rongbiao?"

As Du Juan recalled, she said, "When my cousin was in mourning, she didn't go out much except to pay her respects. It's only recently, since she's been attending the girls' school, that she's been going out more often every day."

After saying that, she whispered, "I heard from a rumor that something happened at the manor yesterday that seems to be related to Miss. I'm afraid Miss will be unable to attend the girls' school again."

"By the way, I also found out that Miss Cousin's criteria for choosing a husband is to find an ambitious scholar, and it doesn't matter if his family is poor. But if you ask me, it will be difficult for her, an orphan from a merchant family, to marry into a good family."

"If it weren't for the connection with the Marquis's family, I reckon this cousin would have been sold off whole by her father's relatives long ago."

Yuan Tiaotiao raised an eyebrow. "Does she really mean to marry a scholar and become a proper wife? I didn't realize that a mere merchant's daughter could have such integrity."

Well, I just hope this isn't a ploy to back down. If she marries well, I, as her cousin-in-law, will definitely add to her dowry.

Du Juan: "The girl is just kind-hearted."

---

The following day, after Yuan Tiaotiao and He Zhizhang attended the homecoming banquet at the Duke of Li's mansion, the faces of the several heads of the mansion were not very pleasant.

In Yimei Garden, Madam Shen's face was grim. "These rumors are spreading like wildfire outside, how come our Marquis's mansion hasn't heard a word about them? Even if you don't go out, what about the people who go out to buy things every day? Don't they know anything?"

"If it weren't for the couple returning to the wife's family home today, when would I have known that the entire Marquis's mansion had become the laughing stock of the whole capital?"

She looked at the room full of maids and servants and said, "You are my personal attendants, but you cannot be my eyes or my ears. What use are you?"

"Men go out every day too, but they're on important business, so it's understandable that they don't pay attention to the gossip that women talk about."

But every day, which of you ladies doesn't go out and chat? Why doesn't anyone come up to you and say something?

"Now that things have escalated to this point, I, the lady of the Marquis's mansion, have been rendered blind and deaf. Does this mean that my loss of face will bring you honor?"

The old lady must be furious, and Jin is probably laughing at her behind her back. Zhan, who knows, is probably eyeing her control of the household.

The maids and servants knelt on the ground. Yuan Tiaotiao witnessed her mother-in-law's madness but felt no joy whatsoever.

Right now, her mother-in-law is angry and might be grateful for the news she brought back. But once her mother-in-law has dealt with the thorny issue, she might settle scores with her later.

As Yuan Tiaotiao thought about it, she couldn't help but shudder. But when she thought that Hua Sirong would completely lose her mother-in-law's favor because of this bad reputation, it seemed to be a good thing for her.

After all, in Yuan Tiaotiao's mind, Hua Sirong's words about wanting to marry a poor scholar were just a choice she was forced to make. If she could become a concubine for the young master of the Marquis's mansion, how could she bear to refuse?

After losing her temper, Madam Shen calmed down and immediately sent Yuan Tiao Tiao back to her own courtyard.

She's very annoyed right now and doesn't want her daughter-in-law to laugh at her.

Du Juan helped Yuan Tiaotiao walk in the garden of the Marquis's mansion and whispered, "Miss was a bit impulsive. If I had to tell you, you should have found an old woman from the Marquis's mansion to tell the Lady of the Marquis on her."

The matter concerning Miss Cousin has been circulating in the capital for a day or two now. Moreover, given the speed and force of this rumor, I suspect someone might be stirring things up behind the scenes.

The young lady has so bluntly revealed the truth to Lady Hou; you're the one who'll suffer.

"Look at all these maids serving in this household. I don't believe not a single one of them has heard a word. They're just pretending not to know for fear of incurring the master's wrath."

Yuan Tiaotiao calmed down and secretly blamed herself for being impulsive. How did she know that Hua Sirong's bad reputation had spread among the women in the capital?

It wasn't until the homecoming banquet that her stepsister showed off in front of her, intending to put her down, that she found out.

Then, on the way back to the manor, he asked Dujuan to inquire, and only then did he learn that the reputation of the Marquis's manor had also been damaged.

As the young mistress of the Marquis's mansion, it was her duty to uphold the mansion's reputation.

After returning home, he hurriedly came to discuss countermeasures with Madam Shen.

To everyone's surprise, instead of dealing with the rumors first, Madam Shen started blaming the servants for their negligence.

Although Madam Shen had always been strict with her, she had never been seen to lose her temper before. Today, she was truly frightened.