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

Madam?

With heavy eyelids and a restless, feverish body, Hua Sirong used the last of her clear mind to think.

The "Madam" mentioned by the old woman must be her maternal aunt, Madam Min, the Madam of the Shen family.

She also mentioned the third son of the Shen family, who was born out of wedlock. Considering her current situation, what else could Hua Sirong not understand?

On her first visit to her maternal grandparents' home, she was subjected to a series of schemes.

The poor thing was that she was always on high alert, completely unaware that every bowl of tea and every cup of wine at her maternal grandparents' house was something she was not allowed to touch.

How sad!

They are not worried at all about their shameful deeds being exposed, and may even end up standing on the moral high ground and blaming her for the mistakes.

Thinking of this, Hua Sirong cruelly bit the tip of her tongue.

The intense pain instantly brought her back to some of her senses.

The effects of the Qingxin Pill were gradually taking hold, and Hua Sirong quietly awaited the arrival of her scheme.

After a short while, Hua Sirong was roughly thrown onto the bed by the old woman, and she almost cried out from the impact.

When she heard the door lock, Hua Sirong opened her eyes and quickly got up to check the room.

The faint scent of incense prompted Hua Sirong to pick up the teapot on the table and pour it all over the tea.

She quietly approached the window, just as she was about to open it, when she suddenly heard voices.

Hua Sirong quickly stuffed a pillow into the quilt to make it look like someone was in bed, and then quickly hid behind the bed curtains, fearing that the other person would discover her.

"Third Young Master, why have you drunk too much again? This old servant will take you to your room to rest." As he spoke, he helped the man into the room and settled him in a chair.

"Third Young Master, please rest. This old servant will go get you some hangover soup." The old woman glanced at the bed as she left.

After the old woman left, the third young master, who had just been so drunk he was unconscious, suddenly stood up from his chair, his eyes no longer showing any signs of drunkenness.

He walked around the screen, looked at the bed, a sneer on his face, strode forward, and pulled back the covers.

The words that were about to come out were choked back by the pillow hidden under the covers.

He casually shook the blanket back into place, but his gaze began to sweep around the guest room.

His gaze lingered on the bed curtains, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Just when Hua Sirong thought the other party was about to discover her.

Young Master Shen went straight to the window, opened it, and checked the situation.

A glint flashed in his eyes. "Cousin Rong, there's no one around now. Why don't you come out and chat with me?"

Hua Sirong's eyes darkened. After a moment's thought, she decisively took off the gold hairpin from her hair, held it in her palm, and then cautiously moved to the window.

"Are you pretending to be drunk?" Hua Sirong preemptively struck.

"Didn't you also pretend to faint?" Shen San retorted.

Hua Sirong's wariness only increased, so Shen San also gave up his teasing intentions.

"I apologize for being so abrupt with my cousin Rong today. It was not my intention. Please forgive me."

Hua Sirong did not immediately express her opinion.

She glanced discreetly out the window. It wasn't a place near water, so if things got really bad, she could choose to escape by climbing out the window. This made her feel a little more at ease.

She endured her slight physical discomfort and glared angrily at Shen San, "It wasn't your intention, but you went along with it!"

Looking at Hua Sirong's rosy cheeks, Shen San could not hide her beauty even with a fierce glint in his eyes.

He did indeed want to go with the flow, to please his stepmother, and to marry Hua Sirong.

However, "One should not covet one's brother's wife. I am on good terms with Huaiji, so naturally I would not have any improper thoughts about you, my cousin."

Hua Sirong carefully discerned the truthfulness of Shen San's words, remaining skeptical.

She asked tentatively, "Could it be my aunt who's plotting against me today?"

Shen San nodded, "Exactly."

My cousin, don't be fooled by some people's usual aloofness; when it comes to scheming, they're even less cunning than a country bumpkin.

"Your stepmother has always felt that you have a considerable amount of private money hidden away, and you also have the ten-mile-long dowry promised to you by Master Jiang."

She then plotted to bring you into the household.

"As soon as the news of your engagement before the New Year reached the manor, she already figured out how to scheme against you."

"You know, there are many illegitimate sons like me in our household."

You can easily discard one and bring back a little golden goose like yourself.

For the legal wife, this was practically a risk-free business.

Hua Sirong sighed inwardly, this was all caused by money.

If she hadn't been so ruthless as to donate a sum of money to Baiyun Temple when she first arrived in the capital, she probably would have been taken advantage of by the Shen and He families long ago.

However, the Shen family's behavior remains as unseemly as ever.

But she still had doubts. "Your eldest uncle holds a high official position. If you brothers were willing to lower yourselves and marry a merchant's daughter, the Shen family's gate would probably be trampled down."

Why would my aunt need to scheme against me?

Shen San sneered, "Do you think the stepmother doesn't want to?"

It was only because Father cared about his reputation that he kept his stepmother from having any improper thoughts.

“But you are different. Even though you are an orphan daughter of a merchant family, it is still considered a return of paternal blood after you marry into the family.”

"Others will only praise the Shen family for their benevolence and righteousness. For the stepmother, it's a win-win situation."

By abandoning a good-for-nothing illegitimate son, she can not only enhance the reputation of the Shen family, but also squeeze some money out of you along the way.

"You have no family to rely on. Once you marry into the Shen family, won't you be at her mercy? As for your private savings, don't even think about it."

Who knows, she might find a way to force you to get back everything you gave away before!

Hua Sirong was so angry at Min's shamelessness that she trembled all over. She bit her lip until it bled, forcing herself to calm down.

"I dare not trust either her or you anymore." After saying that, Hua Sirong prepared to escape through the window.

Unfortunately, wearing thick clothes in winter makes movements appear particularly clumsy.

At that moment, voices could be heard coming from outside the guest room courtyard.

Shen San was startled and quickly stepped forward to help, "After you go out, just follow that path and you'll get back to the pavilion where you were before."

After saying that, without giving Hua Sirong, who had just landed, any chance to react, he slammed the window shut, went straight back to the bed, and lay down fully clothed.

Hua Sirong decided to take a gamble and quickly fled the scene following the path pointed out by Shen San.

Fortunately, I met Chunyan on the road.

Only then did she realize that Chunyan and the other maids had been deliberately sent away by the servants of the Shen family. When she realized something was wrong, she searched everywhere for Hua Sirong.

Fortunately, the Shen residence wasn't very large, so Chunyan didn't have many places to look.

At the other end of the guest room, Madam Min led Madam Shen and others, intending to catch the adulterers in the act, but upon entering the courtyard, they did not hear any indecent sounds coming from the guest room.

A question flashed through Min's mind: Could it be that the third son had really drunk himself to death?

Even with a beautiful woman right next to him, he couldn't bring himself to pick up the gun.

A wave of disdain washed over her, but she also prayed that the medication she used would work and compensate for the third brother's lack of ability.

Among the crowd of onlookers, He Zhizhu was prominently featured. "Hey, where are Cousin Rong and Third Sister? Does anyone know where they went?"

"We'll be heading back to the manor soon, Mother. I think we should send a maid to search around first."