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

When Hua Sirong returned to Qingwu Courtyard, the gifts sent by Madam Shen to calm her nerves arrived.

Hua Sirong wanted to laugh. When she first came to the Marquis's mansion, she offered so many good things, but Madam Shen didn't seem to give her much of a friendly look.

Today is quite strange. She didn't suffer any real harm at the Shen residence. In fact, if everyone pretended not to hear, this matter could be easily covered up.

After all, Hua Sirong herself would not openly publicize her experiences at the Shen residence.

Since the Min family and others hadn't caught her in the act, they had nothing to say.

But why is Madam Shen so concerned about the feelings of an orphan girl living under someone else's roof? Could it be simply because she is engaged?

After Wang Mama and Yan Mama learned about Hua Sirong's ordeal at the Shen residence that day, they were filled with lingering fear.

Wang's mother once again began educating Chunyan.

Granny Yan then instructed Hua Sirong, "Before you get married, Miss, please stay home as much as possible. If you must go out, please bring several servants with you."

"At least one of us, me or Wang's mother, should be brought along."

Hua Sirong nodded. The reason she only brought Chunyan today was because the Shen family was her maternal grandparents' family, and He Zhizhu and the others only brought one personal maid. Naturally, she didn't want to stand out too much.

That's enough. For the sake of my own life, even if I break the rules a little more in the future, I won't wrong myself or put myself in danger anymore.

---

Having just performed a righteous act, Young Master Shen couldn't wait to write to Jiang Huaiji to claim credit.

After much deliberation, Jiang Huaiji realized that he had personally agreed to marry this woman, so there was no reason for him to leave her with someone else and let her be bullied.

Besides, so far, he still has a good impression of Hua Sirong.

So, taking advantage of the opportunity to visit the Jiang family for the New Year, he brought up his plan to marry Hua Sirong as soon as possible.

Master Jiang had no reason to disagree, so he decided that after the Lantern Festival, he would go to the gate of the Denghou Mansion to request a wedding date.

The most auspicious day recently is the first day of the second lunar month.

Jiang Huaiji remarked, "Isn't this too rushed? Will the Marquis's residence use insufficient preparation as an excuse?"

Master Jiang mocked Jiang Huaiji, "You were indifferent when I asked you to get married before. Now that you've gotten a beautiful wife for nothing, you're all eager to get married!"

"Don't worry, Rong'er's father saved my life."

I promised to prepare her dowry, and I will not break my promise.

If the Marquis's mansion uses the excuse that the dowry is not ready, I will simply send a hundred sets of dowry to the Marquis's mansion directly.

Jiang Huaiji gave his master a rare smile, "Uncle, you've prepared such a generous dowry for her, but don't you see how meager my family's resources are? How can we afford a corresponding betrothal gift?"

Master Jiang pointed at Jiang Huaiji with his finger, "You brat, do you think I don't know how many good things you have up your sleeve?"

“Sister Rong is not the kind of person who despises the poor and loves the rich. Even if you only give her a pair of wild geese, she will be happy.”

Looking at Jiang Huaiji, and thinking that he too would soon be married and have children, Mr. Jiang felt his life was complete and was in a good mood.

Just after the Lantern Festival, Master Jiang, along with Jiang Huaiji, brought the betrothal gifts, as well as the promised dowry of one hundred taels of clothing.

I also handed them the date they had chosen in advance and discussed setting the wedding date.

Because of He Zhizhu, although Shen said it was in a hurry for the first day of the second month, after a few words of persuasion from Master Jiang, Shen nodded in agreement.

Hua Sirong felt uneasy as she learned that the wedding date was approaching, but she was also secretly delighted at the prospect of leaving the Marquis's mansion.

However, Yuan Tiaotiao from Mixiangyuan was not so happy.

Yuan Tiaotiao said to Du Juan with a hint of regret, "Today should have been a good day for you and Qiuyi. But the Jiang family doesn't know how to pick their time, and they actually came to propose marriage today."

Right now, everyone in the manor is busy going to the front to offer their congratulations, and they've all forgotten to come and congratulate you and Qiuyi on your wedding.

Du Juan quickly knelt down and kowtowed, "This servant and Qiu Yi are nothing but servants, how can we compare to the masters in this mansion?"

"Today, my marriage to Qiuyi is already a great blessing from you, my master."

Yuan Tiaotiao maintained her smile, which was neither warm nor cold, on her face. "You have served me since you were a child, and you came into the Marquis's mansion with me."

They wanted to promote you to be the prince's concubine, but you refused and even swore never to marry.

Now that you've got the ability to make Qiu Yi, who's by the young master's side, treat you differently, I'm happy to oblige.

"I only hope that you and Qiuyi will live a good life after your marriage, so that it won't have been in vain for the young master and I to agree to this marriage."

Du Juan quickly kowtowed, "This servant originally intended to stay by your side for the rest of my life, but this servant is too dull and cannot share your burdens."

Qiuyi is a capable person by the young master's side. In my heart, marrying her is a way of relieving your worries.

Yuan Tiaotiao personally got up and helped Du Juan up, saying, "You're a good person; I can't bear to let you marry someone else."

It's good that you two are now married to Qiuyi. You'll both still serve the young master and me, just like before.

"After you have your child, I'll have that child continue to serve the young masters, okay?"

A smile spread across Du Juan's face as she bowed and thanked her.

Although Du Juan and Qiu Yi's marriage was kept low-key, those who needed to know still found out.

For example, okra, and Hua Sirong.

In Qingwu Courtyard, Hua Sirong said to Granny Yan, "When we were at the Shen residence, I hinted to Qiu Kui that we could use someone else's residence to facilitate her marriage with Qiu Yi."

"At the time, she said she had her own plans. I thought she had some brilliant idea."

To her surprise, she watched as her lover married someone else.

Granny Yan's eyes were deep and unfathomable. "This old servant believes that Miss Qiu Kui probably knows how noble Seventh Miss's future husband is, which is why she is wavering."

"I've seen this kind of thing many times in the palace. Masters often send their personal servants out to curry favor in order to secure their own position."

If a woman is able to give birth to a son or daughter, then she will gain status and prestige because of her son.

“Miss Qiu Kui is a clever woman. If she marries Qiu Yi, her children will be slaves for generations.”

But if she remained utterly loyal to the Seventh Sister, she might have a chance to defy fate.

Hua Sirong frowned slightly. "First came Xiaoyue and Xiangcao, now comes Qiukui. Sigh..."

Granny Yan comforted her, "If you ask me, it depends on the person. In my opinion, Chunyan is extremely loyal to you, Miss."

Hua Sirong curled her lips, "Chunyan is just a silly girl, she doesn't have any ulterior motives."

After she finished speaking, she fell into deep thought again.

Qiu Yi was even willing to pass on such confidential information to her cousin for the sake of Qiu Kui.

It's easy to imagine that the two of them must have had a very deep relationship.

What caused Qiu Kui to abandon Qiu Yi, and Qiu Yi to turn to another woman?

Although Granny Yan's analysis was reasonable, Hua Sirong felt that Qiu Kui didn't care much about wealth and status.

Hua Sirong sighed softly. Since ancient times, the human heart has been the most complex thing.

She is now eagerly anticipating the arrival of the first day of the second lunar month.

She had already sent people to inquire about everything concerning Jiang Huaiji's family.

He came from a simple family and had powerful connections.

Hua Sirong was extremely satisfied.