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

"Mom, now only you and Chunyan are left to accompany me in this world. You can tell me anything you want to say from now on. Don't worry that I will take it to heart. We are a family, so there's no need to worry about so many things."

"I understand, my dear. I'm thinking that now that things have turned so ugly between the two sides, your life will be even more difficult in the future."

Once they return to their clan and the news spreads, which family would be willing to adopt a son into the master and mistress's family? The thought of the master and mistress having no heir makes me uneasy.”

"What my mother is worried about is that once they go back, the old house and the remaining family property will probably be taken back by the clan."

"So what I just asked my mother to give to my uncle is the land deed from our hometown." Wang's mother was shocked and regretted her shamelessness in handing over the things to the clan chief's brother. She wondered if she could still leave the manor to retrieve them.

Hua Sirong found it both funny and heartbreaking, and comforted her, "Mom, don't panic. There's no use in keeping that thing. It's better to give it to the clan to sell for a good price. I've squandered all the family business that Father built up. I've offended not only the clan, but also my aunt and maternal grandparents."

That piece of land is in a good location, and it's not easy for us to find a buyer on our own. Besides, my surname is Hua, so I'll just say that I hope that with this insignificant thing, I can ask the clan to stop arguing with me and just look after my parents' graves.

As for the matter of adopting a child, Mother, don't be discouraged. You still have me.

I am my parents' only child, and I will definitely think of them. Once I've made a good living, I will definitely go back to my hometown in Xishan and adopt a child for my parents. Mom, don't worry.

"Girl, are you telling the truth?" Wang's mother couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

“Of course, my father often said that money can make the devil turn the millstone. We will definitely be able to find a brother who is willing to be my parents’ adopted son in the future.”

“What the young lady says is all right.” Madam Wang did not doubt her daughter, but, “But young lady, we have no money now.” In her heart, Madam Wang had thought that the land deed was her daughter’s last resort, but now she had even given that away herself.

The master said that money can make the devil turn the millstone, because the master was not short of money and he was a master at turning stones into gold.

But my daughter has been a sickly child who has never left the house for the past sixteen years. How can she earn enough money to make even ghosts agree to work for her?

"Does Mom think I'm pretty?" Hua Sirong began to earnestly deceive.

"Beautiful, Mother has never seen a woman more beautiful than you."

"Then if your daughter marries a capable husband in the future, she'll have a chance to make ghosts obey her."

Wang's mother wholeheartedly agreed, believing that the most important thing for a woman in her life is to marry into a good family, but beauty does not necessarily guarantee a good marriage.

However, her daughter is so good, she will surely find a good family to marry into, "The daughter will surely find a suitable husband."

Seeing that Wang Mama had something to think about, Hua Sirong stopped talking.

She never mentioned that her daughter would be an old maid after three years of mourning, and by then the marriage market would be full of widowers or unattractive men.

“The matter of the master and mistress can be put on hold for the time being, but the young lady is currently observing mourning and can only eat vegetarian food. The vegetarian food provided by the Marquis’s mansion was quite refined, but if she continues to eat the same standard as lunch, how can the young lady’s body withstand it?”

You should know that the young lady is still taking medicine, but it's inconvenient to brew medicine at the Marquis's residence, so she's currently taking pills.

"If the girl collapses because of the food, and word gets out, people will think she can't endure hardship, not even the hardship of observing a vegetarian diet to mourn her father. What should we do then?"

As for your claim that it was due to mistreatment by the Marquis's mansion? How could something that happened in the Marquis's mansion be easily spread?

"Back when I was with the Shen family, if I wanted something nice to eat, I could just give some money to the head chef."

But this is the Marquis's residence, and the young lady is, after all, only a cousin. The head steward of this household is also the young lady's aunt. The kitchen staff might not necessarily disobey the Marquis's wishes for money.

“Mother is right, so I don’t intend to bribe the head kitchen with money.”

They're new here, and they have to pay extra money to make ends meet. They're supposed to stay in the Marquis's mansion for three years, so how much money will they have to spend?

Besides, people's appetites only grow bigger with feeding, and their little bit of money is far from enough.

Furthermore, you paid extra for the food, so what about the other things? Should you pay for them too?

"Not going through the main kitchen route? Then... young lady, do you perhaps wish to seek the Lady of the Marquis's forgiveness?" This is the only way to truly resolve the issue, and Madam Wang naturally agrees, but this path is not easy.

"Does Mother still remember the shops and money we originally planned to give as tribute to the Lady of the Marquis?"

"Of course I remember. I thought that since you came to the Marquis's mansion, it was difficult to live there, so you were thinking of not giving it to me for the time being."

Hua Sirong shook her head, "No, it's just that the time isn't right yet."

"Young lady, is the time right now?"

"That's about enough. Let's wait a few more days until Auntie calms down." Otherwise, sending them over at this juncture won't bring any benefits, and we won't be able to negotiate any terms. It won't do either of them any good.

"I wish the girl were a boy," Wang's mother couldn't help but sigh.

“When the master was still alive, the young lady was raised in her maiden home, and she was no different from ordinary young ladies. But now that something has happened, we’ve discovered that our young lady is truly intelligent, just like the master.”

"My mother thinks I'm perfect in every way. But I wish I were still that innocent little girl who only knew how to pursue fancy clothes, delicious food, and cosmetics."

Mother Wang knew she had inadvertently brought up her daughter's painful memories again, and then listened as her daughter continued.

"I really hope that all the girls in the world don't need to understand so many social calculations, and can live a simple and carefree life."

Unlike me, who had no one to rely on from a young age and had to depend on myself, otherwise I could have been buried anywhere, or even sold out and still have to count the money for the seller.

Wang's mother stroked Hua Sirong's hair, her eyes full of pity.

---

In the main hall of Yimei Garden, Madam Shen, having returned from paying her respects to the old lady, was handling the daily affairs of the Marquis's residence.

It's quite a coincidence that there are several places where I need to spend money today.

"Madam, it's terribly cold in winter, and there's been a lot of snow. Five trees in the garden have withered, and three have broken. These were all trees that the masters of the manor usually loved. With spring just around the corner, we need to allocate money to buy them back and replace them."

In addition, the mansion will definitely hold a banquet after the spring, so the servants should hurry up and plant flowers. We have saved some seeds from previous years, and there are many varieties in the garden, but there are still some rare ones that we will have to pay to buy. This is Steward Zhao, who is in charge of the mansion's garden.