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

Hua Sirong bowed softly and sat down with a smile, listening attentively without offering any comment.

After Hua Sirong was seated, Madam Shen dismissed many of the servants, leaving only a few close attendants to serve her.

Madam Shen did not immediately ask any questions, but instead ordered Granny Zhang to slap Granny Xin twenty times.

Granny Xin, with her pig-like face, only received one sentence from Madam Shen: "Do you know what you did wrong?"

Granny Xin knelt on the ground, only concerned with crying out that she was innocent.

Seeing that she was stubborn and unyielding, Madam Shen finally became angry, "You dog of a servant, you have taken advantage of the fact that you nursed the Seventh Miss, and you have secretly instigated your mistress to say such outrageous things. Do you think that just because you are keeping quiet about the maids serving Zhu'er, I can't find out who is behind this!"

Only then did Granny Xin realize that it was those little hussies in the girl's courtyard who had betrayed her.

She cursed the vile woman in her heart, thinking that once she got away from the madam, she would first teach those wretched girls a lesson, and then sell them off one by one to that filthy swamp to be promiscuous.

With snot and tears streaming down her face, she played the victim in front of Madam Shen, "This old servant is innocent! This old servant is illiterate, how could I possibly instigate my mistress? It must be the others in the courtyard who saw that this old servant was favored by the young lady, and that's why they were trying to sow discord between the young lady and the madam. This poor old servant was only thinking of the young lady..."

Annoyed by Granny Xin's pleas and cries, Madam Shen interrupted impatiently, "Don't try to fool me. I'm not stupid. I can tell the difference between loyalty and treachery."

Granny Xin knew she couldn't clear her name today, but she still wanted to express her feelings to the lady of the house because she cared deeply for her young lady.

Even if he couldn't stay by the girl's side to serve her, he could at least save the lives of his entire family.

Afterwards, she secretly approached the girl again, still worried that she wouldn't be able to win back the good stuff the girl had.

Having made up her mind, Granny Xin began her sermon, "Madam, as the mistress of the Marquis's mansion, you naturally cannot see how women in humble households live their lives."

"Seventh Miss was raised on my milk. I raised her as my own child. I know Madam's plan: to find her a son from a minor official's family, with the Marquis's mansion as her backing, so she will never have to worry about food or drink for the rest of her life."

Madam Shen took a sip of tea, glancing at Hua Sirong out of the corner of her eye, and said, "Oh, Mother thinks that my plan is unfair to her own daughter?"

Granny Xin carefully observed Madam Shen's expression and cautiously replied, "Madam's plan is certainly not wrong, but is it really for the good of Miss? Has Madam asked Miss if this is what she herself wants?"

"Oh? My own mother doesn't know what she wants, but you, a servant, know it all?"

Granny Xin was so frightened that she kowtowed loudly, but she still stubbornly continued, "The girl is a lucky one, born into a high-ranking family."

Many families never even get close to the Marquis's mansion in their entire lives, but now the Madam wants to do the opposite, marrying our precious daughter off to a humble family. I feel unwilling and unable to bear it.

They couldn't bear to see such a good girl suffer in those impoverished families.

"Nonsense. What kind of family do you think I'm going to find for Zhu Jie'er?"

"I gave birth to my own daughter, would I choose a poor family for her?" Even her third sister from her maternal family married a merchant, and they lived a life of luxury.

"But according to the lady's plan, she is to marry down. However, the girl's sister has married into a family of equal social standing. When the sisters meet in the future, the girl will feel inferior. What should we do then?"

Granny Xin had an air of "I'm only thinking about the girl I breastfed," and she was completely impervious to reason.

This gave Madam Shen a headache; she couldn't just deal with such a loyal servant so easily.

"So you encouraged her to show her face in the palace?" Her precious Zhu'er, she thought she was still a little girl who didn't understand love and romance, but who knew that she would fall in love after just one trip to the palace.

Hua Sirong was astonished to hear such a secret, but she dared not show it on her face, trying her best to hide herself and not show any presence.

Upon hearing Shen's question, Granny Xin lowered her head. "I've only heard that Consort Bing and our Lady Zhaoyi have a good relationship, and that Consort Bing has given birth to the Fourth Prince."

Although the Fourth Prince is young, he is quite talented, and even a lowly servant like myself has heard of his reputation. I secretly think he and our young lady are a perfect match, which is why I had the idea to speak with her a few more times.”

"Said a few more words? I have plenty of time today, so tell me your whole set of reasons in detail, so I can understand how you've fooled the girl I raised?" Madam Shen looked on with great interest, making Granny Xin unsure of her intentions.

"Speak! Not a single word may be omitted," Madam Shen commanded again.

Out of respect for Madam Shen's authority, and also because she secretly felt she had done nothing wrong, Granny Xin timidly revealed many secrets.

"...Because Seventh Miss was born to Madam, this old servant relied on the fact that I nursed her, and the maids in Madam's courtyard have always treated me with respect. Occasionally, if something happens in Madam's courtyard, this old servant can also learn a thing or two through Seventh Miss's influence."

When asked about this, Madam Shen glanced at Granny Zhang. Granny Zhang was in charge of everything in this courtyard, and she was responsible for her lax management.

However, because of the Seventh Miss's status, Madam Shen actually tacitly agreed that some things in her courtyard did not need to be kept from her own son and daughter.

Of course, this was not the time to pursue the matter. Granny Xin continued her narration...

"I have some idea of ​​what is going on in the palace. The sixth young lady is the daughter of the Marquis. Such a good thing should not be given to a concubine's daughter."

In her attitude towards her illegitimate children, Madam Shen was exactly the same as Granny Xin, except that she was used to pretending.

"You watched Seventh Miss grow up. As her mother, I'm a little reluctant to let her serve tea and water to such an important person."

Granny Xin: ...That's the imperial family! How can we not serve them?

So she began, "You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub."

As the saying goes, "being near the water tower makes one the first to get the moon." Only by going to the palace can one have the opportunity to get to know those princes and catch the eye of the noble ladies there. Who knows, with just one imperial decree, our seventh daughter might become a prince's consort.

"What's wrong with being a lowly servant to the princess in the palace? She's still a princess of noble birth; it's not a loss at all."

"Besides, the Empress has no son right now, and the position of Crown Prince is vacant. Our Seventh Miss has Consort Zhao as her backer, so her future is bright."

Madam Shen had hoped to hear Granny Xin launch into a long-winded discourse on her bizarre theory: it's better to be a rich man's concubine than a poor man's legal wife, but...