The mistress has no feelings, why do you provoke her?

Song Wenjun removed the hairpins from her head and applied some eyebrow powder to her eyes, making her dark circles appear more pronounced.

He wiped off the lipstick from her lips and then applied some powder to cover her original lip color.

Then, she was shown looking at herself in the mirror: "A woman's beauty is a double-edged sword. If you use it well, it can hurt others; if you use it poorly, it can hurt yourself. Li Zhi is used to seeing concubines of all shapes and sizes in his mansion, but he has never seen a pitiful beauty. Your appearance can very well arouse his pity."

Xue Ning gave a cold laugh, somewhat dissatisfied: "I wouldn't stoop to using such manipulative tactics to win his favor."

In her view, these methods were only used by concubines in the household and were not respectable.

“Who said you have to please him? You can be without a man in your heart, but you can’t be without a man by your side.” Song Wenjun patiently instructed: “He is the head of the family, and he has the final say on all the resources. If you want to live comfortably, you have to lower your pride. If you want to go down this path, you might as well just hand over the position of mistress of the house.”

“I…” Xue Ning hesitated.

"Think about it, isn't what I said reasonable? Sometimes being too sharp isn't a good thing."

Xue Ning thought for a moment, then slowly nodded: "I'll listen to you."

She secretly observed Li Zhi and saw the guilt and tenderness in his eyes, and then she understood Song Wenjun's good intentions.

Jin supported Xue Ning's arm and kept giving Li Zhi meaningful glances, urging him to go over and coax her.

Li Zhi steeled himself and stepped forward, gently tugging at Xue Ning's sleeve: "Come back to the manor with me."

Xue Ning remembered Song Wenjun's words: she could go back to the manor with him, but he had to show some attitude.

Therefore, she remained frozen and did not respond.

Li Zhi sighed: "You've been wronged in this matter, and I will definitely give you an explanation."

Judging from his words, it seems he intends to target Fuliu.

Xue Ning turned around with his help, and tears streamed down her face the moment she looked up. Her silent demeanor made Li Zhi feel guilty.

He recalled the night of their wedding, when he lifted her red veil and saw her stunning beauty.

At the time, he only thought Xue Ning was so beautiful, like a celestial being.

He had secretly vowed to treat her well for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately, he failed to do so, and even caused Xue Ning to miscarry the child she had finally conceived.

Li Zhi regained his senses. The mistress of the house had been bullied like this; it was time to teach the concubines in the mansion a lesson.

He reached out and took Xue Ning's hand, gently pulling her into his arms: "It's my fault, I've made you suffer and feel wronged."

Xue Ning was genuinely surprised; she hadn't expected this to be even more effective than her crying and tantrums.

While Jin was not paying attention, she secretly gave Song Wenjun a hand gesture, and Song Wenjun responded with a hand gesture that it was okay.

Xue Ning smiled, while Li Zhi was still grieving over his lost relationship with Xue Ning when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm—Xue Ning had bitten him.

The pain made him cry out, but he didn't push Xue Ning away; instead, he let her bite him.

Jin gasped, looking at Xue Ning with suspicion in her eyes. She was fine just now, how could she suddenly become a different person?

Just as she was panicking and at a loss, Xue Ning let go.

But the look in Li Zhi's eyes was angry and hurt: "Li Zhi, this is what you owe me and the child. You owe us a life."

All of Li Zhi's defenses vanished the moment the child was mentioned.

The pain in his arm constantly reminded him that he owed Xue Ning a child and a life.

After Xue Ning finished speaking, she turned and walked towards the door, while Li Zhi followed behind her like a stray dog.

He originally thought it was just a child, and that he could have another one if he lost him.

But Xue Ning said it was a life, and his sense of guilt deepened.

Song Wenjun escorted the three of them to the outside of the mansion and watched them get into the carriage before returning to the mansion.

She believed that as long as Xue Ning stopped confronting Li Zhi head-on and appropriately showed her vulnerable side, her position in the mansion would no longer be shaken.

A human life is not something that can be easily forgiven.

Two days later, Xue Ning sent a message to Song Wenjun.

The first thing Li Zhi did upon returning to his residence was to beat Fu Liu with thirty strokes of the cane. This act was intended to apologize to Xue Ning and also to establish her authority.

The concubines in the mansion were all terrified and dared not cause any more trouble.

And Fu Liu lost his life because of those thirty blows.

Li Zhi even gave a warning to Old Madam Li.

Madam Li was so angry that she lay in bed all day and deliberately told Li Zhi that she was ill, but Li Zhi did not go to visit her.

He also blamed Old Madam Li for the miscarriage.

After reading the letter, Xiao Tao clicked her tongue twice, looking quite disdainful: "He tries to absolve himself completely. If it weren't for his deliberate indulgence, how would those concubines dare to give Madam Xue a hard time?"

"If you ask me, he deserves thirty lashes himself. He's the most hateful one."

After reading the letter, Song Wenjun burned it over the candle flame and sighed softly, "You'd better not have such beautiful dreams in the future. It has been normal for men to have multiple wives and concubines since ancient times. You'd be better off killing him than making him admit his mistakes."

Song Wenjun's words silenced Xiao Tao: men can have three wives and four concubines, but women cannot.

If she were to be confined to a small world and subjected to these rules in the future, she would rather never marry and serve a young lady for the rest of her life.

Afterwards, Song Wenjun asked Xiao Tao to prepare some medicinal herbs to nourish the body and send them to Xue Ning.

It's almost the end of the month, time to settle accounts.

Song Wenjun took a carriage to the shop to check the accounts.

The shopkeeper had already prepared the account books, and when he saw Song Wenjun arrive, he hurriedly presented them to her.

As Song Wenjun sat in the shop looking at the account books, she overheard the whispers of several young ladies and wives: "Hey, have you heard? The youngest daughter of the Prince of Nanyang, who has been missing for many years, has been found. They're going to hold a banquet for her soon; it seems they're going to announce her identity."

"I've heard that too. The Prince of Nanyang is currently searching for gifts for this young lady; he treats her like the apple of his eye."

"We will have to invite the famous ladies of the capital to the event; we all want to catch a glimpse of this young lady's beauty."

When these gossipy words reached Song Wenjun's ears, she simply smiled and ignored them.

It's none of her business anyway, why think so much about it?

He then focused his attention back on the ledgers.

However, just as he was about to calm down, he was interrupted again: "Shopkeeper, someone wants to see you."

Song Wenjun looked up at the shopkeeper, her face full of confusion: "Who wants to see me?"

"She is a nanny from the Prince of Nanyang's residence."

"Bring people in."

The shopkeeper went out, and a short while later a nanny followed him in.

The old woman smiled at Song Wenjun and said, "My princess wants to order some hairpins, jewelry, and cosmetics from your shop. She wants the best quality. Do you have any?"

"Of course we have them, but we don't know what kind of set Your Highness prefers. If it's convenient, I'll bring a few more sets to your residence for Your Highness to choose from."

The old woman pondered for a moment and said, "That would be very good. Tomorrow at 9:00 AM, I will trouble Miss Song to go to the Prince of Nanyang's residence."

Song Wenjun nodded slightly: "I will definitely go on time."

After the old woman finished speaking, she left.