Before Jiang Jiaojiao married into the Su family, she didn't dare to expect Su Peng to be devoted to her.

But this pace of taking concubines is too fast; no one could accept it.

She said he was physically weak, but why did she hear him and Caiyan making a ruckus for half the night?

Jiang Jiaojiao felt increasingly frustrated as she thought about it, and at that moment, she inexplicably began to miss Wei Mingzhou.

I wonder where he's gone. Given his current situation, he probably doesn't have any women around him.

As she cried, Jiang Jiaojiao's thoughts drifted away.

The sound of Su Peng pouring tea brought her back to her senses.

Jiang Jiaojiao slowly got up and sat on the bed, raising her eyes to look at the man in the room.

Wei Mingzhou was more handsome than him, and had the noble demeanor unique to young masters. From temperament to appearance, Su Peng was inferior to Wei Mingzhou in every way.

They're both from impoverished backgrounds, why is she so stubborn?

Seeing that Jiang Jiaojiao had calmed down, Su Peng raised his teacup and asked, "Would you like some water, my wife?"

Jiang Jiaojiao shook her head without saying a word.

Su Peng assumed that Jiang Jiaojiao had accepted Sunflower after venting her emotions.

He said softly, "My wife is right to understand. She's just a concubine. I'll leave her in the side courtyard of Tingxue Pavilion. She'll still have to serve my mother on weekdays. She won't come to our courtyard and get in your way."

Jiang Jiaojiao picked up a handkerchief to wipe away the tears on her cheeks and said calmly:

"Your Su family has long since fallen into moral decay. You might as well not drink the tea of ​​this concubine. I will not set any rules for them. Do whatever you want. But let me make this clear: I will not contribute a single penny to her expenses."

"No, no, the expenses for Sunflower are taken from the public funds."

Su Peng beamed and casually praised, "My wife is indeed a well-bred lady from a scholarly family. She is truly understanding and reasonable. I will go and inform Kuihua to stay away and not get in my way."

Su Peng didn't care about Jiang Jiaojiao's words that insulted the Su family; as long as she didn't cause trouble, everything would be fine.

In the kitchen, Sunflower still felt a little awkward seeing Caiyan.

Caiyan took off the scarf from her head and hung it around her neck, smiling as she said to Sunflower, "Congratulations, Miss Sunflower."

"Caiyan, you know everything." Seeing that Caiyan's eyes were calm and there was no trace of jealousy, Kuihua breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Caiyan was only a concubine, Kuihua had long noticed that the way the young master looked at Caiyan was different from how he looked at the young mistress.

Caiyan nodded gracefully, "I met the young master in the corridor just now. I wish Miss Sunflower and the young master a happy and harmonious life together, and that they will have a son soon."

Sunflower blushed and said, "Thank you, Miss Caiyan. From now on, let's call each other sisters."

Caiyan waved her hands repeatedly, "No, you mustn't. You can just call Aunt Sunflower by her name from now on."

Caiyan was older than Kuihua, but Caiyan was only a concubine. According to the rules, concubines were not entitled to address each other as sisters.

It is clear that Sunflower also wants to befriend Caiyan.

These days, the two have been working together in the kitchen and getting along quite well.

At noon, they cooked a stew of radish and pig's trotters. Just as the two were about to take the food back to their room, Su Peng came over and told Sunflower that she didn't need to go and offer tea.

Thinking things had changed, Sunflower asked anxiously, "Is it that the young mistress won't accept me?"

Su Peng glanced at the two faces. "No, from today onwards, Sunflower belongs to me. The young mistress is kind and says she doesn't care about formalities."

Hearing that things hadn't changed and that the young master had personally announced her as a concubine again, Sunflower was overjoyed.

Caiyan remained silent, filled the food containers, and left the kitchen.

She knew perfectly well that Jiang Jiaojiao's refusal to drink the sunflower tea for concubines was simply because she was unhappy and unwilling to give it as a reward.

The mistress of the house doesn't get to drink tea for free; at the very least, she'll be rewarded with some hairpins or fabric.

Given Jiang Jiaojiao's current situation, she wouldn't even be willing to give away a single silver melon seed.

After lunch, Madam Qin was unusually generous and gave Kuihua a bolt of fine silk cloth, which her family had made for her spring clothes and had kept at the bottom of a trunk for two years without her having used it.

While Jiang Jiaojiao was eating, Caiyan went to change into a cotton-padded jacket.

Zhao Wu ate lunch in the kitchen. After lunch, he didn't leave until he saw Caiyan and saw that she had changed her clothes. Only then did he feel relieved.

There was no one else in the kitchen. He walked closer to Caiyan and asked, "They didn't find anything, did they?"

"Shh!"

“This is not the place to talk. No one will notice anything. Go to Tingxue Pavilion and get to work first. Sunflower and I will follow shortly. Just keep your head down and get to work. Don’t keep looking at me.”

Caiyan made a shushing gesture, walked to the door and looked outside. Seeing that Kuihua had not come over yet, she lowered her voice and gave Zhao Wu some instructions.

Zhao Wu was honest and kind, and Caiyan worried that he couldn't keep things to himself. If his eyes were always on her, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.

"I understand," Zhao Wu replied and left the kitchen.

There wasn't much furniture in Tingxue Pavilion, and the three of them cleaned it up in half a day.

The snow in the yard was too thick, so only the access road was cleared.

Caiyan used the room she had cleaned up to become Kuihua's bedroom.

At Qin's urging, Kuihua moved into Tingxue Pavilion that very night.

That night, Su Peng did not rush to Sunflower's place.

He stayed in the inner room for the first half of the night.

After a long day, Caiyan fell asleep quickly after getting into bed.

She didn't know what time it was, but in her sleep, she vaguely felt a hand reaching into her blanket.

She suddenly woke up with a start.

"Son-in-law!"

The room was dimly lit, and Caiyan smelled a familiar scent.

She quickly grabbed the large, mischievous hand and pleaded softly, "Young master, please stop. I'm not feeling well today and cannot serve you."

Su Peng leaned closer and whispered in Caiyan's ear, "Yan'er, are you angry with your grandfather? Sunflower was given to me by my mother, and I can't let her down."

"Master, you're overthinking it. The young mistress has already accepted Sunflower, how could this servant dare to be angry? This servant has a headache, it feels like I've caught a cold. Young master, please stay away from this servant, lest you catch a cold."

Caiyan reached out and forcefully pushed Su Peng, who had already straddled her, away.

Su Peng reached out and touched Caiyan's forehead; she didn't have a fever.

Caiyan has always been docile towards him, so her refusal today must mean she is truly unwell.

"I won't touch you tonight. You should rest well and wait until you're fully recovered before serving me." Su Peng got out of bed, tucked the blanket around Caiyan, and went into the inner room.

Caiyan breathed a huge sigh of relief after Su Peng left.

It wasn't that she had tasted fine rice and refused to eat coarse rice, nor was it that she was sore all over and unable to serve him.

Instead, she began to resist being intimate with Su Peng from the bottom of her heart, feeling uncomfortable and uneasy.

She made up her mind to follow Zhao Wu wholeheartedly from now on, and during her time in the Su family, she tried every means to avoid being favored.

The next day, the heavy snow continued.

"What should we do? Has all the money we invested gone down the drain?"

After a night's rest, Jiang Jiaojiao realized something and became even more eager to make money.

Su Peng shrugged. "It's going to snow, there are no pedestrians on the streets, even the dye shops have no business. What can I do?"

Seeing the two looking worried, Caiyan's eyes darted around and she said, "I have an idea, but I don't know if I should say it."