Marquis Wen Ning asked the servants of the Marquis' Mansion to put the unconscious Shen Tingsi into the carriage and quickly took him away from the palace.

Jiang Xiancao personally escorted the person out of the palace gate.

She leaned against the door and watched the carriage of the Wen Ning Marquis's Mansion leave quickly as if fleeing, with a slight smile on her lips.

Ting Lan walked up behind her and said respectfully, "If Your Majesty is worried about Second Miss Jiang, I can send someone to sneak into the Marquis Wenning's mansion to secretly monitor her."

Jiang Xiancao smiled and said:

"Why send someone else when we already have a candidate?"

After Marquis Wen Ning returned to the mansion, he saw that Shen Tingsi was still unconscious, so he impatiently called a few maids and asked them to send him into the inner house.

Those maids were all servants in the Marquis's room. Marquis Wenning was afraid that they would take advantage of their seniority and not know the importance of their duties, so he specifically warned them:

"The Second Miss just returned home and is injured. You must all serve me well and not let her be unhappy again. Otherwise, you will be sold out."

The maids all showed expressions of fear when they heard this and nodded in agreement.

Marquis Wen Ning looked at their timid appearance and felt something in his heart.

He left the leading maid behind and whispered:

"I'm asking you to be nice to the Second Young Lady, but I'm just pretending to be nice to her. You don't have to make these people truly submit to her. Once she agrees to accompany me to the palace to meet the Queen Mother and restore the Jiang family's reputation, you won't have to serve her anymore. Do you understand what I mean?"

He said in front of the Ninth Prince that he never asked about the affairs of the inner house, but he grew up in a noble family since he was a child. How could he not understand these things in the inner house?

He has always known that any woman who wants to gain a foothold in the harem must have something to rely on.

The most important thing a woman who marries into her husband's family can rely on is her natal family's influence and a generous dowry.

An unmarried woman has to rely on the support of her family elders at home. She may also have the means to win over people at home and can recruit more loyal servants to serve her.

And often, to achieve the latter, one must first achieve the former, otherwise there will not even be a chance to display one's means and abilities.

In the past, Jiang Xiancao was disliked and despised by her elders. Even the servants did not treat her as their master and made things difficult for her at will.

The servants' thoughts were simple. Since they would not be punished for not following the rules of being a servant in front of Jiang Xiancao, why should they take her seriously?

But now it's different.

Now that he has spoken, these servants are afraid of being punished for offending Jiang Xiancao, and will certainly not dare to treat her as usual.

But he needed them to be respectful to Jiang Xiancao so that Jiang Xiancao would calm down.

But he didn't want to see them really regard Jiang Xiancao as their loyal master.

Because he didn't want Jiang Xiancao to have any real support in this family.

The nanny's eyes rolled, and then she showed a sophisticated smile, "Don't worry, my lord. I know my limits."

Marquis Wen Ning nodded with satisfaction and was about to let her leave.

At this time, the doorman came hurriedly and said that someone had come to the Ninth Prince's mansion again.

Marquis Wen Ning frowned slightly, thinking that the Ninth Prince had changed his mind and was going to bring people to the Marquis' Mansion to cause trouble and take Jiang Xiancao back.

Just as he was thinking about how to respond, he saw the doorman leading in three women.

The woman in the lead is Tangyuan.

Jiang Xiancaoyuan originally wanted to keep her in the palace and not let her follow Chen Tingsi back to the marquis's mansion to suffer and worry, but Tangyuan refused to do so and insisted on following Chen Tingsi back.

In desperation, Jiang Xiancao had to let her go.

The two women following Tang Yuan were the maids that Jiang Xiancao sent to serve Chen Tingsi when he lived in Cui Shiyuan in the palace.

Marquis Wen Ning was deeply angry.

This Ninth Prince is so aggressive that he even wants to extend his hand into the inner courtyard of his mansion!

He refused directly:

"Cao'er has no shortage of servants in the Marquis' Mansion. Please ask the three young ladies to return to the Prince's Mansion. Steward, please show the guests away!"

The steward came with several young and strong servants and wanted to drive the three girls out of the mansion, but at this time, Ting Lan's cold voice came from behind them:

"They are all from the palace. I don't think anyone dares to touch them!"

When the servants saw the unsheathed knife in his hand, they were so frightened that they dared not move.

Marquis Wen Ning showed a gentle smile on his face, but his words were full of hidden thorns:

"So Guard Tinglan is here too. You are the prince's trusted confidant, so please send the three girls back.

After returning, I will also send a message to the prince on my behalf, thanking him for his kindness to Cao'er. However, if this kindness were known to others, it would inevitably lead to gossip and ruin the reputation of Cao'er, an unmarried woman.

As a father, I can't help but worry about her."

He used Jiang Xiancao's reputation as an excuse to distance herself from the Ninth Prince.

Tang Yuan got anxious when he heard this:

"My Lord, I am a servant of the Marquis' Mansion. My indenture is still in Madam's hands. I was originally going to come back with the young lady, but you were in such a hurry when you brought the second young lady back to the mansion just now that I couldn't catch up. Look, the bag I'm carrying is filled with the second young lady's clothes!"

As she spoke, she lifted up her bundle to show it to Marquis Wenning, "And these two sisters beside me, they have also come to follow the young lady voluntarily. They usually eat very little and will not waste the food in the Marquis' Mansion. My Lord, please accept them!"

Although she did not mean it, her words sounded to Marquis Wen Ning as if she was mocking the fact that the Marquis Wen Ning's mansion was reluctant to even provide food for its two maids.

Marquis Wen Ning was so angry that his eyebrows twitched and he glared at her and said:

"Why is there a stupid girl like you who doesn't know the rules around Cao'er?"

Tangyuan was so aggrieved that he shut up and lowered his head with tears in his eyes.

Just when she was despairing and thought that the Marquis would never let them stay, she heard Marquis Wen Ning say:

"A fool like you is not worthy of staying by Cao'er's side and serving him. But for the sake of the prince, I will allow you to return to the Marquisate."

She was stunned for a moment, then nodded ecstatically, "Thank you, my Lord!"

A cold glint flashed in Marquis Wen Ning's eyes.

Didn’t this maid say that her indenture contract was still in the hands of his wife?

Then she is a servant of the Marquis' Mansion, and the Marquis' Mansion has the power to deal with her at will, and it is not up to outsiders to interfere.

After sending away this plague god Tinglan, he will ask the steward to sell this stupid girl, won’t that be enough?

As for the two maids from the palace, he said he would not keep them no matter what.

"Guard Tinglan, it's not a good idea for us to remain in this stalemate. How about we both take a step back? I'll keep this maid who originally belonged to the Marquis' Mansion. As for the two girls from the Prince's Mansion, please send them back."

Marquis Wen Ning said in a deep voice:

"If they insist on staying, then this Marquis will have no choice but to treat them like guests. After all, they all served in the Prince's mansion before. If we ask them to serve a mere servant, wouldn't that be overstepping the boundaries of the Wen Ning Marquisate?"

He thought that by citing the rules between the royal family and the ministers, Ting Lan would have no choice but to take his people away.

To his surprise, Ting Lan nodded and said calmly:

"My Lord, what you said makes sense. Then please treat them as guests."