Shen Wan returned to the inner courtyard, taking in the layout of the mansion as she went; it was still just as she remembered.

very nice.

In his previous life, his elder brother and father passed away one after another, and the military power and title were inherited by the second branch of the family. After the second branch became the true Marquis of Pingyang, they spent a lot of money to carry out a major renovation of the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion. He didn't understand it before, but now he thinks that they wanted to erase all traces of their family's life here and make the entire Marquis of Pingyang's mansion theirs, inside and out.

Shen Wan walked forward, and the maid who had blocked her at the side gate in her past life came over breathlessly to deliver a message: the old lady wanted to see her.

Shen Wan didn't change into her maid's clothes and entered the mansion through the side gate, knowing that as soon as she returned, she would be summoned by the old lady and scolded for disobeying her father. She was punished by kneeling in the Buddhist hall all night, and she fainted from kneeling there and had to be carried back. Only then was Shen Ying punished.

She knelt all night, her knees swollen, and they still ached when she entered the palace on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony. Shen Ying knelt for a whole day, for no less time than her, but acted as if nothing had happened. She was truly punished, but punishing Shen Ying was just a pretense to demonstrate that she, the old lady of the Pingyang Marquis's mansion, treated everyone equally and acted justly.

Since she wanted to see her, she might as well go see her. If the Prince of Jin didn't see her, he would surely be furious, and she wouldn't mind pinning the blame on her old lady and Shen Ying.

Shen Wan turned and walked towards Qinghui Courtyard.

After passing the screen, Shen Wan saw the old lady, Madam Wang, sitting on a daybed.

She wore an amber-colored brocade jacket with delicate bat patterns embroidered on the cuffs, and a gold-inlaid jade headband, exuding the noble and dignified air of an old lady from a noble family.

My father's features are very similar to the old lady's, even more so than my second and third uncles. No one would doubt that my father was not the old lady's biological son. But in fact, the old lady was her second wife. She was my father's biological mother and the old lady's cousin.

When the late Madam was still a young lady, she had saved the life of the old lady. Her father died in childbirth due to postpartum hemorrhage. The Wang family pitied her father for losing his mother at birth and feared that her grandfather would mistreat him if he remarried. So they wanted to choose another daughter from the clan to marry into the family. At that time, the old lady was already engaged to a very good match, but in order to repay the late Madam's life-saving grace, she broke off the engagement and took the initiative to marry her grandfather as his second wife.

Because of her sisterly affection for the late Madam, her grandfather treated her with great respect when he was alive. After her grandfather passed away, her father took over the Pingyang Marquis's mansion and treated her with even greater respect, never disobeying her.

In her past life, she treated her as her own grandmother, but what was the result?!

She didn't believe the old lady knew nothing about the conspiracy between the second wife and Xie Jingyin to murder her father and brother.

Is her so-called repayment for the late Madam's life-saving grace simply giving birth to her second and third uncles to seize her father's military power and title?!

Shen Wan was consumed by hatred, her hands clenched tightly beneath her sleeves. The old lady did not notice, and slammed her hand on the table, shouting, "My Pingyang Marquis's mansion has never had such a disobedient and unfilial daughter before! Kneel down!"

Shen Wan did not kneel, and said calmly, "I did not go to see the Prince of Jin."

Everyone in the room was stunned.

Shen Ying's voice rose, "Didn't go?!"

Shen Wan said, "My second sister helped me sneak out of the manor. If I really went, wouldn't you be implicated and punished by Grandmother and Second Aunt? I can't just think of myself, so I didn't go."

Shen Ying was unsure whether to be touched or scold Shen Wan for being stupid.

She was determined to see Prince Jin even if it meant going on a hunger strike, but when they actually helped her leave the palace, she worried about being scolded and gave up.

Since Shen Wan did not go to see Prince Jin, the old lady could not punish her for disobeying Shen Jing. However, she was still punished for sneaking out of the mansion while under house arrest. So Shen Wan simply revealed Shen Ying's name. If they were to be punished, then they would both have to be punished.

The old lady was willing to punish her by making her kneel all night, but she couldn't bear to see Shen Ying kneel for so long.

The old lady fiddled with her prayer beads a couple of times and said, "Since you didn't go, Grandmother won't pursue the matter of you sneaking out of the manor. You must remember that your father is the person who loves you the most in this world. Everything he does is for your own good. Listening to him won't be wrong."

Shen Wan nodded emphatically, "Grandmother's words are right."

The old lady waved her hand, and Shen Wan curtsied and withdrew.

She took Yinshuang back to the place where she lived before her marriage in her previous life, Qinglan Garden.

In her previous life, she lived in Qinglan Garden until her marriage. Every plant and tree was carefully selected by her. The courtyard was filled with rare and precious stones collected for her by her uncle and cousin. The courtyard alone was worth tens of thousands of taels of silver. Less than half a month after her marriage, a room in Shenying's courtyard that was used to store miscellaneous items caught fire. Shenying moved in. She couldn't bring herself to ask for some of the things she wanted to take to the Prince of Jin's mansion, so she gave them all to Shenying.

She was truly preparing a wedding dress for Shen Ying from the very beginning.

As Shen Wan stepped into the room, her head maid, Ziyu, greeted her warmly, "Miss is back."

Ziyu and Yinshuang were both Shen Wan's head maids. In terms of appearance, Ziyu was better than Yinshuang. Yinshuang was more diligent, while Ziyu had a sweeter tongue.

In her past life, Shen Wan also preferred Zi Yu. Originally, Zi Yu was supposed to go out with her today, but Zi Yu suddenly had a stomachache when she went out, so Yin Shuang went out with her instead.

In her past life, when she returned to the manor, she was punished by the old lady and made to kneel in the Buddhist hall all night. How could Yinshuang be spared? She knelt in the Buddhist hall with her all night. Ironically, Yinshuang, who stopped her and advised her to listen to the Marquis, was punished along with her, while Ziyu, who encouraged her and gave her the idea to ask Chenying for help, got away with nothing.

In her past life, Ziyu and Yinshuang accompanied her to marry into the Prince of Jin's mansion. Yinshuang was dutiful and died tragically in the end. However, Ziyu couldn't wait to climb into Xie Jingyin's bed just over a month after her marriage, and even claimed that it was arranged by her. This made her furious. She wanted to beat Ziyu to death, but because Xie Jingyin praised her for being virtuous and magnanimous, she could only swallow her anger and resentment.

Ziyu came forward, but met Shen Wan's cold eyes. Her heart trembled. Why was the young lady looking at her like that? It must be because she didn't go with her today, and Yinshuang took the opportunity to speak ill of her to the young lady.

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