"You can read?"

Xiao Qingrong blurted out, then immediately apologized.

"Sister, I didn't mean anything by it, I just heard that you only have a wet nurse by your side and have never been to school..."

"She never went to school, but she can still recognize a few characters," Xiao Qingyin said calmly. "Reading an imperial edict is no problem for her."

Seeing that she insisted on seeing the imperial edict, Madam Yao had no choice but to take her to the main courtyard and retrieve the edict for her.

Xiao Qingyin immediately understood why this mother and daughter dared to deceive even an arranged marriage.

The imperial edict did not specify the names of Xiao Qingrong and the emperor's nephew, but only vaguely stated "the legitimate daughter of the Xiao family" and "the heir of the Marquis of Yong'an".

The original owner was sent to the countryside at the age of two and never appeared in public. Presumably, everyone in the capital thought that Minister Xiao only had one legitimate daughter, Xiao Qingrong, and assumed that Xiao Qingrong represented the legitimate daughter of the Xiao family.

"The mother of the Marquis of Yong'an's heir is Princess Zhaoyang. His Majesty and Princess Zhaoyang have a very good relationship. He treats the Marquis of Yong'an's heir even better than a prince. If you marry into that family, you won't have to worry about the rest of your life."

Yao looked like Xiao Qingyin had struck gold.

Xiao Qingyin put away the imperial edict scroll and asked with a smile, "Such a good family, why don't you let your sister marry into it?"

“My elder sister is not married yet, so how could she, as the younger sister, be considered? If you marry well, you can also help your family in the future. To me, it’s all the same,” Yao said kindly.

"By the way, Princess Zhaoyang is hosting her birthday banquet tomorrow. You can come with us to meet the princess and the other ladies and young women. Let them know that our Xiao family still has a hidden gem."

They were eager for her to make an appearance so they could solidify the marriage. Xiao Qingyin understood.

She had no objection; Yao wasn't the only one who wanted people in the capital to know that the Xiao family had a legitimate daughter.

"OK."

"Go back to the hospital to rest first. Someone will take your measurements and make clothes for you this afternoon. The new clothes won't be ready so quickly. I'll have Rongrong bring you a few sets of clothes. You can wear hers for tomorrow."

Just as Yao finished giving her instructions, Xiao Shengyuan returned from court.

"I can't believe so many years have passed in the blink of an eye." Xiao Shengyuan looked at Xiao Qingyin and said with deep emotion, "You've grown from a little baby into a young lady."

He was refined and handsome, and even though he was nearing forty, he still had a tall and straight figure. The authority he exuded unintentionally added to his charm.

He must have been a top scholar in the imperial examinations and had an outstanding presence when he rode through the streets on horseback, which is why the original owner's mother, a young lady from a noble family, fell in love with him at first sight and was doomed for life.

She died less than five years after marrying him. Tsk, male beauty really does ruin lives. Xiao Qingyin chuckled inwardly.

After exchanging pleasantries, Xiao Shengyuan asked, "Did you take the Fengling Post Road to enter the capital region?"

"Yes." Xiao Qingyin's eyes flickered slightly. "What's wrong?"

"Fortunately, nothing bad happened," Xiao Shengyuan replied. "Fengguan was taken over by a group of bandits half a month ago, who kidnapped and killed many travelers. They were wiped out by the Southern Fifth Battalion this morning."

"I can't believe such a thing happened," Xiao Qingyin said, still shaken. "Luckily, our carriage was dilapidated enough that those bandits didn't even bother with it."

Xiao Shengyuan looked at Yao Shi with suspicion: "Is our carriage so dilapidated? I remember the carriages in the manor were newly built two months ago..."

Yao was surprised that Xiao Qingyin complained right away, so she quickly tried to cover it up.

“Master, it’s always better to keep a low profile when you’re out and about. Use the manor’s carriage to pick them up. I’m afraid Granny He and the others were kidnapped as soon as they left the capital. I’ve specially found an inconspicuous carriage.”

"Madam is very thoughtful," Xiao Shengyuan nodded in agreement, then asked, "Has everything been arranged for the courtyard?"

"It was all arranged long ago. I had the Begonia Garden cleaned up a few days ago, and I also assigned four maids there..."

Listening to the two chattering, Xiao Qingyin knew that Xiao Shengyuan didn't care about the affairs of the inner quarters at all, leaving everything to Yao Shi, and he couldn't be relied on at all.

Fortunately, she wasn't the original owner of this body, otherwise she probably would have been disgusted to death by this father.

She deliberately yawned widely. Upon seeing this, Madam Yao said to the old woman serving her, "Mama Xu, take Miss back to Haitang Garden to rest."

"Yes, madam."

The Begonia Garden is located in the northwest corner of the mansion. It has three main rooms, two side rooms, and east and west wing rooms, and four maids stand in the courtyard.

“Spring flowers, summer rain, autumn moon, winter snow,” Madam Xu introduced to Xiao Qingyin one by one, “These are all maids arranged for you by Madam.”

"Greetings, Miss." The maids bowed to Xiao Qingyin in unison.

Xiao Qingyin nodded to indicate that she understood, and then went back to her room to rest. She hadn't slept all night, and was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open.

I slept until the afternoon, and my lunch had already gone cold.

"Take it and heat it up."

Xiao Qingyin looked at the several plates of cold dishes and had no appetite at all.

The person serving her meals was Chunhua, who had a round face. When she heard Xiao Qingyin's instructions, she looked troubled.

"Miss, the kitchen only serves hot dishes during mealtimes."

"Is this the rule for your second young lady too?"

Chunhua fell silent.

Speak of the devil, and he appears; no sooner had Xiao Qingrong been mentioned than she entered the courtyard with two maids.

"Sister, these are clothes that Mother asked me to send over. They are all new clothes this season, and I have only worn them once or twice."

Xiao Qingrong directed the maid to put down the clothes, while she handed a sandalwood box to Xiao Qingyin and slowly opened it.

"This is a piece of jewelry I gave to my sister."

The box was glittering with gold, filled with gold hairpins, gold bracelets, gold earrings...

Xiao Qingyin's eyes widened, and she reached out her hand.

Xiao Qingrong chuckled inwardly. As expected of a country bumpkin, he couldn't take his eyes off gold jewelry. How incredibly tacky.

She waited to see Xiao Qingyin's ecstatic and silly expression, but instead heard her sigh, "It seems things aren't going well in the manor either."

Xiao Qingrong looked completely puzzled.

"The carriage sent to pick me up was dilapidated, and all these gold ornaments were gold-plated."

Xiao Qingyin twirled the gold bracelet in her hand.

"I misunderstood before. The manor didn't intentionally ignore me and my wet nurse's life or death. It's just that they were having too much hardship to take care of us."

Who's having a hard time?!

Xiao Qingrong was so angry that she trembled.

The reason these gold ornaments are gold-plated is simply because she didn't want Xiao Qingyin to take advantage of her. This fool actually interpreted it as the manor being in dire straits.

"Sister, what nonsense are you talking about? This is all real gold, how could it be gold-plated?"

Xiao Qingrong forced a smile.

“The capital city is different from the countryside; nobody there wears gold-plated jewelry.”

"Little sister, have you been fooled by someone?"

Xiao Qingyin looked astonished.

"Real gold and gold-plated gold have different weights. You can tell the difference just by lifting them up. How can you not tell the difference? No way, little sister, you've never touched real gold before, have you?"

Xiao Qingrong was furious at the pity in her eyes. She was the ignorant country bumpkin, how dare she turn around and mock her!

“Sister, if you don’t believe me, let’s go out and find a gold shop to check it out.”

Xiao Qingyin slammed the box shut and grabbed Xiao Qingrong's hand.

"This is no small matter; we must get to the bottom of it."