The courtyard door creaked shut. Lady Wang put down her embroidery stand and came to the group. She scrutinized them, and only when they all showed fear did she speak with a calm but cold expression: "Those who come here are all in the Pan family's hands, their lives at their disposal. For your own lives, I will only give you one piece of advice: do not look at what you should not see, do not listen to what you should not hear, and keep your mouths shut about what you should not say. You must not reveal even a trace of what you are saying, even in your dreams." She turned her head and glanced indifferently at the group who were looking down at the ground, listening intently, and said, "Have you remembered?"

Everyone bowed their heads in agreement. (Latest and fastest updates)

Ms. Wang nodded, pointed to the house next to her, and after the group put down their bundles, she ordered them to practice walking, sitting and standing with bamboo strips on their heads. She also ordered them to memorize long and complicated rules, and they were not allowed to go back until they finished memorizing them.

In the evening, the group, who had been stiff for three hours, returned to their room with aching backs and legs. Exhausted, they took off their shoes, and before they could even sigh, they fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

The next day, before dawn, the group was woken up again, groaning as they lifted the bamboo poles. As soon as the door opened, they gracefully stepped out of the house.

Ms. Wang stood at the doorway, holding a bamboo clapper, her eyes fixed on the group.

Everyone felt immense pressure. One of the girls, named Chunya, couldn't withstand the pressure. Her foot slipped, and her body tilted to one side. In the blink of an eye, the two-foot-wide bamboo strip struck her.

Chun Ya clutched her arm and let out a shrill scream. Lady Wang immediately shouted, "Shut your mouth! If you utter another sound, I will punish you tenfold!"

Chun Ya was so frightened that she pursed her lips, her body trembling as she straightened her steps and continued walking forward.

Looking at her slender figure from two steps away, Shi Lan felt a chill run down her spine.

Ms. Wang turned her eyes and looked at the remaining people with a threatening gaze, which made their backs tense and their legs tremble.

More than a month passed in a flash. The girls, once as vibrant as flower buds, were now haggard and worn out. They had been eagerly awaiting their arrival each day, like waiting for the stars and the moon to appear. Finally, around noon, their savior, Jusheng, arrived at the courtyard as promised.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Lady Wang pointed to the four people standing to the side and said, "These few have already been trained and can be assigned to you by the Madam."

Upon hearing that they could escape, the girls immediately showed joy, and their eyes secretly glanced at Jusheng.

Jusheng noticed everyone's gaze, slightly raised the corner of his mouth, and turned his eyes to look at Shi Lan, who was standing at the far end with a look of astonishment, "Does Madam Shi think this girl is inappropriate?"

Ms. Wang shook her head and said, "I have another use for this girl."

Hearing her say that, Jusheng looked at Shilan critically. The capable Lady Wang had given her such special assignment, so the place must be something that others couldn't even dream of. She thought of the vacancy that had just appeared in the old lady's courtyard a few days ago, and felt a pang of jealousy and resentment.

Shi Lan blinked, not understanding what was going on. She just saw the calculation in Ju Sheng's eyes and felt a little uneasy. She quickly lowered her head and stared at her toes.

Noticing her expression, Ms. Wang said coldly, "Is there anything else?"

Just as Jusheng was plotting how to snatch Shilan's job, Lady Wang's cold words snapped her out of her daze, and she hurriedly said, "No."

Ms. Wang immediately frowned and stared at her with some displeasure.

Jusheng had also been trained by Lady Wang and knew that the rules for ladies were extremely strict. The painful lessons she had learned made her realize that Magistrate Wang was angry, so she quickly said, "Jusheng takes her leave."

Ms. Wang then relaxed her brow.

Jusheng, no longer able to think about anything else, quickly led the girls out of the courtyard.

The courtyard door closed again, and Shi Lan felt a little nervous. Lady Wang glanced at her, said nothing, and went straight back to the main house.

The autumn sunlight shone softly down, and Shi Lan stood there in a daze for a moment before quickly following him inside.

In the main seat, Ms. Wang poured herself a cup of tea and gently sipped the tea foam from the rim of the cup.

Once the temperature was just right, she took a small sip before saying, "Are you going to let me ask a question and you answer it, or are you going to just say it directly so that we can both be happy?"

Shi Lan looked up, staring blankly at her, not understanding what she meant.

Lady Wang snorted, put down her teacup, and stared sharply at her, saying, "Fine, just tell me honestly, what exactly do you intend to do here in this mansion?"

Shi Lan blinked, feigning ignorance, and quickly went through everything that had happened in the past month in her mind like a movie. Finally, she made sure that she hadn't given herself away, and said, "I'm a bit slow-witted, please enlighten me, Madam."

Lady Wang looked at her for a while and saw that Shi Lan was neither red-faced nor flustered. She knew that the intimidation she had just made would not frighten her, so she could only coax her, "Now it's just the two of us here. If you have any unspeakable secrets, you can tell me. I came from the palace. Even if no one in this mansion helps you, the Imperial Concubine is still your relative and will definitely not favor you."

Shi Lan opened her mouth slightly, and it took her a while to find her voice in surprise before asking, "How did you know that I am related to the Pan family?"

Ms. Wang sighed, pulled a small mirror, about the size of a palm, from her sleeve, and gave it to her.

Shi Lan picked it up blankly and looked at her own face.

Lady Wang looked at Shi Lan moving the mirror with gentle eyes and said, "If you had seen Her Majesty, you would know why I know."

Shi Lan suddenly realized that she shouldn't have been so careless just because she was young and hadn't fully developed her appearance. At the same time, she hesitated about whether or not to tell Wang Liangshi about her search for her relatives.

Seeing the hesitation on her face, Lady Wang said, "I'm asking you this for your own good. I've already sent someone to question the matchmaker, and she told me everything about you. Now, let me ask you, why are you willing to spend so much money to get into the Pan residence?"

Shi Lan lowered her head and remained silent.

She continued, “Ordinary families sell their daughters based on who pays the most money, not on where they end up. The Pan family pays a lot of money, but their rules are much more stringent than other families. If you don’t have another reason, why would you come here to suffer?”

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