The night wind was cold, and Mi Niang tightened her hood. Mrs. Ding Er hurriedly touched her daughter's forehead and put her hand down only after she found that she was not burned.

The daughter was sleeping soundly in the carriage. Mrs. Ding thought that it was unfair for them, ordinary people, to be schemed against.

But when she saw her daughter, she felt that God was very kind to her, allowing her to have such a smart daughter. Although she was very young, she was able to see the big picture from the small details, and was ten times better than her husband and wife.

Because Mi Niang was worried about something, she squinted for a while before opening her eyes.

"Mom, I had a dream again."

Mrs. Ding Er knew that her daughter seldom had dreams, but whenever she did, they were always a sign of heaven.

I only heard her say: "I dreamed that this time my father was taken away by Yu Yi Tai, and later Yu Lao Ye came out safely, but my father was hacked to death on the street. His arms were on the east, his legs were on the west, and there was blood, all over... The murderer said that my father was Yu Da Zhong..."

"Mom, isn't my father called Ruan Jiading? Why is he called Yu Dazhong? And who is Yu Dazhong?"

Second Madam Ding's heart was torn into pieces when she heard this. "Yu Dazhong is your aunt."

At dawn, Ruan Jiading was carrying his school bag. Yu Da, who was standing beside him, said happily, "My cousin, we have arrived in Jiangling."

Ruan Jiading was extremely anxious. He had originally planned to set off with his classmates in three days to go to the capital to take part in the imperial examination in February. It would only take half a year, but he did not expect to be found by Yu Da, who said that he had been thrown into prison.

"It's good that we've arrived. It's good that we've arrived."

As expected, Ruan Jiading saw Ding Erniang and Mi Niang at the shore. The fog had not yet dissipated, and their eyes were very solemn.

Yu Da secretly thought that something was wrong.

"Why are you here?" Ruan Jiading jumped down from the boat in two steps. He was a very good swimmer and did not feel dizzy even after a whole night. He was in high spirits.

Mrs. Ding Er pulled him aside and asked, "Are you back because of your aunt's matter?"

"Yes."

"But you just told me yesterday at midnight that you would deliver the letter today, how come you are here today? If it wasn't for my daughter saying she had a dream in the middle of the night and insisting that I come over, I wouldn't have known you were coming back."

"Dream? What kind of dream did you have, Mi Niang?"

"I dreamed that someone mistook you for Yu Dazhong and chopped off your limbs. My daughter was so scared that she woke up."

Ruan Jiading was shocked. He was going on a long journey, so he was inevitably frightened when he heard this.

Second Madam Ding knew how to persuade Ruan Jiading. She even said, "Mi Niang said something like there is no need to save the guilty. Saving them will only bring harm to themselves and kill them on the spot. Husband, is this what she said about you?"

"What should I do?"

Hearing the hesitation in her husband's tone, Second Lady Ding made a decision on the spot: "You should leave quickly, leave now, otherwise you will be caught in a dilemma. Your future is small, but your life is big."

Ruan Jiading looked at Second Madam Ding worriedly and said, "What about you? What will happen to you and Mi Niang if I leave?"

"There is no us in the dream, only you."

Yu Da came over and urged, "My dear cousin, let's go quickly. Today is a good day to visit the prison."

But Ruan Jiading said, "No, I want to go. I have something very important to do."

He immediately jumped onto the boat and took out two hundred coins from his sleeve and handed them to the boatman.

Yu Da was so angry that he wanted to pull him down, but Wang Wu pulled him away.

Wang Wu scolded, "Yu Da, you have lost your mind. It is not up to you to decide what the master should do or not do."

"Wang Wu, what are you talking about? Why don't you go back?"

"Yes, Second Grandma."

Mi Niang really admires her mother. Maybe her father won’t listen to what she says, but her father listens to whatever her mother says.

On this day, she came to the school as usual, and Ji Chunfang joked, "That's good, our daughter is here."

"Sister is really..."

Soon, Guo Yaoyu and her sister also came together to congratulate Mi Niang, not to mention Luo Qiujun, Tao Chun'er and others who were usually good friends.

Despite what happened last night, Mi Niang still studied hard, but when she was alone with Ji Chunfang, she had something to ask her.

"To be honest, Sister Ji, I have something I want to trouble you with." The Ji family deals with all kinds of people and has a wide network of contacts. Compared to Mrs. Luo's reclusiveness and the Guo family's overly uprightness, it's right to go to the Ji family.

She wanted the Ji family to help keep an eye on the Yu family and find out what was going on in the Yu family case and whether it was related to her family.

Originally, Mi Niang wanted to explain a little, but Ji Chunfang patted his chest and agreed without saying a word.

"Thank you so much, Sister Ji."

Ji Chunfang smiled and said, "That's nothing. You are a prostitute now, and you are still willing to ask me to do something for you. That means you think highly of me."

Aunt Yu was too surprised: "What? You mean Jiading had already reached Jiangling, but Lu Shi told him to go back to Wuchang."

Yu Da kowtowed and cried, "I also feel that this is strange. I don't know how my cousin's wife knew about this. She actually persuaded my cousin to return."

"No, no, then I'll send Ding Xiong again."

"Madam, you don't know that my cousin will leave for Beijing the day after tomorrow. He can't give up his own future and stay here just to save our old man." Yu Da didn't understand why he kept asking his cousin to come back. Although he thought that relatives should help each other, his cousin was just an informant and he couldn't get involved in the case.

Aunt Yu had no way of speaking her grievances. Could she say in front of everyone that the Zhang family had used someone else's knife to kill someone and deliberately let Ruan Jiading come back? What might their intentions be? If she said it out loud, how would others look at her?

Even if the silver teeth are broken into pieces, they will be swallowed into the stomach.

Yu Dazhong accepted bribes of 6,000 taels and cut corners when building the Quhe suspension bridge, causing Zhu Dagou's father to fall off the bridge and drown. He exploited the common people on a daily basis, but also embezzled a huge amount of money from the government. All his property was confiscated and he was sentenced to death. His family was tattooed with words and exiled to the southwest.

Second Mistress Ding saw them off for the last time. The once wealthy and respectable Yu family became prisoners. Concubine Yu's hair turned completely white, and the look in her eyes when she saw her was as sharp as a knife.

"Mom, let's go back." Mi Niang had no sympathy. The Yu family even coveted their nephew's money. If she hadn't been reborn this time, her father would have been killed by the Yu family out of kindness, if not for her father's help in saving the Yu family. In this life, she finally escaped.

The Yu family's servants all sold it, and the Ji family bought Mother Ding and sent it directly to the Ruan family.

The two talked for a long time behind closed doors, and later heard that Second Aunt Ding released Mother Ding from slavery and sent her to the countryside to live out her old age.

"It is said that it is related to me, but I don't know Madam Zhang at all!" Mrs. Ding had met Madam Zhang before. She was very arrogant and looked down on everyone.

Mi Niang also shook her head: "I only know that Zhou Furou was recommended by Mrs. Zhang, and I don't have any other impressions."

"So she wanted Dad to come back on purpose to harm him?"

Mi Niang wanted to ask the Ji family to help find out, but Mrs. Zhang's husband was transferred, so she followed her husband to take up the new post.

This is where the clues stop...

Although the crisis of Second Lady Ding was temporarily resolved, her husband also wrote to her saying that he had arrived in Beijing and was introduced to meet the Duke of Bohai. There was also a silver note of 100 taels in the letter, saying that it was funded by local merchants and asked her and her mother to buy a few servants to serve her. But she was still uneasy. She was in the open, and the enemy was in the dark. Moreover, she didn't know what the hatred was. Her status was even lower than others. She didn't know how she would deal with herself.

But Mi Niang smiled and said, "Mom, if she can only harm you in this roundabout way, it means she doesn't want everyone to know. She can only go with the flow, and she is afraid that others will know. She must have some concerns."

Being comforted by her daughter, Aunt Ding felt much more relieved.

Besides, the family had bought a few little maids and servants who all needed to be taught manners, so she had a lot to do and didn't think about this matter anymore.

This year, Zhou Furou was ready to drop out of school. Her supporter, Mrs. Zhang, passed away, and her aunt was reluctant to pay the money, so she had to drop out of school.

"Another one is gone. Sumin left last year and Furou left this year." Tao Chun'er sighed.

Ji Chunfang glanced at everyone and said reluctantly, "Maybe I will leave next year too. My father has opened a shop in Beijing and is planning to take me and my mother to Beijing."

Mi Niang sometimes felt dazed. She could still vividly remember the scene when she first came to the girls' school. It had been more than two years, and now everyone had dispersed.

Everyone was sighing, and those who were sighing were not necessarily the classmates in the academy, but more of them were nostalgic for those carefree days.

What they worry about most every day is whether they have memorized the books, whether their needlework is good, and how their paintings are. However, these leisurely and leisurely times may be gone forever in the future.

As usual, Mr. Xue stayed at home during the last month. This time, because Ruan Jiading went to Beijing, Second Mistress Ding took her children back to the countryside to celebrate the New Year.

Aunt Ruan Ping'er had been promised a good marriage and had already married. On weekdays, only Mr. Ruan and his wife lived in the house. The couple often said they had a headache and a fever and cheated money to play cards, and Ding asked the second lady for a few small coins to pass on.

Because their father was a male prostitute, their status among the clan members was much higher. Therefore, even though they celebrated the New Year at home, they did not feel the indifference of others as they did when they were just reborn.

Since ancient times, no one cares about the poor in the bustling city, while the rich in the mountains have distant relatives. Mi Niang always understands this.

The clan members broke down the doorstep, some came to invest in the land, some came to build connections, and the house was surrounded by people. Mr. Ruan and the old lady sat among them, their faces flushed.

Second Aunt Ding said to Mi Niang, "Your grandmother always talks about your great aunt, but I don't see her sad when she's in trouble. For example, your great aunt usually looks the best and favors your father more than your uncle, but when it comes to real trouble, she doesn't care whether you live or die. She won't even blink an eye if she lets you die."

"They are all cold-hearted people. Why should I care about them?"

Compared with the innocent death of my father, my great aunt's fate was already a very good fate for her.

Second Grandma Ding smiled and said, "Mother, I just think that we used to live a life where everyone hated us. Now we haven't changed. It's just that your father's status has changed, so they are trying to curry favor with him. I used to think that I would be happy to return home with wealth and honor and slap the faces of those who used to look down on us. But now I feel that fame and fortune are nothing but passing clouds."

She touched her daughter's head and thought, her husband once said in a letter that if he failed the imperial examination, he would go to Jiangxia to study under a famous scholar, and then take her and her daughter to live in the Li family's house and let Mi Niang learn the pipa from Madam Li.

He even mentioned in the letter that Mrs. Li had a son who was extremely handsome and intelligent, and asked her to pay more attention to him.

After seeing what happened today, Second Mistress Ding was worried that the kindness her husband showed in saving the Li family's son was not enough to make the Li family consider her daughter.

The clan members all know to look at the identity, let alone a family like the Li family.