As Lady Jing'an reflected on what Marquis Jing'an had just said, her ominous premonition grew even stronger.

"Lin'er, come here."

Hearing the calm and composed voice of the Lady of Jing'an Marquis call her, Jiang Xuelin paused in her steps, then turned around and walked in, a smile still on her face, "Mother, is there anything you need from me?"

"The formal engagement will be held in a couple of days. For the next few days, you should stay at home and not go out. If you feel bored, you can come over and keep your mother company, or you can go to the training ground to have some fun."

Anyway, we're not allowed to go out.

At this time, although Jiang Xuelin and Fu Hanlai were engaged, they had only just proposed and the formal engagement ceremony was not yet completed.

My daughter is indeed well-behaved and obedient when she's being good, but she's really not someone who doesn't cause me any trouble.

"Yes, Mother, I understand."

"If there's nothing else, you can go back now. I still have some things to take care of." Seeing that Jiang Xuelin had agreed, Lady Jing'an's expression softened a bit, and then she began to urge her to leave.

Marquis Jing'an kept giving Jiang Xuelin meaningful glances from behind his wife, but Jiang Xuelin, the little darling, immediately gave him a helpless look and then looked at Marquis Jing'an's wife, "Mother, Father is giving me meaningful glances. Is something wrong?"

Lady Jing'an, who suddenly turned around to look at him, was speechless.

Shocked by the stabbing in the face by the man in the leaky cotton-padded jacket, and unable to recover his composure in time, Marquis Jing'an was speechless.

Having said this, Jiang Xuelin dared not linger and immediately slipped away. Even as she reached the courtyard gate, she could still hear the Marquis of Jing'an pleading, "Madam, please listen to me, Madam..."

After kindly closing the door, Jiang Xuelin instructed the servants on both sides not to disturb them for the time being before leaving.

Ahhh, she could already imagine that she would be kept very close watch from now on, but her father's idea was really tempting!

Couldn't she just go to the border and find someone she liked? Even if she didn't like him, he would still be better than Fu Hanlai, right? Even if she spoke confidently and righteously in front of Fu Hanlai that day, that was still the Pingwang Mansion, the territory of Fu Hanlai, the heir of the Pingwang.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, it was quite obvious that she had likely been confined to her home by her mother.

It's all her dad's fault!

Returning to her courtyard in a foul mood, she called out, "Hongluo, bring me my whip!"

"Miss, which one do you want?" Hongluo knew Jiang Xuelin was about to practice martial arts as soon as she heard this, so she didn't stop her but asked.

Jiang Xuelin has two kinds of whips: a tiger-skin whip and an iron long whip. Needless to say, the soft whip is less destructive, while the iron nine-section whip is quite devastating.

"Bring me that nine-section whip."

Hongluo: "..."

You could tell from her voice that the girl was indeed in a bad mood.

"...Yes, Miss, please wait a moment, I'll go get it right away." As she passed Qingluo, Hongluo looked at her questioningly, "What's wrong? Why are you so angry after going to pay your respects to the Madam?"

Qingluo gently shook her head, indicating that she shouldn't ask any more questions.

Given the girl's personality, being confined to her home at this moment must have been incredibly frustrating.

Anyway, it's almost time for dinner. When the Fourth Young Master comes back, the young lady probably won't be able to practice for much longer. Let her vent her frustrations so she doesn't hurt herself.

But Qingluo didn't expect that in the days that followed, Jiang Xue would frequently go to the martial arts arena to vent her frustrations, using everything from whips and guns to knives and swords. Almost all the weapons in the house were used.

I'm really frustrated.

Lady Jing'an Marquis seems to have become more vigilant ever since the day she was reminded by the Marquis of Jing'an. He has been keeping a very close eye on her these days. Now that the betrothal ceremony has officially taken place, her wedding day with Fu Hanlai is three months from now.

It looks like things were very tight, with very little time to prepare, and it seemed a bit rushed, but that's not actually the case.

Jiang Xuelin's dowry was all saved up from the time she was born, and it was prepared long ago, so it didn't take much time at all. The only thing that took time was making the furniture.

Good wood is hard to find, so preparations have to begin well in advance. The Jiang family only has one precious daughter, Jiang Xuelin, so they naturally wouldn't mistreat her. They prepared the best rosewood early on, while the first-class ebony wood that time was not even looked at by the Jiang family.

The prepared timber was enough to make a set of huanghuali wood dowry for Jiang Xuelin, which was rare even in the capital.

Making a canopy bed takes a lot of time, but the Jing'an Marquis's mansion had prepared craftsmen well in advance, just waiting for Jiang Xuelin to set the wedding date and measure the size of the new house before construction could begin.

Because the wedding date was a bit rushed, the craftsmen needed to work overtime to finish the furniture. However, Jiang Xuelin didn't need to worry about the furniture; she only needed to know how much dowry she had and what it included, and she could manage with the dowry list.

Therefore, Jiang Xuelin has been very troubled lately.

She couldn't understand why the wedding was scheduled for three months later, which was in the middle of summer and seemed too rushed.

There was no other way. Fu Han was twenty and Jiang Xuelin was eighteen. Both of them were getting on in years, especially Jiang Xuelin, so it was not appropriate to delay any longer.

Jiang Xuelin needed to have her body measured so that the embroiderers could prepare her wedding dress, and she also needed to check the dowry list.

Although many things were prepared well in advance, some were not suitable, such as clothing materials. Outdated materials could not be included in the dowry; only high-quality materials that had just been introduced last year were chosen.

Oh, right, Jiang Xuelin can't leave the wedding dress unprepared, but she's really not good at needlework, so she'll just need to sew a couple of stitches on an inconspicuous part of the dress. Even so, she's still really annoyed and helpless.

Besides these, the Lady of Jing'an Marquis also took her to manage the household, saying that she was afraid that she would not be able to manage the servants at the Prince Ping's residence and would be deceived.

Jiang Xuelin: "..."

But I've always taken care of my own yard!

Even if she went to the Prince Ping's residence, there would still be the Princess Ping there, so it wouldn't be her turn, right? She felt that the Lady of Jing'an Marquis had arranged so many tasks for her so that she wouldn't have time to do anything else.

In short, since the wedding date was set, she has been so busy that she can only go back to the courtyard and fall asleep as soon as she gets home.

Just thinking about how Fu Hanlai doesn't have to worry about those things and lives a comfortable and carefree life makes Jiang Xuelin want to go crazy.

However, these days of hardship only made Jiang Xuelin more certain of one thing.

We have to find a way to escape.

That day, Lady Jing'an was showing Jiang Xuelin the account books of several dowry shops when she saw her wet nurse, Granny Fang, approaching with a strange look on her face.

"What happened outside, Granny?"

Lady Jing'an put down the account book in her hand and asked.

"Reporting to Madam, the steward sent word that the young master got into a fight in the street and suffered some minor injuries. Fortunately, the Marquis happened to be passing by and brought him back."

Jiang Xuelin, who had been quite bored, suddenly brightened up.

"Fu Hanlai's caused trouble again? Bullying people? No problem, I'll go beat him up right now!"

She was so bored!

Lady Jing'an: "..."