Shen Mingshu lowered her head, her eyes filled with resentment.

She's just a maidservant. I'm a legitimate daughter of the third branch of the family. It's making a mountain out of a molehill to embarrass a legitimate daughter over a maidservant.

Hearing Lin's words of self-reproach, the old lady chuckled softly, the smile not reaching her eyes.

Granny Tian brought over a bowl of warmed lotus root starch. The small Ding kiln white porcelain cup was decorated with delicate patterns. A sweet white porcelain spoon was lightly tapped on the rim of the cup, making a subtle and trivial sound that made everyone in the room wonder.

No one dared to underestimate the old lady's temper. She was usually kind and smiling, but if anyone displeased her, they would be in for a world of trouble.

Zhao thought that this matter would not involve her. Usually, her second and third sons' wives were close, so why weren't they speaking up for her at this time?

Just as I was pondering this, the old lady finally spoke.

"I thought you could figure it out on your own, but it turns out you're just like a deaf person listening to a play, wasting all your effort!"

Upon hearing this, the Lin mother and daughter turned pale and knelt before the old lady, not daring to utter a sound.

“The rules of a young lady cannot be broken no matter where she goes. Today, she acted recklessly because she was in a bad mood. Who knows what she will do tomorrow? A thousand-mile dike can be breached by an ant hole. What kind of behavior is this, beating chickens and scolding dogs? It may seem like a small matter, but it reveals the whole leopard. It shows that the young ladies in the manor need to relearn the rules.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao and Gu, who had been watching from the sidelines, also knelt down.

The three daughters-in-law and all the legitimate and illegitimate daughters in the house knelt down, forming a dense, dark mass. The old lady's displeasure deepened as she looked at them.

“Our family is a prominent family in the capital. Today, we will leave the matter of the Third Miss entirely to Madam Lin. However, all the governesses in each branch of the family will need to be replaced. The young ladies have their own rules and regulations, so we must not let them become a laughing stock.”

Mingzhuang also knelt behind Lin Shi, pondering the meaning behind the old lady's words.

Letting Madam Lin deal with Shen Mingshu herself is, in the end, still a sign of the old lady's favoritism towards her legitimate daughter. Everyone in the Shen family knows Madam Lin's reputation for loving her daughter, so if she were to handle the matter, it would inevitably be a case of lifting a heavy object and then letting it go lightly.

She didn't want Shen Mingshu to pay any price for those two slaps; she just wanted to understand her current status in the Shen family.

After all, she would still have to live under the name of Shen Jiuniang in the future, so she would definitely have to figure out her current situation first.

Today's brief probing revealed that even though the old lady knew his true identity, she showed no favoritism, which is quite intriguing.

Lin was indeed reluctant to punish her severely; she only confined Shen Mingshu for three days, saying it was to let her reflect on her behavior, and then let it go.

Such blatant favoritism was not something the old lady could see, but upon hearing the news, she merely gave a lukewarm laugh.

"Madam, you said that Ninth Miss stayed at the old residence in Jiangzhou for more than ten years, so how come she caused so much trouble as soon as she returned to the manor? Could it really be related to the Wen family..."

As Granny Tian poured tea, she asked with a smile, her words carrying a hidden meaning.

Granny Tian didn't know Shen Mingzhuang's identity, but she felt that the old lady seemed to be particularly lenient towards this concubine's daughter who had not been back in the capital for long. Otherwise, even if she wanted to give a word of advice to her servants, she wouldn't have embarrassed the Third Madam in front of so many people.

The old lady deftly cut off a few branches and leaves with the pruning shears in her hand, without even raising her eyebrows or eyes, clearly not intending to answer Granny Tian's question.

Shen Mingzhuang had been feigning illness and staying in her room these past few days, trying to discreetly investigate the Shen family's affairs. Unexpectedly, even though she didn't go out to cause trouble, she ended up attracting trouble herself.

With a 'whoosh,' box after box of things was dumped into their yard. Xue Rong went out to see what was happening, and when she returned, her expression was strange: "Third Miss has moved everything from her little storeroom into our yard!"