When Madam Gao from the wife of Duke Rongguo came to invite someone, Baoning was sitting on the kang playing with her newly raised puppy.

The big yellow dog raised by Madam Zhang in the kitchen had just given birth to a litter of puppies a few days ago, but Madam Zhang returned to her hometown to take care of the old woman. Now in the first month of the lunar year, the weather was cold and the female dog died of illness within a few days. This was the only one left alive in the litter of puppies, and was brought back to the house by Baoning.

Incense was lit in the house, and the light smoke was lingering, with a pleasant woody scent. Baoning held the little puppy and leaned against the soft cushion, feeding it with milk spoon by spoon.

Standing at the door, Madam Gao curled her lips and thought, people say that the fifth girl in Aunt Xu's courtyard has been missing a string since she was a child, and she has never lived up to her expectations. She was born with a pretty face for nothing. Now it seems that this is true. It's already so late, and she is about to reach the age of marriage, but she has not even found a marriage. She doesn't know how to rush to the mistress like the sixth girl to please the mistress and try to marry a prominent husband in the future. Instead, she stays in this small courtyard all day long. She really thinks she is a bitch.

She was unhappy in her heart, but she still had to be respectful on the surface. Madam Gao knocked on the door three times and said, "Fifth Miss, the mistress wants you to go to Yimei Garden. It's urgent, please hurry up."

Baoning raised her head, and her pretty face was full of surprise: "Mother is looking for me?"

Madam Gao replied, "Yes, she also called Aunt Xu to come. She is on the way, and the master is also here."

Baoning was even more surprised.

The wife of the Duke, Mrs. Tao, had always been at odds with her aunt because Mrs. Tao had no children. The only boy in the mansion was born to her aunt, named Ji Lin, who was twelve years old this year. Mrs. Tao felt that her aunt threatened her status, so she never treated the three of them well in recent years, and even felt annoyed when she saw her. Why did she change her temper today?

Baoning thought, something must have happened.

She nodded and said "wait a moment", then called the maid to come in to tie up her hair and dress, and hurried out.

Before leaving the courtyard, Baoning did not forget to remind her: "Don't forget to feed the puppy, and wait for Ji Yan to come back from the academy, be careful of him, and keep him away from my dog."

The maid smiled and replied: "Don't worry, young lady."

Baoning tugged at her clothes, smiled, and then left.

Gao Ma looked at her from behind, curled her lips again, and secretly said that she was really useless, she only knew dogs, and her character was not even half a finger better than their fourth lady.

...

All the way, Baoning was wondering what Tao Shi wanted to do by calling her there, making such a big scene, could it be that someone came to propose marriage?

But after thinking about it carefully, she felt that it was unlikely.

Over the years, there have been many matchmakers who came to the house. Most of them were legitimate sons of small families or illegitimate sons of wealthy families. They were all well behaved and were considered good matches, but they were all rejected by Tao, saying that the fifth daughter Baoning was still young and there was no need to rush. She should take her time to choose a husband.

Tao's calculations were as clear as a mirror in Baoning's mind. She just hoped that she would marry someone who was not so good, preferably a lunatic, so that her fourth daughter would be so happy and noble.

This was the life in the harem, which was petty, boring, and annoying.

Baoning could not change anything, and she was too lazy to change. She just hoped to leave the house as soon as possible, away from this smoky and miasmic place, and go to a quiet place.

Fortunately, such a life seems not too far away, because Ji Jiaying has been engaged. The fourth prince of the current emperor, Pei Yuan, the King of Jibei, will be betrothed in a few days. She

married into the royal family and became the principal princess. Although Pei Yuan's reputation was not very good and he felt a bit notorious, this still made Tao and Ji Jiaying proud for a long time.

Bao Ning thought that she hoped that Tao's mood would be better because of this matter, and she would stop finding faults. She really couldn't handle those cunning and harsh methods.

...Speaking of it, Ji Jiaying's marriage should be considered a loophole.

The old Duke Rong was a man of outstanding achievements. He had conquered half of the country with the late emperor. The two had a very good relationship. One day, after drinking and chatting, they mentioned that their daughters-in-law were both pregnant. They thought it was a wonderful fate, so they decided on a marriage on the spot, saying that when the grandchildren were born, if they were of the same sex, they would be sworn brothers, and if they were a son and a daughter, they would be married.

Later, they really had a son and a daughter, but the late emperor died of illness just three days after Ji Jiaying was born. The new emperor ascended the throne, and a month later, the old Duke Rong also died of illness, and no one mentioned the marriage again.

Until a few days ago, Tao Shi had an idea and gave some money to her brother Tao Maobing, who was a second-rank general in the court, so that he could mention the matter in front of the emperor.

The emperor was worried about Pei Yuan. This son was wild by nature, arrogant and disobedient. He was old enough, but no good girl wanted to marry him. Tao Maobing just solved his urgent problem. The emperor made a big move and immediately decided on this marriage.

...

Turning the corner of the corridor was Yimei Garden. Baoning stopped, brushed the hair around her ears towards the frozen lake, and smiled.

She had made up her mind that when she saw Ji Jiaying later, she must find an opportunity to flatter her and make her happy. If Ji Jiaying was happy, she would say less annoying and harsh words.

He said, "Congratulations, fourth sister, for finding her ideal husband. You are so lucky to marry into the royal family and bring honor to the palace. You will surely live in harmony with your brother-in-law and have a smooth and worry-free life."

Unexpectedly, before he even stepped into the courtyard, he heard the sound of Ji Jiaying throwing things and crying, "Mom, I don't want to get married, you have to help me!"

Baoning stood at the door in a daze.

...

The room was littered with broken porcelain pieces. Mrs. Tao hugged her daughter's shoulders and cried. Duke Rong walked back and forth with his hands behind his back. He stamped his feet and turned back and said, "I told you long ago that you should not interfere in the affairs of the royal family. But you love vanity and face, and you insist on getting involved. Do you think you are good at calculating? Now you see, let me see how you end up!"

Mrs. Tao said with red eyes, "If you were not a loser, you would only be a fifth-rank councilor of the Ministry of Public Administration with the title of Duke. Would I have taken that step? My daughter is a princess, but you look at the people who are proposing marriage to her. None of them is decent and promising. How can I bear to marry her! Good families look down on you... Useless father, can you see yourself clearly!"

Duke Rong sneered and said, "What about now? The Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince conspired to poison the emperor, the Crown Prince was deposed, the Fourth Prince was imprisoned, and his title was lost. Now one is missing and the other is disabled, and you are willing to marry her?"

Tao said, "I don't care. You have so many concubines and daughters. If they want to jump into the fire pit, let them do it. My Jiaying can't!"

Hearing this, Ji Jiaying cried even louder: "Mother, please save me. The Fourth Prince won't live for a few days. I don't want to be a widow..."

Duke Rong's fingers trembled with anger: "You evil woman..."

Nanny Gao didn't expect that the room would be so noisy in a blink of an eye.

She awkwardly led Baoning to stand at the door and whispered, "Master, Madam, the fifth lady is here." As

soon as the voice fell, the three people in the room looked over.

Baoning quickly suppressed the shock on her face and bowed respectfully: "Dad, Mother."

Tao wiped her eyes, found a place to sit down, and ignored her.

Duke Rong's face flushed, and he waved at her awkwardly: "Baoning is here, why didn't you say anything? Come to daddy."

"Ji Changping, your face is torn, is there any point in saying those polite words?"

Mrs. Tao glanced at her coldly and shouted, "I tell you, I said so much to you at that time because I was giving you face. Now I'm saying this, no matter what you think or what Mrs. Xu thinks, Ji Baoning has to take over that unlucky marriage! This is the solution I came up with for my daughter! If you dare to be disrespectful to me and don't agree, I will go to my brother tomorrow and report you to the emperor, so that you can't even be a fifth-rank official!"

"You, you, you..." Duke Rong pointed at Mrs. Tao and kept saying you for a long time, but didn't say a word.

Baoning calmed down. After listening to this for a while, she already understood what had happened.

The royal marriage that Tao had tried so hard to find for Ji Jiaying had turned into a fire pit. She was reluctant to let her own daughter jump into it, so she wanted to drag other people's daughters to bury her. There were a total of six girls in the mansion. The eldest, second and third girls were already married. The sixth girl, Ji Liuxiang, was only twelve years old. She was the only girl of marriageable age who had not even been engaged. She was the only scapegoat.

This was Tao's usual style.

She turned her head to look at Ji Jiaying who was sitting in the corner. The fourth girl had already stopped crying. Knowing that her mother was supporting her, she was no longer afraid and was in the mood to smile at Baoning.

When she smiled, Baoning felt his heart begin to turn cold.

Ji Jiaying seemed to know what she was thinking and said, "Fifth sister, don't feel unfair. Can you and I be the same? I am the legitimate daughter, and you are the illegitimate daughter. You are marrying up to the prince as his wife. You should be grateful that I gave you this opportunity instead of being jealous of me, understand?"

Duke Rong said angrily, "Jiaying, what are you talking about!"

"Is what the fourth lady said wrong?" Tao stood up to protect her daughter, glared at Duke Rong, and turned to Bao Ning and said, "I just want to ask you one question, are you going to marry or not?"

Bao Ning turned his eyes away from Ji Jiaying's smug and provocative face and breathed a sigh of relief, "I will marry."