The one who sent the maid Hongyue back was the steward of the Minister of Rites's Mansion.

The steward of the Ministry of Rites stood in the flower hall of the Dongping Marquis's mansion and talked freely: "It's a coincidence. My unpromising son went to visit the Jinshui River last night and met this Miss Hongyue on a flower boat. As a result, this girl cried for help, saying that she was a maidservant of the second wife of your mansion. My son was soft-hearted and redeemed her. If she is really a maidservant of your mansion, it can be regarded as a good deed..."

The steward said as he looked at the several masters in the flower hall and said with a smile, "Old Madam and Madam, please identify her and see if she is a maid from your mansion."

Second wife Xiao looked extremely unhappy. If the steward of the Minister of Rites' residence was not there, she would have beaten the trembling girl kneeling on the ground to death with a stick and thrown her into a mass grave.

This damned maid, how could she have the nerve to come back after falling into such a filthy place as the Jinshui River? She should have jumped into the river and died. Now she has been brought to my house. If the news gets out, what will others think of her?

A lady from a noble family, whose personal maid was involved in a brothel, one can imagine how harsh the gossips of others would be.

What if the fact that she was robbed was dug up again... Xiao shuddered, fear rising from the bottom of her heart.

I don't know what bad luck I've had this year, everything has gone wrong for me.

Old Madam Feng's expression was even uglier than that of Madam Xiao. She seemed to see endless ridicule and gloating through the smiling face of the steward of the Ministry of Rites's office.

It turns out that the disaster of Xiao's robbery is not over yet, no, maybe it has just begun...

This thought suddenly flashed through Old Madam Feng's mind, and she became more determined in her idea.

She reached out and picked up the pastel teacup beside her, blew away the floating tea leaves and took two sips, then slowly put the teacup down, saying in an unhappy tone: "You believe the nonsense of a prostitute on a flower boat? We don't know this person, and it's impossible for a maid from our mansion to be sold to Jinshui River. Please take this girl away quickly."

It was not uncommon to call a matchmaker to sell a servant who had committed a serious crime, but a decent family would not sell someone to such a dirty place. Doing so was neither dignified nor moral, and would cause people to gossip behind their backs. Moreover, Hongyue was not simply sold to a brothel, but it was related to the reputation of the Xiao family.

No matter what, people can't be recognized!

As soon as Madam Feng opened her mouth, Xiao's anxious heart temporarily calmed down.

It is true that people cannot recognize it, but it is not appropriate for her to say this.

The matter was originally directed at her, and there was no time to avoid suspicion. Moreover, Hongyue was Nanny Xiao's only daughter. Now that she had spoken of this today, Nanny Xiao, her confidante who had been with her for many years, might be tempted to leave her.

The girl kneeling on the ground suddenly raised her head and looked at Old Madam Feng in disbelief. What she saw was an expressionless old face, and even every wrinkle on her face revealed ruthlessness.

She stared blankly for a while, as if she had thought of something, and knelt down and rushed towards Xiao: "Madam, I am Hongyue——"

Xiao frowned and said nothing.

Old Madam Feng slammed the ground with her cane and said, "Kick this nonsense-talking woman out!"

The two old women immediately rushed forward, covered Hongyue's mouth and dragged her out.

Hongyue struggled desperately, staring at Xiao with her big eyes.

Xiao turned his eyes away silently.

The steward of the Minister of Rites's residence smiled and said, "I didn't expect it was a misunderstanding. I apologize to the old lady."

"It's okay. Your young master is also doing good deeds." Old Madam Feng knew that the other party was here to slap her in the face, but she couldn't show it on her face.

The other party is holding Hongyue in their hands. If the situation gets out of hand, it will be like a sword hanging over the head of the Dongping Marquis' Mansion.

"I wonder where your servants took that girl? I bought her, and since she is not yours, I'll take her back. To be honest, I am quite satisfied with that girl. She is from a place like Jinshui River, so it's not suitable for her to be a concubine, but it's okay to take her as a maid..."

Madam Feng forced a smile and said to the maid beside her, "Go and find that girl. Since she was bought by someone from the Minister's Mansion, it would be bad if she got into trouble in our house."

Receiving the look from Old Madam Feng, the old woman's heart skipped a beat and cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.

"Um?"

The old woman came back to her senses, said yes and walked out quickly.

The steward of the Minister of Rites's residence was waiting with a smile on his face, but in the eyes of Old Madam Feng, he was clearly making a fool of himself in the Bo's residence.

Old Madam Feng sneered in her heart.

He wanted to use Hongyue to control the Bo Mansion and make fun of it, but his plan was too good!

After an unknown amount of time, the old woman came running over in a panic, her face pale as she said, "Madam, that girl suddenly broke free and jumped into the pond in the garden. When she was pulled out, she was already dead..."

Madam Feng shook her head repeatedly and sighed helplessly to the steward of the Minister of Rites's residence: "This is such a pity. I wonder how much money your young master spent to redeem the person. Since the accident happened in the Earl's Mansion, just consider it as the Earl's Mansion buying the person..."

The steward secretly thought that the old woman was really cruel, and said with a fake smile: "You are too polite, old lady. I cannot accept the money, and I won't take the person away either. Just consider it as the funeral expenses for that poor girl. I'll take my leave."

"Slow down."

As soon as the steward of the Minister of Rites's Mansion left, there was a noise from Xiao's place. It was that she accidentally knocked over the teacup at hand.

Mrs. Feng glanced at Mrs. Xiao and frowned deeply: "You can handle the rest by yourself and don't make any more jokes!"

This Xiao family is getting more and more unlucky. The misfortune of her eldest grandson and second granddaughter might be caused by her. It seems that this family can no longer be left to her to manage.

Old Madam Feng had no thought of handing over the housekeeping power to the Third Wife, Mrs. Guo.

No matter how bad Mrs. Xiao was, at least her second son was her biological son, while the third son was a bastard's. It seemed that the matter of remarrying the eldest son could not be delayed any longer.

This thought came to Old Madam Feng's mind again, and she ordered her trusted maid to call all the masters of the mansion to Ci Xin Hall.

Ah Man was well-informed. Jiang Si had known what had happened before for a long time. When he arrived at Ci Xin Hall, he appeared calm on the surface, but he was a little annoyed in his heart.

As a result, I was delayed in going out.

Seeing that almost everyone had gathered, Old Madam Feng spoke: "There have been a lot of disputes in your mansion recently. From today on, all of you should stay at home and don't go out. If you really have something to do, please ask me for permission first."

Jiang Si said to himself, "Oh no!" and followed Jiang Qiao in his response.

Rumors still arose about the Red Moon incident, but fortunately there was no evidence and people just treated it as a joke.

Some people believe it, while others scoff at it.

Although Old Madam Feng was annoyed that the Earl's Mansion was once again being talked about by the world, she knew that this was already the best possible situation, and she was annoyed with Xiao again in her heart.

When Mr. Jiang Er returned home and heard about this, he was upset first to Mrs. Xiao and then to the first wife.

These were all the troubles caused by Jiang Zhan. The families headed by the Minister of Rites seemed to regard the Bo Mansion as a thorn in their side.

Mr. Jiang, who was in a very bad mood, went straight to the study.

However, Mrs. Xiao, Xiao's confidant, eventually found out about her daughter's death.