Chu Jinyao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was a hook. The jade pendant was firmly hung around her neck, otherwise something terrible would have happened!

Chu Jinyao turned around somewhat unhappily, wanting to see who was the scary person behind her. When she turned around, she unexpectedly found that it was a neat and upright young man.

The young man was obviously surprised to see her: "Who are you and why are

you here?" "I am the fifth lady of the mansion. What about you, who are you?"

"Fifth lady?" The young man frowned and said, "I have met the fifth cousin, and you are not... Hey, that's not right."

At this time, Chu Jinyao had already heard it: "Are you the young man from my aunt's family?"

Lin Xining also remembered that her grandmother mentioned in the letter that her uncle's family had adopted the wrong daughter and had just found a fifth lady. It seems that this is the one in front of him.

Lin Xining knew that he had made a joke, and he bowed to Chu Jinyao: "I'm sorry, fifth cousin, I was rude just now."

Chu Jinyao slightly avoided it, and returned the greeting by pressing his hand: "Cousin, you don't have to be like this."

The misunderstanding was resolved, and Lin Xining felt a little guilty. He saw a strange woman wandering around here, and her movements were very sneaky, so he asked. If I had known it was my cousin, I would not have been so loud. The girls were more delicate than each other. What if he spoke louder and scared these delicate guests? Lin Xining wanted to make amends, so he asked, "Why is the fifth cousin here?"

Chu Jinyao was a little embarrassed: "I got lost."

Lin Xining suddenly realized that it was right, the fifth cousin had just returned and didn't know the way around here. Lin Xining said, "Most of the courtyards here are vacant, and it's really hard to identify. Cousin, come with me."

"Thank you, cousin." Chu Jinyao was very grateful and quickly followed Lin Xining and walked out.

With Lin Xining leading the way, Rongning Hall was soon reached. Chu Jinyao thanked him repeatedly: "Thank you, cousin, otherwise I don't know how long I would have to go around..."

Qin Yi snorted coldly in his heart. It was obviously him who brought Chu Jinyao out, and this kid only took her for the last part of the journey. Moreover, even if the kid from the Lin family hadn't appeared, Chu Jinyao wouldn't have gone around for a long time.

Of course, Chu Jinyao wouldn't know these words.

Lin Xining smiled and opened the curtain for Chu Jinyao: "You don't have to be polite, cousin. It's cold outside, come in."

"How can I do that?" Lin Xining was a guest, so how could she let Lin Xining open the curtain for her? Chu Jinyao said, "Cousin, you go in first."

The maid wanted to take it over, but Lin Xining shook her head and said, "Cousin, you are a girl, and you are weak, you go first." It

was the first time that Chu Jinyao was treated so cherished by someone, and she entered the house in a surprised manner. Later, Lin Xining followed and accompanied Chu Jinyao in.

The old lady and Chu Zhu and others were sitting in the west room talking. When they heard the sound of the door opening, the old lady said, "It's Ning'er."

After Chu Jinyao entered the room, she didn't dare to look up and immediately greeted: "Jinyao is late, please forgive me, grandmother and aunt."

Zhao frowned: "Why did you come now?"

The other girls were all there, only Chu Jinyao was not there, and Chu Zhu had just asked about it. Zhao was very embarrassed, and now she saw Chu Jinyao, she was really angry.

Chu Jinyao maintained the posture of greeting, lowered his head and said nothing. Lin Xining took the initiative to say, "It's not my cousin's fault. There are many unused courtyards to the east of Rongning Hall. I've gotten lost there many times before. It's inevitable for my cousin who just came back. I just happened to meet my fifth cousin, so I brought her here."

After Lin Xining said this, Zhao naturally didn't say much. Lin Xining was the only son of her sister-in-law, and the son of the Prince's Mansion. How could she dare to say anything about him?

Old Madam Chu frowned when she heard this: "Who is following the Fifth Lady?"

Yueji took a step forward and said: "It's me."

Nanny Gu leaned over and said something to Old Madam Chu, who looked even more unfriendly: "You are a second-class maid, and you don't even know the way?"

Nanny Gu reminded in a low voice: "Grandma, we were short of manpower a few years ago, so we asked a man to buy a group of maids, and she is one of them."

A new maid who didn't even know the way became a second-class maid next to the girl. Old Madam Chu's stern and indifferent eyes swept towards Zhao, who quickly lowered her head and showed a gesture of admitting her mistake. In front of Chuzhu and so many young people, Old Madam Chu gave Zhao face and didn't say much, just glanced at her and retracted her gaze. Yan stood by and smiled secretly.

Zhao was a person who could suppress the concubines and servants in the backyard if she was stupid, and always did things that made people laugh if she was smart.

The eldest daughter was the eldest daughter and was raised in front of the old lady since she was a child. She was very respectable, but she was not close to the eldest daughter. Parents always favor their youngest sons and daughters. Yan also had a son and a daughter, so it was understandable that Zhao doted on the fourth daughter. But now that it was said that the fourth daughter was not her biological daughter, she still gave her heart and soul to her. Wasn't she stupid?

Yan smiled enough in her heart, then she stopped feeling happy about the misfortune and smiled at Chu Zhu, "You are so lucky, Ning Ge'er is good-looking, filial, and considerate of his brothers and sisters. You will have more blessings in the future."

Chu Zhu's smile froze slightly after hearing this. She turned her eyes to Chu Jinyao, looked around without expression, and asked, "Today is the first time I see the fifth girl. What's your name?"

Chu Jinyao said cautiously, "Aunt, my name is Chu Jinyao."

"Yao..." Chu Zhu's eyes changed, and she turned to look at Mrs. Chu, "Why doesn't the fifth girl go with Xian'er's generation?"

The girls of this generation of the Chu family are named with the character "Jin" and the female radical, which means a cluster of flowers and the virtue of women. Chu Jinyao's name "Yao" is the same generation as Chu Zhu.

After Chu Zhu reminded her, Mrs. Chu realized that Chu Jinyao's name was the same generation as Chu Zhu. She paused and said, "This child has had a rough life. She didn't have a good life in the first thirteen years. The word Yao was given to her by a Taoist priest when she was born." The implication was that one should not care about these things with a young person.

After all, Chu Zhu was married, so it was not good for her to interfere in the affairs of her niece, not to mention that Mrs. Chu said so. Chu Zhu said, "I remember that when I came back before, the fourth girl was always the most active. Where is the fourth girl?"

"Aunt, I'm here." Chu Jinmiao stood up and saluted Chu Zhu.

Chu Zhu pulled Chu Jinmiao over and said with a smile: "You and the fifth lady stand together, I want to take a good look at you."

Chu Jinmiao's smile froze. Since Chu Jinyao came, her identity has become more and more awkward. What she used to think was natural has now become subtle. In addition, there are many people in the mansion, and Chu Jinmiao can't help but hear some gossip. Now Chu Zhu asked her to stand with Chu Jinyao to compare...

Chu Jinyao is nothing to worry about, she has long been used to being looked at. Chu Jinmiao almost moved in the direction of Chu Jinyao, and when there were only two steps left, Chu Jinmiao refused to move forward.

There is a saying that goes, "It's not a problem if you don't know the goods, but it's a problem if you compare the goods." Because Chu Jinmiao is the daughter of a farmer, her appearance has always been inferior to that of the proper young ladies of the Chu family. Now standing next to Chu Jinyao, the difference is more obvious. Chu Jinyao is a head taller than her. Although she is a little darker, her facial features are overwhelming. The only advantage of Chu Jinmiao is that she is thinner than Chu Jinyao, but her thinness is only superficial. On the contrary, she is not as comfortable to look at as Chu Jinyao's natural figure.

Qin Yi, who was quietly watching the show, felt it was too embarrassing.

Obviously the other ladies felt the same way, and they tacitly did not continue the topic. Chu Zhu didn't expect that her good intentions would do bad things. She called Chu Jinmiao over and quietly patted her hands.

Chu Zhu thought with regret that Chu Jinmiao was slimmer than Chu Jinyao, and had a better temperament. She looked like a child raised in a wealthy family, with a thin and bookish air. The only drawback was... Chu Jinyao was much prettier than Chu Jinmiao. Even though Chu Zhu favored Chu Jinmiao in her heart, she couldn't say that Chu Jinyao was not pretty.

Chu Zhu originally wanted to let Chu Jinmiao and Chu Jinyao stand together so that everyone could see who was better. Although Chu Jinmiao was still in the Marquis' Mansion, her biological parents had done such a thing, and it was inevitable that there were people in the Marquis' Mansion who looked down on her. Chu Zhu did this to remind everyone and let them see what a rich lady was. The nobility brought up by a marquis' family was not something that some village girl who suddenly appeared out of nowhere could compare to.

As a result, she was embarrassed.

Although Chu Jinyao was the real girl of the Chu family, for Mrs. Zhao, Old Madam Chu, and Chu Zhu, Chu Jinmiao was the one they watched grow up, and they really loved her all these years. Chu Jinyao suddenly appeared and said that they loved the wrong person before, that Chu Jinyao was the real daughter, and Chu Jinmiao was fake. Who could accept that? When Chu Zhu received the letter, she was completely confused. Chu

Jinyao was a real stranger to her. Chu Zhu originally thought that Chu Jinyao must be vulgar and greedy because she grew up in a peasant family. Once the sparrow turned into a phoenix, she would reveal greed, selfishness, and love of money. How could she compare with Chu Jinmiao who was well-educated and sensible?

Even though she met Chu Jinyao in person, Chuzhu didn't see the scene she had expected. However, she still felt that being raised in a poor family meant that she must be poor from the root. It was not obvious now, but it would definitely show up in the future. Chuzhu thought with some regret that it would be better if Chu Jinyao's face grew on Chu Jinmiao. It would be perfect.

Old Madam Chu watched this silently. When Chuzhu calmed down, she said, "It's getting late. Let's set the table."

With Old Madam Chu around, there was no need to avoid the rule that men and women of seven years old should not sit at the same table. Lin Xining and the young masters and girls of the Chu family accompanied the old lady for dinner. The old lady naturally sat in the middle, Chu Zhu and Lin Xining sat on the right side of the old lady, Chu Jinxian sat on the left side of the old lady, and the daughters-in-law of the Zhao family and the Yan family had to stand and serve their mother-in-law.

The seats on both sides of the old lady Chu have always been the most favored people. The old lady's preferences are the wind direction, and such people are also very popular in the inner house. Now there are Chu Zhu and Lin Xining on one side, and Chu Jinxian on the other side. Chu Jinyao can completely understand. As for herself... She is at another table. There

are eight people sitting at a table, and several young masters are all there. How can it be her turn at the table of the old lady with the heaviest weight...

Halfway through the meal, the old lady said to Zhao and others: "You have been standing for a day, sit down and rest."

Zhao and others pushed once, and then put down the chopsticks for serving dishes. Immediately, the maids and old women brought stools and served the three ladies to the table.

After dinner, Chu Jinyao returned to her own courtyard and secretly said to Qin Yi: "In such a solemn occasion today, we young people can sit down to eat, but mother and others have to stand to set the dishes and set the rules. They have to stand for half a meal before they can sit down. Even so, many people still say that the grandmother is considerate of her daughter-in-law. She was a guest before she got married, why did she have to be like this after she got married?"

"This is etiquette, there is nothing we can do about it." Qin Yi sighed and said, "Taiyuan is better. The rules in the capital are strict. If you meet an old-fashioned mother-in-law who talks to you about the rules in everything, that's called a grind." Qin Yi

is the prince. Although he spends most of his time in the palace, he has heard about these things. It's not easy for a bride to live. When he thinks that Chu Jinyao will have to live like this in the future, he feels worried for her.

She is so stubborn and easily trusts other people's ideas. What should she do if she really encounters a mean mother-in-law? He wanted to remind Chu Jinyao to pay attention to the man's family when she gets engaged in the future, but he also felt that he was an outsider and would have to leave sooner or later, and the other party was her husband's family. Maybe Chu Jinyao would blame him after he said it.

He should not get involved in such things.

Chu Jinyao thought that she would have to serve her mother-in-law like this in the future, and she felt that her life was dull. She was in a coma for a long time. Qin Yi saw that Chu Jinyao was too depressed, so he had to take the initiative to talk and divert her attention: "I saw you secretly glanced at Lin Xining several times today, did you..."

"No!" Chu Jinyao's face flushed, and she said shyly, "What are you doing? Why are you saying these things for no reason?"

In fact, Qin Yi was not wrong. It was rare for women in the inner house to see men from outside the palace. Lin Xining was the right age, handsome, and a young man in the Prince's Mansion. During the whole banquet, there were girls who kept secretly glancing at him. It was normal for Chu Jinyao to have a good impression of a noble man of the same age for the first time, and a gentle, considerate, and handsome young man.

Qin Yi snorted softly and said, "You are still lying to me. I have been able to understand what those palace... women are thinking since I was ten years old. Your little thoughts are not even enough for them."

"I told you I didn't!"

"If you didn't, then why did you yell at me?"

"You are so annoying." Chu Jinyao took off the jade pendant angrily and placed it on the small table outside the bunk bed. She lowered the curtain with a cry, "I'm going to sleep, don't disturb me."

After a while, Qin Yi said leisurely: "They are right, women really don't make sense."