On a long corridor, Yao Niang and Shi Yu held hands and walked through the Moon Gate to the second house, Ganquanju. They went to invite Jingrou to dinner, and it was also Yu's order. Originally, it was up to the maids and servants to invite anyone, but Yu could not find any fault with Jingrou.

This also made Yao Niang vaguely understand why Luo Jingrou only attacked herself in her previous life.

Yu was totally invincible, and I was just a little girl who had just returned from the countryside in Fujian. I was young and ignorant, so I was the weakest and the easiest to deal with.

First, she used snacks to make herself unable to quit, and then she made herself look miserable, so that she would feel inferior all her life and could not go out to socialize. However, she trusted Luo Jingrou very much. This made Yu unable to show her ability. She was afraid that Luo Jingrou would teach her daughter bad things, so she had to be polite to Luo Jingrou on the surface and even agreed to some of her unreasonable requests.

After she grew up, her relationship with Yu became much better. When she made up her mind to lose weight, Yu was happy. If it weren't for Luo Jingrou's experience, her fate would have been different.

While he was thinking, he had already arrived at Luo Jingrou's living quarters. Xiyu and Qingyun, who were standing at the door, stood up and came out to greet him. It was said that these two maids were sent from the Marquis of Yanping's Mansion.

Yao Niang thought that most people have their imperfections. For example, although she has parents, her maternal family had long been in decline and she still relies on her mother for support. Although Luo Jingrou's biological mother is no longer around, her maternal family treats her very well. And Shi Yu has everything going for her, but because her biological mother was a concubine, she has many burdens.

When they entered the inner room, they saw Luo Jingrou reading a book by the window. When she saw them come in, she smiled and asked, "What are you two little brats doing here?"

Shi Yu said quickly, "Madam asked me and Fifth Sister to take you over for dinner. Today the old lady went to the Dou family, and Third Sister happened to be coming over, so we can eat together."

Yao Niang also agreed: "Yes, Third Sister, you can come. Today, mother specially asked the kitchen to make your favorite walnut monster. Let's go, Daddy is here too."

Luo Jingrou was reluctant to go at first, as she was going to her maternal grandfather's home of Marquis Yanping tomorrow. But after hearing Yao Niang mention her father, she knew that if she didn't go, she would be suspected of being arrogant. But if she went, it would just be a meal, and her father would only ask her a few questions and not care much.

Furthermore, Dad would never discuss such a marriage with her. If she did, it would be considered very unusual. In this case, Dad would definitely not let her marry into a wealthy family, as he might think that she was not capable of being of great use and was not suitable for being a lady.

So, in the end, Luo Jingrou had no choice but to go with them.

When the three of them came out together, they saw the housekeeper Zhou, who asked them something. Yao Niang smiled and said, "Sister-in-law Tianda, we are going to take our third sister to our house for dinner."

"That's perfect. Master Jiang is coming to my place. Sorry I can't keep you company for long." Zhou nodded.

Yao Niang asked hurriedly, "Who is this Master Jiang?"

Zhou smiled and said, "It was Jiang Caiping, who is known as the best needleworker in Jiangbei. We originally invited her to embroider your eldest sister's wedding dress. She is an excellent needleworker and opened a shop in Qiandemen. She happened to get along well with our fourth daughter, so our wife let her learn needlework from her."

"So that's how it is. Then we won't delay Sister-in-law Tian." Yao Niang thought to herself, how did Jiang Caiping know Shi Fang? It was strange. Her luck was really unbelievably good.

When they arrived at Wenhua Hall, Luo Zhi was sitting in the main hall, and the three sisters came to greet him one after another.

Luo Zhizheng waved his hand and said, "You all sit down. I just discussed with your wives that after the 15th, Fifth Lady and Sixth Lady will continue to study with Mr. Shen. As for Third Lady, since you are going to your maternal grandparents' house tomorrow, you should spend more time with your grandmother and don't rush back."

This arrangement is very appropriate, and Luo Zhizheng also has his own plans.

The eldest daughter was not young, and her appearance and character were both decent, so it was not difficult to find a good marriage for her. However, it was not easy to find a family with a clean family background, ambitious children, and a relatively wealthy family.

Nowadays, there are too few good men, and capable men at that.

Even his own son Luo Jingxi was not a promising person. Luo Zhizheng always felt that a person's good or evil fate was predetermined at birth. No matter how you taught him, a promising person would never be successful.

His eldest son Luo Jingxi was raised by his father and taught by famous scholars, but he was still not that devilish. Yao Niang was born in the countryside, but after returning home for a few days, she behaved gracefully and naturally became approachable.

These are beyond human control.

The richer the family, the less likely it is that they will wait until a woman reaches the age of 15 to get married. If one settles down early and her status is determined, she will feel more at ease.

Then, while his daughter is away at her maternal and maternal home, he will have almost found her. After a brief meeting, he can get the upper hand.

Luo Jingrou obviously didn't know all this. She just thought that her father might have been instigated by Yu not to let her go home. But she didn't dare to say anything more at the moment. The family members ate with their own thoughts.

The next day, Yao Niang was called by the maid early in the morning, and she sat up suddenly.

"Yes, I have to go to school today. I almost forgot."

The maids helped her put on new clothes and pinned new silk flowers on her bun. When she paid her respects to her mother, Yao Niang spun around in front of Yu and said, "Mother, am I beautiful?"

She never knew what she looked like when she was seven years old and slim. In the days before she came of age, she faced her fat face every day and was too self-conscious to go out.

Yu kissed her delicate daughter and said, "My daughter is the prettiest."

Yao Niang laughed, then looked at her brother who was listless today and encouraged him: "Study hard today. When you get out of school, we can come to my place to do homework together, okay?"

"Okay." Hao Ge'er smiled again.

After the incident last year, I thought Shi Fang would not come, but Ren still sent her. This time, Mr. Shen may have felt that classes were suspended last year because of Shi Fang's incident, so he arranged a very tight schedule at the beginning of this year. Yao Niang and Shi Yu were overwhelmed, not to mention Shi Fang.

It took Yao Niang several days to adapt, and even Shi Yu was complaining bitterly.

But Yu still did not relax and invited Mrs. Dong, the embroidery master from the Cao family. Mrs. Dong Liu was a peaceful, gentle and elegant person, and it was obvious that she had a good temper.

She was frank: "I worked as an embroiderer in Sichuan and Jiangnan in the past, and was later invited to work at the Colorful Butterfly Shop in Beijing. To be honest, I rely on this craft to support my children and grandchildren."

Mrs. Dong's son was still studying, which cost a lot every year. Her grandson had just started to learn, and her daughter was about to reach the age of marriage. So she went to the homes of wealthy families to teach needlework, and she also spun yarn and did needlework in her spare time.

With an annual dowry of twenty taels, life was very tight.

Yu praised, "You can make money with your craft. This is exactly what you are capable of. My two girls are in school during the day, so I only need to teach them two hours a day. I won't care about the rest of your work."

This job was easier than that of the Cao family, and Mrs. Dong nodded hurriedly.

Yu was always kind to others, because she herself had experienced hardships when she was young, so she could empathize with others. But there was only one thing she had to do: Dong should not lose sight of the main task.

Therefore, after going to school every day, Yao Niang had to learn needlework and do her homework.

It was good enough that she was a famous girl in her previous life. Now she has a famous teacher to teach her, and her progress is getting faster and faster. However, Shi Yu can't keep up, so Yao Niang slows down her progress.

Mrs. Dong was also looking at the pair of sisters she was teaching. The older one was the daughter of the main wife. She was said to be very smart in studying and learned needlework very quickly. She was also good at working hard. The younger one was also quite hardworking. Although she was born out of wedlock, the wife treated all her daughters the same way as the main wife, without any distinction.

This made Mrs. Dong like her even more. As a girl from a wealthy family, as long as her mistress behaves well and her father and brother are capable, they will definitely live a happy life together.

It is also said that Yao Niang came back from school one day and met Shi Fang's needlework teacher Jiang Caiping. It turned out to be the strange woman she met at her elder sister's wedding that day. She never thought that she was the so-called "Number One Needle in Jiangbei."

Shi Fang didn't know how to read people's faces, and she said to Yao Niang, "If we do more good deeds, we will naturally be rewarded, don't you think?" She was trying to persuade Yao Niang with good intentions.

Because she had always known this fifth sister. Unlike her third sister, she was extremely doted on by the eldest wife and was decisive and stick to her word. Although she was young, she had a very strong temper and was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Especially, she thinks people are very bad, which is probably related to her own experience, but Shi Fang doesn't think so. She believes that there are still many good people in the world, so she is also giving advice with good intentions.

Yao Niang found it funny. "Fourth sister, I think it is best for people to take care of themselves when they are poor, and help the world when they are rich. Good deeds may not be truly good, and good people may not be truly good. We all have our own way of dealing with things. Okay, I'm leaving now."

"You——" Shi Fang wanted to say something, but saw Yao Niang leaving.

After returning home, Yao Niang then mentioned to Yu that day when she was taking Jinghao to the greenhouse and met Jiang Caiping on the way, she kept asking them to lead the way and even designated servants to do nothing, which was strange.

"My daughter thought the woman looked like a kidnapper and ignored her. Unexpectedly, my fourth sister led her on the way. It is said that because of this incident, Master Jiang decided to accept my fourth sister as his apprentice and did not charge any tuition."

Yu attached great importance to Yao Niang's opinion: "I already know about this matter. Don't worry, I will find out everything."

Compared to Yao Niang, a daughter of a noble family, Yu had also been the housekeeper for several years. She had been on good terms with Luo Zhizheng recently. She only needed to casually say a word to her husband, and after a little investigation, she would know that Xiao went to the capital to avoid disaster.

"I was wondering why he was so desperate to help people for no reason. It seems there is no such thing as free food in this world." Yu realized later, "Fortunately, Yao Niang is cautious."

Luo Zhizheng had a new respect for Yao Niang after this incident. He said, "It shows that the thieves in the world are not the ones who don't show their tracks. It's just that some people benefit from it and can't see it."

"Yes, this person is relying on our Luo family's shop. I will not be able to persuade the second house to stop him. Let's see when this matter will be exposed." The son of the Jiang family raped someone else and was sentenced to beheading and imprisonment. It would be fine if this Jiang lady came to my house just to avoid disaster, but it would be bad if other troubles arise.

It’s a pity that Yu and Ren had a fight, so it’s inconvenient to say anything more.

Because Jiang Caiping was old, everyone in the Luo Mansion called her Jiang Auntie. She was sweet-spoken, skillful, and generous. Most importantly, she was a good listener and had no vested interests in the people in the Luo Mansion. Therefore, all the ladies who were originally lonely in their own seclusion loved her.

Aunt Jiang was very attentive in teaching Shi Fang. She was a very smart girl and never said anything unpleasant. Ren was very happy and she even hinted that the reason my daughter was not good at studying was because the teacher was hired by the eldest son's family and was more biased towards the eldest son's family.

But it is said that when Jiang returned to the store that day, she saw the waiter said, "Boss, Master Chen is here."

Master Chen? When Jiang was about to walk in with doubt, she saw that it was Chen Ziheng and hurriedly flattered him, "So it's Master Chen, how come you have the honor of coming to my house today?"

"Look at what you said, can't I come over if I have nothing to do? Now I am also in Beijing to run the family business, and I happened to pass by your precious place, I just came in to take a look." Chen Ziheng sat down and poured tea directly.

Jiang smiled and waved her hands: "Look at what you said, your Chen family is a big merchant, the money that flows through your hands, even a little bit of it is enough for people to spend for several lifetimes. There is no place for you to step in my shop."

After saying this, Mrs. Jiang took out another dime and asked the waiter to buy a basket of mushroom steamed buns, a plate of walnut cakes, some hot winter drink, and a plate of Huangzhou oranges from the street.

"Master Chen, please don't laugh at me. We country folk only have this kind of food." When Aunt Jiang saw that the man had a strong build, a particularly large nose, and a rosy face, she knew at first sight that he was a playboy.

Chen Ziheng drank a cup of tea and then smiled and said, "I have some soft satin on hand, which is really good material. It's a pity that my family only runs an antique pawnshop in Beijing and doesn't deal in this. I see that you, Jiang Ma, are a guest of honor of the Luo family, which means you are one of our own. I will give you all this truckload of goods so that we can get to know each other."

When Jiang heard this, she hesitated and said, "Please forgive me, Master Chen. I am a timid person. You have seen my shop. It is a small business..."

When you give a gift to someone, you must have something in mind. Aunt Jiang understood this principle. She came here to avoid disaster. She should not make money that she should not make. After all, making money is the most important thing.

Chen Ziheng smiled and said, "To be honest, I also have something to ask of you, but please save me from this dire situation, Aunt Jiang. I will definitely reward you handsomely in the future." After he finished speaking, he took out a pair of jade bracelets that were very watery from his sleeves.

Mrs. Jiang is an expert on goods, and the cost of this pair of bracelets is probably around eighty taels.

Therefore, Jiang Ni smiled awkwardly and said, "Master Chen, please tell me first. If I can help, I will."

Chen Ziheng immediately understood what was going on and said, "That's right. If you can't help, I wouldn't have come to you."

Jiang Ni quietly put the bracelets into her bag. Chen Ziheng pretended not to see it, but his face showed a miserable expression: "When I was young, I fell in love with the girl of my lifelong friend. She and I were in love. Both parents agreed to our marriage and just waited to set a date. How could I know that I went south to take care of business, and after I came back, she was promised to someone else. I heard that her family lied to her and said that I changed my mind. If she was living a good life, it would be fine, but she was not living a good life, and was neglected. Her husband was a playboy and a philanderer, and he discarded her like a worn-out shoe."

Mrs. Jiang symbolically wiped away her tears: "I didn't expect that Mr. Chen is still such an obsessed person."

"It's not that I'm crazy. I don't have any other intentions now. I just want to meet her and say a few words to her to fulfill our friendship. We will have nothing to do with each other in the future." Chen Ziheng sighed softly.

This request was reasonable, but Jiang was not an ordinary person. She had been in and out of the ladies' houses for many years and knew that men's words could not be trusted. What was the point of meeting once? When the man and woman met, they were so passionate that the man was forced to do it. If he had some leverage over the woman, it would be convenient for them to meet in secret in the future.

So, she said sympathetically, "Mr. Chen is such a kind and righteous man, but I don't know who this childhood sweetheart you are talking about is?"

Chen Ziheng looked at Jiang for a long time before saying, "Luo Fan, nicknamed Yue'e."

Luo Fan? The last name is Fan...

Jiang was shocked and said, "Are you talking about the eldest grandmother of the Luo family? I dare not do that."

What a joke, what kind of family is the Luo family? She still has to fawn on the second wife, Ren, who she is still on good terms with, not to mention the eldest wife of the first wife. However, that Fan is a charming beauty.

It's not that she is unwilling to do this kind of thing, but that she doesn't dare to do it.

Even though the businessman is rich, he is no match for the officials even if he has nine lives.

However, Chen Ziheng said, "It's just one meeting. Aunt Jiang should consider it as a favor to me. If we can't meet, my trip to the capital will be in vain." As he spoke, he begged bitterly and put another five hundred taels of silver on the table.

Mrs. Jiang needed money at that time. The shop she opened could make 50 taels a year, which was already very good. The 500 taels were just a sweet treat. If the business was successful, there would be a generous reward.

Jiang was only slightly interested at first, but then she saw Chen Ziheng and asked, "Look, what is this?"

This is a pink bellyband with pink lotus embroidered on it, obviously a woman's thing. Jiang was surprised, it turned out that these two had already had an affair, this is easy to deal with.

"Mrs. Jiang, when she and I were having sex, she gave me more than just these gifts. You should carry this with you and try to persuade her." Chen Ziheng put the bellyband in Mrs. Jiang's hand.

Mrs. Jiang felt that she had already boarded a pirate ship. Chen Ziheng had kept her personal belongings long ago and was now forcing Fan to come out and hang out. How could Fan dare to disobey since she had these personal belongings?

And when she spread these words, she was not afraid that Fan would find out, because no woman would dare to make a fuss after being caught with such evidence.

Mrs. Jiang even thought that it would be a good idea to use this incident to extort some money from the Fan family.

"Master Chen, rest assured, I will give it a try."

Having said that, the two looked at each other and smiled.