Jin Jiaoniang's clothes were also torn by Pei Jing. At this moment, she was huddled in a corner, wearing only her outer garment in a disheveled state. Seeing Jiang Shuwan and her group all neatly arranged, she felt ashamed and wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
The young master, feeling sorry for her, quickly gave instructions to his attendants.
"What are you all standing there for? Help the young lady down to rest."
"Young master, this is my mistress's room."
"..."
The young master looked embarrassed and quickly led Jiang Shuwan and her party to Pei Jing's courtyard.
Pei Jing's courtyard was also close by. When they arrived, the group sat down. Pei Jing was still angry, and Pei Shushu was a little reserved. The young girl sat there without saying a word, only curiously looking around Pei Jing's room.
Jiang Yao was much more at ease than her, and she also craned her neck to look around Pei Jing's residence.
Jin Jiaoniang's residence was already quite luxurious, but Pei Jing's residence was a level higher, which surprised Jiang Yao.
Pei Jing's residence was absolutely the most luxurious place she had ever seen, with exquisite ornaments everywhere, even glass palace lanterns, and double-sided embroidered screens. There were twenty or thirty maids and servants, all serving Pei Jing alone.
And these were the respectable first and second-class maids and servants. Besides them, who knows how many other unseen maids and servants were serving Pei Jing in places where he couldn't be seen.
Such wealth surpasses even that of Jiang Shuwan.
No wonder Pei Jing is so arrogant, thinking he's superior to everyone.
Living in such a golden house every day, one would probably think of oneself as a celestial being.
Jiang Yao stared blankly at the gold bricks on the roof.
Although they are called gold bricks, they are not actually made of gold. However, they are bricks of a higher grade than blue bricks, and are very expensive. Only those of a certain grade can use them.
The mansions of princes and nobles mostly used gold bricks, but their earl's mansion did not have that level of luxury.
I'm so envious!
Even a brick there is better than the Earl's mansion.
However, when she thought of Jin Jiaoniang, she no longer felt envious.
What's so great about Pei Jing? He's the first wife, yet he's still being dominated by a concubine...
"Why are you sisters here at this time of year? I didn't hear your eldest sister mention it, otherwise I would have definitely come to pick you up."
After taking a sip of tea, the young master calmed down. He put aside the shame of being seen by Jiang Shuwan and the others and instead inquired about their purpose.
“We’re all family, just a few steps away, so there’s no need for my brother-in-law to pick me up. I just heard that the Duchess was ill, so I came to visit and also to let the Duchess see me. Otherwise, if we meet again in the future, we’ll be family and not recognize each other, which would be a laughing stock.”
"Ha ha ha ha……"
The young master was amused by Jiang Shuwan's teasing words. He laughed and said, "You're right. It's true that my mother hasn't been feeling well lately and hasn't been visiting the Marquis's mansion much these days. We should keep in touch more often as family members."
"I'm relieved to hear what my brother-in-law said. I feel a bit embarrassed that I came uninvited."
The two exchanged polite greetings. The young master even invited them to stay for a meal. Just then, a maid ran in from outside. Seeing the young master and Jiang Shuwan talking, the maid hesitated, then craned her neck to speak.
Pei Jing's eyes widened; she recognized the girl as Jin Jiaoniang's maid. She was about to slam the table in anger when Jiang Shuwan immediately grabbed her hand.
"Brother-in-law, it seems like he needs to talk to you about something."
The young master was having a pleasant conversation with her when he was interrupted. He said to the maid with some displeasure, "Why did you have to come in at this hour? Didn't you see I was talking to your eldest mistress's younger sister?"
"Young Master, it's my mother who's looking for you. I don't know what happened, but as soon as she got home, she started complaining of a stomachache..."
The girl glanced at Pei Jing with a look of fear as she spoke.
Pei Jing, unaware that someone was setting a trap for her, sneered, "That bitch is just being dramatic. If she has a stomachache, she can just call the physician. Why bother the young master? He doesn't know how to treat illnesses..."
The young master was quite worried, after all, he had personally witnessed Pei Jing tearing Jin Jiaoniang apart, and might have kicked her at that moment.
"I'll go check on her."
Having said that, he immediately abandoned the people in the room, went to the door but then turned back, saying that he would let the old woman accompany Jiang Shuwan and the others to see the Duchess first, and that he would go over when it was time for dinner.
"You shameless woman, you're always finding ways to seduce people!"
Pei Jing couldn't stop him and burst into tears.
"She really knows how to seduce people."
Jiang Yao thought of the kindness and compassion shown to her by the Earl's mansion, and they spoke with a rare sense of shared hatred.
Jiang Shuwan didn't speak, staring at the departing figure of the young master as she pondered something, while Pei Jing's voice, filled with gritted teeth, reached her ears.
"That little bitch had better let the young master leave during mealtime, or I'll tear her face off..."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Shuwan looked over again.
With the young master gone, there was no need for the group to stay in Pei Jing's room, so they all went to the Duchess's courtyard.
As soon as you enter the courtyard, a head maid comes to greet you.
"This servant greets the eldest mistress, the young mistress of the Marquis's mansion, the young master's wife, and the fourth young lady."
"These are truly rare guests today. It's been a long time since I've seen so many masters from the Marquis's residence come here."
The head nanny greeted them with a smile, followed by a round of pleasantries, mentioning that the lady was ill, otherwise she would have gotten up to come out and greet them.
They only exchanged polite words, but did nothing of the sort. Pei Jing even ran back to the Marquis's residence in tears. The Duchess could be forgiven, given their seniority, but surely the young master should have gone to greet him...
They only sent a nanny.
"You're too kind, Granny. We are the younger generation, and it is we who should come to pay our respects to the Duchess."
Regardless of what she thought in her heart, Jiang Shuwan remained very polite in her words.
Jiang Yao was there to watch the show and had no intention of getting involved in the Duke's mess. She stood obediently behind Jiang Shuwan, leaving all the affairs to Jiang Shuwan. It was rare for her to be so compliant.
Pei Shushu followed Jiang Shuwan's lead without question.
The head nanny, being quite shrewd, immediately focused her attention on Jiang Shuwan upon seeing the attitudes of the two masters.
Once inside, she gave the other maids a look, and when the maids escorted the Duchess out, the Duchess's gaze immediately fell on Jiang Shuwan's face.
Jiang Shuwan also looked at her.
In her previous life, she had met this first-rank duke's wife on some social occasions, but the other party never looked at her properly, and she never looked at her closely either.
Today, when their eyes met, she could tell at a glance that this Duchess, who was about the same age as Madam Wen and dressed in luxurious silks, was no ordinary person.
The Wen family's wickedness, at least, was disguised by their vegetarianism and chanting of Buddhist scriptures. But this man's eyes were full of criticism and calculation. He looked her up and down without any politeness, weighing her from head to toe, as if he wanted to calculate how much money she was worth and how to treat her.
Thus, her gaze was quite blatant, and completely undisguised.
Thinking about it, Jiang Shuwan pursed her lips.
The Duchess was indeed calculating her status and power.
She knew that Jiang Shuwan was the leader in this group.
Judging a person by their clothes, she first looked at Jiang Shuwan's clothes.
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