She accidentally flirted with the villain and was fiercely criticized as the regent for forcibly mar

The hint of regret on Madam Jiang's face vanished instantly in the night breeze, replaced by a sharp and stern expression: "You dare!"

Yunmi mustered her courage and continued speaking.

Jiang Ruining stopped him.

She thought that there were some things the original owner would have preferred to say "herself"!

"If Mother thinks she did nothing wrong, why is she feeling guilty and anxious? Why not just continue to be assertive in front of Father and Brother? Isn't the reason you're so afraid of Father finding out just because you know very well how badly you've treated me all these years?"

How could a mature and shrewd woman from a high-class family not know the extent of the impact and harm her actions would cause to others?

It was just intentional!

Madam Jiang was speechless with shock at those words.

Jiang Ruining's voice wasn't loud, but it trembled violently, yet she wouldn't stop: "You always question me with disappointed eyes, asking why I don't understand your love for Chu Jin, but have you ever understood Father?"

"When you were belittling and humiliating me, did you ever think that I was his most beloved daughter? Did you ever think that your actions were tearing his heart out? You love your sister's daughter, but does that mean your husband's daughter deserves to be disgraced and die?"

Madam Jiang staggered, clutching her chest and gasping for breath.

But he couldn't utter a word.

Jiang Ruining turned around and walked up to Chu Jin, standing just an arm's length away. He gazed at her intently, his eyes like a deep ocean, as if trying to drown one's soul.

Pressing relentlessly: "You've been framed and targeted, so you naturally assume that you're tolerating my arrogance and despicable behavior. But Chu Jin, it's clearly me who's been tolerating your encroachment all along!"

"When you were plotting to teach me a lesson, did you forget that your happiness and stability were earned by stepping on my blood and tears? Did you forget that if the Jiang family hadn't taken you in, you would have been strangled to death by your own clan long ago!"

"How can a smart and intelligent girl like you have such a shallow sense of gratitude?"

The word "encroachment" came out.

Chu Jin's mind went blank.

His face turned pale instantly.

Chunxi couldn't bear to see her mistress at a disadvantage, so she raised her voice and screamed, "Our young lady didn't steal or rob; it was all given to her voluntarily by Madam. You're being unreasonable..."

Snapped!

Jiang Ruining slapped her across the face, silencing her shouts.

Her eyes were fixed on Chu Jin: "If what your mother gave you was her own dowry, even as her own daughter, I wouldn't have anything to say! But how much of what she gave you was taken from me? Don't you really know?"

"Besides, everything the Jiang family has is the result of the efforts of our ancestors and my father, not my mother! She has never had the right to hand over everything the Jiang family has to someone outside the family!"

"What's more, it was never something I forcibly took from someone!"

"Chu Jin, just because you lock things in the storeroom and don't use them doesn't mean you haven't hurt me!"

Chu Jin's throat was completely blocked!

Jiang Ruining continued to question her: "Someone as clever as you can always accurately spot my schemes, but your maid was stirring up trouble among the servants, sowing discord among the Jiang family's servants, and mistreating and speaking ill of me, the legitimate daughter of the Jiang family. Didn't you notice anything at all?"

"You can get everyone to praise your thoughtfulness, so why are you so terrible at balancing my relationship with you in front of Mother?"

Why?

Chu Jin met her cold, pained, and tearful gaze, and her lips trembled violently.

I wanted to explain countless times, but ultimately I remained silent.

Seeing Chu Jin being forced to back down inch by inch, Madam Jiang rushed over and hugged her tightly, sternly rebuking Jiang Ruining: "Shut up! Who gave you the audacity to speak to Jin'er like that!"

"Jin'er is the apple of my eye, the mistress of the Jiang family. As long as I'm here, no one will dare to bully her! Anyone who dares to utter another word of nonsense will be beaten to death on the spot!"

Jiang Ruining wasn't the original owner of this body, and she didn't want her love, so she was fearless: "Fine! Come on, kill me!"

Yun Mi spread her arms wide, straightened her fiery back, and like a beast that was not very imposing but brave enough, she protected her master behind her back!

Jiang Ruining gently pulled Yun Mi's hand away.

He pulled an unsealed dagger from his sleeve, stepped forward, and placed it in Madam Jiang's hand. The gleaming blade pressed against his heart: "No need for threats or intimidation, just do it now!"

"If you stab her, everything in the Jiang family will belong to your niece!"

When Madam Jiang met her icy gaze, devoid of any remaining desire or expectation, she saw a heart dying...

An indescribable emotion, like a thread of ice, crept out from the depths of her heart, slowly consuming her anger and leaving her feeling painfully cold.

"Won't you stab me?" Jiang Ruining nodded, turned around, and shoved the dagger into Chunxi's hand again: "You're a maidservant living under someone else's roof, repeatedly harassing and slandering our young lady. You've got guts, you try!"

Chunxi wasn't afraid of Jiang Ruining when he went crazy, but she was truly afraid of this madman who was calm to the point of madness right in front of her!

He was shaking like a leaf, desperately trying to pull his hand back.

Jiang Ruining's cold laugh was tinged with blood; his face was deathly pale, and in the flickering yellow candlelight, he looked like an eerie ghost: "What are you afraid of? You're your young lady's confidante, you've shared her hardships. Your wife cares for your young lady, and naturally she cares for you too!"

"You've done what the lady wanted most. She'll find you a scapegoat. You won't be the one going to jail and beheaded."

Chunxi struggled frantically, the blade cutting her palm: "This servant doesn't know what you're talking about! Let go, let go of me!"

Jiang Ruining held the dagger, lightly patting her face with the flat of the blade: "It's good that you know fear. Don't worry, I've remembered every single thing you schemed against me before, and you'll get your comeuppance eventually!"

Chunxi felt guilty and trembled even more violently.

Jiang Ruining gripped the dagger, pointed it out, and slowly swept it across Madam Jiang and Chu Jin.

Madam Jiang embraced Chu Jin and took three steps back.

Jiang Ruining loosened his grip.

The dagger fell to the ground.

The sound of the bell startled everyone in the room, causing a flurry of stares.

He gave a mocking laugh: "Don't think of me as heartless as you. I would never hurt you."

I took a deep breath.

He looked bored.

"Since you don't dare to kill, then all of you should leave and stop bothering this poor patient who was born of a mother but raised without one."

He ignored Madam Jiang's reaction.

He turned around and went back into the inner room.

She is so tired.

I need to rest.

Once inside the room, I dared not lie down immediately, fearing that if I relaxed too much today, I wouldn't have the strength to sit up and drink the medicine later.

Yunmi's eyes were red as she knelt before the girl, trying to reason with her. She pressed acupoints on her hands, a technique she had learned in her days in the acrobatic troupe, to reduce fever: "Miss, I know you're suffering. Cry it out! Crying will make you feel better!"

Jiang Ruining felt very uncomfortable.

It was the original owner's feelings, and also her own empathy.

But she couldn't cry.

My tears had already dried up in the first few years after I was abandoned!