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

Yunmi felt annoyed thinking about how many times she had disrespected the young lady in the past, and kicked her hard from behind: "Even if you, a servant living under someone else's roof, dare to scheme against your own master, who will say anything if you beat her to death!"

Chu Jin squeezed her eyes shut, utterly disappointed: "How many times have I warned you not to do anything you shouldn't behind my back? Why won't you listen?!"

Chunxi fell heavily to the ground, her chin going numb from the fall.

Realizing her mistress had completely lost trust in her, she scrambled over in a panic, clutching her mistress's skirt tightly, tears streaming down her face, "My lady! I really did all this for you!"

"You have no parents or relatives to rely on; you can only depend on Madam and the Jiang family. If Miss Ning takes advantage of Lord Jiang's favor and makes false accusations, Lord Jiang will misunderstand you. What status will you have in the Jiang family then?"

"You can no longer be the apple of the Jiang family's eye. What will happen to your marriage?"

Chu Jin rebuked sharply, her eyes filled with suppressed guilt and anger: "Shut up! Don't try to make your malice sound so noble! To do evil in the name of loyalty is to betray your master!"

"If my future depends on stepping on Ningning's reputation, I'd rather spend my life as a Buddhist monk!"

Chunxi's eyes widened: "Miss! How could you so distort my loyalty like this!"

"I can't afford your loyalty!" Chu Jin said hardenedly, "You and Yunxi have suffered with me, so I've always been exceptionally tolerant of you all these years. I never imagined that you would use that tolerance as a license to do evil!"

"If I don't punish you today, you can think I'm condoning your wrongdoing!"

"Drag her away and give her twenty strokes of the cane!"

Chunxi's chin trembled violently, and she couldn't utter a single word of pleading.

Because she knew her master's temper, pleading wouldn't help!

Yun Mi personally carried her out.

The sound of the cane being struck has been added once more.

The room was extremely quiet.

This only amplified the howling sound of the wooden planks outside, which sounded like the roar of a beast.

Jiang Ruining stood in a ball of light and shadow, aloof and indifferent, as if everyone and everything was irrelevant to her.

Chu Jin hesitated, as if he wanted to speak.

Madam Jiang's eyes were filled with complex emotions. After hesitating for a long time, she finally spoke again, emphasizing, "I knew nothing about what they did." She paused, then added, "Since you saw through it, why didn't you say so sooner!"

Jiang Ruining's voice was like cracking ice: "Didn't I mention that the servants talked back to me and plotted against me? I did, but you didn't believe me. Or perhaps you did, but you chose to turn around and bite me, letting the servants' mistakes go unpunished, thus condoning their increasingly contemptuous and abusive treatment of me, didn't you?"

"They're clearly the perpetrators, yet they insist on playing the victim in front of everyone who can see them. Isn't that ridiculous?"

Madam Jiang was completely exposed.

When people feel guilty, they become exceptionally sharp and will try every means to point the finger at the victim, so that their targeting and scheming are correct and that the victim has only themselves to blame!

"I am your mother! Is this the kind of attitude you should have when speaking to your elders in such a sarcastic and confrontational manner?"

Jiang Ruining remained calm, his dark eyes fixed on hers like a beam of light trying to illuminate the deep, winding recesses of her heart: "I was just treating you the way you treat me, and you can't even handle a few words?"

"You're a mature adult with strong resilience, while I'm just a child. Yet you still have the heart to use your harshness to drive me to my death, don't you?"

"You and I, mother and daughter, are of the same ilk; neither of us is any good. Who has the right to accuse the other of being cold-blooded and vicious?"

Madam Jiang lacked confidence and couldn't vent her anger. Her chest felt tight, and the constant, piercing cold pain felt like it was going to crush her bones.

Granny Song brought in the medicine.

Jiang Ruining reached out to take it.

Granny Song was worried, fearing that she would splash the still-scalding medicine on the lady's face: "Ningning..."

Jiang Ruining smiled faintly: "Don't worry, Granny, I won't do anything to ruin my reputation again."

It's not out of filial piety that I don't go crazy; it's just for myself.

Granny Song released her and gave her the medicine.

Jiang Ruining sat on the edge of the bed, gently stirring the dark, black medicine. The misty white steam swirled around, much like the original owner's life before, when, because she was not strong enough, she was manipulated by everyone and had no control over her own destiny.

But she is not the original owner of this body. The one who should hate, be angry, and be hysterical is someone else, not her!

He scooped up a spoonful of medicine, drooped it slightly, and personally fed it to Madam Jiang, saying, "Please, Mother, grant me this filial wish!"

Madam Jiang looked at her, unable to help but be surprised, and unable to reconcile the calm and indifferent yet sharp-tongued woman in front of her with the Jiang Ruining of the past who was easily provoked and would cry and scream regardless of the occasion.

Jiang Ruining raised her eyebrows: "Mother, you're admitting that all the scheming the servants have done against me over the years was at your behest? But it's alright, what can I do? I'm your daughter, I won't hold it against you."

Of course I don't care.

She'll only pay back double!

"Drink it!"

Madam Jiang's body was trembling, her hands gripping the corner of the quilt so tightly that the veins bulged, whether from anger or the intensifying pain in her bones, it was hard to tell.

His gaze kept changing.

It seems like they want to overturn everything, yet it also seems like they are reflecting on their actions.

In the end, she opened her mouth and drank the medicine that was brought to her lips.

The second and fourth branches of the Jiang family, who were also in the capital, came over upon learning of Madam Jiang's illness.

Yunmi stopped the person who came to announce her arrival and led her people inside directly.

As soon as I arrived at the dormitory entrance.

The guests watched as Jiang Ruining gently and patiently fed his wife her medicine, spoonful by spoonful. Everyone who saw it praised his filial piety.

Madam Jiang's throat felt sore.

When she saw guests arrive, the words of disappointment and reproach for her being unfilial and cold-blooded still surged up from her chest, forcing her to say them.

She originally intended to tell Jiang Ruining to leave, but as soon as she opened her mouth, derogatory words came out: "Pretending to serve me like this, what good thing in Jin'er's eyes have you set your sights on this time? When will you grow up and be able to do something decent!"

Jiang Ruining pretended not to notice that a relative had arrived behind her. Her hand trembled, and the spoon fell into the medicine, splashing everywhere. "All these years you've always said that Chu Jin has no parents and told me to be more lenient with her. I've emptied the storeroom and given her everything. Isn't that enough?"

"Why is my mother slandering me again, accusing me of stealing her things?"

She looked at Chu Jin with sad eyes.

"What did I steal from you?"