After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

She was only thinking of her younger sister and didn't want her to ruin her reputation. Such a sister-in-law is definitely a good one.

"You did it on purpose! You're a vicious woman! Merchant girls are the most cunning. Mother, don't listen to her nonsense! She just wants to drown me!" Gu Qingya retorted loudly.

"Mother, your daughter-in-law has only just entered the manor and has already been bullied by my younger sister. You must stand up for your daughter-in-law!" Rong Yingluo cried and knelt down as if she had suffered a great injustice.

She wanted to see for herself that with so many servants present, she had lowered herself to kneel before her mother-in-law. If she hadn't truly suffered a great injustice, who would be so distressed as to kneel down and beg for justice?

"Good child, get up quickly, the ground is cold. I've spoiled Qingya, it's truly admirable that you can be so sensible." Su Jingyi had someone help Rong Yingluo up.

"Mother, she's just pretending to be pitiful. She knows you're a good mother and wants to gain your sympathy." Gu Qingya stomped her foot in anger.

"Alright, no matter what her status was before, she's your sister-in-law now. You can't be so rude in the future. How will you face people if word gets out? You're fifteen years old now. If you want to marry into a good family, you'd better behave yourself," Su Jingyi scolded lightly.

Rong Yingluo scoffed inwardly. Gu Qingya had clearly made such a big mistake, yet all she got was a reprimand and that was it. There was no real punishment whatsoever. How could that be acceptable?

Let's delay a bit longer.

"Mother, since it was my sister who made a mistake, shouldn't she be punished?"

The daughter-in-law has just entered the household, and we don't know if there are any corresponding rules or regulations in the household.

"In our Rong family, no matter what mistake you make, there are corresponding family rules and different levels of punishment." Rong Yingluo blinked innocently, looking at Su Jingyi, making her nowhere to hide.

"This... Liuli, your sister is still young and fell into the water. Whether it's you, Ace, or Qingya and Axi, I love them all very much. Even if there are rules and regulations for punishment in the manor, I can't bear to punish the children," Su Jingyi said gently with a smile.

"In that case, if my daughter-in-law makes a mistake in the future, Mother, you must not punish me." Rong Yingluo stepped forward, hugged Su Jingyi's arm, and gently shook it affectionately, her words full of coquettishness.

Something from under a fingernail fell onto the back of Su Jingyi's hand.

Rong Yingluo sneered inwardly: Hmph, if you won't punish her, then I'll punish you. Just you wait and see.

"You silly child, you're married now, and you're still acting like a child with me." Su Jingyi stiffened when someone she didn't like suddenly got so close to her, but she couldn't push him away, and she had to put on a loving expression.

"Achoo!" Suddenly, Gu Qingya sneezed loudly, and then the other four maids also sneezed one after another.

Having successfully stalled for time, Rong Yingluo was overjoyed: "Oh dear, hurry back. It's all my fault for delaying my sister's change of clothes because of Chen Qing's matter."

Su Jingyi narrowed her eyes dangerously and stared at Rong Yingluo, but seeing her anxious expression, it didn't seem fake.

She didn't do it on purpose?

But now is not the time to investigate.

The group left in a hurry.

Rong Yingluo happily spun around, looking at the entire lotus pond. It was truly a wonderful place; perhaps it would come in handy again in the future.

"Miss, the Duchess is so kind." Yinghong had just entered the Duke's mansion and spoke based solely on what she had seen.

"Yinghong, today I will teach you how to judge people."

The Duchess's charity was all an act. If she truly cared for me, she should at least have punished Gu Qingya by making her copy the "Precepts for Women" ten times. But she used her compassionate heart to avoid any punishment at all.

"If I really got hit by Gu Qingya today, she'll say I'm the eldest sister-in-law, and I shouldn't hold it against my younger sister; we're all family." Rong Yingluo's cheerful smile vanished, replaced by a serious tone of instruction.

"I see." Yinghong seemed to understand, but not quite.

"Yinghong, although you are my eldest sister's maid, you have been my maid since yesterday. This Duke's mansion is not as simple as you imagine."

"So from this moment on, you must be on your guard and deal with every master and servant who cares about the family, because too many people want our lives." Rong Yingluo continued to instruct.

"What?" Yinghong turned pale with fright.

"Do you know why the Duchess wouldn't let me consummate my marriage with the Heir Apparent last night?" Rong Yingluo asked.

There are some things Yinghong should know, otherwise she won't even know how she died. A maid's life matters too, and she doesn't want Yinghong to die in the Duke's mansion's schemes.

"This servant does not know." Yinghong's body trembled slightly.

She grew up in the Rong family, following the eldest young lady since she was seven, and had never encountered any danger. Now, the second young lady tells her that she could die at any moment, and she is terrified.

"Because the red candles in the bridal chamber have been tampered with, if the prince and I smell them for one night, we will go mad for no reason the next day."

As soon as the heir entered the bridal chamber, I subdued him and he had to stay there. The Duchess was afraid that the heir would also go mad, so she found an excuse to call him away.

"And I, under the pretext of respecting my mother-in-law, followed the young master to the main courtyard, deliberately avoiding her scheme." Rong Yingluo looked at a sycamore tree in the distance and spoke softly about what happened last night.

Upon hearing this, Yinghong collapsed to the ground, her eyes vacant: "That's terrifying."

Rong Yingluo stood for a long time before squatting down to help Yinghong up: "Don't be afraid. As long as I'm here, you won't die. But if you can't resist the temptation and are bribed by the Gu family, then that's another story."

She wanted to ensure that the maids around her would not have any disloyal intentions.

Yinghong is inexperienced and if she remains as naive as she was in the Rong family, she could easily be taken advantage of.

"Miss, I won't do that. I will be more careful. I will definitely listen to you." At this moment, she realized how terrifying the Duke's mansion was. No wonder four brides died.

"Let's go back to our room. After lunch, go and find out if Gu Qingya is sick."

Guided by the servants, the master and servant returned to their bridal chamber from the previous night.

The courtyard is called Silver Willow Courtyard.

Rong Yingluo looked around the courtyard and sure enough, there were two silver willow trees.

This type of willow tree is best for landscaping. In spring, you can cut branches and arrange flowers, which is very beautiful. No wonder it is named this.

"Miss, are you alright?" Granny Zhu came forward.

She heard from the maids cleaning the courtyard about how Miss Gu had made things difficult for her mistress. She had been worried for so long, but she dared not leave the courtyard to find her mistress.

"Don't worry, Granny Zhu, I'm fine," Rong Yingluo reassured her.

The Rong family originally wanted to provide their daughter with more servants as part of her dowry, but the Gu family had already given word that she was only allowed to bring one maid and one nanny into the inner courtyard.

Rong Yingluo had figured it out; they were afraid that she had too many people under her command, making it difficult to kill her.

"Yinghong, go get your food." Rong Yingluo noticed that it was almost time and she was also hungry.

Yinghong responded and left.

Granny Zhu followed behind into the main hall, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Granny Zhu, what's wrong?" Rong Yingluo asked.

"Miss, your dowry wasn't brought into this Silver Willow Courtyard. Instead, the Duchess arranged for it to be placed in another courtyard, and it's locked." Granny Zhu entered the inner courtyard early in the morning, intending to help the young lady organize her dowry, but found nothing there.

She was terrified and immediately went to her husband, asking him to ask the housekeeper. That's how she learned the news.

"Oh? Do you know why?" Rong Yingluo was also taken aback.