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

The eldest son's family had one horse-drawn carriage, and the second son's family had one horse-drawn carriage.

Gu Ce and Gu Xi rode alongside on either side.

Second Uncle Gu Jingcheng and his two legitimate sons, Gu Xu and Gu Ming, also rode horses to protect a carriage behind them.

With a gesture from Gu Ce, the team set off.

Inside the carriage, the two women, an aunt and a sister-in-law, stared at each other.

"I'm telling you, I won't include you in my activities." Gu Qingya raised her head, looking superior.

In her eyes, Rong Yingluo was a lowly commoner.

Gu Qingya felt extremely uncomfortable riding in the same carriage with her.

Rong Yingluo thought to herself that this young girl was too arrogant and had too much of a sense of superiority because of her status.

When will you find an opportunity to teach him a lesson? Stop being so arrogant all the time.

Rong Yingluo lifted the carriage curtain to look at the street scene.

The royal palace of the Southern Xia Kingdom is located in the northern part of the capital city, near the center.

The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is not far from the imperial palace.

The streets here lack a strong commercial atmosphere and are not lively.

"Someone as lowly as you finds everything strange; you're truly ignorant." Gu Qingya mocked Rong Yingluo, seeing how intently she was watching and how restless she was.

Even Rong Yingluo, with her good temper, couldn't stand it anymore. She withdrew her gaze from the scenery and looked Gu Qingya up and down.

"Qingya, in your eyes people are divided into different classes, but have you ever thought that everyone will die and face reincarnation? The King of Hell usually decides what kind of person they will be reborn into based on their conduct in their previous life," Rong Yingluo said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Gu Qingya was stunned.

"You look down on me simply because my status is not as noble as yours, but can you guarantee that you will be reborn as well as I will?"

"You have no respect for your elders, no sense of propriety, you act arrogantly and bully the weak. What kind of rebirth do you think the King of Hell will give you?" Rong Yingluo said it clearly.

If you look down on people like this, you're likely to be looked down on in your next life.

"You're talking nonsense! Don't spout this weird and superstitious nonsense. I was born rich and noble, while you've been destined for a lowly life from beginning to end." Gu Qingya suddenly yelled like a firecracker that had been lit, and picked up the pastries on the coffee table and threw them at Rong Yingluo.

Rong Yingluo was even faster. Before the plate could slip from her hand, she raised her hand to block it, and the entire plate of pastries spilled all over Gu Qingya.

"Ah!" Gu Qingya screamed in anger, "Rong Liuli, I'm going to beat you to death!"

Gu Ce, mounted on his horse, could hear the sounds from inside the carriage clearly, but he remained unmoved.

If Qingya were to encounter her, she wouldn't stand a chance of gaining the upper hand.

But Gu Xi couldn't sit still any longer.

My sister never suffers a loss, so why did she lose her composure?

Surely you can't even subdue a female merchant?

Gu Xi walked to the window and looked inside: "Qingya, what's wrong?"

"Second brother, come in quickly and help me deal with this wretched woman! She spilled pastries all over me and stained my newly made clothes. How am I supposed to wear them to the palace now?" Gu Qingya pointed at Rong Yingluo and began to complain.

"Rong family, how dare you bully Qingya? Do you know who you are?" Gu Xi was furious when she heard that her sister had been bullied by a merchant's daughter.

But no sooner had he finished speaking than a loud slap landed on Gu Xi's face.

Gu Xi was stunned by the beating.

This slap made Gu Ce feel happy.

I told you she wouldn't suffer a loss, and she was right.

"Second brother, who is he to you?" Rong Yingluo leaned out of the window and pointed at Gu Ce.

"My older brother," Gu Xi replied mechanically.

"It seems you're not confused. Since he's your elder brother, and my marriage to him was arranged by imperial decree and we performed the three bows ceremony, regardless of my previous status, I am now his wife, and therefore your sister-in-law."

Since my mother is not here, I am like a mother to her as her eldest sister-in-law. If you disrespect me, your eldest sister-in-law, you are disrespecting my mother.

"I hit you to teach you how to be a decent human being. Don't you think that's reasonable?" Rong Yingluo said sternly, enunciating each word clearly.

"You, you, you, you..." Gu Xi finally came to her senses, furious, but unable to refute him. "You just wait."

He gritted his teeth, jumped onto his horse, spurred it, and galloped away.

That's so embarrassing.

He couldn't fight back in front of his older brother, so he could only dodge.

Cracks appeared on Gu Ce's cold face. He wanted to laugh out loud, but it would be very inappropriate on the street. Suppressing it was too difficult, so he raised his hand to cover his face and laughed silently.

This woman is so interesting. She speaks so eloquently that even a spoiled brat couldn't find a word to refute her and fled in disarray.

Rong Yingluo sat up straight, her gaze falling on Gu Qingya, her eyes filled with scrutiny and warning.

Gu Xi was stunned by the slap just now, and even Gu Qingya was stunned.

What audacity! A merchant's daughter dares to hit the legitimate son of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

"What are you going to do?" Gu Qingya shrank back as she was warned by her gaze.

"Remember this: you've got the wrong person. You're trying to belittle me to show off your superior status."

At home, I respect my mother and tolerate your behavior.

But now that we're outside the manor, we're both members of the Gu family; we share both glory and loss.

Don't let people say that our Zhenguo Duke's Mansion is ill-mannered, so that Father will be ridiculed even at the border.

"A father can lose face if he fails to raise his daughter properly." Rong Yingluo used the Duke of Zhenguo's name to intimidate her.

"You..." Gu Qingya was stunned by Rong Yingluo's completely changed aura and dared not act rashly again.

The carriage remained quiet after that.

Gu Ce's mood became increasingly exhilarating.

That's right, they know how to use their father and his status to intimidate others.

She also understands the principle of shared prosperity and shared loss, making her no less capable than the carefully cultivated legitimate daughters of powerful families.

Su was a second wife, but she was the legitimate daughter of the second branch of the Chengqing Marquis's family. She was far inferior to his birth mother, and it was a pity that his mother passed away too early.

The Su family only knew how to use those underhanded methods within the inner quarters to pretend to be virtuous in public, thus numbing everyone's senses.

Upon arriving at the palace gate, one must disembark and undergo inspection before entering the palace.

Second Aunt Guo, along with her second wife's daughter Gu Qingwan, came to join Rong Yingluo and Gu Qingya.

Gu Qingwan and Gu Qingya are the same age, but Gu Qingya is a few months younger. They recently had their coming-of-age ceremony and are now of marriageable age.

Rong Yingluo found it strange. Don't wealthy and powerful families arrange good marriages for their daughters from an early age?

However, neither of the eldest nor the second eldest daughters of the Gu family have been engaged, while Su, the illegitimate daughter of the eldest eldest daughter, has already been matched with a grandson of the Gao family.

"Second Aunt, I'm going to the palace today. Could you please take care of Liuli? It's her first time in the palace, and I'm afraid she might do something inappropriate." Gu Ce specifically stepped forward to ask Madam Guo for help.

He was a man, and once he entered the palace, he would be separated from the women. He couldn't take care of Rongshi, so he had to entrust her to his second aunt.

"Don't worry, A-Ce, I will take good care of Liuli." Madam Guo deliberately held Rong Yingluo's hand to show her affection.

The eldest son's wife was a merchant's daughter, and she was very pleased with the outcome.

When their second wife marries in the future, she will inevitably be of a higher status than Rong Shi. Compared to her, her mood inexplicably improves.

If a crown prince's wife is not presentable, she will have difficulty socializing in the future, which will naturally make her daughter-in-law stand out even more.

"Thank you, Second Aunt." Rong Yingluo lowered her eyes slightly as she expressed her gratitude.

Just as she entered the palace, a malicious voice made Rong Yingluo very unhappy.

"Oh, Lord Gu, is this the merchant's daughter you just married? When you were with her last night, did you smell the stench of money emanating from her?"