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

"It begins at the end of the Zi hour and ends at the end of the Yin hour."

"My God, two whole hours! How did you manage to get through that?" Rong Yingluo truly admired his perseverance; he was still alive and well.

"You'll get used to it." Gu Ce smiled bitterly.

"Who knows that you have periodic poisoning episodes?" Rong Yingluo asked again.

"Besides Father and Chung Sheng, now we'll add you to the list."

"Aren't there two middle-aged men in the secret room tonight?" Rong Yingluo felt that the two men's martial arts skills were unfathomable.

"Those two are my father's bodyguards, who stayed by my side specifically to protect my safety."

"But it seems they don't acknowledge you as their master." Rong Yingluo had already discerned something from their behavior.

Gu Ce was still so weak, yet they simply abandoned him and left, a stark contrast to Zhong Sheng's behavior.

"They only show up to help me when I'm in danger. They don't obey me." Gu Ce tried to subdue the two men, but each time he failed.

"He's been placed by your side, but he's not one of your people. You and your father are really strange. Is Zhong Sheng the only person you can rely on?" Rong Yingluo felt that there were more and more secrets in the Gu family.

"The only person who is truly loyal to me is Chung Sheng."

However, Zhong Sheng still has a few men under his command, but they are not usually in the mansion; I have arranged for them to be stationed elsewhere.

In the entire Duke's mansion, Madam Su was the head mistress, and all the servants in the mansion were under her command.

I have four guards who accompany me every day, but none of them are my actual subordinates; they are arranged by the Su family.

Many of the properties of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion are currently managed by the second uncle.

My mother's dowry is in the hands of the old lady. The only wealth I have is the reward and salary given to me by the emperor after I entered the court. I used this wealth to buy a manor and open a few shops.” Tonight, Gu Ce seemed to have found someone to confide in. He answered Rong Yingluo's questions without reservation.

"It's really strange. You are the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. You shouldn't be living such a miserable life."

Your father nurtured you, yet he restricted your involvement in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, leaving you to earn your own future.

But the fact that they sent people to protect you shows that they care about you a lot.

But it's strange that you don't have any influence from the Duke's mansion.

There must be something wrong here. Rong Yingluo couldn't figure it out for a moment.

"That's right, I've had my suspicions for a long time, but I can't find anything wrong. Every time my father returns to the capital to report on his work, he asks me about my well-being and shows me great care. He hires a tutor for me and teaches me martial arts. He makes it clear that he loves me." Gu Ce had already investigated, but he couldn't find anything wrong.

"Does your father know that you were poisoned by the Su family?"

"Every time Su harms me, she does it very secretly. Even I can't find out that she did it. I can't just go to my father and complain based on guesses." Gu Ce thought he was smart enough that he couldn't find any fault with Su, which showed how clever her methods were.

"No, I feel it's not just the Su family, it's very likely that Second Uncle is one of them too," Rong Yingluo boldly guessed.

"How do you know?" Gu Ce was taken aback.

"Tonight, the Emperor said that all officials of the third rank should accompany him to the moon worship ceremony. I saw my second uncle watching your back as you walked out. His eyes were clearly hostile. I have a feeling that he would rather you die." Rong Yingluo did not want to suspect Gu Jingcheng like this, but he sent someone to steal her silver notes, so she knew that this person was definitely not a good person.

"You're right. As the saying goes, those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly. My second uncle has always been the image of an elder who loves his juniors in front of me, and I've never doubted him. But his stealing your banknotes has made me think a lot. So what you said is very likely." Gu Ce has also been analyzing this issue for the past two days.

Second Uncle manages the Gu family's businesses outside the family, so he couldn't possibly be short of money. Yet he still came to steal Rong's money. This is the biggest suspicious point.

The next day.

Gu Ce asked for leave and did not attend court.

Rong Yingluo got up early to pay her respects to Madam Su.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I heard Gu Xi complaining.

I guess Gu Xi didn't bother Su Shi because she came back late last night, and chose to come early this morning.

"Without even saying a word, Rong donated 100,000 taels of silver to the Emperor."

She's showing no respect for you, Mother, as the head of the household. The money she brought into the Gu family belongs to the Gu family; even if it's her dowry, she can't just do with it as she pleases.

"Mother, you must punish her severely so she knows who the mistress of this house is!" Gu Xi said, spittle flying from her mouth.

"Alright, you useless thing, even she slapped you, and you still have the nerve to talk to me like that." Madam Su was also furious.

She arranged for someone to steal it once, and the Second Master also sent someone to steal it once, but they both failed. Now, it's all gone, and it's given directly to the Emperor, under the pretext of making winter clothes for the soldiers on the border.

She had no reason to scold him, and besides, the money wasn't even on the dowry list.

Gu Xi was speechless.

"Why did your sister fall into the water again?" My daughter came home last night and got sick again, even worse than before.

If it weren't for Dr. Qu's prescription, I might still have a persistent high fever.

"My sister's fall into the water was indirectly caused by the Rong family. Someone tried to push her and the second young mistress of the Qi family into the water, but they dodged and accidentally pushed my sister and Princess Xiangyi into the water instead."

"Oh my, the young master's wife has arrived?" Zhao Mama's voice rang out from the outer room.

The mother and son immediately stopped talking.

Rong Yingluo deliberately kept her presence a secret so that she could hear the whole story.

But she pretended not to hear anything and respectfully came to the bedside to greet her: "Daughter-in-law greets Mother. How are you feeling today, Mother?"

"Get up quickly. Why do you look so pale today? Did you catch a cold?" Madam Su asked with concern.

"Thank you for your concern, Mother. I didn't catch a cold; I just didn't sleep well last night. My sister fell into the water again because of me, and I feel terrible about it. That's why I had several nightmares last night, always dreaming that she fell into the water, and more than once. On my way here, I heard the servants say that my sister is sick again. I'll go see her in a bit and apologize to her." Rong Yingluo spoke flawlessly.

Su was clearly taken aback, and her smile froze.

"Stop pretending to be kind. I suspect you're doing this on purpose." Gu Xi gave her a cold look.

He's a spoiled brat, who does he care about? He'll just say what he wants to say.

"Mother, my second brother is wronging me. When someone tried to push me, my instinct was to dodge. Anyone would have dodged like that, unless they were unable to do so."

But I could have dodged it, I couldn't just not dodge it.

Moreover, my sister and Princess Xiangyi were squatting at the bottom of the stone steps leading to the boat, and I didn't see anyone there at all.

"If I had known it was the two of them, I definitely wouldn't have dodged. No, if I hadn't dodged, all four of us would have fallen into the water together." Rong Yingluo looked completely innocent.

"You..." Gu Xi had never seen such a eloquent person before. "No wonder His Highness the Crown Prince said you were sharp-tongued."

"Thank you for the compliment, Second Brother. If you want to learn, I can teach you, and I guarantee you'll be able to make the dead sound alive." Rong Yingluo said with an innocent look.

She was only sixteen years old, two years younger than Gu Xi.

"Shameless. No wonder he comes from a merchant family." Gu Xi couldn't argue with him, so she could only mutter under her breath.

Rong Yingluo took it as a defeat and ignored him.

"By the way, Mother, I would like to take some fabric from my dowry to make two outfits for the young master. Please pass on a message to Steward Lu to get the keys." Rong Yingluo had nothing to do and wanted to find something to pass the time, so she made up a random excuse.

She wanted to see if her dowry was still there.