The Marquis's line has ended? The pregnant maid is pregnant again!

"It really wasn't me, that exquisite peony dish was made by Shen Qinghe!" Shen Yun'er explained hastily.

Lu Huai'an retorted sharply, "Then tell me, why do they all say that you were the one who served the exquisite peony slices? Are you suggesting that so many people are wrongly accusing you?"

Upon hearing Lu Huai'an's words, fearing that disaster would befall them, Li Mama and the maids in the kitchen immediately replied again:

"Reporting to the Second Young Master, the exquisite peony slices were indeed sent by Miss Yun'er."

"Yes, the food boxes that were brought up were all engraved with Miss Yun'er's cloud symbol, and she specifically told the servants not to mix them up."

"Yes, what we brought up was indeed Miss Yun'er's food box," said Mama Li, her eyes fixed on Lu Huai'an as she reported. "Unless someone deliberately switched the exquisite peony slices made by Miss Yun'er and Miss Qinghe. But we servants and the masters all know Miss Qinghe's culinary skills. Why would Miss Qinghe go to the trouble of replacing it with a less-than-ideal dish? Or..."

Once Mama Li said this to Lu Jihan, everyone in the hall—including Madam Qin and Lu Jihan—was aware of it. Even the maids had their own guesses.

Sitting upright beside Lu Jihan, Qin Shi shifted her gaze from her husband to Lu Huai'an and Shen Yun'er.

For the first time, she felt her husband's tenderness.

What if she wasn't targeting Shen Qinghe?

Will my husband be more considerate?

Qin's tone was light and her voice gentle: "What Mama Li said makes some sense. There's always been a principle of exchanging the bad for the good. Don't you agree, Miss Yun'er?"

Seeing that Madam Qin's expression was gentle, she pointed out the problem incisively and was intentionally speaking up for Shen Qinghe, displaying the demeanor of an extremely dignified legal wife.

Lu Jihan couldn't help but glance at her a few more times.

Upon hearing Qin's words, Lu Huai'an said, "Sister-in-law is right... Yun'er, do you have anything else to say?"

"This servant...this servant," Shen Yun'er repeated "this servant" several times, but she just couldn't come up with any explanation.

If she were to say it again, wouldn't that confirm that she secretly switched Shen Qinghe's exquisite peony dish in order to win favor with the old lady?

If she were to publicly reveal her scheming and ruthless behavior in vying for favor, she would not only be the future wife of the Grand Secretary, but would likely be utterly despised by Lu Huai'an right now.

Moreover, the old lady would definitely not protect her anymore.

The lesser of two evils.

Shen Yun'er glared hatefully at Shen Qinghe beside her. She saw that Shen Qinghe was calm, with a smile on her lips, wearing Lu Jihan's cloak, and with a rosy complexion. She did not look like she was being interrogated or blamed at all.

Shen Yun'er was consumed by jealousy, but at this moment she could only grit her teeth and swallow her anger: "Your Highnesses, this servant truly did not know. This servant did not intentionally add too much tapioca flour. It is because this servant's cooking skills are lacking that I accidentally harmed the Old Madam and the Second Young Madam. It is all this servant's fault!"

As Shen Yun'er spoke, she kowtowed repeatedly, her tone sincere. "This servant...this servant was truly terrified just now. Even if you gave me ten thousand lives, I wouldn't dare lay a hand on the Old Madam and the Second Young Madam! Moreover, the Old Madam has been so kind to me for so many years, and I am absolutely not the kind of ungrateful wretched person. I beg the Second Young Master, the Young Marquis, and the First Madam to investigate thoroughly! This servant...this servant is willing to accept punishment and is willing to copy Buddhist scriptures in the Buddhist hall every day, as long as the Old Madam and the Second Young Madam can recover!"

The banana in front of her was kneeling on the ground, her figure thin and frail. She was kowtowing on the ground while admitting her mistake. Her attitude looked very sincere. Her fair forehead looked red and swollen at this moment.

It was the girl he had taken a liking to at first sight, and Lu Huai'an couldn't resist his soft heart. He looked at Lu Jihan and said, "Brother, sister-in-law, no matter what, Yun'er is one of my family members. Please leave her to me."

"What does my husband say?" Qin's gaze swept across Chen Xiaoniang's face.

"Since she's in your room, that's natural." Lu Jihan's fingertips traced the rim of the teacup in his hand, his voice casual.

Shen Yun'er felt as if she had been saved. She looked up with tears in her eyes and thought, "Second Young Master... Second Young Master will save me, right?"

The beauty's eyes were filled with tears at that one glance, and she looked so delicate that she seemed like a flower that would wither if she were separated from him, which stirred Lu Huai'an's heart.

Lu Huai'an spoke loudly: "Yun'er's cooking skills are indeed very poor; I've tasted them myself. She's usually a delicate and demure girl, and quite timid. I don't believe she intentionally harmed Grandmother and Madam Li. Her cooking skills are lacking, so even if she harmed Grandmother and Madam Li, it was still with good intentions. It seems she probably accidentally added too much tapioca flour during the cooking process. Since she's willing to admit her mistake and it wasn't intentional, I'll punish her with half a year's salary and make her go to the Buddhist hall to copy ten volumes of Buddhist scriptures for Grandmother and Madam Li, as a warning to others."

"Thank you, young master." Shen Yun'er looked at Lu Huai'an gently.

Lu Huai'an looked at her for a moment, then, feeling a pang of pity, reached out to her, saying, "Alright, get up."

Shen Yun'er gratefully offered her hand and was helped up by Lu Huai'an.

At the Autumn Equinox banquet, Shen Yun'er and Chen Xiaoniang were furious.

Shen Yun'er's attempt to steal a chicken backfired spectacularly. Not only did she fail to harm Shen Qinghe, she also nearly got herself kicked out of the Zhenguo Marquis's mansion.

Chen Xiaoniang never expected that her plan would become Shen Qinghe's way of turning the tables!

-

The night followed the Autumn Begins banquet.

"Sister, that Zhou Mama is too unreasonable. She didn't even investigate anything before she started hitting me. How could she do this when she didn't manage to hit me properly?"

Qing'er was filled with righteous indignation. She took off Shen Qinghe's outer garment and saw several bruises on her arm. "She clearly did it on purpose! If I hadn't seen Guard Linfeng earlier and explained to him, I'm afraid that Mama Zhou would have hit her with a stick!"

"I really have to thank Linfeng." Shen Qinghe looked at the bruise on her hand, which was caused by Zhou's mother pinching her when she wasn't paying attention.

That old woman had a very heavy hand. She thought the pain was nothing after a while, but who knew she would be left with such a deep bruise.

"Yes, I'm thinking about when to thank him!" Qing'er said as she applied medicine to Shen Qinghe.

Suddenly, as if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and a voice came from outside: "Miss Qinghe, the master will be in your courtyard soon, in about half an incense stick's time. Please be prepared."

"Okay, I got it!" Upon hearing this, Shen Qinghe looked at Qing'er and a thought suddenly came to her: "Qing'er, go and get the lead powder. We can use it later."

-

Shen Qinghe hurriedly instructed Qing'er to apply powder to her arm: "Quickly, don't let the young marquis notice. It's too conspicuous, what if the young marquis thinks it's ugly..."

Qing'er was also flustered.

After working for a while, Shen Qinghe took a look and said, "No, no, it needs to be thicker."

Lu Jihan was a trained martial artist; among all the young gentlemen in Chang'an, no one could match his skill.

He makes no sound when he walks normally.

When he walked in, he saw Shen Qinghe and her servant in a flustered state.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on Shen Qinghe's back, his pupils as black as inky ink.

He had expected that when Shen Qinghe came in, she would come in with red eyes and tell him about her grievances, begging him to stand up for her.

But it seems that she is completely different from the wives and concubines.

The coldness in his eyes faded somewhat, and the scrutiny lessened considerably.