All the way to the gate of the He family, Mrs. Du was very satisfied with her performance today. She looked at the women of the He family with a calm and gentle expression as they escorted her to the door, surrounding her in a grand manner. Her white rattan sedan chair, her nine-tree flower hairpin, people's respectful attitude towards her, were all the glory that women wanted.

  Rich and aspiring to nobility, especially for a woman like her, whose family had once used money to open the doors of the Liu family's mansion for her. Alas, she was not destined for it, having entered the Qinghua Duchess's household instead, thus having to withdraw. However, having tasted the flavor of both wealth and nobility, how could she be content with just being rich and looked down upon? The more beautiful and young she was, the more capital she had, the greater her ambition would be. She might be cautious, but as long as there was an opportunity, she would not let it slip!

  And this opportunity, whether Jiang Changyang gave it to He Mudan or not, she would give it. Mrs. Du warmly held Mudan's hand, extremely sincere: "It's hard to come by, I've only met you for the first time, but I really like you. If you have some free time, feel free to come to our house and chat with me, my family has a daughter who is a few years younger than you, also loves flowers and plants, and has a gentle personality, she will definitely get along with you."

  "Thank you for your kindness, madam," Peony smiled gently. "I will definitely visit when I have time."

  Mrs. Du reluctantly: "Definitely."

  As Madam Du led a group of over twenty people away, Zhen Shi curled her lip and said, "Who makes amends like this? They didn't even let us speak first, coming so early in the morning that we haven't even had breakfast yet. It's completely insincere." Seeing no one paying attention to her, she turned back to look at Peony with a smirk: "Peony, I see Madam Du is really enthusiastic about you. You always manage to win people over."

  Enthusiasm? Likeness? The weasel certainly likes chickens and is very enthusiastic about them. Peony smiled faintly, turned around to support Mrs. Cen into the house: "Eat, eat. Starving to death."

  After leaving Xuanpingfang, Mrs. Du beckoned to Bai Xiang to come forward: "What do you think?"

  Bo Xiang cautiously tightened the reins, carefully keeping the horse's pace consistent with the speed of the sedan chair: "According to Madame's words, this person is quite unrefined and doesn't understand etiquette. When you asked her a question, she actually dared to have a little maid respond, and even dragged in Master Gong, without considering what kind of status she has, Master Gong wouldn't..."

  Mrs. Du smiled slightly: "This can't be blamed on her, she's young and from such a background, who can afford to offend her?"

  "Does she dare to offend the mistress? This is taking advantage of the mistress's kindness and good temper."

  "How dare she bully me? She's just desperate." Mrs. Du elegantly raised her snow-white and smooth hand, carefully examining the bright red nail polish, and said disdainfully: "People like this, looking cautious and careful, seem to be light as a cloud and gentle as a breeze, but in reality, they are very particular and ambitious. She has tasted wealth and glory, and also experienced the greatest disappointment in life, fearing that she will not have the opportunity. As long as she has the opportunity to climb up, she will spare no effort to climb up, stand high above others again, show off her power in front of people who defeated her before, trample those who wronged her under her feet, and make people bow down to her, begging for mercy with tears, this is what people like her love most!"

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Mrs. Du's delicate and beautiful face suddenly twisted, and she fiercely turned her head to look at the passersby on the street. Wang Xiao You, I won't let you succeed. You may have used every trick in the book and even hooked up with Fang Bo Hui, but what does that mean? Even if Fang Bo Hui has a strong army and is a high-ranking official, he still hasn't been granted the title of Duke. Even if he was, would his family be willing to pass on their title to your son? They have their own children... You're just a concubine after all... So, Wang Xiao You, I absolutely won't be defeated by you. I want you to see me laugh in the end. Mrs. Du clenched her fists tightly.

  "Madam, in this world, who else can be as gentle and magnanimous as you, not coveting wealth and honor? Only you wouldn't bother to argue with her."

  "Madam Du sighed softly after a while and said, 'Bai Xiang, the tree wants to be still but the wind won't stop, the tiger doesn't harm people intentionally, but people have the heart to harm tigers. Two days ago, I was careless for a moment and suffered a great loss, almost losing everything... She thought of when the imperial envoy came to investigate the imperial gifts being thrown out of the door, her own embarrassment and shame, and couldn't help but emphasize: 'From now on, you must be extra vigilant, when encountering such important matters, I'm busy and can't handle them all, if there's something I didn't notice, you should personally take charge, don't let those petty people take advantage of us again.'"

  Bai Xiang hastily said: "It's all the fault of this servant, as long as it can be remedied, Madam can make this servant do anything, even if it means taking this servant's life, this servant will still be willing."

  "Enough, don't you know what kind of person I am? Be more careful in the future when serving. Pausing for a moment, she continued, "As for the people in the mansion, except for those who are disloyal and unrighteous, I have never mistreated anyone. Alas... those two women who were beaten to death, although they were reckless and brought it upon themselves, I had no choice but to deal with them in order to protect the majority. However, thinking about it now still makes my heart feel stifled and painful. They were old servants who had served in the mansion for many years, and in a moment of confusion, their souls were scattered... When you return, use my personal money to comfort their families, have them quietly find someone to hold a memorial service for the two women, and let them be reborn into a good family. Take a look at their families, if there are people of suitable age, choose two to come to the mansion to serve."

  She suddenly changed her tone and said sternly, "You must tell them not to have any complaints! In such a big matter, the Emperor only punished those two people, but did not involve others. It is already a great blessing that they were spared. If they still harbor resentment, it would be ungrateful. I will no longer be able to protect them!"

  "Yes. The lady truly has a Bodhisattva's heart." Bai Xiang responded with reverence and admiration, lowering her eyes to think that her luck was indeed good. Fortunately, on that day, the person who switched packages and threw things away was eager to take credit for themselves, hiding their own involvement, and took matters into their own hands, otherwise she would be the one lying in the mud, waiting to be reincarnated, queuing up to be reborn. From now on, when doing things, it's indeed necessary to be extremely careful, or else, with a single moment of carelessness, one's life would be lost.

  Bai Xiang was just about to get distracted when Madam Du suddenly said, "Bai Xiang, you've been following me for many years and have always met my expectations. I've long wanted to find a good opportunity for you, but unfortunately, there's no one suitable around me now, so I really can't bear to part with you. It's just temporary hardship for you, don't blame me, okay?"

  Bai Xiang hastily said: "I'm not feeling wronged, I've accumulated good fortune from several lifetimes to be able to follow and serve the mistress, many people envy me but can't compare, I'm also very proud of myself, how could I feel wronged?"

  Madam Du smiled slightly: "I know you're loyal, but after all, a girl can't stay at home forever. Once this matter has passed this stage and things have calmed down a bit, I'll release you from your servitude and arrange a good marriage for you."

  "Madam, please don't say such things. I've never thought of leaving you. Everything I have is thanks to you, don't abandon me."

  Mrs. Du's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness, and she said warmly, "I am reluctant to let the people around me suffer, how can I not marry? After marrying, it is also possible for him to do things for me." She narrowed her eyes, "In a few days, I plan to set up a banquet, invite the elderly from our clan, and also invite several close friends of the Duke. In front of everyone, I will apologize to the Duke and clear up this misunderstanding! So as not to let people say that I am intolerant of him! I will give him enough face! But hopefully in the future, he won't always be against us."

  Jiang Changyang isn't good at pretending to be wronged and filial, is he? He's still in the palace making amends for his mistakes, but it's easy for others to think that he can't tolerate him. This time, she gave him face in public, personally apologized to him, and after all, it was Old Madam who threw his things out of the mansion, and at most, she was just a strict ruler. Later, when the time comes, she'll slowly bring it up in front of everyone, how Old Madam threw his things away, and let people take a good look at this "filial" grandson who disobeyed his grandmother...

  Madam Du clutched the silk quilt under her... As long as she succeeded, Jiang Changyang would have no chance of turning over a new leaf. Not to mention inheriting the title, even his future prospects would be worrisome. This was such a simple and direct matter, she should have thought of it earlier. Starting with He Mu Dan was going around in circles... That person had eaten her flesh and blood to live until today, living so many more years, enjoying all the glory and wealth, bullying and lording over her for nearly twenty years, shouldn't he pay some interest by now?

  Mrs. Du made up her mind, straightened her waist, slightly raised the corners of her mouth, and became even more elegant and beautiful.

  Upon arriving at the Zhu Guo Gong Fu, Madame Du got out of her sedan chair and rushed straight to the residence of the elderly madam. Before entering the door, she heard the sound of the elderly madam striking a wooden fish drum, "Dang, dang". She hastily asked Hong Er, the maid who came to greet her in a low voice: "Is the old lady reciting scriptures again? Was breakfast served properly today? The weather is getting colder day by day, and she's advanced in age, you all must take good care of her."

  Hong'er smiled and said: "As for what the lady of the house said, the old lady is doing well. She ate a bowl of rice, half a bowl of chicken soup, and also had some mutton."

  Mrs. Du nodded and said with satisfaction, "That's not bad." Then she continued to ask about the old lady's daily life, occasionally reminding her of a few things. Suddenly, the sound of the wooden fish stopped, and the old lady inside said, "Daughter-in-law, you're back?"

  "Yes, Mother." Madame Du hastily stepped forward to help the old lady up and took the cup of tea from Hong'er's hand to pass it to the old lady. The old lady slowly drank a mouthful of tea and asked, "How was it? What did that girl with the surname He say?"

  Mrs. Du paused for a moment before saying, "The person is quite good, I just mentioned it and she said that she has always remembered the kindness of her husband, speaking without hesitation, but unfortunately, nothing useful came out of it..."

  The old lady frowned, suddenly sneered: "She is certainly helping her lifesaver. Originally didn't expect her to play a big role, just don't want people to think that our Guo Gongfu is unreasonable."