Chapter 18 Is She Really that Stupid?

"Why haven't you slept yet at this hour?" The Third Madam raised her eyes and saw Jiang Ruoting sitting opposite her, with a slight displeasure between her eyebrows, "Didn't you make an appointment with another lady to go boating tomorrow?"

As the daughter of the Jiang family, she couldn't go out while feeling sleepy. A tired face would damage her face and make people think she was impolite. In addition to managing the family every day, the Third Madam cared most about her two children. Her son's health was often not good, and she couldn't relax on her daughter's side. First, she wanted her son to inherit the family business, and second, she wanted her daughter to marry into the royal family. Glory and wealth were waiting for the three of them, mother and son. How could she relax before they were completed?

"My daughter is not sleepy now. I saw the candlelight in my mother's room, so I came to take a look." Jiang Ruoting said, "What is mother worried about?"

The Third Madam has always been a good manager of the family. The huge Duke's Mansion has been in her hands since Jiang Ruohua's mother passed away. There has never been any difference in these years. Outsiders have spread the reputation of the Third Madam, who is virtuous and capable, and is indeed a model of the mistress of the house.

And now it seems that the shop has problems again.

"The shop has problems again, I have to go there in person tomorrow." The third lady just felt a headache, "I don't know if I have bumped into something these days, and I have been unlucky one after another. It seems that I have to find a time to get rid of the bad luck. After all, it can't go on like this."

She had to deal with the shop's affairs in person. Looking at the account book full of loopholes, the third lady had a headache. Over the years, the problems were always in the shops originally owned by the Duke's Mansion or her dowry shops, while the shop left by Jiang Ruohua's mother was obviously unattended, but it had been running step by step for more than ten years without any mistakes.

The huge imbalance made the third lady feel suffocated. Some people were born to bring her bad luck, and she felt that it was an eyesore just to put them there!

"Don't worry, mother. I'm here." Jiang Ruoting said, "Mother, you'll just go take care of the shop tomorrow. I'll help you with the rest."

But the Third Madam was not prepared to do so. She said unhappily, "Don't do some things. If you dirty your hands, do you still want to keep your reputation?"

Before her daughter married into the royal family, the Third Madam didn't plan to let her do anything herself.

This was also to ensure that her daughter's hands were always clean and bloodless, and that she could marry into the royal family with the best reputation.

"My daughter knows her fault. My daughter was just thinking that her marriage was cancelled strangely. Now there are rumors that she has changed her personality. My daughter is afraid that she will find out something." Jiang Ruoting was blamed and hurriedly bowed her head to admit her fault, but she had to speak out her doubts anyway. "My daughter agreed with her before and handed Aunt Yuan to her, which was a test."

The third lady raised her eyes. She naturally understood this, and also understood why her daughter was adding fuel to the fire. People can't change their appearance easily. Combined with the things that happened recently, the outside world's evaluation of Jiang Ruohua has indeed changed. The third lady has not suspected whether Jiang Ruohua has discovered something.

"Aunt Yuan is testing, but she is a concubine anyway. No matter what, she can't make any waves." The third lady was not worried. It would be better to say that if Jiang Ruohua really found out something and had some thoughts, it would be better to join forces with Aunt Yuan to fight against the enemy.

She would let Jiang Ruohua and Aunt Yuan know what it means to overestimate one's own strength.

A concubine, a girl who hasn't even grown all her hair yet, if it's really as she guessed, she would have saved herself a lot of trouble.

"Mother, I think we should not be careless." Jiang Ruoting said, "Jiang Ruohua is smart, mother, you spent so much effort to make her so stupid now, but is she really stupid?"

"I've been thinking about it these days, I just feel that something is strange, the rumors from the outside world may not be groundless, and we are exactly the ones who know Jiang Ruohua's nature best. I think, if she really noticed something, she probably wouldn't do it easily with her temper."

These words also touched the suspicion of the third lady. She did think that the cancellation of the engagement was strange, but she also felt that she knew Jiang Ruohua very well. The contradiction made the third lady now suspicious, but she didn't know what to do with Jiang Ruohua for a while.

Even if the engagement was cancelled, Jiang Ruohua would still be useful, and she also had a father who held military power, and now he couldn't be touched.

It was also because of this that the third lady felt a sense of powerlessness inexplicably.

"You do have a point." Madam San thought for a moment, "But even if you try to test her, you must not act too hastily. Since you know her true face, you should be more careful when testing her."

"Don't worry, mother." Jiang Ruoting said, "My daughter knows the importance of this matter and will not make any mistakes in this matter."

"Yes." But even so, Madam San was still worried, "Ting'er, you have to know that a person's background can be very different in the future if it is slightly different. Your mother has worked hard to do all this for you and your brother, all for you. "Our future, your mother and your father are unlucky, they were not born in the belly of the wife of the main house as legitimate sons and daughters, but you and your brother can't carry the birth of a concubine for the rest of your life."

Compared with their births, Jiang Ruoting and Jiang Ruohua are very different in the eyes of outsiders, even if they are both legitimate daughters of the Duke's Mansion. Not only is Jiang Ruohua's father a senior official in the court with military power, but there is also a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate daughters. Although the Duke does not intend to divide the family, and both of them are legitimate daughters, but outsiders have sharp eyes, and they all know who is better for their family.

If you want Jiang Ruoting to be successful, you must have someone to serve as a foil for her, and then secretly plan, so that Jiang Ruoting can finally occupy the magpie's nest and enjoy the real glory, wealth and power.

...

"Why did the young lady suddenly take out the piano?"

After changing the lamp, Yinqiu blew out the remaining candle, and was a little surprised when he saw Jiang Ruohua gently wiping the piano that had been dusted for a long time at the table.

Not long after the young lady made an appointment to get married, the third lady hired a so-called nun from the palace to teach the young lady. She spent almost every day learning the so-called rules and had little time to be exposed to them.

Her fingertips lightly traced the strings, and even though she had left it for a long time, the piano was still a good one, and its tone was far superior to other common instruments. She got excited and played half of the lyrics, but she did not continue with the second half.

"Miss, why don't you play anymore? I'm all ears." Hua Chan didn't seem to enjoy the music yet, "It's really nice to hear."

"It sounds nice, but it's a bit arrogant." Jiang Ruohua smiled. She was only interested for a moment. After getting married in her dream, it would inevitably take time to stay alone in an empty house every day. Her piano skills seemed to have improved at that time, and she happened to think of it. Jiang Ruoting would definitely invite her to go out for a lake tour tomorrow, and then she remembered that she had such a piano.

The piano skills in her dream seemed to have been brought out by her, but for her, this was too flamboyant. How could someone who had not practiced piano for many years have such skills?