After Lin Jiayue finished speaking, she felt quite pleased with herself. She thought everyone would view her differently, but Madam Jiang only glanced at her once without any further reaction.

“Grandmother, Mother, it’s time to take our seats.”

After Song Wan entered, the group of people—masters and maids together—departed. Only then did Lin Jiayue’s face flush red as she snorted coldly.

When the maid from Jiang Xingjian’s side came to find her, Lin Jiayue followed along to the main hall.

The marquis estate’s wealth exceeded her imagination. Just a family banquet featured over a hundred delicacies on the table, with countless gold, silver, and porcelain vessels.

She secretly clicked her tongue in amazement, yet couldn’t help but curse a few times internally about such extravagant luxury and debauchery.

“Miss Lin, please come with me this way.”

“What’s your name?”

The maid respectfully answered with the two characters “Huai Su,” then invited Lin Jiayue to approach the table.

To Old Madam Jiang’s left sat Madam Jiang, to her right sat Jiang Xingjian, while Song Wan wasn’t seated beside him but rather next to Madam Jiang.

Seeing no one beside Jiang Xingjian, Lin Jiayue naturally sat down. But as soon as she sat, she drew everyone’s attention. Over a hundred pairs of eyes made her feel as if sitting on pins and needles—even her scalp tingled.

Huai Su’s face also reddened. She had never imagined Lin Jiayue would be so lacking in propriety. She lowered her head and leaned toward the other’s ear, whispering, “This is Second Master Yan’s seat. Miss Lin, please come with me.”

Lin Jiayue paused and turned to look at Jiang Xingjian.

In small matters, Jiang Xingjian might indulge her, but regarding such rules of hierarchy and propriety, even Old Madam Jiang, who held the position of estate mistress, could not break them. Jiang Xingjian frowned, faintly revealing displeasure. Lin Jiayue had no choice but to stand up feeling aggrieved and follow behind Huai Su.

Just when she thought she would be seated beside Song Wan, Huai Su led her all the way to a position almost opposite the head seat. Even if she didn’t understand the marquis estate’s rules, she knew this place was approximately the lowest-status position.

Lin Jiayue bit her teeth, her entire face flushing red—whether from anger or shame was unclear.

When she reached the spot and wanted to sit down, Huai Su pulled her back. She turned around about to explode, but saw Huai Su give her a meaningful look.

Lin Jiayue lifted her head to see that everyone was taking their seats one by one according to status and rank. Her heart tightened. She bit her teeth and waited until the person beside her sat down before sitting on the stool. Just as she was about to settle in, Huai Su lightly tapped her back.

Having suppressed her feelings all evening, Lin Jiayue felt she was approaching the edge of collapse. She abruptly twisted her body and shook off Huai Su’s hand.

The ten-year-old young lady beside her looked at her with surprise.

Lin Jiayue knew that in the eyes of these noble young ladies, her behavior must have been extremely improper. But she was truly too lazy to care.

She simply picked up her chopsticks to take some food, but hesitated and couldn’t help but lift her head to observe everyone at the table. Only then did she discover that except for her, not one of the dozen or so masters at the table had moved their chopsticks.

Her heart trembled, and she awkwardly withdrew her hand.

Having suffered enough losses, she finally developed the inclination to watch how others behaved.

After observing a full circle, she felt even more uncomfortable.

First, she saw the young lady beside her sitting with her body only slightly on the edge of the chair, her face not directed toward the plate before her but slightly angled toward Old Madam Jiang’s direction.

No wonder when she first sat down, Huai Su had tapped her back—clearly this sitting posture was problematic.

Looking more carefully, indeed everyone sat this way.

Lin Jiayue pressed her lips together, her face cold and severe. But ultimately unable to overcome her inner awkwardness, she still leaned her body and lightly sat at the edge.

Among those dining in the marquis estate were a dozen or so masters, plus their personally attending maids and wet nurses, as well as serving girls bringing dishes. Over a hundred people shuttled back and forth throughout the entire main hall, yet not a single cough or sound of bowls and plates clinking could be heard.

The dining environment was completely silent, making Lin Jiayue extremely uncomfortable.

Moreover, she hadn’t grown up learning various rules from childhood. After sitting in this half-seated position for just a short while, she felt her back ache and her head spin. Combined with traveling for days with Jiang Xingjian and the shock of suddenly learning upon arriving at the marquis estate that he had a wife, after all this turmoil she was exhausted both physically and mentally. Now seeing the table full of delicious delicacies before her eyes, she couldn’t help but feel ravenous hunger.

She stole a glance at Song Wan and saw her eating. Feeling relaxed, she lifted her chopsticks and took a dish that she couldn’t tell whether it was pork knuckle or pork elbow.

Just as she placed it in her bowl, the young lady beside her once again looked at her with undisguised surprise.

This one glance nearly made Lin Jiayue jump up in anger.

“Among family, there’s no need to observe so many rules while eating. Just enjoy yourselves.”

When Old Madam Jiang spoke, she didn’t feel comforted but rather experienced a sense of shame at being exposed.

Lin Jiayue bit her teeth, hesitating repeatedly, forcing herself to maintain the last bit of dignity as she put the chopsticks in her mouth. The meat was tender, fresh, and sweet, with a very unique flavor, but she felt it was no different from chewing wax.

After eating one bite, she couldn’t eat anything else. Her entire focus was placed on observing Song Wan.

She saw that from the start of the meal, Song Wan had never reached for any dish herself. Each dish was brought before Old Madam Jiang first. After she tasted it, only then would the other maids serving their masters use delicate pearl-inlaid silver chopsticks and silver spoons to select three to five dishes and place them in small bowls before each master.

Except for the maids serving food and Lin Jiayue, no one used chopsticks to take food themselves. Lin Jiayue watched helplessly as all the ladies ate only three, five, or seven bites before setting down their chopsticks, as if even the number of dishes taken and bites eaten had regulations.

A thorn seemed lodged in her heart, especially when she saw the servants delivering dishes bring all the food before Old Madam Jiang, deliberately skipping over the one dish she had taken from. This humiliation and anger reached its peak and lasted until the meal ended.

“Grandmother, please have tea.”

After the meal, Song Wan stayed by Old Madam Jiang’s side serving her tea, while Jiang Xingjian led Jiang Yan and the other concubine-born brothers to see off the western branch uncles.

With the men leaving the main hall, the atmosphere in the room immediately relaxed somewhat.

Old Madam Jiang lightly sipped the tea Song Wan handed her and smiled. “Is this tea brewed with plum water?”

Madam Jiang replied, “Old Madam is truly remarkable—I couldn’t taste it just now.”

“This is indeed plum water. Wan’er collected it last winter from the snow on the plum blossoms in the courtyard. Using it to brew tea not only carries the plum fragrance but is also more clear and smooth than ordinary spring water.”

Old Madam Jiang knew that in the past when Song Wan lived as a widow, her entire days consisted only of reading and worshipping Buddha with nothing else to do. With no children under her care and normally unable to leave the courtyard, she could only do such things to pass those difficult-to-pass days. Just thinking about it made her heart ache. Seeing Lin Jiayue following closely behind Jiang Xingjian, she inevitably felt displeased.

She spoke to her head maid Baozhu behind her. “Go have the storeroom send red candles and celebratory bedding to Lanting Courtyard. That place looks gray and dreary—it’s depressing just to look at.”

After Old Madam Jiang gave these instructions, she said to Song Wan, “Now that Yi’er has returned, your mother and I absolutely will not let you suffer any more grievances. Tonight, you and Yi’er should consummate your marriage. Once you bear a child or two in the future, this marquis estate will truly be yours to manage.”

Upon hearing this, Song Wan’s face suddenly flushed crimson. First she felt somewhat embarrassed, then her brows faintly furrowed.