The crying from within Qiu Tong’s courtyard could be heard from far away.

“There’s no way to live anymore…”

“Even if we die, we must die with understanding…”

Mixed with various complaints, attracting countless onlookers.

“You didn’t see Que Zhi’s behavior…”

“Now she’ll get what’s coming to her…”

“Exactly, treating a chicken feather like an imperial decree…”

“Oh my, Qin’er, you’ve become capable! Those words sound so refined—your service grinding ink in Third Young Master’s study wasn’t wasted…”

A group of little maids gathered on the road, talking, laughing, and craning their necks to look.

“All idle, are we?”

Someone behind them said indifferently.

The little maids hurriedly turned around to look, then scattered in fright.

It was Nanny Jin. Looking at this commotion, A’Jin didn’t like those scattered maids and said in a low voice to Concubine Zhou beside her, unable to hide some anxiety on her face, “Young Madam was too hasty this time…”

Concubine Zhou slowly fanned herself, a faint smile playing at her lips.

“Then let’s see if she can weather this crisis,” she said.

A’Jin’s face showed a flash of anxiety.

“Young Madam is still young after all. How can she maintain control? Concubine…” she couldn’t help but say in a low voice.

Concubine Zhou glanced at her, and A’Jin’s words gradually grew smaller until she fell silent.

“A’Jin,” Concubine Zhou lifted her foot to walk slowly, “are you thinking in your heart that I’m truly heartless and cruel, watching Young Madam suffer while refusing to help, truly disappointing Old Madam’s former affection for me…”

A’Jin’s face went pale. Regardless of being outside, she dropped to her knees with a thud.

“This slave doesn’t dare. This slave just thought that since Concubine is alone, having one more person to help…” she said tearfully.

“So,” Concubine Zhou didn’t tell her to rise, saying leisurely, “I need to see if she has the ability to help me. If she can, naturally I can too. If she can’t, what method do I have?”

A’Jin kowtowed.

“This slave is confused, this slave is confused,” she said repeatedly.

Only when her forehead was bruised from kowtowing did Concubine Zhou tap her shoulder with her fan.

“Get up. What are you doing?” she said with a smile.

Only then did A’Jin dare to rise. She didn’t dare say another word all the way until they reached Third Young Master’s courtyard.

Just as Concubine Zhou was about to enter, a maid rushed out headlong and collided with her.

Concubine Zhou raised her hand and slapped her.

The maid covered her face and knelt to kowtow.

Only then did Concubine Zhou see clearly that this person was actually Cai Juan, a second-class maid close to Third Young Master.

“What are you doing? Why so clumsy?” she scolded with raised eyebrows. “Are all the people around Third Young Master like this?”

Cai Juan kowtowed repeatedly to apologize.

“Concubine, I sent her on an errand and urged her too hastily,” Chang Yunqi said with a smile as he emerged from the room upon hearing the commotion, glancing at Cai Juan kowtowing on the ground. “Go quickly.”

Cai Juan rose to leave but was called back by Concubine Zhou.

“Don’t play dumb with me. It’s because you’re too good-natured that you’ve spoiled the people below you into having no proper behavior,” she said, shaking her head. “Tell me, what errand were you going on?”

Cai Juan indeed looked flustered.

While they were talking, another maid came crashing in from outside.

“Third Young Master, I saw Young Madam go to the Lord’s courtyard…” she said hurriedly. Before finishing her words, she stared wide-eyed with mouth agape, frozen in place.

Concubine Zhou looked at her, her usually serene and gentle face suddenly turning iron-blue.

“Drag her out and beat her to death,” she pointed at the maid and shouted sternly.

The maid was so frightened her soul left her body, and she collapsed on the ground.

“You shut your mouth,” Concubine Zhou pointed at Third Young Master who was about to speak and shouted, her willow-shaped eyebrows standing on end as she looked at A’Jin. “Are you waiting for me to do it myself?”

A’Jin came to her senses and immediately called the maids.

“Concubine…” The maid had just opened her mouth to say one sentence when A’Jin stuffed a handkerchief in her mouth. Other maids held her down firmly and dragged her out.

“Kneel here for me. Without my word, you’re not allowed to get up,” Concubine Zhou looked at Cai Juan nearby and commanded coldly.

Cai Juan had already knelt when that maid spoke. Now she dared not say another word, kowtowing in response and kneeling properly with her head bowed.

“Concubine,” Chang Yunqi couldn’t help but call out, “What are you doing!”

“What am I doing? You understand. What you’re doing—is your heart clear about it?” Concubine Zhou turned to shout at him.

“I haven’t done anything,” Chang Yunqi shook his head.

Concubine Zhou gave a cold laugh, stepped forward, and slapped him.

“You think I don’t know what you’re thinking…” she said hatefully. Before finishing her words, she was interrupted.

“Oh my, what’s happening here?” Nanny Su’s voice rang out from outside.

Concubine Zhou immediately restrained her expression and returned to her usual appearance.

“Everything’s fine. Concubine Zhou, why are you fighting with Third Young Master?” Nanny Su said indifferently from outside. As the first stewardess among Marchioness’s dowry servants, she didn’t need to be very polite to these concubines.

“We had a few words, and I couldn’t control myself for a moment, offending Third Young Master…” Concubine Zhou said, her eyes slightly red as she spoke, taking out a handkerchief to wipe her eyes, as if she had countless grievances she couldn’t express.

She was a concubine, half a mistress, but in front of the young master, she still had half the identity of a servant, even though this young master was born from her.

“It’s nothing, Nanny Su,” Chang Yunqi said. The slap mark on his face was very obvious, showing that Concubine Zhou had struck hard.

“Really, what has this household become,” Nanny Su shook her head and snorted. “Concubines hitting young masters, stewardesses crying injustice—what’s it been, just a few days, and it’s beyond description…”

She shouted to a maid beside her.

“Go quickly and see if Young Madam has returned.”

The maid was about to leave when Concubine Zhou suddenly remembered the vague sentence she had heard earlier. Seeing that the maid who had spoken was already dragged away, she looked at Chang Yunqi, thinking his inquired information wouldn’t be false, and stepped forward.

“Is Nanny Su looking for Young Madam?” she said. “I saw her when I came over—Young Madam is in the Lord’s courtyard.”

“What?” Nanny Su turned around.

A trace of an elusive smile appeared on Concubine Zhou’s face, looking with satisfaction at Nanny Su’s instantly shocked and somewhat uneasy expression.

“Yes, I don’t know what she went to do. They just returned together. Perhaps there were still some unfinished words,” she said gently.

At this moment, Qi Yue was already standing with A’Ru in front of a courtyard.

“This is the Lord’s courtyard?” Qi Yue asked, fanning herself.

This was a spacious courtyard with five main rooms and six side rooms.

“Yes,” A’Ru answered. Even though they had agreed beforehand, actually coming here and thinking about what Qi Yue was about to do still filled her with anxiety. A voice in her heart kept urging her to quickly grab Young Madam’s hand and take her back—she absolutely couldn’t make such trouble…

Maids and older women who had received the news poured out from the courtyard and stood fully on both sides. Most of these people were seeing this Young Madam for the first time. Combined with the news they had just heard, they all looked with curiosity and surprise, secretly sizing up Qi Yue. The first impression was—what a beauty.

It was said that when Old Madam arranged the marriage, after the Marquis saw Young Madam dressed up, he only said “this appearance is sufficient” and never again mentioned background, status, character, or virtue.

“Beauty makes everything good” had always been the principle the Marquis followed.

For someone like the Marquis who had seen countless beauties, what kind of beauty could earn such praise from him? Today they finally saw her—truly living up to her reputation.

“It’s Young Madam,” a maid wearing a jacket and skirt said with a smile. “How does Young Madam have leisure to come over today? If there are any orders, just send someone to say so. Why come personally?”

This maid was about sixteen or seventeen years old, not particularly ugly, but among the cloud of beauties in Marquis Dingxi’s mansion, she couldn’t be considered very beautiful either. A beauty mark at the corner of her mouth added some charm.

Perhaps because Qi Yue was standing on a lower step, from her angle, these maids coming out of the door all seemed to look down at her condescendingly. Their speaking attitude and demeanor also appeared casual, without the slightest reverence.

“You mean I can’t come over if I have nothing to do?” Qi Yue asked with a smile, stepping up to the same level where everyone could look at each other equally, feeling much better.

Unexpectedly, her first words were so sharp. The maid was stunned.

“This slave doesn’t dare,” she said with a hurried smile.

Qi Yue looked at her and couldn’t see where on her face it said she “didn’t dare.”

The Marquis’s mansion had good rules in this regard—you could distinguish people’s ranks just from their clothing.

“Are you the head maid around the Lord?” Qi Yue asked.

“Yes, this slave is Qiu Xiang,” the maid smiled in reply, still standing steadily at the doorway like a door god, with no intention of making way.

Qi Yue burst out laughing, causing the maid to look confused.

“Not bad, not bad, good name,” Qi Yue said, fanning herself, then looked up at the door plaque. “Why is there no name?”

Looking up at the empty space above the door that, unlike other courtyards, had no hanging plaque, she asked casually.

“This place was just finished. Madam said to leave it for the Lord to choose a name himself,” Qiu Xiang said with a smile, also looking up.

They had already exchanged several sentences, yet both sides were still standing at the doorway without moving an inch.

A’Ru sighed inwardly—Young Madam’s status still hadn’t improved much…

“I’ve thought of a name. The Lord is a military general, so let’s call it Pengcheng Courtyard—’a bright future ahead’—good symbolism,” Qi Yue thought for a moment and said with a smile. “What do you all think?”

A’Ru didn’t know how to respond and just mumbled vaguely, while the maids from the Lord’s courtyard all smiled without speaking. Some didn’t even smile, their faces showing undisguised impatience.

“Did you remember? Have someone write it and hang it up later. It’s not good to have people living here without a name,” Qi Yue said with a smile, lifting her foot to walk inside. “Is the Lord in?”

What… did she mean?

She wanted to name the Lord’s courtyard?

Maid Qiu Xiang looked at everyone in amazement, and others looked at her in amazement too, then they all laughed.

Really, overestimating herself and being presumptuous.

Qi Yue didn’t care about their reactions at all. She forcibly lifted her foot to pass through them and stepped toward the threshold.

“Young Madam, what are you trying to do?” Qiu Xiang came to her senses and asked hurriedly, taking a few quick steps and blocking the way without any hesitation.

“Going in to take a look,” Qi Yue said, fanning herself.

“The Lord isn’t in. He went to Madam’s place,” Qiu Xiang had no intention of moving aside and said with a smile.

Ah, that’s perfect.

Qi Yue thought to herself, her demeanor becoming even more relaxed and casual.

“Oh, it’s fine. I’m just looking around casually,” she said with a smile, continuing to step forward.

Qiu Xiang blocked her path.

“Young Madam, this isn’t a place where just anyone can casually come to look around,” she said with a half-smile.

What behavior! Indeed, what master, what servant—look at that condescending gaze. Ugh, disgusting.

“Whose courtyard is this?” Qi Yue looked at her, stopped fanning, and suddenly asked.

“The Lord’s,” Qiu Xiang answered with a trace of haughty smile at her lips.

“Who am I?” Qi Yue asked.

“You’re Young Madam,” Qiu Xiang answered.

“Then, am I just ‘anyone’?” Qi Yue’s face lost its smile as she looked at her and asked word by word.

Qiu Xiang was stunned. From a rules standpoint, of course not, but from a habitual standpoint, it had always been…

“I’d like to see how I can’t enter my own courtyard!” Qi Yue said slowly, emphasizing the word “my.”