Not lacking money—this really stumped Lin Shi.

She pinched a melon seed and thought seriously for a moment: “A person can’t possibly lack nothing. It depends on what they’re missing. It’s best to compensate for whatever they lack.”

What were they lacking?

The image of the smiling young man flashed through her mind, and Wen Hao couldn’t help but think of Prince Jing’s manor coming to propose marriage.

The heir of Prince Jing seemed to lack a wife…

That absolutely wouldn’t do!

“Ah Hao, Ah Hao?”

Wen Hao reined in her drifting thoughts and looked toward her mother.

“What are you thinking about? Could it be our Ah Hao owes someone a favor?”

Wen Hao hastily shook her head: “No.”

Although she was willing to take responsibility, that didn’t include offering herself up as compensation.

Thinking carefully, the heir of Prince Jing’s life hadn’t gone smoothly in all things. At least in her previous life, he hadn’t escaped the disaster of his family’s annihilation. Having been reborn with a slight advantage, on the premise of protecting herself, she could try to help the heir of Prince Jing somewhat, which would count as making amends for her unintentional mistake.

When all was said and done, the heir of Prince Jing simply couldn’t withstand being frightened.

Beyond her guilt, Wen Hao couldn’t help but feel a small complaint.

The three women returned to the Wen Mansion to find Steward Wen Ping pacing in the courtyard.

“What’s wrong with Steward Wen?” Lin Shi paused and asked.

Wen Ping suppressed his anxious expression and lowered his head: “This old servant lost a purse…”

“Did it contain a lot of silver?”

“Not really, but that purse was given by this old servant’s rascal of a son—” As he spoke, he glanced in Wen Hao’s direction.

“If that’s the case, Steward Wen should search more carefully.” Lin Shi nodded understandingly and walked forward with the Wen sisters.

The instant they passed by Wen Ping, Wen Hao said lightly: “Why doesn’t Steward Wen look in the garden? I remember you went there yesterday.”

Wen Ping quickly showed a grateful expression: “Thank you for the reminder, Second Miss. This old servant will go look there right away.”

Wen Hao nodded and left with Lin Shi.

Lin Shi returned to the main courtyard. When the two sisters parted at the crossroads, Wen Chan consulted in a low voice: “Second Sister, shall we still go tomorrow? Grandmother was diagnosed with heart disease. I’m worried she won’t be able to bear hearing this news suddenly.”

“Then let’s go the day after tomorrow.”

The day after tomorrow would be the day Father voluntarily revealed everything.

He would first go to Mahua Alley and directly bring that mother and her three children back to the manor.

Wen Chan hesitated somewhat: “The day after tomorrow isn’t much different from tomorrow, is it?”

“Elder Sister, rest assured. Today I specifically asked the divine physician, and he said as long as Grandmother takes the Golden Fragrance Pills on time, there shouldn’t be a major problem. After today and tomorrow when Grandmother has adapted to the pills, when we bring it up the day after tomorrow with more preparation, and with us there to comfort her, it should be fine.”

“But heart disease can’t withstand shock—” Wen Chan found it difficult to feel at ease.

Saying it would be fine was one thing, but if Grandmother couldn’t bear it and something happened, who could endure that?

“Elder Sister, don’t you know better than I do? Father will bring that mother and her three children before the world sooner or later. Rather than wait for Father to act suddenly, leaving Grandmother and Mother completely unprepared, we might as well take the initiative.”

Wen Chan understood her younger sister’s words made sense. After a brief moment of thought, she nodded.

“Elder Sister, I’ll return to Luoying Residence then.”

Wen Chan grasped Wen Hao’s hand.

“Does Elder Sister have something else?”

Wen Chan’s expression was complex: “Second Sister, are you… hoping that Father will have a change of heart?”

Wen Hao was startled.

Hope Father would have a change of heart? She might as well hope he’d be struck by lightning—that was more reliable.

Seeing her younger sister fall silent, Wen Chan softened her tone: “Just looking at how Chang Hui is even older than me, don’t harbor such expectations toward Father. In the future, we should comfort Mother more and guard against Chang Hui and her siblings stirring up trouble—that’s most important.”

“Elder Sister, rest assured. I understand.”

“Then Second Sister, go back and rest well.”

After parting with Wen Chan, Wen Hao turned her feet toward the garden.

The Wen Mansion’s garden was considerably smaller than the General Manor’s garden. Wen Hao spotted Wen Ping at a glance, pacing back and forth anxiously.

She passed by Wen Ping with her eyes straight ahead, walking toward an artificial mountain.

Wen Ping looked left and right to ensure no one was around, then quickly followed.

“Does Steward Wen have business with me?” Leaning against the rock, Wen Hao’s tone was cold.

Wen Ping dropped to his knees with a thud: “Second Miss, save me!”

Wen Hao looked down at the person prostrate on the ground and didn’t speak for a moment.

“Second Miss, please save Yun’er. This old servant guarantees to listen to you from now on!”

The young woman’s unruffled voice came from above: “Didn’t I give you a thousand taels of silver to redeem your son?”

Wen Ping looked up, his face extremely ugly: “That little wretch… little wretch…”

“Steward Wen, speak slowly.”

Wen Ping pounded the ground forcefully once and cried: “Yesterday this old servant received Second Miss’s banknote. Thinking I should at least let that little wretch spend one night in those people’s hands to suffer some hardship, otherwise he’d think this old servant’s silver comes easily, so I only went to redeem him today. But then—”

He paused: “When this old servant handed the banknote to those people, they refused to release him.”

“They want to renege?”

“They said that while idle, they’d gambled for money, and that worthless thing owed them another five hundred taels of silver!” Wen Ping’s face was ashen, tears and snot streaming down.

“Your esteemed son truly is immature.” The young woman’s face showed regret, but the corners of her lips curved up.

She had known about this regrettable sequel in her previous life.

Back then when she encountered Wen Ping, he had the same ugly expression, anxiously pacing in circles. As for how he later plugged the hole, she hadn’t cared, though she supposed he still relied on her good father.

Precisely because she knew about this matter, she had readily given that thousand taels.

With a thousand taels as bait, when Wen Ping encountered trouble he couldn’t solve, the first person he would think of would be her.

“Second Miss, please help this old servant again. Those people said if the silver isn’t gathered this time, they’ll chop off one of his hands!”

“Did they give a deadline?”

“Seven days. The silver must be gathered within seven days.” As Wen Ping spoke, he wished he could slap himself.

How had he been so possessed as to want that wretch to taste some hardship? If he’d redeemed him earlier, there wouldn’t have been all this trouble afterward.

Now regret came too late. He could only hope for Second Miss.

“Seven days—” Wen Hao smiled slightly. “All right then. In seven days, Steward Wen can come find me for the money.”

“Thank you, Second Miss, thank you, Second Miss!” Wen Ping kowtowed repeatedly.

“Steward Wen need not do so. I’m only willing to help because I see you have a good conscience.” Wen Hao walked away without looking back, heading toward Luoying Residence.

Wen Ping slumped to the ground, unmoving for a long while.

At this moment, he was incomparably clear that aside from following Second Miss, there was no turning back.

Arriving at Luoying Residence, Baozhu presented flower tea.

Wen Hao took it and sipped, smiling: “Now you don’t need to worry, do you?”

Baozhu’s eyes shone brightly: “As long as this servant follows Miss, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Then go prepare. Tonight we’ll go meet that paternal uncle of mine.”

In the blink of an eye, a crescent moon quietly hung on the treetops. Under the shroud of night, the Wen Mansion appeared more tranquil than usual.

Wen Rusheng sat alone in his room, becoming more frightened the more he thought. He simply got up and went to his son’s place.

The courtyard was empty, and the room showed no light.

“Why isn’t Feng’er home again this late at night?” Wen Rusheng muttered, turning away disappointed.

Just then, candlelight flared to life inside the room.