Quick Transmigration: Reversing the Life of a Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character

"I never expected that the Fifth Madam would be such a strong-willed person. I really didn't see that coming before," a servant remarked. Since the Fifth Madam married into the family, he had never seen her speak loudly.

"That's the advantage of status. The Lu family is deeply favored by the emperor, and the empress always takes care of them. Apart from things that are out of line, the fifth sister-in-law has everything that the two legitimate princesses have. The fifth sister-in-law can overlook it, since she doesn't lack those things anyway. But if she feels that someone has offended her, she can tear that person's face off directly." Today's situation seems to be Lu Zhiyao confronting the fourth madam, but in fact, she didn't even spare the old madam.

That felt great!

Unfortunately, I can never do as I please in the Zhou family.

"I'm afraid the Fourth Madam's finances are already stretched thin," the head maid whispered.

Why not properly deduct the share of the five families?

"She's had it tough. Her dowry was meager, and she didn't have many promising businesses. The men in her household were all idle spendthrifts. She had no choice but to try and skim some money under the guise of managing the household." The Third Madam sighed. Skimming money wasn't that easy. The servants in the mansion were all deeply entrenched. Even if the eldest sister-in-law didn't cause trouble, the servants were enough to give anyone a hard time.

"There are only two days left. After the birthday banquet, everything will be fine. Keep an eye on her. If she needs anything, give her what we have in our courtyard first," the Third Madam instructed her servants.

"What about the First Madam..." The head maid hesitated. The First Madam clearly wanted to suppress the Fourth Madam, and today the Fifth Madam had questioned her too much. Should they step in to help the Fourth Madam at this time?

"It's alright, sister-in-law isn't that petty. Besides, even if we don't help, sister-in-law won't let the birthday banquet go wrong. It's about the Zhou family's reputation." The third wife was exhausted. She disliked all the scheming and backstabbing in the backyard the most. She could go out and outwit the men in the business world. At least she could make money and feel a sense of accomplishment.

While being envied, Lu Zhiyao was also pondering things. It wasn't that she didn't want to play mind games with the women in the inner quarters. After completing the mission in the previous world, her emotions and feelings were reset to zero, but her knowledge was not. Intrigue in the inner quarters could be considered a knowledge point, right?

She doesn't know what world she'll be going to in the future to carry out what missions, so it's always good to learn more. The problem is with this body; it's really too bad. She's afraid that if she overthinks things, she won't live long enough to complete the mission. All the little bit of thought and scheming she has has to be focused on the two mission targets.

Fortunately, her adoptive father and older siblings were very supportive, and the main branch of the Lu family was also quite influential. Her status was high enough that she didn't need to rack her brains to scheme in her husband's family.

At Madam Zhou's birthday banquet, the Lu family, being in-laws, naturally arrived early. After Madam Fan greeted the birthday celebrant, she took her eldest daughter and daughter-in-law to her youngest daughter's courtyard.

"Where is Zining's father?"

"They came back last night, and this morning the brothers went to the temple outside the city to pray for their mother-in-law," Lu Zhiyao replied.

"My son-in-law is a good person, but he's rarely home, which makes things difficult for Yao'er."

Lu Zhiyao: She couldn't be happier.

"Mother, I live a life of luxury with many servants, so it doesn't matter whether he's here or not." She had no emotional foundation with Zhou Boheng and didn't want to have another child.

"How can that be the same, you child?"

Lu Zhiyao smiled and changed the subject: "Mom, look at the pond in my yard. They just put new fish in it the other day, and they look so beautiful."

Lu Zhilan picked up where her sister left off: "Your pond has flowing water, so it's good for raising anything."

"In a few days, I plan to add guardrails outside. Now that Zining is growing up day by day, he runs very fast. I'm afraid that the servants might have an accident if they are not careful."

"This is important," Madam Fan agreed. "We have some craftsmen we're used to employing. Shall we have them come in a few days?"

"Mother, the Zhou family also has its own craftsmen. I'll just use them." There's no need to use craftsmen recommended by her maternal family for such a small matter. She is now a daughter-in-law of the Zhou family.

Madam Fan was the kind of person who, once she trusted someone, would never doubt them again. Upon hearing this, she said, "Yao'er, what I'm talking about has been used for many years."

"Mother, it's all the same. Sometimes, people and things that have been used for a long time need to be checked from time to time, so that you don't not know if something is broken." Lu Zhiyao said meaningfully.

Madam Fan smiled with satisfaction: "Good, Yao'er has grown up and can even take care of her mother now."

However, he completely failed to grasp the meaning behind his youngest daughter's words.

Lu Zhilan and her elder sister-in-law Xue exchanged a glance. Lu Zhilan pushed the pastries toward her elder sister-in-law, saying, "Sister-in-law, you've worked hard. Try some of Yao'er's pastries. Speaking of which, it was you who gave Yao'er these pastries."

"Yes, sister-in-law, do you like it? Because I have to consider my taste, the pastries in my yard are all bland." Actually, her soul likes to eat some strong-flavored food, but from a health perspective, it is not recommended to eat things that are cold or hot in nature. Things that are neutral in nature usually don't taste very good.

"Not bad, light but not bland," said Madam Xue after taking a bite.

"Then sister-in-law, eat more. The food and snacks at the banquet later probably won't be very good."

"What's wrong?" Lu Zhilan asked curiously. Madam Zhou was a meticulous person who liked to pay attention to details. She had ingenious ideas about food and utensils.

"The banquet this time is being hosted by the fourth branch of the family."

"Fourth wife? Isn't that the illegitimate son?" All three legitimate sons are married, so why let the illegitimate son's wife host the birthday banquet?

Lu Zhiyao briefly recounted what had happened to the Zhou family recently.

Lu Zhilan affirmed her sister: "Back then, when we arranged your marriage, we chose Zhou Boheng because he was the youngest son of the legitimate wife, and he had two legitimate sisters-in-law. You don't need to worry about managing the household affairs. Let them fight it out, and you don't need to pay attention to them."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

There were no major mishaps at the birthday banquet, but there were a lot of minor flaws, such as the bowls and plates not being a set, and some of the pastries being a bit dry. The old lady smiled kindly and said, "This is the first time our fourth daughter-in-law has handled something, so please forgive her if there are any improprieties."

"Madam, you're too kind."

"That's great. It was my daughter's first time handling something, and she was so anxious that she cried."

"There's nothing wrong with it, Madam, you're too modest."

"The old lady is kind and loving; the younger generation is blessed."

A chorus of responses followed, creating a harmonious and lively atmosphere.

Only the fourth wife, Zhao, felt her face burning.

Lu Zhiyao looked down at the two porcelain plates of different colors in front of her: Originally, few people might have noticed these small flaws, but Old Madam Zhou directly asked everyone to forgive them, which was equivalent to reminding everyone to look for the flaws, and also showed her kindness and love as the legal mother.

"Sister Lu."

Lu Zhiyao was lost in thought when someone stood in front of her and spoke.

"Miss Xie?"

"Sister Lu, I'm engaged to the second young master of the Zheng family."

Lu Zhiyao looked puzzled. Which Zheng family? Why did she specifically come to tell me about the engagement?