The temperamental white moonlight is back, and the entire Marquis's family obediently calls him

Chu Yuan'er escorted Zhou Ming'an back to Longcui Pavilion, and the two chatted intimately for a while.

After seeing Chu Yuan'er off, Cuilan brought in a cup of hot tea. Seeing her mistress sitting at her desk in a daze, she softly asked, "Is Miss still worried about the marriage?"

"In my opinion, Miss Chu is right. Once Young Master Liu passes the imperial examination, perhaps Madam will relent."

"I hope so..." Zhou Ming'an nodded, then shook his head. "But this isn't the only thing I'm worried about."

There are fewer and fewer people in the manor who can truly help her now.

With their father already in this state, and their second brother having no say in the matter.

If she has another conflict or argument with her mother, her father will probably side with her mother.

What about her?

What should she do?

"Don't worry about these things, Miss. Don't we still have Miss Chu? Everyone in the manor knows that Miss Chu is kind-hearted, and she and you have a long-standing relationship. She treats you like her own child. As long as Miss Chu is still in the manor, she will definitely speak up for you."

Zhou Ming'an frowned slightly: "But you saw how Father was today. If it weren't for Second Brother speaking up, Aunt Chu wouldn't even be able to have dinner with us. If something really happened, would Aunt Chu really have any say in Father's eyes?"

"That's true," Cuilan tilted her head and sighed, "Back when the Madam and the Marquis had a falling out, Miss Chu was someone who could speak up for them, and the Marquis was willing to take her advice."

"Back then, if Second Master ever angered the Marquis, Miss Chu would offer some advice and things would be much better."

"Although the Marquis and the Old Madam are closer now, in my opinion, it's not as good as it was when they were at odds. At least Miss Chu is on our side, which is beneficial to us."

Cuilan paused, a look of worry in her eyes: "It's true that you are kind-hearted, and it's certainly true that you hope for harmony between the Marquis and the Old Madam. However, when it really matters, you still need to think about yourself."

Zhou Ming paused for a moment, then asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Cuilan lowered her head and said softly, "What did this servant mean? I just hope that you are well, my master. Only when you are well can I be well."

"I was chosen by you, Miss, and I will obey your every command. I will go through fire and water for you as long as you have a plan."

Zhou Ming'an hesitated, but ultimately did not continue asking.

She took a deep breath and waved to Cuilan.

"Alright, you can go out now. I need to be alone for a while."

She naturally understood what Cuilan was saying.

It's clear that she's not qualified to speak alone right now. Aunt Chu is willing to help her, but at this moment, Aunt Chu can't say anything either.

If they wanted Aunt Chu to have a place in the Marquis's mansion, they could only hope that their father and mother's relationship wasn't that good.

If we leave her to wait idly, who knows how long she'll have to wait.

If she were to do anything, it would only be to find a way to sabotage her father and mother's relationship.

But as soon as this thought popped into his head, Zhou Ming'an was startled.

She never imagined things would develop in this direction.

No matter how harshly her mother treated her or suppressed her in the past, she never thought of interfering or affecting her father and mother's relationship.

She even often wondered if her mother would treat her better if her parents had a harmonious relationship.

But when the moment actually arrived, she felt somewhat lost.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened, the moon rose high in the sky, and winter's chill deepened.

Zhou Ming'an put on an overcoat and unknowingly went out the door, arriving at the mimosa tree in the backyard.

She gently stroked the rough, mottled texture of the tree trunk, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

"Oh, tree, I really don't know what to do."

"These past few days, you haven't responded to my attempts to talk to you. Do you also think I'm a troublesome child?"

"Perhaps that's what my father thought too, which is why he abandoned me. Now, the last person in the manor who cares about me is Aunt Chu, who is not related to me by blood."

"Do I really have to find a way to ruin their relationship for my own benefit? But if I do that, I feel like I'm betraying my own conscience."

"Great tree, great tree, if you can hear me, could you give me some guidance and tell me what to do?"

"Miss, you've gone out again? It's so cold, what if you catch a cold? Come in and warm yourself by the fire," Cuilan called out as she opened the window.

Zhou Ming'an responded and jumped off the swing into the house.

No one noticed that a dark figure flashed past outside the Green Jade Pavilion, which was separated by a wall.

On the other side, Liu Muqiu and her husband returned to the East Courtyard. They were planning to read for a while before washing up and going to bed, but Madam Wan walked in with a serious expression and whispered something to Liu Muqiu.

The book in Liu Muqiu's hand trembled and fell to the ground.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Shili looked over when he heard the voice.

Liu Muqiu hurriedly said, "Butler Sun just sent someone in to say that Mu Yuan has arrived."

Zhou Shili was taken aback: "So late?"

The two exchanged a glance and realized that something was wrong.

"I'll go with you to take a look. Don't worry, I'm here."

Zhou Shili held his wife's hand and patted it reassuringly.

The two quickly changed their clothes and rushed to the front yard.

Upon entering the hall, one could see Liu Muyuan sitting there, looking dejected, his clothes somewhat wrinkled and ill-fitting.

Upon seeing his sister for the first time, Liu Muyuan broke into a smile.

He soon realized that the couple had come together, and his smile became somewhat uneasy.

"Mu Yuan, what's going on? Why are you here so late?" Liu Mu Qiu took a few quick steps and nervously looked her younger brother up and down.

She quickly noticed something was wrong: "Isn't this dress from a couple of years ago? It's a bit too small for you now, you should have taken it off a long time ago. Why are you wearing it again today? Where are your other clothes?"

"No, I washed all my other clothes, so I'll just wear this for now. I hope you won't mind, sister?" Liu Muyuan said with a smile, but Liu Muqiu obviously wouldn't believe him easily.

"Even if it's just making do, it shouldn't be this bad. Did Wang mistreat you again? Or did her two children do something?"

Liu Muyuan slowly lowered his head and said nothing more, but he had already tacitly accepted his sister's guess.

"Outrageous! You're a scholar now, how dare she treat you like this? She actually kicked you out of the house so late! I'm going to find her!"

Liu Muqiu was always gentle and graceful, but seeing her younger brother being treated like this today filled her with grief and anger. She just wanted to rush home and confront Wang Shi.

But Liu Muyuan quickly shook his head: "She didn't kick me out, sister, I left on my own."