Transmigrated into the body of the vicious first wife of a fallen prime minister

This statement carries considerable weight.

Upon hearing this, the maid's face turned deathly pale, and even her fingertips trembled slightly.

Shang Jue's tone contained no hint of belittling, yet it somehow managed to make people so angry they wanted to grind their teeth.

She just didn't dare to make a scene.

Even if Shang Jue is young, he is still the head manager of the Qi family in name only, and also the husband of the second young lady of the Qi family. He is different from these entertainers who come out to entertain people.

With a flick of his finger, he could make it impossible for her to stay in Jinling.

The maid lowered her head, forcing herself to suppress her embarrassment, and said in a low voice, "It was this servant who offended you."

Shang Jue didn't look at her again, coldly casting his gaze into the distance.

On the way to the pasture, the maid kept her head down, listening to the idle chatter of the stewards beside her.

Shang Jue rarely speaks; he's like an unyielding block of ice. But when he does utter a word or two, it always hits the nail on the head.

One of the stewards from Qingshanjian said, "I heard that this estate belongs to Old Master Hu. After we get on our horses, we should go and pay our respects to him."

The maid had vaguely heard people mention that this estate belonged to the Hu family of Jinling. The Hu family had only been in power for a little over ten years, but they had already established a firm foothold in the city.

The old master loved excitement, so he opened the pasture to a few upper-class families. The rules for entering the estate were extremely strict, requiring an introduction from a prominent figure.

These actresses are usually completely out of reach.

A moment later, the group arrived at a neatly trimmed meadow. As far as the eye could see, the lush green grass was a delight to behold.

People were already riding horses on the grassland; only their outlines could be seen from afar.

The pasture in the village is divided into two concentric circles. They were standing on the outer circle, while the person on horseback was on the inner circle, which is not usually open to outsiders.

Someone asked the horse steward, "Is the old master also at the estate today?"

The steward glanced at them and said, "It's the old master's granddaughter and her friend who have come to visit."

Grandpa's granddaughter?

The maid glanced at her enviously.

Those kinds of people are born into a position that she can never reach in her entire life.

The person in the inner circle seemed to have gotten tired of riding. About two or three hundred paces away, they dismounted, removed the veil covering their face, and revealed a bright and beautiful face.

The afternoon sun shone on her, and even the dust in the air seemed to pause for a moment for her.

Immediately afterwards, a large group of people surged up around her, some carrying water, some taking the whip, and some chatting and laughing with her, making quite a grand spectacle.

"Truly worthy of being the old master's granddaughter," the maid couldn't help but murmur in admiration.

With such a grand display, one might even have someone serving them water.

But when she turned her head, she noticed that the expressions on the faces of the managers were rather strange.

Hu Ying is the granddaughter of Old Master Hu. She is the eldest daughter of the Hu family.

I had seen these stewards a few times when I was in the city; they were dignified, beautiful, and unapproachable.

But at this moment, Miss Hu was smiling broadly as she stood beside the man who had dismounted, personally handing him water!

Who is that person?

But the person drinking the water was frowning, as if complaining that the tea wasn't good enough.

Hu Ying wasn't annoyed at all; she held the riding whip for her, looking quite pleased with herself.

The managers looked as if they had seen a ghost, their expressions more varied than the last.

The maidservant also snapped out of her daze at the strange looks on everyone's faces and looked up in surprise at the approaching person, only to find that the person surrounded by her was actually a young woman.

She only glanced at it once, but couldn't take her eyes off it.

The maid considered herself to be quite beautiful, but standing in front of this woman, she was completely outshone. In terms of both appearance and demeanor, she was far inferior to her.

With the sun and moon at our side, how can a pearl compete with our brilliance?

Qi He had been riding a horse for half a day, and his back was about to fall apart. He immediately missed the flat and soft mat in the martial arts school.

It wouldn't be appropriate for her to rub her lower back in public, as it would damage her reputation as the Second Miss Qi, so she had to force herself to act as if nothing was wrong.

Being a beautiful woman is tiring; being a dignified beautiful woman is even more tiring.

"My goodness." Hu Ying was stunned for a moment. "Isn't that your man?"

Qi He was about to say, "How come such a beautiful woman has a mouth?"

Why did you have to bring up that jerk when you were having a nice time relaxing with your girlfriends?

As a result, she turned her head to follow Hu Ying's gaze and met Shang Jue's eyes.

I also caught a glimpse of the delicate maid standing beside Shang Jue.

Wow, my husband seems to be living a good life!

"Calm down." Hu Ying had obviously seen it too. "Don't be angry, maybe it's a misunderstanding! Why don't you go and say hello to your husband?"

"My husband?" Qi He said calmly, "My husband died long ago."

"How should I greet them? Should I burn some incense?"

Hu Ying: "..."

I could tell; he was quite annoyed.

Qi He wasn't angry, but rather felt somewhat embarrassed.

Shang Jue, after all, had the reputation of being engaged to her. How could he openly bring people out like this? Where would that make Miss Qi feel?

Although she and Shang Jue were husband and wife in name only, how could outsiders know the truth?

All I could see was a delicate-looking maidservant by Shang Jue's side; who knows what she was saying about Qi He behind her back.

Tsk.

Hu Ying held her hand down, afraid that the young lady would suddenly lose her temper and whip her with a horsewhip.

Qi He merely glanced at it coldly before looking away.

"Look at the maidservant beside him, all powdered and mushy, she doesn't look like she comes from a respectable family at all." Hu Ying lowered her voice, "If you're unhappy about this, I'll send her away for you."

Qi He shook her head.

She wouldn't hold a grudge against a maid; besides, if Shang Jue really wanted to do something outside, she couldn't stop him.

But he still felt uneasy, so he sullenly kicked the grass at his feet.

"Let's go change your clothes." Hu Ying knew she was upset, so she didn't try to persuade her further. She just pulled her towards the side room where she would change.

Upon entering the side hall, the two groups of people met unexpectedly.

Qi He ignored the scrutinizing or amazed gazes falling on her, snorted inwardly, pretended not to see Shang Jue, and lowered her head to untie the laces on her boots.

But the ribbon seemed to be deliberately working against her; the more she tried to untangle it, the less she could, until finally she simply started to tear it.

Hu Ying wanted to step forward to help, but saw that Shang Jue had already come over and half-squatted down, deftly untied Qi He's sash, and then tied it back up.

Qi He snorted coldly in his heart, thinking, "You're smart enough to let him revive in your mind for a moment."

She simply let go completely, stretching her other leg out in front of Shang Jue, waiting for someone to do it for her.

Taking advantage of the moment, she glanced around at the various people with different expressions not far away.

The managers looked embarrassed, avoiding eye contact with her.

Among them was that maid, whose face was more than just unpleasant; she was biting her lip, her eyes slightly red, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Qi He was even more displeased.

What's wrong? She hasn't even caused her any trouble yet, and she's already acting all aggrieved?

It's as if she's the one who bullies others by abusing her power.

What's wrong?

However, Qi He was too lazy to argue with such people, so she looked away and waited for Shang Jue to tie her shoelaces before standing up.

Shang Jue fastened his belt, stood up, and said to the stewards indifferently, "I have other matters to attend to today and cannot keep you company any longer."

By this point, everyone could easily recognize who the young woman sitting in the side hall was.

In the entire city of Jinling, only the second young lady of the Qi family could make Shang Jue squat down to tie his shoelaces.

Everyone looked on with surprise and doubt. Wasn't it said that Miss Qi and Shang Jue had always been at odds?

Why does it look a little different today?

Before they could finish looking her over, Qi He lazily said, "I'm tired, I need to go back and rest."

From beginning to end, he didn't even spare a glance for the maid who had been accompanying Shang Jue.

The maid originally thought that at least Qi He would ask her a question or cause her trouble, even if that was better than being completely ignored.

But they didn't take her seriously at all.

The stark contrast caused the maid to clench her sleeves tightly, her nails almost digging into her palms, yet she still maintained a composed expression on her face.

If Qi He knew what she was thinking, she would definitely cry out that she was wronged.

Although she felt that the male lead had embarrassed her by bringing people outside, he was the male lead, so how could she care?

In this underworld romance, she was lucky to even be alive.

As for what the maid was thinking, she couldn't be bothered to care.

As they left the side hall, Hu Ying caught up with them and whispered, "You're just leaving like that? Aren't you going to ask who that maid is?"

Qi He continued walking, saying calmly, "Why are you asking? They're not my people."

Hu Ying opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then swallowed it back. After a long while, she sighed and said, "You really have a big heart."

Qi He thought to herself, it wasn't that she was carefree, it was that she simply didn't want to get involved and didn't dare to get involved.

She was too busy avoiding Shang Jue's affairs to dare get involved.

What's more, she has a close female friend at home. Have you ever seen her target Qi Lanlan?

Unless Qi Lanlan dances right in front of her, she won't even bother to glance at her.

If Shang Jue could elope with his confidante, she would be overjoyed!

The wind on the racecourse carried the scent of fresh grass, dispelling the previous stuffiness.

Qi He took a deep breath and suddenly felt that the slight unpleasantness she had just experienced wasn't so important.

In any case, her relationship with Shang Jue is just a formality. After this year, she should try to find a way to run away.

He can bring whomever he wants with him; what does it have to do with her?

Seeing that she looked more relaxed, Hu Ying stopped mentioning the maid and said with a smile, "You rode for so long, is your back still sore? I've had a carriage prepared, let's go back early."

Qi He nodded, then looked back again. Shang Jue was standing at the entrance of the side hall, watching her from a distance through the crowd.

His gaze was deep and unfathomable, its meaning unclear.

Qi He didn't look at him again, turned around and followed Hu Ying into the carriage.

As the carriage rumbled out of the village, Qi He leaned against the carriage wall, closed her eyes, and her mind was filled with all sorts of chaotic thoughts.

She and Shang Jue had gotten along peacefully for the past six months, and she gradually became less afraid of him.

Ultimately, that person was the male protagonist from the original story, and she was destined to be her nemesis.

No matter how much she pretended to be nonchalant, she never let her guard down.

But for now, she should think about what to eat for dinner.

She had been practicing martial arts for most of the day and riding horses for the other half, and she was starving.

Forget about the male lead, filling your stomach is the most important thing.

Seeing that she was keeping her eyes closed and not speaking, Hu Ying assumed she was still troubled by what had just happened, so she leaned closer to coax her into talking: "I heard that Qingfeng Restaurant has a new chef who makes an amazing roasted mutton. Shall we go and try it sometime?"

Qi He opened her eyes, her eyes brightening: "Really?"

Seeing that she had perked up, Hu Ying quickly nodded: "Of course it's true, when have I ever lied to you?"

Qi He finally showed a genuine smile, the first one she'd seen all day: "Then it's settled, we'll go another day!"

The carriage slowly descended the mountain road, gradually leaving Zhuangzi behind.

As Qi He gazed at the receding grassland outside the window, she suddenly recalled the slightly cool fingertips of Shang Jue as he tied her shoelaces. A thought stirred within her for no apparent reason, but she quickly suppressed it.

Don't even think about it.

That's the male lead, the one who's going to kill her in the future.

There is only superficial peace between them; nothing else exists, nor should there be.