A Difficult Situation

She finished speaking with all her might, her lips trembling slightly, tears welling up in her eyes.

She quickly stood up, ran a few steps, and went into the inner room without looking back.

Fushu did not go in to comfort her.

She was the only maid who had followed Zhao Ruyu from the Zhao Residence into the Prince's mansion. Old Maidservant Shi hadn't left, she had to stay here to talk to Old Maidservant Shi and give her a reward.

She reached into her sleeve pocket and rummaged around, taking out a few copper coins. After hesitating for a moment, she put two back in, walked up to the old woman, and stuffed the money into her hand. The whole action was done discreetly, as she dared not let anyone see how much money she gave the old woman.

There were also two maids from the Prince Jingping's Estate's residence in the room.

It wasn't that Consort of Prince of Jingping and the Fourth Young Mistress didn't treat them well or were willing to assign people to serve Zhao Ruyu. The only purpose of sending these two maids, besides monitoring them, was to make sarcastic remarks.

These two maids did nothing here, and Zhao Ruyu couldn't get them to do anything; but they were extremely quick with their tongues, and the words they uttered were so sarcastic that Zhao Ruyu and her maid wanted to tear their mouths apart at times.

In her previous life, Zhao Ruyu had been the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan, and she was quite skilled at disciplining servants. But here, she had neither money nor connections, and she couldn't even order someone to slap the two maids.

These two girls had grown up with Xiao Sijie since they were little, and they were used to flattering Xiao Sijie, so Xiao Sijie had a very good impression of them.

The two women were also very good at pretending. When Xiao Sijie came to her courtyard, they would act as if they were honest, obedient, and diligent. Sometimes they would even pretend to be wronged, as if Zhao Ruxi and her servants had bullied them. This made it impossible for Zhao Ruyu to complain.

Therefore, Zhao Ruyu and Fushu are living an extremely frustrating life right now.

"Thank you for making the trip." Fushu the old woman would make a fuss when she saw the few copper coins, Fushu quickly stuffed the money into her hand and said, "Let me see you out."

After the old woman and the Fushu left, she felt the five copper coins in her palm and was immediately stunned.

She had certainly seen rewards of five copper coins before, and the Earl of Suiping's Residence wasn't an extremely wealthy family. Sometimes, when servants did things in a way that pleased their masters, they would be rewarded with a few copper coins.

But that was within the household, and they were just doing their duties; moreover, they were servants of the household and received monthly stipends. What she did wasn't a great achievement, so it was only right that she received a small reward.

She had just traveled a long way from the Earl of Suiping's Residence to the Prince Jingping's Estate, wearing out her shoes several times over, and had to endure all sorts of difficulties from the servants of the Prince Jingping's Estate. She was physically and mentally exhausted, so no matter what, Zhao Ruyu and her servant should not have given her such a small reward.

However, the fact that she was chosen to deliver the goods shows how clever she is. She glanced at the two maids who were staring at them like lanterns, said nothing, and turned to follow Fushu out the door.

After descending the steps and exiting the courtyard gate, seeing that no one was around, Fushu said apologetically to the old woman, "Our young lady is having a very hard time here. Not only does she not receive a monthly allowance, but the food she eats is raw and spoiled, and she is constantly subjected to veiled insults from those two maids."

She grasped the old woman's hand. "Nanny Shi, could you go back and talk to the master, the eldest young master, and the second young master, and ask them to send you to visit the young lady more often? Now that the fifth young lady is the Consort of the Prince of Qi, although our young lady is now a concubine and can no longer be a proper relative of the fifth young lady, as long as we keep in touch, the people of the Prince Jingping's Estate's Mansion will not make things difficult for the young lady out of respect for the fifth young lady."

At this point, she couldn't help but sob.

After Zhao Ruyu married into the family, although Zhao Yuanliang and Zhao Jing'an were very angry, they still remembered her and sent her things twice through the old woman. But no matter how difficult things were, the girl never told the Old Maidservant Shi about her situation, nor did she allow Fushu to tell her.

She said she chose this path herself, and no matter how difficult it is, she has to grit her teeth and keep going. If others knew, they would probably laugh at her.

But Fushu couldn't bear it any longer, especially after learning that the Fifth Miss was going to marry into the royal family and become the Consort of the Prince of Qi.

She now feels deep remorse and regret. She should have desperately stopped the girl or secretly told the young master that she was going to become a concubine in the Prince Jingping's Estate.

It was only one month short. If the girl had come in a month later, she could have married into a good family because of the Fifth Sister. She would never have gone astray and ended up here living such a life, being mistreated and abused.

Old Maidservant Shi came three times, and even without Fushu saying anything, she could see the predicament of the master and servant.

The second branch of the Zhao Family was, after all, related to the Earl of Suiping's Residence, and were also noble families before the family split up. Even if Zhao Ruyu came in as a concubine, out of consideration for their shared noble status, the people of the Prince Jingping's Estate's Mansion should at least let her in. Even if they didn't let her in, they would at least be polite. Why would they have to stuff large sums of money into her hands and say all sorts of nice things just to give her a few things?

She nodded and said, "Don't worry, I understand. I'll tell Master, the eldest young master, and the second young master when I get back. But..."

She looked at Fushu with sympathy. "Both the Earl of Suiping's Residence and the Zhao Family have concubines. You know what the situation is like for a concubine in the mansion. Unless there's something important, her family isn't allowed to visit often. Fifth Miss's marriage is still at least half a year away. If the Prince Jingping's Estate doesn't give us face and doesn't let me send things over, even the master and the eldest young master can't do anything about it."

Fushu, who had been holding back her tears for so long, suddenly burst into tears. She covered her mouth with her handkerchief and cried, "Is there really no other way? My daughter and I really can't bear to stay here any longer. Master and Second Young Master, can you bear to watch my daughter die like this?"

Old Maidservant Shi sighed, "Actually, it's not that there's no way."

Fushu raised her head, her tearful eyes filled with hope. "Granny, please tell me."

"If Sixth Miss were to write a letter to Fifth Miss, asking her to send someone to deliver things to her, the people here would certainly stop mistreating you."

The light in Fushu's eyes gradually faded.

For some reason, her daughter and the fifth daughter never got along from the moment they met. The two never had a harmonious time, let alone any sisterly affection.

This was how it was before the family divided. Now that the family has divided, and their own daughter has become a concubine, how could the Fifth Princess, the future Consort of the Prince of Qi, possibly lower herself to associate with her daughter again? Wouldn't that be putting herself on the same level as a concubine, belittling herself?

Furthermore, her daughter is strong-willed by nature; she doesn't even let the master, the eldest son, or the second son know her situation. How could she possibly write a letter to the fifth young lady for help, only to humiliate herself?

She lowered her eyes, and a tear fell onto her lapel.

She curtsied and said, "Thank you for your advice, Granny. I understand. I will persuade the young lady."