The young lady, Alán, was sixteen or seventeen years old, in the prime of her youth. She had a delicate appearance, wore exquisite clothes, and looked even more refined than an ordinary familys daughter.

  She cast a disdainful glance at Zhang Qi and said with her head held high: "Follow me."

  Having said that, he turned and walked away with a flick of his hand.

  Zhang Qi held A Lus hand and quietly followed behind her.

  A Lu was a bit nervous, she looked around and couldnt help but lean in front of Zhang Qi, whispering: "A Qi, are you okay?"

  Since being in a relationship with Zhang Qi, Ah Lu has been somewhat dependent on her. Although she is naturally straightforward and righteous, and likes to take the lead for others.

  Zhang Qi shook her head and said in a low voice, "Dont worry."

  "But you want to see your mother. My legs are trembling..."

  Zhang Qian patted her hand gently and said in a low voice, "Its really okay."

  She said this with an unusual calmness, and Ah Lu couldnt help but calm down along with her. She chuckled softly and said in a cheerful tone, "If Ah Qiu says its fine, then its fine." She glanced at Ah Lan who was more than ten steps away from the two of them, looking impatient and unwilling to intervene, and continued chatting, "Ah Qiu, I feel like that Xiao Lang has been staring at you all along. Could he be interested in you?"

  Zhang Qi smiled and replied in a low voice: "Whats the point of making people happy now? Am I going to be sent over to be a concubine for nothing?"

  A Lu heard this, and suddenly had no strength. She murmured: "I dont like being a concubine either." In this era, marriage was very important for family bloodlines, especially when it came to door-to-door matches. This emphasis on family background didnt even consider official positions. Take the current royal family, for example - although they had revised their genealogy and claimed to be descended from Han Chen Shi, everyone knew that their ancestors were actually from the humble Longxing Chen clan. And even though someone from the Longxing Chen clan had become emperor, they were still considered a lowly family! The great families of the land were not enthusiastic about marrying into the imperial family - after all, werent they just commoners, unworthy of their noble bloodlines?

  In such a situation, people like them would be concubines of their hearts desire, and they would never have the opportunity to rise above this station in life. The status of the main wife must be noble, and her background must also be strong. If one were to become a concubine without any feelings or emotions, then it would be fine. But if one truly had feelings and emotions for someone else, whether the main wife would tolerate it is still a question!

  The whispers of the two finally made Ah Lan, who was in front, dissatisfied. She said without turning her head, with a somewhat sarcastic tone: "When we arrive at the ladys place, its better to be quiet."

  As soon as the sound fell, Chen Qi and the other person both quieted down at the same time.

  After walking for another quarter of an hour, Alang stopped and said, "Were here."

  After dropping these two words, her face was filled with smiles, and she rushed up two steps to a maid who had just emerged from the curtain and was standing on the stairs looking down. She curtsied and said in a crisp tone: "Xiang sister, this one is brought by Lang Zhus servant, saying its Lang Zhus bloodline, from the countryside."

  As soon as the voice came out, several maids nearby looked at Zhang Qi together.

  At this time, Zhang Qi had already let go of A Lus hand. No matter how close she was to A Lu, A Lu was just a maid, and she was the mistress. The mistress and the maid holding hands like this, without any distinction between them, if seen by someone above, she might just get scolded, but A Lu would definitely suffer from hunger and beatings. She wouldnt do something so unnecessary.

  A-shiang, a senior maid standing on the steps, stared at Zhang Qi and said, "Wait a minute." After that, she lifted the curtain and went inside.

  "Not long after, Ah Xiangs voice came, Tell her to come in."

  "Yes."

  "Come on in."

  Zhang Qi lowered her head and quietly entered the room.

  As she entered the room, she didnt look around, but simply knelt down and called out: "A Gui has seen the mistress." In the room, before the master had given permission, she did not call out to her mother.

  Sitting on the couch was a woman in her thirties, Zhang Xiaos wife, with a fair and slightly plump complexion. Her features were only dignified, with a serious expression, and she rarely smiled. In terms of appearance, she looked several years older than her husband.

  Xiao lowered his head and glanced at Zhang Qi, who was kneeling on the ground, saying, "Get up."

  "Yes."

  She handed the tea to the maid and said indifferently, "Go find Wen Ma and let her arrange something for you." After that, she waved her hand, indicating Zhang Qi to leave - not even caring what Zhang Qi looked like.

  This is the benefit of a clear hierarchy. Zhang Qi thought to herself: Even if her husband had let her come, what would it matter? As an illegitimate daughter, she couldnt possibly attract her attention. Of course, most importantly, Zhang Qi had been under her nose for three months now, and up until this point, the woman still hadnt found anything about this little girl worth paying attention to.

  This was exactly what Zhang Qi wanted. As she stepped down, she said listlessly: "I have a close maid named A Lu..."

  Xiao didnt wait for her to finish speaking, waved his hand and said: "I know, just follow you." He actually called a maid his friend, country bumpkins are indeed country bumpkins, not even a bit of awareness as the master.

  Xiaos family didnt have the mood to educate this illegitimate daughter, they just contemptuously hinted for her to leave quickly.

  As soon as Zhang Qi walked out, Ah Lu hurried forward and grasped her hand, asking in a low voice: "How was it?"

  In front of and behind her were all mistresses, Ah Lu wouldnt talk to her much. She smiled and didnt open her mouth, taking Ah Lu to find Wen Ma.

  When Mother Wu received the news, she immediately arranged a place for Zhang Gui to live. The place was between the rooms of the other daughters-in-law and the maidservants, in a rather remote location, with weeds growing as deep as her knees in the courtyard. However, compared to where Zhang Gui used to live, this new place not only had three rooms but also solid houses with tightly covered roofs, even the paper windows were pasted more securely than before.

  Zhang Qi and A Lu formally moved in after running back to their original residence twice and moving all the things back.

  As Zhang Qi had expected, a day passed and Zhang Shierlang did not send anyone to summon her.