Suppressing her doubts, Xia Yingyu continued to exchange pleasantries with Mrs. Li.

"Of course, I’ll be sure to visit in the future," Xia Yingyu said with a smile. "And Mrs. Li, you should come over whenever you have the time. Our family would be more than happy to have you. Your presence would brighten our humble home."

"Yes, yes, I’ll be sure to visit often in the future," Mrs. Li said, smiling. After saying her goodbyes to Xia Yingyu, she prepared to leave.

Xia Yingyu started to see Mrs. Li to the door, but Wang Lianhua chimed in with a smile, "Yingyu, you have a big belly. Don’t come out. Just rest at home. I’ll see Mrs. Li out!"

"Alright then," Xia Yingyu said with a smile. She watched them leave before closing the door and letting out a long sigh of relief.

Zhao Nuanyue helped her mother to the sofa. She looked up, saying nervously, "Mom, I can’t help but feel that Wang Lianhua was being overly nice today. Do you remember how I used to be in this house? I did the most work and got the worst food, yet Wang Lianhua would go around telling everyone I was lazy, gluttonous, and utterly incorrigible. Plus, we had that unpleasant argument the moment we walked in the door yesterday. She detests me, so why would she ever speak so well of me in front of an outsider?"

Hearing her daughter’s question, Xia Yingyu felt just as puzzled. She had been confused earlier as well. "Mrs. Li is the wife of your stepfather’s superior," she explained. "Perhaps she just didn’t want to lose face in front of an outsider and jeopardize your stepfather’s promotion. After all, the reviews are happening now, and he’s at a critical moment. We can’t have any trouble. Otherwise, even someone as clumsy with words as me wouldn’t be fawning over Mrs. Li like that!"

At that moment, Zhao Nuanyue didn’t feel any reaction from the Dragon Bright Grass on her neck. From this, she could conclude that her mother was still unaware of Wang Lianhua and Zhao Jinghai’s plans.

"Mom, I have a bad feeling. I just think they’re up to no good," Zhao Nuanyue said, looking at her mother with a panicked and uncertain expression. "It’s not just Wang Lianhua’s attitude, Mrs. Li’s was strange too. Don’t you think she was being overly enthusiastic toward me? It was too much. I mean, Wang Lianhua might have been praising me because she didn’t want to air our dirty laundry in public, but Mrs. Li is so high and mighty. There was absolutely no need for her to be so accommodating to our family with her words! When she held my hand just now, I could clearly feel something was wrong."

"Uh..." Xia Yingyu froze. She immediately recalled her own earlier doubts and found it incredible that her daughter had the same feeling. "Then... then why would Mrs. Li do that? I’m the one who’s supposed to be fawning over her, but it was the other way around. It was like she was trying to suck up to me!"

Something was wrong. Very wrong. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Outside, the social hierarchy might not be so obvious, but within this compound, the ranks were crystal clear. The saying ’a higher rank is enough to crush you’ was no mere exaggeration here.

Normally, when Mrs. Li saw the families of the staff, she would smile amiably, but you could clearly feel the condescension in her eyes.

But today, she had been approachable—even overly enthusiastic.

"Nuanyue, you’re right. Something is definitely off," Xia Yingyu said with a frown. "It’s so out of character. Let me think about this carefully!"

As Xia Yingyu sank into thought, Zhao Nuanyue’s Divine Sense followed the small, man-made stream in the compound, trailing behind Wang Lianhua and Mrs. Li and listening to their conversation.

"I say, Granny Wang, it seems your daughter-in-law still doesn’t know about our plan. What if it gets exposed and she raises a huge fuss?" Mrs. Li fretted, feeling that the whole thing was unreliable. Even though she was a division commander’s wife, she couldn’t just brazenly make things difficult for others. After all, she had a reputation to uphold.

Hearing this, Wang Lianhua chuckled smugly. "Oh, come on, Mrs. Li, you’re being too cautious. My daughter-in-law is soft-hearted. If she found out now, who knows what would happen. But once we succeed, and that damned girl Zhao Nuanyue becomes part of your family, what can she do? Besides, Jinghai works under your husband. Whether for Zhao Nuanyue’s reputation or my son’s future, even if Xia Yingyu doesn’t agree, what choice will she have!"

These words put Mrs. Li’s mind at ease. After seeing Zhao Nuanyue, she couldn’t stomach the thought of any of the other country girls that had been introduced to her. Her son might be a fool, but he had a good background and a fortunate lot in life. With loving and capable parents like her and her husband making arrangements, he was certain to find a good wife.

"Good. In any case, I will not allow any mistakes with this matter," Mrs. Li said with a frown. "You listen to me, or else..."

"It won’t happen, I guarantee it," Wang Lianhua said with a smile. "Once it’s done, all you have to do is say a few sweet words and arrange a respectable job for Zhao Nuanyue. My daughter-in-law will be overjoyed. Why would she cause a scene?"

As she said this, Wang Lianhua suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. ’True, Zhao Nuanyue would be married to a fool, but her future in-laws would be a family they wouldn’t dare to provoke. She’d even get a respectable job. Wouldn’t that mean she’d outshine my own biological granddaughter?’

’No,’ she thought. ’After this is over, I’ll have to plot something else. I absolutely cannot let Zhao Nuanyue have a better life than Huilan and get to walk all over me.’

’Heh,’ she mused. ’The Li family is too powerful to provoke, but I can still smear Zhao Nuanyue’s name. To keep her from attracting other men, the Li family will naturally lock her up at home to serve that fool and their big family. What chance would she have to go out and work then?’

Mrs. Li was very satisfied with this. She nodded and said, "Alright then. But you said this would start yesterday. I waited for a long time, but you never came. What happened?"

"Sigh. Yesterday, we put the drug in the fish, which Zhao Nuanyue usually loves," Wang Lianhua explained. "But that damned girl actually said there’s plenty of fish in the countryside and she was sick of it! She wanted to eat meat instead. So last night, Zhao Nuanyue was completely lucid, and we didn’t dare make a move. But it will definitely work tonight. I bought a chicken this morning to make soup. I refuse to believe that gluttonous girl will be able to resist!"

"Hmm, perhaps your method is sound, but is it possible Zhao Nuanyue has discovered something?" Mrs. Li was more cautious. Although she had found Zhao Nuanyue to be very well-behaved, she also felt the girl wasn’t as simple and withdrawn as she might have seemed.

"Impossible," Wang Lianhua said with a laugh. "We’ve been very discreet. Even Xia Yingyu has no idea, let alone a young girl who just got back from the countryside."

"Mm, that’s good then." Mrs. Li reiterated her instructions, confirming the plan again. "Alright, carry on with it tonight. Don’t mess it up."

"Yes, yes, definitely," Wang Lianhua said, enthusiastically seeing Mrs. Li off. Then, instead of going home, she went to the store to buy some sugar to make dessert. She refused to believe Zhao Nuanyue could escape her clutches tonight!

As Zhao Nuanyue listened to Wang Lianhua and Mrs. Li’s conversation, a chill ran down her spine!