"No! Master Wenzhe, please! I am innocent! Someone is setting me up!" Li Mei’s desperate screams echoed through the courtyard as the heavy-handed estate guards grabbed her by the arms.

They dragged her backward, her boots scraping uselessly against the stone floor. She kept her tear-filled eyes locked onto Wenzhe until the heavy wooden gates shut behind her, cutting off her cries.

The courtyard fell into a tense, uneasy silence.

The head maid stepped forward carefully, holding the silk-wrapped bundle. She bowed deeply and presented it to Su Yueqing. "Young Madame, here is your *Bi Luo* jade hairpin. It is perfectly unharmed."

Su Yueqing took the jewelry, her fingers brushing against the cold jade. Externally, she maintained her cold, proud queen persona, but internally, her mind was an absolute trainwreck of screaming thoughts.

[Nine, what the hell is happening?!]

Su Yueqing was practically ripping her hair out in her own head.

[The plot is completely derailed! Wenzhe is supposed to be a protective male lead who shields his beloved maid from his toxic wife! Why did he just let them throw her in a woodshed?! Is his brain broken?!]

Trying to force the script back on track, Su Yueqing narrowed her eyes and looked at the head maid. "Now that the thief has been caught red-handed, how exactly do the household rules punish a servant who steals from a master?"

The head maid swallowed hard, glancing nervously at the Duchess before answering. "Replying to Young Madame... according to the estate rules, a thief is to be given twenty strokes of the heavy board, have their salary docked for six months, and then be kicked out of the household permanently."

A cruel, dark smile spread across Su Yueqing’s face. She turned her gaze slowly toward Wenzhe, who was still standing completely still at the base of the steps. She put on her best mocking, villainous tone.

"Husband," Su Yueqing purred, tilting her head. "Are you okay with what they are going to do to her? She was a maid in your courtyard, after all. Surely, you don’t think twenty strokes is too harsh for someone who tried to steal my dowry?"

She leaned forward slightly, eagerly waiting for him to finally snap.

[Come on, Wenzhe! This is your cue!] her inner voice pleaded desperately.

[Say it’s too harsh! Defend her honor! Yell at me for being a heartless monster so I can get my final villain points and leave!]***

Wenzhe looked up at his wife.

Without saying a single word, Wenzhe simply turned around, his long military cloak swirling behind him, and walked straight out of the courtyard. He left her completely ignored.

Su Yueqing’s jaw instantly dropped in real life.

[HE JUST LEFT?!] her mind shrieked in pure, unadulterated horror.

[HE DIDN’T EVEN REPLY?! WENZHE, YOU IDIOT, COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME!]

The Old Madame stared at the empty space where Wenzhe had just been standing, then slowly turned her head toward Su Yueqing. She shook her head, a deep sigh escaping her lips.

"Meiyun," the Old Madame said, leaning heavily on her cane as she spoke to the Duchess. "Look at her behavior. We need to hire a strict tutor to teach her proper etiquette. A young madame of the Xi family shouldn’t be making such a loud, unrefined scene in the morning."

Duchess Lin Meiyun didn’t look angry at all. Instead, she just smiled slightly, her eyes twinkling with a secret amusement. She had heard every single bit of Su Yueqing’s frantic inner panic about "villain points" and "broken plots."

"Mother, I’m not sure that would solve whatever is going on here," the Duchess replied softly, her tone full of hidden meaning. She knew a lesson in etiquette wouldn’t fix a daughter-in-law whose brain was currently screaming at a robotic system.

While the adults stood there trying to process the bizarre situation, little Anran suddenly let go of Lanyin’s skirts. With a bright, innocent smile on her chubby face, the little girl trotted right up the stone steps toward Su Yueqing.

"Sister-in-law!" Anran greeted her warmly, her big eyes blinking up at her. "Your hair stick is so shiny! Is the hide-and-seek game finished now? Did the mean maid lose the game?"

Su Yueqing, who was still frozen in shock because Wenzhe had walked out on her, looked down at the tiny girl standing by her knees.

Externally, Su Yueqing quickly forced her eyebrows to knit together into a harsh, cold glare. "Hmph! What hide-and-seek? A thief is a thief. Go back to your sister before I decide to get angry at you too!"

But the second she looked at Anran’s chubby cheeks and big, sparkling eyes, her inner voice completely betrayed her fake scowl. The family’s ears were instantly hit with a massive wave of internal squealing.

[OH MY GOD, SHE IS SO FREAKING CUTE!]

Su Yueqing’s mind practically exploded with hearts.

[Look at those tiny cheeks! I just want to squish them! Nine, look at her! She’s like a little marshmallow! Why is she so adorable?! No, wait, stay strong, Yueqing! You are a toxic villainess! Don’t smile at the child! Do not give in to the marshmallow!]

Anran, who heard the word "marshmallow" loud and clear in her head, smiled even wider, completely unafraid of the mean face Su Yueqing was trying so hard to maintain.

Seeing little Anran standing so close to Su Yueqing without any fear, the young girls all smiled slightly. The terrifying monster image Su Yueqing was trying so hard to project completely fell apart because of her loud, squealing internal thoughts.

Lanyin stepped forward, looking up at her mother with a knowing glint in her eyes. "Mother, I think it’s best we stay with Sister-in-law today. We can have breakfast right here with her so she won’t make another scene."

Behind them, Xi Yunhao nudged Gu Xiang with his elbow and whispered in a low voice, "Man, I wonder how Big Brother is coping with all this right now. First his favorite maid gets locked up, and now his wife is acting like a tyrant. Do you think he’ll actually try to help Li Mei later behind our backs?"

Gu Xiang snorted, shaking his head. "Are you kidding? With Sister-in-law watching him like a hawk? If he tries to sneak that maid out of the woodshed, Sister-in-law will probably flip the entire estate upside down—"

*Smack!*

Before Gu Xiang could finish his sentence, a heavy hand came down right on the back of his head. This time, it wasn’t his mother, it was his father, Gu Zhen, who gave him a sharp glare to shut his mouth.

Aunt Xi Ronghua shook her head at the boys, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she looked toward the Duchess. "Don’t mind them, Meiyun. Lanyin is right, we should eat together. As for Wenzhe, he’s a grown man. He will clean up his own mess himself."

The family shared a light laugh at the boys’ silly antics.

But just as they were all about to turn around and head toward the dining table to eat breakfast together, Su Yueqing’s very next internal thought suddenly echoed clearly in all of their minds, causing every single family member to instantly freeze right in their tracks.

Su Yueqing was still looking down at Anran, her face completely blank and calm. But inside her head, her inner voice sounded thoughtful, like she was digging through old memories.

[Wait... I remember this small marshmallow is supposed to have a younger brother, right? What was his name again? Huh... Xi Mingyu...]

The Duchess and the Old Madame completely held their breath, their hearts skipping a beat.

[Ah! I remember now,] Su Yueqing’s mind continued, a tinge of genuine pity softening her thoughts.

[Though he is quite sickly right now, isn’t he? If I remember the original plot line correctly, his chronic illness gets so bad that he actually doesn’t have much time left...]