Lady Jiang's face also showed joy, her eyes turning towards the frail Jiang Ruan.
She stood up, walked over, her words though gentle, carried an air of unyieldable authority.
"Jiang Ruan, our Jiang Family has treated you well. You must take good care of the baby, and for the baby's sake, do not go anywhere before the birth. Stay in the Jiang Family residence."
Jiang Ruan suddenly raised her head, "Lady Jiang... I can't, my mother has no one to take care of her, and I need to earn money for her treatment."
Lady Jiang's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, "The child in your belly is the most important right now. For your mother, I will send someone to take care of her. Don't you worry. If anything happens to this child, neither you nor I can afford the consequences, do you hear me?"
Jiang Ruan clenched her fingers tightly, and then, she heard the commanding voice of Lady Jiang.
"Take Jiang Ruan to the back courtyard, look after her well. If anything goes wrong, you can't cover for it!"
Jiang Ruan gently tugged at her lips, a bitter self-mocking smile on her face.
In the end, she had become Jiang Yuning's tool for bearing children.
Even if the child was born later, the baby wouldn't recognize her or call her mother.
That was Jiang Yuning and Zhan Xiaohan's child.
From birth, it would have nothing to do with her.
Watching Jiang Ruan being taken away, Jiang Yuning was still somewhat uneasy, tugged at Lady Jiang's arm, "Mom, there shouldn't be any problems, right? I'm afraid Jiang Ruan will cause trouble."
"What trouble can she cause? Now, she has nowhere else to go but the Jiang Family. But from now on, Yuning, you're not allowed to go out and mess around anymore. Don't get exposed by being careless, understand? You're not allowed to go to the bar anymore either!"
Jiang Yuning, upon hearing this, obediently agreed on the surface, "Alright, alright, mom, I know. I always do a strict job keeping secrets, dad has never found out, and how would Xiaohan discover!"
"Be good, once you marry into the Zhan Family, our Jiang Family will also rise to the heavens, and join the ranks of high society. None of your classmates will compare to you."
Jiang Yuning curled her lips, playfully embracing Lady Jiang, "Mom, that bitch Jiang Ruan, surely she's not used to living such a comfortable life. Why not make her work as a maid and clean the house? Moving around is good for her body."
"You child, how can someone in her condition..."
Before Lady Jiang could finish, she was interrupted by Jiang Yuning's coquettish protest.
"Mom, sweeping the floor and cooking aren't heavy work, plus her pregnancy is still early on. Otherwise, letting her freeload in our house without doing anything would be too easy on her! Besides, that wretched woman's mother almost snatched my dad away; you can't miss the chance to torment her!"
As she finished speaking, Lady Jiang's face instantly grew colder.
Li Xiangyu... had always been a shadow in her heart!
And her daughter Jiang Yuning always seemed to fall short of that wretched woman's daughter.
Even the exams had been passed by forcing Jiang Ruan to disguise herself as Yuning and take the test as the top scholar of the city!
Lady Jiang's beautiful eyes slightly lifted, looking towards the butler who came over.
"Being pregnant does indeed require exercise, Butler Li, supervise Jiang Ruan closely, and make sure she does all the menial chores!"
Upon hearing this, Butler Li's dark face immediately beamed with happiness, as the normally stingy Jiang Family still required her to cook and mop the floors.
Now, she didn't have to do any of it!
"Yes, madam! I will make sure this little bitch does her work!"
Jiang Yuning warned her, her words sharp and ruthless.
"Butler Li, just make sure you don't work her so hard that the child in her stomach dies, otherwise I will have your head!"
Butler Li, a farmer's daughter, wasn't bothered in the least.
"Yes, miss, back in our youth when we were having kids, we worked in the fields right up until the night before giving birth. Jiang Ruan is so young and healthy, she could take on all the dirty, tiring jobs of the Jiang Family without an issue, don't you worry!"
Jiang Yuning, smug, looked towards Jiang Ruan's room, "Hmm, dinner isn't made yet, let's have her roll out now and start cooking."
Butler Li immediately took her feather duster and went upstairs.
Jiang Ruan, on hearing the footsteps, looked up to see the always disdainful Butler Li, her face fierce as she kicked open the door.
"Get out here and cook! This is madam's order. If you don't obey, hmph, you know the consequences!"
Butler Li was ferocious, acting as if she were Jiang Ruan's master.
These past few days had been tough for Jiang Ruan, working at the bar and taking care of her mother at the hospital had left her completely exhausted.
But for her mother in the hospital, she stood up anyway and walked step by step toward the kitchen on the first floor.
The maid who usually assisted in the kitchen had apparently heard Jiang Yuning's conversation in the living room earlier.
She immediately bowed and flattered Butler Li, "Butler Li, I heard it all. I will help the young miss deal with this lowly bitch!"
Butler Li nodded, looking haughtily at the frail Jiang Ruan.
"Good, you take a break. Today, let the Second Young Miss be generous and make sure to cook for us maids as well."
Jiang Ruan took a deep breath, knowing that even on a normal day, her status in the Jiang Family was lower than that of a servant's.
But she wasn't supposed to be treated like a mule!
Butler Li raised an eyebrow, brandishing her feather duster, "You're not moving yet? Do you want your mother to die in the hospital?!"
Jiang Ruan's cold gaze swept over, and with just one look, Butler Li felt inexplicably intimidated!
Was this still the Jiang Ruan who she was used to seeing being submissive?
One could only listen as Jiang Ruan enunciated, "Don't let me hear you speak again those words about my mother dying in the hospital from your mouth. Otherwise, I can't guarantee what I'll do."
Having said that, she walked towards the kitchen, her serene face devoid of resentment, as tranquil and beautiful as a painting.
Submissive...
It wasn't because she lacked backbone, but rather, the cost of her mother's medicine had crushed her spirit!