Marry a Virtuous Wife, Take a Beautiful Concubine

Back then, he wasn't the Prime Minister yet—Edward Lawrence was just the eldest son of the General's Mansion, caught in the middle and torn on all sides. It must've been tough for him.

"Now that Edward's getting older, holding high office with a whole brood of kids and even grandkids, the old lady's given up on the idea of replacing his wife. I guess... time really does heal all wounds!" Lena said.

Grace glanced at her mother.

Her mother might look delicate, but she's no fool!

...

Lena hadn't stepped out of the Moonlight Pavilion in ten years—a lot of the servants had never even seen her.

Now that she's finally out and about, the servants are all buzzing, running to tell each other, gossiping nonstop, saying she looks just like a goddess come down to earth.

They even say, no wonder Minister Zhuo treasures his wife like she's a priceless gem.

With looks and grace like hers, what man wouldn't want to protect her from even the tiniest bit of harm?

Grace figured Grace Wan must be fuming right now.

Sure enough, by the afternoon, word got out that Grace Wan had whipped several servants and kicked them out of the Prime Minister's Residence.

Her reason? Gossiping about Lady Lena.

Lady Lena is far too noble—who dares to judge her like that?

Absolutely outrageous!

From then on, the servants kept their mouths shut, all proper and scared, never daring to gossip about Lady Lena again.

But the clever ones? They found a brand new topic to gossip about.

Inside Serenity Pavilion.

Hope stormed up to Grace and complained, "...There was this gardener named Miles, who said, 'Marry a virtuous wife, take a beautiful concubine.' He said Lady Lena and Grace Wan's positions should be switched!"

Basically, he meant Grace's mom was so gorgeous, she should be a concubine.

And Grace Wan, being so capable and virtuous, should be the wife!

"Oh, really?" Grace raised an eyebrow. "We've got such smooth talkers among the staff?"

Claire looked even angrier than Hope and jumped in, "So that rumor spread—guess what happened next?"

"Guess what?"

"The First Lady of the Blue Moon Kingdom promoted him to Head Gardener!" Claire exclaimed, suddenly pointing out the window. "Miss Lawrence, look—that's him!"

Grace glanced out the window and saw a servant in blue, bossing the other gardeners around as they moved flowers and plants inside.

He looked all smug and full of himself. When one of the boys accidentally knocked over a flowerpot, Miles went over and started punching and kicking him.

Grace narrowed her eyes and said to Hope, "Bring him in."

"Yes, Miss Lawrence." Hope huffed and stormed out.

Not long after, Hope led Miles into the room.

"Miss Lawrence." Miles knelt down and bowed.

"I asked for the Head Gardener—are you the one in charge of the flowers and plants?" Grace asked coolly.

"Yes, Miss Lawrence." Miles replied.

"What's your name? How come I've never seen you before?"

"My name is Miles. I used to work in the garden, tending the flowers and plants," he said, sounding pretty sharp. "Only recently did I get promoted, thanks to the masters' kindness. That's why you haven't seen me before, Miss Lawrence."

"I see!" Grace said. "You look young—are you even twenty yet?"

"I'm exactly twenty this year."

"Hmm... Growing flowers and plants takes real skill. Are you sure you can handle being Head Gardener at such a young age?"

"Miss Lawrence, I started learning to care for flowers and plants when I was six. I'm totally at home with all this," Miles said. "From now on, I'll work even harder and learn from the other gardeners."

"Well... you sure know how to talk," Grace smiled. "Let's see if you've really got the skills to back it up."