A thousand taels of silver was no small sum.

Of course, as the consort of an imperial prince, Princess Qi regularly handled even larger amounts of money but donating a thousand taels as a temple offering still pained her greatly.

Princess Qi had prepared four hundred taels, and even that amount had been difficult to part with. Her donation wasn’t even half of what Princess Yan had given, and the difference was rather embarrassing…

Princess Qi’s emotions churned, but she struggled to maintain her composure, consoling herself: Let it be. So what if the difference is significant? Though Princess Yan had outshone her this time, she could make up for it later – after all, this would likely be Princess Yan’s last moment of glory.

This thought brought her some comfort, and her expression gradually returned to normal.

At this moment, the monk had finished counting the silver notes Ah Man had presented and wrote in the merit book: “Princess Yan donates eighteen hundred taels of silver as a temple offering.”

“Eighteen hundred taels?” Princess Qi’s maid exclaimed, covering her mouth.

Princess Qi shot her maid a fierce glare, her face finally changing color as she trembled with rage.

Lady Jiang must have deliberately set out to humiliate her!

This wasn’t even a major festival – for ordinary temple visits, a modest donation would have sufficed. Who makes an eighteen-hundred-tael offering out of nowhere?

Eighteen hundred taels – was Lady Jiang planning to commission a small golden Buddha?

Earlier, when Princess Qi thought the donation was a thousand taels, she could barely console herself about the six-hundred-tael difference. But now the gap was simply too vast to save face.

She had only prepared four hundred taels, not even half of the other’s spare change… How humiliating, utterly humiliating!

At that moment, Princess Qi’s hatred for Jiang Si reached bone-deep.

A few hundred taels would have been more than enough – why did she have to cause such embarrassment?

That despicable Jiang woman truly deserved to die!

The monk pressed his palms together and bowed to Jiang Si: “The Princess is most generous. Buddha will surely bless you with the fulfillment of your wishes.”

Jiang Si responded gracefully: “Money is but a worldly matter. If it can demonstrate this devotee’s sincerity to Buddha, that is blessing enough.”

The monk secretly admired Princess Yan’s eloquence and turned to Princess Qi.

Jiang Si followed his gaze, her expression somewhere between a smile and not.

Princess Qi’s eyes narrowed, nearly bursting with rage.

That contemptible Jiang woman was doing this on purpose – humiliating her and then taunting her!

Watching Princess Qi’s reaction coldly, Jiang Si let out a soft sigh.

Princess Qi had only now realized this was deliberate – how slow-witted.

Striking at an opponent without them realizing was like wearing brocade in the dark – it lacked satisfaction.

While Princess Qi managed to maintain her composure, her maid could hardly bear it and couldn’t help calling out, “Princess—”

The maid held the offering money, and now that the monk was looking their way, should she present the four hundred taels or not?

Princess Qi gave a slight nod.

What else could she do now except brazen it out?

She couldn’t produce more silver, and delaying would only make it more mortifying.

At this point, Princess Qi could only repeatedly console herself: Just endure today. Once Lady Jiang was dead, who besides the present monks would know about today’s events?

If no one knew, then the lost face wouldn’t matter.

The maid took out the prepared offering money from her sleeve and handed it to the monk.

The monk barely glanced at it before writing in the merit book: “Princess Qi donates four hundred taels of silver as a temple offering.”

The maid’s face flushed with embarrassment as she quickly glanced at Princess Qi.

Princess Qi maintained an unchanging expression, though her heart was filled with regret: If she had known, even if she couldn’t have added more money, she could have at least exchanged the silver notes for smaller denominations of ten taels each. Then she could have left while the monk was still counting the stack. How had it come to this, where the monk could record the amount with just one glance…

“Amitabha,” the monk recited the Buddha’s name as thanks to Princess Qi, saying nothing more.

Though money was worldly, how else could one show sincerity to Buddha? Without comparing these worldly offerings, how could one see who was more sincere?

Tsk tsk, Princess Qi’s offering didn’t even match Princess Yan’s spare change. Both were princesses, yet the difference was truly vast.

The monk pondered this while leading them to the guest rooms.

“The two Princesses may rest here. Vegetarian meals will be served shortly.”

“Thank you, Master,” Princess Qi nodded slightly.

After the monk left, Princess Qi suppressed her anger and smiled at Jiang Si: “Has Seventh Sister-in-law tried White Cloud Temple’s vegetarian dishes before? They’re quite renowned—”

“I have,” Jiang Si curtly interrupted Princess Qi’s small talk.

Princess Qi faltered, clearly surprised by Jiang Si’s response.

She hadn’t heard of Lady Jiang visiting White Cloud Temple since marrying into Prince Yan’s household.

Seeing her reaction, Jiang Si smiled: “Fourth Sister-in-law might not know, but I visited White Cloud Temple with my Elder Sister before my marriage. That visit left quite an impression.”

“An impression?”

“Yes, on our way back, Elder Sister’s carriage lost control. Investigation revealed a long needle had been stuck into the horse’s hindquarters, causing it to panic. I was furious and took the case directly to the Shuntian Prefecture. Eventually, the truth came out – it was that beast Zhu Ziyu trying to harm my Elder Sister to advance his position…”

As Jiang Si continued, Princess Qi’s expression grew increasingly troubled.

She remembered now – the scandal of Zhu Ziyu attempting to murder his wife had caused quite an uproar. He not only lost his career but went mad, even disrupting Prince Xiang and Cui Mingyue’s wedding—

At this thought, Princess Qi’s heart churned even more.

Zhu Ziyu’s final fate had been tragic. Though ordinary people hadn’t noticed, they all knew that Cui Mingyue, a living person, had vanished. Everyone in their circle suspected she had harmed Zhu Ziyu on her wedding night and fled.

Looking at Jiang Si’s faint smile, Princess Qi felt a chill in her heart: How could she have forgotten? The woman before her was the source of Zhu Ziyu’s tragic fate!

If Lady Jiang hadn’t reported to the officials back then, how could Zhu Ziyu’s attempt to murder his wife have come to light?

Jiang Si smiled and asked Princess Qi: “Heaven’s net casts wide, and though its meshes are large, nothing slips through. Evil deeds bring evil consequences. Don’t you agree, Fourth Sister-in-law?”

Princess Qi forced a smile and nodded: “Seventh Sister-in-law speaks truly.”

But in her heart, she strengthened her resolve that Lady Jiang must not leave alive today, lest she have a chance to turn the tables. She had no desire to become a second Zhu Ziyu, much less a second Cui Mingyue.

No, there was also Princess Ronyang! Because Lady Jiang had complained to the Emperor, they had discovered that Princess Ronyang had murdered Jiang Si’s mother years ago. After being stripped of her royal status, Princess Ronyang was killed by General Cui’s sword.

Princess Qi’s face turned pale, with one thought circling in her mind: Lady Jiang was too frightening – she must be killed to ensure peace of mind!

The vegetarian meal arrived shortly, but neither Jiang Si nor Princess Qi had much appetite. They ate hastily, rested briefly, then left the temple and boarded their carriages to return to the city.