The moment the guest monk approached Old Madam Jiang, he drew all eyes from inside and outside the room to her, instantly giving her a floating, slightly intoxicated feeling. When her gaze fell upon the Buddhist scripture in the monk’s hands, she had no immediate reaction.

Then, when she awakened from that brief, wonderful sensation and saw the calligraphy on the Buddhist scripture, her heart suddenly sank.

This handwriting belonged neither to the eldest daughter Li Jiǎo nor to JiāoJiāo.

According to past custom, the hand-copied scriptures from the West Residence young ladies would be delivered in a box.

Her right eye had recently become nearly blind, relying only on her left eye to see. Where would she have the patience to examine them one by one? She had only focused on looking at the eldest daughter, then hastily glanced at the one placed below Li Jiǎo’s, which, by experience, she could determine belonged to Fourth Miss.

Old Madam Jiang’s thoughts raced: This hand-copied Buddhist scripture came from the Li Residence. She had carefully examined those of the eldest and second daughters, flipped through Fifth Miss’s, and glanced at Fourth Miss’s, leaving only Third Miss and Sixth Miss.

Sixth Miss was young and absolutely could not have written such characters. No, who in all of the capital could write such characters?

This was Master Qiao reborn!

Old Madam Jiang quickly swept her peripheral vision over Old Madam Deng sitting beside her, catching the smile at the corner of her mouth, and her heart skipped a beat.

So the old sister-in-law knew about this all along. Then, no matter how incredible it seemed, only one possibility remained: Third Miss!

Old Madam Jiang’s silence puzzled the guest monk: “Old Madam?”

Old Madam Jiang quickly regained her composure, smiling: “This belongs to our Second Miss.”

Old Madam Deng began coughing violently, forcibly suppressing her shock as she stared at Old Madam Jiang.

She truly hadn’t expected that this lady who always emphasized propriety and etiquette would brazenly substitute one for another right in front of her.

She had previously only worried that when the Buddhist scriptures were sent to the East Residence, Old Madam Jiang might get ideas upon seeing Third Miss’s scripture, so she had deliberately placed Third Miss’s Buddhist scripture at the very bottom. Old Madam Jiang’s eyesight was poor; aside from the eldest daughter, who had always been on par with the second daughter, she had no patience to look at the others.

Who could have imagined that Lady Jiang would openly steal Third Miss’s glory and attribute it to Second Miss!

Old Madam Deng was nearly bursting with anger and was about to speak when she caught Old Madam Jiang’s warning glare.

Old Madam Jiang spoke again: “JiāoJiāo, come over here.”

Li Jiāo walked gracefully to Old Madam Jiang’s side amid everyone’s envious and approving gazes, feeling extremely happy inside, with a sense that things should naturally be this way. It wasn’t until she unconsciously glanced at the Buddhist scripture the guest monk was carefully holding that she froze.

Something was wrong—this wasn’t written by her at all!

Li Jiāo kept her head slightly lowered, so others couldn’t see her shock. Someone was already praising: “Your Ladyship, your residence’s Second Miss is truly composed. She’s worthy of being personally taught by you.”

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Jiang felt as refreshed as drinking a bowl of iced sour plum soup on a sweltering summer day. Her initial hesitation had long been thrown to the winds.

Wasn’t this exactly what she had been waiting for through all her painstaking efforts in raising Second Miss?

Worried that Li Jiāo might lose composure and reveal the truth, Old Madam Jiang secretly pinched her.

Li Jiāo startled back to awareness. Though confused beyond measure, her expression returned to calm.

“Please follow this poor monk, female benefactor. Master Wumei of Sparse Shadow Nunnery wishes to see you.”

Exclamations rose and fell throughout the room, while chaotic footsteps sounded outside.

At this moment, Li Jiāo was so excited she nearly fainted.

Master Wumei was the Grand Princess. For so many years, she had never seen outsiders, and each year at this time, the greatest honor for young ladies from various residences was merely receiving a word or two of praise from that Master. Yet today, Master Wumei wanted to see her!

Li Jiāo had completely forgotten to investigate who the true owner of the hand-copied scripture was. She lifted her head and chest, following the guest monk out the door, basking in countless admiring gazes as she headed toward Sparse Shadow Nunnery.

Mingxin Hall immediately erupted in chaos. Ladies from other halls couldn’t contain themselves and rushed over, packing the small Mingxin Hall until it was airtight.

Old Madam Jiang enjoyed everyone’s adulation, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Old Madam Deng’s face was dark, and she remained silent.

Taking advantage of when Old Madam Jiang went to wash her hands, Old Madam Deng followed and questioned in a low voice: “Your Ladyship, that scripture wasn’t copied by Second Miss, was it?”

Old Madam Jiang immediately looked around, and only after seeing no one else did she relax, unhurriedly saying: “So what if it was, so what if it wasn’t? What, does sister-in-law intend to announce it publicly?”

Old Madam Deng was so angry that her hands trembled.

So this was the so-called imperial relative nobility—strip away that layer of noble skin, and they were utterly ugly!

With things having reached this point, how could she expose it? Doing so would ruin the entire Li Residence’s reputation.

Old Madam Jiang, seeing Old Madam Deng’s expression, smiled knowingly.

She knew that as long as she struck first, Old Madam Deng could only accept it.

Thinking of how they would have to face each other frequently in the future, Old Madam Jiang sighed: “Sister-in-law, think about it—Third Miss’s reputation is already ruined. Even if she made a great showing on Buddha’s Birthday, what use would it be?”

“So Third Miss’s deserved glory should be given to someone else?”

Old Madam Jiang smiled: “How is it someone else? They’re all young ladies of the Li Residence. When Second Miss brings honor, the other sisters will benefit too. Take eldest daughter—after having her engagement broken, finding a suitable match isn’t easy. But after today, who won’t praise the Li Residence’s good upbringing? The youngest son of Earl Changchun’s household was already a scoundrel anyway. When the eldest daughter seeks another match in the future, it will go more smoothly.”

Old Madam Deng listened in stunned amazement, murmuring: “By this logic, I should say thank you?”

Such shamelessness—she had truly witnessed it today.

“One brush cannot write two ‘Li’ characters. Sister-in-law should understand this clearly.” At this point, Old Madam Jiang’s words carried a warning.

Old Madam Deng gave a cold laugh and turned to leave.

The two returned to the hall one after the other. Old Madam Jiang was immediately surrounded by the ladies, and even Old Madam Deng received a few words of praise, which sounded only ironic to her ears.

The corridor outside the guest hall was filled with young ladies.

Du Feixue pulled Li Jiǎo aside to whisper: “Cousin Jiǎo, is your residence’s Second Miss’s calligraphy really that good?”

She turned her hand, pointing toward Zhu Yán: “Better than Cousin Yan’s calligraphy?”

Li Jiǎo was unwilling to offend the young lady from Marquis Taining’s residence, but it also wasn’t appropriate to speak ill of her sister in front of outsiders, so she said tactfully: “I wouldn’t know about that. Usually, Second Sister’s calligraphy seemed about the same as mine. Perhaps Second Sister was being modest.”

Being modest? Hmph, someone like Li Jiāo, who had only five parts of talent but wanted to display ten—would she know modesty?

Today’s events were truly bizarre. She was completely confused.

At Da Fu Temple, news that the Li Residence’s Second Miss’s hand-copied Buddhist scripture had won Master Wumei’s favor spread rapidly to every corner.

In previous years, people would have dispersed by now, but Master Wumei’s unprecedented meeting with someone had captured everyone’s attention. The ladies’ teacups were refilled again and again, yet no one mentioned the word “leaving.”

Without the bustle of Da Fu Temple, the small path leading to Sparse Shadow Nunnery was quiet and peaceful. Li Jiāo followed the guest monk forward, suddenly feeling somewhat nervous.