“Qing Qing.” Shi Ting held her small hand in his, his gaze carrying a measure of resolve. “I’m afraid I will need to make a trip to Dagu Mountain.”

Yan Qing was momentarily taken aback, then immediately understood his intention. “You want to help Liu Qingnian?”

“Liu Qingnian is one of Meng Xiangyang’s most capable generals. He commands several elite units. If we can bring Liu Qingnian over to our side, we will have severed Meng Xiangyang’s right arm.”

“Are you ready for this? Do you have a plan?” Yan Qing’s heart immediately clenched with worry. Though she had never been to Dagu Mountain herself, Di Huai had told her about the savagery of the bandits in that area.

Shi Ting shook his head. “I will go, but not yet. Even though Liu Qingnian is reluctant to go on this suppression campaign, he still holds a measure of confidence in his ability to succeed. I need to let him hit a wall first.”

“This calls for careful planning,” Yan Qing murmured.

“Indeed. We need to first get a proper understanding of the situation over there before doing anything.” Shi Ting knew this was no easy undertaking. He could not act rashly — he would need to plan carefully.

In the blink of an eye, it was already July. The weather in Shun Cheng grew hotter and hotter; the warm air pressed down like storm clouds, suffocating and stifling.

After Madam Shi was placed under house arrest in her courtyard, Er Yitai and Yan Qing together managed the inner household of the Shi Mansion. With no one stirring up trouble, things were peaceful and quiet.

But before long, another round of commotion erupted in the Shi Mansion.

The person most delighted by Madam Shi’s house arrest was Yan Qin.

Yan Qin had long been oppressed by Madam Shi. Now that she finally had her freedom, she was naturally brimming with energy and lively spirits.

When Shi Yutong arrived, she found Yan Qin playing with a cat — a white one with gray markings.

She suddenly thought of the one in Yan Qing’s courtyard, although that cat had grown considerably larger now — bigger than the fattest cat she had ever seen.

For what reason had Yan Qin, out of nowhere, gotten herself a cat?

Shi Yutong thought this to herself and simply asked the same.

The truth was that Yan Qin herself didn’t quite know either. She had once seen Yan Qing walking along one of the garden paths with a large white cat at her side, looking very regal and composed. She had found it captivating, so she had someone go buy a similar one. But the cat seller had said there was no cat with the exact coloring she wanted and even suspected that what she had described might not be a cat at all. In the end, the seller had picked out the closest color match from the batch.

“Keeping it for fun. It’s boring otherwise.” Yan Qin tossed the cat aside, told Qing Tian to bring tea, and asked, “How has your mother been lately?”

Shi Yutong had not visited Yan Qin’s courtyard for some time. Yan Qin had assumed she was holding a grudge over the incident with Madam Shi targeting San Yitai.

“What the First Madam did — I truly knew nothing about it.” Yan Qin took Shi Yutong’s hand, her words sincere and urgent. “Believe me, I never had any intention of harming your mother. If I had known about it, I would have told you at the first opportunity.”

“I know. It’s not your fault.” Shi Yutong sat down in a chair and seemed unbothered by the matter.

She wanted San Yitai’s unborn child born into this world less than anyone. Thinking about how that child would be cradled and coddled by San Yitai, held in the highest regard — she felt a surge of resentment.

She only blamed Madam Shi for being too stupid. The scheme had failed to work. If she had been the one to do it, she would have done it far better and more flawlessly.

“Do you have something weighing on your mind?” Yan Qin picked up her teacup and observed the melancholy expression on Shi Yutong’s face.

Shi Yutong considered it for a moment, then spoke. “The Commander and my mother are arranging another marriage for me again. The wife of Bureau Chief Sun has her birthday tomorrow and has invited the female members of our household to come celebrate.”

“That’s a Hongmen Banquet!” Yan Qin was alarmed. “The Sun family wants to take a look at you as a future daughter-in-law first. They’ll probably arrange for you to meet Sun Changyou as well. Once both families see each other and agree, the formal marriage discussions will begin very soon.”

“I have no intention of marrying that ugly Sun Changyou.” Shi Yutong’s reaction was as if someone had stepped on her tail — her voice turned sharp. “Compared to Jiang Zeluo, he is utterly beneath contempt — no talent, no looks.”

“Then what will you do? Just don’t go?”

“Mother insists I must attend, and she has sent people to watch over me. If I don’t go, she’ll drag me there personally.” Shi Yutong ground her teeth. “Before, I thought she truly cared for me — that she would always have my interests at heart and would never go against my wishes. But now I see she is just like the Commander: all she cares about is power and status. To secure that position, even her own daughter can be used as a bargaining chip.”

Yan Qin sighed along with her. To be frank, she had no good ideas for this.

“What if I just ran away?” A flash of recklessness crossed Shi Yutong’s eyes. “I run away from the Commander’s Mansion and hide somewhere for a while.”

“Run? The moment you leave, the Commander will have your brothers turn Shun Cheng upside down looking for you. Where could you even hide? Don’t you know what those men are capable of?”

Shi Yutong knew this all too well. When Yan Qin put it that way, she felt completely deflated and covered her face with her hands and began to cry.

“Don’t cry.” Yan Qin offered a few words of comfort, then suddenly remembered something. “I heard there’s a medicine called croton powder. If you take it tonight, it’ll guarantee you can’t even get out of bed the next day. If you can’t even get up, I don’t believe San Yitai will carry you to the Sun family.”

“Croton powder?” Shi Yutong instinctively touched her stomach. “If it makes me run to the outhouse all night, my stomach will hurt. I’m afraid of pain.”

“No pain, no gain. Think of Jiang Zeluo and then think of that ugly Sun Changyou. For the one you love, what’s one night of stomach cramps? It’s better than spending a lifetime with an ugly man and suffering a headache every day.”

Persuaded by Yan Qin, Shi Yutong finally made up her mind.

“Go home and wait then. Don’t let anything slip in front of your mother. I’ll have someone go buy the medicine right away and send it to your courtyard.”

No sooner had Shi Yutong left than someone went into Madam Shi’s courtyard.

Madam Shi was standing before a flower rack, tending to a pot of orchids. The person beside her reported in a low voice. “Eighth Miss just visited the Second Young Madam. The matter concerns the arranged marriage between Eighth Miss and the Sun family. Eighth Miss does not want to attend the Sun family’s banquet. Second Young Madam suggested a remedy — she told her to take croton powder.”

“Croton powder?” Madam Shi held a small trowel and slowly dug at the soil. “That brainless girl — all she knows is how to come up with foolish ideas.”

“Madam, shall we do something about it?”

Madam Shi considered. “That mother and daughter pair, Du Linghua and her ilk, have been causing trouble for years, relying on the Commander’s favor. That little wretch Shi Yutong — whenever she sees me, she always has that conceited, high-and-mighty look. She has never once shown me, the lady of this household, any proper respect.”

“Eighth Miss does indeed have poor manners. She’s been thoroughly spoiled.”

“Since she doesn’t want to marry into the Sun family, then let that wish be granted. Du Linghua was hoping to use this daughter to win favor from the Commander.”

The servant stood respectfully to one side, waiting for Madam Shi’s next instruction.

“Have someone go buy medicine and swap out Second Young Madam’s medicine. The wish she holds in her heart — of not wanting to marry into the Sun family — I’ll grant it for her.”

Yan Qin, of course, knew nothing of any of this. She quickly had her maid go buy croton powder, then personally delivered it to Shi Yutong.

Shi Yutong had never been made to endure hardship. The thought of what the croton powder would do — sending her running to the outhouse over and over — still made her hesitate.

But she had a devoted friend who kept using Jiang Zeluo’s name to spur her on. So Shi Yutong steeled her heart, had a maid dissolve the powder, squeezed her eyes shut, and drank it down to the last drop.

Seeing that she had drunk the croton powder, Yan Qin finally let out a breath of relief. “This is only a temporary solution. You can dodge the first day but not the fifteenth. What then? Will you drink croton powder every time?”

“Then what do you suggest?” Shi Yutong grew anxious as well.

“Alas, I truly cannot think of a good solution.”

Shi Yutong and Yan Qin sighed together, until suddenly a glint of determination flashed in Shi Yutong’s eyes. “If… if Sun Changyou were to die, would I still have to marry him?”

Yan Qin was startled. “What are you saying? Killing someone is a crime. Besides, he is Bureau Chief Sun’s son. If you kill Bureau Chief Sun’s son, Bureau Chief Sun will have you killed in return.”

“I am the Commander’s daughter. Would he dare lay a hand on me?”

“You’ve killed his son. If he’s pushed to the edge, why wouldn’t he dare?”

“I wouldn’t be foolish enough to do it myself. I’d pay some people — assassins, ones who kill and then take their own lives afterward.”

“You’ve been reading too many fiction serials.” Yan Qin felt quite helpless at Shi Yutong’s current outlandish thinking.

To stop Shi Yutong from spiraling further into wild ideas, Yan Qin quickly stood up. “I won’t stay here any longer. When the croton kicks in, just make a few extra trips to the outhouse, then have a doctor summoned. By tomorrow you won’t even be able to get out of bed — no one will be able to force you to go anywhere. And another thing — stop thinking about killing Sun Changyou. Your seventh brother, for one, is someone who recognizes no kin.”

“Mm, I understand.” Shi Yutong waved her hand impatiently.

After Yan Qin returned to her own courtyard, she let out a long sigh. This messy affair of Shi Yutong’s — she truly didn’t want to be involved. But she still needed to maintain good relations with Shi Yutong, or else she would have no ally whatsoever in this Shi Mansion.

She thought of how Yan Qing was now on good terms with Er Yitai, how everyone around Er Yitai spoke of Yan Qing with nothing but praise, and how Yan Qing was now helping Er Yitai manage the household — living a life that was the envy of all.

What irritated her most was that Shi Ting still doted on Yan Qing just as much, as if holding a precious treasure in the palm of his hand.

She was angry — very angry. But she could do nothing about it.

No matter how angry she felt, she simply had to endure it. She would endure until Shi Guang was promoted to Young Commander and then to Commander, endure until she became the Commander’s wife and the mistress of this inner household.

When that day came, dealing with Yan Qing would be as simple as crushing an ant.

Thinking of the days ahead, Yan Qin couldn’t help but smile to herself. All she needed to do right now was be patient.

“Second Young Madam, something’s wrong!” The maid’s shriek shattered Yan Qin’s pleasant daydream.