In mid-spring, all things had already awakened, and the old trees by the roadside had sprouted new buds.

Yet walking through that narrow back alley of Marquis Changchun’s manor, one could still feel waves of chilling cold.

Deep in the alley stood a household with tightly closed doors, rarely passed by anyone—it was precisely the residence of the divorced Lady Yang, formerly Marchioness Changchun.

The gatekeeper woman, bored and idle, had moved a small stool to sit in the courtyard, basking in the sun and cracking melon seeds.

At that moment, a light knocking sound suddenly rang out.

The gatekeeper woman raised her eyebrows in surprise.

The Marquis was heartless—since divorcing the Marchioness, he hadn’t taken a single step here.

The Second Miss and the two young masters had come once. She hadn’t dared conceal it and reported it to the Marquis through the person who came monthly to deliver expenses. Since then, they hadn’t come again.

Who would be knocking at this time?

The gatekeeper woman set aside the small bamboo basket holding melon seeds and walked over to pull open a crack in the door.

“Who is it?”

Seeing clearly who stood outside, the gatekeeper woman was startled. “Sister Xi, why have you come at this hour?”

Sister Xi was the person who came monthly to deliver expenses.

Sister Xi smiled. “Since spring has arrived, it’s time to make new clothes. The steward asked me to bring an extra sum of money.”

Hearing this, the gatekeeper woman joyfully welcomed Sister Xi inside.

“Oh my, cracking melon seeds, I see.” Looking at the ground covered in shells, Sister Xi pursed her lips.

The gatekeeper woman picked up the bamboo basket with one hand and grabbed Sister Xi’s arm with the other. “Come, let’s talk inside.”

Guarding such a discarded woman, she couldn’t even crack melon seeds without being alone—it had long driven the gatekeeper woman mad. Every time Sister Xi came, she had to chat with her for ages.

Sister Xi followed the gatekeeper woman into the side room. After chatting for a while, she handed over a money pouch.

The gatekeeper woman hastily accepted it.

All this money was in her hands—how much she gave that lady to use was up to her to decide.

Sister Xi had come to deliver money to her.

The gatekeeper woman grabbed a handful of melon seeds and stuffed them into Sister Xi’s hand. “Have some melon seeds—freshly roasted, very fragrant.”

Sister Xi set down the melon seeds and pulled something from her bosom to hand over.

“What’s this?”

Sister Xi glanced toward the room where Lady Yang stayed and lowered her voice. “The lady was accustomed to delicacies. Now with plain congee and simple dishes, she might not be used to it. I brought some good seasoning for her.”

The gatekeeper woman froze, staring at the cloth bundle Sister Xi offered without daring to accept it. “Sister Xi, could this be—”

Could this be poison?

Sister Xi flipped her hand, and a gold ingot fell into the gatekeeper woman’s palm.

The gatekeeper woman’s palm felt as if burned by fire, scorching hot.

Of course, the gold ingot would absolutely not be thrown away.

“It’s not something that takes lives—just that if eaten regularly, a person becomes confused.” Sister Xi squeezed the gatekeeper woman’s hand and said in a low voice, “The lady and the Marquis were husband and wife for so many years. The Marquis fears the lady won’t withstand the blow of being divorced and will speak wildly, so—”

Sister Xi didn’t finish her words, but the gatekeeper woman understood perfectly.

It was completely normal for the Marquis to have such concerns. That lady’s eyes already looked strangely eerie. If the young miss and young masters came one day, who knew what nonsense she might spout.

“It truly won’t poison her to death?”

Sister Xi smiled. “What’s our relationship? Would I deceive you? Besides, the lady is still the birth mother of the young miss and young masters. How could the Marquis want the lady’s life?”

The gatekeeper woman clutched the heavy gold ingot and nodded.

As long as she didn’t have to bear the burden of taking a life, that would be fine. Given that lady’s current condition, being a bit confused might actually be better. She was doing a good deed, really.

Seeing the matter settled, Sister Xi stayed a moment longer before taking her leave.

Walking through the narrow, dim alley, Sister Xi pressed her hand against her chest.

Right there at her chest, she had hidden a stack of banknotes.

A full five hundred taels!

This naturally wasn’t from the Marquis, but from the eldest miss.

Sister Xi could still remember the shock on the eldest miss’s face when she handed her the banknotes and those items.

Shocked both by the eldest miss’s actions and by where the eldest miss had gotten so much money.

However, who would have trouble with money? This was five hundred taels of silver!

All she had to do was secretly deliver those items to the woman watching Lady Yang in the Marquis’s name.

What also made Sister Xi easily side with Xu Fang was the tight finances at the marquis’s manor during New Year’s.

In past years, they could still receive some reward money for New Year’s. This year, after looking forward all year, even the monthly stipends hadn’t been paid on time.

With the marquis’s manor in such a state, how could one not worry about one’s future?

And the eldest miss had promised that when she married out, she would make Sister Xi her dowry servant.

Sister Xi raised her hand to touch the silk flower at her temple.

The General’s manor was far superior to the marquis’s manor. Being the eldest miss’s dowry servant would be an excellent position.

Taking ten thousand steps back, even if the eldest miss was deceiving her, these five hundred taels in banknotes were real.

In the quiet courtyard, winter jasmine bloomed quietly in the corner of the wall.

Xu Fang stood by the window admiring the flowers. Hearing sounds, she turned her head.

“Miss, Sister Xi has returned.” Hong Yue walked over and, after closing the window, reported this.

Xu Fang nodded slightly. “She’s worked hard.”

She didn’t ask whether the matter had succeeded.

Money could make ghosts push millstones—with five hundred taels of silver thrown down, how could it fail?

“Miss, what if Sister Xi proves unreliable—”

Xu Fang smiled. “Would she expose me to Father? What benefit would that bring her?”

Before New Year’s, the marquis’s manor had lost ten thousand taels of silver. A few months before that, to bring her brother back from the Grand Commander’s manor, they’d also lost five thousand taels. With these fifteen thousand taels gone, they could barely get through the New Year and had to tighten their belts, delaying payment of the manor’s monthly stipends.

In such circumstances, did Sister Xi still expect to receive reward money from Father for exposing her?

Miss Luo was right—when it was time to act boldly, one couldn’t shrink back. Her own affairs ultimately had to be resolved by herself.

Simply divorcing Yang Shi wasn’t enough. The things she and Father did to Mother needed to be revealed to the world to console Mother’s spirit in heaven.

Thinking of what Luo Sheng had said, Xu Fang’s emotions surged.

Could that day truly come?

Before meeting Miss Luo, she couldn’t have imagined it at all.

From childhood, she’d lived in constant fear. Even growing up safely had become a hope. Father and her stepmother were like two dangerous mountains pressing on her heart, and she didn’t know how to move them.

But after meeting Miss Luo, she discovered some things weren’t so difficult, and some people, though vicious, didn’t have such great ability.

This incident in the back alley of Marquis Changchun’s manor was like a small pebble cast into a lake—after rippling a few circles, it dissipated without trace. The entire capital remained immersed in the excitement of the spring examinations.

Soon the day arrived to post the results at the examination compound.

As officials dispatched by the Ministry of Rites went everywhere to announce the good news, the highly anticipated top scholar became widely known—it was precisely that Young Master Su from Jinsha who had shone brilliantly during the Lantern Festival.

Besides this, a pair of brothers attracted particular attention—Sheng Dalang and Sheng Erlang.

Though their rankings weren’t particularly high, both had their names on the list. After passing the palace examination, they would be jinshi.

Twin jinshi from one family—enough to bring glory to their household.

More importantly, both brothers were young and hadn’t yet married.

It was said the Sheng brothers were nephews of Grand Commander Luo—