Hong Ying’s mind exploded, her vision darkening as she nearly fainted on the spot. Only one thought remained in her mind – it was over, today’s matter would surely not end well.

The guard rushed forward with an anxious expression, squeezing to Hong Ying’s side. Seeing Jiang Susu collapsed on the ground in such a state, he exclaimed in shock: “So she’s here! Who dared to do this to Second Miss? Are they tired of living? When the County Princess learns of this, she definitely won’t spare the culprit!”

The surrounding people had originally come to watch the spectacle, but were suddenly interrupted. Hearing the guard repeatedly mention “County Princess” and seeing that he didn’t look like an ordinary person, they began to feel uneasy. Even the wealthy merchant was intimidated by the guard’s appearance, hesitating before asking: “This young man, which County Princess are you referring to? And what is this young lady’s identity?”

Hong Ying quickly interjected: “That’s none of your concern. In any case, she belongs to our family, and we must take her away now.”

Someone in the crowd shouted loudly: “Hey, didn’t this old master just want to take this young lady home to be his seventeenth concubine? Why the change of heart now?”

The guard, hearing this, didn’t wait for Hong Ying to speak again before roaring: “Audacious! How dare you insult the young lady! Open your dog eyes and see clearly – this is the legitimate Second Miss of the capital’s Minister Jiang’s residence, the blood sister of the current Hong’an County Princess!”

These words caused an immediate uproar.

Jiang Susu nearly embedded her nails into her palms, her lips trembling uncontrollably, her entire being as if fallen into an ice cellar. This person’s performance was clearly excellent – obviously Jiang Ruan had deliberately arranged this to expose her identity in front of everyone and humiliate her. This was more painful than killing her, because after today’s incident, her reputation had nowhere to hide. Her entire life was thus ruined!

Hong Ying’s face also turned pale, wishing she could beat that guard to a pulp and throw him to the ninth heaven. Looking at everyone’s scrutinizing gazes, Hong Ying herself wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. More importantly, a sudden fear rose in her heart. Under her care, Jiang Susu had encountered such a disaster. Among the three daughters of the Jiang residence, only Jiang Susu had truly won Jiang Quan’s heartfelt love. For such a precious daughter to become such a laughingstock, even in his anger, Jiang Quan would kill her!

Fundamentally, it all traced back to Jiang Ruan. Hong Ying couldn’t help but resent Jiang Ruan’s ruthless cruelty. She not only wanted to humiliate Jiang Susu but also completely destroy her reputation, making it impossible for Jiang Susu to ever hold her head up again. This was a huge blow to both the Jiang residence and Jiang Quan. How could Jiang Ruan be so unmindful of sibling affection? However, Hong Ying forgot that when she and Jiang Susu had conspired together to scheme against Jiang Ruan, had they ever considered even a trace of sibling affection? As the saying goes, those who harm others will ultimately harm themselves – such is the way.

The surrounding spectators were already discussing among themselves. Even the wealthy merchant who had been clamoring to take Jiang Susu home as his seventeenth concubine fell silent, looking Jiang Susu up and down. Everyone’s gazes showed disbelief, and someone in the crowd spoke up: “I said earlier that this young lady looked ninety percent similar to Second Miss Jiang, but you all wouldn’t believe it.”

“Who could have imagined,” another replied, “but wasn’t the rumored Second Miss Jiang supposed to be like a heavenly fairy? How did she end up in such a state? She must have been harmed by someone.”

“What do you mean harmed? Look at her behavior, the scent from her body alone is enough to make one’s blood boil. What proper young lady would have such allure? I think this Second Miss Jiang has long been experienced in intimate matters.”

“Exactly right. Ah, though she looks like a heavenly fairy, her conduct really doesn’t seem like a proper young lady’s. No wonder people mistook her for a top courtesan from a brothel.”

Such discussions continued endlessly, each sentence striking Jiang Susu’s heart, nearly driving her to die of shame and anger. Yet what people said wasn’t wrong – the eyes of common folk were most perceptive. Since practicing seduction arts, Jiang Susu’s every gesture carried seductive intent. Even her refined beauty couldn’t hide her lustful aura, and this charm was different from Jiang Ruan’s natural allure – it carried more of an invitation for plucking. Experienced men could naturally distinguish the meaning. Moreover, what proper young lady would have such a graceful appearance, let alone dress so revealingly today?

Jin Er winked at Jin San, who was mixed in the crowd guiding people’s gossip, nearly bursting with pride. His earlier loud shout in the urgent situation had been heard by everyone who should and shouldn’t have heard it. Jin San also raised his voice, seemingly casually saying: “Ah, since she’s Second Miss from the Minister’s residence, and now all these people have seen her body, shouldn’t you brothers take some responsibility? She’s a pure and proper young lady – how can she be taken advantage of for nothing?”

As soon as these words fell, another round of discussion erupted. Jiang Susu and Hong Ying were already stunned speechless. Among the spectators, someone came to their senses and shouted: “Absolutely right! The young lady was seen by me – I’m willing to take responsibility and marry her as my legitimate wife!”

These words sounded high-minded, but looking at the speaker, he was merely a street thug. Everyone understood – after Jiang Susu had been seen by so many people in public, and not just one person, anyone with any reputation wouldn’t marry her as a legitimate wife to become the butt of jokes. But those street ruffians were different. The Minister’s residence was still an official household, and Jiang Susu was quite beautiful. Marrying her could even create connections with the Minister’s residence – quite a good deal. Thinking this way, more and more people willing to “take responsibility” appeared, all arguing about going to the Jiang residence to propose marriage.

Hong Ying couldn’t handle the situation as the crowd grew larger and larger. Jin Er shouted: “What nonsense are you all talking about!” Looking at the household servants, he said: “What are you standing around for? Quickly help Second Miss back to the residence. These trivial matters can be discussed later!”

He didn’t speak definitively, and this half-said, half-left approach actually gave those ruffians more confidence. In their view, when wealthy families encountered such scandals, the young lady generally couldn’t survive – either suicide or becoming a nun in some temple. But everyone in the capital knew that Minister Jiang doted on his second daughter. Jiang Quan definitely wouldn’t bear to let a perfectly good daughter kill herself or live the bitter life of a nun. If the wealthy families wouldn’t marry Jiang Susu, wouldn’t it fall to small fry like them? Thinking of this, those ruffians became even more excited, even envisioning themselves in red robes as the Jiang residence’s prized son-in-law.

Because of the Minister’s residence and Jiang Ruan’s Hong’an County Princess status, these people didn’t dare use force. When Jin Er ordered the servants to help Jiang Susu onto the carriage and return to the residence, a large group of young men followed behind – all “ambitious people” willing to take “responsibility” for Jiang Susu’s purity. Though they couldn’t use force, street ruffians were best at wearing people down with pestering and causing trouble with underhanded methods until people couldn’t have peace.

Those who didn’t plan to take responsibility but had already watched the spectacle stood at a distance with arms crossed, discussing. The Jiang residence would surely stir up another storm in the capital.

…

Jiang Quan had just left court when he learned of Jiang Susu’s incident. His mind was blank and confused all the way home. Upon returning to the residence and entering Hong Ying’s courtyard, he saw Jiang Susu sitting despondently on the bed sobbing, with Hong Ying also looking completely at a loss.

Hearing his footsteps, both turned to look. Jiang Susu glanced at Jiang Quan and cried out: “Father!” Unable to hold back any longer, tears rolled down her face.

Normally, when Jiang Susu cried like this, Jiang Quan would certainly feel heartbroken. But today’s matter was extraordinary. With Xia Yan’s shameless adultery before, and now Jiang Susu’s incident, it was like salt on Jiang Quan’s most sensitive wound, immediately reminding him of unpleasant memories. The little pity in Jiang Quan’s heart instantly vanished. He walked to Jiang Susu in a few steps and without a word viciously raised his hand, giving Jiang Susu a resounding slap.

Jiang Susu was somewhat dazed by Jiang Quan’s slap. In all her years, Jiang Quan had never laid a hand on her. Even though such an incident had occurred today, though she realized the gravity of the situation, she had thought that as long as she cried, Jiang Quan would surely solve everything cleanly for her. Who knew Jiang Quan would slap her without a word? Even though Jiang Susu was usually foolish, seeing Jiang Quan’s wrong attitude, she panicked, knowing something was terribly wrong, and quickly cried again: “Father!”

After delivering the slap, Jiang Quan also felt somewhat regretful. Jiang Susu was the daughter he had cherished and raised in his palm. Never mind hitting her – he had never even spoken harshly to her since childhood. Even after Xia Yan had committed such filthy acts, his treatment of Jiang Susu remained unchanged. Looking at Jiang Susu covering her face and just crying, his heart softened slightly, his earlier anger lessening somewhat. He said coldly: “What exactly happened? You’ve thrown away all the Jiang family’s dignity!”

This wasn’t false. The Minister’s residence had gone from a family of scholars to its current terrible reputation in just a few short years. All these incidents had occurred with Xia Yan and her three children. They had just had a period of calm after Xia Yan’s incident, only for this to be exposed. Now the entire capital was making jokes about this matter. In just a few hours since it began, the whole capital was already spreading today’s events. Thinking of this, Jiang Quan felt a belly full of frustration.

Jiang Susu’s heart jumped, thinking that with things having reached this point, the only way out was to push all responsibility onto Jiang Ruan. She lowered her head, her voice full of resentment: “Father, your daughter was harmed into this state by someone! Father, you must avenge your daughter!”

Hong Ying now also understood and quickly chimed in: “Exactly, Second Miss is innocent. Falling to such a state today was entirely due to being framed. Second Miss’s fate is truly bitter – perfectly fine, yet suffering such an undeserved disaster.”

Jiang Quan didn’t know there was such a twist. Hearing Jiang Susu and Hong Ying’s coordinated testimony, he immediately flew into a rage: “Who has such audacity to run wild in the Minister’s residence? How dare they scheme against my Jiang family daughter?”

Jiang Susu was his precious daughter. Earlier he had been extremely angry, but now hearing she had been framed, all his fury suddenly found an outlet. Jiang Quan now only wanted to find the person who had framed Jiang Susu and tear them to pieces.

“It was… Big Sister…” Jiang Susu struggled to utter these words, as if unable to bear it, covering her face and sobbing: “Big Sister had someone knock me unconscious and send me there, and Prince Jinying was also backing Big Sister up.”

Jiang Susu pushed all responsibility onto Jiang Ruan and Xiao Shao, not knowing that Hong Ying’s face had changed color beside her, silently cursing her as an idiot. Speaking of which, though Jiang Susu had some cunning, it was all petty tricks that couldn’t be brought to light. Compared to Xia Yan, she was far inferior. Precisely because Xia Yan had protected her too well, never requiring her to worry about other things from childhood, Jiang Susu truly had no brains, only knowing how to put on a fairy act to deceive people. Like her current excuse, it was full of holes and really not very clever.

Jiang Quan had been wholeheartedly listening to Jiang Susu, but after she finished speaking, his expression darkened. He stared at his daughter as if he didn’t recognize her. Jiang Susu waited for Jiang Quan to angrily go trouble Jiang Ruan, but suddenly realized something was wrong. Jiang Quan’s gaze frightened her somewhat. She said quietly: “Father, why are you looking at me like this?”

“Wicked daughter,” Jiang Quan’s voice trembled slightly. Seeing Jiang Susu’s obviously stunned expression, he said coldly: “You say Prince Jinying and Jiang Ruan conspired to harm you. One is a County Princess, the other a Prince – why would they need to frame you? Rather, what’s with your clothing?”

Jiang Susu’s body shrank back, her voice extremely aggrieved: “Father, you’re actually siding with outsiders – I’m your daughter!”

“I don’t have such a lustful, base daughter!” Jiang Quan, perhaps driven by rage, roared this out. Even Hong Ying beside him showed surprise at such crude language. Jiang Quan had always been most tender toward this daughter, yet now he was cursing her like this – obviously he was thoroughly disappointed in Jiang Susu.

“Help you?” Jiang Quan’s expression was terrifyingly dark: “What scheme were you plotting? The Jiang residence actually produced such an ignorant daughter who fantasized about climbing into Prince Jinying’s bed! Look clearly – what kind of person is Prince Jinying? If you want to die, the Jiang residence can’t afford to lose face or pay with lives!”

Having been immersed in officialdom for many years, Jiang Quan was naturally not stupid. Jiang Susu’s words were full of holes. Though Xiao Shao was cold and formidable, he wasn’t someone who actively stirred up trouble. Such a person carried pride in his bones – unless provoked, he normally wouldn’t easily act. Jiang Susu must have offended him somehow. Looking at Jiang Susu’s attire and what happened afterward, plus Jiang Quan’s understanding of his daughter’s character, he could guess what had occurred.

At this moment, Jiang Quan couldn’t tell if he felt more disappointment or anger. He was angry that Xiao Shao and Jiang Ruan showed no mercy, and he resented Jiang Susu’s recklessness in offending Xiao Shao without considering consequences. What kind of person was Prince Jinying? Someone who dared contradict even the Emperor – what good could come from angering him?

What disappointed Jiang Quan more was Jiang Susu’s behavior. If there was anything in Jiang Quan’s life he was proud of, Jiang Susu should count as one. He had always been proud of this daughter. Jiang Susu was refined and otherworldly, with widespread renown for her talents. If not for Xia Yan’s incident, the capital’s noble young masters would surely be competing for her now. In Jiang Quan’s heart, Jiang Susu was worthy of any man – only the highest status could highlight his daughter’s extraordinariness. But now this daughter was debasing herself like other courtesans, even using underhanded methods to climb into someone’s bed. Jiang Quan felt grief for her misfortune and anger at her failure to meet expectations. Earlier he had harbored some hope that if Eighth Prince took a liking to Jiang Susu, securing her a future wouldn’t be bad. But now with this incident, Eighth Prince’s side was surely hopeless.

Jiang Susu had never seen Jiang Quan like this and felt somewhat frightened. She hugged Jiang Quan’s legs, crying loudly: “Father, Susu knows she was wrong! Susu was momentarily confused. Seeing Big Sister marry so well while I have such a reputation, not knowing what kind of family I’ll marry into in the future, I thought that since Prince Jinying values Sister, even if Susu became a concubine, with Big Sister’s protection I should live well. But I never expected it would turn out like this. Father, Susu knows she was wrong. Father, please don’t abandon Susu.”

Jiang Quan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Jiang Susu’s words struck right at his heart. Thinking of how since Xia Yan’s incident, this daughter had locked herself in her courtyard daily without coming out – as a young lady in her boudoir, she had to pay the price for her mother’s misconduct. Daily worrying whether she could marry into a good family, even making a legitimate daughter think of becoming a concubine. Jiang Quan felt somewhat guilty – fundamentally, it was still his failure as a father. Once his heart’s scale tipped toward Jiang Susu, when looking at Jiang Ruan, Jiang Quan was particularly unfavorable, thinking that despite flowing with Jiang residence blood, Jiang Ruan showed no consideration for sibling affection. She didn’t regard him as a father at all – did she really think having backing made her untouchable?

Jiang Quan snorted: “Enough, I’ll think of another way for this matter. Don’t leave your room these few days. Where is Jiang Ruan? Call her here!”

This was clearly to demand an explanation. Hong Ying and Jiang Susu’s faces both relaxed simultaneously. Redirecting trouble – though Jiang Ruan schemed well, she couldn’t overcome Jiang Quan’s biased heart. As long as Jiang Quan wasn’t dead, he was the one in charge of the Jiang residence. Naturally, since Jiang Ruan had to call him father, she naturally couldn’t gain advantage in the residence.

Just then, a stranger dressed as a guard walked in and cupped his hands to Jiang Quan: “Reporting to Master Jiang, my master says the young mistress is unwell, so he took the young mistress back to the Prince’s residence to have Physician Xia examine her.”

Hearing this, Jiang Quan felt even more stifled. Jiang Ruan was clearly removing herself from under the cauldron – he couldn’t demand someone from Prince Jinying’s residence, but this move of Jiang Ruan’s was truly too underhanded. If it were Jiang Ruan’s maid who came, Jiang Quan could still vent his anger, but this person was Xiao Shao’s subordinate – he could neither beat nor scold him. Jiang Quan could only respond with an ugly expression.

The guard scratched his head and suddenly glanced at Hong Ying. Hong Ying felt somewhat numb from that glance. The next moment, she heard the guard’s voice, filled with concern: “By the way, the young mistress also said that the auntie in the residence is pregnant yet ran around all day today – truly very tiring. She specially had His Highness write a note to request an imperial physician from the palace. He should arrive soon to examine Auntie’s condition carefully, to avoid disturbing the little brother in her belly.”

Hong Ying’s body stiffened, her face immediately showing some pallor. She instinctively wanted to refuse, but the words stopped at her lips. If she refused now, wouldn’t that show a guilty conscience? With Xia Yan’s precedent, Jiang Quan would surely be more vigilant about such matters. Once any clues were discovered, he would investigate thoroughly. But if she obediently stayed put, what would happen after… would be another bloody storm.

Her body began trembling uncontrollably. At this critical moment when Jiang Quan was already in a bad mood, if anything went wrong, what good end could she have? She was now in a dilemma – the two pillows stuffed in Hong Ying’s belly suddenly felt heavier than mountains.

After the guard finished reporting, he cupped his hands to Jiang Quan and withdrew. Though Jiang Quan was very displeased with Jiang Ruan, imperial physicians weren’t available to just anyone. Today Hong Ying had indeed been running around all day, and they were truly afraid of harming the child in her belly. Having an imperial physician examine her would certainly be much safer. He didn’t think Xiao Shao would tamper with the imperial physician – first, it was beneath Xiao Shao’s character, and second, Hong Ying was merely pregnant. If there were really problems, they could always ask other doctors to examine her. This kind of thing would be difficult to fake.

Jiang Quan’s mind was at ease, but he didn’t notice Hong Ying’s rigid expression. Just then, a servant suddenly came running hurriedly, saying: “Master, this is terrible!”

“What now?” Today’s various incidents had already left Jiang Quan overwhelmed and unable to cope. Hearing this again unexpectedly, he roared impatiently.

The servant was startled and looked at Jiang Quan timidly before saying quietly: “A large group of people have come outside, all beating gongs and drums, carrying betrothal gifts and distributing wedding candies at the gate. They say they saw Second Miss’s body and are willing to be Second Miss’s husbands… In the future, they’ll be in-laws with the Jiang residence.”

“What—” Before Jiang Quan could respond, Jiang Susu screamed first.

…

At this moment, in the carriage returning to the residence with Xiao Shao, Lu Zhu asked: “Miss, isn’t this too lenient toward Second Miss and Fifth Aunt? Master will surely find ways to protect them. Isn’t Miss’s effort wasted?”

“No.” Jiang Ruan looked at the refreshments and tea arranged on the small table in the carriage. Xiao Shao’s carriage had everything complete – quite thoughtful, making one extremely comfortable. Even the refreshments were made according to her preferred tastes.

“Second Sister’s heart was set on marrying into high society to enjoy power, but now she’s lost that qualification. She’ll even become the type of person she most despises. There are no eternal superiors in this world – not being able to be superior to others is more painful than killing her.” Jiang Ruan said lightly: “As for Hong Ying, do you really think Jiang Quan will spare her?”

Jiang Quan appeared noble on the surface but was actually not tolerant. Hong Ying daring to deceive Jiang Quan about offspring was violating his greatest taboo. Hong Ying’s end wouldn’t be very good – insufficient greed leads to destruction. Everyone must pay the price for their greed. Hong Ying’s price was just somewhat higher.

“None of them can escape,” she said.