Since the beginning of spring, it was the first time it had rained. Rainwater dripped from the eaves onto the stone slabs in the courtyard, and the sky was so overcast it seemed about to collapse.

Xia Yan sat by the bed, picking up a bowl of sugar-steamed cheese from beside her and bringing it to the young girl’s face.

“I don’t want to eat.” Jiang Susu turned her head away, her beautiful, moving eyes full of anger. That jade-white face had a diagonal gash from below her right eye. Though medicated, the flesh protruded hideously, cutting right through that blood-colored teardrop mole. At first glance, she looked like a demon.

“Susu, be good. Eat something so your wound can heal faster.” Xia Yan said gently.

Jiang Susu knocked over the porcelain bowl in Xia Yan’s hands, saying intensely: “Heal what? Looking like a ghost now, how can I get better? Might as well die.”

Speaking emotionally, she couldn’t help coughing twice, making her already twisted right face look even more terrifying.

Xia Yan patted her back lovingly: “Are you trying to break Mother’s heart by saying such things? Susu, rest assured, Mother will find the best doctors and won’t leave the slightest trace.”

“Do you think I’ll believe your words?” Jiang Susu looked at her, her face full of disappointment: “If you hadn’t come up with the idea to have Shu Xiang lead that Li Yang to Suxin Garden, how would things have developed to this point? It’s all you! All you!” By the end, her gaze was crazed, her emotions nearly out of control.

“Enough!” Xia Yan suddenly snapped in a low voice, then quickly whispered: “Do you want everyone to hear about this?”

Jiang Susu’s voice caught, but she still stared at her deadly.

Xia Yan’s voice suddenly became stern: “Put away that dying look. Do you think acting this way will change anything? If Jiang Ruan saw you like this, she’d probably be delighted. Your father seeing you now would only be disappointed. If you want revenge, wipe away your tears and listen to me.”

Her tone was severe. Jiang Susu was stunned for a moment, then slowly calmed down: “What should I do?”

Seeing her like this, Xia Yan knew Jiang Susu was listening to her words. She breathed a sigh of relief: “Your second brother now has a severed finger—this matter is very suspicious. I don’t know what happened with your brother’s situation, but Li Yang’s affair with you is definitely connected to Jiang Ruan. She actually played both you and me.”

“I hate her so much I want to skin her alive and drink her blood.” Jiang Susu clenched her fists, her gaze sinister: “She harmed me to this extent—I’m not reconciled!”

“The Li family has too much power. No matter what, I won’t send you to the Li family. I’ve already written to your grandfather. When your grandfather learns of your and your brother’s current state, Jiang Ruan’s good days will be over.”

Jiang Susu’s eyes lit up: “Grandfather will get revenge for me.”

“So you must rest and recover now,” Xia Yan looked at her gently: “When your injury improves a bit, I’ll arrange for you to return to the Xia residence.”

Xia Yan was born to Marquis Yongding Xia Cheng’s second wife. Originally, Xia Cheng was just an obscure county clerk, so Xia Yan’s status wasn’t sufficient to marry Jiang Quan as his principal wife. Who knew that Xia Cheng’s legitimate elder brother would die suddenly of illness a few years ago, so the title fell to him, this bastard son. Xia Yan rose with the tide, and with Zhao Mei cutting ties with General Zhao, Xia Yan’s status seemed more fitting for Jiang Quan’s principal wife position.

Xia Cheng, like Xia Yan, was also protective of his family. If he knew his pair of grandchildren had suffered such misfortune, who knew what methods he would use against Jiang Ruan.

After talking with Jiang Susu for a while, Xia Yan finally got up to leave. Walking to the door, Xia Yan rubbed her temples and asked: “Is Chao’er awake?”

Lin Lang lowered her head: “Second Young Master woke at noon, but after waking he flew into a rage, drove all the maids from the room, and refuses to see anyone.”

Xia Yan took a deep breath: “Let’s go. I’ll go see him.”

Despite the continuous rainy weather, Ruan Residence remained as leisurely as ever, seemingly unaffected by this gloomy weather. Jiang Ruan stood at the table practicing calligraphy while Bai Zhi ground ink for her, saying: “Miss’s handwriting is getting better and better.”

“You can’t even read—what do you mean by good?” Lian Qiao said from the side.

Bai Zhi’s face reddened. Her tongue wasn’t as sharp as Lian Qiao’s, so she could only lower her head: “It just looks nice.”

Jiang Ruan set down her brush: “Would you like to learn to read?”

Hearing this, both Lian Qiao and Bai Zhi looked at her with surprise and joy: “Naturally we’d like to.”

“Then in a few days I’ll select some simple books for you to learn reading.” Following her, being literate would always be better. Usually Lu Zhu handled external affairs, but Lian Qiao and Bai Zhi should also help her with some matters within the residence.

“This servant thanks Miss.” The two maids were naturally overjoyed. For maids, being literate was something only upper-class people could do. Jiang Ruan teaching them to read was truly appreciated beyond measure.

“Miss had Lu Zhu go out today to retrieve the bank notes stored at Sihai Bank. What’s this for?” Lian Qiao asked.

Jiang Ruan glanced at her. Though these two maids were loyal, their thinking was too straightforward. Lu Zhu had traveled extensively in her early years and seen many bad things in the marketplace, so she could be used without worry. But these two maids still couldn’t be fully trusted with important matters.

“Look at this rain.” Jiang Ruan looked out the window: “It’s falling continuously, but who knows when it will stop.”

“Miss jests,” Bai Zhi said in surprise: “It’s just a spring rain. It might stop by tomorrow morning.”

“I think it won’t stop.” Jiang Ruan shook her head.

In her previous life, it was also this year when this rain began falling continuously, lasting a full three months. Spring grains couldn’t be planted, and floods ran rampant. Many people’s houses and fields were completely washed away and submerged by the floods and rain. For a time, the capital was filled with many refugees.

She remembered this event clearly because at that time the manor was also ravaged by floods. Due to food shortages, the Zhang Lan family reduced her provisions to an almost cruel level. Though her room wasn’t completely destroyed, it was always damp. Every day she dragged her hungry body to do rough, exhausting work. One day she was almost swept away by the flood. Fortunately, a crude servant doing work saw her and rescued her. She would never forget Zhang Lan’s expression when looking at her then—full of disappointment, wishing she had died in the water. At the time, Jiang Ruan thought Zhang Lan’s family resented her for consuming household grain, so they wished her dead. Now thinking about it, if she had died in that flood then, the Zhang Lan family could have received a large reward from Xia Yan.

At that time, many refugees flooded the capital. Each family naturally couldn’t feed everyone, so the refugees wandered everywhere. Unable to get food, they robbed everywhere. Poor families naturally had no extra grain, so they set their sights on the wealthy families in the capital. At that time, Zhao Yi, serving as city garrison commander, led troops to suppress them but was killed by the refugees. And at this time, the Emperor ordered the Zhao family to fund disaster relief. The Zhao family contributed ten thousand taels of silver, nearly emptying their family savings. The Zhao family seemed to begin its decline from that time.

Jiang Ruan learned of this after entering the palace. At that time, a consort mentioned it casually during idle conversation. It was precisely Xuan Li who suggested to the Emperor that General Zhao’s family was wealthy and might have silver for disaster relief. Jiang Ruan had also asked Xuan Li about this matter. Xuan Li’s response was that above the common people, money was just an external possession—being able to protect those refugees’ lives was also a good deed.

Thinking about it now, after that incident, Xuan Li’s prestige in court increased while the Zhao family weakened. Perhaps this was also within his plans, and Zhao Yi’s death probably wasn’t that simple either. How could a dignified capital garrison commander be killed by unarmed rioters?

Her gaze suddenly deepened. In this life, she didn’t plan to be strangers with the Zhao family. The Zhao family was her backing support—how could she allow others to bully them like this?

“Even if this rain won’t stop, why does Miss need to take out silver?” Bai Zhi was puzzled: “No matter what, Miss should keep some silver with her. What are you planning to do now?”

“I had Lu Zhu buy up all the grain in the capital.” Jiang Ruan said indifferently.

“Miss,” Lian Qiao’s eyes widened: “Why does Miss want to buy so much grain?”

It was currently early spring, with new grain not yet available—everything was last year’s old grain, so prices weren’t expensive. Two to three thousand silver taels were enough to buy most of it. Those grain farmers were worried about not being able to sell their grain, so seeing this, they would also sell all their grain.

“I was thinking that if this rain keeps falling and turns into flooding, this grain would become valuable.” Jiang Ruan smiled.

“Miss.” Bai Zhi moved her lips but ultimately said nothing. Jiang Ruan’s words never allowed for refutation. She was determined, and once she decided something, she wouldn’t waver. So even though Bai Zhi thought Jiang Ruan’s action was truly incomprehensible, she could only go along with it.

Just then, Lu Zhu pushed open the door and entered. Seeing Jiang Ruan, she smiled: “Miss, the people we found have bought all the grain and stored it in a warehouse in the west of the city. The key is in this servant’s hands.”

She handed the key to Jiang Ruan, smiling: “Since no one has been buying old grain these past few days, this servant bought most of the rice and flour.”

“You did very well.” Jiang Ruan played with the exquisite, small silver key in her hand.

“However, Miss,” Lu Zhu thought for a moment: “This servant saw Fifth Concubine at the courtyard gate just now. She looked like she wanted to enter, but when this servant asked, she left again.”

“I see.” Jiang Ruan pondered briefly: “If that’s the case, let’s go sit in Fifth Concubine’s courtyard.”

Hong Ying was embroidering in her room. The weather wasn’t very good, and the light wasn’t clear enough to see well. After embroidering for a while, she felt dissatisfied with her work. Just as she was getting annoyed, a maid came forward: “Concubine, the eldest miss has come.”

“Eldest Miss?” She frowned slightly, not expecting Jiang Ruan to come. No one but Jiang Quan had ever set foot in this courtyard. She stood up just as Jiang Ruan walked in. Seeing her, she smiled: “Concubine was embroidering—it’s really well done.”

Hong Ying followed her gaze to the embroidery on the table. It was a pouch she was embroidering for Jiang Quan, featuring azure clouds and white cranes. The white cranes were lifelike, creating a lofty artistic conception with very beautiful colors.

“Just embroidering for fun,” Hong Ying smiled: “If Miss likes it, this concubine will embroider one for Miss another day.”

“Then I thank Fifth Concubine.” Jiang Ruan smiled in acceptance, surveyed the room, then said: “Everyone always said Father dotes on Fifth Concubine most, which I didn’t believe. But seeing this now, I have no choice but to believe.”

The room was exquisitely furnished, and everything placed on the shelf table was precious and delicate. Jiang Quan must have put some thought into Hong Ying.

Hong Ying was stunned, then smiled: “Master naturally loves Madam most. Miss is joking.”

“I never joke.” Jiang Ruan smiled: “Coming to visit Fifth Concubine today, there’s really nothing particular.” Her expression was gentle: “These past days the residence hasn’t been very peaceful. Second Sister and Second Brother have both encountered successive misfortunes, as if they were cursed. I was thinking, the next one—might it be Ruan’s turn?”

Hearing this, Hong Ying’s heart jumped as she looked at Jiang Ruan: “Why does Miss say this?”

“Intuition.” Jiang Ruan smiled: “I have no close people in the residence, and Mother passed away too early. Though Mother treats me well, she already has Second Sister and Second Brother…” Her voice lowered slightly: “Some words I can only say to Fifth Concubine. If Fifth Concubine were the residence’s mistress, how wonderful that would be. Someone as kind as Fifth Concubine would surely protect Ruan everywhere, and Ruan would certainly repay Fifth Concubine, making the Jiang residence harmonious and prosperous.”

Fifth Concubine pressed her lips together, her heart somehow beating wildly. She looked at Jiang Ruan probingly. Those enchanting bright eyes smiled at her—clearly gentle as flowing water, yet somehow like flowers viewed through fog, their emotions unclear. Coming from a brothel background, she had seen all kinds of people and understood human nature, yet she couldn’t understand this girl barely over ten years old.

“Does Miss truly think this concubine is qualified to be the Jiang residence’s mistress?” She heard her own slightly trembling voice.

Jiang Ruan smiled and picked up the teacup before her, taking a light sip: “Why not?”

Hong Ying looked at her and suddenly smiled: “Miss honors this concubine so—this concubine doesn’t know what to do. Actually, even if Miss hadn’t come to find this concubine today, this concubine was going to meet with Miss.”

Jiang Ruan smiled and looked at her. Hong Ying continued: “Yesterday this concubine was chatting idly with Master, and Master mentioned the Li father and son’s matter. Miss also knows about First Young Master Li and Second Miss’s affair. With First Young Master Li in his current state, Prime Minister Li surely can’t tolerate Second Miss. But Master doesn’t want to break with Prime Minister Li, so he’s thinking of having Miss replace Second Miss in marrying into the Li family.” After saying this, she carefully observed Jiang Ruan’s expression, but saw that beautiful face remain unchanged, the smile at her lips the same, as if wearing a perfect mask.

Jiang Ruan sighed softly: “Father dotes on Second Sister so much—it truly makes me envious.”

Seeing this, Hong Ying said: “This concubine is also anxious. It was clearly Second Miss who caused trouble—how can Miss be made to atone? Moreover, that First Young Master Li is now basically a useless person. If Miss really married over there, she would surely suffer terribly.”

Jiang Ruan pondered for a moment, then smiled at Hong Ying: “Thank you for Fifth Concubine’s warning. It’s just that Father’s decision is hard for me to interfere with. If he’s truly determined, Ruan, as a daughter of the Jiang family, can only accept.”

Hong Ying was stunned: “Miss agrees to marry over there?”

“Whether I agree, whether Father agrees—I wonder if Minister Li agrees?” Jiang Ruan smiled lightly and stood up: “It’s getting late. I should return.” She paused, her gaze falling on the embroidery on the table, and smiled: “Father dotes on Fifth Concubine, so Fifth Concubine caring for Father is natural. But Ruan still wants to remind Fifth Concubine—without offspring, Fifth Concubine is the same as First Concubine and Second Concubine.” She smiled as she said the rest: “With offspring but without status, those children’s and concubines’ fates are also the same.”

Long after Jiang Ruan left, Hong Ying still sat in place in a daze. The maid beside her saw this and asked carefully: “Concubine?”

Hong Ying waved her hand, her expression full of exhaustion, and said quietly: “What exactly does Miss want to do?”

At Prince Jinying’s residence in the capital, Ye Feng stood before the desk: “General Guan has sent word that he’ll return to court next month.” He paused, then continued: “This subordinate was on a mission today and heard people below discussing how someone has been massively buying up remaining grain in the city. It’s probably related to the Eighth Prince. Upon careful inquiry, it was done by a maid from beside the Jiang residence’s eldest miss.” He frowned: “But the purpose is unknown.”

Xiao Shao turned around, his heroic brows slightly raised, making that beautiful, handsome face more imposing: “Continue inquiring. Pay attention to movements at Minister Li’s residence.”

“Prime Minister Li?” Ye Feng was surprised: “Is Master planning to deal with him early?”

Xiao Shao shook his head: “The Li family’s eldest son is barely alive. This matter involves the Jiang family. The Jiang family doesn’t want to make enemies with the Li family—if I’m not mistaken, Jiang Quan should be making moves soon.”

Ye Feng thought for a moment: “The Xiao family is behind the Jiang family, and the Xiao family is also in the Eighth Prince’s faction. Perhaps the Eighth Prince will intervene.” After all, both the Xiao family and Li family were invaluable resources—Xuan Li wouldn’t waste them either. He suddenly smiled: “Really don’t know what the Eighth Prince would feel knowing his subordinates are fighting among themselves. Anyway, that Li eldest son’s downfall is well-deserved. Second Miss Jiang actually did a good deed—castrating Li Yang like this has definitely created a rift between the Li family and Jiang family.”

Xiao Shao didn’t correct Ye Feng’s words, remembering how Jiang Ruan that day in the room decisively used ceramic shards to cut off Li Yang’s member without hesitation. Clearly a boudoir maiden, yet seeing a man’s private parts showed no embarrassment—only coldness in her eyes, looking at Li Yang as if viewing a pig for slaughter.

He had been trained as Jinyiwei since age ten, also stepping over blood to reach his position. If he hadn’t seen it personally, he truly couldn’t believe a secluded young lady would possess a killer’s gaze.

How exactly was Jiang Quan’s eldest daughter raised?

After a moment, Xiao Shao collected his thoughts: “I’ll enter the palace.”

North of the capital, firecrackers continuously sounded at the gate of a three-courtyard mansion. Before the vermillion gate pillars stood two fierce lions, and at the top hung a golden plaque tied with red flowers, inscribed with two large characters: Liu Residence.

This was precisely the residence the Emperor bestowed upon the zhuangyuan scholar.

Madam Liu was barely thirty, but her face showed the weathering of hardship, her temples already streaked with gray like someone of fifty. Even so, she still wore a plain azure lotus-embroidered straight robe, her hair combed without a strand out of place, smiling as she distributed reward money to people.

Four maids bestowed by the Emperor also stood nearby with smiling faces. Many people came to offer congratulations and receive rewards, including former neighbors. Liu Min had truly achieved success—from now on the Liu family could bring glory to their ancestors.

After distributing the rewards, Madam Liu asked a nearby maid: “Why hasn’t Min’er come out yet?”

The maid smiled: “Perhaps he’s tidying up in his room. This servant will go urge him.” She then turned and left.

In the study, Liu Min was staring at a painting hung on the wall.

The Emperor’s bestowed residence was spacious and magnificent, and the study was more than twice as large as before. From now on there would be enough bookshelf space to store all his books. But at this moment, his heart felt somewhat dazed—was this really what he wanted?

Some days ago, he suffered a theft in his study at the Imperial Academy. What was stolen were precisely the letters from that mysterious person. All those letters disappeared without a trace, as if they had never appeared. Liu Min asked the book boy, who also claimed not to know, but strangely nothing else was missing. He couldn’t help suspecting that those letters were taken by the mysterious person himself.

If not for that moon and firefly painting before him, Liu Min would almost think that entire period was an illusion, that the mysterious person was just a figment of his imagination.

He carefully studied the painting before him—the lines were beautiful and flowing, sharp and exposed. Liu Min couldn’t help wondering what kind of person that was. Having grown accustomed to someone discussing scholarly points with him, now that person’s sudden disappearance made him feel somewhat lonely.

“Young Master, Madam urges you to come quickly.” The new maid looked at the elegant young man and blushed slightly.

Liu Min glanced at the painting before him: “Let’s go.”

Flowers bloom on two branches, each telling its own story.

At the Eighth Prince’s residence in the capital, Xuan Li set down the letter in his hand, frowning slightly.

Seeing this, the advisor behind him asked: “Your Highness, has something happened?”

Xuan Li glanced at the letter on the table: “A letter from the Marquis Xia residence—they’ve had a dispute with Prime Minister Li.” He couldn’t hide his surprise. In Xia Cheng’s letter describing the situation, he claimed Li Yang was castrated by someone at the Jiang residence. Now Li Dong wanted revenge for Li Yang and wouldn’t spare Xia Cheng’s granddaughter Jiang Susu. Xia Cheng said in his letter that Jiang Susu was framed, but didn’t reveal who the culprit was.

Xuan Li briefly explained the situation to his advisor, who frowned and pondered: “Your Highness, this matter was probably orchestrated by someone with ulterior motives. With First Young Master Li’s incident, Prime Minister Li and the Jiang family have created a rift, which also means a rift with the Xia family. This is trying to make Your Highness’s subordinates fight among themselves—the intentions are extremely sinister.”

“I naturally know this.” Xuan Li said: “Li Dong knows I can’t do without him, and I’m unwilling to lose the Xia family. Moreover, Minister Jiang currently has some influence in court. If these two sides quarrel, it will only harm me without benefit.”

“Could it be the Fifth Prince’s doing?” the advisor asked: “The Fifth Prince’s voice has been rising in court recently, and His Majesty also trusts him considerably.”

“I understand Father Emperor’s temperament,” Xuan Li snorted coldly: “The higher Fifth Brother jumps now, the harder he’ll fall later. I don’t think Fifth Brother would be clever enough to plant someone in the Jiang residence.”

“Then the Fourth Prince?” the advisor asked.

“Fourth Brother appears to not compete for anything on the surface, but we must still guard against him. What I fear is the Crown Prince.”

The advisor was stunned: “The Crown Prince has lost virtue in speech and shows no merit in governance. He’s also foolish and naive—why would Your Highness worry?”

“The Crown Prince alone is indeed not to be feared,” Xuan Li narrowed his eyes: “What I fear is that this is Father Emperor’s intention.”

“His Majesty wanted to change the Crown Prince in earlier years and probably has long felt disgust—how could he act this way?” the advisor asked.

Xuan Li said: “It’s probably just a smoke screen. Otherwise, look at all these years—the Crown Prince has made countless enemies in court, yet why does he still stand firm? If not for Father Emperor’s secret instructions, he would have been devoured completely long ago.”

“This…” The advisor bowed: “This subordinate truly cannot fathom His Majesty’s intentions.”

Xuan Li looked at the advisor kneeling below with disgust, his tone still gentle: “I don’t blame you. Even I, having interacted with Father Emperor for so many years, have never clearly understood what he’s thinking.”

The advisor thought for a moment, then said: “Actually, if Your Highness wants to consolidate power, there’s another method—why not form a marriage alliance with the Jiang family?”

“The Jiang family?” Xuan Li raised an eyebrow.

The advisor bowed: “What Your Highness needs most now is the power of the Xia and Li families. A marriage alliance with the Xia family would be too obvious. If there were a marriage alliance with the Jiang family, it would be equivalent to pulling the Xia family over too.” He paused and continued: “Moreover, the Jiang family’s young lady is still young—we could arrange an engagement first. If there are variables later, we can change our minds.”

Xuan Li frowned, remembering the recent capital rumors about Madam Jiang hiring assassins to frame the eldest miss but instead framing the second miss, as well as Jiang Chao throwing money around at Baihua Tower but having no money to pay, finally getting a finger chopped off. He said displeasedly: “The Jiang residence is a complete mess. Moreover, that second miss of the Jiang residence now has a bad reputation—how could I marry her? Wouldn’t that make the whole world laugh?”

“Your Highness,” the advisor said: “Doesn’t the Jiang residence still have an eldest miss? This eldest miss’s birth mother was from General Zhao’s residence. It’s just a title anyway. If Your Highness married the Jiang family’s eldest miss, you’d not only have connections with the Jiang residence and Xia residence, but might also connect with General Zhao’s residence.”

“Zhao Guang, that brute,” Xuan Li said: “He’s always been in the Crown Prince’s faction and won’t easily surrender.” As for Jiang Ruan, his mind conjured the red-dressed young girl’s indifferent smile on the boat that night at the Lantern Festival. His heart was suddenly gripped by an intense feeling of concern.

“From current appearances, marriage alliance is the best method.” The advisor continued to suggest: “If you’re engaged to a Jiang family miss, no matter how dissatisfied Prime Minister Li is, he won’t act rashly. Your Highness would be selling such a favor to the Jiang family—both the Jiang family and Xia family would do their utmost to assist Your Highness.”

“You’re right.” Xuan Li picked up the letter on the table again: “Perhaps I should seriously consider your words.” The letter invited Xuan Li to gather at Marquis Xia’s residence. He thought for a moment: “Someone come, reply to Marquis Xia’s message. Tell him I accept his invitation and will visit in three days.”

When Marquis Xia received the message from Xuan Li’s attendant, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Seeing him, Madam Xia asked urgently: “What’s the situation? Did the Eighth Prince agree?”

“He agreed.” Marquis Xia said to her: “Send a message to the Jiang residence, telling Yan’er to bring Susu and Chao’er and prepare to come over.” He paused: “Tell her to bring that Jiang Ruan as well.”

Madam Xia nodded: “Naturally. To think she disfigured Susu—this Jiang Ruan really has some ability.”

Marquis Xia’s eyes were full of sinister intent: “I haven’t told the Eighth Prince about this matter. The Eighth Prince surely thinks this was the Fifth Prince’s doing and has concerns, which is why he’s willing to build relationships with my Xia residence. Even so, Jiang Ruan cannot be allowed to remain. Yan’er has repeatedly failed against her—I want to see what kind of demon this person is, to be so vicious at such a young age!”