On the way back, Tong’er could hardly suppress the broad smile on her face.

Jiang Li was quite helpless. “Tong’er, wipe that smile off your face.”

“This servant can’t help but want to laugh every time I think of that man’s tone just now,” Tong’er said. “That man thought he had severely overcharged Miss and was quite pleased with himself. If he knew he had sold this Ferghana horse to Miss for only five hundred taels of silver, who knows how much he would regret it.”

Jiang Li smiled. “That’s just how the East Market is. Once the transaction is complete, money and goods are settled—no one can go back on their word. If you don’t have a good eye, no one would dare buy things carelessly.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Tong’er laughed. “Our miss has fiery eyes and golden pupils!”

She was quite carefree and didn’t even ask why Jiang Li was certain that foal was a Ferghana horse. As long as Jiang Li said it was, she believed it without doubt. So many people bought things at the East Market and lost everything, especially those going for the first time. Who would have thought that on Jiang Li’s first visit, she could find such a precious treasure?

“The East Market really is a good place,” Tong’er smacked her lips. “If there’s a chance in the future, let’s go again!”

This child only thought about having fun. Jiang Li shook her head.

“When we get back, wash this foal clean. We can’t give it to Old General Ji all filthy,” Jiang Li said.

“This servant understands.” Tong’er nodded, then felt somewhat reluctant. “Such a fine horse…”

Jiang Li lightly tapped her head. “So what? We only spent five hundred taels of silver!”

“That’s true too.” Tong’er smiled foolishly again.

When they returned to the Jiang mansion, Jiang Li directly had someone bring the foal back to Fangfei Courtyard. The courtyard at Fangfei Courtyard was large enough. She had Bai Xue take people to wash the foal clean. Just after returning to her room, Qingfeng came to deliver the invitation and convey a message—after much deliberation, Jiang Yuanbai and Old Madam Jiang had finally decided to let Jiang Li attend Old General Ji’s birthday banquet.

Exactly as Jiang Li had expected.

She smiled as she accepted the invitation and had someone return to Wanfeng Hall to say she understood.

After a while, Bai Xue’s voice sounded from outside the courtyard, asking Jiang Li to come take a look. Jiang Li walked out of the room and at a glance saw the maids gathered together in the courtyard. In the very center stood a pale golden foal, proudly raising its head, majestic and imposing.

After washing off the mud, this horse revealed its true color—it was actually a light golden coat. Its coat was extremely smooth and thick, though perhaps because it hadn’t eaten enough before, it didn’t appear bright enough. Even so, this was a very handsome little horse with a proud bearing.

Tong’er was absolutely delighted when she saw it. Zhao Ke, hiding in the shadows, also witnessed this scene. He couldn’t tell at a glance that this horse was a Ferghana horse, but he could see that this horse was very fine—even in the Duke’s mansion stables, it would be an excellent specimen. Since ancient times, heroes loved fine steeds. He looked on with envy, his eyes green with jealousy. He wondered in his heart where Jiang Li had found such a mount, and whether there were any other horses left so he could also pick one.

Jiang Li walked to the foal’s side. The foal glanced at her, its gaze still somewhat proud. Jiang Li reached out and stroked its forehead. The little horse softly huffed twice.

The surrounding maids all laughed. Bai Xue said, “Miss, give it a name.”

Jiang Li was about to speak, but after thinking, she shook her head. “Never mind. This is a little horse I’m giving to Old General Ji. It would be better for Old General Ji to name it himself.”

“It’s a boy!” Bai Xue said.

“Even better then.” Jiang Li stroked the little horse. “If it were a girl, putting it in the Duke’s mansion—wouldn’t that be a terrible waste?”

Zhao Ke: “…”

What did she mean by “terrible waste”? Everything in their Duke’s mansion, even the flowers and grass, were all male! They should have had more girls long ago! Girls outside the mansion—that would be the terrible waste!

Everyone played with the little horse for a while. As evening approached, Jiang Li instructed someone to watch over the foal carefully before returning to her room to sleep.

The invitation stated that Old General Ji’s birthday was three days hence. She suddenly wondered when Ji Heng’s birthday was. She seemed to have never heard of his birthday banquet.

…

Three days passed quickly.

That morning, light snow began falling from the sky. Spring in Yanjing City came very late. After the New Year, it seemed as if this winter would continue on forever—the snow was even heavier than before the new year. The occasional sunny days had become rare treasures.

Tong’er was carefully selecting clothes in the room. Seeing this, Jiang Li said, “Just pick any outfit.”

“Isn’t Miss attending a birthday banquet?” Tong’er smiled. “Naturally you must pick a nice-looking one.”

“There’s no need,” Jiang Li replied. “There are no other young ladies or madams at the birthday banquet. Even if I dress up, no one will see it—it would be a waste of effort.”

“Not necessarily,” Tong’er shook her head. “Even so, Old General Ji and His Grace Duke Su are still men. If Miss dresses more beautifully, they will surely appreciate you more when they look at you.”

Tong’er was naive, only thinking that as long as Jiang Li looked beautiful, everything would be fine. But this also showed that even Tong’er wasn’t wary of the people at the Duke’s mansion. In Tong’er’s heart, Ji Heng and Old General Ji were not enemies worth guarding against.

Jiang Li thought for a moment and smiled. “Then you pick.”

Selecting clothes took quite a bit of time. Tong’er searched for matching jewelry for Jiang Li, which also took a considerable period. Once everything was ready, it was time to leave. Bai Xue led the Ferghana foal over from the courtyard.

Whether it was Jiang Li’s imagination or not, the little horse’s coat seemed much more lustrous than three days ago when she bought it from the East Market. This was natural—the horse seller only cared about selling the horse and fed it inferior fodder. After returning to the Jiang family, Jiang Li had instructed the grooms to properly mix the feed and feed it on schedule daily. Eating well, the horse’s pale golden coat became even more beautiful. Even though there was no sun today, standing in the courtyard, its entire body was like a bolt of pale golden silk, emitting a bright luster.

What surprised Jiang Li most was that beside the horse’s ear, someone had somehow pinned a small red cloth flower.

Jiang Li: “…What’s with this flower?”

Bai Xue said, “Since this horse is to be given to the Old General as a birthday gift, this servant originally wanted to go to the storehouse to pick a beautiful collar for the little horse to wear. But this horse refused to wear it no matter what. After putting it on, it kept trying to remove it. This servant had no choice but to take off the collar. After thinking it over, I decided to find a flower for it to wear—it looks more like a gift that way.”

Jiang Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Ferghana horse foals were naturally proud by nature and difficult for ordinary people to tame. Even when young, they disliked wearing restrictive things like collars. But Bai Xue had actually thought to pin a flower on it. This really was…

The pale golden little horse looked like a defeated rooster, hanging its head dejectedly with its head lowered, refusing to look at Jiang Li. Perhaps it was sulking because of the flower by its ear. Jiang Li wanted to remove it, but Tong’er was already urging from the other side, “Miss, they say the carriage is already waiting outside. Let’s hurry out.”

Jiang Li said, “Alright, coming.” She temporarily forgot about the flower on the horse’s head.

As they left the courtyard and walked toward the mansion exit, they encountered a rarely seen person along the way.

Yang Shi from the Third household was walking toward her room with Jiang Yuyan. Yang Shi was holding a handkerchief in her hand. Jiang Li glanced at it—the handkerchief didn’t seem to be made of ordinary material, and the workmanship shouldn’t be from a common embroidery shop either. Jiang Yuyan saw her from afar and slowed her pace. When Jiang Li walked up to them, she said, “Second Elder Sister.”

“It’s A Li.” Yang Shi also saw her, and a not-very-warm smile appeared on her face. “In such a hurry—where are you going?”

Jiang Li calmly withdrew her gaze from Yang Shi’s handkerchief and smiled. “Third Aunt, Fourth Younger Sister.” She had been planning to find an excuse to brush them off, but suddenly an idea flashed through her mind. She immediately smiled and said, “I’m preparing to go to the Duke’s mansion to attend a banquet.”

“The Duke’s mansion?” Before Jiang Yuyan could say anything, Yang Shi first asked in surprise, “Which Duke’s mansion?”

“Duke Su’s mansion.”

“Duke Su’s mansion?” Yang Shi was stunned. “The mansion hasn’t heard of any invitation being sent from Duke Su’s mansion.” She looked at Jiang Li, her tone sour. “Old Madam didn’t tell us about this matter.” Many banquet invitations from Duke’s mansions would not allow the Third household to participate unless absolutely necessary. Yang Shi had complained about this matter more than once. Although Jiang Yuanxing wasn’t Old Madam Jiang’s biological son, he still bore the Jiang surname. Yet the family was so distant with them. Moreover, promoting one’s own family members was always better than benefiting outsiders, wasn’t it? But Old Madam Jiang insisted on maintaining this distant appearance, and the First and Second households followed suit, acting superior and not taking the Third household seriously.

“I’ve heard that Duke Su is not an approachable person,” Yang Shi continued to observe as if casually. “When did our mansion become close with him? Is he very close with your elder brother?”

Jiang Li quietly looked at her. She had a smile at the corners of her lips and gentle eyes, yet she said nothing. After some time, Yang Shi felt somewhat unnerved by those eyes and asked, “A Li, why are you looking at people like that?”

“I’m just thinking about how to answer Third Aunt’s question,” Jiang Li said with a smile. “Father and Duke Su’s mansion aren’t very familiar. In fact, Duke Su’s mansion only sent the invitation to me alone. Even Father and Old Madam didn’t receive invitations, so it’s quite natural that Third Aunt and Fourth Younger Sister didn’t receive invitations. In the entire mansion, only I alone will be attending the banquet.”

This time, Yang Shi was truly stunned, and even Jiang Yuyan looked puzzled. Yang Shi stammered, “This… how can this be? How could Old Madam feel at ease letting you, a young lady, go to attend a banquet alone? Moreover, this doesn’t make sense…”

“Exactly,” Jiang Li furrowed her brows lightly, as if very troubled. “But Duke Su’s temperament—everyone in Yanjing City knows about it. The Duke’s mansion’s invitation—even though I’m Father’s daughter, I don’t dare to refuse it outright. I can only steel myself and go. Although I don’t know what dragon’s pool or tiger’s den lies ahead, for the sake of the Jiang family, I can only consider the bigger picture.”

Her words were half true and half false, and seemed to contain hidden meanings. Yang Shi’s eyelid twitched, and she couldn’t help but raise her head to look at Jiang Li. But she saw that Jiang Li’s expression was earnest, as if she had found a close relative to confide her recent troubles to, without a trace of scheming, yet somewhat unclear.

Yang Shi probed, “But why would the Duke’s mansion invite only you? Could it be…” She leaned closer. “You’ve reached the age for marriage discussions…” Yang Shi seemed to realize it was somewhat improper to speak to Jiang Li this way. As soon as the words left her mouth, she quickly stopped.

Jiang Li lowered her head, her voice like a mosquito’s buzz. “This… I don’t know…”

This appearance was clearly one of overwhelming shyness.

This was remarkable. Ever since Jiang Li returned to Yanjing City from Qingcheng Mountain, the Jiang family had mostly seen her gentle, composed, even calm to the point of cold demeanor. Thus, this shyness and unnaturalness became particularly obvious.

Jiang Yuyan also stared directly at Jiang Li without speaking.

Jiang Li raised her head and met Yang Shi’s scrutinizing gaze. In an instant, she seemed somewhat flustered and quickly said, “I’m running late now. I won’t talk with Third Aunt in detail—I’ll leave first.” She stepped aside and left from beside Yang Shi and Jiang Yuyan, as if in a panic, hastily escaping, seemingly unable to wait.

Jiang Li’s figure quickly disappeared. Jiang Yuyan stood in place. After a while, she asked quietly, “Mother, was Second Elder Sister just lying?”

Yang Shi didn’t speak, only frowned. After a long moment she said, “Whether she’s lying or not, the Duke’s mansion inviting only her—there’s definitely something wrong!”

On the other side, Jiang Li was walking to the mansion entrance, helped by Tong’er onto the carriage.

Her shyness, coyness, and unnaturalness had long since completely vanished, replaced by her original gentle and calm face. Sitting in the carriage, thinking of her appearance just now, she couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t know when she had become someone who could act at any time, precisely controlling her own emotions, showing others whatever they wanted to see.

She had long felt that the Third household was somewhat strange. Jiang Yuyan and Yang Shi’s clothing and accessories had, at some unknown point, become much more luxurious than before. However, Jiang Yuanxing hadn’t been promoted, and the Third household hadn’t started any other small businesses. The Third household’s improved standard of living was far too obvious. It required large amounts of silver.

Moreover, ever since Jiang Yu’e married, the Third household seemed not to care about the estrangement from the First and Second households. Jiang Yuanxing was even unwilling to pretend brotherly affection anymore.

There was also the scandal between Ji Shuran and Liu Wencai—suddenly overnight, it spread throughout all of Yanjing City. Jiang Yuanbai investigated all the Jiang family servants but couldn’t find anyone suspicious. For a very long time, many people believed this matter was done by Jiang Li to take revenge on Ji Shuran. However, whether she had actually done it or not, Jiang Li herself knew clearly. Later, Jiang Li thought that besides the servants, on that day, the Third household’s people had also been present. If anyone in the Jiang family was estranged from the First and Second households, the Third household was definitely one.

Could the Third household be the traitor within the Jiang family? Jiang Li had never been able to find evidence, until just now when she saw Yang Shi. She suddenly thought she could use this matter to test them.

Her shyness and coyness would mislead Yang Shi. If Yang Shi misunderstood something because of this and told someone about it, and this matter was leaked, it would almost prove that Yang Shi was problematic.

The carriage departed. Jiang Li sat inside, looking at her fingertips.

She hoped her suspicion was wrong.

But if it was correct, that was fine too. It was just a venomous fang hidden in the Jiang mansion—once pulled out, it would be nothing.

…

At the Duke’s mansion entrance, Zhao Ke was squatting in the courtyard, talking with Wen Ji.

He had gone out on business last night and returned to the Duke’s mansion early this morning to report, so he hadn’t returned to the Jiang family.

Inside the room, Situ Jiuyue was busily working. When she had free time, she would make some new poisons. Haitang stood beside her, from time to time handing her the materials she needed.

Ever since Haitang’s facial injury healed, she had nothing to do at the Duke’s mansion but couldn’t find anything to do. She simply became Situ Jiuyue’s servant. When Situ Jiuyue refined medicine, Haitang would assist on the side.

Zhao Ke looked at the two people in the room and shook his head, sighing. “A perfectly good young lady—why did she have to follow Miss Situ?”

Was Situ Jiuyue beautiful? Naturally beautiful. Among Yanjing City’s women, her appearance could even rank in the top ten. But she was truly too fierce—at the slightest disagreement, she would feed people poison. How could others dare get close to her? As for Haitang, the Duke’s mansion guards quite admired her. Situ Jiuyue used the poisonous spider method to treat Haitang’s facial wounds—using poison to fight poison. The danger and pain of those poisonous spiders were known to everyone at the Duke’s mansion. That Haitang was willing to accept it was already beyond people’s expectations. That she could endure it was beyond all expectations.

For a young lady to be so resilient and brave, the Duke’s mansion guards all felt admiration in their hearts. Some even became quite fond of her and confessed their feelings to Haitang.

Unfortunately, this young lady who had recovered her original appearance and had delicate features was extremely cold at heart. She firmly rejected all the guards who expressed their love to her, only saying she would never marry in this life. Everyone knew about that affair between the Shen family’s Shen Yurun and Princess Yongning, and guessed that Haitang had sworn off food because of a choking incident after seeing through men’s hypocritical faces. In private, they cursed and reviled Shen Yurun thoroughly again.

Wen Ji said, “Less nonsense. Quickly go to the entrance. Calculate the time—Second Miss Jiang should be arriving soon.”

Zhao Ke spat out the grass in his mouth. “I’m not her subordinate. Why do I have to manage everything? If His Grace the Duke really likes her, why doesn’t he just marry her and bring her to the mansion?”

“Like! Like!” A loud cry came, scaring Zhao Ke out of his wits. He looked up to see Little Red standing on a branch, staring at him mockingly, its glossy black feathers particularly conspicuous, calling out, “Like! Like!”

“Auntie, please stop calling.” Zhao Ke wished he could cover its mouth. “If His Grace finds out I was talking nonsense behind his back, he’ll definitely skin me alive. Be quiet!”

But Little Red called out even more vigorously, its voice as loud as Old General Ji’s.

Zhao Ke had no choice. If this wretched bird kept calling, it would attract everyone in the entire Duke’s mansion. Thinking of the image of Ji Heng smiling as he asked what exactly he had said, Zhao Ke couldn’t help but shiver. He said to Wen Ji, “Well then, you just watch it here. I’ll go receive Second Miss Jiang right away… Farewell!” He fled with greased feet.

Wen Ji took a deep breath, looked at Little Red standing proudly on the tree, turned his head, and left as well.

…

Jiang Li’s carriage stopped at the Duke’s mansion entrance.

The young servant welcoming guests smiled more warmly each time he saw Jiang Li. In a trance, Jiang Li felt he was almost catching up to the servants at Ye Mingyu’s house. She had someone lead the pale golden little foal. The gatekeeper servant was stunned and said, “Second Miss Jiang, this…”

“A birthday gift for Old General Ji,” Jiang Li smiled slightly. “It will just follow me into the mansion.”

The servant was dumbfounded for a moment, then said, “Oh, alright.”

Giving a little horse for a birthday—this Miss from the Jiang family truly was different from ordinary people. No wonder His Grace treated her specially.

Jiang Li walked with the guide toward the interior of the Duke’s mansion. When they reached beside the flower garden, she saw a tall figure practicing sword forms in an open space in front of the flower garden. The swordsmanship was excellent—one could only see silver light shuttling like a dragon, the form agile and vigorous. Looking more carefully, the person wearing a white cloth tunic with a red belt around the waist was none other than Old General Ji.

From his sword technique, one could indeed glimpse his former heroic bearing. However, perhaps because he was exerting too much force, the sword energy immediately stirred up many flower petals from the flower garden. The petals scattered down. If one ignored Old General Ji as a person, watching someone practice sword forms in a rain of flowers was truly a pleasing sight.

Only Jiang Li vaguely remembered that the flowers in this flower garden were all transplanted and carefully cultivated at great expense by Ji Heng. The Duke’s mansion was very large and didn’t lack for open spaces, yet Old General Ji had chosen to practice his sword forms precisely here. It could be said he was quite willful.

She stood quietly beside the flower garden. After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Old General Ji finished his sword practice. A young servant went forward and said something before him—presumably informing him of Jiang Li’s arrival. Old General Ji immediately turned around and strode toward Jiang Li.

“Old General.” Jiang Li paid her respects to him.

“You’ve come.” Old General Ji’s expression couldn’t be called happy, nor could it be called unhappy, but ultimately there was still some happiness. He said, “Today is this old man’s birthday. Last time when you were at the mansion, you roasted venison—this old man liked it very much, so I specially invited you to come today. This time you won’t need to do it yourself.”

Jiang Li smiled somewhat reluctantly. “Thank you for Old General’s consideration.” She wasn’t a servant of the Duke’s mansion—why should she come to the Duke’s mansion for no reason to fulfill others’ wishes?

Old General Ji’s gaze focused, and suddenly he exclaimed, “Fine horse!” Taking three steps as if they were two, he walked toward Jiang Li’s back.

Bai Xue was leading that pale golden foal. Jiang Li had instructed Bai Xue not to bring the foal near this flower garden—the flowers in the garden were poisonous. If this foal were poisoned, that would be disastrous.

“This is…” The Old General walked to the foal’s side, furrowing his brows slightly, reaching out to stroke the little horse’s coat. The little horse huffed through its nose, slightly shaking its head and kicking its front hooves.

“This is a birthday gift for the Old General. I hope the Old General won’t disdain it.” Jiang Li smiled slightly.

Disdain? How could that be possible? At least from Old General Ji’s current appearance, one truly couldn’t see the word “disdain.” His mouth was almost splitting to his ears, his face blooming with smiles. From the time Jiang Li had known the Old General until now, this was the first time she had seen him clearly display such obvious happiness. He stroked the foal’s mane again, his movements also careful and cautious. Suddenly he looked toward Jiang Li, hesitating as if wanting to ask some question.

Jiang Li guessed what he wanted to ask and said, “It’s a Ferghana horse.”

“Ah!” The Old General slapped his thigh. “This old man knew it! This horse is absolutely a Ferghana horse.” With Jiang Li’s confirmation, his smile became even more evident. He circled around the foal repeatedly, just like a lustful man seeing an incomparable beauty, or a greedy person seeing ten thousand taels of gold—he couldn’t bear to part with it.

“This old man hasn’t seen a Ferghana horse in so many years. I’d say that back in the day, this old man’s mount Chasing Wind was also a fine horse, but unfortunately it was shot dead by enemy forces when it accompanied this old man in battle. Later this old man raised Lightning, which stayed with me until the end, living to old age and dying naturally. Unfortunately, after many years without going to the battlefield, how could horses in the capital be suitable for war? They lack two parts bloodthirsty spirit. This horse is different—at a glance, you can see it’s different in its very bones.” As he spoke, he became sad again. “Such a fine horse, now following this old man with half his body in the grave, unable to go to the battlefield or travel the four corners of the world—it’s truly a pity.”

Since ancient times, famous generals were like beauties—they weren’t allowed to age in the mortal world. A general in his twilight years was as sad as a beauty in her twilight years.

But Jiang Li’s heart was utterly calm, because although Old General Ji lamented in this way, practicing sword forms in a winter flower garden and specially going hunting for roasted venison—such behavior really didn’t look like someone with “half his body in the grave.”

Just as they were speaking, exclamations came from not far away, mixed with footsteps. Jiang Li turned to look and saw Wenren Yao, Lu Ji, and Kong Liu—three people approaching from the distance. The person walking at the very back was naturally Ji Heng. It seemed the four of them had just been together in one place.

Kong Liu walked the fastest. His gaze fell on the foal and couldn’t be moved away. When he drew closer, he touched and looked even more, irritating the little horse until it huffed impatiently.

“Old Master, where did you get this fine horse? It doesn’t look ordinary!”

Old General Ji said proudly, “A Ferghana horse. Stop being envious—this is a birthday gift Miss Jiang gave this old man. You have no share in it, young man!”

Hearing it was a Ferghana horse, both Lu Ji and Wenren Yao were shocked. Kong Liu stared at Jiang Li dumbly and said, “A Ferghana horse?”

There had once been a Ferghana horse in Yanjing City, which a neighboring small country had presented as tribute to the late Emperor. It was kept in the palace, served with good food and drink. Other than that, one had only heard of them in others’ tales. Kong Liu and the others weren’t fools. Hearing Old General Ji say this and looking more carefully, they knew this wasn’t a lie.

“My goodness,” Kong Liu couldn’t help but say. “This truly makes one green with envy.” He looked at Jiang Li. “Second Miss Jiang is truly making a grand gesture. This… could it be Chief Minister Jiang’s idea?”

A precious horse could be worth more than ten thousand taels of gold. Was Jiang Yuanbai such a generous person? The Jiang family and the Duke’s mansion had no dealings. Who knew if the Jiang family would even hesitate for ages before accepting the invitation. But if it was Jiang Li’s own idea, even if Jiang Li was well-off and the Ye family supported her, to so readily send such a grand gift seemed quite impossible.

“Father doesn’t know what gift I’m giving. He probably thinks it’s ordinary supplements.” Jiang Li smiled slightly. “But Lord Kong need not praise me. This horse wasn’t expensive. I do have the silver to give the Old General this horse.”

Her expression was natural, not seeming false, and she even appeared somewhat pleased. The people around her were all stunned—this truly was making something heavy seem light.

Ji Heng narrowed his eyes. “How much?”

“Not much—five hundred taels of silver.” Jiang Li said with a beaming smile.