After Jiang Xingjian left, Song Wan washed, changed clothes, and continued reviewing the account books. However, after the kitten woke, it kept meowing incessantly.

“Missing your mother?”

Placing the kitten in her palm, Song Wan gently comforted it. Whether the kitten was tired from crying or felt safe, it actually fell asleep again in her palm.

Song Wan placed it on the soft cushion, then picked up needle and thread, and in a few stitches sewed a cloth bell to tie around its neck.

Inside the cloth bell she placed some calming silver mint. After the kitten wore it, it indeed became much quieter.

Song Wan summoned Heng Zhi and gently stroked the fluffy little thing: “Tomorrow return it to the second branch’s Qing Studio, and say I currently have no time to care for it.”

Though she spoke of having no time to care for it, her movements were very gentle. Seeing this, Heng Zhi felt distressed: “If Miss likes it, what harm in keeping it? This time this servant will take good care of it and absolutely won’t let last time’s accident happen again.”

“It’s not a matter of careful watching.”

Song Wan looked at the kitten’s sleeping form, her heart aching again.

These past days she seemed to still see Golden Silk Tiger’s shadow. When sleeping hazily at night, she would still feel Golden Silk Tiger was right beside her. Her reluctance to part with Golden Silk Tiger was real, but she also didn’t want to find another cat to replace it.

Six years of affection—how could it be replaced just like that?

“You also know Golden Silk Tiger was very petty. If it knew I kept a new cat, it would be angry.”

Song Wan toyed with the cloth bell on the kitten’s body, forcibly suppressing her sadness.

Golden Silk Tiger had died unexpectedly. That culprit cried for two days that it wasn’t intentional, then never mentioned it again. Jiang Xingjian paid it even less mind. In the entire vast Marquis household, besides her and Heng Zhi and a few others, who would care about the life or death of a cat?

If even they rushed to find a new cat, it would be too unfair to Golden Silk Tiger.

“Take good care of it, don’t let it catch cold.”

Having given instructions, Song Wan continued organizing the accounts.

The next day, Heng Zhi carried the kitten to the second branch. Before reaching Qing Studio, she encountered Jiang Yan returning from paying respects at Fuhe Hall.

Seeing her carrying the bamboo basket, Jiang Yan’s handsome brows furrowed slightly.

“Greetings to Second Master Yan.”

“Why are you carrying it here?”

Heng Zhi said: “My mistress says she currently has no time to care for it and asked this servant to thank Second Master for his kind intentions.”

Properly speaking, this cat shouldn’t be returned to him by Song Wan’s personal maid, but seeing Heng Zhi, Jiang Yan knew that person didn’t trust Jiang Xingjian, fearing he would harm another innocent life.

Thinking that Song Wan trusted him more than her own husband, Jiang Yan’s heart trembled, only feeling his hands shake, difficult to control.

His voice was slightly hoarse: “Does sister-in-law not like it?”

Heng Zhi shook her head, her tone carrying some sadness: “My mistress misses Golden Silk Tiger. Seeing it makes her heart ache, which is why she had this servant return it to Second Master. I suppose Mistress knows this kitten can only live peacefully in the second branch.”

Jiang Yan’s cheeks flushed slightly red from excitement, though his voice remained fairly steady: “Go tell sister-in-law to rest assured that in my care there absolutely won’t be any mishaps.”

“Heng Zhi thanks Second Master on behalf of my mistress.”

Heng Zhi handed the bamboo basket to the maid behind Jiang Yan, curtsied, and left Yuling Studio. Jiang Yan carried the bamboo basket back to his bedchamber.

Scooping the kitten out, Jiang Yan looked at those amber eyes and smiled slightly: “You do have some fortune.”

He removed the small, simple cloth bell and looked at the neat, fine stitching on it, slightly lost in thought.

The cloth bell gave off a faint herbal fragrance and was made rather casually—at a glance one could tell it wasn’t made by a maid’s hand.

Jiang Yan carefully held it in his palm, saying to the kitten in quite a good mood: “She’s mine now.”

After playing with the cloth bell for a while, he reluctantly took out a white jade box and placed it inside. Looking at the old book and plain handkerchief inside, Jiang Yan’s eyes showed tenderness.

When Qing Studio entered the room, she saw him leaning back half-reclined in a pear wood chair, his expression revealing a rare joy.

“Second Master, Concubine Liu requests an audience.”

“Refused.”

Hearing the words “Concubine Liu,” Jiang Yan’s expression cooled. But before he could say another word, a shrill female voice came from outside.

A middle-aged woman of beautiful appearance and voluptuous figure walked in. In just a few steps, the woman’s waist seemed about to snap from swaying. She wore seven or eight hairpins and ornaments on her head, the jingling sounds irritating Jiang Yan into narrowing his eyes.

“You black-hearted, lowly wretch, you dare bar your own mother outside the courtyard? Even if your wings have hardened and you’ve gained ability, didn’t you still crawl out of this old woman’s intestines? These years you’ve increasingly disregarded me. Now even these rotten servant girls in your courtyard dare shit on my head?”

As soon as Concubine Liu entered, she launched into a tirade of vulgar abuse that made both Jiang Yan and the maids in the room frown.

She had originally thought Jiang Yan inheriting the title was a certainty. Who knew someone who should have died and rotted long ago would suddenly come back to life like a corpse? The wealth and glory within her grasp had slipped away. Concubine Liu was so angry she couldn’t sleep at night or eat in peace.

Even more hateful was that when she wanted to find her son to discuss countermeasures, she was blocked for three days.

If she hadn’t scratched the face of the gatekeeper maid today, she still couldn’t have gotten in.

“Useless coward, you have plenty of methods to deal with me, but with this spirit why don’t you go…”

Qing Studio coughed lightly: “Concubine, mind your words.”

Concubine Liu glared viciously at her and sneered coldly: “Little whore, is it your place to criticize me?”

“What are you doing throwing tantrums in my courtyard?”

Jiang Yan signaled Qing Studio and the maids in the room to leave, then pressed his temples—his good mood from earlier completely gone.

“Why make them leave? What words can’t they hear? You’re busy with who knows what all day long. Do you want to let that dead man Jiang Xingjian smoothly inherit the Marquis’s title?”

Jiang Yan laughed mockingly: “He’s the legitimate eldest son of the Marquis household. Inheriting the title is proper and justified. Not to mention I have no designs whatsoever on the Marquis position—even if I later inherited the title and became Marquis Chengyang, what would it have to do with you?”

“You black-hearted, rotten-lunged little bastard! You crawled out of my intestines—can’t I as your mother benefit from my child’s success?”

As Concubine Liu spoke, she reached out with her scarlet nails to scratch Jiang Yan’s face.

Since the Marquis died, she had grown accustomed to throwing tantrums in the courtyard. Though she knew Jiang Yan didn’t favor her, she relied on her status as his birth mother and had made plenty of excessive demands. It was just that previously, mindful that Jiang Yan would inherit the title in the future, she hadn’t been as crazed as today.

She had thought she could still manipulate this son as when he was young, but unexpectedly, as soon as her hand reached out, Jiang Yan firmly grasped her wrist.

“What kind of mother are you? Since ancient times, which household’s concubine has dared call herself the mother of the son she bore?”

Jiang Yan’s hand gripped Concubine Liu’s wrist like an iron clamp. Concubine Liu was frightened by the fierceness in his eyes and stammered, not daring to speak.

“In the future, don’t appear before me without reason. Properly be your concubine in the household. If you come provoke me again, don’t blame me for making an example of Liu Chengxiang.”

“You dare! How dare you treat your uncle? Ahhh…”

Jiang Yan grabbed Concubine Liu’s inch-long crimson nails and forcibly broke them off. All four nails broke cleanly off. Concubine Liu howled in pain, but Jiang Yan casually stuffed a white porcelain teacup in her mouth to stop her cries.

“Uncle? Even if I dared call him that, I don’t know if he’d have the life to acknowledge this nephew.”

Jiang Yan snorted coldly and pushed Concubine Liu out the door.

Shortly after, Suomian walked in: “Second Master, the first branch has erupted in chaos.”