In this life, Jiang Xuening had originally not planned to have any contact with Zhou Yinzhi again.

But now, suddenly encountering Xie Wei…

She had to protect herself.

Though Zhou Yinzhi was a petty man, the advantage of dealing with petty men was that as long as there was profit to be gained, one could walk the same path and each take what they needed.

Today when she came to find Jiang Boyou, using a copy of “Youxue Qionglin” as an account book to establish her authority over the servants in her quarters—this matter had likely already been observed by Xie Wei. Even if it couldn’t be considered deeply calculating, it definitely couldn’t be associated with the words “not intelligent.”

In her previous life, she truly had no scheming heart.

She knew nothing of the capital or the imperial court.

At the age of not quite fifteen, she had been confused about her circumstances and fate, not knowing what the unfamiliar father and mother waiting for her in the capital would be like. Then she encountered the Heavenly Doctrine rebellion, became trapped in the wilderness with Xie Wei, and her heart was filled with complete terror and anxiety—where would she have had the presence of mind to ponder the deeper meaning behind a person’s words spoken in illness?

She had heard them all, but truly forgot them.

Later, wracking her brains to recall, she could only barely remember words like “Shen Lang’s character is unequal to great responsibility” and “The common people are human, and so is the Son of Heaven.”

Even so, Xie Wei had still tested her three times before being willing to let it go. Though four years had passed in this life, after seeing her actions today, he might very well think back and suspect that she actually remembered what he said, but was simply skilled at playing dumb to get away with it!

The afternoon courtyard was extremely quiet.

Slender branches hung down from the flower trellis.

The westward-slanting sunlight covered the covered corridor and the steps before it like crimson gauze.

Jiang Xuening ordered Tang’er to find Zhou Yinzhi, while she herself sat beneath the corridor for a long while, finally slowly calming down.

There were three methods to deal with her current predicament:

First, continue to stubbornly pretend to be foolish.

After all, her earlier performance was her performance, establishing authority was establishing authority, but she had pushed all the blame onto Yan Lin and told Jiang Boyou that Yan Lin had taught her everything. She was even less worried about being exposed on Yan Lin’s side—she feared that even if she killed someone and then said Yan Lin did it, Yan Lin would admit to it.

Moreover, if the Yongyi Marquis Manor didn’t fall into trouble, Yan Lin could protect her.

The question was, would Xie Wei believe it?

Second, learn from You Fangyin and pledge allegiance to Xie Wei.

This devil wearing the skin of a sage was the great winner of her previous life, and aside from the Xiao clan, the imperial family, and the rebels of the Heavenly Doctrine uprising, he was not bloodthirsty.

But there were also problems.

Yan Lin had the Yongyi Marquis Manor with military power in his grasp. You Fangyin had merchant businesses throughout the realm and was extremely wealthy.

What about her?

What capability and bargaining chips did she have that could make Xie Wei value her and accept her surrender?

Third, go all in and simply oppose Xie Wei head-on.

She knew the greatest secret about him, even knew his ultimate schemes, even knew some developments in the court. She possessed the advantage of foresight granted by rebirth and could gain the initiative in many future matters.

But the problem was—

Now Xie Wei was already the Imperial Tutor, while she was still just a young lady in her boudoir. The disparity in status and power was vast—she feared she would be killed before even beginning to oppose him. Moreover, Xie Wei’s intelligence and strategy were alive, while her knowledge of her previous life was dead—how could she know for certain she could defeat him?

You Fangyin often said “all roads lead to the capital,” but now looking forward and back, Jiang Xuening saw that every road was a narrow dead end!

Of course, there was actually a fourth method.

No matter how formidable Xie Wei was, he was still a man. In her previous life, she had been able to use a woman’s methods to lead men around by the nose—naturally in this life she could also try to charm this Imperial Tutor of outstanding intelligence.

If Xie Wei could become her subject beneath her skirts…

But as soon as this thought emerged, she couldn’t help but shudder, immediately suppressing it and saying to herself, “No, absolutely cannot have such a terrifying thought…”

Xie Wei was different from Shen Jie, from Yan Lin, from Zhou Yinzhi, even from Zhang Zhe…

He was different.

Jiang Xuening would not forget—in her previous life when she felt she had reached a dead end, she had entertained such a notion: at night she changed into a goose-yellow palace dress, made herself up beautifully and alluringly, and carried a stew prepared by the Imperial Kitchen to the Western Warm Pavilion. However, when Xie Wei looked up at her and saw her clothing and makeup, his eyes darkened, his brow raised almost imperceptibly—he had already seen through her. He smiled faintly at her, “Your Majesty, please have some self-respect.”

That night she had been so ashamed and embarrassed she practically fled in panic.

Even now, just thinking of that scene, Jiang Xuening still had the urge to dig a pit and bury herself—how could she possibly seek death by experiencing it a second time?

Before someone like Xie Wei, that would be bringing humiliation upon herself!

Therefore, given her current situation, the best and most feasible methods were the first and second. As for the third, Jiang Xuening had already directly categorized it with dead ends—unless forced to a desperate situation where the fish dies and the net breaks, she absolutely did not want to oppose Xie Wei!

After thinking all this through, seeing Zhou Yinzhi became very important.

Whether it was the soon-to-occur matter of the Yongyi Marquis Manor being implicated in Prince Pingnan’s old case, or simply for the purpose of making herself valuable and giving herself bargaining chips.

However, Jiang Xuening did not wait for Zhou Yinzhi.

Before Tang’er returned, an older servant woman walked over from not far ahead. Upon seeing her sitting beneath the corridor, she piled on a few smiles and came forward to bow to her, saying, “This old servant was just preparing to find Second Miss, but didn’t expect Second Miss to be sitting here. Madam heard that the Master called the people from your quarters over for beating and killing, and doesn’t know what the situation is. She asked this old servant to invite Second Miss over to see her and inquire about it.”

This was someone who served by Meng Shi’s side.

Jiang Xuening had no particular impression of this woman, but from her words could guess as much.

However, she had just suddenly encountered Xie Wei and her heart was in turmoil. At this moment, she wanted to see Zhou Yinzhi, and someone had come out of nowhere to summon her to see Meng Shi. She truly felt quite displeased inside, and even her expression wasn’t very good. She only responded coldly, “I know. I’ll go now.”

Meng Shi was talking with Jiang Xuehui in her quarters.

When news of Jiang Xuening finding Jiang Boyou to deal with the maids and serving women in her quarters had reached them earlier, both had been somewhat surprised.

Meng Shi knew that Jiang Xuening hadn’t returned last night, so she happened to summon Jiang Xuening—first to ask about the situation and see what this daughter raised by a concubine was thinking, and second because even if she lacked rules, there should be a limit. What kind of matter was it for an unmarried young lady to not return for a whole night?

Before long, Jiang Xuening arrived.

She was not close to her birth mother Meng Shi, and Meng Shi also disliked her for being undisciplined and indulgent by nature. Therefore, her attitude toward Meng Shi was naturally distant. Seeing that Jiang Xuehui was also present, her voice when bowing became even more indifferent, as if going through the motions, “This daughter pays respects to Mother.”

She directly ignored Jiang Xuehui beside her.

Hearing this, Meng Shi knew she harbored resentment toward Sister Hui. Her finely drawn willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly, but she couldn’t very well criticize her for it. She only said, “Rise. What happened today that you suddenly made such a commotion with the maids and serving women?”

Jiang Xuening answered, “They had been undisciplined in my quarters for a long time, and today became even more presumptuous. When I mentioned it to Yan Lin while going out yesterday, Yan Lin taught this daughter a method to deal with them, so after returning there was today’s incident. If this inadvertently disturbed Mother, it is this daughter’s fault.”

When others mentioned Yan Lin, they would call him “Young Marquis” or “Heir Yan.” Even Jiang Boyou and Meng Shi were no exception. After all, the Yongyi Marquis Manor was powerful, held military authority, and was greatly favored by the Emperor—not someone just anyone could afford to slight.

But Jiang Xuening was different.

She called him directly by name at every turn, which fully showed how much Yan Lin indulged her.

Listening to this, Meng Shi’s brows furrowed even more deeply.

Though Yan Lin’s birth could be counted as one of the very best in the entire capital—aside from the disciples of the Xiao clan of the Chengguo Duke’s Manor, no one could surpass him—he was also someone who acted recklessly and boldly.

When Sister Ning had just been brought back, she had been relatively obedient.

But ever since she met Yan Lin, she constantly dressed as a man and went out to carouse under the guise of being the “Jiang Manor’s young cousin,” and the entire household had to cover for her!

Meng Shi felt it was necessary to say something about this, “In the past when you went out with Heir Yan, though I found it excessive, since this matter had already been tacitly approved by the Master, I naturally couldn’t interfere. However, tolerance is not the same as indulgence. Sister Ning, you must have some sense of propriety in your heart. For a grown young lady to not return home for a whole night and constantly carouse outside—if word of this gets out, you indeed have the Heir to shield you, and since you’ve already done it, presumably you don’t care about those rumors and gossip. But your sister is also currently waiting to be married in her boudoir. It doesn’t matter if your own reputation is ruined, but when outsiders speak of it, they’ll always say ‘the Jiang family’s young ladies.’ How does this place your sister?”

Meng Shi’s words were both reasonable and appropriate.

Indeed, if her actions were spread around, they would implicate Jiang Xuehui.

Reason told Jiang Xuening that she shouldn’t feel there was anything wrong with these words, but a hostile energy floated up from the bottom of her heart, causing her to quietly clench the palms hanging at her sides. She only lowered her eyes and said, “Mother is right. This daughter will be more careful in the future.”

Hearing her perfunctory answer, and seeing her standing there with such an expression, Meng Shi also felt some anger rising.

With a “pa,” she set down her teacup, about to scold her.

Jiang Xuehui, sitting beside her, saw this scene and her eyelids jumped. She sighed inwardly, feeling that though Mother meant well for her, such words and harsh criticism would undoubtedly push her younger sister to the opposite side. Moreover, this grudge might end up being blamed on her later. How could she dare to sit by and watch Meng Shi lose her temper?

Jiang Xuehui quickly grasped Meng Shi’s hand, timely cutting off her words, “You must know that in the past, younger sister might not even listen to Heir Yan’s words, but now she’s willing to listen to others and manage the affairs in her quarters. This shows her temperament has matured and become more steady. Since Heir Yan can make younger sister become better, why should Mother worry about any rumors and gossip? If younger sister’s future marriage is prestigious, it will also be a good thing for the manor. My future marriage might also benefit from younger sister’s reflected glory. Please set your mind at ease, Mother. Today when I encountered that Wang Xingjia’s wife making difficulties, it was younger sister who stepped forward to resolve the situation for me.”

Jiang Xuening thought to herself that it was only because she saw Wang Xingjia’s wife being presumptuously insolent behind the scenes and taking her things—it didn’t have much to do with Jiang Xuehui.

At this moment, she coldly watched her use false words to placate Meng Shi.

After hearing this, Meng Shi thought about it and indeed it made sense.

However, the words she had already spoken were difficult to take back. When she looked up and saw Jiang Xuening standing there lifeless and expressionless, though her features somewhat resembled her own, the charm in her eyes and brows reminded her of nothing but that harlot Wanniang.

She immediately lost all interest and waved her hand dismissively, “Fine, your father will make decisions about your matters anyway. Go back. You don’t need to come pay respects tonight either.”

“Yes, this daughter takes her leave.”

Meng Shi didn’t want to look at her another moment, and Jiang Xuening was even less inclined to linger.

She cleanly and efficiently performed her bow and withdrew.

By this time, the sky was approaching evening, and the sunset clouds were brilliant.

Beneath the wall behind the western wing, a patch of cotton rose was planted. The pink flowers, in varying shades of deep and light, looked gorgeously vivid when illuminated by the sunset glow.

She passed below with Lian’er, when a cotton rose flower suddenly fell and struck her head.

The blooming cotton rose tumbled down. Jiang Xuening instinctively reached out to catch it, then looked up to see Yan Lin in a black robe, his waist bound with a leather belt, sitting boldly atop the wall blooming with cotton roses. One leg drawn up, one hand resting on his sword, he smiled at her, “Today’s daily lecture ended quite early, but the Emperor kept me talking for quite a while. I only just left the palace. The day after tomorrow is the Double Ninth Festival, and there will be a lantern festival in the capital. I want to take you to see it.”

The evening glow fell on the flowers, and also on his cheek.

Jiang Xuening was suddenly dazzled, momentarily lost in a trance.

After a while, she realized what he had said: the Double Ninth lantern festival. That was when in her previous life Grand Princess Leyang Shen Zhiyi, who had left the palace with Shen Jie, encountered her dressed as a man and fell in love with her…