After Madam Xu left, Gu De Zhao remained silent for a long time.

After his anger subsided, he seemed utterly exhausted, his eyes lacking any spirit.

What Concubine Song said was right. Who caused Ji Shi’s death? It was he who drove her to her death! But regarding the Da Huang matter, although it didn’t directly cause Ji Shi’s death, Song Miaohua had the intention to harm her!

It was he and Song Miaohua who step by step drove Ji Shi to her death!

Gu De Zhao stood alone before his writing desk. His wolf-hair brush had already soaked through the paper, creating a large ink stain.

Outside, a gentle breeze blew in, bringing the subtle fragrance of jade hairpin flowers throughout the room. Gu De Zhao couldn’t help but collapse dejectedly onto the grand chair, then covered his face and sobbed quietly.

Heaven’s punishment for him was to suffer this heart-gnawing pain for the rest of his life.

Outside, several stewards heard about Steward Sun being driven away and were quite dissatisfied. Steward Sun had never committed any major mistakes in the Gu household and had always been friendly to everyone. How could the Young Miss dismiss people as she pleased? What use were they as stewards then? They gathered together and went to Juliuge to speak with Gu De Zhao about this matter.

After hearing Shui Ying’s announcement, Gu De Zhao met them in the flower hall.

The stewards explained their purpose, essentially saying that Young Miss Gu’s actions were unreasonable, punishing people at will, which was truly unacceptable. Steward Sun had served the Gu family diligently for so many years, yet this was his fate. They felt it was truly unjust.

Gu De Zhao listened in silence for a long time. Didn’t Steward Sun dare to treat his daughter with such disrespect because these people thought that with Ji Shi dead, Concubine Song would be elevated to main wife, so they didn’t take his daughter seriously? Were they now coming to bully his daughter?

The stewards saw Gu De Zhao remaining silent and were about to continue when they heard Gu De Zhao slowly say: “From now on, whatever the Young Miss says goes for all matters in the manor. There’s no need to come ask me anymore.”

The stewards were stunned. The Master was so biased toward the Young Miss?

Gu De Zhao continued: “Whoever dares to disobey the Young Miss’s words or not follow her orders in the future will be driven out of the manor, suffering the same fate as Steward Sun!”

The stewards were greatly shocked, looking at each other in astonishment. But seeing Gu De Zhao’s expression, they naturally didn’t dare say anything more and retreated, hurriedly beginning to inquire about what exactly had happened. Only then did they learn that Concubine Song had been confined and could no longer manage the inner courtyard affairs. Furthermore, the Young Miss had Madam Xu, Xue Shiliu, and the Master’s support, which was incomparable to Concubine Song’s position!

At once, none of these stewards dared to act out of line anymore. The Young Miss could directly have Steward Sun bound and thrown out, and the Master wouldn’t say anything. Who would dare oppose the Young Miss now? Wouldn’t that be asking for death? They had originally wanted to rely on Concubine Luo, but now it seemed that wasn’t feasible.

The day after this incident, Madam Xu went to the accounting office to organize Ji Shi’s belongings according to the ledger. None of the officials at the accounting office dared to slight her. Even the steward from the servants’ quarters personally came to help Madam Xu count the items and said to her: “…Since Concubine Song complained about those two maids, I selected two nine and ten-year-old girls to send over, replacing the original maids. What do you think of this?”

Madam Xu nodded, and the steward continued with a smile: “…These two maids are naturally spoiled, daughters from fallen wealthy families who were sold. They’ve just arrived and haven’t been properly trained yet.”

Madam Xu thought to herself that the Young Miss’s tactics had indeed frightened these people. They were originally fence-sitters, going whichever way the wind blew, and now weren’t they leaning toward their side!

Madam Xu packed the items into boxes and asked servants to move them back to Qingtong Courtyard. Ji Shi had left too many belongings, so Jin Chao specifically set aside several clean back rooms as storerooms for these items. The keys were kept by Madam Xu.

But organizing her mother’s belongings was far from complete. Jin Chao had to start managing Ji Shi’s dowry. Previously, when Ji Shi was ill, many matters regarding fields, lands, and shops had been neglected. Only when things could no longer be delayed did Madam Xu make decisions. Now that Jin Chao had taken over, problems came flooding in like an avalanche.

Madam Xu helped her organize letters from various places and spoke to her: “…A steward from a farm in Xianghe wants to meet you. He says recent mountain rains have flooded over ten acres of fruit saplings. He’s asking for your decision on whether the farm should switch to growing something else, as the area seems unsuitable for fruit trees…”

Jin Chao held her head, feeling somewhat overwhelmed. Managing the inner courtyard was easy for her, but business matters were something she only half understood.

What fruits would be good to grow, and if not fruit trees, what else should be planted? How would she know?

Jin Chao instructed Madam Xu: “Tell him to draft a letter first, explaining the land conditions and fruit tree cultivation, and list several methods he thinks are feasible for me to review. Xianghe is so far from Shi’an that by the time of a round trip, the fruit trees would likely have drowned. Tell him not to come!” Madam Xu acknowledged and went to find paper and pen to reply.

Cai Fu carried something toward the study. It was raining outside, and she was covered in rainwater, her light cyan skirt hem dyed deep green. After putting down the item, she quickly wrung out the water and dried herself before daring to enter the study.

“Miss, just now an old woman from the outer courtyard came to deliver something.” She handed what she was carrying to Jin Chao.

Jin Chao looked up. Cai Fu was holding an exquisite cloisonné enamel flower pot. Inside was planted a somewhat strange plant with thick leaves covered in long brown thorns.

What was this thing?

She asked Cai Fu: “Who sent it?”

Cai Fu replied: “It’s from the Ye family of Marquis Changxing. The servant who delivered it also said their young master wanted to pass on a few words to you.” She thought for a moment, “Although flowers don’t stay red for a hundred days, the young master guarantees this thing will stay green for a hundred days. He says not to worry, oh… and that this thing is called a cactus.”

Jin Chao couldn’t help but laugh. This Ye Xian was truly interesting!

She asked Cai Fu to bring the cactus closer for her to see. The thing looked bizarre with its spreading, dangerous appearance.

“Put it on the treasure shelf, facing east, a bit further inside. Don’t let it prick anyone.” Jin Chao instructed Cai Fu.

After looking at the cactus for a while, Jin Chao seemed to feel somewhat lighter in her heart. She rose and walked outside the study. The rain was heavy; midsummer rain was always torrential, but as heavy as it was, it would likely stop soon.

Jin Chao asked Cai Fu: “How is Concubine Song doing?”

Cai Fu replied: “The new maids sent by the servants’ quarters are very disobedient. At night they even play jump rope, making noise so the Concubine can’t sleep. When the Concubine wants them to do something, these two maids are completely unwilling, so now the Concubine has to handle her food and daily needs herself. That Ban Lian was also driven back to Cuixuan Courtyard by the old women, making the Concubine’s situation even more miserable.”

Jin Chao smiled slightly and said softly: “With such torment, I fear she won’t be able to carry the child to term.”

Concubine Song probably couldn’t hold on much longer. Additionally, her father had just learned about what Concubine Song had done before and despised her even more.

Hearing this, Cai Fu softly muttered: “This servant thinks it would be better if she didn’t give birth. It’s an eyesore…”

Cai Fu usually wouldn’t say such things; she was typically very cautious with her words.

Jin Chao smiled: “It’s rare to see you being so ruthless.”

Cai Fu felt somewhat embarrassed and blushed: “This servant was just saying, but I truly hate her.”

Jin Chao fell silent for a moment after hearing this. She had also considered the possibility of Concubine Song not giving birth to the child.

Now that Concubine Song was trapped in Lingyan Pavilion, her only support was her child. Having just been exposed for colluding with the steward, she had no chance of redeeming herself. Why not remove this child and ensure she could never rise again?

Originally, she hadn’t thought about taking away this child.

Speaking of miscarriage, she seemed to see Yu Wanxue’s miscarriage back then, with blood all over her lower body. Chen Xuanqing looked at her with murderous intent, and everyone silently blamed her. Because she was the main wife, they didn’t dare speak out.

No one knew that she truly didn’t know Yu Wanxue was pregnant. If she had known, she wouldn’t have been so harsh to her.

She was thinking of the past again… Jin Chao came back to her senses and fixed her gaze on the grape vines not far away.

Concubine Song had harmed her mother in her previous life and harmed her in this life. Did she hate her? She wanted to devour her flesh and drink her blood! This child was conceived when her mother was seriously ill and born when she passed away. Whenever she thought of Concubine Song’s belly, she felt extremely uncomfortable!

But previously she was busy with her mother’s funeral and hadn’t had time to deal with her! She had thought that tormenting someone should be a long-term affair, but now it seemed better to follow her grandmother’s swift and decisive approach, ensuring Concubine Song could never rise again!

Moreover, this child would be a disaster if born. If in the future he learned that his birth mother was Concubine Song, who knows what trouble he might cause! As long as Gu Lan was around, these matters couldn’t be hidden from the child.

She thought for a long time, and Cai Fu didn’t disturb her.

After a long while, Cai Fu heard the Young Miss slowly say: “Cai Fu, you’re right. It’s I who haven’t thought it through.”

Cai Fu saw a faint smile on Jin Chao’s lips and was somewhat confused. What had she said correctly?

She didn’t seem to have said anything…

The rain poured down, but Gu Lan stood outside Lingyan Pavilion. Mu Jin held a bamboo-handled oil paper umbrella for her. Everything was quiet in the heavy rain.

Several old women blocked her from entering.

Gu Lan’s skirt was completely soaked by the rain. The wet coldness crawled on her body like a snake. She looked coldly at the old woman blocking her and said in a low voice: “Don’t think I don’t know! The Concubine is being bullied inside. Who gave you the courage to block me outside?”

The old woman chuckled: “Second Young Miss, we’re just following our master’s orders. It’s useless to make things difficult for us! You’d better go back quickly. The Master has already said that if you come to see the Concubine again, you will be punished. The Concubine is fine inside; don’t overthink it.”

Gu Lan bit her lip, so angry that tears fell.

Did they think she didn’t know? When Ban Lian was driven back, she told her everything!

Although her mother wasn’t the main wife before, she was a favored concubine. Who would dare slight her? Now even two little maids dared to bully her! She went to see her father, but not only did he not relent, he scolded her harshly, telling her to behave!

The rain was dense. Gu Lan looked up and inside, only to see two maids hiding in the covered corridor, laughing and playing, reaching out to catch rainwater from the eaves. She silently cursed these two maids. Her mother was pregnant, yet not one of them was inside attending to her!

This wouldn’t do. She needed to think of a solution.

Gu Lan hesitated for a moment, glared fiercely at the two old women, and then returned to Cuixuan Courtyard with Mu Jin.