This night was destined to keep several people awake.

To the west of the Marquis Dingxi’s manor, separated by a road, stood the residence of the Marquis’s blood brother. The buildings and courtyards were similar to the Marquis’s manor, only slightly smaller.

When Cai Qing entered, two maids were sitting on the ground dozing by the door of Madam Chen Shi’s bedroom. Cai Qing woke them.

“Sister, we won’t dare again,” the two maids quickly kowtowed uneasily.

“Go sleep outside,” Cai Qing waved at them and whispered, showing no blame.

The two maids hurried to thank her and withdrew.

Cai Qing pushed open the bedroom door and saw a lamp burning inside, illuminating Chen Shi who was reclining on the kang in her undergarments, her gaze fixed on a rich floral carpet on the floor.

“Madam, the black chicken soup is ready,” Cai Qing walked over and said, placing the soup bowl on the table beside the bed and taking a cloak to drape over Chen Shi. “It’s gotten cold at night. Shall we light the charcoal brazier?”

Chen Shi sat up properly. Cai Qing brought over the soup bowl and knelt before the bed to feed her spoonful by spoonful. After just a few sips, Chen Shi shook her head and refused to eat more.

“Madam, this won’t do,” Cai Qing said urgently, pleading with Chen Shi to eat more.

“How can I eat anything?” Chen Shi sighed and shook her head.

“Madam, don’t worry. I’ve already sent someone to follow. Young Madam will surely be fine,” Cai Qing had no choice but to stand up and put down the soup bowl.

Chen Shi stared blankly for a moment.

“It seems there’s no other way. Dragging this out will only make Yueniang suffer more, and I’m afraid she won’t endure it and will do something foolish. How could I face him underground…” she suddenly said, stopping mid-sentence and swallowing the name that was about to slip out but couldn’t be spoken.

“What can we do? If Great Madam could divorce her, she would have done so long ago,” Cai Qing also sighed.

“We can only persuade Yueniang to bring it up herself,” Chen Shi said.

“How could Young Madam agree? Young Madam is actually deeply devoted to the Prince. Back then, didn’t you tell her not to accept this marriage? What did she do? She turned around and cried to Old Madam, causing you to be unable to even enter the East Manor’s gate,” Cai Qing sighed and shook her head.

“Which young woman doesn’t harbor romantic feelings, especially for someone of the Prince’s status,” Chen Shi said. “Old Madam doted on her so and painted such a wonderful life for her. How could a child understand the fickleness of worldly affairs? Now, she must understand.”

Cai Qing nodded.

“But if Young Madam brings it up, will the East Manor agree? Naturally, they wish they could divorce her immediately, but after all, this is a marriage decreed by the Emperor. To divorce, they’d have to report it and get approval. The Marquis has always avoided worldly affairs and sought leisure—how would he do something that would displease the Emperor?” she continued.

Chen Shi reached up to massage her forehead, clearly recognizing this as the greatest reality.

A sudden rage rose in her heart. She reached out and grabbed the soup bowl beside her, smashing it hard on the ground. “That damned old hag!” she squeezed these words through her teeth.

The floor was covered with thick carpet, so the soup bowl didn’t shatter, making a muffled sound as it rolled under the table.

“Madam,” Cai Qing quickly knelt down and tugged at her sleeve. “Don’t be angry. You must take care of your health.”

“My health, my health should have gone with my husband long ago,” Chen Shi’s body trembled as she spoke in a quavering voice.

“Madam, please don’t say such things,” Cai Qing lowered her head and shed tears.

Chen Shi took several deep breaths and gradually calmed her emotions.

“I know, I must live well. Now there’s only me left, I cannot die,” she murmured, reaching out to help Cai Qing up. “Go, bring me another bowl of black chicken soup.”

Cai Qing wiped her tears and nodded happily.

The night gradually faded, and the east grew bright.

Morning light streamed into the room. The buildings here were spacious, and the interior immediately brightened.

Qi Yue stretched lazily in bed and threw off the covers, pulling open the bed curtains.

A’Ru, who hadn’t slept a wink all night in the outer room, immediately came in upon hearing movement.

“Young Madam…” she bit her lower lip, which was already bleeding from being bitten, and spoke with a haggard expression.

“Good heavens, look at yourself—as if we can’t survive,” Qi Yue laughed, standing up and walking over to pat her face. “It’s nothing serious. We just lost ground unexpectedly. Victory and defeat are common in warfare.”

“Young Madam, at a time like this, please stop saying such things,” A’Ru was nearly crying with anxiety.

Qi Yue sighed and turned to look at A’Ru.

“A’Ru, you must know that I’m more anxious than anyone,” she said.

A’Ru’s tears immediately fell.

“Young Madam, don’t be anxious…” she said.

Qi Yue couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Seeing her laugh, A’Ru cried even harder.

“Alright, alright, let’s talk business,” Qi Yue said, while turning to face the bronze mirror on the table to arrange her hair. “The current situation is that we’ve been kicked out by that damned bastard prince of yours, and what we need to do is find a way to get back.”

“Young Madam, what other options are there?” A’Ru asked with hopeful expectation.

Qi Yue simply arranged her hair while gritting her teeth at the bronze mirror.

That bastard! That shameless bastard!

“Tell the Marquis?” A’Ru suggested.

Qi Yue shook her head.

“What use would that be? That’s his son. No one is closer than a son. A daughter-in-law going to her in-laws to complain about her husband gains nothing good,” she said.

Leaning on the table and looking at the bronze mirror, she saw the beautiful woman’s face in the reflection also full of worry. Qi Yue sighed heavily.

So it was all in vain. This wasn’t a company, enterprise, or workplace—this was ancient times, a noble family where everyone was merely an appendage to those two lofty men who could decide life or death with a word.

The only way was to gain that man’s favor.

Qi Yue reached up to scratch her head, messing up the hair she had just combed.

“Young Madam, breakfast is ready,” came a timid voice from outside the door, interrupting their conversation.

“Just a moment,” A’Ru quickly called out, wiping away her tears and pressing Qi Yue to sit before the bronze mirror.

She skillfully helped Qi Yue redo her hair and searched through the hastily packed bundle from last night for clothes.

“Anything will do, don’t be picky. They’re all good things—just wear whatever,” Qi Yue said.

“That won’t do. Young Madam, you must maintain your dignity,” A’Ru said, finally selecting an outfit for Qi Yue to change into.

“Right, lose the person but not the formation,” Qi Yue smiled.

Granny Kang cleared away the bowls and chopsticks and respectfully withdrew, carefully closing the door. She had barely stepped out of the courtyard gate when four or five old women waiting there rushed up all at once.

“How was it?”

“What kind of person is Young Madam?”

“Did she make things difficult for you?”

“What did she say?”

Everyone asked curiously, talking over each other.

Granny Kang bore some pride.

“Stop making noise. Let me put these things away first. With people suddenly arriving, there’s so much work to organize at home,” she said, pushing through everyone to leave.

The old women laughed and grabbed her, setting aside the food box.

“You old thing, you’ve never had so much to say in your whole life. Speak up quickly,” everyone laughed.

Only then did Granny Kang smile and pat her clothes.

“Me? When I pushed open the door and went in, I almost thought I was dreaming,” she crouched down, gesturing with her hands as she looked around at everyone and whispered.

“How was it like dreaming?” everyone asked in confusion.

“First, the bedroom door opened, and out walked a girl wearing a black floral-edged dark red vest. Oh my, how radiant she was,” Granny Kang said. “In the past, when we were fortunate enough to go to the manor once, we thought the girls at the gate were quite pretty, but this girl was much, much prettier than them. Her clothes and accessories weren’t particularly fine, but there was just something different about her.”

They were all the lowest-class old women, assigned to guard the gates of this manor. Unlike the other manors located in scenic places for the Marquis, his wife, and young masters and misses to enjoy, this was a rough working manor for growing fruit and raising pigs, sheep, and chickens. Throughout the year, it was rare for the manor’s masters to come for recreation, and they rarely had opportunities to go to the manor. Even when they did, they could at most stand in the outer courtyard while unloading carts. Forget seeing the young masters and misses—they couldn’t even see the higher-ranking maids and old women.

Everyone listened with fascination.

“You old thing, were you already dazzled into confusion?” everyone laughed and asked.

“I thought so too, but then that girl came out, followed by another person,” Granny Kang said, clasping her hands and reciting Buddha’s name. “Good heavens, I just looked once and nearly fainted. Dear me, this must be reaching the immortal realm and seeing fairy maidens—the kind of place you can only reach in dreams.”

“You old thing, even in dreams it wouldn’t be your turn to go to the immortal realm,” someone laughed, pushing Granny Kang. “Speak quickly, speak quickly.”

“This person was Young Madam, and her appearance…” Granny Kang continued, but paused again after starting.

“Tell us, what did she look like?” seeing her stop again, everyone urged her on.

“She was so beautiful that I can’t even describe it,” Granny Kang said.

Everyone was dissatisfied, both making noise and pushing her in protest.

“Really, if you don’t believe me, see for yourselves when you get the chance. All the words I know in my lifetime aren’t enough to describe Young Madam,” Granny Kang said with a smile.

“What would we see? Obviously she was sent here for making some mistake.”

“Yes, hiding in her room all day—it would be good enough if she ate meals. How would we have a chance to see…”

Everyone chattered, but before they finished speaking, they heard a woman’s voice from the courtyard.

“Someone come,” a voice called.

Everyone paused and hurried over.

They saw a girl of about seventeen or eighteen standing at the door, dressed exactly as Granny Kang had described, so they knew this was the maid.

Everyone glanced over but didn’t dare stare directly at her, so they all lowered their heads.

“Sister, what orders do you have?” the leading old woman bowed and asked.

“Nothing much. The weather is nice, so I thought I’d take a casual walk to get some exercise. Who can show the way?” another woman’s voice said.

“Yes, yes,” the old woman quickly responded, carefully lifting her head. Upon lifting it, she froze.

She saw that at some point another woman had appeared at the door, wearing a pink-orange jacket embroidered with plum blossoms over a tender red skirt, with her hair in a qing’e style, hands hanging at her sides as she looked over.

That face was indeed like a fairy’s. For a moment, everyone stared in amazement.

“Well then, let’s go,” Qi Yue smiled and leisurely stepped forward.