The midsummer sunlight was brilliant and radiant, enveloping the two young ladies within it.

One wore green robes that rippled like azure waves with each movement, shimmering with light. The other wore a yellow robe, like a golden oriole on summer branches—pretty and delicate. The faces of both young ladies were white as the finest porcelain, glowing luminously, making it impossible for Sun Xiuhua to clearly see their expressions for a moment.

When they drew closer, she saw their curved eyebrows and eyes, the faint smiles at the corners of their lips.

Jealousy burned in her heart like wildfire meeting sparks. Sun Xiuhua’s eyes reddened as she stared fixedly at the two approaching figures.

They were all girls of similar age—why were those two born with everything, living carefree lives?

Yet she, who only wanted to marry well and no longer live dependent on others’ charity while suffering humiliation, had ended up in such a state!

The more Sun Xiuhua thought about it, the more indignant she became. Seeing Lin Hao and Qi Qiong stop to bid farewell before each heading toward their respective homes, she rushed out like the wind.

“Cousin—” She ran over quickly, her crying voice immediately drawing the attention of passersby.

Hearing the shout, Lin Hao turned and returned to Qi Qiong’s side, watching the tear-streaked woman with cold eyes.

Last year when she had jumped into the water to save someone, she never imagined she was rescuing a snake that would bare its venomous fangs at friends and family.

Qi Qiong’s expression darkened as she grasped Lin Hao’s hand. “Ah Hao, let’s go!”

Sun Xiuhua rushed over with the attitude of someone who had nothing left to lose. Of course she wouldn’t let Qi Qiong just leave like that. Though with maids and guards present she couldn’t even touch the hem of Qi Qiong’s robe, her crying sounded particularly miserable. “Cousin, please let me see Aunt just once!”

Qi Qiong was so angry her hands trembled. “Sun Xiuhua, if you had even a shred of shame, you wouldn’t still be coming to our door!”

Many curious gazes turned their way. Qi Qiong had no desire to tangle with Sun Xiuhua and lifted her foot to walk toward the prince’s mansion.

Sun Xiuhua was blocked by the mansion’s maids, and her wailing grew even louder. “Cousin, Aunt has always treated me like her own daughter. Why won’t she even see me now? Please take me to see Aunt—I just miss her so much…”

Qi Qiong stopped abruptly in her tracks, turned, and strode back. Her hands at her sides clenched and released. If Lin Hao hadn’t held her back, she would have barely been able to restrain herself from slapping Sun Xiuhua.

Seeing Qi Qiong turn back furiously, Sun Xiuhua pleaded to Lin Hao. “Second Miss Lin, please help me beg the Commandery Princess for mercy. I know you’re the kindest person—last year you even saved me…”

“You’ve got some nerve—come in with me!” Qi Qiong truly couldn’t bear being the spectacle in everyone’s eyes. She bit out these words through gritted teeth and walked home. Only after entering did she realize she still hadn’t released Lin Hao’s hand.

She forced her lips to curve slightly. “Ah Hao, I’m sorry you had to see this. You should head back now. Don’t let irrelevant people ruin your mood.”

Lin Hao glanced at Sun Xiuhua. “Since she asked for my help, if the Commandery Princess doesn’t mind, I’d also like to hear what she has to say.”

Seeing Lin Hao’s attitude, Qi Qiong understood her friend already knew about Sun Xiuhua poisoning her elder brother. In that case, there was no need to hide anything. With Sun Xiuhua’s thick face, she truly feared she couldn’t withstand her alone.

Taking Sun Xiuhua to the flower hall and dismissing the servants attending there as well as the maid Sun Xiuhua had brought, Qi Qiong looked at her coldly. “What exactly are you here for?”

Looking at the young commandery princess’s frost-covered face, Sun Xiuhua tremblingly raised her hand to roll up her other sleeve, revealing an arm covered in scars.

Even though Qi Qiong detested her to the extreme, seeing those shocking bruises made her involuntarily gasp.

Sun Xiuhua was secretly satisfied with Qi Qiong’s reaction. Her eyelashes trembled as teardrops rolled down. “Cousin, I truly have no other options. Prince Liang beats me at the slightest provocation. If I don’t come back, I fear I’ll never see Aunt again…”

Sun Xiuhua chokingly recounted the deposed Crown Prince’s violent acts—truly every word steeped in blood and tears.

“Are you finished?” Apart from the initial surprise at seeing those wounds, Qi Qiong had remained expressionless throughout, right up until she finished hearing Sun Xiuhua’s accusations against the deposed Crown Prince.

“Cousin, I only ask to see Aunt once—”

Qi Qiong coldly interrupted her. “Give up. My mother will not see you.”

Sun Xiuhua’s eyes widened in incomprehension. “Cousin, are you truly so hardhearted? I still remember last year when I first entered the mansion, you were so warm and friendly, treating me like a real sister. Just because I momentarily went astray and entered the Eastern Palace, and now my status is awkward, you won’t even grant such a small request and would watch me reach a dead end?”

“I’m hardhearted?” Qi Qiong looked at her, mockery almost overflowing from her eyes. “No, I was blind to have ever treated you like a real sister. Back then I absolutely never imagined you would poison my eldest brother!”

Sun Xiuhua’s breathing stopped. Her face suddenly went white, her wide eyes full of shock and panic.

Cousin actually knew about her poisoning!

No—didn’t this mean Aunt and the others all knew?

At this thought, the blood in Sun Xiuhua’s body ran cold.

Was it that the medicine the Crown Prince gave her was wrong, or was Cousin’s constitution special so he had no reaction to that drug? Regardless of which possibility, the result was that Cousin was completely unharmed.

In her view, since Cousin was fine, her secret poisoning had quietly passed—this was why she dared to come seeking help.

Whether from consideration of their sisterly bond or for the sake of a good reputation, as long as she humbled herself enough and appeared pitiful enough, Aunt would ultimately take care of her.

“Leave. Prince Jing’s mansion doesn’t welcome you here.” After breaking through that layer of pretense, Qi Qiong didn’t say many more harsh words.

Not out of magnanimity, but because the other party didn’t deserve her wasting more breath.

Who knew Sun Xiuhua’s face would flush red then pale, changing constantly, before she finally smiled and tidied her fallen hair. “I don’t understand what Cousin is saying.”

Qi Qiong was shocked by her thick skin. She stared at Sun Xiuhua for quite a while before laughing coldly. “It doesn’t matter if you won’t admit it. This isn’t a court trial requiring presentation of evidence. It’s enough that my mother knows what you did. Any thought of clinging to my mother is pure delusion.”

Sun Xiuhua stared straight at her, her haggard appearance instead lending her a kind of morbid beauty.

She smiled charmingly, her eyes shining alarmingly bright. “Isn’t Cousin afraid people will say Prince Jing’s mansion kicks others when they’re down and is cold-hearted and unfeeling? Bringing a niece all the way to the capital, then refusing to acknowledge her the moment the Crown Prince is deposed.”

“You—”

A hand came to rest on Qi Qiong’s, soothing her anger.

Lin Hao looked at Sun Xiuhua, her tone very light. “The one who’s cold-hearted and unfeeling should be Concubine Sun, right? The Crown Prince has only just been deposed, and you’ve already run back to your aunt’s home, unwilling to continue serving Prince Liang.”

Too lazy to listen to more of Sun Xiuhua’s nonsense, Lin Hao smiled at Qi Qiong. “Commandery Princess, don’t let her lead you astray. Just send someone to Prince Liang’s mansion and ask a steward to come collect her and take her back. Then give the steward some extra silver and request they take good care of Concubine Sun from now on.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Qiong’s anger immediately dissipated.

She had been confused by rage. Prince Liang’s mansion wouldn’t want to see Prince Liang’s woman running around everywhere either. On this matter, the two prince mansions were never on opposing sides to begin with.

Sun Xiuhua thought she could smear Prince Jing’s mansion with just a few words, but forgot that stopping that mouth of hers required no effort at all.

Qi Qiong quickly sent someone to deliver a message to Prince Liang’s mansion. The person who came was a square-faced nanny with a stern expression.

“My sincere apologies. Concubine Sun told the gatekeeper she was going out shopping—we didn’t expect her to come here.”

Qi Qiong stuffed a stack of banknotes into the square-faced nanny’s hand, her smile gentle. “My cousin has a weak constitution and can’t tolerate wind. Nanny, please advise her in future not to go out so often. If she falls ill, my mother will be heartbroken.”

“Rest assured, Commandery Princess.” The square-faced nanny put away the banknotes and led Sun Xiuhua and her personal maid away.

Sun Xiuhua never expected to be dismissed like this. In desperation, she wanted to struggle and cry out, but the moment they left the flower hall, her mouth was covered. She was stuffed into a sedan chair stopped inside the side gate.

An instant later, a heavy weight pressed down on her—her personal maid being shoved in after her.

Seeing stars, an emotionless voice rang out. “Lift the sedan—”

Qi Qiong stood at a distance, quietly watching the sedan chair disappear through the gate, then let out a long breath of stale air.