For the people of Da Zhou, the uncle’s status among relatives was very high. Even if Jiang Si was a princess consort, she would certainly need to pay respects if her aunt passed away.

Of course, Jiang Si wouldn’t go.

She absolutely wouldn’t kowtow to the person who caused her mother’s death, not even for the sake of reputation or face. She wouldn’t have done it before marriage, and now as a princess consort, she was even less inclined to compromise herself.

Yu Jin casually tossed aside the obituary notice, not even bothering to say another word about it.

The two of them discussed the Wu Miao grandmother and granddaughter who had opened a shop on West Market Street.

“We’ve already assigned people to secretly watch them. That grandmother and granddaughter pair doesn’t seem to be doing anything unusual, just minding their little shop all day without going out,” Yu Jin said.

Jiang Si furrowed her brow: “I can’t figure out their purpose for coming to the capital. Let’s keep someone watching them for a while.”

“Mm, it’s not much trouble either way,” Yu Jin said as he pulled out a letter from his sleeve and handed it over.

Jiang Si reached out to take it and opened it to read.

It was a letter written in the Wu Miao script.

Yu Jin leaned in close, smiling as he asked, “Can you understand it? Do you want me to tell you what it says?”

Jiang Si glanced at him sideways: “You understand the Wu Miao language?”

She had put in a great deal of effort to impersonate the Holy Maiden back then, to the point where she almost spoke Wu Miao in her sleep.

Almost everyone in the Wu Miao tribe could speak the Da Zhou language. From her interactions with Yu Qi, they had never spoken in Wu Miao.

“I did spend so many years in the Southern Frontier, I picked up a bit,” Yu Jin said proudly.

While he couldn’t claim to have a photographic memory, his memory was indeed excellent. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to draw such a vivid portrait of A’Si after two or three years apart, relying solely on his imagination.

Jiang Si was silent for a moment, then said, “I can read it.”

Although she couldn’t reveal the secret of her rebirth, as a married couple living together for the long term, it was impossible to keep everything hidden from one’s partner.

Yu Jin was slightly taken aback: “You can read Wu Miao’s script?”

Earlier, when A’Si told him about tricking the grandmother and granddaughter duo by leveraging her resemblance to the Wu Miao Holy Maiden, he had assumed they communicated in the Da Zhou language. It never crossed his mind that A’Si not only could speak Wu Miao but could also read Wu Miao’s script…

The strange feeling he had experienced before grew stronger.

A’Si seemed very familiar with Wu Miao’s affairs as if she had lived there for many years…

Yu Jin cupped Jiang Si’s face with both hands and gently squeezed her cheeks.

Jiang Si’s delicate cheeks quickly turned red from the rubbing.

“What are you doing?” Jiang Si asked, caught between laughter and exasperation.

Yu Jin leaned in close, looking anxious: “I’m checking to see if you haven’t been replaced by the Wu Miao Holy Maiden.”

This joking remark made Jiang Si pause for a moment.

In her previous life, she had been the one impersonating the Holy Maiden. Now, hearing these words from Yu Qi’s mouth, she felt quite peculiar.

“What if I really were an impersonator, would you return me?” Jiang Si asked with a smile.

Seeing that Jiang Si’s mood hadn’t been affected at all by You Shi’s death, Yu Jin secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said with a grin, “Why would I return you? I’d just go find the real A’Si, and then I could enjoy having both of you, couldn’t I?”

“Wait just a moment,” Jiang Si said, then quickly walked to the inner room.

Yu Jin was left pondering silently: He was just teasing her, surely she hadn’t taken offense…

Yu Jin prepared himself to apologize as soon as his wife came back.

Jiang Si returned quickly.

“A’Si, are you angry?” Yu Jin asked.

“I’m not angry,” Jiang Si said as she placed a pair of scissors in front of Yu Jin, smiling sweetly. “By the way, could you repeat what you just said?”

Yu Jin laughed dryly: “What did I say?”

Jiang Si played with the scissors and reminded him, “Something about enjoying having both, wasn’t it?”

“Haha, you must have misheard,” Yu Jin said, reaching out to cover Jiang Si’s hand, coincidentally also covering the gleaming scissors in his wife’s grasp. He sincerely advised, “A’Si, be careful not to cut yourself with the scissors…”

Jiang Si’s lips curled into a smile, her demeanor gentle and charming: “It’s fine, I’m quite skilled with them.”

“Why would a woman play with scissors… A’Si, do you like playing the zither? Or how about a game of chess? Come on, let’s have a match.”

Jiang Si said with a serious expression: “Naturally, playing with scissors is more practical than playing the zither or chess. For instance, if a husband is planning to enjoy having two wives, a woman who can play the zither can only express her sorrow through melancholy tunes, but a woman skilled with scissors can directly cut off the root of her troubles.”

Yu Jin suddenly felt a chill down below and momentarily forgot to ask why Jiang Si could read Wu Miao’s script.

After the joke, Jiang Si lowered her eyes to read the contents of the letter.

When she finished, Jiang Si smiled: “The first-generation Elder is indeed not easily fooled, writing back so quickly… By the way, how did you obtain this letter?”

“We intercepted it, so it’s delayed by two days.”

The atmosphere turned serious again.

Yu Jin said: “A’Si, you seem very familiar with the Wu Miao tribe…”

Jiang Si was silent for a moment, then gazed into Yu Jin’s eyes.

The man’s eyes were black and bright, shining like the finest black gemstones, flickering with curiosity.

Jiang Si sighed and took Yu Jin’s arm: “A’Jin, it’s as if I’ve been to the Wu Miao tribe in a dream, experiencing many things there… That’s why I can speak Wu Miao and recognize their writing. If you ask me to explain, I can’t quite put it into words…”

“Perhaps you were a Wu Miao person in your past life,” Yu Jin said with a smile, ruffling her hair comfortingly. “Don’t worry about these things. It’s good to be born with knowledge, saves you the trouble of learning.”

Fearing that Jiang Si might overthink things, Yu Jin pointed at the letter and asked, “A’Si, how do you plan to handle this?”

Jiang Si folded the letter and put it back in the envelope, saying, “Since we’ve already intercepted the letter, the news won’t reach Wu Miao for a while. Let’s just observe for now. If enough time passes and the old woman doesn’t receive a reply from Wu Miao, she might try to contact the person in the palace.”

The other Wu Miao woman who had infiltrated the palace over a decade ago was someone Jiang Si was determined to find.

Was the Heart-Imprinting Gu that Princess Rongyang used to harm her mother obtained from that Wu Miao woman? Even if it wasn’t, Jiang Si had to be cautious of a person lurking in the palace who might be the true culprit behind Princess Fuqing’s demise.

That person was like a venomous snake hiding in the shadows. Even if it hadn’t bitten her yet, knowing where the snake was hidden would at least help her avoid danger.

Yu Jin nodded: “Mm, I’ll instruct our people to keep an eye out for any such movements. Some things can’t be rushed; we’ll take it step by step.”

It reminded him of his early days in the Southern Frontier when a few commanders knew of his status as a prince. They showed superficial respect but looked down on him, thinking he was just causing trouble by coming south.

Those moments of silent endurance weren’t worth mentioning. It wasn’t until he led a group of trapped soldiers out of a miasma forest that he truly established his footing…

In the capital, one couldn’t kill with a knife, so even more patience was required. For instance, regarding Princess Rongyang, he had already imagined about ten different ways she could die; it was just a matter of deciding which one was easier to implement.

The passing of the princess consort’s aunt was considered a significant event, requiring the Chief Steward to arrange related matters.

The old Chief Steward waited for a long time but received no word from the Prince or Princess Consort. He had no choice but to come to Yu Jin’s study.

“Chief Steward is here,” the young servant greeted with a smile.

“Is the Prince inside?”

“He’s not.”

The Chief Steward glared at the young servant: “The Prince returned.”

The young servant: “…”

He hadn’t been the one who just said that!