That night, Minglan attended at the sickbed, wiping down the old woman’s body, inducing vomiting, and even tending to the foul matter — all without flinching or stepping aside. Nanny Fang stood weeping nearby, and when the physician Lin witnessed it, he too was moved — a court lady of such rank willing to do all this was truly rare — and the unease that had been gnawing at his heart eased somewhat.

The previous night, Physician Lin had just finished inspecting the kitchen when he suddenly found two fierce-looking, powerfully built men standing at the entrance to the Shou’an Hall, answering questions. The sight nearly gave his old heart a fright. In his line of work — particularly those who had risen to serve noble and powerful households — one inevitably stumbled upon the hidden affairs and dark secrets of the wealthy and influential. And so, whenever he went to pray before the Medicine Buddha, besides beseeching skill in healing and swift cures, he would always remind himself: speak little, ask little, keep his lips sealed, and tread carefully — lest he become an innocent fish caught in someone else’s net.

After changing into the clean clothes the young manservant had brought, Nanny Fang politely invited Physician Lin to rest in the side chamber. Minglan, meanwhile, lay down fully clothed on the chaise longue in the old woman’s room and dozed for a while. Around the beginning of the wei hour, the sky was still dark when Minglan stirred awake to the sound of an argument outside.

“…What does the Sixth Young Mistress mean by this? Neither letting anyone in nor out, and daring to strike people… The Master needs to go to morning court…”

Minglan smiled faintly. She rose and had Luzhi help her change into a fresh set of clothes, then combed her hair into a simple style before stepping out in an unhurried manner. Arguing with Nanny Fang was Nanny Qian, the maidservant who served at Wang Shi’s side. The moment Nanny Qian saw Minglan, she immediately exclaimed, “…Oh my, Sixth Young Mistress, there were so many frightening villains here in the night…”

Minglan waved her hand, gesturing for her to lower her voice, then said, “There is no need to say more. I will go with you to see the Master right now.” With that, she strode forward; Luzhi followed close behind carrying a small bundle, and Nanny Qian, momentarily stunned, hastened to catch up.

Along the way, Nanny Qian chattered incessantly: “…She was furious, honestly — she had half a mind to come and confront you herself. It was all I could do to talk her out of it. The Master sent me to fetch you, saying it was better not to disturb the old…” Minglan said nothing at all, walking straight ahead. Seeing the faint frost in Minglan’s expression, Nanny Qian trailed off uncomfortably.

Arriving at the main courtyard where Wang Shi resided, Minglan told Nanny Qian to wait outside, then walked in herself. The moment Wang Shi laid eyes on her, she burst out in furious reproach: “You wretched girl! What madness has come over you — ordering people to surround the entire household and not let anyone in or out! And when some dared to resist, you even had them struck…”

Sheng Hong, dressed in his official robes, paced restlessly about the room. “What in the world are you thinking? If word of this gets out, how is our family ever to hold our heads up outside…” To be encircled in one’s own home by one’s own daughter — truly an event unheard of throughout the ages.

Minglan actually felt a flicker of amusement. No matter what the circumstances, her father’s first concern was always this. She smiled and said, “Father, do not worry. I had the guards block the doors from the inside. The main gate remains shut tight — how would anyone outside know what is happening within?”

Sheng Hong, rattled and confused in his urgency, momentarily lost his train of thought.

Minglan said, “Besides, did Father not say just yesterday that taking a day’s leave would be no trouble at all?”

Sheng Hong, stopped by his own words, forgot to ask anything else.

Wang Shi rose to her feet in anger. “The Master still needs to go to court!”

Minglan stepped closer. “Father need not worry. Just now I have already sent someone to tender your leave of absence on your behalf. The message says that an elder in the household has fallen gravely ill, and Father, consumed with grief and worry, is staying home to attend to Grandmother. Father has always been diligent, never having taken a single day’s leave — should word of this get out, people will only praise Father’s filial devotion to his mother, his pure and wholehearted virtue, which will greatly benefit Father’s reputation as an official.”

Sheng Hong wiped the beads of anxious sweat just beginning to form on his brow and found he couldn’t argue with his daughter’s reasoning. The old woman’s illness was real, and there were no pressing matters of late — why not take this one leave, and make a genuine show of filial piety?

Wang Shi, having been ignored by Minglan from the start, grew even more furious. “You’ve locked up every single person in this household, young and old alike — just what are you trying to do?!” Sheng Hong slowly removed his official hat and placed it squarely on the table. “Speak.”

“There is nothing much to it. It is merely to prevent anyone from slipping away to pass word along.” Minglan’s smile remained composed.

Sheng Hong frowned. “Pass word along about what?”

“Poisoning.” Minglan let her smile fall away and looked directly at Wang Shi.

Wang Shi’s heart lurched. She reached for the edge of the table and slowly sat down.

Sheng Hong was thoroughly bewildered. He lowered his voice sharply. “What nonsense are you spouting!” Hardly had the words left his mouth when realization struck him, and he was overcome with shock. “You mean the old…” Minglan nodded. Sheng Hong’s heart seized; he staggered and nearly fell back into his seat. Composing himself, he said loudly, “Do not talk such wild rubbish! Everyone in this household is family — how could anyone possibly…”

Minglan pointed toward the long table at the head of the room. Luzhi promptly set the small bundle she’d been carrying onto it and gently unwrapped it, revealing a blue-and-white porcelain lotus-shaped dish holding several pieces of golden, fragrant pastry.

At the sight of it, Wang Shi’s face instantly drained of all color. Sheng Hong pointed at the dish with a trembling finger. “This was the old woman’s… Could it be… arsenic?” That was the most commonly circulating poison on the market these days.

“It is not arsenic,” Minglan said.

Wang Shi patted her chest, wiped the cold sweat from her brow with one hand, relaxed her shoulders, and let slip carelessly: “I knew it — it’s clearly only a…” She caught herself with a start and hastily clamped her mouth shut.

Minglan said coldly, “Only what? Could it be that you know something of this?”

Sheng Hong also stared at his wife in shock. Wang Shi stumbled, “It’s… it’s clearly only an illness.”

Minglan smiled coldly. “The substance in these pastries, though not arsenic, is capable of killing.” She turned to Sheng Hong. “Father, did you know that ginkgo nuts that have sprouted become toxic?”

Sheng Hong nodded. “Naturally. Everyone knows this — it is only foolish children who eat too many and end up poisoned.”

Minglan said, “Someone concentrated the sap from ginkgo sprouts and injected it into the filling of these pastries. I asked Nanny Fang — it is Grandmother’s habit to first eat two pieces of pastry while they are still warm. Physician Lin said that had she truly eaten two pieces, Grandmother would by now be in the halls of the King of Hell. By heaven’s grace, the heat these past days has left Grandmother disinclined toward sweet and rich foods, and she ate only one piece — which is why half her life was spared.”

Sheng Hong felt cold sweat seeping through the back of his inner robe; his collar was already damp.

“Most interesting of all — at noon yesterday, someone from her side came to the Shou’an Hall to ask for the remaining pastries, claiming my elder niece had been fussing and wanting to eat them. Fortunately, Nanny Fang, knowing that Grandmother had eaten very little and might want more later, had kept some aside. Otherwise, it would have been a seamless crime.” Minglan fixed her gaze on Wang Shi, carefully observing the changes in her expression. “Whoever administered this poison was truly meticulous in their thinking.”

Wang Shi’s heart was racing. Seeing both father and daughter staring at her, she cried out, “Why are you both looking at me?!”

Minglan said, “Were not these pastries something that was sent over? A filial daughter-in-law buying pastries for her mother-in-law — how many people praised that gesture at the time.”

Sheng Hong’s anger ignited in his chest. Forgetting his daughter was present, he roared, “Speak up! What exactly have you done?!”

Wang Shi clenched her teeth, resolved to brazen it out: “You think a few pastries alone can convict me of a crime — it won’t be that easy. Who’s to say one of the old woman’s own servants didn’t harbor wicked intentions and plotted against her!”

Sheng Hong cursed furiously: “Fool! Fool! The people of the Shou’an Hall have served Grandmother for decades — why on earth would they try to poison her?!”

Wang Shi tilted her chin up defiantly. “Who’s to know whether the old woman is sweet on the surface but cruel within, and has been secretly mistreating her servants? Or perhaps that Physician Lin gave a careless diagnosis, and since he can’t cure the illness himself, he’s just babbling nonsense — that too is possible!”

Sheng Hong, seeing her unabashedly shameless expression, was too furious to speak. Minglan, utterly unmoved, smiled pleasantly: “That doesn’t matter. We can invite several more physicians to examine Grandmother and determine whether she is truly poisoned or merely ill.”

“That won’t do!” Sheng Hong said urgently. “This is a family disgrace. Your questioning of Physician Lin last night was already far too reckless — if word were to spread, what face would we have left? And now you want to let others know!”

Minglan was not in the least surprised by her father’s reaction. “Father need not worry. Physician Lin is someone our Marquis trusts deeply; he has seen far worse and knows how to hold his tongue. As for inviting other physicians — well, it would only suggest we don’t trust Physician Lin’s word.” She then spread her hands with a shrug.

Sheng Hong nearly fell over backwards in frustration. He turned to Wang Shi and stamped his foot repeatedly. “You… you still won’t admit your wrongdoing…?!”

Wang Shi’s temper flared wildly. She dug in her heels and argued unreasonably: “The old woman is getting on in years and grows ever more gluttonous — she ate ginkgo nuts that had sprouted, fell ill from it, and now they want to pin the blame on me with a few cakes! I’ll tell you this: if you want me to admit to anything, I’d sooner die!” She paused, then added proudly, “Do you think my family has no one to stand up for me?!”

Sheng Hong thought of the Wang family living nearby at this very moment, and was instantly struck dumb.

Minglan covered her mouth with her sleeve, laughing until tears gathered in her eyes. “You may not know this. Ginkgo sprout sap — if taken in only a small quantity, it causes no great harm. To fall unconscious from eating ginkgo nuts that have sprouted, one would need to eat at least a bag or two! But…”

She pressed the tears gathering in her eyes dry. “There is no need to talk of dying. If you feel that Father and the Master have been unjust, we can take this before the magistrate’s court — let the presiding official hear the matter properly adjudicated. Would that not settle things?”

At these words, both Sheng Hong and Wang Shi were thoroughly alarmed. Wang Shi cursed: “You wretched girl! You have no shame — but the Sheng family still does!” Sheng Hong erupted: “You dare!”

Minglan stood at the center of the room, her expression unmoved. “If the Master does not wish to make this a great affair, then please persuade her properly. Otherwise, I will file a formal complaint with the relevant authorities. Or, the Master is welcome to assemble all the household guards, fight it out with my escorts, and have the evidence and Grandmother hidden away so I have nothing to go on with.”

Sheng Hong was frantic, stamping his feet — if a brawl truly broke out within his own home and the neighbors heard, he would never be able to show his face again.

“Good child. I understand your desire to seek justice for Grandmother, and I appreciate your intentions.” He could only speak in placating tones. “But we are all family, flesh and blood — why must things be pushed to the absolute limit? Let us close the doors and investigate slowly.”

“Family, flesh and blood?” Minglan blinked. “If Father hadn’t said so, I would have almost forgotten. Everyone in this household is flesh and blood, closest kin.” Drip — a tear fell silently onto her sleeve, she didn’t know quite when. “Father and I are father and daughter, bound by blood. I share the bonds of siblings with my brothers and sisters, and the sisters-in-law have given birth to children of Sheng blood. We are all family — all, except for Grandmother.”

Without quite knowing when, scalding tears poured from her eyes. Minglan repeated, “All except for Grandmother. She left behind not a single child of her own blood. Father, Elder Brother, Elder Sister, and the rest of us — she does not share so much as a drop of lineage with any of us. Whoever administered this poison surely counted on precisely that. Those who might speak up on her behalf? Her own family cut ties with her long ago! Indeed — our family is rising in prominence now, so why stir up trouble over such a small matter?!”

Sheng Hong, seeing the unmistakable contempt at the corner of his daughter’s lips, felt his temples throb sharply. He raised his hand and struck her hard across the face. Minglan bore the blow without flinching, her cheek burning with a sharp, fiery sting, breathing in sharply through her teeth from the pain — yet she refused to relent. She touched her face and laughed coldly. “Master, last night I deployed men to seal off this entire household. Do you think I did that for nothing?!”

Sheng Hong retracted his hand, his expression turning severe. “You are hell-bent on this — have you considered the consequences?”

“I made up my mind long ago.” Minglan’s voice was full of grief and indignation. “Given Father’s customary habit of smoothing things over for the sake of appearances, this matter will surely be reduced from something great into something small, and from something small into nothing at all. In other matters, I could defer to the Master — but not in this. In this, I absolutely will not yield.”

Sheng Hong laughed coldly, again and again. “I see now — I have raised quite a capable daughter, to be so brazenly defiant of her own father. I have no daughter such as this!”

Minglan could no longer hold back the tears flowing down her face. “I know. After this, Father may no longer wish to acknowledge me; Elder Brother will come to resent me; Elder Sister will no longer speak to me — to say nothing of my eldest sister-in-law and Fifth Sister. Even the Marquis will likely reproach me for being thoughtless. I will have thoroughly offended everyone. From this day on, I will have no family home to fall back on. Let me speak plainly today—”

She steeled herself and said in a hoarse, strained voice, “For the sake of restoring justice to Grandmother — my father, my brothers and sisters, and even this comfortable, prosperous life I now have — I am willing to give up all of it.”

Once those words left her lips, she had cast everything aside. Minglan said with her head held high, “There are only two paths. Either everything is confessed — or I go to the Shuntian Prefecture and beat the drum to cry grievance. Master, the choice is yours.”

Sheng Hong shook with rage, his hands and feet gone cold, the look he fixed on his daughter burning with fury — yet things had come to this point, and he could only retreat to a lesser position. He turned to glare at Wang Shi. “At this stage, I can no longer care about face. If you continue to be stubborn, I will have no choice but to write a letter of repudiation. We will sever all ties with the Wang family, even at the cost of offending them, and be done with it.” If this matter could be kept quiet, so much the better — but once it broke open, it would become a catastrophe: demotion in the best case, loss of office or even a criminal charge in the worst.

Wang Shi was frightened.

Throughout over a decade of impressions, Minglan had always been clever in small ways — obedient, good-natured, knowing when to stop and never causing trouble for others. Yet today she was like one possessed, biting down and refusing to let go, even daring to defy her own father and speaking such outrageous, defiant words. Wang Shi pointed a trembling finger at her. “You dare… you dare defy your elders…”

“Once this matter is resolved, you are welcome to report me for defiance.” Minglan said evenly. “That is, if you are still in any condition to do so at that point.”

Wang Shi was silenced. She turned to look at Sheng Hong, her eyes filled with a beseeching look. “Master…”

Sheng Hong paid her no mind. He pointed at Luzhi, who stood behind Minglan. “Go and fetch ink and brush. I will write the letter of repudiation at once.”

Wang Shi stared blankly, then covered her face and wept loudly. “What terrible fate is mine — to have endured so long within the Sheng household’s doors…”

Sheng Hong turned and laughed coldly. “You foolish woman! Open your eyes and look at the situation. A physician has diagnosed the old woman, here are the poisoned pastries, and those pastries were purchased by you — with all this in hand, this young lady has your life in her grip from the very start.”

With both witness and physical evidence, and the fact that their strained mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship was known to many, it formed a complete chain of proof. If this truly went before a court, Wang Shi would be irrefutably condemned to death — the most sensible thing now was to distance himself from her quickly.

He added one more sentence: “You plotted against your mother-in-law’s life. No matter how far this is argued, I am fully within my rights to repudiate you!”

Wang Shi was struck dumb. Her weeping momentarily ceased — when from nearby came a soft cry: “Mistress!”

Everyone turned to look. Nanny Liu lifted the bamboo curtain of the side room and walked in with her head lowered, kneeling quietly before Wang Shi. “Mistress, things have come to this. Please do not be stubborn any longer — if you still will not speak the truth, Young Master Changbai and the two young ladies will all be dragged into this!”

She raised her head and fixed her gaze on Wang Shi. “If something happens to you, how will the two young ladies hold their heads up in their husbands’ households in the future? And there is also the Young Master — his official career is going so well right now!”

Wang Shi shuddered violently. If she were repudiated, what future would her two daughters have? And her son…

Minglan looked at Nanny Liu with a cold smile. “I had almost forgotten about you, Nanny Liu — how could such an important matter be without you.”

Nanny Liu, still kneeling, turned toward Minglan. “Years ago, when the old woman gave orders that the Kang household’s Yiniang was no longer permitted to visit, I, as a servant, dared not speak out — but I did feel it was right. I originally came from the Wang family, yet today I must say this: the Yiniang has grown more and more improper with the years. Our Mistress has always had too soft an ear and cannot withstand persuasion — she is easily led into doing wrong. I have often urged her to stop keeping company with the Yiniang, but out of sisterly sentiment, she could never bring herself to listen, and whenever she spoke with the Yiniang, she would always send me away.”

“So Nanny Liu was entirely unaware of the matter?” Minglan’s legs were growing weak from standing; she slowly walked to a chair and sat down.

Nanny Liu said, “Although I was unaware, after hearing what the Young Mistress has said just now, I can surmise seven or eight parts of it.” She raised her head to look at Minglan. “Was it not precisely because the Young Mistress harbored doubts that she kept pressing for the truth to be spoken? Otherwise, with the physician’s testimony and that dish of pastries, the Young Mistress could have confronted everyone last night and would by now be discussing with the Master how to mete out punishment.”

Minglan felt a measure of genuine respect. “It was truly thoughtful of the Wang family’s old matriarch to send you here.”

Nanny Liu knocked her head to the floor again and said respectfully, “Just now, the Young Mistress spoke of ginkgo sprout sap and its distillation into a concentrate — of that I know absolutely nothing. I have served the Mistress since she was young and know her character well. Though she is somewhat quick-tempered, she is at heart a straightforward person — she could never devise such a sinister and cunning scheme to harm another.”

Sheng Hong, seeing his daughter’s manner growing somewhat more measured, no longer rushed to write the letter of repudiation, and sat there still fuming. Hearing these words, he could not help but nod — his own wife couldn’t even read; even if she knew ginkgo sprouts were toxic, how would she know that the sprout sap could be concentrated into a potent liquid? This would require someone literate who could read and study — his mind stirred, and connecting it with what Nanny Liu had just said, he already had a person in mind.

Nanny Liu turned back and, taking Wang Shi’s hands in hers, spoke in a gentle, consoling voice: “Mistress, please just speak the truth. If not for anyone else, then for the sake of the young masters and young ladies.”

Wang Shi could hold out no longer. She sobbed, “It was… it was my sister… she said… I was being ground down to nothing by the old woman, constantly berated and punished, and now even a daughter-in-law could walk all over me — I was living such a wretched life. And the old woman’s constitution was so sturdy — I didn’t know how many more years I’d have to suffer. So, so…”

“So the two of you sisters conspired together to poison the old woman to death?!” Sheng Hong was also furious now.

“No, no!” Wang Shi frantically waved her hands, weeping more loudly still. “…She said, as long as the old woman was made to be a little weaker — bedridden off and on, without the energy to manage this and that — wouldn’t I then be the one in charge of the household…”

“Foolish! Foolish!” Sheng Hong cursed, regretting bitterly. He had been arguing with his daughter just a moment ago, and in his fury and agitation had had no time to think further — he had always assumed there was some other twist to the matter, and never imagined it was truly Wang Shi who had harbored such wicked intentions.

Wang Shi wept more and more violently. “My sister said those pastries would do no real harm. Did not the physician also say last night that Grandmother’s condition had stabilized? How was I to know…”

Nanny Liu said, “How could you be so foolish! Did you not think — young Quan’er is being raised in the old woman’s care? What if the old woman, on a whim, broke off a piece of pastry for the child to taste? That would have been catastrophic!”

Wang Shi suddenly snapped to her senses, her face still streaked with tears. “…Good heavens… how could she dare?!”

“That is the old woman’s grandchild — not the Yiniang’s. Why would she put her mind to caring for him? Even if something had happened to Quan’er, what could you have done — gone to confront her about it? You would have had nothing but her grip around your neck.” Nanny Liu shook her head repeatedly.

Sheng Hong thought further still — once the old woman was gone, Wang Shi would assume full control over the inner affairs of the Sheng household, and Kang Yiniang would hold this secret over her, extorting her from time to time. Whether it was people or money, Wang Shi would have had no choice but to agree to anything.

He said through gritted teeth with cold fury, “That vile woman! I have treated the Kang family with nothing but generosity — and yet she dared to scheme against my household like this!”

Wang Shi clutched Nanny Liu’s arm and wept bitterly. Sheng Hong struck his knee in furious indignation. Luzhi had already brought in brushes and ink alongside a fresh pot of tea. Minglan rose and paced slowly about the room, thinking: the Kang family’s concubine-born daughter had entered the Wang princely household as a concubine; the Wang family had also returned to the capital; the upright and formidable eldest grandson and Changbai had not yet returned; and she herself had fallen out with Gu Tingye — or so Kang Yiniang believed. Was there a better moment than this?

Ginkgo sprout sap was not the kind of poison that silver needles could detect. As long as the old woman breathed her last, the body would be stiff, and symptoms such as convulsions of the hands and feet, diarrhea, and vomiting would leave no traceable evidence. At that point, with her and Wang Shi overseeing everything, the remaining clean portions would be destroyed — and even if she herself grew suspicious, there would be no proof, no case to make. If anything went awry, every point of suspicion would fall on Wang Shi, and Kang Yiniang would only need to hold firm in denial to wash her hands clean of it entirely. Minglan laughed coldly in her heart: What a venomous, cold-hearted woman!

After a moment, the sound of a commotion arose from outside. Everyone turned to look. A fierce-faced man shoved a disheveled, loose-haired old maidservant roughly through the door, then stationed himself under the covered walkway. Following him in was Xiaotao, who called out the moment she entered: “Mistress! Nanny Qian was secretly slipping money to one of the young manservants just now, telling him to sneak out through the dog hole!”

Minglan gave a slight nod to the big man. “Tuhu, thank you for your trouble.”

Wang Shi took one look at Tuhu’s fearsome appearance and was already trembling violently. Sheng Hong fared a little better — he knew that his son-in-law kept quite a few men from the jianghu world as household guards, and the Tu brothers were two of their leaders.

He turned to the kneeling Nanny Qian on the ground. “What were you trying to go out for?”

Nanny Qian’s face was streaked with mud, and she wept and wailed: “Master, I have been wronged! My home has an urgent matter — that’s why I asked someone to go back on my behalf!”

“What matter?” Sheng Hong asked.

“…My eighty-year-old mother has fallen ill…” Nanny Qian sobbed loudly.

Xiaotao immediately pointed out the error. “Your mother passed away long ago! I even contributed money for the funeral that year.”

“It’s… it’s my godmother — she’s not well…” Nanny Qian continued to argue.

Luzhi quickly spoke up. “Just now when I went to fetch the brushes and ink, I saw her peering repeatedly into the room, eavesdropping.” In truth, the maidservants and older serving women in Wang Shi’s quarters all had this habit, and she hadn’t thought much of it at first — but none of the others had tried to run out and report anything.

Sheng Hong erupted in fury. “You insolent creature! Still won’t speak the truth!” He could not get anything out of Nanny Qian, and fearing the matter would leak out, he didn’t dare call the household guards in to administer a flogging.

Minglan frowned. “I don’t have so much time to spare.” She tilted her head slightly toward the door. “If you please, Tuhu.”

Tuhu laughed heartily. “What difficulty is there in that?”

He strode into the room, pulled a handkerchief from his waist, grabbed Nanny Qian by the jaw and shoved it into her mouth, then pressed his left knee against her back, locked her shoulder with his left hand, and seized her right hand with his right. No one quite knew what he did with the force of his grip — only a deep, heavy crack of bone was heard, and Nanny Qian let out a shriek like a pig being slaughtered, though it was muffled by the cloth in her mouth and could not be heard too loudly.

Everyone looked. Her right hand’s little finger was bent into a bizarre angle — the root of the finger bent backward, nearly touching the back of the hand, while the fingertip curved outward at over ninety degrees. Wang Shi stared fixedly at that finger, trembling from head to toe, her soul seemingly fled, vacant as if in a stupor. Nanny Liu’s complexion also looked poor. Sheng Hong’s face was grave and he said not a word.

Nanny Qian’s face turned purple with pain, the whites of her eyes rolled back, and she half-fainted. Xiaotao quickly took the tea Luzhi had just brought and splashed a bowlful directly at Nanny Qian’s face — though television dramas most often used cold water or ice water to revive criminals, hot tea, as it turned out, worked just as well. Nanny Qian gradually came to, and the first thing before her eyes was Tuhu’s face, twisted into its customary grotesque expression.

She heard the man say in a sinister tone: “Babble half a sentence more, and we go again. You still have ten fingers, after all.” Nanny Qian was so terrified she nearly fainted again, and nodded frantically.

Tuhu released his grip, retrieved the handkerchief, then stepped back out to stand in the covered walkway — out of deference to the fact that this was the Marquis’s wife’s family home, he had not struck hard, nor drawn blood; otherwise he likely would have frightened several more people into fainting.

Minglan looked coldly at Nanny Qian. “Speak.”

This time, Nanny Qian poured everything out like beans tumbling from a bamboo tube. Clutching her fingers, she shook and stuttered through every word: “…Kang Yiniang gave me silver and told me to report to her everything that happened in the household. Yesterday she gave me a good deal more and told me to watch closely — that once the old woman fell ill, I was to go to her at once, at the slightest hint of any development…”

Minglan smiled slightly, then turned her head. “Father, now do you understand why I sealed off the household?”

Sheng Hong was furious beyond words. Had Minglan not played her part so well last night — feigning normalcy, sending everyone away before quietly investigating — and instead confronted everything on the spot, the spy within the family would already have tipped off the enemy outside.

Minglan had Tuhu drag Nanny Qian away, then looked at the sky gradually turning blue and bright, and murmured to herself, “Let Kang Yiniang go on believing that all is calm and peaceful within this household.” — The timing was exactly right.

She turned to Nanny Liu and said, “Nanny Liu, please get up. I’m afraid I must impose on you this time.”

Nanny Liu rose to her feet and steeled herself. “Please give your instructions, Sixth Young Mistress.”

Minglan’s expression became exceptionally warm and agreeable. “All these years, you have often urged the Mistress not to do foolish things — I knew from the start that you were a good person. Now that such a great matter has occurred, you have been caught up in it as well, and I can only trouble you to make a trip to the Kang household and invite the Yiniang over. When she comes, we can all sit down and discuss things properly — and perhaps the matter will then become clear.”

Nanny Liu was baffled. “Go and invite the Yiniang?” At this moment, the Sixth Young Mistress would gladly flay Kang Yiniang alive — so what was there to invite?

Minglan nodded. “You must look flustered and frightened. Just say that the old woman has been struggling through the night, and that things have now taken a turn for the worse — and that the Mistress, timid at heart, has been terrified all night long. So, now that dawn has broken, she has come to invite the Yiniang over. She hopes the Yiniang will do her the kindness of coming to bolster her younger sister’s courage, offer some guidance, and lend a hand — that sort of thing.”

Nanny Liu understood at once, and a chill ran through her heart. “Would… would the Yiniang really come…?”

Minglan smiled with deep meaning. “Why would she not come? If she asks whether the various young ladies have been notified, tell her that she was the very first to be informed. The young ladies have their own households and husbands to consider — we will send word once the sky is fully bright.”

Nanny Liu thought it through carefully and understood — the Yiniang would indeed come.

Nanny Qian had not gone out to report anything, which meant all was normal. If Nanny Liu played her part convincingly, Kang Yiniang would naturally assume that Wang Shi, having realized a life had nearly been lost, was now half-dead with fear and desperately needed her. Kang Yiniang herself would need to come and gather information, and in the process, dispose of any remaining evidence.

Nanny Liu privately marveled at how formidable this sixth young lady was, and could only agree in a low voice.

“Nanny Liu,” Minglan said slowly, “you know the bond between Grandmother and me. If I cannot seek justice from the true culprit in this matter, I will have no choice but to vent my anger and frustration on others. I have heard that Jiu’er is now very well-married, and that Nanny Liu’s sons also have bright futures ahead of them. So…” She smiled and smoothed a wisp of hair at her temple. “Do it convincingly. Do not let the act slip.”

Nanny Liu was chilled to the bone. She knelt and knocked her forehead to the floor, then said, “This servant will most certainly bring the Yiniang here!”

Once Nanny Liu had also gone, Luzhi supported the half-conscious Wang Shi back into the inner chamber. Only then did Sheng Hong furrow his brows and say, “Why use deception? We could simply go directly to the Kang household and confront them.”

“If the matter is indeed as we suspect and all the evidence is confirmed — would the Kang family… or rather, the Wang family — hand Kang Yiniang over to us to deal with as we see fit? Would we then lead our household guards and storm their gates? Or would we truly file a suit at the magistrate’s court, seeking a proper and lawful sentence?”

Minglan poured a cup of tea herself and offered it to her father. “Keep the person in our own hands, and whether to kill, to punish, or to offer a cup of poisoned wine or a length of white silk — all of it is for us to decide. The Wang family would not dare to take the matter to court.” She lowered her voice. “Father, if I could have it any other way, I would not wish to ruin Elder Brother’s career, nor drag the Sheng family’s name through the mud.”

Sheng Hong was greatly alarmed. “You want Kang Wang Shi’s life?!”

Minglan said, “Father, do not worry. I will not bring trouble to your door. I will take the person away from the premises before any action is taken.”

Sheng Hong sat holding his teacup, unable to process what he’d just heard for a long moment.

For over a decade, his obedient, lovable little daughter — how had she suddenly transformed into a terrifying woman? Not only was she defying her own father and coercing her stepmother, she wielded torture, practiced deception, all without so much as a crease on her brow — and was now speaking openly of killing people.

He murmured, “Your birth mother died young. Molan tried to slash your face. Your marriage was fraught with difficulties. Through so many hardships, you were always so considerate of others, never asking for anything in return. Why now…”

Minglan let out a low, bitter laugh. “Indeed. Why?”

With those words, she turned and walked out. “…Father, please rest for a while. Your daughter will go and look in on Grandmother again.”

Sheng Hong watched the slight, slender figure of his youngest daughter retreat away, and suddenly realized — he had never truly known this child at all.

……

Xiaotao supported Minglan, her nose thick with the weight of unshed tears. “Mistress, will we really be able to avenge Grandmother?”

Minglan said wearily, “Remember this. In this world, between one person and another, it often comes down to who dares to give up more. Father, the Mistress, the Wang family, the Kang family — none of them dare to truly give everything up. But I do.”

After a pause, she said softly, “Not avenging those we love most dearly — sometimes it is not that we cannot, but that we will not. We fear this and fear that, hold back because of this consideration or that attachment — unwilling to let go of one thing, unable to sacrifice another.”

Xiaotao looked up. “Mistress, have you truly let it all go?”

Minglan’s expression was very strange. She replied with a single line: “If I did not have Grandmother, what would I have had worth giving up?” This body had never truly been hers to begin with — she owed Sheng Hong and Wei Yiniang no debt of birth or upbringing for that.

Entering the inner chamber, Minglan said, “I wish to speak with Grandmother for a moment.”

Nanny Fang looked at the red swelling on Minglan’s cheek, her eyes full of tears, and led the others quietly out.

In just half a day, the old woman had grown thinner by a full measure — her skin dry and wrinkled, sallow and withered. She remained in an unbroken slumber, but the vomiting and diarrhea had stopped. Minglan sat at the edge of the bed and slowly pressed her head against the old woman’s arm, just as she had when she was small.

In her heart she said — thank you. When I was most lost and without anchor, you raised me, protected me, taught me to grow, and gave me the courage to face this hateful world.

She had always been very good at pretending.

Pretending not to care, pretending to be utterly fearless — when in truth she had been terrified to her core. In this wholly unfamiliar world, had it not been for this old woman’s warmth and care, what would have become of her? The old woman was like a firm, immovable cornerstone, standing steadily at her back, letting her lean upon it — no matter when, no matter where, whatever happened, she would always remember: when she looked back, there was a safe harbor waiting for her.

“I will never let them go unpunished.” She said softly. “You should not die like this.” The old woman should live to well past a hundred, with her children and grandchildren all showing her devotion and love, and then, in the quietness of a dream, pass away in peace.

“You have suffered loneliness for half your life, with no children of your own, no family — and so they dared to bully you. Do not worry — you still have me.” She began to weep with quiet grief: “Even if I am abandoned by all, it is as though I came to this world for nothing. So be it.”

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Author’s Note:

Let me summarize first — a portion of readers have expressed some dissatisfaction with the plot of Chapter 193. The general opinion runs roughly as follows: filial piety was the foremost moral standard of ancient times and among the most grievous of offenses to violate; no matter how vile or foolish Wang Shi might be, she simply could not have done something like this. The plot therefore feels jarring and somewhat contrived. It was, in their view, written to exalt the main character at the cost of making Wang Shi and Sheng Hong’s characters fall apart.

Is that the gist? I appreciate the feedback from these readers. Now let me set out my own perspective.

When I was writing this scene, I deliberated for a long time. But in a work called Yuewei Cottage Notes — or perhaps it was in Annotations to the Record of the Washing Away of Wrongs, I can no longer recall exactly which — I came across a case like this: a mother-in-law was extraordinarily cruel and wicked, constantly abusing and beating her daughter-in-law, even instigating her son to divorce the wife. The daughter-in-law ultimately could endure no more and rose up to kill — or poison — the mother-in-law (I’ve forgotten the details).

Leaving aside the question of who was in the right, the point is that the daughter-in-law did kill her mother-in-law. In other words, even when every corner of the land proclaimed the virtue of filial piety, even when filial piety had become the behavioral standard of society, it was still not a guarantee — people would still take drastic action for certain reasons. So the idea of a daughter-in-law plotting against a mother-in-law is not an absolute impossibility.

Those readers who were dissatisfied with this plot cited Dream of the Red Chamber as an example, arguing that even in the chaos of the Jia household, no one ever considered poisoning Grandmother Jia. I believe this comparison is wholly inapplicable.

From within the novel, Grandmother Jia was the birth mother of Jia She and Jia Zheng — and Jia Zheng’s filial devotion bordered on absolute, born of genuine feeling from the heart. Moreover, the Grandmother’s maternal family, the Shi clan, was still very much intact at the time. Which daughter-in-law would have dared to try anything?!

From a real-world perspective, the author Cao Xueqin’s great ancestress was the Imperial Wet Nurse Sun Shi, who nursed the Kangxi Emperor himself — you couldn’t possibly joke about such a thing. The Kangxi Emperor lost both parents from a young age, and his attachment to this wet nurse ran extraordinarily deep; a considerable portion of the Cao family’s glory derived from this ancestress. Even though Cao Xueqin’s father was not Sun Shi’s biological son, he still served her with respectful devotion, treating her as a living bodhisattva.

This is simply incomparable to the old woman in this story.

First, the old woman’s maternal family had long since severed all ties with her. Second, she became a widow while still young, and therefore held no court title conferred by her husband — and Sheng Hong, even now, was only a mid-ranking official who had never managed to secure her such a title. Third, Sheng Hong was not her biological son, and his filial behavior toward her was largely surface-level, not truly from the heart — something Wang Shi also knew perfectly well.

Now, about Wang Shi.

Though she was out of favor with her husband, she had a capable family behind her: her brother held a rank comparable to her husband’s, her mother was a titled court lady, and her elder sister’s concubine-born daughter had become a favored consort of a prince — a source of confidence that Kang Yiniang had continually instilled in her. Most importantly, her son Changbai was on the rise like a morning sun, his future boundless, and her eldest daughter Hualan was also thriving in the Yuan household, with her son-in-law Yuan Shao growing ever more accomplished.

She therefore deeply believed that she ought to be living very comfortably, with great face to her name, and that she should by rights be the mistress of the inner household.

Yet she was not. The old woman repeatedly suppressed her, and at every major decision, Sheng Hong invariably sided with his stepmother — leaving control of household affairs in the hands of the eldest daughter-in-law, while Wang Shi was sidelined, becoming a figurehead with no real power.

The gap between reality and expectation drove Wang Shi into ever-growing frustration. With Kang Yiniang stoking the flames, she grew more and more resentful.

At this point, some readers have forgotten one crucial fact: Wang Shi never intended for the old woman to die. She lacked both the nerve and the mental clarity for that. She only wanted the old woman to fall ill for a spell so that she could reclaim her authority and regain her dignity.

For those with clear heads — our discerning readers, for instance — they would never be so easily swayed by another’s words without thinking through the consequences. But Wang Shi was a muddled person. To be more precise, she was someone easily inflamed with anger — which is exactly why she lost her husband’s heart entirely under Lin Yiniang’s gentle, tearful assault.