After Wei Yunlie left, the Eldest Princess kept Jiang Li behind to speak with her privately, offering numerous words of comfort.
"Child, I know you meant well, but the Royal Family is not as simple as you think," she said gently. "You were lucky this time that nothing went wrong. However, had anything happened to the Eldest Prince, even I would have been hard-pressed to protect you. Imperial Brother’s first wife, Empress Pei, passed away early and failed to bear him a Prince or Princess. Although the Eldest Prince was born to a concubine, he is Imperial Brother’s first child, and he naturally values him highly. I am telling you this so you understand that while the Eldest Prince can help you, it is best to avoid getting involved with him if at all possible."
Jiang Li certainly knew the Eldest Princess was looking out for her. She also understood the myriad risks of dealing with the Imperial Family. Yet, in order to escape the Yin family—a ruthless den that devoured people whole—she had no choice but to take desperate risks.
Expressing her gratitude for the elder’s kindness, Jiang Li made plans with Commandery Princess Baoqing to visit the new Treasure Shop together in a few days. She then excused herself and departed from the Princess Mansion.
Stepping outside the Princess Mansion, Jiang Li saw a carriage parked by the gates. A eunuch approached and handed her a small wooden box.
"Miss Jiang, this is a token of gratitude from our master."
Jiang Li accepted the box, immediately realizing it was from the Eldest Prince. "Please thank His Highness for me. If his birthmark fails to fade, he may seek me out again."
The eunuch nodded in acknowledgment before taking his leave. Jiang Li watched the Eldest Prince’s carriage disappear into the distance before turning to head back.
Opening the box, she found a thick stack of silver notes resting quietly inside. She snapped the lid shut and made her way back to her tailor shop. After handing the box to Ren Dong for safekeeping, she changed back into her original clothes and returned to the Yin family estate.
Still, no one had noticed her absence. The Yin family members were busy with their own affairs, completely neglecting her courtyard. Happy to be left in peace, Jiang Li began pondering the prospect of opening her new shop.
The Jiang family shops had always boasted excellent business and could have easily continued operating. However, in order to facilitate her escape from the Yin family, she had been forced to suspend their operations. She had no intention of letting her businesses sit idle for nothing, though; she would find a better way to reopen them.
Constantly having someone else masquerade as the owner was too troublesome. Jiang Li decided to forge a new identity for the reopening. She figured she could use her mother’s maiden name and claim to the public that a female merchant named He had arrived in the Capital City to open a business.
She wondered if anyone would suspect this new identity and trace it back to her. Ultimately, it didn’t matter. There was no need to rush these matters. Perhaps the Yin family would soon be too overwhelmed with their own troubles to care and would simply choose to let her leave.
The next day, Jiang Li assumed it would be just another uneventful day. To her surprise, Yin Hongcai summoned her for a talk. He began by inquiring about her meals and living conditions in the manor, asking if she suffered any shortages, before finally revealing his true objective.
"As you know, currently only Chengzhou can uphold the Yin family’s reputation," Yin Hongcai sighed. "But he is too playful and was expelled from his previous academy. He is still young and cannot simply abandon his studies, otherwise all his prior efforts will have been in vain. You grew up with your grandparents and must have made many acquaintances. Could you find a suitable academy for Chengzhou?"
Initially, Jiang Li planned to feign her usual meek and subservient demeanor to decline Yin Hongcai’s proposal. But this time, she changed her mind. Although she could find ways to sneak out without alerting the Yin family, doing so over a long period carried a constant risk of discovery. It would be far better to agree to find an academy for Yin Chengzhou, giving herself a legitimate excuse to leave the estate. She certainly wasn’t going to pay out of her own pocket anyway—any gifts required would be provided by the Yin family, and it wouldn’t be surprising at all if they were rejected.
"Does the manor still have enough silver coins to prepare visiting gifts?" Jiang Li asked hesitantly. "My own finances are truly tight right now."
Yin Hongcai had nearly forgotten this crucial detail. He always subconsciously assumed Jiang Li was wealthy; after all, the entire reason they agreed to her marriage into the family was because they had their eyes on the Jiang family’s fortune. Now that the Jiang family was depleted of its wealth, Yin Hongcai sought to exploit her social connections instead. If nothing else, securing a place of study for his youngest son was far better than letting him loiter around gambling dens.
Gritting his teeth, Yin Hongcai agreed. "Fine. Rest assured, I will order the manor’s steward to prepare the gifts. You won’t go empty-handed."
Jiang Li let out a quiet sigh of relief and offered a reluctant nod. "I will try my best."
Even though she made no solid promises, Yin Hongcai’s anxiety eased considerably. As long as she was willing to reach out to her contacts, there was a chance. He had no idea what she was truly plotting, entirely oblivious to her hidden motives.
The moment Jiang Li turned around to take her leave, a faint, imperceptible smile flashed in her eyes. This was the perfect opportunity to go out and scout out storefronts.
Wasting no time, Jiang Li returned to Qinghe Courtyard to freshen up before heading out with Wangyou. Her first stop was a visit to one of her grandfather’s former students, who was now the Mountain Master of an academy in the Capital City.
Upon arriving at the academy gates, Jiang Li deliberately omitted her identity as Miss Jiang. She simply claimed to be from the Yin family, seeking enrollment on behalf of the second young master. The gatekeeper went inside to pass on the message. The moment the Mountain Master heard it was for the second son of the Yin family, he waved his hands in vehement refusal.
The scandal of the Yin family’s second son being expelled for gambling had long since spread throughout the Capital City. Under no circumstances would their academy accept a student tainted by gambling addiction. Furthermore, Yin Chengzhou’s academic performance at his previous academy had been abysmal. He possessed little to no talent, rendering his acceptance completely unnecessary.
However, the Mountain Master did briefly think of Jiang Li. He had heard that the Jiang family’s daughter had married into the Yin household, but she had wed their deceased eldest son. Managing the second son’s education shouldn’t have fallen into her hands anyway. Dismissing the thought, the Mountain Master instructed his staff to turn the visitor away.
Exactly as she had anticipated, Jiang Li failed to secure a meeting with the Mountain Master. She wasn’t in the least bit anxious, calmly taking her entourage to the next academy. Though she claimed to be visiting schools, Jiang Li spent the carriage ride carefully inspecting the locations of several storefronts along the street. After a brief survey, she finalized the ideal location for the Treasure Shop and had Wangyou memorize it.
Passing by a few of the Jiang family properties, an idea formed in her mind. Her family owned numerous shops, some of which operated without the Jiang family signboards, leaving passersby completely unaware of their true ownership. Since the branded shops had already suspended business, she could simply create the illusion that they had been bought out by other merchants. Jiang Li instructed Wangyou to pass the message to Ren Dong—they could begin executing this plan immediately.
As for the future, if the Yin family found out and demanded to know where the money from the sold shops went, she would simply claim it was used to fill financial deficits. The Yin family cared far too much about their pride; even if they harbored suspicions, they would never actually audit her shop ledgers. If such a petty dispute were ever made public, it would be a devastating blow to the Yin family’s reputation.
Jiang Li spent the next two days in exactly this manner. Every morning after breakfast, she would board the carriage and visit one academy after another, only returning to the Yin estate just before sunset.
Learning from the servants that Jiang Li was incredibly diligent in her search for an academy, Yin Hongcai felt completely reassured. Though she had yet to produce results, she was giving it her absolute best, just as she had promised. Though her grandfather’s former connections might have grown cold, with so many academies in the Capital City, surely one would be willing to accept his second son.
Yin Hongcai remained blissfully unaware of one crucial fact: not once had Jiang Li ever disclosed her true identity to a single person.