“Father, I beg you, save Mother, please save Mother…”
Xiao Yanqing knelt on the ground, her forehead red from kowtowing repeatedly.
Yet Shen Changfeng remained unmoved. Instead, he cast a look of pure loathing at the woman half-reclining on the couch.
“Jiang Yuexi, you are truly jealous to the core. You knew Yulian was giving birth today, yet you feign illness just to lure me here. Such malice! If you truly were to die, it would be a blessing from the heavens!”
“Back then, because you occupied the position of the primary wife, Yulian could only be a concubine. She never held a grudge, yet you have made things difficult for her at every turn.”
“Even when the Tianshi calculated that Jiang Yanqing’s fate is to bring misfortune to her kin, Yulian couldn’t bear to cast her out; she only had the girl take your surname.”
“When your parents and brother were murdered, Yulian even donned mourning weeds to accompany you to the funeral. What more could you possibly be dissatisfied with?”
“When I have time tomorrow, I will send someone to pack you and Jiang Yanqing off to the country estate. It will save the household from the constant turmoil you cause!”
Shen Changfeng slammed the door and left. Jiang Yuexi suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
“Mother, Mother!”
Xiao Yanqing crawled over and grabbed her hand, tears falling in large droplets.
“Qingqing… don’t cry… don’t cry…”
Exerting every ounce of her strength, Jiang Yuexi fumbled beneath her pillow and pulled out a cloth bundle.
“In the courtyard… under the peach tree… I buried…”
“Pffft—”
Before she could finish, another mouthful of blood sprayed out.
“Buried… an iron box… inside are gold and silver… property deeds… this is the key… keep it safe… don’t… don’t give it to anyone…”
Holding the cloth bundle, Xiao Yanqing nodded vigorously.
“I know. Mother, wait for me, I’ll go find a doctor for you…”
She turned to run out on her short legs, but a loud “thud” echoed behind her.
Jiang Yuexi had collapsed from the bed. She was no longer breathing.
“Mother… Mother!”
Xiao Yanqing walked toward her step by step, carefully touching her face.
Though she was only four years old, she understood that her mother… had left her forever.
A wave of mountain-toppling hatred surged within her clear eyes.
“Mother, one day, I will make the entire Pingyuan Houfu be buried with you!”
Thirteen years later.
Jiang Yanqing returned to the Huangcheng.
Just as she reached the main gate of the Pingyuan Houfu, the housekeeper Gao Hai led a group of guards to block her path.
“Fourth Miss, the Master says your Eight Characters clash with the Houfu. You cannot enter through the main gate. Please enter through the back door.”
Jiang Yanqing toyed with the small folding fan in her hand, the corners of her lips curving into a shallow smile. She didn’t say a word.
With a single palm strike, she sent Gao Hai sprawling, and with one kick, she forced open the high redwood gates.
“Ouch…”
Gao Hai fell flat on his back. He shouted in a fit of rage, “Quickly, seize the Fourth Miss! Don’t let her in! Even if you have to carry her, take her to the back door!”
“Understood!”
Several guards surrounded Jiang Yanqing at once. None of them spared a thought for a young girl from the countryside.
To their shock, within an instant, all of them were lying on the ground with bruised faces and swollen eyes.
Gao Hai’s legs trembled with fear.
Yet his tone remained full of contempt. “Fourth Miss, have thirteen years of hardship still not taught you a lesson? Now that you’ve finally been given a chance to return, I advise you to tuck your tail between your legs and behave. If you act this insolently, the Hou will not forgive you!”
Jiang Yanqing’s gaze turned cold. She delivered two sharp slaps to his face.
“What kind of thing are you to dare lecture this lady?”
“Presumptuous!”
Suddenly, a piercing roar erupted from behind her.
Jiang Yanqing turned to see Shen Changfeng, dressed in brocade robes, striding toward her alongside Feng Yulian and their second son, Shen Zhenze.
She nodded. “Father is right. I’ve only just returned, and I expect the entire household has been waiting to welcome me. Yet this Gao Hai not only brought men to block my way but also spoke with such insolence.”
“It’s more than presumptuous—it’s practically a rebellion! Father, you really ought to discipline them properly. Otherwise, outsiders might think you cannot tolerate me, your only legitimate daughter. More seriously, if they were to offend some great figure in the future, it would bring ruin upon our Houfu.”
Shen Changfeng glared at her with disgust. “Sharp-tongued girl! The only thing that can bring disaster to this Houfu is a jinx like you. I told you that you would clash with the residence and ordered you to use the back door. Why didn’t you listen?”
This wretched girl had been sent to the estate for so many years; she should have been rustic and timid. He never expected her to grow up even more beautiful than the carefully cultivated You’er, and she dared to cause trouble the moment she stepped back. She was looking for death!
Before Jiang Yanqing could speak, Feng Yulian intervened. “Forget it, Hou Ye. Qingqing grew up in the countryside all these years; it’s only natural she doesn’t know the rules. We can teach her slowly in the future.”
Turning around, she said to Gao Hai, “Go fetch a fire basin for the Fourth Miss to step over to drive away the bad luck.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Madam?” Jiang Yanqing looked at Shen Changfeng mockingly. “Since the founding of our Daxing Wangchao, there has been a regulation: concubines of the Emperor cannot be named Empress, and concubines of the people cannot be elevated to the position of primary wife. My mother has been dead for over ten years; where did a ‘Madam’ come from in this residence? What is this? It’s not Housekeeper Gao who wants to rebel—it’s you, the Pingyuan Hou, isn’t it?”