The Princess Residence.
Spring filled the gardens, and a group of brightly dressed noble ladies were chattering and laughing as they clustered around the young woman at the center.
The young woman wore a smoky-pink ru skirt, her figure delicate and frail, her features as fresh as a lotus bud. She was Jiang Wanxin, the legitimate daughter of the Shangshu Mansion, who had recently earned fame throughout the capital under the title “Little Lucky Star.”
“Sister Xin’er, these earrings of yours have such a pure, vivid red color. I’ve heard that red coral of this quality is extremely rare!”
“I remember my grandmother mentioning that back in the day, your mother, Madam Su, wore an entire set of ‘Crimson Haze Over Snow’ coral hair ornaments at her coming-of-age banquet, stunning everyone present!”
“Everyone knows Xin’er is the pearl of the Shangshu Mansion. She just celebrated her sixteenth birthday last month—these earrings must be a birthday gift from Madam Su.”
A flicker of unease passed swiftly across Jiang Wanxin’s face before she said, “They’re merely ordinary ornaments. Please, sisters, stop teasing me.”
“Oh? Speaking of which, on such an important occasion today… Madam Su… isn’t coming again?”
Jiang Wanxin’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. “As you all know, my mother has never been in good health, and she’s especially prone to illness during the transition between spring and summer.”
As they were speaking, a slender yet upright figure walked past the group of ladies, eyes fixed straight ahead without so much as a glance.
A well-informed noble lady immediately whispered, “Look, that’s the Little Medical Immortal that His Highness Prince Qin personally brought back from Qingzhou!”
“That sheep-fat white jade hairpin with the ruby in her hair—could it be the treasure piece from Gold Thread Pavilion? Was it a gift from Prince Qin?”
“She looks barely sixteen. What could she possibly know of the Arts of Qihuang? Xin’er doesn’t believe it.” Jiang Wanxin’s voice was sweet and soft. “Besides, as a physician, dressing up so extravagantly… it rather exceeds her station…”
Several noble ladies immediately covered their mouths and chimed in:
“She’s clearly a vain, status-seeking woman!”
“Who knows—maybe she’s trying to become Prince Qin’s mistress on the side!”
With just a few words, Jiang Wanxin’s insinuations had stirred up contempt and hostility toward Yun Zhao among the noble ladies.
Yun Zhao turned her face slightly, her gaze lingering on Jiang Wanxin’s earrings for a moment. A month ago… it had also been Jiang Wanxin’s birthday?
What a coincidence.
In her previous life, on the day she and Jiang Heng had acknowledged their kinship, the day Qingwei Valley was slaughtered to the last person, had also happened to be her sixteenth birthday.
She deliberately looked Jiang Wanxin up and down, a faint, ambiguous smile playing at the corners of her lips:
“Your complexion is pale with a hint of green—liver qi stagnation!
Your lips are pale with a trace of purple—a guilty heart!
With a constitution like yours, I’d advise you to spend less energy on idle gossip and scheming—otherwise, I fear you may struggle to bear heirs.”
She was saying Jiang Wanxin would have trouble conceiving?!
Everyone knew one of the hottest rumors circulating in the capital was that the legitimate daughter of Minister Jiang’s household was being considered for marriage into the Eastern Palace!
If those words reached the palace, things would get very interesting!
The crowd erupted in murmurs, and several noble ladies who were on bad terms with Jiang Wanxin hid their laughter behind their sleeves.
Jiang Wanxin’s fame had spread throughout the capital—wherever she went, she was praised by all. Never had she suffered such a mortifying humiliation!
She abruptly reached out, trying to grab Yun Zhao’s sleeve. “Stop right there!”
But Yun Zhao seemed to have anticipated this. With a light step, her skirts swirling gracefully, she sidestepped the grab.
Jiang Wanxin, having put too much force into her lunge, stumbled forward with a startled cry!
At that very moment, a tall, elegant figure arrived swiftly, steadying Jiang Wanxin just before she could fall in disgrace.
The newcomer wore a moon-white brocade robe, his features refined and handsome as a painting—none other than Jiang Heng, known by the title “Gentleman of Lantai.”
His long brows were knit tightly, his face dusted with frost, as he prepared to rebuke whoever had been so audacious—but the moment he raised his head, he abruptly met Yun Zhao’s gaze.
Jiang Heng’s expression changed drastically, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
Jiang Yunzhao? At Qingwei Valley over a month ago, she had clearly been struck by the Cultivation-Dissolving Powder like the rest of her sect, yet she had suddenly bled from all seven orifices, soared into the air, and smiled at him eerily as she plunged into the valley below!
That scene had haunted his nightmares nearly every night—until today!
How was she still alive?!
Even Jiang Wanxin noticed his stiffness and tugged at his sleeve. “Brother, what’s wrong?”
Yun Zhao smiled ambiguously, meeting his gaze directly, and spoke each word with perfect clarity: “We meet again, brother.”
The timing of her rebirth in this life had been poor, and in her haste, she’d had no choice but to escape using the Blood Curse. After faking her death, she’d confirmed the black-clad assassins were no longer in the valley, then returned to Qingwei Valley to gather the remains of her master and fellow disciples.
That single “brother” made Jiang Heng tremble all over.
“Brother?” Jiang Wanxin frowned, her gaze darting between Yun Zhao and Jiang Heng. “Who is this person? Why does she also call you brother?”
Jiang Heng had already forced himself to regain composure, his voice icy: “Merely a country girl trying to climb the ranks through false claims. Xin’er, you have a pure heart—stay far away from people with such ulterior motives.”
“A country girl?” Yun Zhao laughed softly. “That’s not what you said when we first met, brother.”
Jiang Heng stepped forward abruptly.
Mindful of the watching crowd, he lowered his voice and warned through gritted teeth: “Stop your delusions. Chasing me to the capital will get you nowhere!
The Jiang family will never acknowledge you—a bastard of unknown origins! The only daughter of the Jiang family is Wanxin, and that will never change for as long as I live!”
“Don’t speak too soon, brother.” Yun Zhao smiled leisurely, her gaze cold and sharp. “I’ll be waiting for you to pave the road and carry the sedan chair, to welcome me home with all due respect!”
Behind her, Jiang Wanxin and several other young ladies kept glancing sideways.
Someone whispered doubtfully, “Wasn’t she supposed to have been invited by Prince Qin? How does she seem to know the Gentleman of Lantai as well?”
Jiang Wanxin shook her head gently. “My elder brother has always kept himself pure and unsullied.”
Jiang Heng had only recently been personally appointed by His Majesty as the new top scholar in the imperial examinations. The Gentleman of Lantai was renowned for his cold, aloof demeanor, untouched by worldly dust—many young ladies in the capital had secretly given him their hearts.
Immediately, someone chimed in, “It must be that woman surnamed Yun who has no sense of shame and deliberately pestered him!”
Jiang Wanxin said nothing, but her fingertips clutching her handkerchief gradually tightened. With a delicate, pitiable posture, she stepped forward. “Brother?”
Yun Zhao turned her face aside, curled her lips at her in a faint smile, then turned and walked away.
Jiang Heng said in a low voice, “Xin’er, your brother still needs to entertain a few esteemed gentlemen. Go take your seat first.”
“Mm.” Jiang Wanxin replied obediently, watching her brother’s tall, straight, coldly elegant retreating figure.
Then, her gaze shifted—like a poisoned needle, stabbing toward Yun Zhao.
“Stop right there!”
A sharp glint flashed in Jiang Wanxin’s eyes. From her sleeve, she drew a coral folding fan and lashed it straight at Yun Zhao’s face with a whistling wind!
Yun Zhao seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. She casually raised her hand, deflecting and pushing aside the blow with effortless grace.
Jiang Wanxin only felt her wrist go numb—and the coral fan, an imperial gift from the Empress Dowager, flew out of her hand, arcing backward—
With a sharp smack, it struck squarely across the face of a maidservant who happened to be passing by with her head lowered!
The maidservant cried out in pain, stumbled, and the sandalwood makeup box she was carrying crashed to the ground!
The lid sprang open, and a resplendent hairpin adorned with kingfisher feathers tumbled out.
Someone let out a scream. The bustling, lively Tangdi Garden fell into dead silence in an instant.
Everyone present knew—this was the Princess Royal’s most treasured hairpin. The bird feathers on it had been personally shot down and personally selected by Princess Jiale at the hunting grounds when she was eight years old…
A vicious bloody gash was carved across the maidservant’s face from the corner of her eye to her cheekbone, yet she seemed oblivious to the pain, staring fixedly at the broken feathers, trembling like a leaf in a storm.
Jiang Wanxin was stunned with fright as well!
But quickly, she helped the maidservant up:
“Your Highness, please calm your anger! Xin’er failed to hold the imperial fan steady, causing the maidservant to be startled and break the treasured hairpin…”
As she spoke, she cast a timid, sidelong glance at Yun Zhao. “Miss Yun didn’t mean it. She’s newly arrived and must not understand the rules of the capital—that’s why she accidentally tripped Xin’er.
If Your Highness must punish someone, punish Xin’er. Please, do not implicate others…”
These words of selflessly taking the blame were like sparks thrown into a cauldron of oil, instantly igniting the surging “sense of justice” among the noble ladies around them.
“Xin’er, why must you make excuses for such a crude person! It’s clear someone who knows no propriety deliberately caused this collision!”
“Exactly! If it weren’t for deliberate scheming, how could an imperial gift have slipped from her hand so easily?”
In just a few words, all the blame was steered toward Yun Zhao, placing her squarely in everyone’s crosshairs.
Not far away, Jiang Heng, who had been conversing with several ministers, wore a cold expression. The look he cast at Yun Zhao was filled with bone-deep disgust.
The Princess Royal’s gaze swept over the broken hairpin with pained regret. “At my birthday banquet, an imperial gift is dropped, and the commandery princess’s treasured keepsake is destroyed—
Yun Zhao! What punishment do you deserve?!”
Among the noble ladies, undisguised sneers and gossip had already risen:
“She’s dragged Prince Qin’s good name through the mud for nothing! Someone so utterly clueless should be driven out of the capital at once!”
“To show disrespect before royalty and damage an imperial object—if she doesn’t receive a good fifty lashes to the back, this can hardly be settled so easily!”
Yun Zhao clearly saw the smug triumph in Jiang Wanxin’s eyes. Her lips parted slightly, and facing away from the crowd, she mouthed to her, word by word: “You’re dead.”