The Crown Prince hurried to report to the Emperor.
“Father, Third Brother was the one at fault. He tried to abduct Jiang Qianli’s younger sister, and he even assaulted your son.”
The Emperor frowned angrily.
“Your third brother was certainly wrong, but Wei Zhao had no right to attack him! Does he have no respect for me at all? I’ve rewarded him again and again, hoping he’d behave himself. Yet look at him—he’s only becoming more and more arrogant!”
After receiving a simple bandage for his wounds, the Third Prince was carried to the palace on a sedan chair, eager to demand justice from the Emperor.
The moment he saw the Crown Prince, the two brothers nearly came to blows again.
The Emperor waved the Crown Prince away, keeping only the Third Prince behind.
“Father!” the Third Prince cried bitterly. “How dare Wei Zhao injure me? I’m an imperial prince!”
The Emperor was equally furious.
“How dare he? You ask how he dares?”
He hurled several military dispatches onto the floor.
“Lingzhou… Shuangzhou… both have fallen under Wei Zhao’s control! That little wolf cub!”
A chill crept up the Third Prince’s spine.
Wei Zhao already controlled seven prefectures. With these two newly conquered ones, he now ruled nine prefectures.
The Emperor sighed heavily.
“If he takes Jiangzhou as well, removing him will become even more difficult. As for him injuring you… I’ll pretend it never happened. You’d best stop making a fuss.”
He himself had only ascended the throne because, after Crown Prince Zhangde’s death, the late Emperor found every remaining prince unsatisfactory and delayed naming an heir until the very end.
Even now, many people still refused to accept him, forever comparing him to Crown Prince Zhangde.
But how could anyone compare?
The late Crown Prince had been a genius beyond measure.
He had led campaigns against the Eastern Yi, pacified the southwest, helped establish the empire’s legal code, and overseen the compilation of countless scholarly works.
He opened schools throughout the land, cared for the elderly, widows, and orphans, and genuinely benefited the common people. His prestige had reached unparalleled heights.
Toward this eldest legitimate brother, the Emperor felt reverence, fear… and an indescribable resentment.
Who would willingly spend a lifetime living in another man’s shadow?
When Jiang Yihuan awoke, Wei Zhao was nowhere to be found.
She couldn’t help wondering whether sharing a bed with him the previous night had all been a dream.
After paying her respects to the Old Madam, Madam Heng came to visit her with Wei Zhilan.
“Yihuan, are you feeling any discomfort?”
“I’m much better now, Madam. But you don’t look well yourself. Please don’t overwork yourself.”
Wei Zhilan curled her lips.
“Stop pretending to care. Ever since you moved into our home, my mother has worried herself sick over you.”
Jiang Yihuan lowered her head.
“I’m sorry for causing Madam so much concern.”
Then she looked back up.
“But… it isn’t entirely my fault either. I’ve only been here a few days. You’re her daughter—you stay by her side every day. Couldn’t you help her and keep her from being bullied by the Old Madam?”
Madam Heng blinked in surprise.
This child really…
“For example, today. You could’ve let Madam sleep a little longer instead of insisting she go pay her respects. With Wei Zhao around, what are you afraid of?”
Wei Zhilan was rendered speechless.
She both respected and feared her brother. She only dared to curry favor with him—how could she possibly make demands of him?
Just then, Wei Zhao entered wearing simple everyday clothes.
Jiang Yihuan immediately ran over.
“Where did you go? What about my big pearl? Yesterday wasn’t just a dream, was it?”
With his mother present, Wei Zhao looked slightly uncomfortable.
“It wasn’t a dream. I’ll give it to you.”
Jiang Yihuan beamed.
“Good! But Wei Zhao, look at your mother. She looks exhausted, yet she refuses to rest.”
Wei Zhao immediately understood.
His mother had ignored his instructions and risen early once again to pay respects to his grandmother.
There wasn’t much he could do about it.
“Wei Zhao,” Jiang Yihuan continued earnestly, “you should talk to the Old Madam. Tell her you don’t want your mother greeting her every morning.”
Madam Heng hurriedly interrupted.
“Yihuan, don’t trouble Xiguang with something like that.”
Wei Zhao took Jiang Yihuan by the arm and led her away.
“Since you’re so capable, why don’t you be the one to tell Grandmother? I’ll take you to the pharmacy first to meet the shopkeeper.”
He wanted to see exactly what kind of person that shopkeeper was.
Jiang Yihuan immediately leaped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Sure! Take me to the pharmacy so I can establish my authority first. Then I’ll go talk to the Old Madam.”
Wei Zhilan watched them leave, unable to tell whether what she felt was envy… or jealousy.
The Flowing Radiance Silk.
The pearls.
The endless indulgence and affection.
Those things had originally been hers.
The pharmacy looked entirely different from the last time they had visited.
The shopkeeper stood at the entrance with all the assistants, bowing deeply in welcome.
He had never expected Wei Zhao to come in person and was already drenched in cold sweat.
He repeatedly wiped down a finely carved rosewood grand chair with his sleeve before respectfully inviting Wei Zhao to sit.
Instead, Jiang Yihuan plopped herself down in it.
She even accepted the fragrant tea that had been prepared for Wei Zhao.
Tilting her head, she asked,
“How many employees does this shop have? And how many kinds of medicinal herbs?”
The shopkeeper answered respectfully.
“There are twenty-one employees and roughly two hundred varieties of herbs.”
Jiang Yihuan nearly dropped her teacup.
“So many? The largest pharmacy back in Wuzhou only had a little over ten workers. Do you really need this many?”
“Miss, the capital is quite different from the countryside.”
Deep down, the shopkeeper still looked down on her.
In his eyes, she was nothing more than a beauty who had risen through Wei Zhao’s favor.
“Then tell me everyone’s daily duties,” Jiang Yihuan said calmly. “Explain each person’s responsibilities and how much they’re paid.”
The shopkeeper froze.
He cautiously glanced at Wei Zhao.
“W-Well…”
Jiang Yihuan lazily stirred the tea, her expression turning cold.
“I managed more than a dozen shops back in Wuzhou. Before you try fooling me, think carefully about the consequences.”
The corners of Wei Zhao’s lips twitched.
Silly little goose… was she copying me?
The shopkeeper silently cursed his bad luck.
He had to clean things up immediately—especially those freeloading relatives he had stuffed into the payroll.
“And bring me the account books,” Jiang Yihuan continued. “I want them now.”
The shopkeeper forced a smile.
“The accounts are a little messy… This month’s books haven’t been sorted yet. Could Miss wait a little?”
Wei Zhao spoke flatly.
“Give her the account books.”
“Now.”
The shopkeeper dared not refuse another word and obediently handed them over.
After Wei Zhao and Jiang Yihuan left, he hurried around like his pants were on fire.
The employees who actually did the hard work couldn’t help laughing.
“This time someone truly formidable has arrived. Madam was far too soft-hearted, and the shopkeeper became completely full of himself.”
“Anyone Young Master personally brings here can’t possibly be ordinary.”
“Exactly. Didn’t you hear? She said she’d managed over a dozen shops.”
On the carriage ride back to the residence, Wei Zhao finally asked,
“Did you really manage more than a dozen shops in Wuzhou?”
Jiang Yihuan laughed.
“Of course not.”
“There was a time when my brother stopped sending money home, and I was starving. I wanted to find odd jobs in town, but no one would hire me because they said I was too weak.”
“My great-uncle finally found me some work.”
“They didn’t provide meals and only paid five copper coins a day.”
“Five copper coins?”
Wei Zhao stared at her in disbelief.
There was actually such a poorly paid job in this world?
“I worked there for half a month. Then that old lecher of a shopkeeper actually wanted me to become his second wife. He said if I refused, he wouldn’t pay my wages.”
“My great-uncle cursed him out and took me away.”
“I went hungry for several more days before my brother finally managed to send someone with money.”
Even then, she still rarely had enough to eat.
She also had to help support her great-uncle.
Wei Zhao fell silent.
“…How old were you then?”
“That was about three or four years ago.”
Wei Zhao slowly clenched his fists.
He had heard that some men preferred girls who hadn’t yet fully grown.
Men like that deserved only one fate.
Death.
Jiang Yihuan smiled sheepishly.
“Back then, I secretly dreamed that if my brother ever became successful, he’d buy me a shop.”
“Then I’d have a big house, beautiful clothes, rouge and cosmetics…”
“And a husband too.”
“Wouldn’t that be a wonderful life?”
“What happened to that shopkeeper?” Wei Zhao asked, barely suppressing his anger.
“Him?”
“I think he died the year before last.”
She looked at him curiously.
“Why do you ask?”