The canopied carriage advanced with dignified grace. Wherever it passed, pedestrians lowered their heads and made way, their gazes mingling with reverence and curiosity.
As the carriage reached the busiest crossroads in Yangzhou City, the flow of people was like a tide, and the carriage inevitably slowed down.
In this momentary pause, a sharp, raucous commotion suddenly erupted from the opposite side of the street. There stood a matron, clad in a crimson-purple silk vest. Though the fabric was new, the color was gaudy and vulgar. In her hair was a gleaming, weighty gold hairpin, but its style was long outdated—clearly an old piece bestowed by her mistress, which she wore daily like a treasure, using it to flaunt her status.
This matron was glaring fiercely, one hand—maintained to be even more delicate than the peddler’s face—almost poking the other party’s nose. Her eyes were filled with cunning calculation and a morbid desire to bully those weaker than herself.
—This face, Ming Lan would recognize it even across a lifetime!
That was Mama Qi, the most capable and vicious confidante of Aunt Kang, Wang Ruo!
In her previous life, this old, wicked servant had relied on Aunt Kang’s influence to sow discord among the great mansions of the capital, trampling on the lowly and flattering the high, stopping at nothing.
She was most adept at discerning the deepest, darkest thoughts of her mistress and executing those sinister intentions in the most cunning, untraceable ways, thereby securing her own position.
Not just her, but her entire family—especially her two “capable” sons, Steward Qi the Eldest and Steward Qi the Second—had taken advantage of Aunt Kang and the Wang Family’s influence to commit every kind of wicked deed outside!
Ming Lan could even vividly recall the fleeting, contemptuous, and gleeful sneer that had flashed across Mama Qi’s lips as she passed by after Madam Wei’s death…
This family of leech-like, wicked servants had nearly cost her grandmother her life!
Even across lifetimes, even with her identity changed, Ming Lan felt a surge of anger rise within her. Instinctively, she clenched her small fists.
Madam Qin immediately noticed the change in her daughter nestled in her arms. “What’s wrong, Sister Yi?”
Her gaze followed Ming Lan’s line of sight, just in time to take in Mama Qi’s ugly display of spittle flying and domineering arrogance.
“…Are you blind? How dare a lowly commoner like you touch the Kang Family’s goods?” Mama Qi’s shrill voice pierced their ears:
“This roll of Hangzhou satin is meant as a birthday gift! If even a single thread is damaged, selling your worthless bones and your pathetic stall wouldn’t be enough to pay for it!”
The fierce flesh on her face contorted grotesquely, as if the other party had committed an unforgivable crime.
The peddler was an honest, simple man. His repeated bows and apologies were useless.
Though the surrounding commoners wore expressions of indignation, none dared to speak up and intervene, clearly having long heard of this matron’s notorious reputation.
Madam Qin’s brows immediately furrowed, a flash of frost passing through her eyes.
In her life, she most despised such wicked servants who, relying on their masters’ minor authority, threw their weight around outside, tarnishing the family’s reputation. Moreover, this vile spectacle had disturbed her Sister Yi!
“Who is making such a clamor outside, with such utter lack of propriety?”
Madam Qin’s voice was not loud, but it carried a cold, authoritative pressure cultivated over many years within noble households. It passed through the carriage curtain, causing the surrounding air to fall silent.
Outside the carriage, the accompanying Mama Xiang immediately reported in a low voice, "Madam, judging by that old woman's attire and demeanor, she seems to be Mama Qi, the highly favored attendant by the eldest lady of the Kang Family. She's always been like this, accustomed to throwing her weight around."
"The trusted confidante of the eldest lady of the Kang Family?"
A knowing yet utterly contemptuous sneer curled at the corner of Madam Qin's lips. "So it's a servant of the Kang Family. To the uninformed, with such a display, one might think it's a First Rank Lady of Honor from some princely estate on a procession—what grand airs."
She didn't even raise her voice, merely instructing Mama Xiang outside the carriage in a calm tone, "Go and tell that Mama Qi that the Ningyuan Marquis Estate's carriage is here, and she should restrain herself. If she frightens Sister Yi's carriage, it's not something she or her mistress can bear the consequences for. If she doesn't know how to do her job, send her to where she belongs to learn some manners."
Mama Xiang acknowledged and went, her steps steady, her entire bearing dignified in a way that the vicious servants of upstart families like Mama Qi could never hope to match.
The marquis estate's matron approached without raising her voice, delivering the message calmly and clearly.
The previously arrogant and overbearing Mama Qi, upon hearing the words "Ningyuan Marquis Estate," was as if boiling water had been poured over snow, or as if an invisible hand had tightly gripped her throat. Her plump, wrinkled face instantly turned from a flushed liver-red to a deathly pale, and fine beads of oily sweat even broke out on her forehead.
Her haughty demeanor vanished without a trace, her triangular eyes filled with genuine fear, and her calves trembled as if sieving chaff.
She was well-versed in the depths of noble households and knew full well that her own mistress was no match for this truly powerful Marquise!
If she were to cause such trouble for her family because of her actions, she'd be lucky to escape with her life upon returning!
"This old servant deserves death! This old servant is blind!"
Mama Qi immediately switched to an obsequious, almost groveling expression, bending her waist so low it seemed about to snap, repeatedly bowing toward the direction of the marquis estate's carriage, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
"I didn't know the Marquise's carriage was here, offending Your Ladyship. I beg for your magnanimous forgiveness! This old servant will leave at once! At once!"
She dared not glance at the street vendor again, nor did she care about the precious Hangzhou satin. Like a sewer rat with its tail stepped on, she scrambled and squeezed her way out of the crowd.
The surrounding commoners, witnessing this, let out a few suppressed snickers and sighs of relief. Several vendors who had suffered enough under her oppression even exchanged relieved glances in secret.
Inside the carriage, Madam Qin had long since withdrawn her gaze, as if merely brushing off a speck of tainted dust.
She picked up a handkerchief and carefully wiped Ming Lan's slightly sweaty little hands, her tone gentle as water, a stark contrast to her earlier iciness: "Sister Yi, don't be afraid. It was just a foolish servant who's all bark and no bite, relying on others' influence. She's been sent away now. No need to let such lowly folk dirty our eyes."
Ming Lan lifted her small face, watching as Madam Qin effortlessly crushed Mama Qi—who in her previous life had nearly helped Aunt Kang harm her grandmother—into such utter defeat. The pent-up resentment and injustice accumulated over two lifetimes dissipated greatly, leaving her heart feeling light and unburdened: the troubles and villains she had to endure with utmost caution and restraint in her past life were, in this life, so utterly fragile in the face of absolute status and power.
And the one who had stepped in to crush these filthy matters for her was none other than Madam Qin, her birth mother in this life, who cherished her as a precious treasure. Truly, it was as if the enemy's fleet had turned to ashes amid laughter and conversation.
She tightly grasped Madam Qin's warm fingers in return and murmured happily, "Yes, with Mother here, Yi'er is not afraid!"