“Jun Daoyuan! You wretched scoundrel! All the fine food and drink you lavish on that concubine-born daughter and her mother, you’ve fattened them like pigs. Meanwhile, my poor Ning’er goes hungry and cold!”
Old General Tao opened his mouth and cursed all three of them in turn, and at the end, even wiped away a tear.
“Ning’er, come back with Grandfather to the General’s residence. Your father is a beast in human skin, useless and unworthy. Why should you still care for him?”
Every word was filled with concern for Jun Ning, and every word carried another insult for Earl Pingkang.
Jun Ning held her grandfather’s wrinkled hands, stroking them again and again, as though she could never get enough.
At last, Old General Tao realized something was wrong.
In the past, whenever he came to Pingkang’s household, Jun Ning never clung to him so childishly. Sometimes, when he scolded Jun Daoyuan, she would even speak up for her father to ease her grandfather’s temper. But today, after all his cursing, Jun Ning said nothing at all—completely unexpected.
“Ning’er, what’s wrong? Don’t be afraid. Grandfather is here. Whoever dares lay a hand on you, I’ll make him taste my whip!”
Jun Daoyuan already felt guilty. At the mention of “whip,” he instinctively stepped back two paces, the memory still fresh and vivid.
“Grandfather, it’s nothing. Ning’er just missed you.” Jun Ning lowered her head, refusing to let go of his hand. She had never told him about the beating she had suffered that day. Her grandfather’s temper was still as fiery as ever, but he was old now—he shouldn’t have to exhaust himself worrying over her.
Pingkang’s residence was where she had grown up. After everything she had endured in her past life, she was utterly disillusioned with the people here, and she knew them all too well.
If she wished to destroy Pingkang’s household, it would take no more than the swing of a blade. But that was not her intent. She wanted all the sins of the capital to consume one another, bit by bit, until they collapsed entirely.
Jun Ning gathered her thoughts, took her grandfather’s arm, and smiled. “Grandfather, my chess skills have improved quite a lot lately. Why don’t you play a game with me?”
Seeing her tugging him away, Old General Tao sighed deeply in his heart.
Alas, he had thought too much. Ning’er was still shielding the rabble of Pingkang’s household—wasn’t she hurrying to pull him out of the hall?
“Very well, very well! Then I shall battle you across the board!”
Out of sight, out of mind. With that, Old General Tao started walking toward Yunfei Courtyard. After a few steps, he realized Ning’er hadn’t followed.
“Jun Qingnian, today I broke your arm to teach you a lesson. You should be grateful I didn’t let you scar my face. Otherwise, I would have killed you.”
Jun Qingnian clutched her arm, shrinking back. Jun Ning gave her no chance to speak, turning instead to Madam Lou.
“Madam Lou, keep your daughter in check. She may throw tantrums here in Pingkang’s household, but once she enters Prince Jing’s residence, in that deep inner courtyard, without his favor—do you think the Grand Tutor’s legitimate daughter will indulge her the same way?”
“Jun Ning, what kind of words are those?” Earl Pingkang’s brows furrowed. For a young lady to speak so bluntly was outrageous.
Jun Ning did not forget him. She turned, bowed, and said, “Father, if you have time, perhaps you should visit the ancestral hall and look upon Mother’s memorial tablet. When she was alive, she often told me Father had his unspoken difficulties—that was why he seldom came to see me.”
“If not for that day when I saw Mother crying alone in her room, I would still believe Father held Mother and me in his heart.”
“Ning’er, wait…” Earl Pingkang’s panic was plain to see.
It wasn’t only Old General Tao’s predatory glare that unsettled him, but also Jun Ning’s eyes—calm, detached, utterly without emotion.
At last, Jun Daoyuan realized: Jun Ning’s gaze upon him now held nothing but cold indifference. She looked too much like her mother, and even the expression in her eyes mirrored her mother’s final years.
Jun Ning had no intention of letting Earl Pingkang speak. She continued: “Father has lived a life of wealth and honor, never knowing what it feels like to be treated with indifference. How could you ever understand Mother or me?”
The onlookers thought she was simply recalling old sorrows, speaking out of grief. But the next moment, they realized how wrong they were.
Jun Ning lifted her face in a smile, meeting Earl Pingkang’s eyes squarely, and enunciated each word: “When midnight dreams return, Father—do you ever regret how you treated Mother?”
“I…” Earl Pingkang’s heart trembled. Suddenly, his daughter before him felt like a stranger—so unfamiliar it frightened him. For an instant, he even had the illusion that Jun Ning wanted to kill him.
“Father need not answer me now. Perhaps one day, in the future, you will find a clearer answer in your heart.”
Earl Pingkang: “…” What did Jun Ning mean by that?
Jun Ning finished speaking, then stepped back to her grandfather’s side, once again taking his arm.
“Grandfather, let’s go.”
Perhaps it was Jun Ning’s piercing gaze, or perhaps Earl Pingkang’s guilty conscience—in any case, that very night, he had a dream. In the dream, Madam Tao was still alive, sitting before her mirror, carefully combing her long hair.
Earl Pingkang stared in a daze. But when he stepped closer, he caught sight of his own reflection in the mirror: gaunt, shriveled, dressed in prison garb, with a tattoo etched across his forehead. The next instant, flames erupted in the mirror, and from the fire burst two fat, snouted pigs.
Earl Pingkang awoke in terror. That very night, he ordered servants to fill his room with candles until the main chamber of Longfu Residence shone as bright as day.
Meanwhile, Jun Ning had seen her grandfather off, offering many explanations before he was convinced she had not been possessed.
But as she escorted Old General Tao out of the manor, Jun Ning noticed men from Prince Jing’s household. Their surveillance techniques were ones they had largely learned from her. Even though the faces had changed, the methods were the same—one glance was enough for Jun Ning to see through them completely.
She knew Xiao Yunjie would not let matters rest so easily. That day, he had lost face too badly; he would never simply swallow the humiliation.
In the past, Yunfei Courtyard’s doors had always been open to him, allowing him to come and go freely. Now that the doors were shut, he would surely seek another way in.
Jun Ning did not leave the manor. She knew Xiao Yunjie would come. She understood him too well.
Whether out of anger or that faint, insignificant affection he held for her, Xiao Yunjie would certainly come to demand answers.
Past midnight, Jun Ning sat on the newly hung swing in her courtyard, her feet lifting off the ground, swaying idly back and forth.
Yunfei Courtyard was especially quiet at night. Only the distant cries of stray cats could be faintly heard. Moonlight spilled through the shadows of the trees, and stars dotted the sky.
Jun Ning tilted her head against the swing, waiting calmly for the uninvited guest she knew would arrive.