“Grandmother, please calm your anger.”
Su Ruoxi’s voice had softened, but her back remained straight as a pine. “Your granddaughter did not lash out without reason. It is my cousin who has overstepped propriety. Every word she spoke pointed at her legitimate sister’s marriage. If word got out, would people not laugh at Duke An’s household for having no rules, letting a concubine-born daughter of the second branch stir up trouble as she pleases? If I do not establish order today, tomorrow someone will step over your granddaughter’s back and turn the entire household upside down!”
But Grandmother Wang said, “Your cousin did speak sense. You and the Marquis’s heir Lu are indeed well matched. It would be proper for me to settle a betrothal for you…”
“No.” Su Ruoxi lifted her eyes, her voice cool as spring water striking stone.
“The Marquis’s heir Lu did save my life. But a debt of gratitude can be repaid with other things. Marriage is a matter for life. How can it be settled so hastily? Marriage follows the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers. My parents have not yet returned home. It is better to wait until they return before deciding such a matter.”
Her gaze swept over Su Ruolan’s stiffened expression, then toward Grandmother, who had fallen into thought. She spoke clearly and methodically. “Grandmother, if we rashly agree to this marriage, would outsiders not think Duke An’s household can be bought with a single dose of medicine?”
Su Ruoxi had invoked propriety, house rules, and reputation. She refused to believe Grandmother could still favor her cousin.
Grandmother paused. The air in the room froze.
Though Grandmother usually favored the second branch’s cousin and listened to her every word, now she had to wipe the smile from her face and consider Su Ruoxi’s words carefully. To Grandmother, Duke An’s household’s reputation mattered more than anything.
Grandmother’s brow furrowed slightly. After a moment’s thought, she nodded. “There is sense in what Ruoxi says. This matter should not be rushed.”
Su Ruolan’s expression shifted. Her fingertips dug silently into her palm.
Had Su Ruoxi not long ago given her heart to Lu Jinghan? Why had she refused the proposal so flatly?
They had planned to use the Duke and his wife’s absence to trick Grandmother into settling the betrothal first. Once it flowed naturally, their real scheme would be within reach. Now she had calmly argued back and thrown their entire plan into disarray with a few words.
Su Ruolan suppressed the shock in her heart and lowered her eyes to hide her venom. When she looked up again, she wore her pitiable look. “Sister is right. Ruolan did not think it through.”
“But I wonder,” she added softly, “what could match the value of that life-saving medicine?”
Su Ruoxi already had a plan. She laid a hand on Grandmother’s. “Since the Marquis’s heir Lu gifted medicine to save my life, courtesy demands a proper return. I heard the Lu household has been searching for a thousand-year ginseng to treat the Old Madam’s old ailment. Do you not happen to have one, Grandmother?”
Before she finished, Grandmother quickly pushed her hand away, her expression changing drastically. “That ginseng was bestowed by the palace. How can it be given away so easily?”
Su Ruoxi lowered her eyes with a faint smile. She knew her ever-favoring grandmother would not agree easily. “Grandmother is mistaken. However precious the medicine, it is still a dead thing. If it can win generations of friendship between the Jingning Marquis Estate and Duke An’s household, would that not far surpass a single ginseng?”
Her tone was gentle but brooked no doubt. “Besides, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. The Lu family’s Old Madam is the widow of a founding hero. If the palace learns of your deed, not only will they not blame you, they will praise Grandmother’s kindness and virtue spreading in all directions, befitting a first-rank titled lady.”
Grandmother stared at her for a moment, then finally nodded slowly, her expression complicated. “You understand propriety better than your cousin.”
Grandmother Wang silently gnashed her teeth. Though she had lost a thousand-year ginseng, winning a good reputation in return made it worthwhile.
Su Ruoxi’s eyes flickered. She understood. Sending this ginseng away would both settle the debt to the Lu family and block Su Ruolan and Lu Jinghan’s scheme.
She lowered her head, voice soft but every word clear. “Grandmother is wise. Family reputation and long-lasting ties far surpass a single ginseng. When Father and Mother return and learn of this, they will surely praise your wise decision.”
Grandmother, coaxed by a few words, was left dazed. She let out a long sigh and finally decided. “Very well. Do as you say. Send the ginseng to the Lu household as a token of thanks.”
Grandmother Wang waved a hand. A maid obeyed and withdrew.
Her scheme had failed, and she had lost a thousand-year ginseng. Grandmother could no longer keep a pleasant expression. Her voice had lost its earlier kindness. “Rest well.”
“Someone, help me back.”
With that, Grandmother turned and left. Supported by her maid, she and Su Ruolan’s group walked out of Su Ruoxi’s room.
Su Ruoxi watched Su Ruolan’s retreating figure and remembered the scene before her death in her previous life.
She had run through the snow for a long time. Battered by the cold wind and heavy snow, her legs had lost all feeling. She could only crawl through the snow, clutching tightly the silver she meant to give her brother.
No, I can’t fall. Brother is waiting for me.
Her resolve was firm. She had to hold on.
Her mother, falsely accused of colluding with the enemy and treason, had already taken her own life. Her brother had been sentenced to exile in the northern frontier, and she herself had been reduced to an official slave of the Court Entertainment Bureau.
Her brother was now on the road to exile. The northern frontier was bitterly cold. Without silver, he likely would not survive.
She bit her lower lip hard, gathering all her strength, and barely managed to drag herself forward one step.
“Oh my, dear sister, where are you going? Shall your little sister see you off? Hahahaha…”
A woman’s shrill, mocking laugh came from behind Su Ruoxi. It was her cousin Su Ruolan, arriving through the snow.
Beside her was Su Ruoxi’s betrothed, Lu Jinghan, heir of the Jingning Marquis Estate. Both wore expressions of smugness and mockery.
“Ruoxi, though you’re now just an official courtesan of the Court Entertainment Bureau, for the sake of our years of affection, I said I’d take you in as my concubine. Yet you’re so ungrateful that you’d rather give yourself to the wastrel heir of the Weiyuan Marquis Estate than come to me. When you were tangled in bed with that wastrel heir, did you ever think he has venereal disease? Hahahaha. Venereal disease isn’t a pleasant thing, is it?”
When Su Ruolan heard Lu Jinghan say he would take Su Ruoxi as a concubine, she pushed him with a coy pout.
Lu Jinghan pulled Su Ruolan into his arms, pecked her red lips, and pinched her slender waist. Only then did Su Ruolan smile in satisfaction.
Su Ruolan raised her right hand, painted with bright red nail polish, and covered her mouth lightly with a silk handkerchief. Her left hand looped through Lu Jinghan’s arm. She sneered, “Han-gege, why waste so many words on her? Don’t tell me you’re still reluctant to part with this wretch?”
“How could I be? Now that the Xie family fortune is in hand, and I have such a lovely beauty by my side, how could I be reluctant?”
With that, Lu Jinghan waved a hand. Two burly servants darted out from behind him and pinned Su Ruoxi firmly into the snow.
Seeing this, Su Ruolan’s smile faded. A vicious, sinister light rose in her eyes. She quickly pulled a sharp gold hairpin from her hair, strode forward, and drove it straight into Su Ruoxi’s chest.
Blood gushed from her chest, spreading across the snow like blooming, vivid roses.
“I treated you well. Why would you do this to me?” Su Ruoxi’s eyes met Su Ruolan’s, her voice hoarse as she asked.
Su Ruolan gritted her teeth and yanked the gold hairpin from Su Ruoxi’s chest. Then she stabbed it in again.
“You treated me well? From childhood, everything good was yours. The most talented woman in all Shengjing. Everyone’s eyes were always on you. I ask you, was I any worse than you in the four arts? Why should all the attention be stolen by you?”
“Just because you hold the title of Duke An’s legitimate eldest daughter? No, that should have been mine! The position of Duke An’s wife should have been my mother’s. If not for wanting to gain the Xie family fortune behind your mother, my father, mother, and I would never have needed to endure all these years.”