“Mother! That idiot—she’s gone crazy!”
Su Yuner rushed into Concubine Liu’s courtyard. The moment she stepped inside, tears began streaming down her face.
Concubine Liu was sitting before a mirror, carefully touching up her well-maintained face.
“What are you panicking for? It’s not like the sky has fallen.”
“Mother! It’s Su Yaoyao, that wretch! She—she’s really different now!”
Su Yuner threw herself onto her mother’s lap.
“She knows about Uncle’s gambling! And… and she said she wants to take back her mother’s dowry!”
“She really said that?” Concubine Liu’s voice turned cold.
“It’s absolutely true!” Su Yuner exaggerated everything that had happened in Su Yaoyao’s courtyard today.
Concubine Liu’s expression slowly darkened. She had never expected that the legitimate daughter she had controlled for over ten years—the timid girl who used to be as pliable as dough—would dare to resist.
And her first move had already struck at Liu’s lifeline.
Su Yuner stroked the fine jade bracelet on her wrist, tears falling even faster.
“What if she really tells Father? And her grandfather’s family… if they truly get involved…”
“The Grand Tutor’s residence?” Concubine Liu sneered. “Using the Grand Tutor’s family to scare me?”
She caressed her daughter’s beautiful face.
“Back then, I was able to make her mother ‘die of illness’ and have that so-called good elder brother of hers ‘voluntarily’ request to go to the frontier—so many years have passed and he still hasn’t returned. Jiang the Grand Tutor? That old man retired long ago. She’s just a girl who only recently came of age. Does she really think she can stir up waves?”
Su Yuner looked up, eyes filled with tears.
“But she really seems different now. Every word she says is sharp. And without the chest bindings… her figure…”
“Her figure?” A deep jealousy and hatred flashed in Concubine Liu’s eyes.
Back then, that woman had stolen the Marquis’s entire heart with her icy beauty and seductive figure, leaving Liu—only a dowry maid—without any chance at all.
If she hadn’t used certain methods back then…
Yet now that woman’s daughter, despite all the torment she had suffered, still possessed that same bewitching appearance.
Concubine Liu released her daughter’s face, her gaze sharp.
“Yuner, remember this: as long as you can attach yourself to the Second Prince and help your younger brother become the heir, this Marquis residence will belong to us in the future! As for Su Yaoyao… what does she count for?”
“But she still holds the title of legitimate daughter, and her marriage engagement with the Second Prince was granted by the Emperor…” Su Yuner was still uneasy.
“The engagement?” Concubine Liu sneered. “My foolish daughter, haven’t you noticed? The Second Prince only has eyes for you now. As long as you perform well at the palace banquet and make him completely disgusted with Su Yaoyao, that engagement might not be unchangeable.”
She paused, calculation flashing in her eyes.
“Besides… the Crown Prince will also be present at the banquet in three days.”
Su Yuner frowned. “The Crown Prince? That Buddhist one? What does he have to do with us?”
“You silly girl.” Concubine Liu tapped her daughter’s forehead. “The Crown Prince practices Buddhism and values purity and restraint. He despises frivolous, seductive, unruly women the most. If Su Yaoyao wants to show off so badly… we’ll just help her.”
Su Yuner sucked in a breath.
“But… that’s the Crown Prince! And the Empress is that wretch’s aunt… what if they blame us?”
“Blame us?” Concubine Liu scoffed.
“The Second Prince’s mother, Noble Consort Chen, is currently at the height of her power. The Empress? Her sickly biological son might not even survive to adulthood, and the adopted son she raised—the Crown Prince—is just a useless monk-like figure. What does she have to compete with the Noble Consort?”
She stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the grand pavilions and buildings of the Marquis residence.
“Your father has spent these years wavering between sides. He doesn’t dare offend the Grand Tutor faction behind the Empress, yet he also can’t give up the real power offered by the Noble Consort. We must fight for ourselves. If our plan succeeds, the position of Second Prince’s consort—and perhaps even something higher in the future…”
She turned back to her daughter.
“Yuner, don’t you want to crush that idiot completely under your feet so she can never rise again?”
Su Yuner felt her heart heat up, though a trace of fear remained.
Scheming against the Empress…
But when she thought about the glory of becoming the Second Prince’s consort—and about trampling Su Yaoyao beneath her feet—her fear quickly turned into excitement.
“I understand, Mother!”
Meanwhile, Su Yaoyao was soaking in a bath filled with rose petals.
The warm water wrapped around her skin, making her sigh in comfort.
Beneath the surface of the water, her jade-like skin and breathtaking curves were fully revealed.
Even she couldn’t help admiring the natural perfection of this body when she scooped water over herself.
She picked up a handful of cream mixed with milk and pearl powder and slowly spread it across her skin.
The original owner’s skin had an incredible natural foundation. With just a little care, it already began to glow like polished jade.
Chun Tao blushed as she carefully poured water over her, frowning at the faint bruises left by the tight chest bindings.
“Miss, you’ve suffered so much…”
“It’s all in the past,” Su Yaoyao said with her eyes closed, enjoying the warmth.
“From now on, I’ll be the one making others suffer.”
Suddenly she remembered something and opened her eyes.
“My brother… are there any updates from the frontier?”
Fragments of the original owner’s memories stirred in her mind—a vague image of a gentle young man.
Her older brother, Su Qingrun, five years her senior.
He used to pick flowers for her, teach her how to read, and gently hold her while humming songs their mother used to sing.
Chun Tao’s hand paused as she poured water.
“Young Master… last Mid-Autumn Festival he sent back a box of frontier milk pastries for Miss to try. But… they were intercepted by the concubine. She said rough frontier food wasn’t suitable for Miss to eat. After that… there hasn’t been any news.”
In the memories, he had often stood up for his younger sister, only to be scolded by their father for “disrespecting his concubine mother.”
Later, when war broke out at the frontier, he had “volunteered” to go—and had been gone for years.
“Volunteered…” Su Yaoyao sneered.
A noble family’s legitimate eldest son, the heir of the Marquis residence—giving up a bright future in the capital to earn military merit in the harsh frontier?
Her eyes grew colder.
Concubine Liu hadn’t only harmed the original owner’s mother—she had also arranged for her brother to be sent away.
A legitimate eldest son gone from home for years, and a legitimate daughter raised to be useless…
Of course the Marquis residence had become the property of Liu and her son.
“Brother…” Su Yaoyao murmured softly.
A strange ache rose in her chest—the lingering affection and longing left behind by the original owner.
She placed a hand over her heart and silently vowed:
Don’t worry. I will definitely find a way to bring your brother back.
Just then, another maid’s voice sounded from outside.
“Miss! Someone from the Grand Tutor’s residence has arrived!”
Su Yaoyao opened her eyes, a knowing light flashing in them.
“Invite them to wait in the flower hall. I’ll be there shortly.”
“The Grand Tutor’s residence…”
That was her true support—the bloodline connection her mother had left her.
And her brother…
was the other unbroken backbone she still had within the swamp of the Marquis residence.
Concubine Liu thought that sending him away meant she could rest easy?
Dream on.
Su Yaoyao picked up a comb and slowly brushed through her half-dried hair. The woman in the mirror had bright, determined eyes.
She would not only reclaim her mother’s dowry and deal with Concubine Liu and her daughter—
She would also bring her brother back with honor.
The position of heir to the Yongning Marquis residence belonged to whoever truly deserved it.
“Let’s go.”
She stood up. Her pale moon-colored night robe was loosely tied, her black hair cascading down her back, yet she carried an undeniable aura of authority.
“Don’t keep the Grand Tutor’s people waiting.”
Su Yaoyao curved her lips slightly.
As expected of an old noble family—decisive and efficient.
Very different from the nouveau riche Marquis household.
And their arrival was perfectly timed.
Concubine Liu and her daughter would certainly not sit still. Right now, she needed people she could truly trust.