Sanqi had barely stepped out of Baochun Hall when someone stopped her.
It was Yu Tang’s maid, Moxiang. “Third Miss, Fourth Miss would like to speak with you.”
Sanqi did not even need to say anything. Nan Xun stepped in front of her like a gatekeeper and sneered, “What does she think she is? Does she deserve to make the Commandery Princess come to her personally? Oh, so it’s Fourth Miss from Registrar Yu’s family. What? Have you finally realized your mistake and come to kneel before the Commandery Princess to beg her forgiveness?”
“Or have you finally made up your mind to shave your head and become a nun?”
Nan Xun’s little mouth rattled on as sweetly as if it had been smeared with honey.
Moxiang was not the only one who nearly fainted. Yu Tang, sitting in the carriage, almost passed out as well.
She desperately wanted to hide at home, but she couldn’t!
She had no idea what was wrong with those three pills. After Yuebai had taken them back, they had done nothing for the Old Madam—and had even caused Marchioness Boyuan to be punished by being made to kneel.
Yuebai had come to her again. Although he was still asking her for medicine and his attitude seemed the same as before, Yu Tang could still sense a trace of resentment directed at her.
This had made Yu Tang terribly anxious. She wanted to find Sanqi, but the people she sent had not even gotten close to the General’s Residence before they were driven away.
Today, she had finally caught Sanqi. How could she let her go?
More and more onlookers gathered. Sanqi calmly climbed into the carriage. Seeing this, Moxiang panicked.
“Third Miss, Third Miss, don’t leave!”
Yu Tang could no longer worry about anything else. She hurried out of the carriage, her eyes brimming with tears and her delicate figure swaying like a willow in the breeze, making anyone who saw her feel pity.
“Third Elder Sister, we’re all family. Must you really be this heartless, refusing even to see me?”
“I know that you’re now a Commandery Princess and that the Yu Family is beneath your notice, but we’re sisters born of the same mother, after all.”
The commotion surrounding the Yu Family in recent days had spread throughout the capital. Now that the person at the center of it all had appeared, the common people gathered around to watch the spectacle.
Sanqi lifted the carriage curtain and looked down at her. “Why are you crying? What, were you also thrown into the street by the Yu Family like a corpse?”
Yu Tang’s sobs caught in her throat.
The surrounding crowd also burst into a chorus of hisses.
Exactly! When it came to being heartless, who could compare with the Yu Family? They had thrown their own daughter into the street wrapped in a straw mat. Was that something decent people would do? And yet Fourth Miss Yu was crying as though she had suffered some enormous injustice.
Wasn’t this just a weasel paying its respects to a chicken?
The surrounding jeers and mockery made Yu Tang unbearably humiliated. Hiding her resentment, she said, “I have something I’d like to discuss with Third Elder Sister in private.”
“Say it now, or get lost!”
Yu Tang’s face turned even paler.
Sanqi clicked her tongue and gestured for Nan Xun to drive away.
Yu Tang was so anxious that she nearly reached out to grab her. She hurriedly said, “I’ll tell you! It’s about Brother Yuebai!”
Sanqi cast her a sidelong glance.
Yu Tang lowered her voice. “Third Elder Sister, you know that the Old Madam of the marquis’s residence can’t go without her medicine. Please help Brother Yuebai. No matter what, the two of you have been betrothed since childhood…”
As she spoke, her eyes reddened again. “I—I’m willing to bring the two of you together.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she suddenly clutched her throat.
It hurt so much!
She did not know what was happening. Ever since she had promised Chu Yuebai that she would obtain the medicine again, her throat had begun to hurt.
Just now, it had felt as though she had swallowed a needle. The pain had nearly made her cry out.
Sanqi watched her struggle to endure the pain with great interest. Then she suddenly said, “Yu Tang, have you ever heard a saying?”
Her fingertip lightly tapped the edge of the window. Her black-and-white eyes reflected the other woman’s sins.
“Liars have to swallow a thousand needles.”
Yu Tang’s heart pounded wildly. “S-Swallow what needles?”
“I—I didn’t…” When she met Sanqi’s gaze, Yu Tang actually found herself unable to say, “I wasn’t lying.”
Her throat began to hurt again, as though it were being pricked by needles.
Sanqi smiled instead. Resting her head on her forearm, she looked at Yu Tang as though she were teasing a dog.
“You were speaking too softly just now, so I didn’t hear you clearly. What did you come to see me about?”
Yu Tang’s face flushed red, then turned white.
How could she tell the truth in front of everyone? It would probably reach the Boyuan Marquis’s Residence in no time.
She had always told Chu Yuebai that the medicine was a prescription for a dowry remedy passed down to her by her deceased grandmother. That was why Marchioness Boyuan was so grateful to her and fond of her. Even the lofty Old Madam had treated her with a pleasant expression.
Sanqi was forcing her to reveal the truth in front of everyone!
No! She couldn’t say it!
“Third Elder Sister, I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
“Please forgive me. Come home with us. From now on, I’ll let you have everything…”
“Argh—!”
Sanqi pointed a finger. Ghostly qi transformed into a thumb-thick needle that pierced straight through Yu Tang’s throat.
Yu Tang’s “spell” was interrupted mid-performance. The agony in her throat made her let out a doglike yelp. The pain came and went quickly, but her cry was so shrill and piercing that even she was startled. The people around her were even more frightened and hurriedly covered their ears.
Sanqi rubbed her own ears and hissed, pretending to be startled. “Is Fourth Younger Sister having another fit? This madness needs to be treated immediately! Baochun Hall is right beside us, so I won’t delay your treatment.”
“Nan Xun, let’s go.”
“Right away!”
Nan Xun flicked the whip, and the carriage began to roll away with a clatter of hooves.
Yu Tang stood rooted to the spot as the people around her pointed and whispered. Ashamed and furious, she cried out in her own defense, “I’m not sick! I’m not insane!”
Moxiang hurriedly explained as well. “Our Fourth Miss is perfectly fine. She really isn’t ill!”
Just then, a shop assistant from Baochun Hall ran out and stuffed a packet of medicine into Moxiang’s hands.
“This medicine is Baochun Hall’s secret remedy, specially made to treat madness. Fourth Miss Yu, please don’t be shy. You’re the Commandery Princess’s own younger sister, so the shopkeeper said this medicine is a gift for you.”
Yu Tang nearly toppled over from anger.
What grudge did Baochun Hall have against her? Why were they adding fuel to the fire?!
Wait—Baochun Hall?
Yu Tang suddenly remembered. Back then, Yu Sanqi had come to Baochun Hall to sell medicine, which was how Yu Tang had discovered that she still possessed such an incredible medicinal prescription. And Sanqi had come here again today. Could she have come to sell medicine once more?
Yu Tang immediately stopped Moxiang, who was about to retaliate. Suppressing her fury, she asked the shop assistant, “Young man, may I ask what my Third Elder Sister came to Baochun Hall to do?”
The shop assistant snorted. “Since when can just any stray cat or dog meddle in the Commandery Princess’s affairs?”
With that, he went back inside.
Yu Tang was so enraged that she was about to go mad right there. Unable to bear it any longer, she fled under the watching eyes of the surrounding crowd, who pointed at her and laughed.
The shop assistant returned to report what had happened. Shopkeeper Zhou rewarded him, then instructed, “If anyone comes asking about the Chang’an Pills over the next few days, spread the Commandery Princess’s words.”
The shop assistant let out an “Ah.” “Even if the Boyuan Marquis’s Residence sends someone?”
Shopkeeper Zhou gave a derisive laugh. “So what if it’s the Boyuan Marquis’s Residence?”
Everyone in the capital knew that their principal backer was the Northern Pacification Marquis’s Residence—and that the Northern Pacification Marquis’s Residence was at odds with the Boyuan Marquis’s Residence!
Shopkeeper Zhou was no fool. He understood why Sanqi had come and was happy to do her a favor.
This newly ennobled Commandery Princess Minghua was an extraordinary woman. She had saved the Empress Dowager, severed ties with her family in public, and was said to be living at Young General Yan’s residence now.
She also possessed that kind of miraculous medicine. Her future was bound to be limitless!
Cultivating a good relationship with her was the wise choice.
Shopkeeper Zhou’s eyes rolled, and his smile deepened. “Send a calling card to our principal’s residence. Tell them that the Old Madam’s medicine has been found. And, while you’re at it, mention that there’s also an amusing story—one that will surely cheer the Old Madam up.”
…
The General’s Residence, inner study.
As soon as Nan Xun returned, he ran straight to Yan Du to report what had happened.
“That Fourth Miss from the Yu Family is really something. I’ve never heard of a man’s wife’s younger sister going to her own elder sister to beg medicine for her future brother-in-law. And then she said she was willing to bring the two of them together…”
“The one betrothed to the Boyuan Marquis’s Heir is the Commandery Princess, not her. What does she need to bring together?”
Yan Du set the bowl of medicine down on the table.
Crack!
It shattered.