When she left the Octagonal Pavilion, an additional sandalwood box rested in Meng Yao’s embrace.
Inside lay the Blood Ginseng that she had traded for using the “Longevity Fruit.”
This was something meant to save a life!
In her previous life, she only learned after returning to the capital that her aunt, Lady Yu, had died in childbirth two years earlier.
Her maternal uncle had told her that on that day, Lady Yu suffered a postpartum hemorrhage. The manor physician said only a top-grade Blood Ginseng could save her life.
However… Blood Ginseng grew only in the extremely frigid lands of the northeast, guarded by fierce tigers and leopards, and was a rarity hard to come by even once in several decades.
Her maternal grandfather’s family was wealthy, but Blood Ginseng was not something that could be bought with mere money.
The Residence of the First Imperial Prince, however, possessed a stalk.
It had been bestowed by His Majesty upon Chu Moyuan’s return to the State of Chu from the State of Wei.
In order to save her aunt, Meng Yao’s maternal grandfather and uncle had gone together to plead at the general’s manor, hoping Meng Rou would step forward and help them request half a stalk from the Eldest Imperial Prince.
Yet… they were refused.
Her uncle had knelt before her father.
Her father, however, said that Meng Rou’s saving of the Eldest Imperial Prince was purely accidental; if they went to ask for the Blood Ginseng now, the imperial family might suspect the Meng family of exploiting a favor for personal gain.
When he spoke those words, he completely forgot the past—
Had her mother’s family not stepped in with timely aid back then, her grandfather Meng Liangping would have been beheaded long ago for fleeing before battle.
Had her mother’s entire family not sold off their property to raise grain and forage, how could Meng Liangping, with his meager abilities, have ever been a match for the mountain bandits?
The Meng family had married a daughter of the Song family, yet after her death, they ground her daughter down until she perished.
Relying on the Song family, the Meng family accumulated military merit and rose to the fourth rank, yet when the Song family needed help the most, they chose to remain detached bystanders!
Aunt Lady Yu had departed just like that.
One corpse, two lives.
In this life, Meng Yao had returned to the capital ahead of time, and her aunt was currently pregnant. She would never let any harm befall her again.
Nor would she let anything happen to her maternal grandfather’s family!
What was wrong with exploiting a favor for personal gain?
She saved people precisely for the sake of gain!
…
The capital of the State of Chu comprised the Sixty-Four Wards.
Thirty-two streets, one hundred and eight alleys.
Ding’an Ward was not particularly famous among them.
Yet this was where Meng Yao’s home was located.
Leading her horse, she and Qingluan stepped into Anding Ward.
The second residence at the end of the main street was the Meng Manor.
In her previous life, by the time she returned to the capital, the Meng family’s fortunes had long since changed; the residence had transformed into the grand and noble, imperially bestowed “Loyal and Righteous General’s Manor.”
After being renovated and expanded, it incorporated three surrounding manors.
With a grand wave of Meng Liangping’s hand, each of the three branches of the Meng family resided in their own independent courtyard.
Yet when Meng Yao had just returned to the manor back then, she could only squeeze into the west wing of Meng Rou’s courtyard alongside Qingluan.
And the last ten years of her life were spent trapped in a damp, chilly utility room that could barely fit a single bed and a bench.
Any servant could enter and leave as they pleased.
Tormenting and trampling her at will.
Right now, however, the Meng Manor was still merely a three-entry courtyard residence, barely large enough to house only the eldest branch of the Meng family.
The second and third branches currently had no choice but to live in the cramped Duijiao Alley.
Standing beneath the plaque reading “Meng Residence,” Qingluan’s eyes reddened.
“Miss, we’re finally back.”
“Yes, we’re back.” Meng Yao smiled and gestured lightly toward the manor gate. “Tell me, if we charged in through this door, would it count as wiping them all out in one go?”
“…” Qingluan’s eyes widened, her tears instantly forced back.
Seeing this, Meng Yao burst into laughter. “Alright, just teasing you!”
“Phew…” Qingluan exhaled in relief.
“What’s the fun in wiping them all out in one go? Tormenting them slowly is far more amusing.”
“!!…”
…
Qingluan knocked on the door knocker.
The main door cracked open a sliver, and an unfamiliar manservant poked his head out. “Who is it?”
“It’s the Eldest Miss, back from the Changshan Military Camp!” Qingluan said, her face brimming with excitement.
“The Eldest Miss is currently keeping Old Madame company and chatting with her. Where did another Eldest Miss pop out from? Scram! Scram! Scram!” The servant rolled his eyes.
Qingluan felt as though she had fallen into an icy cavern. She looked back at her young mistress in shock—the people of this manor had… had actually erased the Eldest Miss’s very existence?
Yet Meng Yao merely crossed her arms, her expression utterly unperturbed.
The servant couldn’t be bothered to waste words and moved to shut the door.
Clang…!! A delicate throwing knife struck the door knocker, sending sparks flying, and startled the servant into jumping back. “You! You! You…”
Meng Yao narrowed her eyes. “Vile dog, how dare you bar my path!”
The servant instantly changed his tune, his voice trembling. “I’m telling the t-truth… I’ve been here for three years, and I’ve r-really never heard that the manor had another miss…”
“Well, you’ve heard of it now.” With that, she flicked her whip, snapping the heavy doors wide open.
By the time the servant gathered his wits, Meng Yao had already crossed the threshold, with Qingluan following closely behind.
“Who dares show disrespect to the Meng Manor!”
Meng Deqing, the head steward of the Meng Manor, came rushing over with a group of men.
His temples were graying, his face cold.
Meng Yao’s eyes narrowed slightly. Long time no see… Steward Meng.
In her previous life, had it not been for him, her cousin would not have been shot dead by a hail of arrows in the general’s manor.
In this life, she would surely make him taste the feeling of having ten thousand arrows pierce his heart!
A trace of murderous intent crept into her eyes.
Meng Deqing subconsciously halted his steps, his gaze flickering slightly.
That long-lost feeling of being looked down upon had returned—
The Meng family’s rise had relied entirely on their in-laws.
Though he was the head steward of the Meng Manor, he used to have to watch the main mistress Lady Song’s expression at every turn.
After Meng Yao was born, he had racked his brains even harder to curry favor with the young mistress.
He had even bowed and scraped, crawling on all fours to bark like a dog, carrying her on his back as she frolicked in the courtyard, drawing peals of laughter from Lady Song’s dowry servants.
Until the year Meng Yao turned four…
Lady Song passed away, and Lady Wu entered the household.
Only then did his and the Meng family’s spines thoroughly straighten.
The successor wife, Wu Lian, had entered the household while nine months pregnant.
A noble sister to the Princess Consort of Prince Duan, she had committed an illicit liaison without matchmaker or ceremony with a married man, and had even become pregnant… Knowing she lacked justification, Wu Lian racked her brains to win over the head steward in order to gain a firm footing in the manor.
Only then did Meng Deqing taste the flavor of power.
Five years ago, Meng Yao was banished to the border, and Lady Song’s dowry servants were driven out to the country estates; from then on, no one in the manor dared mock him again.
Yet now, confronting those eyes of Meng Yao that seemed to see through everything, the servility ingrained in his very bones crept over his body once more.
He remained silent, but the footmen behind him rushed forward, flaunting their might. “Who do you think you are? How dare you run wild in the Meng Manor!”
A flash of silver light streaked through the air.
The whip in Meng Yao’s hand coiled tightly around the footman’s right arm.
With a sharp yank, the footman flew into the air and slammed heavily onto the ground.
“Ouch…” he wailed in agony.
Meng Yao smiled, retracting her whip, and walked over to him, half-squatting down.
“Oh my, it’s dislocated.” She extended her hand, the corners of her lips slowly curling into a faint, ambiguous curve. “Don’t worry, I know medicine.”
The next instant, the footman’s right arm snapped completely from the shoulder blade.
“Aaagh!…” A wretched scream echoed throughout the entire Anding Ward.
Meng Yao released her grip. “Oops, used a bit too much strength.”
The onlookers exchanged terrified glances, plunged into sheer panic.
Meng Yao straightened up and looked at Meng Deqing. “Now, do you still wish to ask who I am?”
Meng Deqing bowed slightly. “This lowly one, Meng Deqing, greets the Eldest Miss.”
“It seems Steward Meng’s life has been so comfortable of late that you don’t even know how to salute properly.” Meng Yao glanced at his stiff waist and slowly uttered two words: “Kneel down.”
Meng Deqing jerked his head up, his gaze sinister.
Yet in the very next instant, a silver whip hovered right above his head.
An inexplicable, suffocating pressure seized his entire body.
Beneath Meng Yao’s icy gaze, inch by inch, his body sank.
Both knees hit the ground.