Jiang Yanqing truly had never seen such a shameless scoundrel. “Shen Changfeng, are you even human? If you aren’t even at home, who do you expect my mother to have children with? You are a Marquis, for goodness’ sake. I refuse to believe you’re genuinely foolish enough not to see that Feng Yulian is the vicious, scorpion-hearted one. You indulge her partly because you’re cut from the same cloth, but even more so because you want to use her hands to drive my mother to an early grave and swallow up her dowry and my grandfather’s family estate. Am I wrong?”
Shen Changfeng froze, looking at Jiang Yanqing with a trace of astonishment. Could this wretched girl have found out the truth about back then? No… she was only four years old at the time. Let alone her, even Jiang Yuexi went to her grave completely in the dark. What could a little girl possibly know?
“Talking nonsense! Both Yulian and I are kind-hearted and benevolent. We even set up porridge and grain distribution for refugees during normal times. Our Marquis manor boasts a thousand mu of fertile land and a hundred shops; would we covet the dowry of some lowly merchant?”
Jiang Yanqing laughed, though a chilling light flashed in her eyes. “How you acquired your thousand mu of fertile land and hundred shops—you and I both know very well.”
With that, she cast a glance at Feng Yulian. “A cloud-brocade outer robe, pearl-inlaid hibiscus hairpins, red coral and jade-inlaid earrings… Lady Yulian’s outfit right here equals half a year’s salary for a seventh-rank official in our Great Da empire. The Pingyuan Marquis Manor really is… dazzled by wealth. Does His Majesty know about how lavish you live, Shen Changfeng?”
“What are you trying to do?” The murderous, icy glare in Shen Changfeng’s eyes burst forth like hidden arrows.
“Return all of my mother’s dowry and my grandfather’s assets to me. I’m not asking for much—one million taels of silver. I give you ten days to hand the silver notes over to me, or else your Pingyuan Marquis Manor can wait to be stripped of its rank and have the whole family executed for treason!”
“If we’re stripped of our ranks and executed, how could you possibly survive alone?”
Jiang Yanqing smiled, as pure and harmless as could be. “Well, I have to thank your entire family for that, for insisting back then that I take the surname Jiang. I knew it! You’re the Marquis and I’m your only legitimate daughter—how could you not love me? Turns out you had already foreseen that the manor would face a great calamity and planned far ahead for my sake. Be a good boy and give me what belongs to me. When you die later on, I can generously buy you a nice coffin. Don’t overestimate your abilities or be ungrateful, lest you truly end up without a place to be buried.”
“Such unfilial audacity!” Rage rushed to the top of Shen Changfeng’s head, completely stripping him of his reason as he raised a hand to strike Jiang Yanqing. I refuse to believe this wretched girl would actually dare to lay a hand on me.
Yet Jiang Yanqing caught him right by the wrist. Despite the fact that he had studied martial arts for a few years and served in the military for several more, he couldn’t move an inch. Jiang Yanqing applied pressure, feeling as though she were about to crush his bones to powder.
“Ah…” Shen Changfeng broke out in a cold sweat from the pain. “Jiang Yanqing, are you trying to commit patricide?”
“Of course not! I wouldn’t even bear to step on an ant; how could I ever do something so morally corrupt?”
“Then let go of me right now!”
“Alright, alright.” Jiang Yanqing did let go, but she used her inner energy to fling him away. Shen Changfeng’s body crashed into a flowerpot not far away, and the shattered shards pierced several gashes into his back.
“My Lord! My Lord, are you alright?” Feng Yulian scurried to his side, weeping as prettily as rain.
“Ouch… it hurts to death…” Shen Changfeng glared viciously at Jiang Yanqing. “Unfilial wretch, just wait to plunge into the eighteenth level of hell after you die.”
“We’ll talk about that after I die. As long as I’m breathing, don’t even dream of swallowing my mother’s and grandfather’s wealth. Stop wasting your breath and go prepare the silver. I’m tired and want to rest. Have someone clean up Cuilin Courtyard; I’ll be staying there.”
Shen Changfeng was somewhat surprised. He had originally intended to make Jiang Yanqing sleep in the guest room, but since she wanted to stay in that dilapidated house herself, it was even better. Hopefully, snakes, rats, and cockroaches would bite her to death in the middle of the night, or the overhead beams would snap and crush her! With an ominous tone, he said, “Fine.”
After Jiang Yanqing left, Feng Yulian was filled with anxiety. “My Lord, our treasury doesn’t even have fifty million [sic] taels of silver. Where are we going to find a million taels for Qingqing?”
“Don’t worry, she won’t get a single tael. Once she marries that good-for-nothing son of Prince Cheng in place of You’er, I’ll make sure she dies!” He truly regretted being too merciful back then, not poisoning Jiang Yanqing and her mother together, leaving behind such a bane for himself.
Feng Yulian was overjoyed in her heart, only to hear Shen Changfeng say, “Over the next few days, keep a low profile. Wear fewer silks and satins, and fewer gold and silver jewelry.”
“Understood.”
“Also, ‘Qingqing’ isn’t what you should be calling her either. To save her from beating you again, just address her as the Fourth Young Miss.”
Feng Yulian lowered her head and replied aggrievedly, “Yes, My Lord.”
Jiang Yanqing went to the market and bought herself a bed, a wardrobe, a stove, pots and pans, chicken, duck, fish, and pork… She even hired workers to repair the house. She was going to be living in the Pingyuan Marquis Manor for a long time, and she wasn’t going to mistreat herself.
She didn’t finish getting everything in order until dark. Jiang Yanqing walked over to the room where her mother used to live; everything inside remained exactly as it had been. Even the faint traces of blood she had coughed up back then were still subtly visible.
Jiang Yanqing clutched the dust-covered pillow on the couch, as if she were resting in her mother’s embrace, and tears welled up and spilled from her eyes. “Mother, I know you would rather your daughter starved to death on the streets than return to the wolf’s den of the Pingyuan Marquis Manor. Rest assured, your daughter has grown up. She will never be bullied again, and I will avenge you, my grandfather, and my grandmother. None of them in the Pingyuan Marquis Manor will escape!”