After stepping down from the carriage, Miss Player followed Qian Yuanyuan into the main room.
Qian Yuanyuan turned back and asked, “Youyou, why aren’t you going back to Yinian Hall?”
Miss Player spread her hands, perfectly matter-of-fact. “You haven’t given me the jeweled necklace yet.”
“I didn’t buy it,” Qian Yuanyuan lowered her head, her voice soft. “That necklace was too expensive. You already have the longevity lock from Lady Huang, the gold necklace from your maternal grandmother, and the zodiac jade pendant and safety clasp. You can’t even wear them all. You’ve never liked wearing such things anyway…”
Miss Player stared at her for a moment—
Then rushed straight into the east wing.
Jiang Jingxing, who had been doing his lessons, stood up at once. “Youyou—”
She ignored him completely, directing Taozi to rummage through the chests and cabinets. It did not take long before they found it—the jeweled necklace.
She grabbed it and headed out.
Jiang Jingxing, already over seven years old and much taller than her, stretched out his arms to block her path.
“What are you doing with that?”
“Move,” Miss Player shoved him.
He did not budge.
Qian Yuanyuan, who had chased after her to the doorway, frowned and ordered, “Youyou, return the necklace to your brother.”
“Return it?”
Miss Player let out a cold laugh. She raised the necklace high—
And smashed it onto the ground.
The purple jade attached to it shattered with a crisp crack. The eight characters carved into it—“peace and fulfillment” on one side and “top of the imperial examination” on the other—split apart, breaking into jagged fragments.
She did not stop there.
Lifting her foot, she stomped on it several more times before turning to Qian Yuanyuan.
“Do you see? This is the price of your favoritism.”
Qian Yuanyuan…
Her cheeks flushed red with anger. She strode forward and raised her hand.
Taozi immediately rushed in, grabbing her arm. “Madam, please calm down—”
Jiang Jingxing covered his eyes, too afraid to witness what might happen.
Taking the opportunity, Miss Player ran out of the east wing. Lifting her skirt, she sprinted all the way to Yinian Hall, breathing hard as she threw herself into Madam Sun’s arms.
Before she had even steadied herself, she cried out, “Grandmother, Mother hit me!”
“Where did she hit you?”
Madam Sun lifted her small face, finding no marks on her cheeks. Her hands moved quickly over her neck, arms, and back, checking each spot carefully.
“Does this hurt? What about here?” she muttered. “Your mother is too cruel.”
She wasn’t that cruel!
Qian Yuanyuan, who had caught up, knew that even if no one had stopped her, she would not have been able to strike that face.
“Mother, I didn’t hit her,” she hurriedly explained. “Youyou smashed Jingxing’s necklace. The purple jade is shattered all over the floor.”
Madam Sun knew the value of that necklace. Her heart twitched in pain—but what she said was, “Children are always mischievous. Youyou didn’t mean it.”
“I did it on purpose,” Miss Player said loudly.
“What?” Madam Sun exclaimed. “Why?”
“There were two necklaces,” Miss Player said. “You bought one for Jiang Jingxing before, but now you won’t buy the other for me. That’s unfair.”
Qian Yuanyuan cut in sharply, “You’re not allowed to call your brother by name.”
Madam Sun coaxed gently, “That necklace isn’t food or drink. Even if you buy it, it’ll just sit in a box gathering dust. How about Grandmother buys you something else?”
“No.”
Madam Sun looked at Qian Yuanyuan. “If you think about it, this is the first time Youyou has ever asked for something from us. Why not grant her wish—”
“Mother, she doesn’t truly like the necklace. She just wants to compete with Jingxing.”
Qian Yuanyuan interrupted urgently.
“But she’s a girl. What is there for her to compete over with her brother?”
Miss Player felt a surge of anger at her past self.
How had she been so blind in her previous life?
She had never noticed that her mother’s expectations for Jiang Jingxing and for her—as a daughter—were completely different.
A single piece of purple jade carved with “top of the imperial examination” was enough to reveal their respective places in Qian Yuanyuan’s heart.
Perhaps—
This was why, in her previous life, Qian Yuanyuan had accepted her death under the charge of adultery.
She did not believe her own family could fail to understand her character.
She did not believe Jiang Yan and Qian Yuanyuan could not see the obvious flaws in the so-called evidence.
But for the sake of the entire Jiang family—
She had been sacrificed.
Perhaps Qian Yuanyuan was no different from any other woman of this dynasty, bound by the limits of her time, naturally pouring more resources toward the male child.
Miss Player understood that.
But she would never forgive it.
Once, she had clung to every word—
“You are all I have.”
“You are my pride.”
Because of those words, she had followed the path of a Noble Lady, gentle and diligent, doing everything she could to protect her pitiable mother.
And now—
Did they still expect her to be bound by emotion in this life?
Ridiculous.
She would trample over these rigid doctrines, tear apart the notion that men stood above women.
Anyone who tried to manipulate her would learn—
In her dictionary, there was no such word as “give.”
Only “take.”
To complete the task—
I want. I want. I want everything.
Flames of anger burned in her eyes as she looked at Madam Sun.
“Grandmother,” she asked, “am I not allowed to compare myself to my brother?”
A daughter was a loss. A son was a treasure.
That belief had bound Madam Sun her entire life.
And yet—
As she raised Miss Player, day by day, that idea had already begun to loosen, to fall away.
Still, the world held to its rules.
A daughter was not equal to a son.
She wanted to say it.
But looking at the child’s tender face—
Her vision blurred.
A scene surfaced in her mind with startling clarity.
…
A dim, firelit kitchen.
A small girl stood by the stove, drooling.
A lid was lifted, and a bowl of steamed egg custard was brought out.
For a child from a poor household who rarely tasted meat, the aroma was overwhelming.
A dark-faced woman scooped up a spoonful, cooled it, and fed it to the boy beside the girl.
The girl said, “Mother, I want some too.”
“No.”
“But brother is eating.”
“You are a girl. How can you compare with your brother?”
…
She had only been three then.
Later, she no longer asked.
Eggs, meat, grain—of course they should go to the male child.
When the family could not afford a bride price for her brother, they traded her for it.
She had never thought it wrong.
After all, they had never sold her into a vile place for money.
Her family had been good enough.
But now—
She realized.
She had resented it.
Otherwise, how could she remember it so clearly after so many years?
Where was her brother now?
Still working the fields, living a modest life.
And she—
She had raised a Provincial Graduate. She was now the mother of a County Deputy Magistrate.
It was not that she could not compare to her brother.
It was that her brother could not compare to her.
In that moment, her thoughts opened fully.
Decades of confusion cleared away.
The sky seemed higher.
The wind felt warmer.
She felt—
Better than she ever had.
“You can compare,” Madam Sun said firmly, pulling her granddaughter into a tight embrace, as though holding her younger self. “Anything Jingxing has—you can have too.”
Qian Yuanyuan stared in shock.
If she had not been standing there herself, she might have thought her daughter had bewitched her mother-in-law.
Was this really the same Madam Sun who had always prized sons above all?
She dared not argue, only saying stiffly, “But Jingxing doesn’t have the jade anymore.”
“He had it before,” Miss Player said. “If he had it once and lost it, then I must have it too.”
With her Appearance, anything Jiang Jingxing had—she would have.
And what she had—
He would not.
Qian Yuanyuan pointed at her, the words “you’re too domineering” nearly slipping out.
But Madam Sun did not give her the chance.
Holding Miss Player, she turned on Qian Yuanyuan with a stern expression.
“This was caused by your unfairness toward the two children. The fault is not Youyou’s. If you admit your mistake, then buy the necklace. If you refuse, I will pay for it myself.”
“Mother,” Qian Yuanyuan said, “this isn’t a matter of a few dozen copper coins. It’s several dozen taels of silver.”
“I know,” Madam Sun replied without hesitation. “But you are her mother. For the sake of having borne her, I am willing to cover this once.”
Qian Yuanyuan: “…”
Her daughter had smashed the necklace worth dozens of taels—
And she was the one at fault?
Madam Sun added sharply, “My savings are limited. I will only cover such a mistake once. There will not be a second time.”
Qian Yuanyuan could not even remember how she left Yinian Hall.
Back in the main room, she sat in silence for a long time.
Finally, she ordered Jin Sui to open the money chest and count out the silver. Supporting her forehead with one hand, she closed her eyes and waved weakly.
“Go yourself. Buy the necklace from the Treasure Pavilion and deliver it to Yinian Hall. Go. Quickly.”
If word got out—
That she had defied her elders, forcing her mother-in-law to use her burial savings to compensate for her daughter—
She would lose all standing.
Jin Sui departed at once, leaving Qian Yuanyuan alone, pressing her chest and sighing heavily.
…
The next day, after a sleepless night, Qian Yuanyuan went to Yinian Hall to pay her respects.
The moment she stepped through the doorway—
A small figure fluttered past her like a butterfly.
The jeweled necklace at her neck traced a graceful arc in the air.
“Mother, good morning~”
With a bright, sweet smile, Miss Player tossed out the greeting and ran off, as if yesterday’s sharp conflict had never happened.
Seeing Madam Sun, Qian Yuanyuan knew she was not the only one who remembered.
Madam Sun’s face was stern.
“Only when the mother is kind can the child be filial. A parent’s position is not meant to suppress a child. We must reason with them. What do you think?”
Qian Yuanyuan replied stiffly, “Mother speaks wisely. I have learned.”
Madam Sun’s expression softened.
“Then remember to apologize to Youyou.”
Qian Yuanyuan: “…”
She nearly fainted from anger.
Who, exactly, was in the wrong?
And those words—
They sounded less like something her mother-in-law would say, and more like her daughter’s tone.
So it turned out—
Her daughter did not have a poor memory.
She simply did not care.
She did not care about clashing with her mother.
Nor did she feel troubled by it.
Was this girl always so heartless?
…
Meanwhile, the utterly carefree Miss Player was nestled beside Lady Huang, pestering her to draw clothing patterns—ready-made garment designs.
The task was difficult—almost impossibly so.
Qian Yuanyuan did not have ten thousand taels of silver.
But she did possess production resources.
And with a player who knew a little of everything, earning ten thousand taels within the allotted time was not impossible.
The first source of income—
Would begin with revitalizing the cloth shop.
In her previous life, Miss Player had led fashion trends many times.
Women’s clothing in the game was mainly chest-high skirts, similar to Tang styles but not identical—simple and plain overall.
So she had introduced designs like Warring States robes, Han-style garments, cross-collar dresses, dazzling at various banquets.
At one gathering, a Tang-style round-collar riding outfit she recreated, along with a horse-riding and archery skirt ensemble, perfectly displayed both the bold elegance and graceful grandeur of women.
Later, these designs spread widely through polo, cuju, and archery events, sweeping from Jialing Prefecture all the way to the Capital.
By the time she followed her former husband to the Capital, noblewomen and imperial princesses alike were wearing improved versions of these garments.
Clearly—
As long as clothing was beautiful and novel, it would find a market anywhere.
In her previous life, she had drawn the designs herself and handed them to embroidery houses for production.
Now, her small hands could barely hold a brush steady.
And besides—
With Lady Huang here, why show off in front of an expert?
Lady Huang’s sensitivity to beauty far surpassed her own.
“Of course,” Lady Huang said with a laugh, unable to resist her pleading. “As long as you touch your aunt’s belly, I’ll draw as many as you like.”
Before she finished speaking, a servant announced:
“Madam, the County Magistrate’s wife has arrived.”
In the County Magistrate’s residence, only his wife could be addressed as “Madam.”
Miss Player looked up.
A young woman in a light green short jacket entered, slender and graceful like a spring willow, with bright eyes, red lips, and gently arched brows—a lively and charming beauty.
Before she could bow, Lady Huang spoke first.
“No need for formalities. Yue-niang, come here.”
To Miss Player, the woman’s face was both familiar and strange.
If she remembered correctly—
This was the Bai family daughter who had married the County Magistrate in her previous life.
But compared to their first meeting back then, this Bai woman was far too healthy, too lively—her figure full and rounded, completely different from the gaunt, gloomy woman she had once been.
In the previous life, she had married into Cuixi County when Miss Player was five.
But in this life, Miss Player was not yet four.
Miss Player’s gaze fell to the slight curve of Bai’s abdomen.
She blinked—and activated the rewind function, searching for “the Bai family daughter.”
Time froze.
The past rewound.
When time resumed—
She understood.
In the previous life, when the County Magistrate first arrived in Cuixi County, though ambitious, there was little he could achieve in a single county. After four years of effort, an excellent evaluation and promotion seemed within reach—
Until a major incident brought him censure from the court.
Once a rising star in the Capital, he had blocked many paths.
When fortune fades, mockery follows.
The city had been filled with scorn, calling him a prodigy who failed to live up to his promise.
The Bai patriarch, already dissatisfied with his background, began considering breaking the engagement.
That marriage had originally been arranged before the County Magistrate left for his post, secured by Lady Huang through the Marquis of Weiyuan.
The Bai family was of pure official lineage—her father a Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.
Yet despite everything, the Bai daughter insisted on marrying him.
And she succeeded.
After all, his handsome appearance and literary talent were difficult for a sheltered young lady to resist.
In this life, however—
Barely a month into his tenure, the County Magistrate had solved a remarkable case, his reputation shaking both court and countryside.
The Bai patriarch, recognizing a rare opportunity, no longer disdained him as a concubine-born son. He personally wrote to send his daughter to Cuixi County for marriage.
Thus—
Miss Player had just turned one when the County Magistrate married early.
Now, he was about to become a father.
Only through this rewind did Miss Player realize—
In this life, her relationship with the County Magistrate was unexpectedly close.
Half a friend across generations.
Half a father.
Returning to the present, she noticed the faint blush rising on Bai’s face.
Only then did she realize she had been staring too long.
She stepped forward, gently placing her hand on Bai’s abdomen, feeling the soft curve beneath her palm.
“The baby will surely be strong, lovely, and clever.”
Bai nearly melted on the spot.
She reached out, wanting to hug her—
But Miss Player darted away, diving back into Lady Huang’s arms.
“You shouldn’t hold Youyou right now,” Lady Huang said, smiling. “Be careful of the child.”
Bai looked disappointed, but quickly recovered, ordering the servants to bring out pastries from the food box to tempt Miss Player.
Miss Player could not help but marvel—
This Bai was completely different from the one she had known before.
How much a person could change, depending on circumstance.
Bai’s skill in making pastries was exceptional. Lady Huang sampled one and said,
“The day after tomorrow, Wan’an Temple will be holding a Buddhist assembly. Xingzhi has been invited—he will go directly from the countryside. I intend to go as well and enjoy the occasion. Youyou, tell your grandmother when you return. Our two families will go together.”
Miss Player agreed.
Before long, she left happily, carrying the design drafts and pastries.
Bai watched her skipping figure, one hand resting on her belly.
“If the child I’m carrying could be as beautiful as Youyou, that would be perfect.”
“No wonder you insisted I invite Youyou to touch your belly,” Lady Huang laughed. “So that was your plan.”
In their time, pregnancy was likened to a tree bearing fruit.
A family without children was like a barren tree.
Holding another’s child was thought to help one’s own tree bear fruit—called “pressing the branch.”
Bai already bore fruit—
But she wished for one as exceptional as Youyou.
Letting her touch her belly carried a similar meaning.
“Don’t worry,” Lady Huang said with a smile. “You and Xingzhi are both good-looking. The child won’t be ugly.”
But to be as beautiful as Youyou—
That was impossible.
Even for her own grandchild, Lady Huang could not bring herself to say that anyone in this world could rival the Jiang family’s jade-like beauty.