Dingxiang Marquis Manor was slaughtered overnight.
The perpetrator was none other than the manor’s legitimate eldest daughter, Qu Ling.
She personally beheaded her grandmother, father, stepmother, and the two sons and one daughter born to her stepmother.
When the Capital Prefecture guards stormed in, Qu Ling was drenched in blood, the blade in her hand already chipped.
“I killed them,” she confessed without hesitation.
The smile on her face sent chills down the spines of the officers.
She died in a cell of the Court of Revision.
Poison corroded her organs, bringing unbearable agony.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in a residence in Jiangzhou.
She had returned to the time before she went back to the Hou Manor.
“Young lady, news has come from the capital. Those sent to fetch you are already on their way,” Mama Zhou, her wet nurse, said softly.
Qu Ling, curled up in a rattan chair under the corridor, lazily lifted her eyes. “Mama, are you so eager to return to the Hou Manor?”
Mama Zhou’s eyes flickered briefly before softening with concern. “Back then, Song Shi deliberately schemed to drive you out of the manor. Now that you’re older, it’s time to return to the capital.”
Her voice choked with emotion, “You are the legitimate eldest daughter born of the original wife. How can you be overshadowed by her children?”
“I understand,” Qu Ling closed her eyes.
Mama Zhou was taken aback.
In the past, merely mentioning the Hou Manor would send the young lady into a furious rage, cursing relentlessly.
Why had her temperament changed so suddenly?
She opened her mouth to speak, but seeing Qu Ling breathing steadily as if already asleep, she fell silent.
No matter.
Over the years, she had followed instructions, constantly instilling in the young lady the belief that the Hou Manor owed her greatly.
Once they returned, surely chaos would follow, wouldn’t it?
The people from the capital arrived on the third day.
The envoy was a kindly-looking mama.
Upon seeing Qu Ling, her eyes reddened. “Madam sheds tears whenever she mentions you, often blaming herself for failing to stop the Marquis from sending you to Jiangzhou back then…”
As she spoke, she waited for Qu Ling to curse at her.
She was testing whether the young lady was as ill-mannered and hot-tempered as Mama Zhou had described.
If true, the Marquis and the Old Madam would only hold her in greater disdain after returning to the capital.
But Qu Ling did not.
Instead, she smiled and said, “Six years have passed, yet she never once mentioned bringing me back.”
Mama Fang nearly lost her composure but quickly recovered. “Madam repeatedly wished to come to Jiangzhou to fetch you, but the Marquis…”
“Then why hasn’t she come in person today?” Qu Ling asked.
Mama Fang was speechless.
The eldest young lady was not the same as she had been six years ago.
“Elder sister, you must be exhausted from the long journey,” Mama Zhou hurriedly intervened to smooth things over. “We’ve prepared food and wine. Please rest first.”
Mama Fang seized the opportunity to step down. “Thank you for your consideration, young lady.”
As she was about to leave, she was called back.
“Mama, you’ve forgotten something,” Qu Ling’s voice was faint.
“What is it?”
Qu Ling said, “Have the servants of the manor forgotten even the basic courtesies due to their master upon seeing me?”
Mama Fang’s expression darkened.
How dare a disfavored legitimate daughter speak such words?
“If they’ve forgotten, upon my return to the capital, I shall ask Her Highness the Grand Princess to send someone to the Hou Manor to reteach them etiquette.”
Qu Ling’s words sent a jolt through Mama Fang’s heart.
Amidst the turbulent winds and rains of the capital, the political landscape had shifted dramatically.
Empress Dowager Song had passed away, and Hengshan Grand Princess had regained power.
The Emperor was frail, and in the court, the Grand Princess and the Crown Prince stood almost on equal footing.
The Grand Princess had merely said, “Lately, I often dream of Ah Zhao.”
This prompted Dingxiang Marquis to immediately decide to bring Qu Ling back to the capital.
Qu Ling’s mother, Xu Zhaoyue, had been a close friend of the Grand Princess.
Over the years, the Hengshan Grand Princess and Empress Dowager Song had been locked in a bitter feud, leaving no time to attend to Qu Ling. Yet this very situation made Lady Song of the Hou Manor wary, not daring to take her life.
Now that the Grand Princess held immense power, Qu Ling had gained a formidable backer.
Mama Fang had no choice but to curtsey with an awkward smile. “This humble servant greets the Eldest Young Lady.”
Qu Ling smiled faintly but did not bid her to rise.
Mama Fang continued, “This servant will immediately have the attendants from the capital kneel and kowtow to you.”
Only then did Qu Ling appear satisfied. “Then I shall wait in the courtyard.”
After the woman left, Mama Zhou sighed. “Young Lady, why must you offend her? She enjoys Lady Song’s trust and will surely speak ill of you.”
Qu Ling smiled meaningfully. “When I spoke, Mama did not stop me either. Could it be that you actually wished for me to offend her?”
Mama Zhou showed a pained expression. “How could the Young Lady say such things? I’ve watched you grow up.”
Yet inwardly, she was shocked—had the Eldest Young Lady learned to read people’s hearts?
Soon, Mama Fang returned with the servants from the Hou Manor.
They knelt in a neat row on the ground, respectful and solemn.
Qu Ling was pleased.
She had been away from the Hou Manor for far too long.
So long that these people had forgotten she was the Eldest Young Lady of the Hou Manor.
If she didn’t remind them, they would likely treat her with neglect and contempt during the journey back to the capital, just as in her previous life.
“All of you may rise,” Qu Ling said leisurely. “Since the Grand Princess wishes to bring me back, let’s not waste time. We depart tomorrow.”
She made no mention of the Marquis of Dingxiang.
But Mama Fang blurted out, “How did the Young Lady know it was the Grand Princess’s intention?”
Immediately regretting her slip of the tongue.
Qu Ling replied, “If not for the Grand Princess, would the Hou Manor even remember my existence?”
She had spent so many years in Jiangzhou, yet no one from the capital had ever come to visit.
Mama Fang looked embarrassed.
The accompanying servants grew more alert.
The Eldest Young Lady had the Grand Princess backing her.
As night fell, a dim lamp flickered in the chamber.
Mama Fang slammed a wine cup onto the table in fury. “That wretched girl has changed her temperament—no longer as reckless and impulsive as before.”
Six years ago, the ten-year-old Qu Ling had charged into her stepmother Lady Song’s room with a knife, shouting, “I’ll kill you to avenge my mother!”
Lady Song’s arm was slashed open, a horrifying sight.
Summoning the imperial physician eventually alerted the palace.
Empress Dowager Song sent word: “At such a young age, she is already so vicious. She will grow up to be a patricide and matricide.”
The Marquis of Dingxiang was enraged and wanted to beat Qu Ling to death.
It was only when the Hengshan Grand Princess rushed over that the Hou Manor sent Qu Ling to Jiangzhou, out of sight and out of mind.
“Rest assured, Elder Sister,” Mama Zhou personally poured her another cup of wine. “I have always remembered the Lady’s kindness, teaching her to resent the Marquis and the Old Madame. Just a few days ago, she lost her temper and smashed several vases.”
That incident with the knife years ago—
It was also Mama Zhou who had drugged Qu Ling’s tea to disturb her mind, while relentlessly provoking her with words day and night.
“How could her temperament change so suddenly?”
Mama Zhou thought of the fertile fields back home and felt overjoyed.
She fawned over Mama Fang even more. “When we return to the capital, I’ll rely on you, Elder Sister, to put in a good word for me before the Lady.”
She showered her with many more flattering remarks.
Mama Fang felt thoroughly pleased and poured wine for her in return. “We serve the same master. In the future, we must look out for each other.”
As the wine went down her throat—
The smile had not yet faded from Mama Zhou’s face when, in the next instant, she spewed a mouthful of fresh blood.
Under Mama Fang’s stunned gaze, she collapsed to the ground, dead.
The door was pushed open at that moment. Qu Ling’s maid Tingqin, still holding a dish in her hands, screamed at the sight before her in the room.
“Help! Murder—”
The shrill cry pierced through the high walls, drifted across the moonlit night, and reached Qu Ling’s ears.
She lazily combed her hair before the mirror, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips. “Someone’s dead. Let’s go take a look.”