Mu Wanling’s head throbbed painfully. As she slowly opened her eyes, she was greeted by blinding sunlight and… crowds of passing pedestrians.
Wait.
Was she… lying in the middle of the morning market street?
Feeling the strange stares of the passersby, panic gripped her heart and she hurriedly sat up.
“Ahhh—!”
She screamed.
Other than a torn dudou and undergarments, she wasn’t wearing anything else.
It struck her like a bolt from the blue. Frantically, she pulled her hair over her face to hide herself.
What was going on?
She clearly remembered that the prince’s manor had caught fire the previous night. She had followed the prince to investigate, and after returning to her room, someone had suddenly attacked her from behind.
Originally, she had even planned to visit the prison first thing in the morning to teach that idiot woman a lesson.
But now she could barely protect herself, let alone think about anything else.
At this moment, Xiao Lijing was equally furious.
Looking at the prince’s manor—which had practically been looted clean right under his nose—he was so enraged he wanted to flip a table, only to realize there wasn’t even a table left to flip.
Even worse, both his treasury and study had been burned to ashes. The losses were impossible to calculate.
Meanwhile, Jiang Qingshu, who had been escorted out of prison for interrogation, revealed a faint victorious smile.
That scumbag prince probably had to beg breakfast from someone else’s house today.
And that woman she had knocked unconscious and stripped naked? She had dumped her directly onto the street.
It could be considered revenge on behalf of the original owner of this body.
Jiang Qingshu knew that the incident years ago—when the original owner had been humiliated in a ruined temple and abandoned on the streets—had been orchestrated by Mu Wanling from behind the scenes.
Back then, Mu Wanling was pregnant. To secure her own child’s position within the prince’s manor, she had been determined to ruin the original owner completely.
Although Xiao Lijing had only despised the original owner at the time and couldn’t even be bothered to share a bed with her, Mu Wanling knew that the girl was still the daughter of an important military official, and also exceptionally beautiful.
Sooner or later, the prince would eventually become interested in her.
Jiang Qingshu was certain of this because the person who had pretended to be kind that night, offering to escort the original owner back to the General’s Manor and tricking her out of the prince’s manor, had been Mu Wanling herself.
Unfortunately, the original owner had been foolish enough to trust her.
Heaven truly had no eyes.
Mu Wanling had committed countless evil deeds for her own benefit, yet within four years she had still borne two sons for that scumbag prince.
“Mother, don’t be afraid. Lin Bao will hug you.”
Seeing that Jiang Qingshu had remained unusually quiet the entire journey, Lin Bao guessed she must be frightened.
Turning to look at her sensible and considerate son, Jiang Qingshu felt warmth well up in her heart.
In her original world, she had grown up in a broken family. After her father cheated and her mother remarried, she had become the unnecessary extra.
She didn’t believe in love, and she especially hated men’s sweet talk and false affection.
Yet after arriving here, she had unexpectedly gained such a wonderful son for free.
Thinking about it now, perhaps fate’s arrangement really did suit her.
“As long as Lin Bao is here, Mother won’t be afraid.”
“Mhm! Lin Bao will always stay by Mother’s side.”
The mother and son had relied on each other for four years.
Lin Bao had always known that his mother was different from normal people, yet not only had he never disliked her, he had practically grown up overnight, taking on responsibilities far beyond his age.
Lin Bao was truly a little sweetheart.
…
When the mother and son were escorted into the prison court, they saw Jiang Kun being dragged out after receiving his punishment.
The moment Jiang Qingshu saw the unconscious Jiang Kun, beaten senseless from the caning, her calm heart tightened painfully.
Though this father appeared rough and rugged, the love he held for his daughter was gentle and meticulous.
This entire disaster had happened only because the damned emperor was paranoid.
If time had allowed, she would definitely have emptied out the imperial palace too.
Still, if she ever got the chance in the future, the palace treasury was absolutely on her target list.
To spare Jiang Kun more suffering, Jiang Qingshu directly pressed her fingerprint onto the confession after the interrogation.
Just as she had predicted, the emperor ordered the confiscation of the General’s Manor, with all property seized by the state.
Jiang Kun, along with his wives, children, and entire household, was sentenced to exile in the bitterly cold northern frontier.
By the time Jiang Qingshu and Lin Bao were escorted back to the General’s Manor with Jiang Kun, the official in charge of the confiscation, Liang Bin, had already arrived.
Everyone in the manor had been stripped of their luxurious clothing and dressed only in plain garments, waiting in line to be fitted with cangues.
Not long afterward, however, all the teams responsible for confiscating valuables returned empty-handed.
“What? Nothing?”
“Yes, my lord. We couldn’t find a single valuable item in the General’s Manor.”
Sun Yuluo let out a bitter laugh.
“Lord Liang arrived too late. The manor was looted clean by thieves last night.”
Liang Bin froze in shock.
After regaining his senses, he personally led his subordinates to search the estate again.
Sure enough—it was “spotlessly clean.”
Before arriving, he had already heard that Prince Li’s Manor had also been looted overnight.
It seemed the theft at the General’s Manor was no lie either.
But he simply couldn’t understand what kind of thief could possibly strip two heavily guarded estates clean in a single night.
Since there were no riches left to seize, his gaze shifted toward the prisoners awaiting punishment instead.
The General’s Manor had nearly a hundred servants. Selling them all off would still bring in a decent profit.
Especially the pretty servant girls—they could easily be sold to brothels.
As for Jiang Kun’s concubines, each one was beautiful and alluring.
The moment they noticed the officials sizing them up, they immediately adopted flirtatious smiles.
The road to exile would be unbearably harsh—they only wanted to escape this hell as quickly as possible.
“My lord, please save us! We’re willing to serve you faithfully as slaves…”
“Bah! Shameless women! The General treated you well, and this is how you repay him?”
Watching the women preen and flirt, Sun Yuluo was furious at their lack of loyalty.
“Oh? I think someone’s just jealous because she’s old and no longer wanted.”
“You think you’re still the General’s wife and he’s still some mighty general?”
“Exactly. Some people can’t see reality even when disaster is right in front of them.”
“You’re only that old man’s second wife. If you want to suffer alongside him, that’s your business. Don’t drag us into it.”
“You heartless wretches—!”
Furious, Sun Yuluo was about to rush at them when a graceful young girl behind her quickly reached out to stop her.
“Mother, everyone has their own ambitions. As long as our family stays together, that’s enough. Why force outsiders to share our loyalty?”
The girl was named Jiang Luoyou.
She was the original owner’s younger half-sister, born to Sun Yuluo and Jiang Kun.
Though she had only just reached marriageable age, she had already grown into a delicate and stunning beauty.
Sure enough, the moment she spoke, Liang Bin’s attention was instantly drawn to her.
Seeing him stride toward her, Jiang Luoyou hurriedly hid behind Sun Yuluo.
“So the Fifth Miss Jiang has grown up already? Her beauty is no less than that foolish elder sister of yours.”
Liang Bin’s eyes gleamed lecherously.
As he spoke, he turned toward Jiang Qingshu beside her.
The moment he saw her clearly, his eyes lit up.
“Well now! The former Princess Consort of Prince Li truly is breathtakingly beautiful!”
“Liang Bin, wipe that filthy look off your face. If you dare lay a finger on my sister, I’ll kill you right now!”
The original owner’s eldest brother, Jiang Fengyu, was a man of few words but fierce temperament. In his fury, he rammed the heavy cangue around his neck straight into Liang Bin.
Staggering backward, Liang Bin looked up only to meet the murderous fury in the eyes of the Jiang family.
For some reason, he suddenly felt guilty.
“How dare you! You dare disrespect this official? Believe it or not, I can have all of you killed right now!”
Second Brother Jiang Yifeng puffed out his chest angrily.
“Do I look like someone who fears death?”
Third Brother Jiang Chengyu clenched his fists.
“If you’ve got the guts, then try it. Let’s see who dies first.”
This time, Liang Bin was genuinely intimidated by the family’s fearless spirit.
The Jiang family was full of warriors who had fought on battlefields.
He truly couldn’t afford to provoke them.
Besides, these were prisoners personally sentenced to exile by Emperor Yan. If something went wrong, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself.
With a sweep of his sleeve, he ordered the prisoners already fitted with cangues to receive tattoo punishment, while he himself led Jiang Kun’s concubines toward a nearby side courtyard.
This punishment involved branding words onto the prisoners’ faces to prevent escape.
In the past, needles had been used, but nowadays hot irons were faster and more convenient.
Watching the execution officials approach carrying braziers of burning charcoal, Jiang Qingshu touched her fair, delicate face.
This was one punishment she absolutely refused to endure.
The first in line was Eldest Brother Jiang Fengyu.
To him, facial branding was merely damaged flesh.
What truly pained him was the suffering of his wife and family.
“Big Brother.”
Jiang Qingshu suddenly stepped forward and called softly to him.
Before he could react, she stuffed a handful of gold melon seeds into his palm.
Jiang Fengyu froze in shock.
Seeing Jiang Qingshu glance toward Sun Yuluo behind them, he assumed their mother had secretly prepared the bribe.
“Please show mercy, sir…”
He discreetly handed the gold to the execution officer.
The officer’s eyes immediately brightened.
Understanding at once, he cheerfully accepted the gold, distributed one piece to each subordinate, then ordered someone to bring over pigskin as a substitute for the branding punishment.
As expected, money could make even ghosts turn millstones.
This amount might not impress corrupt high officials, but for these low-ranking officers, it was more than enough.
…
That night, the entire family was imprisoned together to await exile the following morning.
Late into the night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Jiang Qingshu quietly slipped away to Liang Bin’s residence.
She was the type of person who always held grudges.
Anyone who dared provoke her would pay dearly for it.
For the next two hours, her busy figure moved from treasury to kitchen, from main hall to side rooms, and through every chamber in the estate.
Wherever she passed, nothing remained behind.
The next morning, Liang Bin awoke refreshed after a pleasurable night with beauties—
Only to stare upward in utter shock.
“M-my roof… where the hell did my roof go?!”