Word reached the capital that the Prince of Nan'an had been defeated and captured.
The enemy demanded that Great Qing send a princess or commandery princess to their country for a political marriage in exchange for the Prince of Nan'an.
The emperor sneered. The Prince of Nan'an had been defeated, causing many soldiers to die and Great Qing to lose territory. And now they expected him to trade a royal daughter for the prince's safety? They could forget it.
The Nan'an Prince Mansion wanted the Prince of Nan'an back, so they could send someone from their own household.
Dowager Consort Nan'an and the princess consort didn't dare complain to the emperor. They were already thanking their lucky stars that he hadn't confiscated the Nan'an Prince Mansion.
They had no idea that the emperor had long since made up his mind. Once the army counterattacked the enemy, it would be time to settle accounts with the Nan'an Prince Mansion.
By now, the emperor had the entire court under his control.
A large part of the military connections commanded by the Four Kings and Eight Dukes had already returned to the emperor's hands.
They had Jia Daishan and Jia Hu to thank for that.
Before he died, Jia Daishan handed over all the Jia family's military connections.
That included the Ningguo Mansion's connections.
The brothers Jia Daishan and Jia Daihua had always supported each other. Jia Daishan knew all of Jia Daihua's connections—more than Jia Jing, the head of the Ningguo Mansion, knew, let alone Jia Zhen.
When Jia Zhen inherited the Ningguo Mansion, Jia Jing was devoted to cultivating the Dao and withdrawing from the world. He didn't tell Jia Zhen about all the connections he knew.
As a result, he died suddenly after taking a golden elixir, without time to settle his affairs.
Jia Zhen had no idea which military connections the Ningguo Mansion still had, yet he wanted to join Commandery Prince Yizhong in rebellion.
Was he playing around?!
The emperor had long since prepared his knives. Most of the nobles among the Four Kings and Eight Dukes hadn't noticed a thing and were still drowning in pleasure.
Only the Rongguo Mansion and the Dong'an Prince Mansion, which had pledged their allegiance to the emperor early on, knew what he had in mind. Prince of Beijing, who had handed over his military authority and devoted himself to literature, had also begun to sense something.
Back to the matter at hand: Dowager Consort Nan'an and the princess consort couldn't bear to send a girl from their family away for a political marriage.
A political marriage was hardly any different from sending someone to her death.
They both knew the emperor wouldn't abandon his plans to attack the enemy. Once Great Qing's army went to war with the enemy, the girl sent to marry into their country might well be killed.
The only unmarried girl left in the Nan'an Prince Mansion was the princess consort's legitimate daughter.
The princess consort was the dowager consort's niece. Her daughter was both the dowager consort's granddaughter and grandniece, making her the closest of kin. The dowager consort couldn't bear to send her own granddaughter to her death, either.
So the two came up with the idea of adopting a daughter to send away for the political marriage.
Recently, Dowager Consort Nan'an and the princess consort had been attending banquets and visiting other households, searching for a suitable girl to adopt.
The girl they favored most was Tanchun.
Lady Jia Shi, Jia Zheng, and Wang were all tempted. Sending a concubine-born daughter away to curry favor with the Nan'an Prince Mansion was a bargain.
Jia Zheng even thought that if his daughter went to marry into a foreign country, she would be serving her country. The emperor would surely see his loyalty and reward him, her father.
Wang was unwilling to see Tanchun receive the exalted title of commandery princess. But when she thought of Tanchun marrying far away and no longer being around to offend her, she eagerly helped make it happen.
Unfortunately, Jia Hu refused, and so did the princess.
Jia She and Zhang were both on Jia Hu's side.
What political marriage for a commandery princess? It was nothing but sending a poor girl off to die.
Though Jia Hu wasn't close to his cousin Tanchun, he couldn't stand by and watch her go to her death.
After Jia Hu explained what became of girls sent away for political marriages, Lady Jia Shi withdrew to Rongqing Hall, making it clear she wouldn't involve herself in the matter anymore.
Jia Zheng, however, insisted this was a chance to serve the country and that it would be Tanchun's honor to die for it.
In the end, Jia She beat him up.
Wang would have loved for Tanchun to die, but Lady Jia Shi had stepped aside and Jia Zheng had been beaten. She didn't dare say another word.
When Tanchun heard what Jia Zheng had said, she was heartbroken.
This was her own father, yet her uncle was better to her.
Grief filled her heart. With a father who didn't care whether his daughter lived or died, and a stepmother who seemed kind but was cruel inside, she couldn't see any hope for her future.
Who knew what they might do to her for their own gain?
They would certainly use her marriage to secure some advantage.
Why? Why was her life so miserable?
Why couldn't she have been born into the first branch of the family?
Just look at her older sister Yingchun. She was a concubine-born daughter too, yet she lived such a happy life.
Though her father didn't pay much attention to her, her stepmother was kind and had found her a young, capable husband with a bright future. Becoming a titled lady was no far-off dream.
And then there was herself...
Tanchun couldn't help going to her birth mother, Zhao Yiniang. She clung to her and wept bitterly.
She used to look down on Zhao Yiniang, thinking her too vulgar.
But now she understood. If Zhao Yiniang hadn't acted vulgar, she might not have survived to this day, or been able to protect Tanchun and her younger brother, Jia Huan, as they grew up.
Just look at Zhou Yiniang, who had been tormented until she was little more than a wooden doll.
Zhao Yiniang had once been a maid serving in Jia Zheng's study, keeping him company as he read. She could read and write. How could she be vulgar?
Zhao Yiniang held her daughter, patting her back and comforting her. A glint of malice flashed in her eyes.
Zhao Yiniang wasn't a good person. The original story made that clear when she bribed Ma Daopo to harm Jia Baoyu and Wang Xifeng.
In this world, the Rongguo Mansion belonged to the first branch, so Zhao Yiniang wouldn't harm Jia Baoyu again to help her son inherit it.
As for Wang Xifeng, she spent most of her time with the first branch and had little to do with Zhao Yiniang. Since they had no grudge against each other, Zhao Yiniang wouldn't harm her, either.
Now, the people Zhao Yiniang hated most were Jia Zheng and Wang.
Jia Zheng wanted his own daughter dead. What use was a man like that?
And after Jia Zheng died, her son and daughter would fall entirely under Wang's control. So Wang might as well go with Jia Zheng.
Zhao Yiniang looked toward Wang's room.
To torment her concubines, Wang made Zhao Yiniang and Zhou Yiniang serve in her room every day.
After more than ten years, Zhao Yiniang knew Wang's room very well.
She discovered a hidden compartment in the room. One day, while Wang was out, she slipped inside and opened it.
Zhao Yiniang had thought it would hold silver notes and planned to steal some.
But she found several porcelain bottles containing pills and powders.
She stole some of the pills and powders. After testing them, she discovered that one kind caused a miscarriage and left the woman unable to conceive again.
Zhou Yiniang must have been given that medicine.
Another kind caused symptoms of typhoid after it was taken. But if the person took medicine to treat the typhoid, that medicine became a poison that took their life.
After the person died, even a physician couldn't determine that they had been poisoned. He would think they had simply succumbed to typhoid.
How did Zhao Yiniang know what the medicine did?
Because she had given it to Nanny Lai.
Nanny Lai had come to Wang's room to deliver Grandmother Jia's instructions. Wang had to treat this old servant of Grandmother Jia's with respect, so she had Zhao Yiniang personally bring Nanny Lai her tea.
Zhao Yiniang took the opportunity to slip the powder into Nanny Lai's tea.
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