Conspiracy

"Mo, what were you thinking about?" Consort Yan called Dantai Mo back from his thoughts.

"I was wondering whether to attend the flower-viewing banquet at the Princess's Residence next month," Dantai Mo said with a smile.

"Yes, of course you should!" Consort Yan smiled, enchanting as the moon. She possessed a touch of allure beyond that of a young maiden, making her all the more captivating.

No wonder the emperor's favor had never waned, even though she was already in her thirties.

Dantai Mo had inherited nearly all of Consort Yan's best features, and his exquisite looks surpassed even hers. Yet such an outstanding man was paralyzed from the waist down. Not only his mother but even the attendants at Snowsoft Palace felt it was a terrible pity.

"I'll do as you say, Mother." Dantai Mo's temperament was unpredictable, but before his mother, he remained like a child.

The flower-viewing gathering hosted by the Grand Princess was, in truth, a matchmaking event in disguise.

But the Grand Princess's gathering was different from the one held by the duke's family.

Like those at other residences, the duke's flower-viewing gathering mostly brought the ladies of various families together to chat. At the Grand Princess's gathering, however, every noble young lady attending had to demonstrate a talent.

Those invited to the Grand Princess's flower-viewing gathering were all talented daughters of official families in the capital.

The First Imperial Prince's principal wife and secondary consort, as well as the Second Prince's secondary consort, had all been chosen at the Grand Princess's Residence.

"I heard your Third Brother will be going too. I'll pick out a new outfit for you, and you can go with him." Consort Yan immediately summoned the palace attendants and busied herself choosing clothes for her son.

Consort Yan was delighted that Dantai Mo was willing to go out for a change of scenery. Perhaps he would meet a woman he liked, adopt a son after marrying, and build a life for himself.

At that thought, Consort Yan felt both joy and heartache.

After leaving Snowsoft Palace, Dantai Mo summoned his personal Imperial Guard. "Send an invitation to the Grand Princess's flower-viewing gathering to the Fifth Miss of the Jinyang Marquis's Residence."

He wondered what talents the Fifth Miss of the Jinyang Marquis's Residence possessed. To his surprise, he felt a little anticipation.

As anticipation stirred in Dantai Mo, Jian Ruonan's points went clanging upward. Out of nowhere, she gained another twenty points.

For once, Jian Ruonan managed to resist drawing cards. She might as well hold out a little longer and upgrade the system.

One of these days, she would have to find time to visit the Farm Estate under her name, test whether the Multiple-Birth Pills actually worked, and improve the pigs' living conditions.

While the family in Westglow Garden enjoyed themselves in harmony, Joy and Longevity Court was filled with wailing.

After examining his patient, the physician prescribed some calming, sedative medicine and left.

With a forehead band wrapped around her head, Old Madam pressed one hand to her chest and gasped for breath.

Thank goodness she had fainted in time. Otherwise, the entire Marquis's Estate would have learned about her and the Groom...

If people found out, where could she hide her old face? How could she go on living?

That Fifth Girl was downright uncanny!

"Mother, was Fifth Girl truly possessed by the Queen Mother of the West?" Young Shi-shi had been badly frightened. Recalling the scene from earlier, she still felt her heart tremble.

Women confined to the inner household knew little of the world, especially someone like Jian Ruonan, who had grown up on a Farm Estate under the oppression of its steward and Concubine Zhou. She looked weak and easily bullied, utterly unfit to appear in polite company. How could that calm, composed manner from earlier, as though she would slay even gods who stood in her way, possibly have been an act?

Could she really have been possessed?!

Old Madam rubbed between her brows, her appetite gone. "Quiet!" she said coldly.

Fifth Girl was nowhere near as simple as she appeared. She had shone brilliantly at the Duke of Pingguo Residence today. Rumor had it that she had become the Miracle Physician's disciple, with medical skills comparable to the Chief Physician of the Imperial Medical Academy. People had already come to Old Madam asking for medicine.

Everything that had happened today smacked of something suspicious.

Not long after the physician left, Daoist Li of Clear Void Abbey arrived.

Daoist Li was in his forties or so, dressed in a purplish-red Daoist robe trimmed with dark blue. A golden Orchid Crown stood atop the Crescent Moon Crown on his head, and his long beard reached his chest, lending him something of an immortal's bearing.

As soon as Daoist Li entered, Old Madam seemed to have found her anchor. She told him about Jian Ruonan being possessed by the Queen Mother of the West.

Daoist Li flicked his horsetail whisk and questioned her closely about the details.

He had never heard the lines of scripture Jian Ruonan had recited.

The Supreme Heavenly Altar Jade Register stated that no exalted perfected being, celestial immortal, divine general, or deity would possess the body of a living person. All such possessions were the work of evil spirits and monsters.

Human bodies were filthy; immortals would never possess them. The Fifth Miss of the Marquis's Estate must have been possessed by some heretical evil entity.

Daoist Li demanded sternly, "Where is this demonic fiend? In the name of the Orthodox Unity Celestial Master, I shall apprehend it!"

Daoist Li immediately ordered the Daoist Acolyte behind him to take out his Peachwood Sword, preparing to set up an altar and exorcise the evil.

Granny Wang shuddered in fright. "Daoist, the Queen Mother of the West knew everything. How could she be an impostor?"

Old Madam was also worried. If Daoist Li rushed over unprepared, Fifth Girl might blurt out the matter of her and the Groom for everyone to hear.

It would be best to finish her in a single strike, going only after thorough preparations so that she had no chance to speak.

Old Madam explained that after being possessed, Jian Ruonan seemed to have opened her heavenly eye and knew everything.

Daoist Li fell silent for a moment. "This demon possesses some supernatural abilities. I do indeed need to make preparations."

Old Madam discussed it with Daoist Li. He would return to the Taoist Temple and spend some time preparing. Once the moment was ripe, Old Madam would bring the girl there, and he would perform the ritual to eliminate the demon at the temple.

After Daoist Li left, Old Madam ordered, "Send someone to the Farm Estate to investigate exactly how Fifth Girl grew up. And what is happening in Westglow Garden now?"

Before long, a young maid came to report that Westglow Garden was having dinner. Fifth Miss was eating with her head down as though nothing had happened. Jian Zhang truly intended to eat vegetarian food for a year to pray for Old Madam's blessings, while Min and First Miss had begun discussing arrangements for copying scriptures.

Old Madam fell silent.

Was the Elder Branch really so kindhearted?

As far as she knew, the Elder Branch had criticized her plenty behind her back. Had they suddenly changed their ways?

How could that be?

Old Madam looked toward Wang Juhua.

Wang Juhua was still kneeling by the doorway.

Wang Juhua had been Old Madam's dowry maid and could be counted as her closest confidante. Many of Old Madam's unsavory schemes had been carried out through Wang Juhua's hands, and she knew almost all of Old Madam's secrets.

A few years earlier, on Old Madam's fiftieth birthday, she had even allowed Wang Juhua to buy her freedom. If not for the matter of secretly climbing into a man's bed and becoming pregnant, Wang Juhua would have been Old Madam's most favored servant.

Logically, Wang Juhua could not have colluded with Jian Ruonan, much less handed over leverage against herself...

There was only one possibility: Jian Zhang was behind all of this.

As Vice Minister of Justice, Jian Zhang could investigate events from over thirty years ago. Most likely, he had uncovered these matters, told Jian Ruonan, and had her play at gods and ghosts!

Once she had figured it out, Old Madam immediately felt refreshed and clearheaded.

Young Shi-shi and Jian Chuyun trembled all over in fright. "Mother, is there really an evil spirit in the residence? Why did you let Daoist Li leave? You should have had him capture it!"

"You know nothing!" Old Madam snapped. "Why haven't you sent someone to check? Why isn't Second Master back yet?!"

Worried about her son, Old Madam did not even eat. She waited for nearly two hours before servants finally carried Jian Lang in, looking utterly wretched.

Jian Lang had received twenty strokes of the rod in prison, beating his buttocks into a bloody pulp.

Dressed in prison clothes, he lay facedown on a plank, his lower body covered in blood and filth. Beaten and starved, he had not eaten a single grain all day.

Jian Lang had been pampered since childhood. When had he ever suffered such hardship? As he was carried inside, he struggled for breath, looking so listless that he seemed ready to drop dead at any moment.

Another round of wailing and lamentation erupted in the main room.

After finally catching his breath, Jian Lang clung to Old Madam and sobbed. "Mother, Eldest Brother really wants me dead! He clearly recognized me, yet he still had me handed over to the authorities. He wants to destroy my future and cut off every path I have to survive!"

Young Shi-shi kept wiping away her tears.

Old Madam scolded, "Cry! All you know how to do is cry!"

Young Shi-shi sobbed. "Mother, once my husband's elder brother becomes the Marquis, our Younger Branch will have even less chance of surviving."

Old Madam sneered. "As long as your eldest uncle remains in office, he can forget about ever inheriting the Marquis's Estate."

Old Madam's elder brother, Shi Fan, was the current Minister of Rites. As long as Shi Fan remained in office, Jian Zhang would never inherit the Marquis's Estate.

Old Madam comforted her son. "Rest assured. I certainly won't let you suffer for nothing!"