Wei

After Min gave her instructions, the carriage headed toward the Marquis's Estate.

Jian Ruonan sat in the carriage, taking small bites of pastries and sipping tea, doing her best to play a timid little country girl who had never seen the world.

[The pastries from the Marquis's Estate really are much better than the ones sold outside. Look at this mung bean cake, sweet but not cloying, and this butterfly pastry, crisp outside and soft inside.]

[System, I'm finally going to live the good life!!!]

The system wailed, [Nan Nan, how can you still be thinking about pastries? You'll be punished for disrupting the plot!]

Jian Ruonan's heart leaped into her throat. [What punishment?]

The system replied, [I don't know. Anyway, being acknowledged by your family won't go this smoothly. They might dump you in some separate residence and investigate for three to five years to get the plot back on track.]

Jian Ruonan: *[...]*

[A separate residence would be fine too. At least I'd have food and drink, wouldn't have to work or get beaten, and wouldn't have to worry about being sold to some old man!]

As the girl and the system chatted, the carriage suddenly stopped.

Zang Chun lifted the curtain. "Madam, Miss, we've arrived at the Marquis's Estate. Please step out."

Jian Ruonan: [Didn't you say they'd dump me in a separate residence and leave me hanging for three to five years?]

[Does that slap in the face sting?!]

The system replied, [...Even if you enter the Marquis's Estate, there'll still be a punishment.]

[Ding-]

[Plot completed ahead of schedule. Reward: 5 points. Upon reaching 10 points, the exchange interface will become available.]

Jian Ruonan: [Oh? Weren't you going to punish me? Why am I getting a reward instead?]

Useless trash!

The system: [...]

Min had indeed planned to find a separate residence for Jian Ruonan. After all, this was a serious matter, and she did not yet know whether it was true. Even if it was, she would have to consider her next steps carefully. Madam Zhou had muddled the bloodline of the Marquis's Estate and could hardly escape death, but where to place Ruonan and how to restore her identity were also problems.

If it was true, then her own daughter had suffered all these years. The thought suddenly made Min's heart ache, and she decided to bring the girl home first.

Jian Ruonan was brought into Min's Westglow Garden and settled in the Green Gauze Alcove.

[Blood really is thicker than water! My own mother brought me home before she'd even finished investigating. That's a real mother for you!]

[System, you sprang out of a rock. You don't understand the purest, deepest love we humans feel!]

The system: [...]

Min said, "Have someone prepare hot water. Zang Chun, help Ruonan bathe. Zang Qiu, send someone out to buy two sets of ready-made clothes."

Zang Qiu saw that Min had brought back a little girl, but did not know who she was. Seeing Min's troubled expression and Jian Ruonan's shabby clothes, she ventured, "Fourth Miss has grown taller this year, and some of her new clothes are already too small. Miss Ruonan looks a little shorter than Fourth Miss, so they should fit her perfectly. Shall I find a couple of dresses Fourth Miss hasn't worn? They were made by the estate's seamstresses, so they're bound to be better than anything bought outside."

The Fourth Miss Zang Qiu referred to was Concubine Zhou's biological daughter, Jian Chuxue.

Min rubbed her temples. "No. Go and find two of First Miss's old dresses instead."

Jian Ruonan was taken to the bathing room. She had almost finished undressing, but instead of leaving, Zang Chun stepped closer.

Jian Ruonan: "..."

Zang Chun smiled. "Miss Ruonan, let me wash your hair."

She had nearly forgotten that she was now a young lady of the Marquis's Estate, free to live a life where she need only stretch out her arms to be dressed and open her mouth to be fed.

It felt awfully strange.

She had been from the South in her previous life and had never visited a public bathhouse. Having someone watch her bathe was so embarrassing.

So these were the troubles of becoming a marquis's daughter.

After her bath, Zang Chun dried her body, dusted her with scented powder, and helped her into a beautiful dress. The wild country girl transformed in a single leap into a young lady of the Marquis's Estate.

Min had already ordered a meal prepared. As soon as Jian Ruonan sat down, two young maids came over to dry her hair.

Min said, "You must be hungry after such a long carriage ride. Have something to tide you over."

Jian Ruonan glanced timidly at Min. "Thank you, Madam."

On the table were a plate of rouge-red goose breast, a dish of plum blossom sweet cakes, a bowl of pork knuckle stewed with ham, and a plate of bright green stir-fried seasonal vegetables.

The food at the Marquis's Estate really was excellent!

[This is delicious, and so is that! Delicious, delicious, so delicious!! Mwah, mwah, mwah!]

Min: "..."

She had listened carefully for ages without hearing a single useful word.

A young maid entered and whispered a few words to Zang Chun, who immediately reported to Min, "Wei hasn't had her monthly bleeding for two months."

Min's brows drew together. Two months without her monthly bleeding, and not a whisper had escaped. Keeping it so tightly under wraps surely meant something was amiss.

A maid announced from outside, "Madam, Wei is at the entrance. She says she's here to pay her respects."

Jian Ruonan held her bowl and sat obediently. [Huh? Wei's here already? I really want to see what this sinister woman looks like!]

[Wei just drank an abortion potion, but she won't miscarry until tonight. What's she doing here so early? Scouting out the enemy? How did my father end up with such a scheming beauty with a heart of snakes and scorpions!]

[Mother, you'd better keep your eyes sharp!]

Min: "..."

"Let her in."

Wei stood at the entrance to Westglow Garden, leaning on her maid Dingxiang's hand. The young woman's figure was slender, showing no sign that she was three months pregnant.

Wei was Jian Zhang's younger cousin. They had grown up together, childhood sweethearts innocent of suspicion. After Jian Zhang's mother died and his father remarried, contact between the two families gradually dwindled. Then the Wei family fell on hard times, and in the end, Wei could only enter his household as a high-ranking concubine.

Out of affection for their past, Jian Zhang treated Wei with considerable tenderness. Two years earlier, Wei's father had been exonerated and promoted to Governor of the Southwest. No longer content to remain a concubine, Wei dreamed every day of being elevated to co-wife, waiting only to catch Min making a mistake.

If Min could be proven guilty of humiliating a concubine and causing her to miscarry, the Wei family would come knocking, and Wei's elevation to co-wife would be assured.

As soon as Wei entered, she offered Min a delicate, frail curtsy. Afterward, supported by her maid, she sat down beside Jian Ruonan.

Jian Ruonan sprang away like a released spring, raising both hands. "You all saw that! I didn't touch her!"

She moved so quickly that it seemed Wei was some filthy thing no one dared go near.

Wei: "??"

Who was this girl? Why did she seem so detestable?!

Min: "..."

Her daughter seemed rather lively.

Dignified and virtuous as Min was, Jian Ruonan's leap nearly made her laugh. She composed herself and looked at Wei. "What are you here for?"

Wei held her handkerchief, as frail as a willow swaying in the wind. "I've come to apologize to you, Sister."

Min grew wary. "Apologize for what?"

Wei said softly, "Snowball ran into my courtyard yesterday. Such a pretty cat, I couldn't resist feeding Snowball some pastries. I don't know why, but soon after eating them, Snowball began foaming at the mouth. Sister, I... I didn't mean to. Sob, sob..."

Halfway through her explanation, the young woman began weeping in contrition, looking quite sincere.

Snowball was an odd-eyed Lion Cat and Min's beloved pet. Min adored Snowball, personally brushing the cat's fur every day and often making toys. When Snowball had not appeared the previous night, Min had assumed the cat was off playing and would return before long. She had never imagined disaster had struck.

Angry and distressed, Min could not keep her body from trembling slightly.

Just as she was about to turn her wrath on Wei, she heard Jian Ruonan's thoughts.

[Mother, you absolutely mustn't punish her! The moment you do, she'll miscarry!]

[Why is Wei like a hen, laying the egg in her belly whenever she pleases?]

Min: "..." At a critical moment like this, could you please be serious?