Chapter 1: Do You Want This Blessing?

“Do you want this blessing?”

Jiang Li sneered, looking down at the old lady surrounded by many people.

The old lady was wearing a russet brocade jacket with a swastika pattern, and a stone blue forehead ornament inlaid with cat’s eye stones. Her face was full of wrinkles, and her cheekbones were high, giving her a very unapproachable appearance.

She was the most respected old ancestor of the Hengguo Duke’s Mansion, Old Madam Wan.

Jiang Li, on the other hand, was dressed in a light blue short jacket, her hair pulled up high, neat and clean, with a medicine box on her back. If you didn’t look closely, you would think she was a young apprentice from some medical hall.

In reality, she was the runaway eighteenth young lady of the Hengguo Duke’s Mansion.

Six years ago, at the age of thirteen, facing the reality of her marriage being plotted, Jiang Li, who had been planning for many years, took her birth mother, Consort Yu, and her maid, Zhi Zi, and faked her death to leave the Hengguo Duke’s Mansion.

She had this ability because she was a transmigrator.

The original owner was an idiot. She had a high fever when she was eight years old, and she died due to lack of medical care. She, this unlucky ghost, was sleeping soundly at home when she woke up and inexplicably became the Duke’s Mansion’s idiotic eighteenth young lady.

Fortunately, this body had a good consort mother, who was a bit silly and sweet, but genuinely loved her daughter.

Jiang Li had been pretending to be an idiot, using her identity as an idiot to see the filth of the Duke’s Mansion more clearly.

Then, when even the idiot’s marriage was about to be manipulated, she ran away with her consort mother!

Unexpectedly, six years later, she was still brought back by the people of the Duke’s Mansion.

Seeing the old lady and those familiar, disgusting faces, Jiang Li knew that she probably wouldn’t have a good time today.

Sure enough, the old lady’s lackey told her that as long as she was willing to marry the deposed crown prince, then the things she had done before could be forgiven.

The old lady looked at her granddaughter dressed in such a commoner’s attire, and the disgust in her eyes was almost overflowing.

She said arrogantly: “The imperial decree has been issued, and this matter is a foregone conclusion. You don’t need to struggle anymore. Besides, being able to serve a noble person is your blessing.”

As soon as Jiang Li heard this, her anger rushed to the top of her head, and she directly retorted.

This old hag, does she want the blessing?

After so many years, she still wants to bring her back. She originally thought they would have something new, but in the end, they still want to use her for a political marriage.

Pah!

“Impudent!” The people around the old lady scolded.

Jiang Li rolled her eyes at the woman with a face like a round plate and adorned with pearls and emeralds. “Which one are you?”

She actually remembered that this was the First Madam of the mansion, the one in charge of managing the household.

She was a concubine’s daughter from the Third Branch, and this noble First Madam had never looked at her directly.

The First Madam’s face flushed red with anger, and her daughter, the twenty-third young lady of the mansion, blurted out, “You lowly thing! How dare you speak to my mother like that.”

“Me, lowly?” Jiang Li picked her ear and said with a rogue smile, “I am lowly because I was born in such a lowly mansion. If you are nobler than me, it means your mother found a wild man!”

In the past, she was an idiot, but now she is a shrew, and no one should mess with her!

She is in a bad mood right now because her whole family—the new family built by her consort mother, including her stepfather, younger brother, and maid—have all been captured by the people of the Duke’s Mansion.

Old Madam Wan is using the lives of her whole family to threaten her into marriage.

“Someone, slap her mouth!” Old Madam Wan shouted sternly.

No one had ever dared to be so presumptuous in front of her.

“You dare!” Jiang Li was not afraid at all, her willow eyebrows stood on end, “If you dare to touch a single hair on my head, then we will all die together, and no one will live!”

“Where do you get the confidence to talk to me like this!” Old Madam Wan’s authority did not allow anyone to provoke her.

“You gave it to me.” Jiang Li tilted her head, her smile unrestrained, “Didn’t you say that the imperial decree has been issued, specifically naming me to marry that deposed crown prince? What, you pushed me up there, and now you dare to deceive the emperor and replace me?”

“Do you think the person you are going to marry can support you?” Old Madam Wan smiled contemptuously, “Let me tell you, it’s just the emperor’s grace, thinking that he is not yet married, and specifically ordering the Duke’s Mansion to send a young lady. He is already a useless person and will never recover!”

Jiang Li knew.

The deposed crown prince’s matter was so big three years ago that it was difficult for her not to know.

Especially since she was a small medical woman who roamed the streets and alleys, contacting all kinds of people, she knew all kinds of news.

However, she was not very interested and had not inquired carefully, only vaguely remembering that it was because of the defeat in the Northwest war three years ago, General Xie died tragically, and 30,000 soldiers were killed in one battle.

The emperor was furious, and then he deposed the crown prince.

Rumor has it that the crown prince was the supervisor of the army at that time, and he didn’t understand anything, but he had to give random commands, which caused such a tragic consequence.

In short, he deserved his punishment, and everyone had the right to kill him.

Only deposing him from the position of crown prince and confining him was too good for him.

So Old Madam Wan was not wrong to say that the emperor was still willing to bestow a marriage on him, allowing him to have a woman, which was a great imperial grace.

However, Jiang Li was now facing off against the old hag and had no time to think about the painful reality of marrying such a thing.

“You’re wrong. I don’t need him to support me. What supports me is the imperial decree of marriage.” Jiang Li sneered, “Since you have already reported me, you can’t change people now.”

“You can’t change people. But as long as you are married in, no one said that I, as your grandmother, can’t discipline you, you rebellious thing!”

“Oh?” Jiang Li smiled again, licked her back molars, revealing a bit of the rascality that Old Madam Wan hated the most, “If you discipline me, I will be angry, but I can’t beat so many vicious dogs around you, so what should I do?”

“What should you do?” Old Madam Wan laughed.

Besides letting herself beat and scold her, what else could she do?

How could she have misjudged her in the past, not seeing that this silly thing had the audacity to do something like running away with her consort mother.

She would have to draw out all the rebellious bones in her body!

Jiang Li was not flustered at all, but smiled brightly, “Of course, I can’t beat you. But I can… exterminate your nine clans! Oh, no, three clans, right?”

“Impudent! Someone, slap her mouth!”

Such heart-wrenching words were an absolute taboo for Old Madam Wan.

“I didn’t say anything wrong.” Jiang Li nimbly avoided the old woman who was coming to pull her.

Before anyone could even see her actions clearly, the old woman had already fallen to the ground, groaning in pain.

“I remember that after the crown prince was deposed, he was still a prince, right?” Jiang Li said unhurriedly, “He is still a prince, right? According to the laws of this dynasty, assassinating the emperor results in the extermination of nine clans. Does assassinating a prince only require the extermination of three clans? Oh, that’s too cheap for you, but since we are family, cheap is cheap. Grandmother, am I very good?”

She smiled innocently and stood there prettily, but the words she spoke were bloody and terrifying.

“You!” Old Madam Wan was so angry that her chest heaved, and her face turned liver-colored.

Everyone in the room was frightened into silence by Jiang Li.

How dare Jiang Li be so bold!