Chapter 21

When the officer with a long sword at his waist brought the person tied up and delivered them, he thoughtfully asked, “May I know what information Madam wishes to extract from this person? Your subordinate is willing to serve you with utmost loyalty.”

At this moment, Ying’er was dressed as a woman, her hair disheveled. She was wearing a bean-green cotton jacket with a few places where the thread had frayed, revealing the white cotton inside. Though she looked rather downtrodden, Jiang Wanrou noticed her clothes were quite thick.

Truly impoverished families cannot afford cotton clothing in winter; the cotton and linen materials used in her attire were not stained either, suggesting that her life in recent years had not been too bad.

She looked at the tall officer beside her and sighed softly.

“Since you say so, sir… to be honest, this woman once wronged me. It’s been so many years, I fear she may have forgotten. As a mere housewife with a soft heart, I truly don’t know what to do.”

“This is not difficult.”

With a serious expression, the officer bowed and said, “Madam, please hand this person over to me. A trip to the Jinglong Bureau’s secret prison will surely jog her memory, whether she wants to remember or not!”

Seeing Jiang Wanrou remain silent, the officer mistook her lack of response for dissatisfaction. He hurriedly added, “This woman’s husband and children have all been captured. Please, Madam, give the order.”

Jiang Wanrou was truly shocked this time. She hadn’t originally intended to do anything to Ying’er—only to borrow the officer’s words to intimidate her into honestly confessing. However, she hadn’t expected that they would capture the entire family. She was secretly shocked; even the Ministry of Justice requires official stamped approval documents to apprehend individuals. How powerful is the Jinglong Bureau’s influence?

The officer, unaware of her thoughts, replied politely, “Madam, you worry too much. We act under the Emperor’s decree and have the authority to arrest without orders.”

It wasn’t just commoners; they even raided the residence of the former Grand Secretariat Hu Liangyu.

Naturally, this didn’t come without criticism. Once, civil officials jointly submitted a petition requesting the Emperor to revoke the Jinglong Buraeu’s privilege, arguing that suspects should at least be tried and convicted by the Court of Judicial Review before being handed over to the Jinglong Bureau. Otherwise, this special privilege could lead to wrongful convictions from forced confessions. The Emperor left the petition unanswered, later sighing in exasperation, “Junchi is a good child.”

That one comment left the officials speechless.

Jiang Wanrou was deeply conflicted. She hadn’t read much history but understood the principle of “what rises must fall.” While things seemed glamorous now, the reckoning in the future…

She didn’t dare think too deeply. She instructed Cui Zhu to slip some silver to the person and politely send them away. Ying’er, already scared out of her wits, spilled everything as soon as the gag was removed.

Just as Ma Chunlan had said, Ying’er originally had high aspirations. Faced with an opportunity to become the master, who would want to remain a servant? On the eve of the Old Madam’s birthday celebration, Jiang Wanying approached her.

“Fifth Miss said—said—while the wealth of the manor is great, it also requires one’s life to enjoy.”

Terrified to her core, Ying’er tearfully recounted Jiang Wanying’s words from that day in vivid detail.

“Tomorrow is Grandmother’s birthday. On such an occasion, if a scandal is exposed, do you think you can survive? The Marquis’s wife will beat you to death to uphold the family’s honor.”

“Of course, perhaps you’ll be very lucky. If Young Master Lu is responsible, he might formally take you as a concubine, fulfilling your wish to become a member of the manor. But do you think that would lead to a life of wealth and prosperity? Young Master Lu would see you as a disgrace, ignoring and avoiding you. The young ladies of the Lu family are willful and spoiled, and one of them is very attached to her older brother. She would make your life miserable. Madam Lu dislikes Young Master Lu, and she would despise you even more. And let’s not forget that Young Master Lu has two younger brothers. The second and third young madams both come from powerful families and are no easy opponents either.”

“With no affection or favor, even the servants would look down on you and mistreat you. As a concubine, your life would be worse than when you were a maid in the marquis’s residence. You’d regret it. You’d crave attention, but Young Master Lu would never even touch you. You’d want to leave, but as a concubine of the Lu family, you’d have no choice but to endure it until you drove yourself mad.”

“I’m actually saving you.”

…

Ying’er shivered and cried, “Fifth Miss’s words… they sounded so true. I was terrified, and that night, I was so scared I developed a high fever. That’s why I ran away.”

She was rather fortunate. Amid the chaos, no one paid attention to her, the insignificant shrimp. Later, she fell seriously ill and avoided serving her master, thereby managing to escape the turmoil. Once recovered, she felt as though she’d awakened from a dream, as if the clarity of enlightenment described in Buddhist teachings had suddenly dawned on her—a rebirth of sorts.

She donated three strings of coin for temple offerings, abandoning her former ambition of seeking high status. She married a steward from the manor. Though he had a dark complexion, he was honest, diligent, and treated her well. Later, she became pregnant, and the steward used his savings to buy back their freedom from servitude. They returned to his rural hometown, purchased three acres of modest farmland, and now live a stable life with children of their own.

…

Jiang Wanrou released Ying’er and Ma Chunlan, who had been locked in the woodshed. She instructed Cui Zhu, “Withdraw one hundred taels of silver from the accounting room and give it to Ying’er. Also, make a trip to the Jinglong Buraeu and ensure the entire family is released unharmed.”

Rightful grievances must be addressed by the rightful parties—Ma Chunlan had merely committed petty theft, nothing truly heinous, and Ying’er was the victim of unfortunate circumstances. After giving these instructions, Jiang Wanrou added, “Grandmother’s birthday is approaching; check the guest lists from previous years.”

“Yes, I understand,” Cui Zhu replied. She added, “By the way, Madam, while I was inventorying the storage room today, I noticed a few discrepancies. Five bolts of Liuguang brocade are missing, along with some rouge, ink powder, and a few sets of accessories—all items for women. It might be that they were given as gifts to someone and not recorded.”

The items in the storage room are cross-checked with the account books monthly, and occasional discrepancies like this do happen. Jiang Wanrou didn’t pay much attention and said, “Double-check carefully, look in the corners—”

Suddenly, she paused and said to Cui Zhu, “You’ve worked hard these past days.”

With Jintao absent, Cui Zhu had been handling the work of two people—it was Jiang Wanrou’s oversight.

Cui Zhu smiled sweetly and said, “It hasn’t been hard at all. I just run errands and pass on messages. I don’t have to do much myself; it’s no trouble at all.”

She was more than delighted to have Madam rely on her. Ever since Jintao had left, the restless little maids in the house had been wandering around Madam for no apparent reason. Humph, as if she didn’t know what they were scheming!

She didn’t want anyone to take Jin Tao’s position. The maids handling rough chores dreamed of entering the inner courtyard, while those already in the inner courtyard aspired to become the Madam’s confidantes. Even maids had ambition. Since there was no hope of gaining favor from the Master, they put their effort into gaining favor from the Madam.

Jiang Wanrou smiled and said, “Bring Jin Tao back. It’s been so long; I miss her.”

Cui Zhu left delighted, but the smile on Jiang Wanrou’s lips faded instantly. She couldn’t understand—why her fifth sister?

There hadn’t been any grudges between them, not even the smallest argument. In terms of status, they were both pitiable daughters born to concubines, making them almost like a subtle “alliance.”

In her younger years, she had saved her fifth sister from Madam Qin’s grasp a few times. Why would she repay kindness with enmity and harm her like this?

Now, as the experienced head Madam of the household, Jiang Wanrou looked back and found Jiang Wanying’s words to be quite reasonable. If she hadn’t intervened back then, events might truly have unfolded as Jiang Wanying had predicted. How could Jiang Wanying, a secluded young lady, have been so well-informed about the situation in the Lu family?

And then there was her foresight about Ying’er. Though she usually didn’t seem particularly sharp, she had guessed this matter quite accurately—more so than even Jiang Wanrou herself could have predicted back then.

Jiang Wanrou pondered for a long time, tossing and turning, but still couldn’t figure out how she might have wronged Jiang Wanying or why Jiang Wanying would harm her. She thought about it excessively, day and night, to the point where she couldn’t eat.

Cui Zhu was frantic, pacing in worry. Madam had been in low spirits some time ago, and though she had finally gotten better for a few days, now she seemed worse than ever.

Jin Tao, concerned, said, “Should I call a doctor to take a look?”

Jiang Wanrou waved her hand dismissively, “Why call a doctor for such a trivial matter? It’s not worth the fuss.”

The old matriarch’s birthday was imminent, with banquet preparations and performances all personally overseen by her. Calling a doctor at this time would reflect poorly on the matriarch. After all, the elderly woman was celebrating a grand milestone, only for her granddaughter-in-law to fall ill due to overwork?

What had started as a joyous affair had turned into a joke.

“You still need to eat more, though,” Cui Zhu said as she entered, holding a bowl of blood bird’s nest soup that had been reheated three times. She said with concern, “You’ve been busy since early morning, but you’ve barely eaten anything.”

The porcelain bowl was only palm-sized, yet Jiang Wanrou ate less than half before pushing it away with a frown, saying, “It smells fishy.”

“It doesn’t smell fishy!” Cui Zhu protested, her round eyes widening. “I swear to heaven, I personally watched it boil. Not a drop of sesame oil was added.” She was well aware of Madam’s preference for light foods recently.

Jin Tao, being slightly smarter than Cuizhu, cautiously asked, “Madam, could it be that you have something on your mind?”

Matters of the heart—no medicine can cure them.

Jiang Wanrou was feeling irritated—not only because of her frustrations with Jiang Wanying but also because of the upcoming celebration for the old matriarch’s birthday. The storage room inventory showed missing items. After thorough checks, no accounting errors were found, yet the items had mysteriously disappeared—a situation that had never occurred under Jiang Wanrou’s management.

With so many matters piling up, Jiang Wanrou felt an inexplicable surge of anger but had nowhere to vent. Jin Tao, observing Jiang Wanrou’s expression as she cleared away the porcelain bowl, cautiously advised, “Madam, you’ve always been broad-minded. You’ve said before, ‘When soldiers come, block them; when water arrives, divert it.’ There’s no problem that cannot be overcome.”

“Madam has been a bit more irritable recently—somewhat unlike yourself.”

Jiang Wanrou froze for a moment, then suddenly felt enlightened.

Exactly—why was she trapping herself with endless overthinking? Could overthinking solve the problem? It couldn’t!

She’d truly been working herself silly.

Jiang Wanrou’s eyes immediately lit up, and she asked Jintao, “Has the invitation for Grandmother’s birthday been sent yet? Pick out the one for the Pei family.”

“I’ll deliver it personally.”