harboring malice after being slapped and refusing to submit

Jiang Shishu asked with genuine sincerity, but Jiang Shiyuan shook her head and replied with certainty.

"Rest assured, she is far more resilient than you imagine. Otherwise, she wouldn't have survived under Second Aunt's thumb all these years. Do not take today's matter to heart; I will handle it shortly."

Jiang Shishu nodded obediently. Lacking any strong will of her own, she naturally followed the eldest sister's lead when told so. Yet, lingering fears remained. Having resided in the Princess's Mansion for so long, she had never witnessed the Princess fly into such a rage. Mistaking her for someone of gentle temperament, she had been startled by the prompt sentence of thirty slaps across the face, leaving her in need of comforting reassurance.

Perceiving her inner thoughts, Jiang Shiyuan stepped forward to console her.

"The Princess is not an unreasonable person. There were grounds for punishing the fourth sister today; she was indeed behaving improperly. Aren't you nearly due to return home after finishing the embroidered congratulatory gift at the Princess's Mansion? Once you are back, take a good rest at home, and the two of us sisters can have a nice chat."

"Mm, about three to five days left until the embroidery is done. I'll come look for the eldest sister then."

"That's perfect. Didn't Father mention last time that he would take us to the Lanyue Tower to watch the Qiqiao Festival celebration?"

"The Qiqiao Festival celebration?"

This inquiry came from Pei Ziqi. He suddenly felt that his cousin's life was truly vibrant and interesting, complete with grand festivals to attend. If not for matters in Hanzhou that still required arrangement, he would not have wanted to part from her for even a single moment.

Detecting his state of mind, Jiang Shiyuan lowered her head, pursed her lips, and chuckled softly.

"Cousin, Hanzhou must have many lively festivals celebrated together with the common people, don't you know of them?"

"New Year's Eve, the Lantern Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Ghost Festival, and the Cold Food Festival. Oh right, Hanzhou also has the Peach Blossom Festival in the mountain temples during the fourth month. Though I've never been, I've heard it's very lively every year. Does Ah Nian want to go?"

"The fourth month? If there is an opportunity, of course I would like to go."

"Very well, I shall make arrangements then."

Pei Ziqi spoke in a calm tone that revealed nothing amiss, yet in her past life, it was precisely on an ordinary day in the fourth month that he had been assassinated and died by the flood-swollen Huai River.

Although he had yet to uncover the identity of those who harmed him, he had firmly etched the face of his assassin into his memory before drawing his final breath. Consequently, he had long made advance preparations, secretly hunting for that individual. Once he discovered who was pulling the strings behind the scenes, he would surely make them experience the agony of their intestines rotting away!

***

Lost briefly in his memories, he missed the flash of heartache in Jiang Shiyuan's eyes.

April 22nd of the fourteenth year of Shengkang was precisely the day news of his death reached West Capital.

The following month, the Prince of Han led his personal guard troops into rebellion, advancing with a formidable and triumphant momentum. Had the Prince of Yi not intervened to assist, uniting with the Dragon Guard troops within West Capital to fight valiantly, the realm's ruler would likely have changed long ago.

When judgment and punishment were meted out, the entire lineage of the Prince of Han was executed. However, whether the Pei family—the most prominent clan in Hanzhou—had been implicated remained a subject of incessant debate at court.

By the time she drew her last breath, no definitive karmic retribution had been reached.

Yet she remembered distinctly that the Prince of Yi had intentions of taking a daughter of the Pei family as his bride. This matter had even been maneuvered and arranged by her hypocritical husband of her past life, the Heir of Prince Chun. As for the ultimate outcome, she had not lived long enough to witness it, and thus remained uncertain.

Each harboring their own thoughts, the two stood in silence. Jiang Shishu, standing nearby, furrowed her brow slightly, but lacking the courage to speak freely, she could only stand obediently in attendance. Interrupting their thoughts was Pei Ziyao. Regardless of how the future might unfold, she remained spirited and dashing at present, striding over to say in a clear voice.

"The banquet is about to begin. What are Big Brother and Cousin Ah Nian standing there in a daze for? Let's go."

At her prompt, the two exchanged smiling glances, set aside their lingering thoughts, and followed her toward the flower hall. Upon arrival, the scene was bustling with liveliness.

The two minor incidents that had just occurred were left entirely unmentioned.

Everyone present offered congratulations and praise to Madame Pei, the Marquis's wife, especially when touching upon the match between Jiang Shiyuan and Pei Ziqi, endlessly lauding them as a match made in heaven and a union of peerless talent and beauty.

Madame Pei beamed with joy, feeling not the least bit overshadowed, and Old Madame Wang was even more so, smiling so broadly that her eyes nearly vanished. Yet, in stark contrast to the merriment here, Old Madame Jiang wore a ferocious expression inside the side room.

"Good-for-nothing wretch! You make a trip to the Marquis's Mansion, and not only do you fail to bring a shred of assistance to the family, but you also provoke Princess Qinghuan into a towering rage, earning yourself thirty slaps across the face. In my eyes, your reputation is utterly ruined now. Who would ever want a woman who has offended the Princess to enter their doors? Useless! A complete and utter waste!"

Old Madame Jiang cursed shrilly, venting all the frustration of having suffered a snub from her eldest granddaughter. She cared not that a maid of the Marquis's Mansion was still inside the room applying medicine to Jiang Shiyue. Such severe humiliation only intensified the bitter resentment already weighing upon the aggrieved Jiang Shiyue.

Her plight today was entirely the fault of those two hypocritical good sisters!

One feigned loftiness and nobility while the other played the pitiful victim, using her merely as a stepping stone before Princess Qinghuan. At this thought, her fingernails dug so hard into the flesh of her palms that traces of blood oozed out, though she remained entirely oblivious.

***

Realizing her continued presence was awkward, the maid quickly finished applying the medicine and excused herself ahead of time.

As soon as the door closed, Jiang Shiyue scrambled on her knees toward Old Madame Jiang. Her sole hope now rested upon the grandmother before her; no matter how deep her disgust for this old hag might be, she had no choice but to put on an aggrieved facade first.

"Grandmother's scolding is just. Your granddaughter was merely anxious for a moment, wishing to perform well, yet I never expected the eldest sister to be so cold-hearted. Regardless of anything else, I am still a member of the Jiang family. While I dared not contest the Princess's punishment, she did not utter a single word to plead on my behalf, showing not a shred of familial affection for her own kin. Grandmother, once such an eldest sister is married off, I fear she truly will heed Mother's words and completely disregard the Jiang family!"

Though her face remained swollen, she did not forget to trip Jiang Shiyuan up. True to being raised under Second Aunt Zhang's tutelage, Jiang Shiyue possessed first-rate skills in calling white black.

In the heat of her anger, although Old Madame Jiang detested this granddaughter, she found her words remarkably sensible.

Today, their Jiang family should have stood on equal footing with the Marquis's Mansion. Yet Old Madame Wang's eyes had beheld only the Xiang family alliance, completely ignoring her. Otherwise, purely out of marital ties, she should not have permitted Princess Qinghuan to subject the Jiang family to such public disgrace.

The moment the thought crossed her mind that the Marquis of Wenyuan's Mansion might have done this deliberately, she found the fourth granddaughter before her somewhat less offensive than before. Furrowing her brows deeply, she nevertheless bade her rise to speak.

"This banquet is not worth attending anyway. Come back with me first."

"Grandmother, pray wait. Your granddaughter knows she has disgraced herself and naturally lacks the face to attend the banquet. Yet you are the eldest sister's biological grandmother, and by rights, you are an elder whom the Marquis's wife ought to revere and respect. Your presence today was by formal invitation; there is no need to return in a huff out of spite for your granddaughter. Rather, you ought to partake fully in today's feast, so that the powerful nobles of West Capital may clearly see that the maiden betrothed to the Pei family is, after all, a daughter of our Jiang house. That point is of the utmost importance."

Though young in years, Jiang Shiyue possessed immense ambition.

Having suffered grievances today—though she had endured plenty of others in the past—she had no intention of storming off in a rage over this bit of mortification. She had yet to achieve her desired goal, but since she could no longer accomplish it herself, she would let her grandmother do it instead.

As long as everyone remembered that the one betrothed to the Pei family was a Jiang daughter, she, the fourth young lady of the Jiang family, still had a fighting chance!

Therefore, even if she had to kneel, she would compel her grandmother to go to the flower hall.