He remarried after his mother's death, seized power over the world, and slept on the emperor�

The Lin residence, a side courtyard.

Jiang Yuerong knelt upright on the cold bluestone bricks.

Lin Wenbo's legal wife, Madam Li, was sitting at the head of the table, slowly stirring the foam in her teacup with a silver lid.

"Once you enter the Lin family, you must abide by the Lin family's rules."

Li's voice was neither loud nor soft, but every word was barbed.

"Don't think that just because you've climbed into my bed, you can rise to a higher social status. A concubine is just a concubine."

"You must come here every morning and evening to pay your respects and establish the rules. When the master is here, you cannot sit at the main table; when the master is resting in my room, you cannot even step out of the courtyard gate."

"Did you understand?"

Jiang Yuerong's knees were already numb, and her whole body was trembling.

She gritted her teeth and squeezed out two words.

"……Understood."

Only then did Madam Li put down her teacup, glance at her, and a contemptuous smile curled at the corner of her lips.

"Look at you, you're such a bad omen."

"Kneel until noon before getting up."

After saying this, she was helped away by her maid and walked away gracefully.

Inside the room, only Jiang Yuerong remained, kneeling in the cold silence.

Humiliation, resentment, and unwillingness gnawed at her heart like venomous snakes.

She couldn't figure it out.

Why should I?!

Why should she suffer such humiliation here, kneeling like a servant!

Jiang Bingning, on the other hand, was able to live a glamorous life in the Prince Xin's mansion, protected by the Dowager Consort, and even the Crown Prince stood up for her!

Clearly, she is more beautiful and better at pleasing men than Jiang Bingning!

A thought began to grow wildly in her mind.

It's Jiang Bingning!

It's all her fault!

If it weren't for her, how could I have ended up in this state!

She ruined herself, and I absolutely cannot let her get away with it!

Jiang Yuerong knelt on the ground, her nails digging deeply into her palms, her eyes flashing with malice.

Jiang Bingning, you just wait.

Everything you have done to me, I will make you pay back a hundredfold!

I'll make you taste what it's like to be utterly disgraced and trampled into the mud!

……

Three days later.

night.

Jiang Bingning was reading under the lamp as usual.

Chun Tao carried a bowl of calming soup and walked in from outside the door, but her steps were a little heavier than usual.

"Young lady, the calming soup is here."

Accompanying her in was an unfamiliar old woman, who was from Ji Shaohuan's courtyard.

"Greetings, Miss Jiang." The old woman greeted her with a forced smile.

"Our young lady was worried that the eldest young lady wouldn't sleep well at night, so she specially asked me to follow Miss Chun Tao and watch you drink this calming soup with her own eyes before she could feel at ease."

Jiang Bingning raised her eyes and glanced at the old woman indifferently.

"Thank you for your trouble, Sister Shaohuan."

She put down her book and made a gesture as if to take the soup bowl.

Just then, as if blinded by the candlelight, she frowned slightly and raised her hand to rub her eyes.

"Chuntao, the wick is a bit too long and it's causing the lamp to burst. Go and trim it."

"Yes," Chun Tao replied, turning to walk towards the candlestick on the other side.

Just as Chuntao turned her back to him...

Seeing that no one was around, the old woman moved with lightning speed, quickly pulling a tiny paper packet from her sleeve. With a flick of her finger, the white powder fell into the soup bowl.

The powder dissolves instantly in water, is colorless and odorless, and leaves no trace.

After she finished doing all this, her face returned to that respectful smile.

Jiang Bingning saw all of this clearly.

She sat in the shadows, and the old woman couldn't see her expression.

All I saw was her rubbing her eyes and slowly lowering her hand.

There was not a trace of warmth in those eyes.

Chuntao trimmed the lamp wick and came back.

The old woman handed the soup bowl to Jiang Bingning with a kind smile.

"Miss, please have some. Don't let the soup get cold."

Jiang Bingning looked at the bowl of soup, a cold smile slowly curving her lips.

To catch a thief, you must recover the stolen goods.

Now, we have both witnesses and physical evidence.

The show is about to begin.

Jiang Bingning gave a faint, almost imperceptible, cold smile.

Just as she brought the rim of the bowl to her lips—

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, the door of Tingxuexuan was kicked open from the outside!

A cold wind rushed in, making the candle flame flicker wildly.

The old woman who had poisoned the food was so terrified that she dropped the tray she was holding.

"what!"

She screamed and turned to run into the inner room.

But a figure flashed by at the door, and a tall figure blocked her way.

It is Chang Fu.

Chang Fu's face was as cold as iron.

He grabbed the old woman's arm and lifted her out like a chick.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The old woman's legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground, stammering, "It's not my fault! It has nothing to do with me!"

Immediately afterwards, a group of people filed in from outside the door.

Leading the group was the Dowager Consort, whose face was gloomy, and she was supported by two maids.

Following behind her was Liu Jingyi, whose face was full of worry.

Further back are the most prominent head maids in the mansion.

What a grand display!

As soon as Liu Jingyi entered the room and saw that Jiang Bingning was safe and sound, she breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked to her side.

"Ice Freeze!"

Jiang Bingning put down the soup bowl and slowly bent her knees in the direction of the Empress Dowager.

"Bing Ning greets the Imperial Concubine."

The Dowager Empress's gaze was like a knife, first scraping over the trembling old woman on the ground, and then landing on the bowl of calming soup.

"What's going on?"

Jiang Bingning straightened up and calmly picked up the bowl of soup.

"Reporting to the Dowager Consort."

"Bingning was just about to take the calming soup when you arrived."

She paused, then turned her gaze to the old woman who was being held down by Chang Fu.

"However, someone added something to this calming soup."

"A slow-acting poison called 'Kucha'."

"This poison is colorless and odorless. If taken for a month, it will cause a person to become emaciated, as if they have contracted an incurable disease, and eventually die silently."

With each word she spoke, the Dowager Empress's expression grew increasingly grim.

The head maids in the room gasped in shock.

The Dowager Empress was trembling with anger. This old woman was an elder of the Lin family, who used to serve Consort Lin and now served Ji Shaohuan. Naturally, she knew what was going on.

"Excellent!"

"How dare they do such a despicable thing right under my nose!"

Her cane slammed heavily on the ground.

"Tie up this unruly servant!"

"Let's go to the ancestral hall!"

"Bring out that wretched girl, Ji Shaohuan! I want to ask her what she's up to!"

The group marched in a grand procession toward the ancestral hall.

The doors of the ancestral hall were tightly closed.

Chang Fu stepped forward and kicked it away.

Inside, the candlelight was dim, and the memorial tablets stood solemnly.

A thin figure was kneeling on a prayer mat, and trembled violently at the sound.

But when she looked up, everyone was stunned.

The one kneeling is not Ji Shaohuan.

She was her personal maid.

The Dowager Empress's heart sank again.

"Where is Ji Shaohuan?"

When the maid saw the Dowager Empress with so many people, she turned pale with fright and collapsed to the ground, unable to speak coherently.

"The...the Dowager Consort..."

"I'm asking you, where is your young lady!" the Empress Dowager demanded sternly.

The maid trembled like a leaf in the wind.

"Miss... she..."

"She...she only knelt for the first two days..."

"Afterwards...afterwards, I'll take your place and tell you you won't be coming..."