The abstinent prince, practicing Buddhism, is seduced by a voluptuous beauty into breaking his vows.

"Mother! That good-for-nothing...she's gone mad!"

Su Yun'er rushed to Aunt Liu's courtyard in a panic. As soon as she entered, tears streamed down her face.

Aunt Liu was grooming her well-maintained face in front of the mirror.

"What's the panic? The sky isn't going to fall, is it?"

"Mother! It's that bitch Su Yaoyao! She... she's really different now!"

Su Yun'er threw herself onto her mother's lap.

"She knows about her uncle's gambling! She... she even said she wants her mother's dowry back!"

"Did she really say that?" Aunt Liu's voice was cold.

"Absolutely true!" Su Yun'er embellished the story of what happened in Su Yaoyao's courtyard today.

Aunt Liu's face gradually darkened. She never expected that the legitimate daughter, whom she had controlled for more than ten years and who was as weak as a lump of dough, would dare to rebel! And she even managed to seize her lifeline with a single move!

Su Yun'er touched the exquisite jade on her wrist with heartache, her tears falling even more fiercely. "Will she really tell Father? And her maternal grandfather's family... what if they really get involved..."

"The Grand Tutor's Mansion?" Aunt Liu sneered. "Trying to intimidate me by bringing up the Grand Tutor's Mansion?"

She stroked her daughter's beautiful face.

"Back then, I was able to make her mother 'die of illness' and get her good brother to 'voluntarily' volunteer to go to the frontier, and he hasn't returned for so many years. Jiang Taifu? That old man retired years ago... And she, a mere girl who has just come of age, still wants to cause trouble?"

Su Yun'er looked up, her eyes brimming with tears:

"But she seems different now... Every word she speaks is barbed, and without her breast wrap, her figure..."

"Figure?" A deep look of jealousy and hatred flashed in Aunt Liu's eyes.

That woman back then, with her fair skin and alluring figure, stole the Marquis's heart and soul, leaving her, his dowry maid, with no chance at all.

If she hadn't used some tricks back then...

But now, no matter how much she tormented that man's daughter, she still ended up with that wicked look!

She released her daughter's face, her gaze sharp.

"Yun'er, remember this: as long as you can get on the good side of the Second Prince and make your brother the heir apparent, this Marquis's mansion will be ours in the future! As for Su Yaoyao... what is she anyway?"

"But... she still holds the title of the legitimate daughter, and her marriage to the Second Prince was personally bestowed by His Majesty..." Su Yun'er was still uneasy.

"A marriage contract?" Aunt Liu sneered. "My foolish daughter, haven't you figured it out yet? The Second Prince only has eyes for you now. As long as you perform well at the palace banquet and make him completely dislike Su Yaoyao, this marriage contract might not be impossible to move."

She paused, a calculating glint in her eyes: "Moreover... the Crown Prince will also be at the palace banquet three days from now."

Su Yun'er asked, puzzled, "The Crown Prince? That Buddhist monk? What does he have to do with us?"

"Are you stupid?" Aunt Liu poked her daughter's forehead. "The Crown Prince is a Buddhist, pure of heart and free from desires, and he despises frivolous, seductive, and restless women the most. Doesn't Su Yaoyao want to show off? Let's give her a hand."

Su Yun'er gasped, "But...but that's the Crown Prince...and...and the Empress is that vile woman's aunt...What if...what if they blame us..."

"Blame me?" Aunt Liu scoffed.

"The Second Prince's birth mother, Consort Chen, is currently enjoying great power. As for the Empress? It's uncertain whether she can even raise her sickly biological son, and although her adopted son is the Crown Prince, he's a useless monk. What makes them think they can compete with Consort Chen?"

She stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the magnificent pavilions and towers of the Marquis's mansion:

"Your father has been wavering all these years, not daring to offend the Grand Tutor Qingliu behind the Empress, yet unwilling to give up the real power and benefits offered by the Consort. We, mother and daughter, must fight for ourselves! If we succeed, the position of the Second Prince's Consort, and even a higher position in the future... Yun'er, don't you want to completely crush that good-for-nothing under your feet and ensure she can never rise again?"

Su Yun'er felt a surge of warmth in her heart, yet also a faint sense of fear.

They're plotting against the Empress...

But then she thought of her mother's words, the glory of being the Second Prince's consort, and the prospect of trampling Su Yaoyao under her feet in the future, and that fear was replaced by excitement.

"My daughter understands!"

----

On the other side, Su Yaoyao was soaking in a bathtub filled with rose petals.

The warm water enveloped her skin, making her sigh softly with comfort.

Beneath the water's surface lies a body of icy skin and jade-like bones, with breathtaking curves.

Even as she swept the water across her face, she couldn't help but marvel once again at how blessed she was with her body.

She scooped up a handful of the paste mixed with milk and pearl powder and carefully applied it to her body.

The original owner's skin was of such good quality that with just a little care, it developed a jade-like luster.

Chun Tao blushed and carefully helped her pour water over herself. Looking at the faint bruises on her young mistress's body caused by the bodice binding, she frowned with heartache: "Miss, you've suffered so much..."

"It's all in the past." Su Yaoyao closed her eyes, feeling the pleasant sensation of her pores opening up.

"From now on, I will be the one to make others suffer."

She suddenly remembered something, opened her eyes,

"Brother...any news from the border?"

Fragments of the original owner's memories surged through her mind—the blurry figure of a gentle young man, her older brother Su Qingrun, who was five years her senior.

He would pick flowers for her, teach her to read, and gently hold her while humming lullabies that her mother used to sing...

Chuntao paused in her watering motion, her voice lowering:

"The eldest young master... did send a box of border-style milk pastries back last Mid-Autumn Festival, saying it was for the young lady to try. But... the aunt intercepted it, saying that border delicacies were too coarse and unworthy of the young lady's taste. After that, there was no further news..."

In his memory, he had stood up for his sister many times, but was instead scolded by his father for "disrespecting his stepmother".

Later... when border war broke out, he actually "voluntarily" volunteered, and this lasted for several years.

"Volunteering..." Su Yaoyao sneered.

A scion of a noble family, the heir to a marquis's mansion, abandons a promising future in the capital and insists on earning military merit in the harsh borderlands.

Su Yaoyao's eyes gradually turned cold.

Aunt Liu not only harmed the original owner's mother, but also plotted to send her brother away.

An eldest son who has been away at the border for many years and a spoiled daughter... wouldn't this Marquis's mansion become completely her and her son's possession?

"Brother..." Su Yaoyao murmured these two words, a strange bitterness welling up in her heart—the lingering attachment and longing of the original owner.

She raised her hand to her chest and murmured:

Don't worry, your brother, I will definitely find a way to bring him back!

Just then, another maid's voice rang out from the outer room: "Miss! Someone from the Grand Tutor's residence has arrived!"

Su Yaoyao opened her eyes, a hint of expected light flashing in them: "Please wait in the flower hall for a moment, I will be there shortly."

"The Grand Tutor's Mansion..." That was her true reliance, the confidence that her mother left her, a bond forged through blood.

And her elder brother... was another unbroken backbone for her in the quagmire of the Marquis's mansion.

Did Aunt Liu think that she could rest easy after getting rid of her brother?

dream.

Su Yaoyao picked up a comb and slowly combed her half-dry long hair. The person in the mirror had clear and determined eyes.

She not only wanted to get back her mother's dowry and deal with Aunt Liu and her daughter, but also wanted to bring her brother back in a proper and respectable manner.

The position of heir of the Yongning Marquis's mansion should belong to whoever is rightfully entitled to it.

"Let's go." She stood up, her moon-white nightgown loosely tied, her dark hair flowing freely, yet she possessed an undeniable air of authority.

"Don't keep the people from the Grand Tutor's residence waiting."

Su Yaoyao smiled.

As expected of a noble and aristocratic family, they act decisively and efficiently. They are quite different from nouveau riche families like the Marquis's Mansion.

Their arrival was perfectly timed; the Liu mother and daughter would never sit idly by and wait for their doom, and they were in dire need of trustworthy people.