“Xia Zhi, you’re going to be able to enter Prince Qi’s mansion. I… I’m happy for you.
“I’ll write a letter to your nursemaid right away, and you can deliver it to her for me.
“In the letter, I’ll ask her to help prepare some dowry items for you, so you’ll have something to rely on in the future.
“You don’t need to come back today. You won’t have many chances to leave the mansion in the future, so spend a day or two with your nursemaid before you return…”
Xia Zhi occasionally went to the shops that her mother, Sheng Mingzhu, managed outside to pass along messages or deliver things. But she had never been to the place where her mother currently lived.
Sheng Mingzhu said all this to her, and then handed her a letter and let her leave the mansion.
The surprise came so suddenly that Xia Zhi felt a bit dazed.
Following the address Sheng Mingzhu gave her, she arrived at the house where Tao Niang (her nursemaid/mother) currently lived.
Seeing her mother’s smiling face, Xia Zhi still felt a little uncomfortable.
And seeing the warm greetings from the other members of the Feng family made her feel even more like a stranger.
“San Ya (Third Girl) — are you really going to become Prince Qi’s concubine?”
Old Lady Li held Xia Zhi’s hand tightly, her cloudy eyes gleaming as she stared at Xia Zhi.
“Nainai (Grandma), my name is Xia Zhi now.”
Old Lady Li’s hands were as rough as tree bark. Xia Zhi wasn’t used to it and pulled her hand away.
Before, if Xia Zhi had acted like this, Old Lady Li would have slapped her long ago.
But ever since finding out that Xia Zhi was going to become Prince Qi’s concubine, in Old Lady Li’s heart — and probably in the hearts of everyone in the Feng family —
Xia Zhi was the one who could bring them wealth and success.
So Old Lady Li wasn’t angry at all. Instead, she smiled so hard her wrinkled face crinkled even more, and she continued asking,
“Good, good. The name Xia Zhi is wonderful — tell Nainai, is it really true that you’ll soon be Prince Qi’s woman?”
Seeing the anxious yet fawning smiles on the faces of the other Feng family members made Xia Zhi very proud.
Yes!
How could a farm girl like her become Prince Qi’s woman?
Wasn’t this the greatest fortune and joy?
Wasn’t it something to be proud of and gloat about?
Xia Zhi didn’t dare act proud in Sheng Mansion, but here, she could freely express her truest feelings.
The Feng family would only flatter and please her!
She lifted her chin slightly and nodded.
“That’s right! In three days, Prince Qi’s mansion will send someone to take me into the residence—”
The Feng family immediately beamed with joy.
By then, Tao Niang had already read Mingzhu’s letter. In the letter, Mingzhu asked her to buy a few sets of headpieces for Xia Zhi,
as well as some new clothes, fabric, and leather.
In total, four boxes’ worth would be enough. She said there was no need for a concubine to bring too many things.
Mingzhu also instructed that the items shouldn’t be too delicate or valuable, so they wouldn’t accidentally offend the princess or the secondary consort in the mansion later on.
But they also shouldn’t be too rough or shabby, or they’d make Xia Zhi a laughingstock…
Tao Niang sighed inwardly, knowing that her younger daughter was angry that her older daughter had gotten ahead of her into Prince Qi’s mansion.
Her younger daughter probably didn’t want to spend a single penny on her older daughter. But since she couldn’t let her older daughter be too shabby and become a joke when she entered Prince Qi’s mansion, she gave these instructions.
Besides, the letter hadn’t mentioned setting aside any private savings for her older daughter to fall back on.
Tips and favors are especially important in wealthy, powerful households. If her older daughter didn’t have a single penny to her name, wouldn’t life in Prince Qi’s mansion be incredibly difficult?
In the past, Tao Niang never imagined that her eldest daughter, Xia Zhi, would ever have the chance to latch onto Prince Qi.
Even if it was only as a concubine, it was still excellent.
If she had a son or daughter in the future, her eldest daughter’s life would truly take off.
Tao Niang had always doted on Sheng Mingzhu, believing that only Sheng Mingzhu could achieve great things.
But in recent days, Tao Niang had heard a lot of gossip.
Mingzhu hadn’t written to her, so she didn’t know the exact situation, but she couldn’t believe that her precious Mingzhu would like eating toads — that must be a rumor!
Still, Mingzhu’s reputation was getting worse by the day, and Tao Niang was frantic with worry.
She had already sent two letters to Lin Zhijing, but hadn’t received a reply yet…
The situation Mingzhu was facing was getting more and more dire.
On the other hand, her eldest daughter was becoming more and more promising.
For a woman, marriage and having children is like being reborn into a second life — the future is always uncertain.
Given the current situation, Mingzhu’s future was also uncertain.
Tao Niang felt she shouldn’t place all her hopes on just one person.
She had four daughters. If just one of them could achieve great success, she wouldn’t have to worry for the rest of her life.
Once she realized this, Tao Niang even set aside her past grievances with her eldest daughter and decided to treat her well.
Therefore, Tao Niang didn’t want her eldest daughter’s dowry to be too shabby.
She struggled and hesitated inwardly for a while, then had an idea.
Mingzhu trusted her completely and had never audited the accounts. There was actually a lot of wiggle room in the shop’s books.
Skimming a bit of silver from it wouldn’t be hard. That bit of money wouldn’t make much difference to Mingzhu.
But if she gave it to her eldest daughter as private savings, it would give her more confidence and security.
Having made up her mind, Tao Niang was about to take her eldest daughter out shopping when she saw the Feng family fussing over her daughter with concern.
She didn’t show it on her face, but sneered inwardly.
The Feng family had been acting so arrogantly these past few days, practically thinking they were relatives of the imperial family.
Truly foolish beyond belief!
Tao Niang decided that as soon as Lin Zhijing returned, she’d find some medicine to “get the Feng family under control.”
It was possible that all four of her daughters would achieve great things in the future, and she couldn’t let the Feng family stand in her or her daughters’ way.
After listening to more flattery from the Feng family, Xia Zhi finally left the mansion with Tao Niang.
For the first part of the trip, Xia Zhi couldn’t stop grinning, her face beaming with satisfaction.
Because she could now wear jewelry she had never even dared to dream of before.
She could also wear fabrics she had once only coveted.
She also got leather, beautiful shoes, makeup, and skincare products…
But toward the end, Xia Zhi realized that Sheng Mingzhu didn’t intend to let her mother give her any cash at all.
Having been a maid in the Sheng Mansion for so long, Xia Zhi knew perfectly well how important tips and favors were.
Now she had four large boxes of dowry items, so no one could blame Sheng Mingzhu.
But her life in Prince Qi’s mansion was surely going to be hard!
So that night, as Xia Zhi looked at the four large boxes of dowry in her room, not only was she unhappy, but she was filled with hatred.
She hated Sheng Mingzhu.
Sheng Mingzhu simply didn’t want her to have a good life!
Hatred grew in her heart. She felt that what the Seventh Miss said was right.
If you don’t look out for yourself, heaven and earth will destroy you.
Since Sheng Mingzhu had done that to her, she shouldn’t blame Xia Zhi for retaliating.
And now that she was out, she could go to the pharmacy…
The only problem was, she had so little private savings. She didn’t know if she had enough to buy that kind of poison.
She’d heard that poisons are all incredibly expensive…
Just as she was thinking this, Tao Niang came in pushing her wheelchair.
Tao Niang had a small wooden box on her lap. When she entered the room, she shoved the box into Xia Zhi’s arms and whispered,
“This is some silver that I… managed to set aside from the accounts…
“Keep it safe. Don’t let anyone find out, and don’t tell anyone I gave it to you…”
Xia Zhi opened it. Inside were about one hundred taels of loose silver and a stack of silver notes.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t touched. A wave of warmth passed through her heart, and her eyes felt a little sour and achy.
“Mother…”
This call of “Mother” brought back old feelings.
But besides being touched, Xia Zhi felt mostly relief and excitement. She had been worried about where to get the silver to buy the poison, and now the silver had come right to her door…
