Xin Jiuwei's days at the orphanage were fulfilling and peaceful.

She was like a sponge, greedily absorbing everything.

Warehouse management gave her a more intuitive understanding of material allocation and personnel distribution; accounting records honed her meticulousness and organization; and interactions with children allowed her to experience pure kindness and warmth. She focused intently, striving to do every seemingly trivial task to the best of her ability.

Shen Zhiwei initially tried to trip up Xin Jiuwei at the council meeting, deliberately asking questions about trivial matters or setting up small obstacles in the distribution of materials.

But Xin Jiuwei was no longer the girl who had just arrived in the capital, bewildered and helpless. She had been learning from Granny Jiang for a long time and had experience assisting with simple household affairs in the prince's residence. Faced with Shen Zhiwei's difficult questions, she remained calm and composed. Her accounts were clear and traceable, and the allocation of supplies was based on evidence. She was organized and meticulous, leaving no room for error.

After several attempts, Shen Zhiwei not only failed to gain any advantage, but also appeared to be petty and troublesome. Even the old lady of the Marquis of Anguo looked at her with some disapproval.

This infuriated Shen Zhiwei even more, leaving her feeling like a trapped beast. The "old story of the Qi family" offered by Granny Zhou—a soft knife—was swiftly and decisively extinguished by Xiao Xun, leaving not a ripple. Now, even her personal intervention yielded no advantage against Xin Jiuwei, this "country bumpkin"! Her prized reputation for talent and her position as a council member seemed to have become a joke!

"Useless! All of you are useless!" Inside the embroidered tower of the Shen family mansion, Shen Zhiwei tore up the newly copied zither score, her beautiful face twisted with jealousy and hatred. "Xin Jiuwei! What makes her so special?! A country girl from a declining family, what makes her superior to me in every way?! And the Sixth Prince... he actually protects her like this!" Just thinking about Xiao Xun's cold eyes and his protection of Xin Jiuwei made Shen Zhiwei's heart ache as if it were being bitten by a venomous snake.

“Miss, please calm down,” Granny Zhou quickly dismissed the servants and lowered her voice, “If we can’t do it openly, we’ll do it secretly! The Ciyou Hall… is a sensitive place with many people watching. If there’s a small mistake in the accounts she’s handling, or if one or two items of the supplies she’s in charge of… disappear…” Her eyes flashed with a sinister light, “The old lady of the Marquis of Anguo hates embezzlement and dereliction of duty the most! As long as the evidence is conclusive, even if Xin Jiuwei has the Sixth Prince backing her, she can forget about ever standing in the Ciyou Hall again! Her reputation will be ruined, to put an end to it!”

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhiwei's eyes blazed with venom: "Fine! Granny, you arrange this matter! Make sure it's done cleanly! Find a few inconspicuous old women, and make sure they're quick and efficient! After it's done..." She made a throat-slitting gesture, revealing her ruthlessness.

Granny Zhou understood immediately: "Don't worry, Miss, this old servant understands."

A frame-up against Xin Jiuwei was quietly orchestrated in the shadows.

Xin Jiuwei was not entirely unaware of this. Shen Zhiwei's undisguised hostility and Zhou Mama's furtive movements had heightened her vigilance. She made the storeroom accounts even clearer, requiring the person handling each transaction to sign and affix their fingerprint, and secretly kept copies. The inventory of supplies was also changed from once every three days to a daily check-up with another reliable nanny before closing time, and then sealed.

That afternoon, Xin Jiuwei was checking the quantity of a newly received batch of cotton cloth in the warehouse. This batch of cotton cloth was donated by several wealthy wives in the city, intended to be used to make winter clothes for their children. The quantity was not small, a total of twenty bolts.

"Granny Li, have you finished counting? Here are ten bolts of plain white, five bolts of indigo, and five bolts of navy blue, totaling twenty bolts, which matches the donation slip," Xin Jiuwei said to Granny Li, who was helping with the counting, pointing to the pile of cotton cloth. Granny Li was an elderly woman brought by the Lady of Anguo Marquis; she was an upright person, and Xin Jiuwei trusted her quite a bit.

"Yes, the number is correct." Granny Li nodded and signed the inventory receipt.

Xin Jiuwei also signed her name, then took out a specially made seal, ready to seal it.

Just then, a commotion arose at the entrance of the storeroom. Granny Zhou stormed in, accompanied by two burly, rough-looking maids, and followed by Shen Zhiwei, who looked "anxious."

"Miss Xin! Granny Li! Something's happened!" Shen Zhiwei said anxiously as soon as she entered, her eyes sweeping over the pile of cotton cloth. "Just now, Madam Zhao (the wife of a wealthy merchant who donated the cloth) sent someone to inquire, saying that among the donated cotton cloth, there were two bolts of fine Suzhou brocade mixed in, which were intended to be used as wedding dresses for her daughters. They were mistakenly donated as ordinary cotton cloth! Those were imperial gifts, and their value is considerable!"

Granny Zhou immediately chimed in, pointing to the pile of cloth, her voice shrill: "Quick! Find Su Jin! Don't mix them up! Miss Xin, you personally counted and put this cloth into storage! If anything goes wrong..."

Xin Jiuwei sneered inwardly, but remained outwardly calm: "Miss Shen, Granny Zhou, the inventory slip is here. Granny Li and I just counted the items, and only twenty bolts of ordinary cotton cloth were received. There was no Suzhou brocade. The donation slip also clearly states that Madam Zhao donated twenty bolts of cotton cloth." She handed copies of the inventory slip and the donation slip to Shen Zhiwei.

Shen Zhiwei didn't even glance at it, but frowned and said, "Perhaps Madam Zhao remembered it wrong? Or maybe they mixed it up when it was put into storage? Miss Xin, this concerns imperial gifts, which is no small matter! It would be best if we could check the storeroom again carefully! What if... what if there is some oversight?" Her words were suggestive, implying that Xin Jiuwei might have embezzled.

"Yes! The warehouse is a sensitive place, we must check it thoroughly so that we can give Madam Zhao an explanation!" As Zhou Mama spoke, she was about to direct the two old women to go forward and search.

"Wait!" Xin Jiuwei's voice suddenly turned cold. She stepped forward, blocking the storeroom door, her clear eyes staring directly at Shen Zhiwei with an unyielding air. "Miss Shen is a director, so it's perfectly acceptable for her to inspect the storeroom. However, without any evidence, relying solely on Madam Zhao's one-sided statement (whether this is even true is still questionable), it's unreasonable to conduct a search. Furthermore, the storeroom is checked and sealed daily before closing time by Li Mama and me. The seals are intact. If something is found missing during this search, how will the responsibility be divided?"

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