"The second young lady is related to our young lady, but she's too stubborn and refuses to associate with her. Now that the young master is quite shrewd in officialdom, he has to find ways to curry favor with our young lady, especially since it's the end of the year and he's in a hurry to report on his performance. I guess the young master wants to advance his career. Didn't you see when the madam came to the Marquis's mansion for dinner? She made it clear to our young lady that no matter whether the second young lady gives birth to a boy or a girl, she is the only mistress of the mansion, and no one can surpass her?"

"Is that so? But a while ago, the aunt had someone take the second young lady's pulse, and the doctor said that the second young lady might be carrying a girl. The aunt's face was very long, and she kept urging the second young lady to acknowledge Xiao Tao's illegitimate son. The second young lady was so angry that she bled... She says one thing to your face and another behind your back. How can she be so shameless?"

"That's true, but the way the Madam is showing affection for our young lady is clear. On the anniversary of the Madam's death, she personally took care of the arrangements with the young master—so no matter where you look at it, she's in the right."

"Sigh, the Second Miss suffered because of her stubbornness. If she had dared to mention our Miss, I don't think the Madam would have dared to say anything about acknowledging an illegitimate son. The Second Miss is really tough. I have to admire her. She said she wouldn't benefit from our Miss's fame, and she really meant it, without weighing the pros and cons at all."

“Jiang Yao is about to give birth, and Madam Bo and Pei Lingyu are busy preparing for my mother’s memorial day. Who will take care of Jiang Yao? Qingxing, send someone to Madam Bo to tell her that I appreciate their kindness, but they don’t need to go.” Jiang Shuwan said, pulling her sleeves together.

"Yes, miss."

Qingxing accepted the order and left.

The next day, the sky grew even darker and the wind howled. As soon as Jiang Shuwan stepped out, the hood of her cloak flew off. Qingxing quickly put it back on for her, but it flew off again as soon as she put it on.

"Bring me the scarf."

"Oh, right, there are also scarves from the Second Miss's workshop."

Qingxing quickly brought over a white scarf, which was made of soft wool and very warm.

It's so airtight that you can wrap it around your neck.

He walked out of the courtyard in the cold wind and got into the carriage. Halfway there, the carriage suddenly stopped.

"What's going on? Is Li Chengyun joking again?"

Lifting the sedan curtain, Jiang Shuwan looked at the empty street with dissatisfaction. Li Chengyun had used this trick when he kidnapped her before.

Sudden.

With a "whoosh," a sharp arrow shot out, but fortunately the wind was strong and it missed its target, hitting the car body instead.

The arrowhead pierced several inches deep, and the arrow shaft made a "buzzing" sound, showing that the archer used tremendous force.

"An assassin!"

The coachman called out loudly.

A short while later, after a bloody battle, all the guards who came with the Marquis's mansion were injured, and the secret guards beside General Gu were also forced to reveal themselves. However, the thieves were clearly well-prepared. If their men hadn't dragged the people from the capital's government office to the scene, they would have succeeded.

"Move aside, I'll go take a look."

Jiang Shuwan jumped off the carriage with a grim expression. This was the first time she had ever experienced an assassination attempt against her. The girl's hands trembled, but she still got off the carriage without fear.

“Your Highness, all these people are dead. Even the ones we kept alive have bitten their tongues.”

General Gu said.

Jiang Shuwan's face darkened further. She had offended many people, but there were very few who hated her so much that they wanted to kill her.

Moreover, she has Pei Yanzhi's backing. Pei Yanzhi will be returning to the capital soon. If he kills her, her business won't fall into the hands of outsiders...

Just then, the Prefect of Kyoto Prefecture, the one who had been bullied and helpless in Donglai Street, walked over timidly.

"Your Highness, the constables just reported that at the same time, the second young lady of the Jiang family in the Earl's mansion was also assassinated. The second young lady is... is afraid she won't make it..."

"..."

Jiang Shuwan's mind went blank for a moment. When she arrived at the Marquis's residence, she found it littered with corpses, some of which were the guards she had assigned to Jiang Yao.

Jiang Yao was making money for the Crown Prince, and fearing that Li Chengyun would harm her, she assigned half of her men to secretly watch over her. Now they are all dead.

Further on, there were the corpses of maids and servants, with blood flowing all over the ground.

Jiang Shuwan, leaning against the threshold, asked the terrified butler beside her, "Where are the Madam and the young master?"

"At the Jiang family's house—"

"..."

Jiang Shuwan froze, and then a series of intermittent sounds came from inside the room.

"Is the child...is the child alive...?"

Jiang Shuwan stepped inside and saw Jiang Yao lying in a pool of blood, her eyes unfocused, asking questions and grabbing at things haphazardly. Beside her was a midwife, who was already dead, her hands pounding in her chest. However, there was a blood-soaked infant beside her.

Fearing he would be implicated, the prefect of Kyoto, who had come with Jiang Shuwan, quickly stated, "Your Highness, please understand. That group of men in black came strangely. They went straight for the Second Miss as soon as they entered. The guards risked their lives to protect her, but they were still stabbed multiple times. By the time we arrived, the Second Miss was already lying in a pool of blood..."

Without listening to Kong's words, Jiang Shuwan walked a few steps to Jiang Yao.

Seeing her disheveled appearance covered in blood, Jiang Yao laughed heartily a few times.

"I knew it, you're the most hateful. Even if someone hates me so much they want to kill me, you can't escape either, you can't escape..."

She laughed and then cried.

"Jiang Shuwan, please check on my child... How is he... I carried him for ten months... I risked my life to give birth to him... How are you..."

Looking down at the blood infant, which was only the size of two fists, Jiang Shuwan squatted down next to Jiang Yao.

"Don't speak yet, the imperial physician will be here soon."

"What good is it if the imperial physician comes? Can he give blood transfusions? Can he perform emergency treatment? The medical facilities here are terrible and can't compare to modern times. Jiang Shuwan... I know I'm going to die... Can I tell you a secret?"

"Actually, I am not a person of your time. You are all commodities, but I am not. I am a person."

"I am different from you, I am nobler than you, do you know that?"

"Don't be fooled by your thriving business. Without me, you're nothing. You're just a frog in a well. I really despise you. You're a frog in a well who knows nothing, has never been educated, never read books, and has never seen the world. You're pathetic."

"No matter how powerful you are, I will never benefit from your influence, I would rather die than benefit from your influence."

"But I don't understand why... Even though I'm so much better than you, no one praises me. From childhood to adulthood, my father thinks you're better than me, my clansmen think you're better than me, and even my mother, the mother who gave birth to me, thinks I'm not as good as you."

“No one loves me. Yulang doesn’t love me. My father doesn’t love me. My mother doesn’t love me either.”

"When my cousin Ling got married, Mother remembered the hibiscus cake you loved to eat, but I had nothing, nothing at all..."

“They all say I’m no good, I’m useless, I’m blind, it’s been like this since modern times. Nobody praises me, I’m a good-for-nothing, I can’t do anything, my education is bad, my job is bad, and I can’t handle interpersonal relationships.”