"Marry me if you want!" The emperor sneered, "Don't even think about being the principal wife. Being a concubine is already a compliment!"
Xin Yidao stroked the warm jade ring, her peripheral vision catching a glimpse of a dark robe flashing behind the screen. The East Depot Supervisor vanished like a ghost, taking with him the irrefutable evidence of collusion between the Yongchang Earl's Mansion and the Yang family.
At this moment, in the back garden of the Yongding Marquis's mansion, Jiang Yuyao pruned the rose bushes from the arbor. She stared toward the pavilion in the center of the lake, her eyes blazing with poisonous fire. "Jiang Songyi, so good! You pretend to be noble, but you're just trying to climb up the social ladder by stepping on me!"
"Second sister, be careful with your words." Jiang Jinzhao wiped the sword at his waist. "The Fourth Prince has already agreed to the position of concubine."
"Concubine?" Jiang Yuyao suddenly laughed crazily. "Brother, do you know why mother wanted to exchange her son?" She pulled open her clothes to reveal a cinnabar mole on her collarbone. "Because the fortune teller said this mole indicates a phoenix destiny!"
Jiang Baichuan's teacup clanged to the ground. He recalled that rainy night ten years ago when his stepmother rushed into the ancestral hall, clutching a baby covered in bruises. It turned out the so-called twins were merely a trick to replace the prince with a cat.
"Enough!" Jiang Jinzhao swept his sword across the scabbard, shattering the flower pots on the trellis. "The Jiang family's honor and disgrace depend on the prince. How can we allow you to mess around!"
As the setting sun shone like blood, Xinyi Zigu stumbled out of the palace. Zhuque Street was lit up with bright lights. Yu Chuwei waited at the corner, lantern in hand. Even the light veil covering her face couldn't hide the red marks on her neck. "Your Highness."
"Get lost!" He whipped the lantern to pieces. "Do you really think I can't see your connection with the Yang family?" He lifted Yu Chuwei's chin with the golden whip. "Is this wolf head tattoo the mark of the Mobei Death Warriors?"
Yu Chuwei's pupils shrank sharply. Before she could deploy the poisoned silver needles in her sleeve, she felt a chill in her throat. Xin Yi Daoyi's white jade folding fan pressed against her vitals, the pattern on the fan's bones perfectly aligning with the East Factory token.
"Fourth brother, you are confused." The prince's fingertips brushed across the wooden hairpin in Yu Chuwei's hair. "The Yongchang Marquis's Mansion surrendered to Mobei three years ago. Is the border defense map hidden in this hairpin?"
The night watch sounded as Jiang Songyi leaned against the window lattice of the Marquis's mansion's library. She watched the Crown Prince's carriage disappear at the end of the long street. Suddenly, the jade bracelet on her wrist clicked open, revealing a wolf-head seal in a secret compartment—the very token she had taken from Xinyi Zigu's arms when she rescued him from the lake that day.
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