Chapter 042: You Fangyin’s Change

That day, Jiang Xuening returned to the mansion very late.

After washing up and lying on the already made bed, it was already late at night.

The jasmine bracelet that Yan Lin had tied to her wrist was carefully untied and gently placed on the dressing table. The faint fragrance wafted to her pillow, becoming very light and subtle, but it permeated her deep dreams.

However, the next morning, the jasmine on the dressing table had withered.

The once plump petals drooped, as if they had lost their vitality and moisture, presenting a withered appearance.

Winter jasmine, although rare and beautiful, is ultimately not the best time for it to bloom.

Jiang Xuening stood in front of the dressing mirror, looking at it for a long time.

Then she picked it up and placed it in a small incense box on the desk.

The palace had only given two days for the selected companions to return home to visit their parents, say goodbye to their families, and prepare for a long stay in the palace. The time was really not sufficient, and they had to return to the palace by this evening.

The maids and old women in the house were helping Jiang Xuening pack her things.

She herself did not need to be busy, just sitting outside in the corridor, dazed, thinking about the current situation and her own predicament.

Originally, she did not plan to enter the palace, but ended up being selected as a companion. The status of the Jiang family in the capital was not low, but compared to other noble families, it was far inferior. In her previous life, her biggest reliance in the palace was actually Yan Lin.

But soon after, the Yongyi Marquis Mansion had an incident.

At that time, she was not sociable, and her temperament did not allow her to get along with other companions. Moreover, due to the incident at the Yongyi Marquis Mansion, there were many people in the palace who took advantage of the situation, so she suffered a lot. Fortunately, later she got close to Shen Jie.

After gaining the favor of His Highness the Prince of Linzi, her situation gradually improved, and no one dared to bully her.

In her previous life, she was foolish and unprepared for what happened, so she suffered a lot. Now, the incident at the Yongyi Marquis Mansion was probably unavoidable, and entering the palace had become a foregone conclusion. She would have to stay in the palace for half a year, and she really did not want to get too involved with the royal family in this life. Therefore, the path of trying to please Shen Jie to protect herself should not be taken again.

But if so…

In this life, what should she do to make her life in the palace better for the next six months? Especially after the recent turmoil in the palace, she seemed to have unintentionally become the most unpopular and hated person again.

Zhou Yinzhi was too dangerous.

Previously, using him was a last resort, but in the future, she had to be more careful.

But, besides this person, who else could she use?

“Sigh…”

Just thinking about it gave her a headache.

Jiang Xuening looked at the sky, which had not cleared after the rain but had become even more gloomy in early winter, and sighed deeply.

“I wonder how You Fangyin is doing…”

---

You Fangyin had almost finished arranging things, but was still a bit uncertain.

After returning from Jiang Xuening’s place yesterday, she detoured to visit Xu Wenyi. This time, she did not mention anything about the well salt and Zhuotong well in Shu, and left after sitting for a while.

It was not that she had anything to discuss with Xu Wenyi, but because Jiang Xuening had instructed her to do so.

She said it was to “create a false impression.”

At this moment, looking at the crooked words she had written, her fingers couldn’t help but tremble, and her heart beat faster. She had listened to the second young lady’s words yesterday, and indeed had the idea of making You Yue suffer a bit for her words and actions. But she had never intentionally harmed anyone in all these years. The plan was well thought out, but when it came time to execute it, she couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.

“Is she in the room?”

While she was hesitating and anxious, urgent and chaotic footsteps suddenly came from outside, along with a contemptuous inquiry.

Someone outside immediately responded, “Yes, she is.”

The charming voice immediately said, “Let’s go in and see what she’s up to!”

The footsteps immediately became louder and closer.

Having lived in the mansion for so many years and suffered her oppression for so many years, how could You Fangyin not recognize that it was You Yue’s voice? She almost immediately folded the paper on the table and put it into her sleeve, nervously standing up from her seat, looking towards the door, and called out, “Second sister.”

At this moment, You Yue had just reached the door.

Before seeing her, You Fangyin thought she would be as fearful as before, not daring to look directly and even trembling. However, when she appeared in her sight, what flashed in her mind was the grievance and bitterness that the second young lady had endured yesterday.

The second young lady had already done so much for her, and in the palace, she had to be troubled by the second sister because she had saved her. Now it was time for her to repay the second young lady and protect her.

Her heart suddenly settled.

You Fangyin’s fingers hidden in her sleeve quietly clenched, also gripping the paper she had just put in her sleeve.

She knew that the opportunity had come.

Today, You Yue was wearing a bright peach-colored skirt. Due to the sudden cold weather in the past two days, she was also delicately carrying a rabbit fur hand warmer, with both hands tucked inside. She stood at the door, looking at You Fangyin with disdain, and glanced around her shabby room, even reluctant to step inside, just standing at the threshold, sneering, “I heard you went out of the mansion yesterday?”

You Fangyin immediately said, “No, that’s not true.”

“Not true?”

You Yue’s face immediately darkened, and she directly questioned the person behind her.

“Mama Zhang, come out and tell us, did she or did she not!”

A stern-looking old maid immediately stepped forward, pointing at You Fangyin’s nose and sharply said, “This old servant would never be mistaken. Yesterday, when I went to the silk shop to buy fabric for your new clothes, I saw this girl leaving the shop with a piece of fine silk. Although this old servant is old, my eyesight has never failed me all these years. At that time, I was puzzled, wondering how the third young lady, with her status in the mansion, could afford such an expensive piece of silk. I was worried that something unclean had happened in the mansion, so I had to report it to the second young lady.”

You Yue then said, “I happen to be missing some money from my room.”

After speaking, she looked at You Fangyin with a mocking smile.

How could You Fangyin not know what they were up to?

In the past, she would have been anxious and red-eyed, constantly defending herself.

But now, what she could think of were the clear steps ahead. She only appeared as panicked as usual on the surface and said, “It wasn’t me. I didn’t take it. I don’t even dare to go near the second sister’s place. How could I take the second sister’s money? You can’t falsely accuse me!”

You Yue had suffered a lot in the palace, but some details were too embarrassing to tell others. She could only say that she had a conflict with the second young lady of the Jiang family and suffered a lot of grievances, unable to vent her anger.

She had planned to suppress this anger, but who would have thought that a little concubine-born girl in the mansion would dare to cause trouble?

She was just looking for a place to vent her anger!

You Yue walked over and slapped her in the face. Her delicate face was stained with a malicious and vicious expression, and she said, “If you didn’t take my money, where did you get the money to buy silk? Did it fall from the sky? Someone, turn her room upside down and search it thoroughly!”

You Fangyin had fallen into the water and gotten sick some time ago, and she had been mistreated recently. Her body was already weak. This slap was very heavy, leaving red finger marks on her face. She almost fell to the ground, her head buzzing, unable to speak.

The maids and old women immediately entered her room.

The teapot and cups on the table were smashed, the pillows and quilts were torn apart, and even the few ornaments were knocked over and thrown on the ground. The originally shabby but tidy room immediately became a mess.

Soon, an old woman found a few pieces of scattered silver and two fifty-tael silver notes hidden at the bottom of the clothes chest. She immediately shouted, “Found it!” and then presented them to You Yue like a treasure, “Second young lady, look!”

You Yue took a look and her pupils shrank.

She hadn’t believed it when she heard it, thinking that You Fangyin was just a useless piece of mud that couldn’t be helped. How could she have the ability to get so much money? But now, the silver and silver notes were right in front of her eyes, making it impossible not to believe.

A surge of anger immediately welled up in her heart.

She clenched the silver notes and silver tightly and said, “Well, you dare to do such sneaky things right under my nose! Some time ago, that shameless Jiang Xuening protected you, sparing you from a punishment. I didn’t expect you to find a backer and even dare to steal my money!”

Several maids and old women immediately stepped forward to hold You Fangyin down. She struggled violently, her eyes bloodshot, and shouted, “Even in court, evidence is required to convict someone. The scattered silver has no marks, but the source of these two silver notes is clear. I used the money my mother left me to invest in a business and earned shares. Even the bank can verify it. If the second sister wants to kill me, why use such a clumsy excuse? Doesn’t the second sister know if there’s money missing from her room?”

You Yue didn’t expect her to dare to talk back.

At the moment she was retorted, she almost didn’t react, and then she became furious, immediately ordering someone to slap her.

Unexpectedly, while You Fangyin was being held down by the maids and old women, a folded piece of paper fell out of her sleeve and landed on the ground.

Seeing this, You Fangyin immediately tried to pounce on it to grab it.

You Yue’s heart moved when she saw this, and she stepped forward, directly stepping on You Fangyin’s outstretched fingers and grinding them hard. Only then did she pick up the piece of paper with a cold smile on her lips, under You Fangyin’s seemingly unwilling and somewhat terrified gaze. “Tsk, let me see what little love letter this is…”

As she spoke, she unfolded the piece of paper.

The handwriting on it wasn’t particularly good, but it wasn’t difficult to recognize.

You Yue glanced at it roughly and was almost immediately stunned: Well salt, Zhuotong well, Ren Weizhi?

She knew very well whether there was any money missing from her room.

So she was curious about the source of You Fangyin’s money.

Seeing this piece of paper, she was momentarily suspicious, but after calming down and thinking about it, she suspected that You Fangyin had indeed received some “expert” advice and had found a way to make money.

The maid beside her was very curious and wanted to look, “Miss, what does it say?”

You Yue instinctively covered the paper, not letting the maid see its contents.

Her eyes flashed with greed, but she didn’t make a fuss. She just curled her lips and looked at You Fangyin, who was staring at her intently, feeling extremely pleased inside. “Lock her in the woodshed first. Don’t let her run around outside all day and ruin our family’s reputation!”

The old maids immediately dragged You Fangyin away.

Because of this, You Yue didn’t see the moment when she turned around, her face devoid of all expression, cold and indifferent.

---

In the afternoon, near the hour of You (5-7 PM), the Jiang family’s carriage was ready. Perhaps because Jiang Xuening had performed well during the last palace selection, or maybe because she had quarreled with her family and caused trouble for Jiang Xuehui the day she returned home, Jiang Boyou and Madam Meng didn’t say much this time, only reminding her to be cautious before letting her go.

Today, when she arrived at the palace gate, she was alone.

Entering the palace for the second time was different from the first time. After all, she was familiar with the environment now, so she didn’t wait for everyone to arrive before leaving. Instead, as soon as someone arrived, a young eunuch would help carry their luggage and lead them to Yangzhi Zhai.

As Jiang Xuening got off the carriage, another carriage arrived beside her.

It was Yao Xi.

After not seeing her for two days, she seemed to have lost some weight. When she got off the carriage, her brows were still furrowed. When she looked up and saw Jiang Xuening, her gaze was somewhat dazed, as if she had something to say, but in the end, she closed her mouth.

Jiang Xuening then thought—

In the past two days, how did Yao Xi handle the marriage proposal with Zhang Zhe?