Chu Ye began discussing the progress of his investigation into the Qizhen Pavilion over the past few days.
"Madam Xue confessed that it was her sister-in-law from her maiden family who suggested she go to Qizhen Pavilion to choose a birthday gift."
"As for that warm jade pillow, Madam Xue was reluctant to spend ten thousand taels of silver on it, but it was her sister-in-law who repeatedly persuaded her to buy it."
"I've investigated Qizhen Pavilion. It's only been open for the past three years. The owner behind it is very mysterious; I still can't figure out who it is."
"Looking at their clientele, they're all noble families from the court, a mixed bag of characters."
"Interestingly, the manager of Qizhen Pavilion is a woman in her thirties. I sent someone to test her, and discovered she possesses martial arts skills."
"I've already assigned people to keep a close watch on her."
After hearing Chu Ye's progress, Chu Tianjiao frowned. This Qizhen Pavilion existed in her previous life, with its store full of priceless antiques and rarities, highly sought after by the noble circles.
In her previous life, when she was the Fourth Prince's consort, she had also bought some trinkets there to give as gifts.
"Grandmother, I'd like to personally explore Qizhen Pavilion tomorrow."
Old Madam Chu nodded in agreement and instructed Nanny Li to take a thousand taels of silver notes from her personal funds and give them to Chu Tianjiao.
"These thousand taels are a reward from your grandmother, for your efforts in finding medicine for me. You've worked hard."
Chu Tianjiao accepted the silver notes and was about to come forward to act coquettishly when Old Madam Chu pushed her away:
"Get off! I've given you your reward, but punishment is still necessary. For rashly insulting the prince, your punishment is to eat an extra pig brain with every meal starting tomorrow."
Chu Tianjiao let out a wail, "No, Grandmother, I've already decided to study diligently. I don't want to eat pig brains."
When a bowl of clear-stewed pig brain appeared on the breakfast table the next day, Chu Tianjiao witnessed Old Madam Chu's words in action.
Nanny Li stood by with a serious expression, supervising until Chu Tianjiao frowned and swallowed the bowl of pig brain. Only then did her expression soften.
"Young Miss, don't blame the Old Madam. She's just too afraid that if she's suddenly not around..."
At this point, Nanny Li's eyes began to redden.
Chu Tianjiao stood up to comfort Nanny Li, expressing that she understood her grandmother's intentions.
How could she not understand?
Although Wang Elderly Physician said that using fire turtle blood in the medicine could treat Old Madam Chu's illness, the prescription he saw in an ancient book had never been tested in practice.
That's why Wang Elderly Physician didn't dare to rashly use the medicine on Old Madam Chu, taking the fire turtle blood back to research, hoping to prepare it more thoroughly.
If Wang Elderly Physician's medicine didn't work, the cold poison in Old Madam Chu's body would eventually erupt.
After seeing Nanny Li off, Chu Tianjiao prepared to go out.
Lu Dingfeng chased out of the courtyard: "Young Miss, I haven't been out shopping for a long time. Can I come along?"
Chu Tianjiao hadn't been out shopping for a long time either, and feeling sympathetic that Lu Dingfeng's situation was even worse than hers, she agreed.
"I can take you shopping, but you're not allowed to cause any more trouble."
"It was your mischievous idea that got me punished by Grandmother to eat pig brains every day. It's making me sick."
The group rode in a carriage straight to the street where Qizhen Pavilion was located.
Today, Chu Tianjiao wore a red embroidered fitted vest over a white narrow-sleeved long robe. Her hair was tied high on her head, adorned with a red gold hairpin inlaid with oriental pearls.
At first glance, she looked less like a young lady from a noble family and more like a delicate young gentleman.
When she jumped down from the carriage, women passing by on the street stopped to look, letting out a soft "tsk" and sucking in their breath.
Lu Dingfeng, following closely behind, started exclaiming while still standing on the carriage step: "The Capital City has become so prosperous!"
Qingluan finally couldn't bear it anymore and quietly asked Chu Tianjiao:
"Miss, Sang Shen is getting stranger and stranger. She's grown up in the Capital City since childhood, how can she act like an unsophisticated country bumpkin who's never seen the world?"
Chu Tianjiao frowned, turning back to glare at Lu Dingfeng, reminding him to be careful with his words.
"Qingluan, keep a closer eye on Sang Shen. She was ill recently and seems to have injured her head, acting a bit crazy."
Qingluan pulled Lu Dingfeng down from the carriage step and shoved a bundle into his hands to carry.
The three of them entered Qizhen Pavilion.
The shelves on the first floor displayed some exquisite jewelry and accessories.
Seeing Chu Tianjiao's luxurious attire, the shop assistant approached with a face full of smiles.
After a few polite exchanges, Chu Tianjiao seemed to take a liking to a peacock hairpin in the display case and picked it up.
When she heard the shop assistant introduce the peacock hairpin as costing five thousand taels of silver, Chu Tianjiao drew in a sharp breath and put the hairpin back.
"That's too expensive. Are you trying to rob people?"
"This hairpin is said to have been a treasured possession of the Empress from the previous dynasty. It's quite rare, hence the slightly higher price."
Just as the shop assistant finished explaining, the peacock hairpin was picked up by a young woman who had just entered.
"This hairpin is indeed exquisite. I'll buy it!"
Chu Tianjiao looked up and froze.
The woman holding the peacock hairpin was none other than Ye Tinglan, Chu Tianjiao's enemy from her previous life.
When enemies meet, eyes turn red with hatred.
In her previous life, Chu Tianjiao had been poisoned to death by Ye Tinglan.
She had been fighting bloody battles at the frontier for the sake of leaving the country.
In the end, she had survived the Western Rong's swords and spears, only to return to the palace and fall victim to the schemes of Ye Tinglan and Lu Zhaoling, that pair of scoundrels.
Even in death, Chu Tianjiao couldn't rest in peace. During her three years hanging in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, whenever she thought of this, she felt unreconciled, wishing she could come back to life and tear Ye Tinglan apart.
Their eyes met, and the hatred in Chu Tianjiao's eyes startled Ye Tinglan, making her take a step back.
"Sister Chu, if you want this hairpin, I can let you have it..."
Ye Tinglan's voice was coquettish and sweet, addressing Chu Tianjiao as "Sister Chu" as if they were truly close.
Ye Tinglan was the niece of Consort Ye. Since Consort Ye had gained favor, the Ye family's influence at court had become formidable.
However, the Ye family was still nouveau riche, unable to compare with the Chu family, a centuries-old military aristocratic family.
Moreover, Chu Tianjiao didn't like to associate with the young ladies of the Capital City, so the two had little interaction before.
Chu Tianjiao had just been punished yesterday for her rashness, so today, even though she hated seeing her enemy, she constantly reminded herself not to act impulsively.
This revenge needed to be taken, but there was no need to rush.
"Oh my, I just heard someone complaining about how expensive things are at Qizhen Pavilion. I wondered who could be so poor, turns out it's Miss Chu who can't seem to marry into the royal family."
The speaker was Zhou Tongyun, who had entered the store with Ye Tinglan.
Zhou Tongyun's attitude was arrogant, but Chu Tianjiao didn't pay her any mind.
Her gaze remained fixed on Ye Tinglan. After finally suppressing the surging hatred in her heart, Chu Tianjiao curled her lips into a smile and said:
"Miss Ye? You're calling me sister? I heard you're actually half a year older than me. Are you hoping to marry into the Fourth Prince's household as a concubine?"
Ye Tinglan's whole body trembled, secretly alarmed: How did Chu Tianjiao know about my feelings for the Fourth Prince?
At this time, Ye Tinglan was still engaged, and her relationship with Lu Zhaoling was only that of nominal cousins.
Ye Tinglan thought no one in the world knew that the person she truly admired was the Fourth Prince, Lu Zhaoling.
She panicked and her eyes reddened. Zhou Tongyun, standing beside her, couldn't stand it anymore. While comforting Ye Tinglan, she scolded Chu Tianjiao:
"How dare you, Chu Tianjiao! People say you're uncouth, and it seems they're right."
"Your own wedding to the Fourth Prince has been delayed, and you're taking out your frustrations on Sister Ye?"
"Who doesn't know that Sister Ye is engaged to my seventh brother? You're blatantly slandering her!"
This Zhou Tongyun was the youngest daughter of the Minister of Revenue. Her seventh brother, Zhou Jinyun, was her full brother, and Ye Tinglan and Zhou Tongyun actually had a future sister-in-law relationship.
Unfortunately, Chu Tianjiao knew that the unsuccessful Zhou Jinyun would soon die of a sudden illness, and naturally, the engagement between the Zhou and Ye families would come to nothing.
Based on her memories from her previous life, Zhou Jinyun's illness came on suddenly. Knowing that Ye Tinglan could make poisons, Chu Tianjiao couldn't help but suspect this was Ye Tinglan's handiwork.
Marrying the youngest son of the Minister of Revenue who had no inheritance as a principal wife, or marrying a prince with hidden potential as a concubine - Ye Tinglan had certainly calculated well.
Chu Tianjiao gave Zhou Tongyun a dismissive look, not bothering to waste words with this fool. She turned to ask the shop assistant if she could go upstairs to look around.
The shop assistant replied hesitantly, "Our Qizhen Pavilion's second floor requires a VIP card."
When Chu Tianjiao heard that the VIP card required annual spending of at least a hundred thousand taels, she became a bit unsettled. Since when had the people of the Capital City become so extravagant?
Why then were the soldiers' wages always in short supply?
Zhou Tongyun stood by, gloating and mocking, "I thought the Marquis of Liyang's Mansion had spent a fortune to get Miss Chu a VIP card. Turns out she's just a pauper who can't even go upstairs."
Ye Tinglan stopped Zhou Tongyun from continuing and took out a jade pendant from her own purse. With a sincere expression, she said:
"Sister Chu, I don't know why you have such a misunderstanding about me. My relationship with my cousin is pure and innocent."
"You should have already been my cousin-in-law. I wish you and my cousin a speedy marriage."
"I have a VIP card here. Let me take you upstairs!"
Faced with Ye Tinglan's sudden show of kindness, Chu Tianjiao was unfazed.
In her previous life, Ye Tinglan had also acted this gracious and gentle, fooling her into believing that this "cousin" was a pitiful widow waiting at the gate. She had agreed to Lu Zhaoling marrying Ye Tinglan as a secondary consort into the Fourth Prince's mansion.
At first, Ye Tinglan had been respectful to her, but after becoming pregnant with her first child, she showed her true colors and constantly set traps for her.
Chu Tianjiao stared at the VIP card in Ye Tinglan's hand and said sarcastically:
"How much has the Ye family embezzled? For a mere illegitimate daughter to be able to spend 100,000 taels a year at the Rare Treasures Pavilion?"
Ye Tinglan's face changed dramatically upon hearing this.
Had Chu Tianjiao eaten garlic today? Why was she so sharp?
Ye Tinglan was indeed an illegitimate daughter, but her father's original wife had died early, and he had never remarried.
Although her mother couldn't be officially recognized due to her status, she was greatly favored and her position in the Ye household was no lower than that of a proper wife.
All of Ye Tinglan's food, clothing, and daily necessities were equal to those of legitimate children.
Both inside and outside the family, hardly anyone considered Ye Tinglan as illegitimate.
This Chu Tianjiao must have taken the wrong medicine, constantly kicking her where it hurt today.
