The moment the doors clicked shut behind Bai Xifeng, the heavy silence of the hall shattered. Old Madam Bai's knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists, her frame trembling with suppressed fury.
"That little bitch!" She shrieked, her voice cracking with a venom that made the teacups on the side table rattle.
Outside, the guards and maids standing at the entrance flinched, their eyes widening in shock. Never in all their years of service had they heard the matriarch lose her composure so completely. It was a scream born of pure, unadulterated hatred.
Old Maid Dong hurried to her master's side, gently patting her back in a desperate attempt to soothe her. "Madam, I beg of you, please do not let your anger consume you. It isn't good for your health."
"She dares!" The Old Madam spat, her chest heaving. "She has the audacity to walk into my home and demand twelve years of gold as if I am her personal banker!"
"Madam," Old Maid Dong whispered, her voice low and pragmatic. "As much as it pains me to say it, I believe we must settle this debt. If the Great General returns and finds his daughter in such a state and learns of the missing funds, the consequences for this household would be catastrophic. We cannot afford for him to investigate the ledgers."
The Old Madam fell into a sullen silence. The thought of handing over a small fortune to a girl she despised felt like a physical wound. In her heart, she was weeping for the loss of the gold. 'Why hasn't that little wretch died yet?' She cursed internally. 'She should have followed that mother of hers into the grave years ago.'
Finally, with a long, defeated sigh, she looked at her confidante. "Dong Yi... go. Open the private treasury and bring out the funds."
Old Maid Dong nodded solemnly and retreated, leaving the Old Madam to stew in her own bitterness.
Meanwhile, Bai Xifeng was practically skipping through the garden paths, humming a jaunty tune as she headed back toward her quarters. The distant, muffled sound of the Old Madam's scream had reached her ears, and it was the sweetest music she had heard all day. 'Soon, the gold will be mine,' she thought happily. 'And once I have the money, I can finally buy the rare herbs needed to purge this sludge from my meridians.'
"Third Sister! My mother has been waiting for you for an age. Why on earth are you wandering around here humming like a bird?"
Bai Xifeng stopped and turned to see Bai Chunhua standing there, her arms crossed and a look of practiced annoyance on her face. She had clearly been sent to hunt Xifeng down for their "mother-daughter" chat.
"Oh, she's waiting, is she?" Bai Xifeng gave a carefree, breezy smile. "Well, if she's so eager for a conversation, tell her she's more than welcome to visit my courtyard. I'm quite a busy woman today, you see."
"You...!" Bai Chunhua's jaw dropped as she pointed a trembling finger at Xifeng. "How dare you be so disrespectful to your elders?"
"Sigh... honestly, what is it with you people?" Xifeng looked at the pointed finger with an expression of weary hopelessness. "Is there some family tradition of offering fingers to me today? I've already told the others: I'm simply not interested. Keep it to yourself, okay?"
Bai Chunhua, her personal maid, and even Xiao Li stood frozen, their mouths hanging open in various states of disbelief. This was not the timid, desperate-to-please girl they knew. The power dynamic had shifted so abruptly it was as if the sun had started rising in the west.
"Third Sister, how can you be so cold?" Bai Chunhua pivoted to her usual tactic, emotional manipulation. "You know Mother loves you as if you were her own blood. You cannot behave with such ingratitude."
"Oh, I'm sure she loves me," Bai Xifeng muttered under her breath, her eyes rolling toward the heavens. "Loves me to death, quite literally."
Realizing she was bored with this interaction, Bai Xifeng suddenly clutched her midsection. "Anyway, Second Sister, I'd love to stay and chat about 'motherly love,' but nature calls. My stomach is in knots—I must get to a toilet immediately."
Before Chunhua could even process the unladylike excuse, Bai Xifeng grabbed a confused Xiao Li by the arm and beat a hasty retreat. They didn't stop until they reached their own dilapidated courtyard. Looking at the crumbling walls and overgrown weeds, Bai Xifeng let out a heavy sigh of pity for the original owner of this body. 'Don't worry, girl,' she thought. 'I'm going to turn this dump into a palace.'
Across the estate, in the Second Madam's lavish quarters, the atmosphere was far less playful.
"What? She still hasn't arrived?" Han Yunru demanded, her voice sharp with impatience. She looked toward her head maid, Dong Kang.
Dong Kang, who had served Han Yunru since their youth and happened to be the daughter of the Old Madam's personal maid, Old Maid Dong, bowed her head nervously. The "discipline" she had planned for Bai Xifeng was already late, and her mistress was not a woman who enjoyed waiting..
***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. It breaks my heart when someone steals my hard work. Can you consider reading it on the original website for those who read my novel on another website besides w e b n o v e l .c o m, as your support to me? Thank you, from, your shameless author, ZerahNeko***
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