Hongluan's voice was urgent.
Zheng Qian thought something had happened to her ugly little cat, Ah Chou, and hurried out immediately.
"Miss!"
The moment Hongluan saw her, her eyes instantly reddened with grievance.
Zheng Qian was startled. "What happened? Slow down and tell me."
A few steps behind, Caiyuan rushed into the courtyard, panting heavily. The moment she saw Hongluan, she tried to stop her.
"Hongluan, don't you dare talk nonsense in front of Miss!"
Her breathing was uneven as she leaned against the doorframe.
Now Zheng Qian was truly alarmed. "What exactly happened?"
"It's nothing, Miss, nothing." Caiyuan pushed Hongluan hard, trying to force her outside.
But Hongluan had already started crying.
"You tell me," Zheng Qian said calmly. "Who bullied you? There's no need to hide anything in front of me."
"It's not me they bullied—it's you, Miss!"
Ignoring Caiyuan's attempts to stop her, Hongluan blurted it out.
"The Old Madam of the Wen family is celebrating her seventieth birthday. Madam Wen came today with invitation cards."
"She gave invitations to the ladies of the household and invited them to attend the banquet with their daughters. But… the Wen family only sent one invitation for Second Miss."
"There wasn't one for you."
Zheng Qian: "…"
She had thought something terrible had happened.
Turns out it was just this.
"For that?" Zheng Qian smiled faintly. "Is it really such a big deal if I didn't get my own invitation?"
"They're disrespecting you!" Hongluan cried angrily. "They're supposed to marry you! All the young ladies were supposed to go with their mothers—yet they gave a special invitation only to Second Miss. Isn't that humiliating you on purpose?"
In truth, the Wen family probably wanted to marry the Second Miss more.
But the Marquis of Jing'an's household refused to marry their beloved daughter into a merchant family.
Rumor had it that Zheng Qian's fiancé had been fawning over the Second Miss like a dog for a long time already.
The Wen family wanted this marriage mainly to curry favor with the Zheng household.
And if they wanted to curry favor, of course they would flatter the right person.
The Second Miss was the Marquis and the Old Madam's precious jewel. Naturally the Wen family treated her differently.
An illegitimate daughter couldn't climb that high—yet the legitimate daughter might end up marrying into a merchant family?
What kind of world was this?
Zheng Qian felt that this era resembled the Wei-Jin and Northern–Southern Dynasties period.
The power of aristocratic clans was slowly weakening, and the Nine-Rank System used to select officials would eventually be replaced by the imperial examination system. Scholars from humble families would gradually rise onto the political stage.
Of course, at the moment the high officials were mostly generals from humble backgrounds. The examination system had not yet fully developed.
Officials were still chosen through the Nine-Rank system—meaning powerful clans evaluated people as "upper rank," "middle rank," or "lower rank," and recommended their own people for office.
Once the imperial exams replaced this system, the privilege of aristocratic clans would completely collapse.
Sooner or later.
Historically, the imperial examination system would appear very soon.
The rise of military leaders from humble backgrounds had already begun. Society was changing in ways people barely noticed.
Because of this upheaval, many old rules had broken—but new ones had not yet been established.
Everything felt strangely chaotic.
"It's kind of like the Republican era," Zheng Qian thought.
It really was similar.
The land was divided among several powers. Besides the Great Liang, where Zheng Qian currently lived, there were also the State of Qi in the southeast, Chu in the west, Wei in the center, and the Xiongnu in the northwest.
Much like the warlord era.
Before the Wei-Jin period, noble families and commoners would never intermarry. The rules were extremely strict.
A mere concubine-born daughter would never have had the chance to stir up trouble.
Zheng Qian felt that the original owner of this body had simply been born in the wrong era.
If she had been born a hundred years earlier, even with her plain appearance, she would never have been suppressed so badly by her half-sister.
"Timing is everything," Zheng Qian murmured with a smile.
Hongluan had no idea her mistress's mind had already wandered through centuries of history. She thought Zheng Qian had simply resigned herself to fate.
"Miss, you mustn't give up!" Hongluan said urgently. "If you don't fight back, the Wen family will treat you even worse in the future."
Zheng Qian saw how upset the girl was.
If she didn't let Hongluan vent a little, the girl might explode from anger.
Her maid was this loyal—how could she disappoint her?
Besides, Zheng Qian had nothing better to do anyway.
She had no intention of marrying into the Wen family.
But while the engagement still existed, the Wen family had no right to trample on her dignity.
"Fine," Zheng Qian said with a smile. "Let's fight for it a little. Stop crying. Where is Madam Wen right now?"
"At the Old Madam's Jade Hall Courtyard," Hongluan replied.
"Let's go take a look," Zheng Qian said.
Caiyuan nearly went mad.
"Miss, absolutely not!"
She was older than Hongluan and much steadier.
"This reckless girl insisted on telling you. But if you go there, what can you possibly say? If you complain, Madam Wen will only look down on you even more."
"Don't worry," Zheng Qian said lightly. "Nothing will happen."
But Caiyuan still refused.
She clung to Zheng Qian desperately, nearly crying.
"Miss, the Wen family will be your husband's family in the future! It's a matter of your whole life. Please endure this for now. Who doesn't suffer a little when they're young?"
Her voice trembled.
"When you have a young master of your own someday—when you have your own support—then you can stand up for yourself."
The more she spoke, the more distressed she became.
Finally Caiyuan dropped to her knees.
"Miss, for your own sake… please swallow this insult. I'm begging you."
Zheng Qian hurried to pull her up.
Both maids had different ideas, yet both were loyal.
Now Zheng Qian was stuck between them.
If she satisfied Hongluan, Caiyuan would worry.
If she reassured Caiyuan, Hongluan would explode with anger.
But Miss Zheng's eyes suddenly turned mischievous.
She already had an idea.
Who said you couldn't have the best of both worlds?
Those who failed simply lacked ability.
But Miss Zheng had both ability—and money.
"Alright, alright. I'll listen to you," Zheng Qian told Caiyuan decisively. "I won't go make trouble at Jade Hall Courtyard."
"Really?" Caiyuan wiped her tears.
Zheng Qian nodded.
Hongluan was anxious. "Miss…"
Before she could finish, Caiyuan smacked her hard on the back.
"Stop stirring trouble!" she snapped. "If you keep provoking Miss, I'll have the house steward punish you!"
The three of them were all second-rank maids. But because of age and seniority, there was still a hierarchy.
Xiuzhu was the eldest and the most steady—she was the leader among them.
Hongluan and Caiyuan had entered the household at the same time, but Caiyuan was two months older and more decisive.
Naturally, she became the elder sister.
Hongluan sniffed miserably.
"Tomorrow the servants in the Embroidery Courtyard will definitely praise the Second Miss and humiliate our Miss. I'm just angry on Miss's behalf."
"If Miss goes before the Old Madam, what good will it do?" Caiyuan said. "You'll only get her scolded!"
Hongluan wanted to say that their Miss had changed—maybe things would be different now.
But she didn't want to argue.
At that moment, Zheng Qian secretly tugged Hongluan's sleeve.
She shot her a meaningful look.
Hongluan instantly understood.
Her heart burst with excitement.
But aloud she said obediently, "Sister, I won't cause trouble anymore. You go do your work. I'll serve tea to Miss."
Only then did Caiyuan finally relax.
She had chased Hongluan halfway across the courtyard and was drenched in sweat.
Now the damp chill on her back made her worry about catching a cold.
After scolding Hongluan a few more times, she went to change her clothes.
The moment she left, Hongluan leaned close to Zheng Qian.
"Miss… are we sneaking over there?"
Zheng Qian laughed.
"We're not thieves. Why would we sneak?"
"We're not going to Jade Hall Courtyard."
"Ah?" Hongluan's face fell.
She thought she had understood her mistress's signal.
Apparently she hadn't.
"We'll do this instead," Zheng Qian said.
She pulled Hongluan close and whispered her plan.
Hongluan still had the heart of a child.
She didn't care about consequences at all.
As she listened, her eyes sparkled brighter and brighter—
full of the thrilling excitement of doing something bad.