Zhaoyang Pace, Main Hall.

  “I want to get rid of Jiang Wanqing. Do you have a way?”

  The moment Miao Zhaoyi stepped into the hall, she heard this sentence. It startled her so much that she visibly jolted. She stared at Jiang Fei, whose expression was serious, and instinctively looked around in panic.

  Jiang Shuyi noticed her caution and smiled indifferently.

  “Rex. I had Yuzhu take the maids out. No one will overhear. And even if they do, let them run and tell His Majesty. Let’s see who dies first—me or them.”

  Still the same audacious and unrestrained mistress. She didn’t seem like she’d lost her mind, so Miao Zhaoyi sighed in relief—but…

  She still couldn’t help asking in doubt, “Isn’t Jiang Guiren your only full-blooded younger sister, Your Highness? Why do you suddenly want to get rid of her?”

  Naturally, Jiang Shuyi didn’t need to confess that she had a nightmare.

  She simply said, “I only recently realized she’s bad news. Growing up, she never tried to fool anyone but me, her own sister. It’s a pity I realized it too te. Now that she’s already in the pace, I can only ask you to help find a way to get rid of her.”

  It wasn’t entirely a lie. She’d tossed and turned all night, torn between killing Jiang Wanqing or letting her be. Scenes kept fshing through her mind: her dying mother grasping her and Jiang Wanqing’s hands together, weeping, saying, “She’s still so young. Promise me you’ll protect her, or I won’t be at peace in the afterlife.”

  Then another memory: Jiang Wanqing breaking a jade bracelet gifted by the main wife, sobbing that she’d be punished. Jiang Shuyi, unable to bear it, gave her own bracelet to her. She’d said, “But what about you, Sister?”—yet her hands were already reaching for the gift.

  There were countless stories like that. She simply hadn’t wanted to believe the truth back then.

  Miao Zhaoyi saw she wasn’t joking. She frowned, thinking deeply before replying in a grave tone: “To eliminate a Guiren isn’t something that can be done easily. If I may speak bluntly, Your Highness, if you dislike her, just ignore her. She’s your sister—those who hate you can’t touch you, so they’ll vent their anger on her instead. All you need to do is sit back and watch the show. Why soil your hands?”

  Jiang Shuyi looked at her, frustrated.

  “I asked around yesterday. The Empress and Shufei are trying to win her over—they’ve given her no small amount of gifts. How are they supposed to fall out with her?”

  “Then think—why would the Empress go out of her way to favor Jiang Guiren and not any other newcomer?”

  Jiang Shuyi thought aloud, “Because she’s my sister? To disgust me?”

  Miao Zhaoyi chuckled, “That’s only part of it. Yes, she’s your sister—but it’s not just to provoke you.”

  “Oh?” Jiang Shuyi’s eyes lit up as she looked at her.

  In her previous life, Miao Zhaoyi had been her strategist.

  The difference was—after Feng Yiyue’s death, Miao Wangshu had grown darker and more ruthless. She no longer smiled like she did now; she simply obeyed orders and threw herself into every dangerous scheme, helping Jiang Shuyi eliminate her enemies.

  But in the end, after Wu Guifei, Shufei, and Jin Pin all died or went mad, Miao Wangshu abruptly hanged herself on the anniversary of Feng Yiyue’s death.

  “They’re trying to use Jiang Guiren as leverage against Your Highness,” Miao Zhaoyi said evenly.“If they discover she’s useless—if she can’t influence or restrain you—then she’ll be discarded, trampled by everyone. From what I’ve observed, Jiang Guiren isn’t the type to meekly accept that. When the time comes, she’ll csh with them on her own. All we need to do is enjoy the show.”

  Jiang Shuyi wasn’t used to this cautious version of Miao Wangshu.

  She decided to test her loyalty, feigning a willful tone: “What if I insist she must die right now?”

  Miao Zhaoyi gave a helpless smile.

  “Your Highness has shown me great kindness. If you truly insist, I’ll find a way to make it happen. I only ask—if things go wrong, please plead with His Majesty not to implicate my family.”

  Jiang Shuyi studied her expression carefully. Seeing that it wasn’t fake, she finally felt reassured.

  She had truly been scarred by Jiang Wanqing in her past life. She couldn’t help but feel that her judgment of people was deeply fwed.

  So it seemed she hadn’t been entirely blind after all—at least Miao Zhaoyi was truly loyal.

  Thinking carefully, pying it safe wasn’t wrong either. If one didn’t want others to know, then one simply shouldn’t do it. All the “fwless” things she’d done in her past life had still been exposed by her own dear sister, hadn’t they?

  Back then, at least she had Pei Yan shielding her. Now that she didn’t have such favor, what if she got caught and punished justly?

  In the end, Jiang Shuyi begrudgingly accepted Miao Zhaoyi’s suggestion.

  Miao Zhaoyi added with a smile, “Still, it’s a good thing that Your Highness has finally come around and chosen to distance yourself from Jiang Guiren. I ran into her just now, and based on her words alone, she doesn’t sound like someone with sisterly affection.”

  She then truthfully reyed her earlier conversation with Jiang Wanqing—how the tter had praised the Empress and Shufei.

  Upon hearing it, Jiang Shuyi let out a cold ugh.

  That was Jiang Wanqing’s old trick: everyone else was wonderful, and only she, her own sister, deserved to be put down in front of others.

  She raised her voice and summoned a pace maid. “Bring Jiang Guiren in.”

  Miao Zhaoyi rose at once. “Then I shall take my leave, Your Highness. One of the new concubines was flogged today in Kunning Pace. Because she was weak, she didn’t survive. Feng Meiren was quite frightened by it, and as her superior, I should go back to comfort her.”

  Jiang Shuyi immediately thought of that timid little thing.

  In her previous life, Feng Yiyue had become depressed after being spped in public and humiliated, so she’d taken leave under the pretense of illness and hadn’t attended court.

  This time, having witnessed the punishment firsthand, who knew how badly she’d been frightened?

  “She must be terrified, right? Did she cry? Should I have her come stay at Zhaoyang Pace tonight? I’ll sleep with her.”

  After rattling off these questions, Miao Zhaoyi paused for a moment, then quietly replied, “She was only a little shaken. Your Highness needn’t worry.”

  Still uneasy, Jiang Shuyi ordered the pace staff to prepare some calming incense pills and gave them to Miao Zhaoyi to bring back.

  No sooner had Miao Zhaoyi left with thanks than Jiang Wanqing was led in by Dicui.

  “Elder Sister…”

  The moment Jiang Wanqing saw her, her eyes turned red with grievance. She took a few hurried steps forward, then remembered pace etiquette, dropped to her knees, and choked out, “I forgot my manners. Greetings to my sister.”

  Jiang Shuyi sat on a pearwood carved chair, gnced at her faintly, and turned her attention back to the pale pink jade peach blossom hairpin she was pying with.

  Treated like she was invisible, Jiang Wanqing blinked in confusion for a moment before tentatively speaking: “Sister? You…”

  “This jade hairpin was bestowed upon me by His Majesty,” Jiang Shuyi interrupted her.

  She noticed Jiang Wanqing’s gaze immediately zeroing in on the ornament in her hand, and the corners of her lips curled in a mocking smile. “When His Majesty gave it to me, he also made a promise—that I could enter the Qianqing Pace and meet with him at any time, without needing prior notice, as long as I carried this hairpin.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, Jiang Wanqing’s eyes lit up, nearly greedy as she stared at the hairpin.

  Jiang Shuyi smiled and held it out toward her. “Why don’t I give it to you?”

  Jiang Wanqing stood up almost instantly, practically skipping over to her side, eyes filled with delighted disbelief. “Then… Sister, wouldn’t that mean you can’t enter the Qianqing Pace anymore? How could I possibly accept this?”

  Even as she said that, her hand had already reached for the hairpin.

  “So pretty… pink jade,” she murmured in awe.

  Jiang Shuyi watched her, then wordlessly opened her palm. Jiang Wanqing immediately took the hairpin, cradling it in both hands like a precious treasure, her voice giddy with joy.

  “I just knew Sister treats me best!”

  Jiang Shuyi retracted her hand, leaned back against her chair, and let out a soft sigh. “Ah Wan, you really haven’t changed one bit. You’re still just like when we were little—”

  Thinking her sister was about to reminisce fondly, Jiang Wanqing quickly tucked the hairpin into her sleeve and tried to force some tears for effect.

  But the next sentence hit like a thundercp.

  “—selfish, pretentious, and easy for others to see right through.”