Shui Huan was afraid that her young lady would be beaten to death by the Zhao family if she stayed any longer, so she planned to return to the mansion to report.
Before she could even run out of the Zhao family's gate, she was stopped by a Zhao family servant.
Ji Zizhao could imagine what happened afterwards.
To cover up the truth, the Zhao family sent the aware Shui Huan to a brothel under the guise of execution, bribed Zi Qiao to conceal the news of Ji Ziyan's serious injury and coma, and then, during Grand Tutor Zhao's birthday banquet, they planned to frame the Ji family with Zi Qiao's help.
A warm breeze wafted through the window, making the candlelight flicker, but it couldn't warm the dark depths of Ji Zizhao's eyes.
Standing by the bedside, Ji Zizhao's face was ashen, her tightly furrowed brows as sharp as a blade.
Her unfathomable eyes seemed to burn with flames.
When the Zhao family proposed marriage back then, Ji Zizhao had anticipated the complexities of the Zhao family's dealings and had thus advised her third sister against it.
However, her third sister's mind was made up, so she couldn't say much more.
She just never expected Zhao Liang to be such a beast beyond compare!
If she calculated carefully, her third sister had been married into the Zhao family for five years. One could imagine how anxiously and miserably her third sister had lived these past five years!
Shui Huan knelt by the bedside, weeping incessantly, her cries heartbreaking, "Eldest Miss, our young lady has often said these days that she should have heeded Eldest Miss's advice. Our young lady knows she was wrong. Eldest Miss, I beg you, save our young lady, Eldest Miss..."
Shui Huan never imagined that she would one day kneel before the person she once despised the most.
But she had heard from Shui Ling that whether it was her or her young lady, it was Eldest Miss's merit that they could save their lives.
Although she didn't fully believe it, she had no other choice but to try now.
Ji Zizhao suppressed the surging anger within her, steadying her heaving chest.
The Zhao family's debt would naturally be settled.
But how to settle it...
"Eldest Miss, the First Madam is bleeding!" A hurried cry from the Yun Yuan嬷嬷 (auntie/nanny in charge) rang out from outside the door.
Ji Zizhao stiffened, turned, and walked out of the room.
In the courtyard where lanterns swayed, the Yun Yuan嬷嬷 had a face full of anxiety. Seeing Eldest Miss, she almost knelt down.
Ji Zizhao stepped forward, grabbed the Yun Yuan嬷嬷's hand, and asked, "Where is Mother?"
The Yun Yuan嬷嬷 swallowed hard, "Yun, Yun Yuan."
"Qing Zhu, go get the medicine box," Ji Zizhao commanded, then led Xin Lan out of the courtyard.
The night was deep, and Yun Yuan was silent.
As soon as Ji Zizhao entered, she saw her mother sitting by the bedside.
The First Madam, Lin Wanyun, looked a little pale, her forehead covered in a dense layer of cold sweat.
As their eyes met, she quickly forced a weak smile, "Zizhao is here?"
Seeing that her mother was still somewhat conscious, Ji Zizhao breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, but her feet hurried to the bedside, carefully inquiring, "嬷嬷 said Mother is bleeding. Is Mother injured anywhere?"
As she spoke, Ji Zizhao's eyes quickly scanned her mother on the bed.
Suddenly, Ji Zizhao's gaze was drawn to the crimson stain on her mother's wrist.
First Madam Lin Wanyun looked at her worried daughter and said softly, "It's nothing serious. I just accidentally fell just now, knocked over a teacup, and cut my arm."
Ji Zizhao's heart trembled. She quickly sat by the bed and gently lifted her mother's arm.
Blood had stuck to the sleeve, and Ji Zizhao quickly asked Qing Zhu, who had come with the medicine box, to bring a basin of clear water. Then, she took out a handkerchief, dampened it with water, and carefully unrolled the sleeve little by little.
Under the candlelight, Ji Zizhao's delicate eyebrows were calm and steady.
She lacked the innocent playfulness of a young lady her age, and instead possessed a maturity and composure beyond her years.
First Madam Lin Wanyun's heart ached inexplicably. "Did you get along well with the Fifth Prince the last time you met?"
Ji Zizhao, not wanting to worry her mother, vaguely replied, "Luo Hong always stood in the way, and we didn't speak much."
"I heard that Luo Hong was bestowed upon the Fifth Prince by Consort Xi. It's only natural that the Fifth Prince respects and reveres Luo Hong. In the end, you are destined to be with the Fifth Prince for a lifetime. As long as you have another child in the future, no matter how much Luo Hong makes things difficult, it won't shake your position one bit."
First Madam Lin Wanyun, having experienced life, could see the admiration and sparkle in Luo Hong's eyes whenever she mentioned the Fifth Prince.
However, the Ji family was in decline now. A person without the support of her maternal family marrying into a husband's household had to tread carefully. It was precisely for this reason that she hoped her daughter could quickly return to the Fifth Prince's mansion and establish herself.
"Your third aunt shares the same thoughts as I do. The Ji family is precarious now, teetering on the brink. No one knows what awaits the Ji family after the Second Prince returns with the military edicts. If the Son of Heaven is enraged and punishes the Ji family, only by staying far away from the Ji family can one escape disaster!"
Her mother's words were all hinting that her third aunt wanted to send her third sister back to the Zhao family.
Ji Zizhao was about to speak and persuade her mother, but as she rolled up her mother's sleeve, she fell silent again.
On her slender forearm, the torn flesh was shocking to behold, red mixed with white.
Qing Zhu's eyes flickered briefly. Seeing that her young lady remained silent, she chose to remain quiet as well.
Ji Zizhao took out hemostatic powder from the medicine box and sprinkled it on her mother's wound. Then she took out surgical thread and a silver hook, carefully and meticulously stitching the wound.
First Madam Lin Wanyun, not having received a reply from her daughter, continued to speak earnestly, "Zizhao, I know you've always been different from other young ladies. When your grandfather spoke of you, his face was always full of pride. He even said that for the Ji family to have such a daughter was a blessing from heaven, a stroke of luck for the Ji family for three lifetimes. But Zizhao... the dead are gone, and the living must carry on. Can the current Ji family be something you can force yourself to handle?"
Ji Zizhao remained silent.
Her slightly lowered long lashes obscured her dark eyes.
She carefully stitched the last wound, then methodically tidied up the medicine box.
After a while, Ji Zizhao looked up at her mother.
Her eyes, which had been full of worry, were now filled with a deep, somber light. "This... is the reason Mother lied to her daughter?"
First Madam Lin Wanyun was stunned.
Ji Zizhao gently placed her mother's arm, which had been resting on the thin quilt, back into it. "The cut was made with external force. The wound would be deeper in front and shallower in the back as the body tilts. But Mother's wound is deeper in the front and shallower in the back."
It was obvious that the wound was self-inflicted by her mother.
First Madam Lin Wanyun was greatly shocked.
She thought that if she injured herself, Zizhao would surely come to care for her, but she never expected to be seen through by her daughter's eyes.
In her ears, her father-in-law's words echoed again...
The Ji family, for a hundred years, never lacked natural-born generals. To dismiss Sister Zhao as useless simply because her hands didn't wield a stick? How foolish! Life is full of twists and turns, how can it be a smooth road? If one day the Ji family faces imminent doom, Sister Zhao will surely ride the waves and swim against the current! At that time, Yu Lin will finally know that the Ji family has a daughter, Ji Zizhao. If she doesn't fly, she won't, but once she flies, she will soar straight into the clouds! If she doesn't sing, she won't, but once she sings, she will shock the world!