Spoiled and mad critic of powerful ministers

"Miss Du, you..."

"I'm going back with my father," Du Hengniang interrupted her, even forcing an extremely unpleasant smile on her face.

"Father is right. I am a daughter of the Du family. How can I not come home?"

Upon hearing this, Vice Minister Du was overjoyed.

"That's right! Hengniang is so sensible! Let's go home, and Dad will find the best doctor to bandage your wound. As long as you behave, Dad will never mistreat you in the future!"

Fearing that things might get complicated, he stepped forward to grab Du Hengniang.

Du Hengniang stepped aside, giving him a cold glance.

"I can walk by myself."

Vice Minister Du awkwardly withdrew his hand. As long as the money tree was willing to return, he would give her this much face. Du Hengniang tidied her messy hair and finally gave Shen Qiongju a deep look.

That single glance contained so much: gratitude, resentment, and a tacit understanding that had reached a consensus.

She mouthed three words silently.

"Wait for me."

Then, she turned around, straightened her back, and strode towards the stairs.

Vice Minister Du hurriedly followed, like a jailer guarding a prisoner, cursing as he dispersed the crowd.

A farce, seemingly ending in a victory for patriarchy.

But Pei Zhihui saw it: the moment Du Hengniang turned around, her hands, hidden in her sleeves, were no longer trembling, but clenched into fists.

"Sister-in-law."

Pei Zhihui walked to Shen Qiongju's side, looked at her pale profile, and said, "Don't look at her."

Shen Qiongju looked away, her eyes slightly red.

"She will come back," Shen Qiongju said firmly.

"Du Hengniang is definitely not the kind of canary who is willing to be trapped in a cage."

"She's going back this time to dismantle that cage, along with the bird keeper."

Pei Zhihui looked at her, a strange light flashing in his eyes, "Sister-in-law is right."

"Since the cage can't keep her in, let's give her a hand and hand her a saw."

When we returned to the villa, it was already late at night.

Zhao Qiyan cursed and swore the whole way, and almost broke the folding fan in his hand.

"What the hell! That old bastard is a complete beast!"

"In all my years, I've never seen such a shameless father! He's sucking his own daughter's blood, and he does it with such self-righteousness!"

He kicked a big tree in the yard, shaking off a few fallen leaves.

"No way, I won't swallow this! Tomorrow I'll have someone investigate the Du family's accounts and expose that old bastard's dirty laundry!"

Shen Qiongju sat at the stone table, holding a cup of tea that had long since gone cold.

She did not echo Zhao Qiyan's anger, and remained unusually quiet.

That quietness carried a heartbreaking weariness.

Pei Zhihui walked over and sat down opposite her.

"What are you thinking about?"

He took the cold teacup from her hand and replaced it with a warm one.

Shen Qiongju looked at the tea leaves floating in the cup, her voice very soft.

"I was thinking, if it weren't for this imperial gold medal, if it weren't for you all..."

She looked up at Pei Zhihui.

"Will I end up like Du Hengniang, crushed like an ant by just anyone, for just any reason?"

Memories of her past life assaulted her once more. Back then, she had neither a gold medal nor any powerful backing.

Wen Xiujie wanted her, so he threatened her with the lives of his family members. The Pei family wanted her dead, so they used a rope to drown her in the pond.

A woman's fate has never been in her own hands.

Pei Zhihui stared at her intently and said confidently, "Sister-in-law, you won't, because you are different from other women."

He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and looked in the direction of the Du residence.

"That old bastard from the Du family will definitely reap what he sows."

"Du Hengniang is a smart woman. The fact that she chose to go back means she has already come up with a plan."

"If a hen that lays golden eggs suddenly stops laying eggs, or... if the hen suddenly turns into a hawk that pecks people."

Pei Zhihui's lips curled into a cruel smile.

"The person who takes care of her is the one who should be losing sleep the most."

.

The woodshed in the backyard of the Du residence.

It was dark and damp here, with only a sliver of moonlight filtering through a small, tall window.

Du Hengniang was thrown onto a haystack. The wound on her neck was only hastily bandaged and was still throbbing.

To prevent her from escaping again, Vice Minister Du had the door locked and sent two old women to guard outside.

"Pah! What a troublemaker! Why doesn't he go to the Prince's mansion? He just has to come back to suffer!"

The old woman's cursing came from outside the door.

Du Hengniang leaned against the wall, listening to the foul language, but there was no anger on her face.

She pulled out half a shard of porcelain from her bosom.

She had hidden it in her sleeve during the chaos at the restaurant earlier.

She looked at the sharp edge by the moonlight.

In the business world, you need brains and skills to succeed. She thought that as long as you had money, you could earn respect.

But this lesson from the feudal era was so vividly taught to her.

In this cutthroat world, money alone isn't enough. You also need power, influence, and a heart more ruthless than anyone else's.

"Shen Qiongju..."

Du Hengniang murmured the name.

The woman who stood up to protect her when everyone else was laughing at her.

That woman, though she looked delicate, had a pair of clear and determined eyes.

"I will come to find you." Du Hengniang gripped the porcelain shard in her hand tightly.

.

The weather in the capital warms up earlier than in the north, and swallows have already returned south.

After only a few days in Kyoto, the threshold of the villa where Shen Qiongju stayed was almost worn out by foot traffic.

Ever since "Zui Jinghong" was designated as a tribute wine and gained the favor of Consort Wan, the name Shen Qiongju spread throughout the capital's business circles overnight. Those merchants with a keen sense of smell, like cats that had caught a whiff of blood, flocked to her door with generous gifts.

Some wanted to invest, some wanted to buy out the formula, and some even slammed their silver notes on the table, declaring they would reserve the entire production capacity of Qionghua Pavilion for the next three years.

Shen Qiongju sat in the flower hall, looking at the mountain of visiting cards piled on the table, and rubbed her temples.

"If you find it annoying, I'll have someone send them all away." Pei Zhihui sat by the window, holding a book in his hands, his tone indifferent. He was wearing a moon-white long robe today, which made his face look even more refined and jade-like, but the occasional hint of impatience in his eyes betrayed his current mood.

"Kick them out? That's like pushing away the God of Wealth, and it's also making enemies for yourself." Shen Qiongju put down the visiting card, a sly smile playing on her lips. "Our foundation is not yet stable, and the waters of the capital are very deep. Offending anyone will only make things worse."

"So, what are your plans, sister-in-law?"

"Use their strength against them." Shen Qiongju stood up, walked to Pei Zhihui, and straightened his clothes. "Don't we have a ready-made shield?"

Just then, Zhao Qiyan rushed in.

"Qiongju, Pei Erlang, I have to go back to the Marquis's mansion!" Zhao Qiyan looked bitter and resentful, clutching a letter in her hand. "My old man wrote that my mother is ill and he insists that I go back to take care of her. He also wants me to stay in the capital to report for duty, saying that there is a vacancy in the Ministry of War and he wants to put me in there for training."

He slammed the letter on the table, grumbling angrily, "What kind of training? It's clearly just an attempt to tie me down in the capital, afraid I'll run off and run wild again!"

Shen Qiongju's eyes lit up. Wasn't this just a godsend?