The legitimate daughter returns to the capital and embarks on a splendid life, tearing apart the fak

Zheng Jie quickly grabbed her arm and whispered, "Grandma Liu, can we talk in private?"

Granny Liu looked her up and down, then followed her to a spot away from the side gate. She immediately said, "What do you want? Let me make this clear: I don't know you, so I can't be your guarantor."

Zheng Jie then lowered her voice and said, "Grandma Liu, to tell you the truth, I'm not here to work. I have something I'd like to ask you for help with."

Granny Liu looked at her suspiciously: "How can I help you?"

Zheng Jie leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Could you deliver something to Princess Yamin for me?"

Granny Liu took a step back, waved her hands repeatedly, and turned to leave, saying, "No, no! I can't do this. Find someone else!"

"Mother-in-law, I won't let you help for nothing!" Zheng Jie grabbed her arm. "I'll give you silver! Twenty taels of silver. Twenty taels!"

Granny Liu paused, glanced back at Zheng Jie, and shook her head: "No, this is too risky."

"Fifty taels!" Zheng Jie stared intently at Granny Liu's face. "Fifty taels? How much do you make a month? That's enough for you to work for several years."

Granny Liu hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What should we give?"

"This is inconspicuous; just give it to her." Zheng Jie showed her the wax pill, then took out her money pouch, counted out thirty taels of silver, and stuffed it into her hand.

"Here's thirty taels. I'll come back to you the day after tomorrow. Once I'm sure you've given this to her, I'll give you another twenty taels!"

Granny Liu tucked the silver into her bosom, hesitated, and asked, "As long as I give the things to the princess, I don't need to reply?"

"No need!" Zheng Jie solemnly placed the wax pill into Granny Liu's palm, saying each word carefully, "Give this to the princess, she'll understand once she sees it. Remember, don't tell anyone except the princess."

Granny Liu glanced down at the wax ball in her palm and nodded. "Alright, I understand. Come find me at 9 AM the day after tomorrow!"

Zheng Jie bowed to her, then turned and quickly disappeared into the night.

Granny Liu stood at the side door, watching her figure disappear from sight, then turned and entered the courtyard through the side gate.

After entering the mansion, she held the wax pill in her hand, thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and turned to walk towards the main courtyard of the eldest princess.

She walked to the main courtyard gate and said to the maid at the gate, "Please inform His Highness that Granny Liu from the small kitchen in the Princess's courtyard has something important to discuss with him."

The eldest princess was sitting on the chaise longue in the warm pavilion, resting with her eyes closed. When she heard the lady-in-waiting announce her arrival, she slowly opened her eyes, pondered for a moment, and then ordered, "Let her in."

After Liu Pozi entered, she first knelt down and kowtowed to the Princess, then held the wax pill high above her head with both hands, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, someone just asked me outside the side gate to give this wax pill to the Princess. I dare not lie, so I have come to report this."

The princess glanced sideways, and the lady-in-waiting beside her stepped forward, took the wax pill, opened it, took out the paper roll inside, glanced at it, and then handed it to the princess.

The eldest princess took it and looked at it for a moment.

The text contained only a few lines, the gist of which was: Yamin, your fever won't go down, it must be that bitch Yunjin's doing; now she's riding high, she's been made the Princess of Ninghai, and Prince Yu is protecting her everywhere, the whole capital is watching you make a fool of yourself, can you swallow this insult?

After reading the note, the eldest princess put it down and remained silent for a long time before calmly asking, "Who gave this to you?"

Granny Liu lowered her head and carefully replied, "This old servant doesn't know her. She's a young girl who said she's Liu'er's cousin, but this old servant knows she's definitely not. Your Highness, she also... she also gave this old servant thirty taels of silver."

As she spoke, Granny Liu took out the silver and presented it to the princess with both hands.

The princess placed the paper on the table, tapped it lightly with her fingertip, turned to Granny Liu, and said gently, "You did well. Since this money is for you, you should keep it."

She gestured with her chin toward the lady-in-waiting beside her, "Give her another fifty taels of silver. Those who serve loyally will be rewarded by me!"

The female official responded and left, quickly returning with a purse, which she placed in Granny Liu's hand.

Granny Liu accepted the purse and thanked her profusely.

The eldest princess then said, "Get up. Before you go to see her at 9:00 AM the day after tomorrow, come and report to me first."

Granny Liu nodded repeatedly, holding the silver, and backed out of the warm pavilion.

She knew she had made the right bet. Serving the Princess's residence meant certain death if she betrayed the Princess, but the rewards for doing things for her were much more generous than those given by others.

In the warm chamber, the eldest princess picked up the note again, read it for a moment, and then snorted coldly, "They're courting death!"

The lady-in-waiting stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, is what's said in this letter... credible?"

The eldest princess remained silent for a long while before slowly shaking her head: "It's better to believe it's true than not to believe it's not. Ya Min's high fever hasn't subsided, and three different imperial physicians have been consulted but haven't been able to diagnose anything. If it really was that girl who did it..."

She paused, a chill creeping into her voice, "I will make her pay a hundredfold!"

After much hesitation, the female official finally asked, "Your Highness, who do you think delivered this letter?"

The eldest princess snorted and said indifferently, "It's probably that ignorant girl from the Zheng family! She doesn't want to marry the Prince of Zhennan, and she can't stand seeing Yun Jin's success, so she set her sights on Ya Min, wanting to use my daughter as a pawn so she can reap the benefits."

She paused, a cold smile appearing on her lips. "You dare to show off such simple tricks in front of me?"

The lady-in-waiting hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, should we send someone to inform Lord Zheng and ask him to properly discipline his daughter?"

"No need." The princess waved her hand, thought for a moment, and then instructed, "Go to the Yun residence and tell Liu Zhixue to come over. Tell her that I miss her."

"Yes," the female official replied and withdrew.

……

That day, Old Madam Yun mentioned to Chu Wanqing that she wanted to arrange a courtyard for Liu Zhixue that was closer to Yunxiu, and Chu Wanqing did not make things difficult for the old lady.

They immediately arranged for Yunxiu to live in the courtyard next door, just as Yunjin said, it's only interesting to close the door and beat the dog.

Liu Zhixue had just finished tidying up the courtyard and was preparing to rest when she received a secret letter from the Eldest Princess. She knew that the Eldest Princess was looking for her, and it was definitely not just because she missed her.

The next morning, after having breakfast, they went to the Princess's residence.

The eldest princess was leaning against the chaise lounge reading a book when she saw her enter. She gestured with her lip towards the chair opposite her and said, "Sit."

Liu Zhixue bowed and took her seat as instructed.

The eldest princess closed the book, placed it on the table beside her, glanced at the top of her head, and smiled, "Your hair has grown out?"

Liu Zhixue smiled awkwardly: "No, it's a wig that was made."

She asked the embroiderer to collect women's hair for her, and had someone make a wig that, without close inspection, looked exactly like real hair.

The eldest princess nodded, then suddenly asked, "Have you ever considered who cut your hair? And how did those valuables disappear from your storeroom?"