Chapter 18

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Chapter 18: \"What, were they hiring ancestors instead of workers back then?\"

\"These past few days… it wasn\’t possible. I traded five evenings\’ meals for the wooden cart, so now there\’s only breakfast. Du girl\’s food is her own and can\’t be given to you.\" Jiang Wu wasn\’t accustomed to refusing, but he managed to explain clearly.

Had he been alone, he could have spared some bread for Sun Granny. But things were different now. Behind him lay Du Yinsui—injured yet hoarding moldy mung bean cake and sour eggs—and the Qin family who had supported him for days.

Sun Granny had children; even if they went hungry, they wouldn\’t miss one bite from him.

He still had three sacks of flour from the Sanqiao Post Station granny, but revealing his ties to the Deposed Crown Prince to Sun Granny’s family risked trouble. Jiang Wu hardened his heart and refused.

Li Xiaojuan flared up: \"Jiang, who caused my mother to suffer like this in her old age? How dare you eat while she starves! If you have nothing, beg your uncle! Steal or rob—it’s the least you owe!\"

The absurd words turned Jiang Wu\’s face pale, fresh from his humiliation at the Liu family.

Chu Xiulan spotted a stranger by the cart while chasing her father-in-law with questions. She thrust her two children at him and hurried ahead.

Unfamiliar from afar, still unrecognizable up close—but as Chu Xiulan neared, she heard \"Who caused my mother to suffer?\" and guessed the speaker.

Who else but the one still in the Palace?

Rage surged through Chu Xiulan at the woman\’s rudeness, yet Jiang Wu stood deathly pale and silent.

Was this really the former Crown Prince? So meek?

Her doubts multiplied, but first, this insolent creature must go.

Just as Chu Xiulan moved to intervene, she saw—

A hand and half a shoulder dangling from the cart behind Jiang Wu, sweeping the ground like a broom until it found a stone and withdrew.

Du Yinsui sat up soundlessly, locking eyes with Chu Xiulan’s shocked gaze.

Not the target.

Du Yinsui looked away, fixing on the woman confronting Jiang Wu.

Same prison garb, yet rosy-cheeked and energetic—unlike the famished, exhausted Jiang Wu.

No wonder she’d noticed that night…

\"Was the cream bread tasty?\"

The quiet voice sliced through Li Xiaojuan’s tirade.

Jiang Wu turned to see Du Yinsui upright on the cart. Exposed again—his already bloodless face whitened further.

Li Xiaojuan didn’t know how this bedridden girl knew her business—Sun Xinang had kept them apart—yet panic prickled her.

\"Jiang, will you hand over breakfast or not?\" Li Xiaojuan shoved aside her unease and advanced. That cream bread remark? A hallucination—how could this invalid know?

\"Li, didn’t you share your cream bread with your mother? Shameful—a daughter feasting on cream while her mother begs for black bread.\" Du Yinsui crooked a finger at Jiang Wu. \"Come.\"

\"What cream? What begging? Who are you to spout lies?\" Li Xiaojuan jabbed a furious finger.

Jiang Wu glanced between the enraged Li Xiaojuan and beckoning Du Yinsui. His ice-stiff legs thawed; he stumbled back to the cart.

\"Are you unwell?\" Jiang Wu bent closer.

\"You stood too near the mad dog. I feared you’d be bitten.\" Du Yinsui dismissed him, then eyed Li Xiaojuan. \"If your mother’s like a wild boar that can’t digest fine grains—if only black bread fills her—trade your cream bread for ours. One for one. We’ll keep it fair.\"

\"Who’s a wild boar? You lowly maid! Think you’re Crown Princess? Betrothed to a woman—your ancestors weep! If you had any shame, you’d have dashed your brains out—\" Li Xiaojuan had no idea how this stranger knew her secrets, but Jiang Wu’s gentle concern for the girl stoked her fury hotter.

\"Enough!\" Jiang Wu couldn\’t bear to hear anymore and sternly interrupted, \"It’s my fault she’s involved. She did nothing wrong, she—\"

\"Yes, I did nothing wrong,\" Du Yinsui nodded firmly, lowering her voice slightly as she looked at Li Xiaojuan. \"After all, I never dreamed of marrying the Crown Prince, never went mad after failing to climb into his bed, never held onto someone\’s secrets and false guilt to become a tyrant in someone else’s courtyard. I’m a low-ranking maid—you know how fast rumors spread among us bottom-feeders. I suggest you disappear quietly now, or else guess what…\"

Li Xiaojuan, who had arrived full of arrogance, turned ghostly pale and fled.

Jiang Wu stood frozen by the cart, unable to break into their exchange. Meanwhile, Du Yinsui—who’d scared off Li Xiaojuan in three sentences—craned her neck toward the guards’ carriage, muttering, \"Why hasn’t food been distributed today…\"

Jiang Wu watched Du Yinsui’s carefree demeanor and sighed softly. \"Do you truly know about… those matters?\"

\"What matters? The milk pastry? Oh, kitchen staff have sharp noses. I smelled that fancy flour on her from miles away,\" Du Yinsui answered smoothly, having rehearsed the lie.

\"I meant… her time in the Palace…\" Jiang Wu twisted his sleeve hem, eyes downcast.

\"Low-ranking maids and eunuchs gossip. We all wondered: after failing to seduce you, how did she get transferred to the Empress’s quarters? And why return to your courtyard like nothing happened? Before leaving, she was a second-tier maid. Five days with the Empress, and she returned ‘gilded’ as your head maid!\" Du Yinsui’s tone sharpened. \"Head maids live well—gorging on your milk, fresh fish, pastries… What luck!\"

Jiang Wu’s troubled expression softened into a helpless smile at her companion’s chatter.

\"Once we reach Linzhou, I’ll earn money,\" Jiang Wu promised weakly. He’d assumed Sun Granny had buried Li Xiaojuan’s scandals. Clearly, the Palace had ears everywhere.

Du Yinsui nodded absently, eyes glued to the guards—real food outweighed gossip.

Chu Xiulan watched from afar. Though she missed Du Yinsui’s whispers to Li Xiaojuan, seeing the bully flee rattled her. She ought to relieve Jiang Wu for his break, but Du Yinsui—tossing a stone with her good hand—seemed content alone.

Just as Chu Xiulan hesitated, a storybook cliché unfolded:

*Strike the young, summon the old.*

\"Lin’ger… Oh, no—\" Sun Xinang corrected herself with a theatrical slap, offering Jiang Wu a remorseful gaze. \"Ah Wu…\"

\"Pfft!\" Du Yinsui’s snort shattered the moment.

Sun Xinang’s smile froze. *Just as my daughter warned—this wretch is trouble.*

\"Lianxin, you were never this rude before,\" Sun Xinang straightened, regaining her dignity as the Empress’s head maid. Her eyes swept over Du Yinsui with contempt.

\"True. And you never called him ‘Lin’ger’ before,\" Du Yinsui retorted, stretching her hand out. \"Skip the act. Why hunt down your ‘Ah Wu’? Begging for black bread loaves?\"

Sun Xinang stiffened. \"A lowly maid dares presume—\"

\"Granny Sun,\" Jiang Wu cut in, \"if you’re here for breakfast, I traded five dinners for this cart. I have nothing left—\"

\"No, no! Not that!\" Sun Xinang fished out a white flour loaf. \"My late husband’s family sent dairy treats. Juan’er mistook my stomach growls for hunger—she didn’t know I gave my son extra portions. Please, take this.\"

Jiang Wu retreated.

\"Eat it! We have plenty,\" Sun Xinang urged, unaware he was starving. *Better mend fences now.*

\"Give it here! I’ll hold it!\" Du Yinsui reached around Jiang Wu.

He glanced back uncertainly. Accepting felt wrong…

\"Granny!\" Du Yinsui’s hand remained outstretched. \"Surely you’re not exploiting Ah Wu’s politeness? Prove it’s real—hand it to me!\"

*Our… house…* Jiang Wu’s heart raced. *Just meaningless words,* he reminded himself, pinching his palm.

Sun Xinang ignored the outstretched hand, placing the loaf on the cart. \"Lianxin, this is for Ah Wu. Know your place.\"

\"Place?\" Du Yinsui pocketed the loaf. \"We’re prisoners. Unless bearing food, don’t return.\"

\"Ah Wu!\" Sun Xinang’s voice cracked. \"I nursed you! My milk became your blood! Would you abandon me to starve?\"

Jiang Wu lowered his eyes. He couldn’t.

\"Jiang Wu! Unbelievable!\" Du Yinsui clutched her head dramatically. \"Did I crack my skull—?\"

\"Does it hurt?\" Jiang Wu rushed to her side.

\"Move!\" Du Yinsui swatted him away, resuming her act. \"Jiang Wu! Did I misremember? You *paid* her! Highest salary in Kunning Palace! Jade bowls! Solid-gold peaches! Northern mink coats! Eastern pearls! A hot-spring manor! Birthday gifts galore—were they fake?!\"

Jiang Wu stared silently.

\"What—were you hiring a wet nurse or worshipping an ancestor?\" Du Yinsui patted her stolen loaf. \"Your daughter only mentioned pastries? She didn’t warn you low-ranked maids hear *everything*? Last year, you convinced the Empress to triple Ah Wu’s punishment scrolls. Consider this loaf interest. Or was it for cutting his ink rations? Shall I continue?\"

Sun Xinang turned as pale as her fleeing daughter.

\"Leave,\" Du Yinsui hissed. \"You, who bully others with borrowed power and fake debts.\"

Sun Xinang’s mind blanked. Her legs moved on their own—

\"WHO DARES INSULT MY MOTHER?!\"

Li Dayong arrived, having waited too long.