Volume One, Chapter 12: The True Heiress Is a Powerhouse

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An Mingxia stared intently at An Ruowei, her brows tightly furrowed.
“So you’re saying that Qianqian saw Lady Heqin buying ginseng at the pharmacy, not only raised the price to snatch it away but also insulted her?”
“Yes.”
“They’ve never had any dealings before. Why would she insult Lady Heqin on sight and then raise the price for the ginseng?”
“How can a daughter understand her sister’s thoughts?”

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Cheng Mingyue felt uneasy. Although Qianqian had returned from the countryside, she was usually lazy and gentle—how could she suddenly become so domineering?

But with family and several housekeepers present in the main hall, if she outright expressed disbelief, it would seem like she was favoring her biological daughter and being harsh to her adopted daughter, giving people something to talk about.

She fiddled with her handkerchief, forcing a few shades of solemnity onto her face, but when she glanced at An Ruowei’s swollen cheeks, her voice softened slightly.

“Go to Miss Six’s courtyard and call Chuntang here.”

There were so many maids and attendants around her daughter today; asking her would clear things up quickly.

*

Chuntang did not come. She had been sent by An Qianqian to Rongchun Hall to buy some health tonic herbs.

After returning home, An Qianqian remembered she still needed to buy medicine to strengthen Si Chengnian’s health but didn’t want to go herself, so she sent Chuntang as a runner.

“If the shopkeeper asks, just say it’s for a man’s health,” An Qianqian casually instructed.

Since Chuntang wasn’t available, the summoned one was another first-class maid, Xia Tao.

Xia Tao knew every question An Ruowei asked was based on facts but felt something was off.

“Xia Tao, tell father and mother everything exactly as it happened today. Did sister insist on two million taels before agreeing to give the ginseng to Lady Heqin?”
“Yes.”
“Did sister accuse Lady Heqin of pretending to be wealthy when she had no money?”
“Yes.”
“Was sister competing with Lady Heqin over that thousand-year-old ginseng root?”
“Yes.”
“Father, mother, look, Xia Tao was arranged by mother to serve sister; she wouldn’t lie.”

Xia Tao was stunned.

Seventh Miss An Ruowei indeed asked about all these matters, and Sixth Miss did do them, but the timeline seemed completely reversed!

An Mingxia frowned deeply listening to Xia Tao’s answers.

“No matter what Qianqian did, she is my daughter. I will find a way to resolve this matter. As for you...”

He looked at An Ruowei with a cold tone, “The Rong Guogong Mansion does not need its children to be so servile, even if you are an adopted daughter! The old master and I clawed our way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood not to be a lapdog for others!”

Cheng Mingyue raised her hand, calling over a housekeeper, “Send Seventh Miss back to Lanya Pavilion. She is not to step outside the courtyard without my order.”

Then she turned to Xia Tao, softening her tone somewhat, “Go and tell Qianqian that her mother will visit her tomorrow.”

She must have been frightened today, which is why she went to bed early.

Lady Heqin’s arrogant and rude nature left it unclear if her daughter had truly been wronged.

Xia Tao’s expression earlier, while admitting An Ruowei’s words, was clearly still somewhat dazed.

No matter if her daughter was unreasonable, she was still her daughter.

If the sky fell, their family would stand firm.

Meanwhile—

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An Qianqian lay sound asleep in bed, the system’s voice buzzing annoyingly as if she wanted to rip it out and beat it.

[Host, please go check on Si Chengnian! After Liu Shan returned home, he was severely punished by Liu Cong and, harboring resentment, secretly gathered a group to sneak into Si Chengnian’s residence and beat him up. If this continues, he could really lose his life!]

An Qianqian turned over, ignoring it.

[Host, your reward will be delivered by someone to the Rong Guogong Mansion tomorrow. I will give you an extra one hundred thousand taels. Will you please go check on him?]

More money as a reward?

“No!”

[Then... what do you want?]

“I want to sleep!”

[Host, you’ve been sleeping nearly a whole day. If you keep this up, how will you sleep tonight? Please have some mercy. If Si Chengnian dies, we cannot complete our mission.]

An Qianqian abruptly sat up in bed, her dark hair messy and falling about, eyes still red and heavy from sleep.

She kicked the bedpost in frustration.

“All right, I’m going!”

Grabbing the medicine Chuntang had brought back, she slipped on her shoes and rushed to the window. Supporting herself with one hand on the frame, she climbed out.

With a few leaps and bounds, she followed the familiar path through alleys and over walls. In less than a blink, she was right outside Si Chengnian’s dilapidated courtyard wall.

Her toes lightly tapped the tiles on the wall then silently dropped into the courtyard. Just as she steadied herself, she heard suppressed groans coming from the main hall.

[Host, look quickly! Si Chengnian is about to be beaten to death!]

An Qianqian raised an eyebrow and glanced toward an old locust tree in the corner of the courtyard.

Her fingers brushed across the branches, plucking several leaves that fell into her palm.

Her wrist flicked lightly, and the leaves shot through the air like sharpened darts, “whizzing” sound piercing the silence.

“Ow!”

Two men cried out in pain and loosened their grip as Si Chengnian collapsed heavily to the ground.

Before they could react, the last leaf skimmed the leader’s throat, the rushing wind stinging his neck painfully.

“Who’s there?!”

An Qianqian stepped out of the shadows calmly. She kicked a small stone at her feet, hooked it casually, and sent it flying precisely into the knee of a man about to draw a weapon.

The man collapsed with a “thud,” and the rest glanced at each other, no one daring to move further.

“Get lost.”

Her voice was husky with sleep but carried a bone-chilling coldness.

The men exchanged looks, then scrambled over the courtyard wall, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Si Chengnian quietly withdrew a poisoned needle from his hand and curled up.

An Qianqian slowly approached, intending to help him up.

However, Si Chengnian shrank back, not wanting her touch.

“Why move? Can you get up?”

An Qianqian tugged him up directly.

In the struggle, his bleeding wounds tore further.

“Ugh—”

Si Chengnian gritted his teeth, thinking no good came from the Shang Kingdom, and this woman was definitely doing it on purpose!

An Qianqian ignored his grumbling, hoisted him up, and carried him back to the previous bedroom, dropping him roughly on the bed.

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She lit a lamp.

Bent over.

Tore at his clothes...

The candlelight fell just right on his torn collar, revealing a slender frame beneath, with smooth, taut shoulders.

“What are you doing?!”

Si Chengnian clutched his collar like a bullied little bride.

An Qianqian frowned at his grip. “I saved you. Doesn’t that count as fulfilling your wish?”

“Playing with me?”

“No. Just tell me if your wish is fulfilled or not.”

“If Miss An has some trick, just use it outright. No need to hide behind fulfilling wishes.”

Why was he so stubborn and unruly?

An Qianqian, annoyed, tore open his clothes.

“Are all Shang Kingdom women so shameless?”

Si Chengnian thought she intended to take advantage of him, struggled to pull back but the wound tore painfully, drawing a muffled groan.

An Qianqian didn’t bother arguing. Her other hand was lightning-fast, pressing down on his shoulder; her fingertips brushed the scab on his back.

“Move again and your wound will rot. You’ll be waiting to die.”

Si Chengnian was pinned down, forced to watch as she peeled the cloth stuck to his scab.

“I’ll fetch some water to clean your wound.”

She turned and left, returning soon with a basin of water.

Her cleaning was not gentle but strangely avoided the most painful spots. Occasionally her palm brushed his sweat-soaked back, like a faint flame flickering upwards along his skin.

“Ugh—”

He gasped, not from pain but because her hair fell and brushed against his neck, tingling uncomfortably.

An Qianqian was oblivious, blowing gently on his bleeding wound.

“Bear with it.”

Her breath warmed his back softly.

Si Chengnian tensed suddenly, his ears flushed deeply red.

This woman was clearly teasing him, yet her touch was as firm as if handling a block of wood. Despite this, his heart pounded wildly like a drum.

“All done. Now I’ll apply some ointment; you’ll heal soon.”

An Qianqian took a jar of ointment from her sleeve, tossing it onto the table.

She then spread out the health tonic herbs she had brought from home.

“Take these every day. If you run out, I’ll send more.”

Si Chengnian glanced at the herbs:

Epimedium, deer whip, tiger whip, donkey whip, yellow dog kidney...