Chapter 3

Chapter 3

My sister took me to change my clothes, both delighted and worried the whole way there.

She was delighted because Old Madam liked me, which meant I might have a good future ahead of me.

She was worried because I was definitely going to offend several of the young masters in the household.

My sister said in a low voice, “Especially the Fourth Young Master. His mother has spoiled him rotten, and all the servants fawn over him, so he thinks he’s terribly impressive. In a moment, you need to knock him down a peg. Teach him that there are always people above him, so he won’t stir up trouble outside one day and drag the entire Marquis’s Mansion down with him.”

I lifted my chin and patted my chest confidently. “Don’t worry, Sister. I promise I’ll complete the mission properly.”

The customs of this dynasty were fairly open, and there were women who practiced martial arts and excelled at riding and archery.

The Northern Yard was the Training Ground, where the young masters and young ladies who enjoyed riding and archery gathered together.

When they heard that Old Madam of the Marquis’s Mansion had sent me to test the young masters’ skills, none of them took it seriously.

I had only just walked in

when I heard an arrogant voice say, “Grandmother is really too much, sending some little girl to humiliate us. Just you watch. In a moment, I’ll shoot straight through her red hairpin and scare her so badly she’ll cry and beg for mercy.”

Hearing that, I took a few steps up the branches of a tree and climbed onto the top of the wall.

After locking onto the one spouting nonsense, I drew my bow and loosed an arrow, shooting straight through the Golden Jade Crown atop his head.

His hair instantly fell loose around his shoulders, and he screamed in terror, “An assassin! There’s an assassin!”

I flew forward, kicked him off his horse, then sat on his mount and pressed my bow against his neck. Smiling, I asked, “Come on. Cry and beg me for mercy, and I’ll spare your life.”

The Fourth Young Master pushed his hair out of his face and snapped furiously, “You penniless little hanger-on! How dare you attack me!”

I thought he looked somewhat familiar.

On closer look, wasn’t he the noble young man I had saved back then?

I was just about to speak when he suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood and fainted.

The Northern Yard instantly descended into chaos.

Only then did I learn that the Fourth Young Master had been poisoned when he encountered the river bandits, and his body had yet to fully recover.

Zhao Rongjing wrote another prescription and said pleasantly, “This poison comes from Cangzhou. I couldn’t be more familiar with it. Lady Li, don’t worry. I will properly nurse the Fourth Young Master back to health.”

I glanced at Zhao Rongjing.

I thought to myself, Back then, the Fourth Young Master and the Fifth Young Master had only been drugged with a sedative. Where did this poison come from?

Lady Li was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she thanked Zhao Rongjing profusely.

The Fourth Young Master leaned against his pillow and drank his medicine, shouting, “Mother, if not for Cousin Rong, Fifth Brother and I would have died at the hands of the river bandits long ago. I don’t care-you have to treat her like your own daughter. Just look at what she’s wearing. She isn’t even dressed as decently as a servant.”

Zhao Rongjing said gently, “Madam has bestowed many beautiful garments upon me. It was only because I went to the Charity Hall in the west of the city today to diagnose the children there, and I was afraid of dirtying them, that I did not wear them.”

Her words were perfectly phrased, and even the picky Lady Li revealed a smile.

The Fifth Young Master, who was sitting off to the side, also had his pulse taken. He was lucky and had not been poisoned.

Standing there, I looked more like the culprit than anyone else.

My sister held my hand and stood there with me as though we were being punished.

Seeing her swollen belly, I pulled over a stool for her to sit on, then poured her a cup of water.

Lady Li heard the movement and sneered, “You sisters are certainly calm. If anything happens to my son today, I’ll make you pay!”

Lady Li came from a good family and had a terrible temper.

Even after being scolded like that, my sister could only endure it with a pale face.

I took the initiative to step forward and admitted my mistake. “Old Madam wanted me to compete with the young masters in martial arts. I thought that, since the young masters had been taught by famous masters since childhood, they must all be experts, so I had to use my full strength. That was why I failed to control myself and injured the Fourth Young Master.”

After hearing that, Lady Li’s face turned alternately pale and flushed. She truly had no face to continue scolding me.

After all, her own son was the one who had neglected his studies and skills.

The Fourth Young Master was so angry that he pointed at my nose and cursed, “Are you saying my skills are inferior, so I deserved it?”

He had a fierce temper, and he got up, ready to challenge me again.

But then the Marquis sent his personal attendant over.

The attendant said respectfully, “This subordinate is here to deliver the Marquis’s message. The Fourth Young Master is requested to kneel in the Ancestral Hall for one hour.”

The Fourth Young Master asked, aggrieved, “Why? I’m the one who got hurt!”

The attendant added, “The Marquis also said that if the Fourth Young Master asks for the reason, an additional hour will be added to the punishment.”

The Fourth Young Master immediately went as quiet as a quail and said nothing more.