The wailing from the Autumn Willow Courtyard could be heard from a great distance.

"There's no living like this anymore..."

"Even in death, I need to know why..."

Interspersed with cries and declarations, a crowd of onlookers gathered.

"Did you see her, that Jiu Zhi’s behavior..."

"Now she'll finally get what’s coming to her..."

"Exactly, throwing her weight around like she’s got some divine mandate..."

"Oh, Qin'er, you’re learning eloquence! That sounds quite refined. It’s no wonder you were waiting on the Third Young Master’s brush and ink in his study..."

A cluster of young maids gossiped and laughed on the path, peering toward the commotion.

"All idle?"

A voice, neither warm nor cold, spoke from behind them.

The young maids spun around, startled, and scattered in a flurry.

"Mistress Zhou, look at the mess this has caused," Ajin murmured to the Zhou Yiniang beside her, unable to hide her anxiety. "The Young Mistress was perhaps a bit too hasty this time..."

Zhou Yiniang slowly fanned herself, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"Then let's see if she can weather this storm," she said.

A flicker of worry crossed Ajin's face.

"The Young Mistress is still young, how can she possibly hold the situation steady, Mistress Zhou?" she whispered urgently.

Zhou Yiniang glanced at her, and Ajin’s voice trailed off until she fell silent.

"Ajin," Zhou Yiniang said, beginning to walk slowly. "Do you perhaps think I am cruel and heartless, to stand idly by while the Young Mistress suffers, refusing to offer aid? It's a betrayal of how much the Old Madam cherished me..."

Ajin's face turned ashen. Forgetting they were outside, she dropped to her knees with a thud.

"This servant dares not! This servant only thought that since Mistress Zhou is all alone, having one more person to assist..." She choked back a sob.

"That's precisely it," Zhou Yiniang did not tell her to rise, speaking unhurriedly. "We must see if she has the capability to help me. If she can, I naturally can too. If she cannot, what recourse do I have?"

Ajin kowtowed.

"This servant was muddled, utterly muddled," she repeated incessantly.

Only when her forehead was bruised from repeated bowing did Zhou Yiniang gently tap her shoulder with her fan.

"Rise, child. What is the meaning of this display?" she chuckled.

Ajin finally dared to stand. For the rest of the walk, she dared not utter another unnecessary word, not until they reached the entrance of the Third Young Master's courtyard.

As Zhou Yiniang was about to enter, a maid rushed out headlong, colliding squarely with her.

The Yiniang’s hand shot out and landed a sharp slap.

The maid clutched her face and kowtowed on the ground.

Only then did Zhou Yiniang clearly see that the girl was Caijuan, the Second-Rank maid serving the Third Young Master.

"What are you doing? So clumsy and careless!" she demanded, her eyebrows raised. "Are the Third Young Master's personal attendants all like this?"

Caijuan repeatedly kowtowed and apologized.

"Yiniang, I sent her on an errand and was pressing her too hard," Chang Yunqi emerged from the room upon hearing the noise, smiling apologetically as he glanced at the prostrate Caijuan. "Go quickly now."

Caijuan started to rise to leave but was halted by Zhou Yiniang.

"Don't play games with me. It’s your soft disposition that has made the staff here so undisciplined," she said, shaking her head. "Tell me, what urgent errand was it?" Caijuan indeed looked terrified.

As they spoke, another maid burst in from outside.

"Third Young Master, I saw it! The Young Mistress went to the Heir's courtyard!" she panted out, but before she could finish, her eyes widened and her mouth froze open in shock.

Zhou Yiniang looked at her; her usually serene and gentle expression instantly turned a sickly green.

"Drag her out and beat her to death!" she shrieked, pointing fiercely at the girl.

The maid was struck by sheer terror, collapsing paralyzed onto the ground.

"You, hold your tongue!" Zhou Yiniang pointed at the Third Young Master, who was about to speak, and commanded him sharply. Her willow-leaf eyebrows shot up as she turned to Ajin. "Do I need to do it myself?"

Ajin snapped back to reality and immediately signaled the other maids.

"Yiniang!" the terrified girl managed to utter a single word before Ajin stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth. The other maids pinned her down mercilessly and dragged her out.

"Kneel here. You are not to rise until I say so," Zhou Yiniang commanded next, her gaze chilling as she looked at Caijuan.

Caijuan had already knelt the moment the other maid began to speak. Now, she didn't dare utter a sound, simply bowing her head and kneeling perfectly straight as instructed.

"Yiniang," Chang Yunqi finally burst out. "What are you doing!"

"You know what I am doing. Do you truly know what you are doing?" Zhou Yiniang spun around and berated him.

"I haven't done anything," Chang Yunqi insisted, shaking his head.

Zhou Yiniang let out a cold laugh, stepped forward in a few strides, and delivered a resounding slap across his face.

"Do you think I don't know your intentions?" she hissed, but her words were cut short.

"Oh dear, what is happening here?" Su Mama's voice drifted in from outside.

Zhou Yiniang instantly composed herself, reverting to her usual demeanor.

"Well now, Zhou Yiniang, why are you striking the Third Young Master?" Su Mama inquired from the doorway, her tone deliberately flat. As the chief stewardess under the Marchioness, she certainly didn't need to be overly polite to the Yiniangs.

"We just exchanged a few sharp words. I lost control for a moment and offended the Third Young Master," Zhou Yiniang explained, her eyes growing faintly red as she dabbed at them with a handkerchief, looking as if she carried a thousand unutterable grievances. She was a Yiniang—a half-mistress—but before her own son, she still possessed the half-status of a servant.

"It's nothing, Su Mama," Chang Yunqi replied. The red mark on his face was quite obvious, showing the force of Zhou Yiniang's blow.

"Truly, what chaos reigns in this household," Su Mama scoffed, shaking her head. "An Yiniang striking the Young Master, and a stewardess crying foul—it’s only been a few days, and there’s no end to the trouble." She then called out to a maid beside her. "Hurry and see if the Young Mistress has returned from wherever she went!"

The maid was about to leave when Zhou Yiniang suddenly remembered the fragment of conversation she had heard in her momentary confusion. Seeing that the maid who spoke had already been dragged away, she glanced at Chang Yunqi, assuming the information he sought was not false, and stepped forward.

"Is Su Mama looking for the Young Mistress?" she inquired. "I saw her on my way here; the Young Mistress is currently in the Heir's courtyard."

"What?" Su Mama turned back.

A nearly invisible smile ghosted across Zhou Yiniang's face as she watched Su Mama's instant expression of shock and unease.

"Yes, I don't know what business she had there. Perhaps they are still discussing matters since they arrived together," she said smoothly.

At that very moment, Qi Yue, accompanied by A'ru, paused before the entrance of a certain courtyard.

"Is this the Heir's residence?" Qi Yue asked, fanning herself lightly.

It was an expansive courtyard featuring a main hall with five bays and six side rooms.

"Yes," A'ru replied. Even though this arrangement had been agreed upon, arriving here and seeing what Qi Yue intended to do made her overwhelmingly anxious. A voice in her mind kept urging her to quickly grab the Young Mistress’s hand and take her back, begging her not to cause such a scene. Maids and servants poured out of the residence, lining up on both sides. Most of them were seeing the Eldest Young Mistress for the first time. Coupled with the news they had just heard, they eyed Qi Yue with abundant curiosity and surprise. Their first impression was: what a beauty.

It was rumored that when the Old Madam arranged the marriage, the Marquis saw the Young Mistress adorned in her finest attire and uttered only one sentence: 'This beauty is sufficient,' refusing to mention her status, birth, or gentle virtue thereafter.

Beauty makes everything good—this had always been the Marquis’s guiding principle. For a man like the Marquis, who had witnessed countless beauties, what level of loveliness must one possess to earn such praise? Today, they finally saw for themselves; the reputation was indeed well-deserved.

"It's the Young Mistress," said a maid wearing a bijia dress and skirt, smiling sweetly. "Why has the Young Mistress graced us with a visit today? If you needed anything, you only needed to send word; why come in person?"

This maid looked about sixteen or seventeen, not unattractive, but among the bevy of beauties in the Dingxi Marquisate, she was unremarkable. A beauty mole at the corner of her mouth added a touch of allure.

Perhaps because Qi Yue stood a step lower on the steps, from the maids' perspective, they all seemed to look down upon her. Their tone and demeanor were casual, showing not a shred of deference.

"Do you mean I'm not allowed to visit unless I have business?" Qi Yue asked with a smile, stepping onto the steps. Now that they were at eye level, the feeling was much better.

She hadn't expected her first words to be so sharp. The maid blinked in surprise.

"This servant wouldn't dare," she quickly replied with a smile.

Qi Yue glanced at her but couldn't discern any sign of fear on her face. The Marquisate’s rules regarding rank were quite clear, distinguishing levels clearly through attire.

"Are you the Heir's main maid?" Qi Yue inquired.

"Yes, this servant is Qiuxiang," the maid replied smoothly, still standing firmly by the doorway, like a gate guardian, showing no intention of moving aside.

Qi Yue let out a small laugh, which confused the maid.

"Not bad, not bad, a lovely name," Qi Yue said, fanning herself, then looked up at the plaque above the door. "Why is this place unnamed?" She casually asked, looking up at the empty space where a name plaque, unlike those on other courtyards, should have hung.

"This place was just finished, Madam said she is leaving it for the Heir to choose a name himself," Qiuxiang replied with a smile, also glancing up.

Several sentences had already passed, yet neither party had moved from the doorway.

A'ru sighed inwardly; the Young Mistress's position truly hadn't improved. "I have a name in mind. Since the Heir is a military general, let's call it the 'Pengcheng Courtyard'—Pengcheng Wanli (soaring progress for ten thousand miles), a wonderful meaning," Qi Yue mused, then smiled at them. "What do you all think?"

A'ru wasn't sure how to answer and only offered a noncommittal sound, while the Heir's maids simply smiled without speaking, some not even bothering to smile, their impatience undisguised.

"Note it down? Have someone write it out and hang it up. It’s very improper for a residence to be occupied without a name," Qi Yue said cheerfully, then stepped forward to enter. "Is the Heir here?"

What... did she mean?

She intended to name the Heir's courtyard?

The maid Qiuxiang stared at the others in astonishment, and everyone else stared back at her, then they all laughed.

Truly... so presumptuous, so self-important.

Qi Yue ignored their reactions entirely and deliberately walked toward the threshold, stepping between them.

"Young Mistress, what are you doing?" Qiuxiang recovered her wits and hurriedly asked, quickening her steps to block Qi Yue’s path without reservation.

"Going in to have a look," Qi Yue replied, waving her fan.

"The Heir is not here; he went to the Madam’s quarters," Qiuxiang said with a smile, making no move to step aside.

Ah, that's excellent, Qi Yue thought inwardly, her expression becoming even more relaxed and casual.

"Oh, it's fine, I'm just looking around randomly," she said, then stepped forward.

Qiuxiang blocked her path again.

"Young Mistress, this is not a place where just anyone can casually drop in to look around," she said, her smile thin and sharp.

What conduct! What master, what servant. Look at that condescending gaze—pah!

"Whose courtyard is this?" Qi Yue stopped waving her fan and suddenly asked, looking directly at her.

"The Heir's," Qiuxiang replied, a trace of arrogance in her smile.

"And who am I?" Qi Yue countered.

"You are the Young Mistress," Qiuxiang replied.

"Then, am I just a casual person?" Qi Yue’s smile vanished, and she asked, enunciating each word clearly.

Qiuxiang was taken aback. By the rules of propriety, she certainly was not. But by habit, she had always acted as if she were. "I should like to see just how I cannot enter my own courtyard!" Qi Yue said slowly, placing heavy emphasis on the word "my."