Today, the clouds hung low as if they were about to touch the ground, sprinkling mist and turning into droplets that rolled off the lotus leaves. The extensive garden of the Qin family manor included rock mountains, bamboo gardens, and beautiful mid-water pavilions resembling a slice of paradise garden. Black swans and mandarin ducks gracefully swam in the emerald pools, while a group of peacocks strutted and displayed in the garden, as if aware that the grand Qin mansion was on the verge of exciting developments.

    It was lunchtime, and the servants arranged a twelve-dish meal in fine glazed ceramic bowls, including stewed duck in bird’s nest soup, seafood hotpot, bird's nest soup with rock sugar, and steamed capon. In the center of the room, four large bowls held bananas, pomelos, lychees, and persimmons. Dozens of maids attended the tables where the ladies of the house and her daughters eyed Qin Hansi, the family head. As he picked up his chopsticks, everyone else followed suit, eating slowly and maintaining proper decorum.

    "There’s a rumor that the Empress is looking for a daughter from a prominent family to marry the Third Prince."

    "The Third Prince, that bookish demon?"

    "Yes, that very one. The Empress is planning to use the upcoming peony viewing as a matchmaking event. Our daughters are of age now; this could be an excellent opportunity for us to present our daughters for selection. Ying, you might stand a chance. Didn’t the Prince have someone inquire about you?"

    "Yes, Father," the second daughter Qin Yaoying exchanged glances with her elder sister, then smirked slightly superior. "Last month, the prince merely sent someone to make inquiries, nothing significant, Father."

    "Psh, the Prince also sent someone to inquire about me, too. Don't get ahead of yourself."

    The eldest daughter, Qin Yaoji, pouted openly, glaring at her sister. The third to the seventh wives, along with several concubines who sat at separate dining tables, exchanged glances and then laughed secretly because the two daughters, though outwardly as polished as jade, were internally as rotten as cotton.

    One concubine held up one finger, another two, while several others gestured secretly, betting on which daughter would prevail. When Lady Qin, the Lady of the house, glared menacingly, everyone hastily returned to their meals in silence.

    "Come now, whether it's Ji or Ying, whoever gets married it's all good. They could even marry him together, right, my dear?"

    "And who would be the royal consort then, mother?"

    "It would surely be the elder sister like me," Qin Yaoji boasted confidently, "The prince is so immersed in his books he’s boring, but he’s not flirtatious, and he’s handsomely appealing. Moreover, if I could enter the Liuyuan Palace and become the chief wife, it would be far more glamorous than any concubine position, Father. You must help me; I shall marry the Third Prince."

    "I will marry him too, and I will be the royal consort."

    The two sisters locked eyes. They had always competed for love, clothes, and everything else, each believing they must be the first. Now, they prepared for another significant battle in their lives.

    "Good," Qin Hansi laughed heartily and turned to instruct Lady Qin, "Prepare around three thousand taels for Madam Ma."

    Madam Ma was the sister-in-law of Qing Yuan, the Empress's favorite royal servant. If the money reached Madam Ma, it was as good as reaching Qing Yuan. If she could vouch for the Qin family’s daughters, the Empress would surely consider them. If people thought of the influential families in the capital of the Zhao region, the Qin family was one of the four ancient noble families. Their descendants held office or ran lucrative businesses. Just the royal-bestowed plaque hanging at the manor's front made others hesitant to cross them. Thus, if Qin Hansi wanted to become the Third Prince's father-in-law, no one would dare compete. But three thousand taels were no small sum, causing Lady Qin to inadvertently show a worried expression.

    "Is that amount problematic?"

    "Money is not a big issue, sister, but don't forget that the Ye, Jin, or even the Gui family would likely think the same. I’m afraid this won’t be easy.”

    “Don’t worry. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. With you, as the sister of the Empress, our daughter has a greater advantage over other families. I'm sure that the Empress would prefer to support her relatives over outsiders."

    "Sigh... female family members married off are merely distant relatives. It's the males who are direct kin. If we talk about familial connections, the Jin family is closer."

    "Then prepare six thousand taels: five thousand for Qing Yuan and one thousand for buying new dresses and accessories. This year Yaoji is nineteen, Yaoying eighteen, and Lan'er also turns eighteen. Since the opportunity has arisen, let's also have Lan'er participate in the selection."

    When her husband decreed thus, Lady Qin, as the principal wife, immediately showed her displeasure.

    "That's not possible!"

    "Why not?"

    "Uh... She's naive, spends all her time secluded, not knowing how to take care of herself. No matter how much I try to instruct her, she still resists, thinking I'm a wicked stepmother. I’m afraid she might ruin everything. Just Yaoji and Yaoying, those two are already the dream of every gentleman in the capital."

    "Exactly, father. Just the two of us are enough. If she were to attend as well, we'd just end up being gossip fodder. I'd be embarrassed."

    "Yes, I agree, sister. She's just a daughter born from... well... I fear it isn’t appropriate."

    "Any cat can catch mice. As long as the Third Prince becomes our son-in-law, that's enough. Weren't you and her mother close friends? It's been years since I've seen Lan'er, but as long as you are there to guide her, I trust you to manage everything properly. Make sure nothing is lacking."

    "Yes, dear."

    Lady Qin dared not go against her husband, thus keeping her discontent to herself. In the past, due to naive trust, her close friend had secretly had an affair in her house, which ended when the friend became visibly pregnant. Qin Hansi crushed his principal wife's heart by bringing that wretched friend into their home as a second wife. She wouldn't even utter the woman's name, considering it bad luck. Why should she allow that woman's daughter to compete with her own daughters over fortune?

    Lady Qin glared at her husband's other concubines before signaling to Wet nurse Zhang. The old woman understood the lady's meaning and nodded. The villagers thought Qin Hansi had only two marriageable daughters, but in truth, there were three. The father didn't favor the third daughter, partly out of consideration for the principal wife, who was a cousin of the current Empress, and partly because the household always demoted Qin Meilan to merely a by-blow, ranking her lower than even legitimate daughters.

    "Follow me," Wet nurse Zhang said after lunch, pulling away from the main house with instructions for ten well-selected maids to follow her to a small house at the end of the bamboo garden. "Who has been in charge of the third young miss's meals all these years?"

    "I have," replied a maid named Mao Jun, stepping forward with a tray of food to be delivered. She hesitated as wet nurse Zhang inspected the tray, revealing leftover kitchen scraps and coarse rice, sometimes even spoiled, and old tea leaves overdued from the previous year. The plates and bowls provided were also substandard, not befitting a daughter of the Qin family.

    "You feed the young miss like this?!" Wet nurse Zhang glared at the dishes on the tray, startling the maid.

    "Um... it was ordered by the great lady... I didn't dare disobey," the maid stammered.

    "Very well, from now on reduce it to just one meal a day and that's it. And what else needs to be sent to the Sky Bamboo House?"

    "Uh... coal, salt, and two bolts of fabric per year for making clothes, ma'am."

    "Cancel all that. We have plenty of people in the manor now, we can't afford such wastefulness. She has probably been sitting around, useless for years. From now on, she must work for her stays and meals."

    "But she is a young lady..."

    "Who said that? She's a bastard, a disgrace to the Qin family! I should have beaten her to death long ago after all. Just great, now my master thinks of letting her enter the palace. My master, oh my master, how could he hurt the great lady's feelings so deeply?" Wet nurse Zhang, as Qin Hansi wet nurse, was an old and respected figure in the manor, gradually assuming authority over the third young lady. She knew Lady Qin loathed this stepdaughter, which emboldened her to mistreat the young lady as well.

    "I haven't seen her for many years. How is she doing? Without proper guidance, she surely hasn't turned into an uneducated person, right?"

    "Uh... ever since the chief wife ordered the young lady to move from the Manqing residence to the old house in the bamboo garden, she's kept to herself. She spends her days immersed in books, only occasionally venturing outside through the manor's back gate, unaccompanied."

    "How deplorable. A young lady not yet married but wandering unattended; such lack of decorum is exactly why they say she's untrained. I must report this to the great lady. A good whipping might teach her some sense. you all, grab the rattan canes and follow me. Today, I shall teach her a lesson what’s good or bad."

    "Yes, ma'am."

    Wet nurse Zhang, feeling self-righteous, was determined to find a reason to whip the young lady today, certain that Lady Qin would approve.