The Vengeful Concubine and Her Triplets

“That’s the twenty-eighth one,” Nanny Li whispered into Old Madame Pei’s ear, her voice trembling with unease.

Behind a curtain of hanging pearls, Pei Yan sat rigidly in an official’s hat chair. His black brocade robes trailed to the floor, wrapping around him so tightly not a single gap remained. His ethereal face was devoid of worldly desire, making him look like a jade Buddha carved from ice.

Today, the Pei Manor was hosting a Plum Blossom Banquet, and every eligible noble daughter in the Imperial Capital had attended. It was called a flower-viewing party, but in truth, each girl was required to be blindfolded and reach into a brocade box to touch a piece of silk.

None of them knew that hidden within that silk was a dolla figurine made of fine silk that Old Madame Pei had “requested” from a mysterious hermit. Pei Yan’s destiny was tied to this doll; his senses were one with its touch. If his fated woman were to touch it, his bodycurrently like withered woodwould surely feel a spark of connection.

Yet, twenty-eight young ladies had touched it, and he felt nothing.

Old Madame Pei gripped her prayer beads, the veins on the back of her hand bulging. “Continue.”

Nanny Li’s throat tightened. “Old Madame, there are only two girls left.”

“Let them touch it!”

Under the veranda, the legitimate daughter of Count Zhongyong stamped her feet against the cold. Even her fox-fur cloak couldn’t hide her mounting impatience. “The Pei Manor certainly puts on airs. Making us come out in a blizzard just to touch a scrap of cloth?”

The daughter of the Grand Secretary from the Wenyuan Pavilion quickly tugged at her sleeve. “Shh! Mind your words, sister! The one sitting inside is Premier Pei himself!”

The Count’s daughter stiffened. She didn’t dare cause a scene after that. She allowed herself to be blindfolded and reached into the box. A moment later, she pulled her hand back with a look of disdain. “It’s just an ordinary fabric. All this mystery for nothing!”

Nanny Li sighed inwardly and called for the next one.

The Grand Secretary’s daughter barely brushed the silk with her fingertips before whispering, “It’s so cold,” and retreating.

Old Madame Pei squeezed her beads so hard the string snapped. The sandalwood beads scattered across the floor with a series of sharp rattles that made everyone’s heart skip a beat.

“Thirty,” Old Madame Pei gasped, her breath ragged with grief. “Thirty girls, and not a single one.”

Nanny Li scrambled to her knees to gather the beads. “Old Madame, please watch your health. Perhaps the fated one just wasn’t among today’s guests...”

Old Madame Pei slammed her hand onto the side table. “But every noble girl in the capital was here! Legitimate daughters, concubine-born, daughters of civil officials and military generalsI even invited the daughters of the Imperial Merchants!”

This display had effectively turned the capital upside down, yet the heavens still refused to grant the Pei family a path to survival.

The pearl curtain swayed gently as Pei Yan stood and stepped out. He was tall, standing in the hall like a lone, elegant tree, his eyes as cold as winter stars beneath deep brows.

“Grandmother, let it end,” he said.

Old Madame Pei looked up at her only grandson, tears finally spilling over. “Yan’er, let us try again another day, please? I’ll send people to look further. If she isn’t in the capital, we’ll look in the south, in the mountain regions, beyond the borders...”

Pei Yan lowered his gaze, his tone calm to the point of cruelty. “There is no need.”

The Old Madame grabbed his wrist, wailing aloud. “The Imperial Physician felt your pulse yesterday. He said it already shows signs of decay. No male of the Pei line has lived past thirty. After the New Year, you will be twenty-nine. You have less than a year left... If you leave without an heir, how can I face our ancestors in the afterlife?”

Pei Yan gently wiped her tears. His movements were soft, but his eyes remained an endless, frozen wasteland. “Then it simply means the Pei family’s luck has run out.”

Old Madame Pei felt a stabbing pain in her chest. Her face went deathly pale. In a fit of rage and despair, she grabbed the silk doll from the box and hurled it out the window.

“What mysterious hermit? What fated woman? It was all a lie!”

The palm-sized doll plummeted into the snow and vanished instantly. Pei Yan turned his head to look outside. The vast, white expanse looked exactly like his twenty-nine years of life: cold, empty, and utterly tasteless.

Outside the bathchamber of the inner court.

Jiang Guo’er had been standing under the veranda for half an hour, clutching a long cotton towel. She knew approaching Pei Yan wouldn’t be easy, but she hadn’t expected that after a month, she wouldn’t even have touched the hem of his robe.

The Pei Manor was filled with beautiful maidservants, yet not just anyone could serve the Premier. It had taken ten days of training from Old Lady Liu in the kitchens just to learn how to prepare his bathwater correctly. She used to think her own brothers were fussy about their baths, but compared to this, they were nothing.

Jiang Guo’er huffed a breath of warm air onto her hands, which were covered in chilblains.

A head maid named Cuiping approached from the end of the corridor. She glanced at the item in Jiang Guo’er’s arms and arched an eyebrow. “Why is it you today?”

Jiang Guo’er snuck a quick look at her, then retreated three steps and lowered her head. “Answering Sister Cuiping... Lianhua was supposed to be on duty, but she caught a cold last night.”

Cuiping smoothed her hair with an expressionless face. “You’re quite the clever one.”

Jiang Guo’er’s back broke into a cold sweat. Cuiping was the manager of the inner court and held the highest status among the maids. She was usually low-key and dignified, but today she was uncharacteristically wearing a pearl hairpin and a vibrant red skirt.

Jiang Guo’er realized immediately why she was there. “It’s a blessing you’re here, Sister!” she said with feigned relief. “Nanny Li just sent word that the Plum Blossom Banquet used up too much firewood. They need extra hands to split logs in Songhe Garden! Please, take this towel, Sister. I’ll go help over there!”

She shoved the towel into Cuiping’s arms and hurried away.

Cuiping watched her retreating back and let out a faint sneer. Jiang Guo’er was supposedly from the Wu Jiang Clan, a tribe known for being exceptionally fertile. The girl was far too pretty for her own good, which is why Cuiping had removed her from the bed-service rotation early on. Now, it seemed the girl had the ambition but lacked the spine to follow through.

Jiang Guo’er reached Songhe Garden as fast as she could and let out a heavy sigh. She picked up a rusted axe and began hacking at the wood with a vicious intensity. Before long, the skin between her thumb and forefinger split. Wood splinters stabbed into her flesh, and the beads of blood froze before they could even fall.

In the past, she would have run to her mother and cried for half a day over a tiny scratch. Now? She simply yanked the splinters out and kept going.

Six months ago, her father and brother were framed for treason. The Emperor ordered the execution of her entire household. Father, mother, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousinsone hundred and eight souls of the Marquis Dingyuan’s Residence were gone. Only she had survived, saved by her maid, Chunxiang, who took her place at the execution block.

Did she want revenge? Did she want the truth? Of course. But first, she had to stay alive.

After months of hiding, she had made a choice. She earned money by washing and mending clothes for the wealthy until she could buy a fake identity on the black market. Changing her name and posing as a member of the Wu Jiang Clan, she had intentionally fainted in the alley behind the Pei Manor, hoping to be bought by the Premier’s steward.

She was no longer a high-born lady. She had to move slowly and carefully; a single mistake would be her end.

Half an hour later, the last bundle of wood was stacked. Her body was stiff as she began the walk back. As she passed under a certain window, she was tripped by something hard. The object was half-buried in the snow, glinting with the faint sheen of silk.

Jiang Guo’er leaned over, picked it up, and brushed it clean. It was a palm-sized doll, crafted from silk and wearing a miniature version of a black brocade robe. It had no facial features.

Why would such a thing be in Songhe Garden? Could it be someone was practicing Yan-Sheng Magic?

She felt a chill of fear and looked around nervously. If she were caught with a cursed figurine, she would never be able to clear her name. She was about to toss it back into the snow when her fingertips suddenly felt a strange warmth.

The object was hot!