First Madam pondered for a moment. "...Fine."
Since the person involved didn't mind, what reason did she have to care?
With that, she ordered the guards to let Xing Youran go.
The moment she gained her freedom, Xing Youran burst into tears and ran out of the North Courtyard.
This performance caused Third Madame to view Xing Beiluo in a new light.
No wonder this Second Miss was favored by Old Madam—she certainly knew how to handle a situation.
A few simple words were enough to make everyone think of her as a kind, generous, and sister-loving young woman.
Even her demand for treasures just now felt completely natural and justified.
Seeing how things had turned out, Xing Zhenzhen realized there was no reason for her to stay any longer.
She walked out of the courtyard with a dejected slump in her shoulders.
Xing Beiluo caught up to her and whispered gently in her ear: "You did well, but some people will always drag you down."
Xing Zhenzhen shuddered all over and hurried her pace to escape the scene.
Yet Xing Beiluo knew that the words had landed.
Very good, the sowing of discord was a success.
Sure enough, on the way back, Xing Zhenzhen glared fixedly at Xing Youran.
Meanwhile, Xing Youran remained utterly consumed by the agony of losing her precious items, completely oblivious to her sister's strange behavior.
***
In Second Madam's courtyard.
"Mother..." Xing Youran wailed pitifully as she buried herself in Second Madam's arms to complain, while Xing Zhenzhen sat silently to one side.
"We were just too careless this time. And you too—I told you to hide those things properly, so why couldn't you even manage that?"
To deal with Xing Beiluo, she had brought out her most precious and valuable possessions.
How could her heart not ache?
Yet this was her own beloved daughter, and she couldn't bear to be truly harsh with her.
She could only sigh and say, "Ah, what a pity. Those were the finest pieces from my dowry, priceless treasures given by the imperial family, and now they've just been handed over to that little wretch for nothing."
Xing Zhenzhen froze. When her mother had come over from the Xuanwu Empire for a political marriage, the Xuanwu imperial family had bestowed countless treasures upon her, and her dowry consisted entirely of top-tier items. That pile of treasures was indeed worth a fortune. What if... what if Xing Youran, that good-for-nothing, had taken a fancy to that pile of treasures and wanted them for herself?
She couldn't be blamed for harboring such suspicions about her own biological sister.
Xing Youran was indeed the kind of person who wanted to make anything good she saw her own, and she had often used clever little tricks to swipe items from the other households in the past.
It was only because their mother had stepped in to smooth things over every time that the others hadn't made a fuss.
Jewelry doesn't just vanish into thin air; the likelihood of these jewels ending up in Xing Youran's hands was actually the highest.
With this thought in mind, she looked at Xing Youran with a probing gaze.
At that moment, she heard Xing Youran's guilty voice: "I—I don't know either. I clearly buried them right there, but today I searched everywhere and couldn't find them at all."
"Alright, Mother isn't blaming you. Mother's heart just aches for those treasures, that's all."
With that, Second Madam pulled Xing Youran up into a hug, patting her back to soothe her.
How could she ever bear to blame her precious youngest daughter? She deserved all the love and pampering she could get.
After all, her eldest daughter was naturally gifted and intelligent enough never to let herself be at a disadvantage.
Her youngest daughter truly was a bit pitiful; her father had died right after she was born, and she had never experienced a father's love.
"You must not have hidden them securely enough, and that fake noticed them. I didn't expect that impostor to be so crafty, but don't panic, Mother already has a plan. Come here, let Mother tell you what you need to do tomorrow..."
Having failed one scheme, Second Madam hatched another.
Once again, they conspired to drive Xing Beiluo away.
Xing Zhenzhen, however, was still dwelling on those missing pieces of jewelry and whether they might actually be with Xing Youran.
She stared at Xing Youran, a bizarre gleam flickering in her eyes.
Knowing the plan and having access to that pile of jewelry—the only ones who fit that description were her, Xing Youran, and their mother.
Of course, she couldn't completely rule out what their mother had suggested: that Xing Youran hadn't hidden them well and Xing Beiluo had discovered them ahead of time.
Yet Xing Beiluo was an upright and kind person without a scheming bone in her body; if she had caught Xing Youran burying things, she would have dragged Xing Youran straight to Old Madam to report it.
Therefore, rather than believing Xing Beiluo had discovered their stash, Xing Zhenzhen preferred to believe another possibility.
Namely,
that while burying the jewelry, Xing Youran had developed selfish desires for them and had swallowed up the entire collection herself, turning their elaborate scheme into a complete joke.
Today's outcome might very well have been a carefully orchestrated plot from the start.
A plot where Xing Youran schemed against her own mother's property.
How laughable. Back then, she had wondered why someone as lazy as Xing Youran would claim to be afraid of others being unreliable and insist on going to hide the items herself.
Turns out, she had been plotting this all along.
She really did go and hide them *herself*, alright...
Thinking of this, Xing Zhenzhen knitted her brows tightly. She had never liked this younger sister who received preferential treatment from their mother, and now she despised and detested her even more.
Someone who couldn't even resist a tiny temptation could never accomplish anything major; she was nothing more than a stepping stone for her.
Meanwhile, back in the North Courtyard.
Xing Beiluo was ecstatic after putting on a show and reaping two supreme treasures as her reward.
This Grand General's Estate was far wealthier than the Azure Dragon Empire's imperial palace; the weapons belonging to those two young misses would surely fetch a fortune.
If she could pull off a few more schemes like this,
wouldn't she be rolling in wealth?!
Unable to contain herself, she ran into the Space to show off to Little Azure Dragon, only to find him lying in the grass looking profoundly bored.
She couldn't help asking with some curiosity, "Why did you turn back into a dragon form again?"
"Hehe, I... I change back once a day," Shengyun replied with a sheepish grin.
"And each time lasts a whole day..."