Returning to Zhiyu Pavilion, Li'er was waiting at the door.
"Sister, you're finally back," Li'er hurried forward to support Ye Yunniang.
"Li'er, I want to rest for a while," Ye Yunniang said, exhausted after a day of travel.
"Alright, let me help you to your room," Li'er assisted Ye Yunniang inside.
After thanking Li'er, Ye Yunniang fell into a deep sleep.
When she awoke, a full day had passed.
As she ate the dinner Li'er brought, she listened to the girl recount the events of the Dragon Boat Festival.
After exchanging pleasantries with others, Jin Huifang thought of her son and returned to their family's decorated pavilion, only to find him missing.
She turned to Zhuang Meixue, who was seated inside, and asked, "Second Sister-in-law, where is Tingjun?" Before she left, Jiang Tingjun had been cradled in Zhuang Meixue's arms.
"Tingjun was tired, so I had Jinlan escort him back," Zhuang Meixue explained.
"Tired?" Jin Huifang was puzzled. At this hour, the boy usually loved the festivities—why would he be sleepy?
"Huifang, look—Fourth Brother's dragon boat!" Following Zhuang Meixue's finger, Jin Huifang turned her gaze to the river.
Jiang Mingrui had shed his opulent robes, wearing only a short sleeveless tunic that revealed his muscular arms as he rowed with vigor, exuding raw masculinity.
Jin Huifang was instantly captivated, cheering for her husband and momentarily forgetting about her son.
Upon returning to Jiang Mansion, she remembered Jiang Tingjun and hurried to his courtyard.
To her shock, she was told he had never returned.
Neither Jinlan, Taohong, Hongluo, nor Hongyin—those assigned to care for him—had come back either.
A sense of dread washed over Jin Huifang. "Search for them at once—!"
Jiang Mingrui led the search himself, only to return with the bodies of Taohong and Hongluo—and news that seven or eight children and young women had gone missing in Jiangcheng.
Faced with her worst fear, Jin Huifang collapsed in a faint.
When she awoke, she demanded to join the search, but Jiang Mingzhe sent word: his men had spotted a child resembling Jiang Tingjun in a stranger's arms and were already in pursuit. He warned the Jiang family not to act rashly, promising to bring the boy home.
Four agonizing days passed.
For Jin Huifang, each moment was torment.
The moment news arrived, she set out without delay to fetch Jiang Tingjun.
"Sister, it's a good thing you weren't the one caring for the young master that day," Li'er said, relieved for Ye Yunniang.
Ye Yunniang wasn't sure whether to feel fortunate—though she hadn't been holding the child, she too had been abducted.
Li'er leaned closer. "There's more good news."
"What is it?"
"Jinlan was found on the sixth day. But when she returned, the mistress had her beaten and banished."
"Why?" Ye Yunniang was stunned—Jinlan had been specially sent by the Jin family to care for the child.
"They say she took something she shouldn't have." Li'er didn't know the details, but if Jin Huifang had reacted so harshly, it must have been related to Jiang Tingjun's disappearance.
Had Jiang Tingjun's abduction been no accident? Was someone in the mansion trying to make him vanish? Who could it be?
"What are you thinking, sister?"
"Nothing," Ye Yunniang kept her suspicions to herself.
After the meal, she lay down again—traveling truly drained her.
In the dead of night, Hong Cai rushed to Zhiyu Pavilion.
"Wet nurse Ye, the young master won't stop crying. The mistress demands your presence."
Ye Yunniang dressed and hurried to Fanghua Courtyard.
Before even entering, she heard Jiang Tingjun's wails.
Inside, Jin Huifang cradled her son, heartbroken. "My child, please don't cry. You're breaking your mother's heart."
The boy had been crying so long his voice was hoarse.
As Ye Yunniang took him, Jiang Tingjun clung to her, soothed by her familiar scent.
She rocked him to sleep and tried to set him down—only for his eyes to snap open, his mouth trembling with fresh sobs.
"Hush now, little master. I'll hold you. I won't let go, alright?" Ye Yunniang lifted him again, humming a lullaby.
Something felt strange.
During their captivity, Jiang Tingjun had never cried like this.
An image flashed through her mind—Jiang Mingzhe expertly comforting the child. Had he been the one soothing the boy at night?
The thought softened her anger toward him.
With her son finally calm, Jin Huifang rounded on Jiang Mingrui.
"Jiang Mingrui, this isn't over. I will make Zhuang Meixue pay." She no longer honored her sister-in-law with a title.
"I failed you both," Jiang Mingrui said bitterly. He too wanted vengeance, but their parents forbade it—and their eldest brother in the capital would never consent.
The Zhuang family's backing made them untouchable. Even if Jiang Tingjun had died, the Jiangs would have shielded Zhuang Meixue.
"Look what she's done to our son!" Jin Huifang struck Jiang Mingrui's chest repeatedly, venting her fury.
He endured the blows—they eased his guilt.
The servants kept their eyes downcast, not daring to speak.
Ye Yunniang too bowed her head, hiding her shock.
How could it be her? Was she mad? How could she harm a child?
"Master, Mistress—Second Master is here."
"Have you lost your mind? Tingjun is just a baby—how could you?" Jiang Mingzhe had traced the abduction to Zhuang Meixue's plot: she'd bribed Jinlan to arrange the kidnapping through traffickers.
He couldn't fathom her motives.
"Lost my mind?" Zhuang Meixue threw back her head in wild laughter. "I did—long ago!
When I endured three years of barren marriage, swallowing bitter medicines while others called me defective—that's when I broke.
When they branded me a jealous shrew for denying you heirs, when both families forced me to give you concubines—that's when I shattered!"
"If our marriage tortured you, blame me. I failed as your husband. But Tingjun is barely a year old—an innocent! How could you?" This was what Jiang Mingzhe couldn't forgive.
"Blame you? You wouldn't suffer!" Zhuang Meixue jabbed a finger at his chest. "Jiang Mingzhe, after all these years, I know you.
Your priorities? First—Jiang family business. Second—your precious brother Jiang Mingrui. Third—the Jiang clan. Me? Fourth at best, likely lower."
The Zhuang family's recent rise was attributed to her uncle's imperial favor—but without financial backing, their ascent would've been impossible.
That money came from the Jiangs—specifically, Jiang Mingzhe's ventures.
The Jiangs funded the Zhuangs' political climb; in return, the Zhuangs shielded them from predatory nobles.
Their alliance was symbiotic.
Zhuang Meixue couldn't touch Jiang Mingzhe's enterprises—her own family would stop her.
If the most important thing cannot be touched, then move on to the second most important.
