C113

Today, Baoqin could be said to have witnessed Ji Yunkai's methods and arrogance and was wholeheartedly convinced. As soon as Ji Yunkai's words fell, Baoqin stepped forward, grabbed Madam Zhu's arm, and pulled her down from her seat.

Seeing Ji Yunkai allowing the maidservant to do the deed, she was so frightened that her face turned white.

*Pah...!* With a move of Ji Yunkai's wrist, all the tea in the teacup was splashed onto Madam Zhu's face.

"I'll teach you the first rule. If you meet someone with a higher status than you, obediently lower your head. Bullying others won't work in the capital; who in the capital doesn't have a backer or two?" Ji Yunkai said indifferently. The teacup in her hand twirled between her fingers, as though it was going to fall at any moment, but it did not.

"You … Prince Yanbei's Wife, you…" Madam Zhu's face was pale, and her lips were trembling. "You…" She could not say a complete sentence even after a long time.

It was obvious that she was a coward who feared the strong.

With a *pa*, Ji Yunkai placed the cup on the table and said, "Baoqin, take her away and properly teach her the rules."

This kind of person dared to dishonor her. Not everyone was Xiao Jiu'an, who could casually pinch her to death and left her with no choice but to submit.

"Yes, Princess." Baoqin ignored Madam Zhu's struggles and dragged her under the pavilion, where all the other ladies could see her giving her a few slaps to Madam Zhu.

*Slap! Slap! Slap!* Accompanied by Madam Zhu's cries of pain was a slap, and from below the pavilion, the purple-clothed woman, who colluded with Madam Zhu earlier, was instantly frightened to the point that her face paled, her entire body trembled, and her lips quivered.

Ji Yunkai glanced at her, and she became even more frightened than before, and the woman started biting her lips to the point that it bleed.

Ji Yunkai laughed, "This is... Madam Zhang, right? What is Madam Zhang afraid of? I haven't taken off my mask yet." She directly used what Madam Zhu had said to ridicule her, and it could be seen how vengeful Ji Yunkai was.

"Pri-Princess Yanbei, forgive me." Mrs. Zhang tensed up and fell off her chair with a thump.

Seeing this, Ji Yunkai got up and went forward to help Madam Zhang. She said gently, "Although I have ruined my appearance, I am not a yaksha. What is Madam Zhang so afraid of?" Ji Yunkai knew how to hold a grudge.

"No... no …" Madam Zhang's hands trembled incessantly, but she did not dare to speak carelessly.

"It's good that you're not afraid. Madam Zhang, quickly sit down; otherwise, if the Grand Princess saw you laying there, she would think I was bullying you." Ji Yunkai pressed Madam Zhang down on the chair. Although her tone was gentle, her actions were extremely tyrannical.

Madam Zhang's body stiffened, and she dared not move an inch.

Upon seeing this, a hint of impatience flashed across the beautiful face of the woman seated at the head of the table. She said with determination, "Prince Yanbei's Wife, enough!"

"Prince Duan's Wife?" Ji Yunkai had never seen Prince Duan's Wife before, but that "gentle" stepmother of hers very rarely brought her out to meet people. Even if she did, she would never let her meet the renowned and noble ladies in the capital. She would just throw her, a young girl that had never left the confines of the boudoir, to the side and leave her to fend for herself, regardless of the consequences.

This was the first time she had seen Prince Duan's Wife, and thinking of the Son of Prince Duan, Ji Yunkai could not help but give her a few more glances.

How should she put it? Prince Duan's Wife looked like a girl in her twenties. She was very beautiful, not in her appearance but also her temperament. It was as if the woman had walked out from the darkness of the Misty Rain River. She was like a poem or a painting, elegant and otherworldly, untainted by worldly pleasures, making people not forget about her, but…

It lacked the grandeur of nobility and a little less mature. She did not seem like a matriarch of a large family, but more like an unmarried girl who had never read a poem.

If not for her sitting in the master's seat, Ji Yunkai would not have believed that she was Prince Duan's Wife. She did not have a trace of the grandeur of a mistress, nor was she as calm as a noble wife.

Recalling what the Son of Prince Duan had mentioned had happend to his mother, Ji Yunkai believed… if it was a woman like this, she would surely have the ability to make men abandon their wives and children.

Many times, a man's fondness for a woman was just a facade. As long as the woman was not too vulgar and ignorant, men would be able to endure it for the sake of face.

Didn't Xiao Jiu'an keep on reminding her that she was ugly?

Prince Duan's Wife had never thought that Ji Yunkai would not know her. Her beautiful and gentle face was stiff for a moment, but she quickly recovered and gently replied, "This is the first time Prince Yanbei's Wife has seen me, and it's not strange that you don't know me."

In the circle of noble wives in the capital, Prince Duan's Wife was notably famous. Her identity, as well as her unique maintenance skills, were all topics that the noble wives would talk about with fervor.

Especially in regards to her maintenance techniques. Countless women wanted to know what a woman in her forties had done to be as beautiful as a twenty-eight-year-old girl.

"I was rude. The Princess Duan looks too young, and I can't be sure." Ji Yunkai's words could not be considered as respectful, and was even a little bit ridiculing.

Maybe it was due to her having preconceived thoughts, but even though Prince Duan's Wife looked very beautiful, Ji Yunkai was still unable to like her. In fact, she was a little disgusted by her.

Although Ji Yunkai hid it well, Prince Duan's Wife seemed to be able to hear it. She frowned as if she was dissatisfied with it, but Ji Yunkai did not care.

With her status, there was no need to preserve Prince Duan's Wife's face and put on an act. Although Prince Duan was a first-tier prince and had some military power, he was far inferior to Xiao Jiu'an.

Although the Prince Duan's Wife was of a higher rank than her, in the capital, the status of woman was not determined by the rank, but by the power of their husband!

It was precisely because of this fact that, after Madam Zhu had offended her, she dared to "teach" her rules on the spot and without hesitation so that everyone present would understand that she, Ji Yunkai, was not someone to be trifled with. She would not be like before, enduring everything for the sake of her so-called grace of the mother of the nation, the demeanor of a quasi-empress, and force herself to be suffocated half to death...