Yu Ningrou cursed inwardly—what fools these people were, barging in when she clearly wasn’t in any state to deal with them! But no one paid her any heed.

The servants who had once fawned over her were either nowhere to be found or deliberately ignoring her. She couldn’t even find a single reliable person to send word to her birth parents or scout her surroundings.

Her thoughts then turned to Yu Fuguang. Was that wretch hiding in her courtyard, laughing at her misfortune? She must be gloating now that Yu Ningrou had fallen from grace!

Yu Ningrou gritted her teeth in resentment, blaming her birth parents for not finishing Yu Fuguang off back then. If they hadn’t come demanding money, the third branch of the Yu Family wouldn’t have discovered she wasn’t their trueborn daughter.

All of this was their fault!

She had to send a message to her birth parents—they must exploit their "parental debt" to pressure Yue Fuguang. If she couldn’t have peace, neither would Yue Fuguang!

With that thought, she stormed toward Yue Fuguang’s courtyard, only to be met with yet another locked gate. Yue Fuguang had already moved overnight to the Moonlight Pavilion.

The Moonlight Pavilion was the finest residence in the Yu Family estate, second only to the main house and the quarters of the senior masters and mistresses. Several wives with daughters had openly or covertly vied for it, but none succeeded.

Yu Ningrou had even schemed behind the scenes, manipulating Madame Sun to plead on her behalf multiple times. Now, knowing Yue Fuguang had taken it, she was seething with rage.

In the past, she would’ve run straight to Madame Sun in tears. But now, not only was Madame Sun too preoccupied to care, Yu Ningrou’s own precarious status made such ambitions laughable.

Her problem wasn’t just losing the Moonlight Pavilion—she might not even be allowed to stay in the Yu Family much longer!

Honestly, even the third branch’s illegitimate daughters, Yu Ningzi and Yu Ninglin, had more right to live there than she did.

Only now, in her moment of clarity, did Yu Ningrou realize that without Madame Sun’s protection, she was nothing.

A wave of unprecedented panic washed over her. Every servant who passed seemed to sneer at her, as if mocking her for being an impostor.

But panic soon gave way to bitter resentment.

If she had never tasted privilege, she might have accepted hardship. But once spoiled, who would willingly return to suffering?

If she were sent back to the Zhou Family, those vultures would devour her whole!

Yu Ningrou quickly lowered her head, pretending to smooth the wrinkles on her skirt. She couldn’t let the Yu Family see the venom in her eyes.

After one last glance at the Moonlight Pavilion, she headed toward the courtyard of Yu Ningrong, the fourth branch’s legitimate daughter.

Others might hesitate to make a scene, but Yu Ningrong—always arrogant—wouldn’t hold back. And Yu Ningrou knew the girl had coveted the Moonlight Pavilion for ages.

Meanwhile, Yue Fuguang was thoroughly enjoying her new life. Who’d want to stay cooped up in a tiny courtyard when they could live in a grand residence?

The Moonlight Pavilion’s layout—its gardens, interiors, everything—exuded understated luxury. It was both comfortable and beautiful, perfectly matching Yue Fuguang’s tastes.

And that wasn’t all. Since her return, the matriarch and the first branch’s madame had showered her with gifts.

Add to that the three wagonloads of imperial rewards, and even her spacious storeroom was now a quarter full.

Yue Fuguang buried her face in the silken quilt. She hadn’t drunk much, so the wine’s effects had long faded.

Alone in her room, she finally had time to review the day’s events.

Recalling her conversation with the system and everyone’s reactions, she concluded that, based on her current understanding, things had gone better than expected.

Earlier, the matriarch had even announced that in five days, she’d be added to the family register and formally adopted by the first branch.

This surpassed her initial hope of merely being raised under the matriarch’s care. Even as the matriarch’s ward, she’d still have been tied to the third branch.

Now, with the clear-headed first branch as her parents, the third branch would just be an uncle and aunt she barely knew. No one could fault her for keeping them at arm’s length.

As long as she maintained appearances, it would suffice. Reputation mattered to her—but only to a point.

This outcome was more than satisfactory.

---

Yu Family Main House

"Did you explain the adoption matter to the eldest and third sons?" The matriarch didn’t want discord between her sons, but keeping the seventh girl with the third branch was no longer an option.

"I made it clear to both of them in front of His Majesty," Yu Chongshan replied, though his expression remained troubled.

He paused, listening for eavesdroppers, then leaned closer to his wife. "I’d planned to discuss this tonight, but at the palace, I sensed that if we mishandled it, we might lose our granddaughter altogether."

"What?" The matriarch was stunned. "Are you saying the imperial family would dare take her from us?"

Strictly speaking, the girl wasn’t entirely theirs by blood—but she still carried the Yu Family’s lineage. That much was undeniable.

The ancients valued bloodline, so how could Yue Fuguang, who shared their blood, not be considered one of their own?

Yu Chongshan shook his head. "If the imperial family truly wants to take someone, they have countless ways to do so. The Empress Dowager said she wishes for that child to enter the palace to accompany her—can you stop it, or can I?"

"What should we do then? We can’t just hand over our family’s child to the palace. That place..."

Even knowing Yue Fuguang’s extraordinary status, the palace was a den of schemes where every person had more hidden motives than the holes in a lotus root.

From what she had heard that day, this divine lord’s past life must have been smooth sailing—her status and martial prowess were formidable, so she likely seldom needed to rely on cunning. But then again...

Of course, for the strong, martial prowess alone was enough. Yet it seemed she had no intention of revealing her true identity.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have endured living in their household for over a month without taking any action.

If Yue Fuguang knew the old madam’s thoughts, she would call it a beautiful misunderstanding.

The truth was far simpler—she was just poor, unwilling to spend the hard-earned points she had saved over three years to improve her living conditions.

Besides, without the enhancements she’d given herself, she was merely a small-time transmigrator on a mission.

Without vast wealth or overwhelming strength, she lacked the foundation to act boldly.

Now, however, she had crafted an impressive identity for herself. With over three hundred points, she could afford items unseen in this era, enough to temporarily dazzle these ancients.

Once they helped her complete her mission and she earned the points, she would gradually use the accumulated rewards to manifest more "miracles."

They would help her earn points; she would purchase items from the system store to bolster her reputation as the "Little Immortal Lord." Soon, a virtuous cycle would form—this had been Yue Fuguang’s plan from the start.

After all, much of her later plans involved the imperial court. Without this step, she might exhaust herself without ever succeeding.

Yue Fuguang silently applauded her own cleverness.