After Hong Ying led Xiao Shao to the entrance, she smiled: “This is the tea pavilion. This servant will go prepare some tea and refreshments. Your Highness, please go in and rest first – First Miss will arrive shortly.”
Xiao Shao said nothing, so Hong Ying curtsied and retreated on her own. Before leaving, she glanced once more at the carved door, then lifted her skirts and departed. After Hong Ying left, Xiao Shao contemplated for a while before reaching out to push open the door.
Upon opening the door, he immediately detected a faint sweet fragrance permeating the room. This scent was extremely light, not intense, and at first whiff seemed merely like a maiden’s natural fragrance. Delicate and soft, yet with a hint of sweetness that inexplicably stirred an indescribable warmth in one’s heart.
It wasn’t like incense, but rather body fragrance. Xiao Shao raised an eyebrow and sat down at the table. Before him was an exquisite azure jade wine pot with two or three jade cups. There was also a plate of crystal-clear purple grapes, each plump and round like crystal beads.
The hospitality here was so thorough – where was the need for Lin Lang’s mentioned “preparing tea and refreshments”?
Not only that, the room was divided in two by a jade screen. The screen was enormous, its jade a lush green, delicately carved with images of four beauties – women dancing, writing poetry, or painting, all lifelike. From behind the unseen side of the screen came the gentle sound of water.
This sound was extremely faint – if Xiao Shao weren’t a martial artist with internal energy, he wouldn’t have heard it. It seemed something had stirred shallow ripples, the water gently falling with enchanting crisp sounds that evoked infinite imagination.
Xiao Shao remained unmoved, only lowering his gaze to a white jade whistle at his fingertips, thinking unknown thoughts. He sat motionless as time quietly passed in the room, yet Jiang Ruan was nowhere to be seen. Just then, the water sounds behind the screen suddenly grew louder, followed by rustling noises. Xiao Shao’s eyes flickered, and immediately after, a slender figure emerged from behind the screen.
It was an absolutely beautiful woman.
She wore a simple white dress with no excessive ornamentation – only a wide azure belt wrapped around the loose robe’s waist, making her waist appear slender as a willow, her movements like tender willows swaying in the wind, everything about her seductive. Every gesture carried a fox-like allure, yet one couldn’t help being drawn to her. She still bore water droplets from her recent bath, crystal-clear beads sliding down her delicate chin and rolling into her chest, then disappearing beneath the robe, making one’s heart itch unbearably.
Looking upward, it was clearly an ethereally beautiful face. Delicate features, bright eyes like pools, resembling a pure fairy from heaven’s jade pond, naturally innocent of worldly matters. Such a fairy’s face paired with the seductive mannerisms of a courtesan was fatal temptation for any man.
It was Jiang Susu.
Upon seeing Xiao Shao, Jiang Susu first showed surprise, panic coloring her face, then forced composure as she said: “Prince Xiao.”
Xiao Shao merely glanced at her once before lowering his gaze, neither looking at her nor speaking. Jiang Susu’s body stiffened. Since practicing her seduction arts, men’s gazes had always fallen upon her – she had never been so ignored. Unwillingness immediately rose in her heart. She smiled slightly and gracefully seated herself in the chair beside Xiao Shao. With her movements, that familiar sweet fragrance wafted out, perfectly matching the room’s scent – it was indeed her natural fragrance.
Jiang Susu turned to look at the seated figure. This young man wore black robes with only faint patterns at the sleeves, making him appear incredibly noble. His profile was exquisitely beautiful yet not feminine. Thin lips, starlike eyes, cool expression – he possessed an elegance carved into his very bones, flowing like clouds and water. This was a beautiful yet heroic youth who, even without the Prince Jinying residence’s halo, possessed looks and bearing enough to move any woman’s heart.
For instance, at this moment, Jiang Susu’s heart filled with jealousy over why Jiang Ruan had such good fortune to marry this youth.
“Just now Susu was bathing when someone suddenly entered. Looking up, it was Prince Xiao.” Jiang Susu’s voice carried a subtle hook, tickling one’s heart: “Since it’s like this, why not share a drink with Your Highness?”
A man and woman alone, slightly drunk in a tea pavilion, one having just finished bathing and wearing only loose robes. Moreover, this person was an incomparable beauty whose every movement was quite forward. Even if all the men in the world witnessed this scene, remaining unmoved would be truly difficult.
Xiao Shao still didn’t speak, the coldness between his brows not lessening by a fraction. Seeing this, Jiang Susu rose and walked to his side, personally pouring a cup of wine and presenting it to Xiao Shao. She crouched down seductively, almost prostrating herself at Xiao Shao’s knees. Gazing at Xiao Shao like this, her watery eyes immediately filled with indescribable allure. Matching her faint sweet fragrance perfectly, one felt like seeing a delicate white flower trembling open in a deep valley, making one unable to resist picking it, wanting to tear that flower apart, wanting to see it ravaged.
Seeing Xiao Shao make no move, Jiang Susu leaned even closer, her lips barely brushing past Xiao Shao’s ear as she whispered softly: “Your Highness—” Her breath was indeed like orchids.
Xiao Shao’s eyes narrowed. Before Jiang Susu could make any other moves, his robe corner moved slightly – no one knew when his bracelet-wearing hand had acted. The white jade cup on the table flew out, striking straight toward Jiang Susu’s abdomen. The small jade cup seemed like some vicious hidden weapon. With a thud, Jiang Susu’s entire body flew out, her back crashing into the jade screen in the room. Like a kite with its string cut, she collapsed on the ground, immediately spitting up blood.
“Courting death!” Xiao Shao’s anger-laden voice rang out coldly.
The sudden commotion in the room stunned Jiang Susu. She struggled to get up – Xiao Shao had probably only used thirty percent of his strength, yet it was almost more than she could bear. What shocked her even more was Xiao Shao’s complete indifference to her thus far.
No man in the world could resist her charm. The seduction arts she practiced could make even the most ascetic holy monks fall for her, let alone Xiao Shao, a young man. Any young man seeing her should be moved. Especially today, when she had specially dressed and appeared before Xiao Shao in the most irresistible manner for men.
She thought everything was flawless, but she alone miscalculated Xiao Shao’s intentions. She knew Xiao Shao by nature disliked women, but those were just rumors. If he truly disliked women, why would he petition the Emperor to marry Jiang Ruan? Though Jiang Ruan was beautiful, in what way did her allure and seduction compare to hers? Yet not only was Xiao Shao not enchanted by her, he had actually struck her so heavily!
“Prince Xiao,” Jiang Susu spat blood, the crimson stain on her cherry lips making her entire person possess a different kind of temptation. She said: “Prince Xiao shows no pity for the fairer sex – it truly breaks Susu’s heart.”
Xiao Shao looked at her coldly.
“Prince Xiao has seen my body today – do you think you can so easily leave through that door?” Jiang Susu smiled with obvious satisfaction: “Brother-in-law, you’ve seen my body, so I belong to you now. I originally wanted to be gentle with brother-in-law today, but since brother-in-law is so unfeeling, I’ll have to call out when leaving shortly, letting brother-in-law lose some face.”
“Pure nonsense.” Before she finished speaking, a male voice rang out in the room. A man dressed as a guard jumped down from the roof beams and said to Jiang Susu without thinking: “I also saw your body – doesn’t that make you mine too? There are many hidden guards here – they’ve probably all seen your body. Which one will you belong to?” He then pretended to scratch his head in distress: “But the brothers all prefer virtuous women. Someone as bold and unrestrained as Miss, we really can’t handle.”
This person was none other than Jin Er. He had followed Xiao Shao and hidden in the room early on, just to see what the Jiang family was planning. Later, watching Jiang Susu openly seduce Xiao Shao filled him with contempt. If she were a courtesan, that would be one thing, but Jiang Susu was after all a legitimate daughter of the Minister’s residence. This supposed incomparable beauty with renowned virtue and talent that all of the capital had praised couldn’t even compare to ordinary daughters. Common daughters at least knew propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, but this Jiang Susu had abandoned both face and dignity.
However, despite saying this, Jin Er didn’t actually look at Jiang Susu’s body again. Jiang Susu was indeed a beauty, and having practiced seduction arts, she could attract any man’s attention. Especially those eyes – one could easily be mesmerized by her, unknowingly falling into Jiang Susu’s honey trap.
But what Jiang Susu didn’t know was that Xiao Shao had managed the Embroidered Uniform Guard since childhood, coming through countless trials by fire. His self-control was naturally far superior to others. He had encountered many temptations over the years and seen plenty of stunning enchantresses. Jiang Susu’s meager skills truly weren’t worth Xiao Shao’s attention, let alone moving his heart.
Jiang Susu almost spat up another mouthful of blood. She hadn’t expected there was another person hidden in this room, and from this person’s tone, there wasn’t just one other. Thinking that today she had been seen by this group of guards for no reason filled Jiang Susu with choking anger. Now that things had reached this point, she could only fight desperately – when a man and woman were alone in a room together, though the woman’s reputation was damaged, the man could easily bear responsibility too. Jiang Susu opened her mouth to cry out loudly, calling the people prepared outside to enter. But as soon as she opened her mouth, Jin Er quickly sealed her mute acupoint, leaving her unable to make any sound.
“Master, what should we do with this woman?” Jin Er asked.
Xiao Shao frowned and said: “Kill her.”
Jiang Susu’s face immediately paled – this Xiao Shao actually treated human life so lightly, speaking of killing as casually as chopping vegetables. Yet at this moment she couldn’t move her entire body, genuine fear flashing through her eyes.
Jin Er shrugged and was about to grab Jiang Susu when the door was pushed open. Jiang Ruan stepped through the doorway and naturally saw Jiang Susu at first glance. After a moment of shock, she asked: “What happened?”
Xiao Shao pondered briefly before saying: “She seduced me, so I injured her.”
Jiang Susu’s expression had become quite spectacular. Only at this moment did she understand that this man had truly never been moved by her in the slightest from beginning to end. If she had heard Xiao Shao say these words a few years ago, she would probably have died of shame and anger by throwing herself down a well. Though she no longer had that fierce temperament now, she still felt deeply insulted. It was as if she had exhausted all her skills and efforts in front of someone, only for them to consider it nothing but a joke.
After hearing Xiao Shao’s words, Jiang Ruan looked up at Jiang Susu. Her expression was calm, without even a trace of displeasure. Jiang Susu’s heart tightened. When Zhao Mei was alive, she had never taken Jiang Ruan seriously. She knew that Jiang Quan ultimately made decisions in the Jiang residence, and Jiang Quan disliked Zhao Mei, treating Jiang Ruan and her brother worse than even Jiang Li. Jiang Ruan was just a weak, timid person, stupid as a pig. But somehow, starting from her return to the residence three years ago, Jiang Susu began to find Jiang Ruan incomprehensible.
It seemed precisely from that time that Jiang Ruan no longer displayed her emotions on her face. She smiled when happy, smiled when angry, smiled when facing false accusations, and still smiled when thrown into prison. Like now, she still looked at Jiang Susu with a smile. Though it appeared peaceful, those upturned charming eyes revealed a hint of mockery and superior disdain.
It was just that trace of disdain that immediately stung Jiang Susu’s eyes. She wanted to loudly accuse and curse, but couldn’t make any sound.
Jiang Ruan withdrew her gaze and looked at Xiao Shao: “Auntie told me to come check on you – turns out I came to watch this performance. How is it that you weren’t seduced? This performance will be quite difficult to continue.”
Xiao Shao was slightly stunned. Being naturally intelligent, he immediately understood the key points. So this was Hong Ying’s plan. If today had been any other man, he would have already fallen under Jiang Susu’s seduction arts and would be engaged in improper acts, just as Jiang Ruan pushed through the door to naturally witness this scene.
For an unmarried woman to see her sister with her future husband in such a state would naturally be unbearable. The Empress Dowager’s edict couldn’t be changed, so if she were more fierce-tempered, seeking death would be possible. They could then use some excuse to cover it up, and having the younger sister marry in place of the elder would naturally fall into place – wouldn’t that be wonderful?
If she were more gentle-natured, she might endure it. But after all, she was a legitimate daughter of the residence who couldn’t have her pure reputation ruined for nothing – naturally the other party would have to provide an explanation. Having a legitimate daughter as a concubine was improper, but making her a side consort wouldn’t be difficult, creating a beautiful story of sisters serving one husband.
But regardless of which outcome, it would be a huge blow to the original Miss. Whether dead or alive, she would be affected by this matter for life and never be happy. Even if she reluctantly married, there would always be a knot in her heart – how could she live harmoniously with her husband? Losing her husband’s favor would only be a matter of time.
Today’s matter seemed simple but was actually intricately connected. The malicious intentions behind it were truly jaw-dropping. Hong Ying and Jiang Susu had indeed spent considerable effort on this, but they had calculated men’s base nature without considering Xiao Shao’s inherent coldness and cruelty, nor had they expected Jiang Ruan to remain so calm, not even harboring thoughts of misunderstanding.
Xiao Shao also noticed Jiang Ruan’s calmness and felt somewhat disappointed. If she truly cared about his feelings, she should at least show some concern. Her calmness only proved she didn’t take this matter to heart.
Xiao Shao thought this but misunderstood Jiang Ruan’s feelings. Looking at the spilled wine in the room and the sweet fragrance floating in the air, then at Jiang Susu’s disheveled and pitiful appearance, anger slowly rose in Jiang Ruan’s heart.
Just then, she suddenly remembered the scene from her previous life when Xuan Li had her thrown into the heavenly prison. Jiang Susu had also come to the prison to see her triumphantly, recounting her sweet past with Xuan Li. At that time, Jiang Susu’s words were like a bolt from the blue – her sincere heart had only learned at the final moment that it was all an elaborate deception. Xuan Li had actually been secretly involved with Jiang Susu. She hadn’t understood then why Xuan Li, who claimed to love only her, had still done intimate things with Jiang Susu that he had never done with her.
Thinking back, Jiang Susu had probably appeared before Xuan Li with the same seductive attitude as today, attracting his different treatment.
In this life and the previous, Jiang Susu seemed determined to fight her to the death. In the previous life, when she admired Xuan Li, Jiang Susu stole him away. Now that the Empress Dowager had arranged her marriage to Xiao Shao, Jiang Susu came to snatch Xiao Shao. Jiang Ruan felt displeased, her gaze toward Jiang Susu immediately becoming profound.
“What do you plan to do?” Xiao Shao asked: “Kill her?”
Though Xiao Shao was called a treacherous minister, and his actions and planning were thorough, he didn’t care about the scheming and jealous rivalries in inner quarters. His methods were cruel but decisive, carrying the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s characteristic approach – simple and brutal, just kill them. Jiang Susu simply didn’t understand Xiao Shao. Perhaps because Xiao Shao only appeared in rumors, various accounts of him were hearsay, so Jiang Susu regarded him as similar to other men. She didn’t know that Xiao Shao was extremely proud in his bones. Even being schemed against today, he wouldn’t obediently submit to the Jiang residence’s manipulation. Most likely he would kill someone in anger and leave, and even if the Emperor had no choice but to punish him in the end, it would merely be a matter of harsh words with gentle action.
“Why bother?” Jiang Ruan said softly: “We’re sisters after all – no need to utterly destroy her. However,” she looked at Jiang Susu, who was glaring at her with hatred, and smiled slightly: “Since Second Sister is so afraid of not marrying well that she would even scheme against you, as her legitimate elder sister, I must certainly lend a helping hand.”
Xiao Shao looked at her thoughtfully: “What do you want to do?”
“Second Sister is a national beauty with a pure, jade-like body that more people should see.” Jiang Ruan said coolly: “The Jiang residence has so many servants – being able to marry a beauty like Second Sister would surely bring them comfort.”
A flash of weariness quickly crossed her eyes. Though it was only a brief moment, Xiao Shao sensitively caught it. He sensed that in that instant, Jiang Ruan’s emotions had undergone some change, though he didn’t know why it prompted her current decision.
However, he always unconditionally agreed with Jiang Ruan’s words, so he nodded: “Good.”
Jiang Susu stared at Jiang Ruan in disbelief – she hadn’t expected Jiang Ruan to be so bold. Perhaps because in previous instances when Jiang Ruan clearly had ways to destroy her but ultimately didn’t act, Jiang Susu assumed Jiang Ruan must have reservations. Jiang Quan doted on Jiang Susu so much that if anything happened to her with even the slightest connection to Jiang Ruan, Jiang Quan would surely make Jiang Ruan’s life difficult without mercy. But now that Jiang Ruan spoke like this, she was planning to tear off all pretenses, leaving no room for compromise.
Jiang Ruan walked before her, looking down at her with eyes calm as water. She had never forgotten the hatred from her previous life for a single day. Originally, she had planned to leave Jiang Susu with nothing, then watch her slowly collapse. But now it seemed she had been overthinking. With Xia Yan already defeated, Jiang Chao’s prospects in the imperial examinations ruined, and her own reputation damaged, compared to her previous life’s flower-clustered existence, she could be called completely different from her former fairy-like beauty.
Her former obsession now seemed truly unnecessary. Jiang Susu had always been good at pretending – her constant fairy act was merely because she coveted higher status. For someone whose heart was higher than the heavens to end up in a humble position, having to depend on others daily to survive – what kind of feeling was that?
For Jiang Susu, this might not be any less than painful torment and punishment.
Jiang Ruan lowered her gaze. She couldn’t spend all her time on a pest destined to grovel at her feet in this life. She still had Jiang Xinzhi, the Zhao family, and Xuan Pei. Any potential threats must be eliminated completely. Keeping Jiang Susu one more day benefited her nothing – many things should be accelerated, and Jiang Susu had been comfortable too long.
She said coolly: “Then I’ll trouble my husband to find a way to throw Second Sister out. Remember, the more bustling the place, the better.” Her lips curved in a smile, beautiful and alluring like a red fox: “Such beauty should be appreciated by ten thousand people.”
Xiao Shao was stunned in place by Jiang Ruan’s natural “husband,” not knowing if he was shocked or frightened, but a faint sense of joy rose on his face. After a moment of silence, he said: “Jin Er.”
Jin Er scratched his head and stepped forward: “Alright, alright, Master. How about throwing her at the Jiang residence’s front gate? Too far would be really tiring.”
“That’s perfect.” Jiang Ruan smiled: “Thank you for your trouble.”
“Not troublesome at all – as long as Young Mistress is considerate of Young Master.” Jin Er also smiled, then grabbed Jiang Susu with one hand and flew out. Hidden guards naturally possessed considerable martial arts, and there were already people outside to assist. Those servants and old women guarding the door and waiting to watch the show had probably already been dealt with – otherwise they wouldn’t have failed to appear by now.
After Jin Er left, Xiao Shao looked up at Jiang Ruan and suddenly asked: “You’re unhappy.”
“I’m certainly not as happy as you are.” Jiang Ruan’s expression remained unchanged, her smile still gentle, yet somehow one could detect displeasure or perhaps faint anger. She said: “Having an incomparable beauty come to seduce you isn’t something everyone encounters – husband, you’re quite fortunate.”
Xiao Shao was stunned, lowered his gaze in thought for a moment, then suddenly showed an extremely faint smile.