As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding crowd immediately erupted in an uproar. The scandal at the Minister’s manor had been well-known throughout the capital a few years ago. Initially, Xia Yan’s background had been praised as pure and virtuous, but when it was later exposed that her character was actually lacking, she became thoroughly despised. Hearing these two maids speak thus, it was like throwing a stone into calm lake water, stirring up endless ripples. Those who were older recalled the former lady of the Minister’s manor, Zhao Mei.
Speaking of it, anyone who had any impression of Zhao Mei actually held quite favorable opinions of her. Zhao Mei was naturally beautiful, with a simple and kind nature. When she married into the Minister’s manor, she often helped the poor. She never despised poverty or loved wealth, nor would she put on the airs of a noble lady—her approachability was astonishingly humble. However, all this good reputation eventually went entirely to the Minister’s manor, adding considerable weight to Jiang Quan’s career. Back then, Jiang Quan’s reputation for integrity among the common people was not without Zhao Mei’s contribution.
It was just that later Zhao Mei gradually faded from people’s view, and then there appeared the gentle, virtuous, and talented Xia Yan, whom Jiang Quan deliberately promoted. People then only remembered that the current lady of the Minister’s manor was Xia Yan, not the original Zhao Mei. Now that the two maids brought her up, some people recalled that beautiful and kind young woman. Human hearts naturally sided with good, and someone spoke up in indignation: “Hey, which wicked soul would want to harm the former lady? That former lady was such a peaceful, good person.”
An official stepped forward to take the petition from Lian Qiao’s hands. Glancing at the crowd, he knew that Princess Hong’an was currently quite influential, with the great backing of Prince Jinying’s manor behind her. So upon hearing Jiang Ruan’s reputation, he dared not be negligent. He shouted a few times for the crowd not to make noise and walked inside with the petition.
Generally, it took a day from when the Court of Judicial Review received a case to opening court. Ordinary cases would normally be tried directly at the local magistrate’s office, unless it involved noble families with great injustices to report who feared that the accused had too much power and might interfere with the magistrate’s judgment, leading to unfair verdicts—only then would cases be escalated to the Court of Judicial Review. The Court of Judicial Review could also choose whether or not to hear a case, as wealthy families had too many complications, and one careless move could bring trouble. However, since an official today dared to accept the petition on his own authority, it was clear he had received prior instructions from his superiors. Accepting the case meant it would be tried, so the surrounding crowd knew there would be another spectacle to watch tomorrow.
Lu Zhu felt it wasn’t enough and deliberately shouted loudly: “The Minister’s manor’s concubine Xia Yan poisoned and murdered the legitimate wife, harmed the legitimate son and daughter with cruel methods. Minister Jiang, as head of the household, knew this well but pretended to be deaf and blind, going with the flow. When the legitimate wife died, he claimed she died of illness. We implore the Court of Judicial Review to investigate diligently and return justice and fairness to our young miss and madam!”
The crowd that had been about to disperse immediately boiled up again. Lu Zhu’s words could be said to have exposed a shocking scandal. In fact, among wealthy families, concubines murdering legitimate wives to rise in position was not uncommon. But if Jiang Quan knew everything that was happening yet pretended to be deaf and mute, even tacitly approving of Xia Yan’s actions—this was unprecedented. Any official in the capital with some reputation who wasn’t a fool would never allow such a thing to happen, because once exposed, it would be a huge stain. Disputes between women in the inner quarters were matters of jealousy and rivalry. Men shouldn’t participate, especially not by adding insult to injury. If a man could be so cruel to his own wife, what humanity could he possibly have left?
If before, Jiang Quan was merely seen as a laughable person who couldn’t handle his household affairs, now with Lu Zhu’s words, Jiang Quan would become a representative of ugly men in the capital. He was hypocritically benevolent, vicious at heart, and possessed a kind of ruthlessness that would abandon even his own flesh and blood. To be a parent to such an extent was truly one in ten thousand.
Lu Zhu and Lian Qiao exchanged smiles, both feeling the refreshing satisfaction of having vented their anger thoroughly. Having followed Jiang Ruan for many years, they had seen clearly how Jiang Quan treated Jiang Ruan. Having such a father was worse than having none at all. Zhao Mei died unjustly, and Jiang Ruan and her siblings’ status in the Minister’s manor had gone from being bullied by anyone to now not being dared to be underestimated. This could be considered a small revenge, so they were naturally quite happy.
News that Princess Hong’an was suing her biological father spread throughout the entire capital in just a short time. Xia Yan and the Xia family were all gone, and Jiang Chao and Jiang Susu were also dead—naturally there was no proof either way. However, only Jiang Quan was still alive, which meant all the accusations were pointed directly at him.
In the Prince’s manor, Jiang Ruan looked at the sun in the sky. The snow had stopped early in the morning, and there was even a bit of sunshine—the weather was quite good. She slowly lifted her teacup and took a sip, then said to Jin San and Tianzhu beside her: “Let’s go. It’s about time.”
Tianzhu rose and draped a silver fox fur cloak over her shoulders, tucked a hand warmer into her hands, and then followed her out the door.
…
The Minister’s manor was exceptionally lively today. Ever since Jiang Chao’s death—no, it should be said that ever since many years ago when Jiang Quan’s career began its downward spiral—the Minister’s manor no longer had its former bustling traffic. When Jiang Quan was thriving in court, every day there were people coming to visit, with so many calling cards that they couldn’t fit on the desk. Jiang Quan would discuss court situations with high officials and nobles, while Xia Yan would chat and laugh with noble ladies. They were both smooth and versatile people, filling the entire Jiang manor with joyful laughter. At that time, Jiang Susu was still an unworldly fairy who could captivate people with a single piece on the konghou in the garden, making them linger and forget to leave. How many sons of princes and nobles were enchanted by the beautiful music, standing foolishly by the outer wall listening to the melodies, their hearts captured by the beauty. And Jiang Chao would always return from the Imperial Academy in high spirits, talking animatedly with newly befriended scions of aristocratic families.
At that time, Old Madam Jiang was still alive, Second Aunt and Jiang Li dared to be angry but not speak against Xia Yan daily, and Jiang Dan timidly hid in her room—but it was still a scene of prosperity. People all speculated that the seemingly upright Minister’s manor would one day become a pillar of the court, because they were loyal enough and made no mistakes.
All this prosperity seemed like it was still yesterday, but the liveliness had nothing to do with Jiang Ruan, as if the three of them—mother and two children—had always been strangers. Later she came, and the Minister’s manor seemed cursed, gradually declining. The former glory was long gone. People said it wasn’t that retribution didn’t come, but that the time hadn’t arrived yet. Heaven was always watching from above. The causes planted by the Minister’s manor in the past had finally resulted in today’s bitter fruit. Over the years, the Jiang manor had frequently met with trouble, and now Jiang Ruan’s petition tore open the true reasons for all to see.
The common people were simple and direct in their thinking. Some directly blocked the Minister’s manor’s entrance, throwing eggs and vegetable leaves at the gate. When the manor’s guards came out to stop them, they were thoroughly cursed at and no longer dared to resist forcefully. They could only close the gate dejectedly under the people’s anger—public outrage was not to be defied.
Just as everyone was feeling righteous indignation, they saw a horse carriage slowly driving through the crowd. The crowd automatically separated into two paths. The carriage was exquisitely made but not ostentatious, with a kind of understated beauty. The coachman was actually a tall, handsome young man—clearly from a wealthy family. People could tell at a glance that whoever was in the carriage was either rich or noble. Seeing it was heading toward the Minister’s manor, they all fell silent to observe.
The carriage finally stopped. The curtain was lifted, and two tall young women jumped out. Both bowed and helped another woman down from the carriage.
That woman wore a crimson velvet embroidered jacket with a bright emerald scattered-flower crepe skirt below. Such bold red and green colors didn’t look vulgar on her at all, but rather had a kind of striking beauty. She wore a gold-threaded silver fox fur cloak over it, held a hand warmer, had skin as white as jade, and features that were touchingly beautiful. She wore only a simple drooping horse bun, which subdued the bright colors somewhat. Her alluring eyes were startlingly lustrous, but her gaze was calm, making that heart-stirring beauty show a touch of severity and coldness.
Someone in the crowd recognized her and cried out: “Isn’t that the Jiang family’s eldest daughter, Princess Hong’an!”
The Jiang family’s legitimate daughter—this was her primary title. Even though she was Princess Jinying and Princess Hong’an, she was first and foremost the legitimate daughter of the Jiang family. Her appearance here at this moment naturally provoked deep thought. Everyone knew that early this morning she had sent her maids to file a complaint at the Court of Judicial Review, so what was she doing coming to the Minister’s manor now? Everyone watched with great interest, wanting to see what she would do next.
Jiang Ruan gave Tianzhu a meaningful look. Understanding, Tianzhu stepped forward to the Minister’s manor’s main gate and knocked three times gently. Her movements were polite and gentle, not like someone looking for trouble, but rather like a guest—utterly courteous. Then she said respectfully: “Please announce that our Princess has returned home today for her homecoming visit.”
Since Jiang Ruan married into Prince Jinying’s manor, she hadn’t even had time for her homecoming visit before being poisoned. But even so, the Minister’s manor wasn’t thousands of miles away from Prince Jinying’s manor—if there had been intention, sending someone to inquire would have been possible. Yet Jiang Quan had managed to remain completely silent, never mentioning it at all, as if he didn’t have this daughter at all. Now when Tianzhu mentioned the homecoming visit, the surrounding people gasped. They had known that the Jiang family’s eldest daughter and Jiang Quan weren’t particularly close, but to be so cold that only now, so long after the wedding, was she making her homecoming visit—this was truly laughable.
No one inside responded for a long time. Tianzhu carefully retreated behind Jiang Ruan, and the three stood quietly at the entrance to the Jiang manor. The surrounding crowd murmured in low voices, but they were also shocked by Jiang Ruan’s coldness at this moment. Her eyes now held depth, as if she wasn’t looking at the Jiang manor, but through its gates at long years separated by time.
Jiang Ruan’s thoughts returned to her previous life. It had also been such a snowy day when she first returned to the Jiang manor from the estate. Though it was supposed to be her own home, it felt like she was dependent on others’ charity. Standing at the Minister’s manor’s entrance, she had felt both nervous and delighted. She had been dressed in rags, with people around pointing and whispering, all speculating about her identity. She had felt ashamed and embarrassed. Right at this entrance, Xia Yan and Jiang Susu had come out dressed brilliantly to welcome her. The more gentle and elegant they acted, the more they highlighted her own crudeness. Right under this plaque of the Jiang manor, that tightly closed gate had opened, and various kinds of harm and humiliation had poured out from within. From the Jiang manor’s gate to the palace’s gates, each time she had been more and more wretched. That scene from her previous life was like a joke, constantly reminding her of those unbearable memories.
And now? Jiang Ruan lifted her head, her gaze falling on the enormous plaque of the Minister’s manor. It was a plaque bestowed by the previous emperor, Jiang Quan’s pride, yet it was now covered with dust. In her previous life, Xia Yan’s favorite thing had been to order servants to wipe this plaque clean, as if it represented the Jiang family’s glory. Now the Jiang family was about to collapse. When she had returned to the Jiang family in this life, she had stood right here at the entrance and sworn to slaughter clean all those who had harmed her relatives in the previous life. She had planted a seed of revenge here, and now that seed had long since broken through the soil to become a towering tree. With just a little more force, she could uproot this enormous tomb that had buried her and her family.
After an unknown amount of time, the door creaked open. Behind the family servant, a person wearing official robes slowly emerged, his face grim as he glared viciously at Jiang Ruan.
Jiang Quan had perhaps just returned from court and hadn’t had time to change clothes, or perhaps he wanted to use these robes to suppress Jiang Ruan’s momentum. But his appearance was truly quite haggard. Jiang Ruan smiled slightly and politely greeted: “Father, it’s been a long time.”
Not having seen him for a long time, Jiang Quan was almost like a different person from the elegant, decisive middle-aged man in Jiang Ruan’s memory. He had lost considerable weight, his complexion was quite dark from sun exposure, his cheekbones on both sides deeply sunken, extraordinarily thin, and his whole person already showed signs of aging. Jiang Quan had always been someone who paid attention to appearances. Even when past forty, he had looked like he was in his thirties, youthfully elegant. Now he looked like an unattractive man, perhaps with some signs of decline.
Only the coldness and harshness in his gaze remained exactly the same as in the previous life. Jiang Quan sneered: “Homecoming visit—do you still consider the Jiang family worth your attention?”
Jiang Ruan nodded: “I naturally keep father in my heart, every moment, never daring to forget.” How could she dare forget blood vengeance and humiliation? The corners of her lips curved slightly: “It’s just that father doesn’t seem to like his daughter doing so.”
The meaning in her words was entirely accusing Jiang Quan of being an unloving father. Jiang Quan was furious and roared: “Have I ever shortchanged you in food, clothing, or expenses? Don’t forget I’m still your father! Without me, how would you have grown to this age? Now that your wings are strong and you have someone backing you, you’re actually making up stories about your old man! Where did you learn such wild manners from some mountain wilderness!”
Jiang Quan, who prided himself on his scholarly status, had always spoken quite refinedly. When had outsiders ever seen him curse so crudely? At this moment he was probably quite anxious and spoke without thinking, actually showing his true appearance to the surrounding crowd.
“Without father, naturally there would be no me,” Jiang Ruan said indifferently. “Thanks to father’s blessing, when mother was still alive, my elder brother and I saw father no more than a few dozen times a year, while Second Sister and Second Brother, born to Aunt Xia, spent every day with father. Second Brother could enter father’s study, but elder brother’s tutor was personally hired by mother. Second Sister had the best teachers for music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, while I was personally taught by mother—but mother came from a military family and knew nothing about those things. Father, are you going to say this was because you were considerate of mother’s loving heart, wanting my elder brother and me to always stay by her side?”
These words were thoroughly sarcastic. Jiang Quan’s face gradually reddened, and he immediately wanted to retort: “This…”
“But staying with mother was indeed very pleasant, and none of this matters much. Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were never my interests, and elder brother hasn’t pursued the civil official’s path either—we should thank father for his foresight in all this.” A trace of mockery flashed in Jiang Ruan’s eyes as she continued: “It’s just that when elder brother was critically ill at night and needed a doctor, Aunt Xia said father had already gone to sleep and it could wait until tomorrow, forcing my mother to warm elder brother with her own body all night. If not for his strong constitution, elder brother wouldn’t be able to stand here safely now. How does father explain this?” Without waiting for Jiang Quan to speak, Jiang Ruan smiled: “Father was busy with official duties—I understand. So when mother was gravely ill, father didn’t come. When she was on her deathbed, father didn’t come either. Only on the day Aunt Xia was elevated to legitimate wife did father come, pulling Second Brother and Second Sister and laughing happily. Elder brother left home in anger, while I was sent to the estate.”
She laughed softly: “Does father remember why I was sent to the estate? Because a Taoist said I was an inauspicious star who would bring misfortune to husband and mother. But five years later, when I returned to the capital, that same Taoist tried the same trick again and was exposed as a fraud. Does father remember who was behind that Taoist? It was father’s former beloved concubine, later legitimate wife—Aunt Xia.”
She spoke with long sighs, but the surrounding people listened with chills, even unwilling to spare a small girl—this Xia Yan’s thoughts were too vicious.
“Does father want to say you knew nothing of this matter? Then there are quite a few things father didn’t know. For instance, the day my elder brother returned to the capital, he was ambushed in the woods with the intent to kill him. If General Guan hadn’t arrived to rescue him, he would have been in mortal danger. Does father know who was behind that? Father naturally doesn’t know, because that was also father’s beloved concubine, Aunt Xia.” Jiang Ruan smiled slightly: “Father wanted to be an upright and honest official, yet couldn’t even see clearly the person beside your pillow. As your daughter, watching this really makes my heart ache.”
The surrounding people began sneering and pointing, saying: “So the Minister’s manor was such a den of dragons and tigers. No wonder General Jiang took up military service—otherwise how could he protect himself and his sister? They probably would have been devoured without even bones remaining!”
Xia Yan’s vicious thoughts had reached a shocking degree—she wouldn’t even spare Jiang Xinzhi and Jiang Ruan. Who knew what great grudge Zhao Mei had with her? For such a vicious-hearted woman, if Jiang Quan was completely unaware of everything, it would really underestimate this third-rank official. No one would believe it—he was simply turning a blind eye. If Jiang Quan had gone with the flow regarding Zhao Mei’s death, he would just have the reputation of being heartless and ungrateful. But to pretend ignorance even about his own legitimate son and daughter was truly incomprehensible. They say even tigers don’t eat their cubs—was Jiang Quan’s heart made of iron?
“You… what exactly are you babbling about?” Jiang Quan was furious with shame, also fearing Jiang Ruan would reveal more secrets: “You’re talking nonsense without evidence. Who taught you to speak this way, to insult my Minister’s manor like this? What is his purpose?”
Jiang Quan was an old fox after all, quickly thinking to raise everyone’s suspicions. As a daughter of the Minister’s manor, Jiang Ruan naturally wouldn’t slander her own father without reason—but what if someone was instructing her from behind? Since Jiang Ruan had now married Prince Jinying, the person behind her naturally referred to Xiao Shao.
Anger flashed quickly in Tianzhu and Jin San’s eyes. At this point, Jiang Quan was still trying to implicate others—his sins were truly unforgivable. Jiang Ruan smiled slightly: “Father, none of this matters. When Aunt Xia had someone poison my mother, I naturally have evidence too. My mother taught me from childhood not to make baseless accusations against others.”
The surrounding crowd immediately burst into laughter again. Jiang Quan thought Jiang Ruan was just bluffing. So many years had passed, and Jiang Ruan had been just a child then, knowing nothing. Now that Xia Yan was dead, where could there be any evidence? Jiang Quan wasn’t worried in his heart, but after Jiang Ruan’s commotion, he felt his face had been completely lost today. He immediately became furious: “You really want to do this? Unfilial daughter, you dare sue your own father—where does this place filial piety? Where does this place me as your father?”
In this world, no matter what, when the hat of filial piety was pressed down, it would always strip away several layers of skin. No matter how heartless and ungrateful Jiang Quan’s actions were, by blood he was Jiang Ruan’s father. There was no precedent in this world for daughters suing fathers. Even if parents wanted you to die, you had to accept it, because this was moral order, the rules everyone in the world had to follow. Seeing Jiang Ruan remain silent, a trace of smugness flashed in Jiang Quan’s eyes. He felt his backbone straighten a bit more and gained more confidence, saying: “Don’t forget, you carry my blood in your body! Without me, where would you come from!”
The surrounding crowd fell silent. Indeed, even if what Jiang Ruan said was true, while they angrily cursed Jiang Quan’s heartlessness, their view of Jiang Ruan was quite complex. Suing one’s biological father was a shocking thing, and it also created strange opinions about Prince Jinying’s manor. For Jiang Ruan as a child to do such a thing could be called excessive. Even if this lawsuit was won in the end, Jiang Ruan would have to face people’s strange looks.
Jiang Ruan was completely unaffected by everyone’s gazes. She stood gracefully in the cold wind, in a posture of courage that no strong wind could shake, as if announcing to everyone that she would never compromise. Her words came out cold and hard, slowly beating into everyone’s ears: “Indeed, father, you gave me life. Without you there would be no me. You gave me half my blood and bones, but heaven knows,” she sneered, “how much I despise it.”
Before her words ended, a delicate dagger appeared in her hand. Everyone was startled, not knowing what she intended to do, when they saw the dagger lightly slice across the back of her hand. Large drops of blood flowed out, blooming into bright red flowers in the snow.
Her smile was both alluring and cruel, her words cold and resolute. Meeting Jiang Quan’s dumbfounded gaze, she lightly parted her vermillion lips: “Now, I return it to you.”