Second Aunt Lu let out an agonized howl, feeling as if her internal organs were about to shatter. She released Miss Xue, nearly vomiting bile. As Xianglan raised the door bolt to strike again, the crowd cried out, “This is terrible!” They rushed to seize the bolt from her. Xianglan deliberately let them take it, then darted into the kitchen and emerged with a cleaver, charging at Second Aunt Lu while shouting, “You’ve been stealing from us daily, and now you dare beat and curse my mother. Let’s settle all accounts, old and new! I don’t care about living anymore – we’ll die together!”
The cleaver gleamed frighteningly in the sunlight, its cold glint chilling everyone’s hearts. Second Aunt Lu was terrified and scrambled to dodge. The neighbors quickly moved to restrain Xianglan, crying out, “Let’s talk this through down the knife!”
Xianglan shouted, “Why didn’t you stop that shrew when she was beating and cursing my mother? Our family has suffered unbearable humiliation today. I’ll kill her first, then slit my own throat – that’ll settle everything!” She continued charging forward, cursing, “Go ahead, bring out your precious ‘Favored Concubine’! Pah! What ‘Favored Concubine’? She’s just a bedchamber maid, throwing around borrowed power! Today this blade goes in white and comes out red – I’ll stab you to death first, then end myself!”
Seeing Xianglan’s determination to fight to the death, people moved to take her knife, but she fiercely declared, “Whoever tries to take my knife becomes my enemy! Even if I can’t kill her today, I’ll do it tomorrow!” Her imposing manner frightened everyone back. She glared at Second Aunt Lu, gritting her teeth, “Come here and die, you shrew! You beat and cursed my mother – I’ll kill your little brat for revenge!”
Everyone’s eyes widened: What?! Not only did she want to kill Second Aunt Lu, but she would also slaughter her child. Everyone knew the Lu family had three daughters and had finally had a son two years ago, whom they treasured like their own eyes. This Chen girl, who appeared beautiful and quiet, turned out to be the most fearsome shrew of all!
Second Aunt Lu had intended to fight and curse back at Xianglan, but hearing her threat to “kill your little brat for revenge” and seeing her truly ready to sacrifice her life, she was cowed into silence, cowering in a corner of the courtyard. Miss Xue felt vindicated seeing her daughter stand up for her, but when she saw Xianglan wielding a weapon, eyes blazing red and truly ready to kill, she became frightened. She stumbled forward and embraced Xianglan, saying, “My child, quickly put down the knife. If you kill someone and face prosecution, how could your mother go on living!”
Xianglan, knowing it was time to stop, maintained her fierce expression while handing the cleaver to Miss Xue, saying, “You hold this for me.” She then broke free from the others and rushed into the Lu family’s room. Second Aunt Lu’s two daughters had been secretly watching from their doorway and scattered in fear when Xianglan charged in. She quickly searched the room and pulled out a fine cloth garment from under the bedding. She ran out holding it up, saying, “This is the new clothes my mother made for me, with an orchid and the character ‘Lan’ embroidered on the sleeve – I designed the pattern myself. Which of your daughters is called ‘Lan’?”
Second Aunt Lu’s face alternated between red and white as she tried to bluff, “My second daughter has clothes of the same color – I must have taken them by mistake.”
Xianglan sneered, “Taken by mistake? Who are you trying to fool?”
Others tried to mediate, saying, “It’s all a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding. As neighbors, we can talk anything through.”
Xianglan snorted coldly, “Apologies to my mother and we can let this pass. Otherwise, I’ll risk death to report this to the mansion, letting all the ladies and young masters know that their precious ‘Favored Concubine’ has a mother who steals!”
Second Aunt Lu was furious enough to eat Xianglan alive, but Xianglan had seized upon her most vulnerable point. She absolutely couldn’t apologize, so her eyes darted around before she threw herself on the ground, wailing dramatically, “Oh, my poor back! That door bolt nearly killed me! My back hurts, my chest hurts! My dear niece, if you don’t come help me, I’ll be stabbed to death! How wretched is my fate, to be bullied by this poor little beast…” She continued throwing her tantrum, refusing to get up.
Xianglan walked over and spat in Second Aunt Lu’s face, enunciating each word, “Shame-less!” Then she pulled Miss Xue inside their house, slamming the door shut.
Chen Wanquan had been hiding inside for quite a while. During the commotion, he had been pacing anxiously. Seeing Xianglan, he gritted his teeth, “You, you’re just bringing trouble to the family!”
Xianglan ignored him and fetched water for Miss Xue to wash her face and fix her hair, then poured half a cup of cold tea. As Miss Xue cleaned up and combed her hair, she said, “Though this confrontation was satisfying, her eldest daughter does have some status…”
Chen Wanquan exploded in anger, “Now you think of that? And what about your daughter’s reputation? Now it’ll spread that ‘Chen’s daughter is a knife-wielding shrew at such a young age’ – how will she ever marry?”
Xianglan waved her hand impatiently and glared at Chen Wanquan, “Enough! Father, if you had this kind of spirit, why didn’t you stand up for Mother? You’re only tough at home but completely spineless outside. If you had shown any backbone, why would I need to earn a ‘shrew’ reputation?”
Chen Wanquan only dared show his temper to his wife; he doted on his daughter and was secretly somewhat afraid of her. Hearing her words, he fell silent. Xianglan continued, “Second Aunt Lu is thick-skinned and unreasonable – how can you reason with someone like that? You can only fight fire with fire. I guarantee she’ll behave now. We’re originally refined people; we shouldn’t stoop to fighting like roosters with her kind. That would only bring us trouble. We’ve endured small grievances before. But now she’s attacking our family’s face – if we don’t stand up for ourselves, people will whisper behind our backs that we’re spineless, and they’ll bully us more. Today it’s a piece of clothing, tomorrow it might be our valuables, and the next day our money?” She looked at Chen Wanquan and said, “With such a weak maternal family, what kind of marriage could I hope for? I’d just be bullied by my in-laws. Parents don’t have a son already, so others look down on us. If I didn’t establish a fierce reputation today, who knows how people would bully us in the future? So what if I’m known as a ‘shrew’?”
Miss Xue chuckled and tapped Xianglan’s forehead, “You were raised in a Buddhist temple from childhood – isn’t Buddha all about compassion? How did you think to grab a cleaver? You scared me half to death.”
Xianglan made a face and smiled, “Buddha also spoke of ‘Wrathful Vajra, Merciful Bodhisattva.’ I was just playing the role of Vajra to teach Second Aunt Lu a lesson. Besides, I knew what I was doing – I would never really have cut her. It was just for show.”
Miss Xue hugged Xianglan lovingly, “My daughter has grown up and knows how to defend her mother.” Chen Wanquan glared at Miss Xue and shook his head, sighing. Xianglan leaned into her mother’s embrace and said, “Mother, don’t worry. Though I’m a girl, I’m no less than any boy. As they say, ‘A woman’s headdress can rival a man’s cap.’ As long as I live, I won’t let you suffer any grievances.”
Chen Wanquan sneered, “You’re quite fierce – what a pity you weren’t born to be a red-robed general!”
Xianglan pouted but remained silent. She did wish she could have been born a red-robed general, or at least a man. But alas, in this life, she remained a woman.
In her previous life, she was Shen Jialan, the legitimate granddaughter of Shen Wenhan, the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian and Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy. She too had once been praised as “rivaling men in capability.” The Shen family was a noble scholarly clan, highly trusted by the Crown Prince, and the family was prosperous. Shen Jialan had numerous tutors from childhood and excelled in all refined arts – music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and household management.
Who could have predicted that when the emperor passed away, the Eighth Prince would force his way to power in a coup, the Crown Prince would disappear, and the imperial palace would change overnight? The Eighth Prince relentlessly pursued the Crown Prince’s supporters, and the Shen family was implicated in the succession struggle, with punishment extending to nine branches of relatives. Thus, all legitimate Shen descendants were beheaded at the palace gate, and the women were sent to the imperial brothels. Fifteen-year-old Shen Jialan was already married, and her husband’s family was also implicated, resulting in exile three thousand li away.
Shen Jialan fell from the clouds into the mud, losing everything overnight, witnessing all of life’s bitter coldness, and following her husband’s family into exile. They endured hunger and cold, suffering bullying and discrimination beyond description. Her newly wedded husband Xiao Hang fell gravely ill on the journey. To protect her husband and his family, she transformed from a refined noble lady into a fierce shrew. Even so, she couldn’t protect the whole family – halfway through the journey, her husband died, and she was abandoned by the guards when she fell deathly ill with a cold, soon passing away herself.
When she next opened her eyes, she had become a tiny infant, being cooed over by Miss Xue, who softly called her “Xianglan.” Though born as a servant of the Lin family, she had never felt such gratitude and contentment before.
The prominent Lin family of Jiangnan was all too familiar to her. The Lins had built their fortune through commerce, then married several impoverished or illegitimate daughters from official families. They gradually prospered, with their descendants becoming officials. After three generations, their power dominated the Jiangnan waterways region, their wealth beyond measure. The Lin family patriarch, Lin Zhaoxiang, was shrewd and adaptable. When she was thirteen, Lin Zhaoxiang had intended to arrange her marriage with the Lin family’s eldest grandson, Lin Jinlou – even though she was four years older than him. For some unknown reason, the matter was dropped, and Lin Zhaoxiang submitted a memorial requesting retirement to his hometown. Two years later, amid the bloody chaos in court, the Shen clan was nearly exterminated, while the Lin family stood unshaken, growing even more prosperous than before.
Having experienced the confiscation of family property, Shen Jialan knew that servants suffered even more tragically when their masters fell from grace – she had heard that her former personal maids had all been forced into prostitution. She quietly consoled herself that with the political situation now settled and the Lin family being vigilant, they probably wouldn’t follow the Shen family’s fate, so her servant status might remain stable for now. In her childhood, she had lived in the temple with Venerable Ding Yi; though poor, those days were peaceful and happy. Only when she returned from Buddhism to the secular world did she suddenly realize the severity of her situation: a weak, wine-loving father, a frail mother, and she was approaching her coming-of-age ceremony, with her family already arranging her marriage.
Miss Xue was beautiful, and Chen Xianglan’s current appearance was even more beautiful, combined with grace and intelligence, literacy, and excellent needlework. Usually quiet and gentle with a sweet smile, and with both parents being honest people, suitors nearly broke down their door, including several high-ranking stewards from the Lin mansion who came to inquire.
Her father favored the third son of Second Manager Huang from the rice shop, while her mother preferred the youngest son of Master Liu from the silk shop – both were house-born servants of the Lin family. She had seen both men; they could barely read and lacked vision or ambition, merely being servants of a great house, just slightly less rustic than others.
Miss Xue was already happily choosing between them, planning to settle the matter by year’s end and spend money during the New Year to ask influential senior maids to request the masters’ permission for Xianglan’s marriage, thus fulfilling one of her wishes.
Xianglan wanted to cry out to the heavens – she would rather die than marry like this! Marrying a Lin family servant meant her children and grandchildren would forever be Lin family servants. What was a servant? A servant was property, a master’s possession. Servants couldn’t take imperial examinations, couldn’t marry freely, couldn’t own land or property – they were merely their masters’ playthings! Whether the master wanted to sell them, kill them, flay them, or give them away, it was all considered reasonable!
Xianglan didn’t want to be a plaything for life. Having been given another chance at life, she was determined to become a landowner with houses, fields, and livestock, living peacefully with her family. Even as a child, she had been planning how to help her whole family gain freedom while securing their future livelihood. When she learned that her father’s original contract of servitude wasn’t permanent and could be redeemed, her eyes lit up – if she could redeem her father, there would be hope for her freedom.
Moreover, she had heard that some Lin family servants had bought their freedom! She had secretly painted several pictures and had her father sell them in the antique shop, claiming they were painted by temple nuns to raise money for temple repairs, with the shop taking a ten percent commission. Surprisingly, all the paintings sold within days, earning one tael and two qian of silver. Xianglan was overjoyed and carefully hid the money.
Today, Second Aunt Lu had conveniently presented an opportunity. First, she wanted to avenge her mother; second, to intimidate those shameless people who usually bullied her family; and third, to establish a fierce reputation for herself, delaying the marriage arrangements while she planned her next moves.