June weather was like a woman’s face—changing at will. Though the morning had been clear and cloudless, by afternoon it was pouring down in torrents. This fierce rain brought a refreshing coolness to the sweltering summer.
Xia Yan sat by the window, which was open, allowing the cool breeze from the rain to refresh her face, sweeping away days of gloom. Because she was pregnant and feared cold, even in summer she hadn’t used ice in her room. Today’s rain had relieved the heat.
Feicui gently draped an outer garment over Xia Yan’s shoulders: “Madam, please be careful not to catch cold.”
“It’s fine.” Xia Yan comfortably narrowed her eyes. Her mood seemed excellent, and even her complexion had brightened considerably, somewhat resembling her former appearance. The sleeve edge of her garment was embroidered with a white butterfly poised for flight. The butterfly was beautifully embroidered and seemed to shimmer. Xia Yan looked down at it with great satisfaction. Since becoming pregnant, her previous clothing no longer fit, and she could only wear loose garments. What woman doesn’t love beauty? She tried to add artistic touches to the patterns. Jiang Susu had shared some silk fish thread and sent her some, which she used on her sleeve edges. Firstly, the silk fish thread was indeed beautiful. Secondly, when Hong Ying’s situation changed, someone would surely suspect her, so only by using it on herself as well could she avoid suspicion.
Thinking of Hong Ying, Xia Yan’s lips curved in a satisfied smile. The medicine was something she had bought at great expense from outside—it wasn’t available in the capital, and ordinary physicians couldn’t detect it. Even if they could detect it, it would all be blamed on Jiang Ruan. The servants had personally seen Hong Ying take the silk fish thread back with her. Xia Yan almost laughed aloud—even Heaven was helping her. Hong Ying was seeking her own death.
Today was the second day. If not today, then tomorrow Hong Ying would certainly miscarry.
Feicui fanned Xia Yan gently while she picked up a preserved plum to suck on. Recently she had grown increasingly fond of sour foods, so she had the kitchen pickle many fresh green plums. Just as she put the plum in her mouth, before the sour taste could spread, Xia Yan suddenly felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. Her hand trembled, and she immediately spat out the plum, clutching her belly and crying out: “It hurts so much!”
Feicui and Lin Lang were startled and rushed to support Xia Yan: “Madam, what’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
Xia Yan increasingly felt her lower abdomen pain like knives cutting, and she actually fell from her stool, clutching her belly and rolling on the ground in pain. The two maids were immediately frightened pale. Feicui said, “Could Madam be going into labor? But it’s not time yet.”
“Ah!” Lin Lang screamed in terror, her body trembling uncontrollably. She saw that blood was already seeping from Xia Yan’s lower body. They weren’t ignorant young misses and naturally understood what this meant. Seeing such a scene, Feicui was also at a loss: “What should we do? Madam, hold on. This servant will immediately find the master and call for a physician!”
“Stop… stop!” Though Xia Yan was in such pain that large beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, she remained conscious enough to call out to Feicui. She vaguely understood that she was probably miscarrying. Her heart ached with both pain and shock, but she struggled to say: “Keep it secret. Don’t let others in the manor know.” She then screamed again and rolled about clutching her belly.
…
Jiang Ruan closed the book before her. Tianzhu quickly walked to her side and said in a low voice, “Xia Yan has miscarried.”
“Indeed, the medicine was potent.” Jiang Ruan said indifferently.
“However, she didn’t alert anyone else.” Tianzhu thought for a moment: “She only found a physician from outside. That physician just left—he must have received considerable silver.”
“Do you have companions?” Jiang Ruan looked at Tianzhu. “Find a way to save that physician’s life. Xia Yan will certainly silence him, but I still have use for that physician.”
Tianzhu said, “This subordinate will go immediately.”
After Tianzhu left, Jiang Ruan’s gaze fell on the snack basket before her, which contained a very small plum. Plums of this season weren’t yet ripe—today Lu Zhu had picked it down because she found it amusing. The plum was green and unformed, pitifully small—it wasn’t yet harvest time. Jiang Ruan held the plum in her palm and slowly smiled.
In Yanhua Courtyard, Xia Yan lay on the bed, her face gray-white as a corpse. The room was filled with a strong smell of blood. Lin Lang looked at the bloody mass in the wooden basin and couldn’t help but feel chilled throughout her body.
The physician said Xia Yan had been carrying a male fetus that was already formed. Today, for unknown reasons, she had smelled some incense that caused miscarriage, which led to the loss of the child. This incense was extremely potent—not only that, but it had damaged her foundation, and she would never be able to bear children again.
Xia Yan already had Jiang Chao and Jiang Susu, so even if she couldn’t bear children in the future, she still had a place in the manor. But they all knew how that incense had come about—it was clearly the incense Xia Yan had applied to Jiang Ruan’s bolt of silk fish thread, intending to use against Hong Ying!
Xia Yan’s gaze was vacant, staring blankly at the extremely fine patterns on the bed canopy above. If she didn’t occasionally move her eyeballs after a long time, people might suspect she was dead.
Silk fish thread, silk fish thread? Xia Yan laughed bitterly. So that was it. That wretch Hong Ying had actually switched the silk fish thread? Could there be a spy in the courtyard who had collaborated from within to exchange the two bolts of thread? Now the bastard in Hong Ying’s belly was still there, while her own child had paid with its life! Such blood hatred was irreconcilable!
Thinking of the child in her belly, Xia Yan’s heart felt like it was being cut by knives. This child had stayed in her belly for so long, and she had been about to give birth, yet it died midway. Moreover, it was a male fetus! What would Jiang Quan think when he learned? He would certainly be very disappointed. How could she tell him this news? If she told him, wouldn’t the bastard in Hong Ying’s belly become even more favored? Her child was dead, so Hong Ying’s bastard must be buried with it!
Lin Lang timidly approached: “Madam, should we inform Second Miss…”
“Don’t tell her I miscarried,” Xia Yan said with difficulty. “Just say there’s a problem with the thread and tell her not to use it.” Xia Yan’s breath was weak as silk: “If anyone learns of this matter, your families’ lives won’t be spared.”
Feicui and Lin Lang shuddered and bowed their heads together: “We servants understand.”
“Get out.” Xia Yan clearly didn’t want to say more. As Feicui and Lin Lang were about to withdraw, Lin Lang suddenly asked carefully: “Then… what should be done with the young master’s remains?”
Xia Yan was stunned and looked outside the window. In this weather, it probably couldn’t be kept long. But looking at that bloody mass in the wooden basin, she felt inexplicably annoyed. She immediately sneered coldly: “Since it’s dead, naturally throw it out and dispose of it.” She turned her head away with some disgust: “Do it cleanly, don’t let anyone catch any evidence.”
Feicui and Lin Lang both felt their hearts turn cold. Her own flesh and blood, yet Xia Yan was truly too heartless. But there really was no other option now. They naturally didn’t know what Xia Yan was planning and could only agree before leaving.
Xia Yan lay on the bed, and suddenly a tear fell from the corner of her eye. She turned to her side, the tear silently disappearing, and a flash of malice appeared in her eyes.
Her child had met such a tragic death, so the bastard in Hong Ying’s belly must suffer a thousand times, ten thousand times worse than him!
…
That night, a light appeared in a small room in Yanhua Courtyard. Having just rained, there was still wind at night, making the candle flame flicker unsteadily, appearing somewhat ghostly in its wavering light.
A small voice spoke: “How was that thing handled?”
“Fearing suspicion, we wrapped it in coarse hemp cloth. It was handled quite cleanly—no one discovered it,” another slightly lower voice answered.
“That’s good. Ah, tonight the sky looks gloomy and feels quite eerie. You don’t think there might be wandering spirits…”
“Go, go, go! What are you saying nonsense about in the middle of the night?” The lower voice seemed very superstitious and quickly interrupted the other voice, saying: “It’s already so late. Since everything has been handled properly, I’ll return first.”
“Good.” The other voice answered, followed immediately by the sound of departing footsteps. The candlelight in the room dimly illuminated the person at the table—it was Lin Lang, Xia Yan’s personal maid. Today she had given the dead infant to a nanny in the household, claiming it was from some unclean maid who had gotten pregnant outside and given birth, asking her to take it far away and sell it. Though this matter was somewhat taboo, Lin Lang had given the woman sufficient silver, so she had agreed to handle it.
Though everything had been arranged properly, Lin Lang didn’t know why she always felt vaguely uneasy, as if something was about to happen. However, Xia Yan couldn’t be left alone now. She was pretending that she hadn’t miscarried and that her pregnancy was stable, continuing to rest and nurture the pregnancy, but Lin Lang had to brew tonics for her post-miscarriage body.
After parting with Lin Lang, the nanny happily touched her heavy purse. Though Lin Lang had given sufficient silver, this dead infant could still be sold for a good price. The placenta connected to the dead infant was a good thing—there was a medicine shop in the capital that privately conducted such business. Usually they collected dead infants to sell to others. Women in large households often needed placenta for beauty treatments, but since placenta was after all a bloody thing, they couldn’t eat it openly and had to secretly buy it privately.
Today this nanny had obtained the dead infant from Lin Lang, then turned around and sold it to the medicine shop, receiving payment twice over. How could she not be happy? She immediately went out cheerfully to buy wine and drink.
In Suxin Courtyard, Butterfly brought a delicate and translucent glass bowl to Jiang Susu on the bed: “Miss, drink it while it’s hot.”
The bowl contained something steaming hot that had a nauseating color. Though it smelled fragrant, it inexplicably made one’s stomach feel queasy.
Jiang Susu put down the new rouge in her hands and casually took the glass bowl from Butterfly, stirring it lightly with a jade spoon, asking carelessly: “There was some again today?”
“It’s been quite scarce in the capital these past few days. The medicine shop owner said this was newly obtained today, very fresh. This servant spent two hundred taels of silver to buy it back.” Butterfly’s expression remained unchanged.
“I understand. Go to the accounts later to receive the silver.” Jiang Susu brought the bowl to her nose and gently sniffed, showing an intoxicated expression. She had been eating placenta for quite some time now. Thanks to the placenta, the scars on her face had healed so quickly. This thing was precious but not always available. Others feared the bloody aspect, but she didn’t. For the sake of this face, what did these things matter? In any case, recently she could even stop drinking chicken blood. Her appearance must be even more devastatingly beautiful. It seemed it was time to come out and walk around.
Jiang Susu lifted the bowl and slowly savored the delicacy, while Butterfly beside her forcibly suppressed her urge to vomit. At the door of the maids’ quarters in Suxin Courtyard, in the pile of miscellaneous items, lay a piece of cloth that appeared to have wrapped something—it was a piece of coarse cloth with some dark brown stains on it.
…
Fearing the cold at night, Lu Zhu had closed the windows, leaving only a small gap that wouldn’t let in too much cold air while still allowing the room to breathe. Today’s weather was refreshing, so there was no need for ice. Tianzhu entered from outside and walked to Jiang Ruan, who was preparing to sleep, whispering a few words in her ear. Jiang Ruan’s eyes flashed, and she smiled slightly: “So that’s how it is.”
Tianzhu couldn’t help but frown. Xia Yan had ordered someone to dispose of the dead infant she had delivered, but by a twist of fate, it was bought back by people from Suxin Courtyard. That Jiang Susu was consuming the placenta of her own younger brother. Just thinking about this made one feel horrified.
Jiang Ruan said, “There is natural karmic retribution in this world.”
Tianzhu said, “Xia Yan is concealing the miscarriage. Could she also be planning to substitute one thing for another?”
“Having suffered such a great loss, how could Xia Yan be willing to accept it? If she were to substitute one thing for another, wouldn’t that make her seem too kind-hearted?” She brushed the stray hair from her eyes behind her ears, making her earlobes appear even more lustrous white as jade.
“Then Miss…?”
Jiang Ruan shook her head: “No need to worry. Right now all her attention is focused on Hong Ying, and Hong Ying is firmly biting back at her. We can just sit and watch the show.” Unless it was time to act, she wouldn’t rashly intervene.
Tianzhu thought for a moment and agreed before leaving.
After Tianzhu left, Jiang Ruan pressed her forehead and sat thinking about matters for a while before feeling tired. She stood up to remove her outer garment and go to bed when she heard a familiar voice: “Wait.”
Jiang Ruan was startled. Before she could react, she instinctively reached for the dagger under her pillow.
A figure emerged from the lamplight and shadows, walking closer and stopping a few steps from Jiang Ruan. Even in black clothing, he wore it with elegant grace. His face was incomparably handsome—who else could it be but Xiao Shao?
Such an uninvited visit made even Jiang Ruan, who usually maintained a smiling demeanor, unable to help but turn cold, angrily saying: “What is Prince Xiao doing? Is this how the imperial clan teaches proper behavior?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt somewhat regretful. Though she was now the honored Hong’an County Princess, Xiao Shao was the leader of three hundred thousand Jinyiwei and the head of the current Prince Jinying’s manor. By rank, she was still far below Xiao Shao. However, today’s uninvited visit inevitably startled her. Moreover, Xiao Shao had never deliberately put on airs before her, so Jiang Ruan had forgotten about this person’s influence in the Great Jin Dynasty. Only now did she realize how rude her words had been, but since spoken words were like spilled water, she couldn’t take them back. She simply boldly pretended to be angry and glared at Xiao Shao, though she felt somewhat uneasy inside.
Xiao Shao usually saw Jiang Ruan’s composed and steady demeanor, and moreover, she could smile calmly no matter when or where. Unexpectedly seeing Jiang Ruan bristling with anger today left him stunned for a moment. Though born into the imperial clan and never lacking in aristocratic etiquette, because of his connection to the Jinyiwei and years of traveling outside, he had acquired some martial world habits and was naturally unconventional. Now he regarded Jiang Ruan as one of his own people and hadn’t considered that she was an unmarried young lady. He hadn’t thought about how much of a shock it would cause Jiang Ruan to suddenly find another person silently in her room in the middle of the night. Thinking of this, Xiao Shao felt somewhat guilty, pressed his lips together, and said: “I was inconsiderate. I apologize.” He then looked seriously at Jiang Ruan. Seeing that her eyes clearly showed guilt yet she still maintained an angry stare, he was stunned again and found it somewhat amusing.
Having the dignified Prince Xiao of the Great Jin Dynasty personally apologize to her, Jiang Ruan couldn’t maintain her attitude either. Secretly annoyed at her loss of composure today, she calmed herself for a while before walking to the table and sitting down. She poured tea for both herself and Xiao Shao, saying: “For Prince Xiao to break into a young lady’s boudoir in the middle of the night, there must be an extremely urgent matter.”
Xiao Shao seemed oblivious to the sarcasm in her words, his heroic brows slightly furrowed: “You used the silk fish thread Xia Yan sent?”
Jiang Ruan paused, not expecting Xiao Shao to come for this matter. It must be that Tianzhu had reported this to Xiao Shao. Tianzhu had just arrived at her side, and Xiao Shao was her provider—Jiang Ruan hadn’t expected Tianzhu to be completely loyal to her now. She nodded.
Xiao Shao disapproved: “It contained added incense. You shouldn’t have been so rash.”
“Tianzhu already neutralized the incense.” Jiang Ruan was unconcerned. At the time, to make Hong Ying lower her guard, she had Tianzhu neutralize the incense in the thread section she used, so it wouldn’t harm the human body.
“Tianzhu can make mistakes too—accidents are inevitable.” Xiao Shao said indifferently.
Standing guard outside the window, Tianzhu had practiced martial arts since childhood, so she could naturally hear the conversation inside. Hearing Xiao Shao’s words, she felt quite wronged. Though she wasn’t a top-tier poison expert, such a minor poison wasn’t a problem for her.
Jiang Ruan was about to say something when Xiao Shao suddenly reached out and grasped her wrist. Being a man, his strength was naturally incomparable to Jiang Ruan’s. Xiao Shao concentrated on taking her pulse. Though Jiang Ruan felt it somewhat strange, she didn’t struggle. Her gaze fell on the hand gripping her wrist. Unlike Jiang Xinzhi’s somewhat dark and solid hands from battlefield training, Xiao Shao’s hands were slender with well-proportioned joints. His fingertips had thin calluses from martial arts practice, somewhat cold, yet his palm had a dry warmth.
After taking her pulse, Xiao Shao withdrew his hand, his expression momentarily strange. Jiang Ruan was always observant and noticed something from Xiao Shao’s expression: “Is there residual incense?”
To be honest, she wasn’t particularly worried about the incense matter. At worst, it would just mean being unable to bear children. In this life, she hadn’t even considered marriage.
“No.” Xiao Shao thought for a moment, shook his head, and looked at her: “Your body is too weak.”
Jiang Ruan smiled without speaking. Weak? In her previous life, when she returned to the Jiang Manor from the estate, her body had been truly weak—so emaciated she barely looked human. She had been bedridden in the Jiang Manor for several years, constantly taking medicine but never improving. If not for the emperor’s edict to select palace ladies, she might have remained “ill” for several more years.
In this life, though she had returned early from the estate, the root of her illness from those early years remained, and her body wasn’t comfortable. Though she appeared well-cared for now, only she knew the internal decay of this body. She still paid careful attention to nurturing her health because she needed to preserve her life for revenge.
Seeing Jiang Ruan’s gaze pass over him as if thinking of something, making the young lady across from him seem suddenly distant again, Xiao Shao couldn’t help but frown slightly, feeling an uncomfortable sensation. This feeling was somewhat unfamiliar—Xiao Shao himself didn’t understand it yet. After pondering briefly, he said: “If there’s an opportunity in the future, I’ll take you to my master. His medical skills are excellent—perhaps he can improve your health.”
Jiang Ruan was drawn back from her thoughts by Xiao Shao’s words. Seeing the black-clothed youth’s dark eyes full of sincerity, she couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment: “Thank you.”
In interactions with Xiao Shao, it seemed she said “thank you” most often. Xiao Shao stood up: “It’s getting late. I’ll return first. You should rest early.” After speaking, he glanced at her once more before flying out through the window.
Coming and going as he pleased—did he really think the Minister’s Manor was his family’s backyard? Jiang Ruan sat dazed for a while, then suddenly wondered what Xiao Shao had actually come for today. Just to take her pulse? Was this person obsessed? Jiang Ruan blew out the lamp and went to bed. Originally drowsy, but with Xiao Shao’s disruption, her sleepiness had long fled to the ninth heaven, and now she had no sleepiness at all.
Xiao Shao saw the light in the room go out, stood for a while, then also turned and left.
…
After just one summer rain, the next day was another brilliantly sunny day. Unlike the previous day’s heavy gloom, several consecutive days were sunny. Everything in the manor was orderly—Fifth Aunt was peacefully nurturing her pregnancy in her courtyard, and Xia Yan often walked in the garden with her pregnant belly to relax. Everything appeared no different.
Surface calm didn’t represent true peace. For instance, Fifth Aunt Hong Ying wasn’t peacefully nurturing her pregnancy in her courtyard as the servants claimed, but was anxiously questioning a maid who had returned with news: “What exactly is happening? Can’t you find out anything?”
“In response to Aunt’s question,” the maid said, “this servant asked around Suxin Courtyard but never heard of anyone miscarrying in Yanhua Courtyard. No physician has come these past few days either, and the medicine Madam had people fetch from the medicine shop was only pregnancy-stabilizing medicine.”
“How is that possible?” Hong Ying murmured. These past few days she had naturally been anxious, wanting to hear news of Xia Yan’s miscarriage. But somehow, Yanhua Courtyard had been like iron these past few days—not even a fly could get in, let alone gather any information. She could only try to get news from Suxin Courtyard—if Xia Yan truly had problems, Jiang Susu would surely know. The maid who went to inquire brought back this news—how could Hong Ying accept it? Could Xia Yan have discovered something?
“Aunt, don’t be anxious,” the maid beside her advised. “Perhaps Madam was lucky and hasn’t used that silk fish thread yet, so she hasn’t miscarried.”
Hong Ying’s mind settled. Xia Yan indeed might not have used the silk fish thread. Pregnant women wearing anything was wasteful—perhaps Xia Yan wanted to use the silk fish thread for post-birth clothing? Thinking of this, Hong Ying breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately her expression became resentful again: “How can she be so fortunate!”