The storm thus settled, but the instigator was the one who ended up suffering misfortune.
In Jiang Ruan’s residence, Lian Qiao spat and said: “Serves her right! That black-hearted woman actually wanted to scheme against the miss. Let’s see what she has to say now!”
Bai Zhi was applying medicine to the injury on Jiang Ruan’s face. The handprint had become even more swollen, looking particularly shocking against her fair skin. Bai Zhi said with distress: “The master struck too harshly. The miss is after all the legitimate daughter of the mansion. How could she be beaten in front of outsiders? Moreover, he used his full strength.” Bai Zhi and Lian Qiao now saw clearly that Jiang Quan probably didn’t regard Jiang Ruan as his daughter at all, so their voices naturally carried reproach and anger.
Tianzhu watched from the side. As someone who practiced martial arts, she naturally knew how much force that slap had carried when it landed on Jiang Ruan’s face. She couldn’t help but contemplate—this was the first time she had truly witnessed Jiang Quan’s coldness toward Jiang Ruan. For a biological father to strike so heavily was truly rare in this world.
Seeing Tianzhu lost in thought, Jiang Ruan said to Bai Zhi: “Go apply some medicine to Tianzhu as well.” Tianzhu had taken a slap from Jiang Quan for her, which must have been quite severe. Tianzhu said: “It’s not necessary. This subordinate is a servant. If outsiders see this subordinate’s face healing too quickly, they’ll become suspicious.”
Jiang Ruan thought about it and let it be, only saying: “This slap won’t be for nothing.”
Tianzhu remained silent.
The night passed thus. The next day, Lu Zhu brought back news from outside. Jiang Quan had sent people to confront Baozhi Hall, and indeed, as the middle-aged doctor had said, Xia Yan had sent her personal maid to Baozhi Hall to get medicine—all for recovery after miscarriage. Jiang Quan was naturally furious. He had Lin Lang and Feicui arrested and interrogated thoroughly about who Xia Yan’s adulterous lover was. The two maids naturally couldn’t say who it was. Jiang Quan was truly enraged and without another word had the two maids beaten to death and thrown in the mass grave.
Lin Lang and Feicui had been prominent maids in the Jiang mansion, but now they met such an end. For a time, everyone in the Jiang mansion lived in fear. In his rage, Jiang Quan arrested all the maids and servants from Yanhua Courtyard, torturing them for confessions about who the adulterous lover was. Some couldn’t withstand the severe punishment and claimed it was a wandering young master who had already left the capital.
This confirmed the fact that Xia Yan had been unfaithful. Jiang Quan wanted to divorce his wife in his fury, but Jiang Susu knelt outside Jiang Quan’s study for an entire night. Jiang Chao also learned of this matter and quickly asked Xuan Li to plead for Xia Yan. Although the Xia family also felt their reputation was damaged, Xia Yan was after all the bond maintaining the marriage alliance between the Jiang and Xia families. After discussion, Jiang Quan put aside the matter of divorce, but didn’t easily forgive Xia Yan either. He had a small Buddhist hall set up in the mansion, threw Xia Yan into it, and made her chant sutras and eat vegetarian food daily. To outsiders, he said Xia Yan was devoted to Buddhism, effectively placing her under house arrest.
From then on, the situation in the Jiang mansion changed dramatically. Everyone knew Xia Yan had completely lost Jiang Quan’s favor and fallen from power. Anyone in the mansion with any sense began secretly currying favor with Fifth Concubine Hong Ying. Some also favored the Second Concubine, constantly hovering around Jiang Li and her mother.
Hong Ying was young and beautiful, quite favored by Jiang Quan, but unfortunately had no son and her status was too low. The Second Concubine at least had her natal family’s support and had borne Jiang Quan a daughter. The power structure within the mansion became confusing for a while.
Lu Zhu pursed her lips, combing Jiang Ruan’s hair while saying: “How is there not a single clever person in this mansion? What’s the point of currying favor with those people? If this servant were them, naturally I’d curry favor with the miss. The miss is the mansion’s proper master and a county princess personally enfeoffed by the Empress Dowager. How could she be inferior to those concubines?”
Jiang Ruan looked at her: “Speaking this way, you’re the cleverest?”
Lu Zhu smiled sheepishly: “This servant doesn’t mean that, but those people are truly foolish. This servant really can’t stand to watch.”
Jiang Ruan smiled slightly. Why did everyone in this mansion curry favor with Fifth Concubine and Second Concubine while ignoring her, the legitimate eldest daughter? The reason was simple—because Jiang Quan’s dislike for her was clearly displayed, even the servants could perceive it. What good future could a daughter despised by her own father have?
After Lu Zhu finished combing her hair and inserted the last hairpin, Jiang Ruan stood up: “Let’s go. We’ll go see mother.”
…
The news of Xia Yan’s downfall in the mansion reached Jiang Ruan’s ears, and naturally also reached the ears of the “pure-hearted and ascetic” Jiang Dan.
A maid said: “Who would have thought the madam would end up like this.”
Jiang Dan supported her chin with one hand while looking out the window with the other. Compared to her somewhat immature appearance three years ago, after coming of age, she had developed the unique beauty of a young woman. At first glance, unlike Jiang Ruan’s charm and Jiang Susu’s elegance, she had a gentle and docile sweetness. Only now her expression was slightly gloomy, completely different from her usual timid appearance.
“Wanting to scheme against Jiang Ruan, but her brain was a bit stupid.” She sneered.
The maid immediately fell silent. Over these three years, her young lady had become increasingly moody and unpredictable. It was as if she had grown ten years older overnight. Sometimes, even her personal maid felt chills down her spine when looking into Jiang Dan’s eyes.
“Such a pity. Making such a big show, but in the end only bringing down Lady Jiang.” Jiang Dan’s tone was somewhat cold: “Why didn’t they harm Jiang Ruan as well? If she had died, how wonderful that would be.”
The maid was frightened by what she heard and hurriedly looked down at her feet, wishing she could disappear from the room.
Jiang Dan glimpsed her actions from the corner of her eye, her lips curving into a mocking smile as she turned to look at the banana plants outside the window.
…
“Miss, miss, slow down.” Qingting carefully patted Jiang Susu’s back as Jiang Susu stuck her fingers down her throat, vomiting non-stop.
Since the day Xia Yan had her accident, Jiang Susu had been vomiting everything she ate. If one didn’t know the inside story, even the maids might think Jiang Susu was pregnant.
Jiang Susu pushed Qingting away, covering her mouth with a handkerchief in embarrassment: “Get out!”
Qingting had to leave carrying the silver tray. Jiang Susu held onto a chair, feeling her stomach churning violently. The words Jiang Ruan had said to her that day echoed in her ears again: Because that placenta was personally discarded by mother.
Only by understanding the meaning of Jiang Ruan’s words could one know how terrifying that sentence was. Jiang Susu wished she could tear out her own stomach. Just thinking that what she had eaten was… she would vomit until the world spun.
That cheap servant Hudie had actually bought such placenta. Jiang Susu had already tortured her severely before throwing her out of the mansion. Someone who did such things naturally couldn’t be kept. Jiang Susu had been having nightmares every night these past few days. When she woke up screaming from dreams, she was covered in sweat, feeling restless and uneasy. She picked up the bronze mirror beside her and saw that her originally transcendent beauty now showed signs of haggardness, greatly diminished.
“Cheap woman!” She smashed the bronze mirror to the ground, her brow filled with irritation.
…
The Jiang mansion’s nominally newly built small Buddhist hall was actually just a black room that had fallen into disrepair. Located in the most remote corner of the Jiang mansion, the courtyard only had broken tiles and a dry well, with a few dead trees that looked gloomy, as if never seeing a ray of sunshine year-round.
Two dark-skinned old women guarded the entrance, cracking sunflower seeds while chatting. Perhaps they were discussing the person in the Buddhist hall, occasionally turning back to glance at the hall with disdain in their eyes.
When Jiang Ruan arrived with Tianzhu and Bai Zhi, she happened to witness this scene. Upon seeing Jiang Ruan, the two old women couldn’t even bother collecting their sunflower seeds and stood up, bowing and greeting her.
The events from a few days ago had already spread throughout the mansion servants like wildfire. Originally, Xia Yan had taken the initiative, but was somehow outmaneuvered by this unassuming legitimate eldest daughter, ending up in this state. The servants weren’t blind either—they could see clearly what was happening among the masters. Obviously, this eldest daughter’s methods far exceeded the madam’s. Thinking again of how Jiang Ruan was now favored by the Empress Dowager, dealing with a servant in the mansion would be as easy as turning her hand. Therefore, although they knew Jiang Quan didn’t love this legitimate daughter, no one dared to look down on Jiang Ruan, still treating her respectfully in daily life.
Jiang Ruan smiled slightly and waved her hand: “I’m going in to see mother.” Bai Zhi stepped forward and stuffed two pouches full of silver fragments into the hands of the two old women.
The two women discretely weighed the pouches, and their faces immediately bloomed with smiles: “Why is the eldest miss being so polite? If you want to visit, just say so directly. This old servant will open the door for the eldest miss right now.” She then took out the iron key hanging around her neck and opened the door.
Only then did everyone see clearly that the door had been reinforced with an additional iron layer, with the bolt on the outside. This was blatantly locking Xia Yan up.
After the two old women opened the door, they moved aside. Jiang Ruan brought Tianzhu inside, while Bai Zhi stood outside the door. The old women understood and walked far to one side, unable to hear what was being said inside.
The room was pitch black, with only one small window that was even nailed shut with wooden boards. There was nothing inside.
Xia Yan had heard Jiang Ruan’s voice from the window earlier but pretended not to know. Tianzhu lit an oil lamp, and the room became clearly visible. There was only a wooden bed with a thin blanket spread on top, damp and dirty. A wooden table, a grass cushion, an altar table, and a clay Guanyin statue. Xia Yan knelt on the grass cushion with her eyes closed, appearing to be genuinely praying.
Jiang Ruan sat down on the only chair by the wooden table and looked around. It seemed Jiang Quan was truly furious with Xia Yan—the conditions in this room were almost comparable to her “home” on the manor. The wheel of fortune turns—when Xia Yan had instructed Zhang Lan’s family to “entertain” Jiang Ruan that way, had she ever thought she would fall to the same state today?
Xia Yan’s legs had gone numb from kneeling, her knees aching and itching. This place was damp and poorly ventilated, and whenever it rained, it became bone-chillingly cold. In just a few days, she had developed rheumatism. But Jiang Quan had given strict orders that no one was allowed to visit. Today, a visitor had finally come, but it was her nemesis, Jiang Ruan.
Xia Yan had wanted to ignore Jiang Ruan, but Jiang Ruan was too patient, not speaking, just sitting quietly in the room. Her legs were really too uncomfortable from kneeling, so she finally opened her eyes and said with a calm tone: “What are you here for?”
Jiang Ruan looked at her with a smile: “After three days apart, one should look at someone with new eyes. Mother has been cultivating body and mind here for only a few days, yet seems to have been touched by Buddhist nature, appearing much more serene.”
Xia Yan was furious. She tried hard to maintain the appearance of the refined and gentle talented woman she had always been. But looking down, her clothes were stained with grease and dirt, looking grimy. Being locked in this place, she couldn’t bathe daily as before, and her whole body emanated a foul smell. Her originally proud long hair was now tangled in a mess with knots. As for her appearance… even with her eyes closed, Xia Yan could imagine how ugly she looked now.
Under Jiang Ruan’s smiling gaze, Xia Yan felt as if she had been stripped naked and thrown into the marketplace for all to see. She couldn’t accept such a feeling.
She looked up at Jiang Ruan. Jiang Ruan wore a sea-brown gauze dress embroidered with golden silk flowers, her black hair contrasting with snow-white skin, red lips and white teeth. Even in this dark room, her entire being seemed to radiate a shimmering light. This radiance made it seem that though she merely sat before a wooden table, she might as well have been sitting in the most supreme position in the world. Her smiling gaze looking down carried nothing but mockery, as if viewing an ant in the dust.
Xia Yan began trembling all over. The more radiant Jiang Ruan appeared, the more wretched she became. At this moment, Xia Yan was reminded of the scene when she first met Zhao Mei many years ago.
Many years ago, she had enjoyed fame as a talented woman in the capital, writing excellent poetry and painting beautiful pictures. She was skilled in needlework, music, chess, and calligraphy—all men were infatuated with her, all women envied her.
But she still couldn’t marry into a good family, because her father was a concubine’s son in the mansion, making her status low as well. Those nobles could take her as a concubine but not as a wife.
The most terrifying thing in the world isn’t a beauty’s decline from youth to white hair, but trying to grow peonies in a clay pot. Young Xia Yan had ambitions higher than the sky, determined to climb into a good marriage. It was then that she met Jiang Quan. Jiang Quan was a rising star in court, born elegant and handsome with refined bearing. They were mutually attracted, but the person he would marry wasn’t her.
Xia Yan had once seen Zhao Mei from afar. At that time, Jiang Quan had just told her he would marry the Zhao family’s daughter. Xia Yan had secretly run to the General’s mansion gates and seen that girl with an unrestrained, brilliant smile. She wore red clothes that fluttered like hunting banners, her eyes full of pure joy. Obviously, she had grown up pampered in a honey pot, with her father and brothers all looking at her with doting affection. Xia Yan’s heart filled with extremely complex emotions.
She thought: Why can some people in this world effortlessly obtain everything others desperately desire, while what I long for is something I can never achieve in my lifetime?
She was jealous—jealously mad. She thought: If only I could make this carefree young lady who doesn’t know sorrow also taste what it’s like to roll in the dust as I do. I want to drag her into the mire, never to see daylight again. I want those eyes full of laughter to never smile again, want to make her slowly wither, let her witness the world’s most miserable and vicious things, make her crawl at my feet and weep.
That very day, Xia Yan changed her mind. She thought: Even if I have to be a concubine, I must enter the Jiang mansion. Not for anything else, but to make that clean, happy soul become twisted and unhappy from then on.
She succeeded. Zhao Mei entered the mansion, Zhao Mei lost favor, Zhao Mei was bullied by servants, the children Zhao Mei bore would never receive Jiang Quan’s love. Until Zhao Mei died, Xia Yan thought she had trampled Zhao Mei underfoot for this lifetime. Who knew that now, seeing Jiang Ruan in red sitting in the dim light, her eyes didn’t show the clean laughter of the past, but mockery that saw through everything, as if mocking a clown’s overreach.
Xia Yan screamed and suddenly lunged at Jiang Ruan, wanting to scratch that face. But Tianzhu was faster, kicking up and breaking her kneecap. Xia Yan fell heavily, kneeling before Jiang Ruan.
Jiang Ruan looked at her and said calmly: “Lady Jiang, how does it feel to fall into hell?”
Xia Yan was stunned, then suddenly laughed maniacally, pointing at Jiang Ruan’s nose: “Cheap woman! Exactly like your shameless mother!”
With a “slap,” Tianzhu handed over a handkerchief. Jiang Ruan gently wiped her hand, looking at the dumbstruck Xia Yan, and smiled slightly: “Mother, disaster comes from the mouth.”
Xia Yan gritted her teeth fiercely, then suddenly laughed lowly. She had completely given up, saying: “You’re angry about this? Little whore, seems you really protect that short-lived mother of yours. Too bad, when she died, you didn’t see her crying and begging me to spare you siblings. Tsk tsk, truly ugly to death.”
Jiang Ruan’s gaze moved slightly but she still didn’t speak. Xia Yan continued: “Hmph, you don’t know how your mother died, do you? Back then her health was poor, so I advised the master to care for her. The master ordered the kitchen to send her tonic medicine. That cheap woman, seeing it was something the master sent, joyfully drank it down, not knowing she was drinking poison.” Xia Yan laughed strangely: “But I didn’t leave any evidence, because I didn’t administer that medicine. Guess who did?”
Jiang Ruan’s heart moved, but her face remained expressionless. Xia Yan laughed first, as if encountering something particularly amusing: “It was Jiang Dan! Haha, I only had someone threaten Jiang Dan with a few words, and she was so frightened she put poison in Zhao Mei’s bowl every day. Wasn’t Zhao Mei supposedly kind all her life? She didn’t know she had kindly raised a ungrateful wolf by her side! But later, I discovered something even more interesting—Jiang Dan had also poisoned you,” she laughed loudly: “Because I told her that Zhao Mei’s kindness to her was only superficial, that you were Zhao Mei’s biological daughter, and Zhao Mei could never treat her the same way she treated you. If you died, Jiang Xinzhi would only have her as a sister, and Zhao Mei would treat her as a daughter. Jiang Dan believed my words and usually found opportunities to put poison in your tea and snacks. Haha! In this mansion, Jiang Dan is the most ruthless. You all treated her so well, yet she wished you would die. Are you very disappointed and sad now?”
Tianzhu looked at Jiang Ruan with some surprise, but Jiang Ruan showed no emotion, as if she hadn’t heard Xia Yan’s words at all. She only said calmly: “Thank you, Lady Jiang. So there was such a story.”
Xia Yan was already laughing somewhat hysterically: “Now I’m in this place. I’m inferior to you and have lost, with no hope of ever escaping. But what about you? That cheap woman Zhao Mei has already gone to hell, the master hates you, and you and your short-lived brother will have no good ending sooner or later! There are plenty of people in this mansion who want you dead. Be careful that one day when you meet in hell, you still won’t know who the killer is!”
Jiang Ruan smiled: “Whether I go to hell or not, what does that have to do with Lady Jiang? But whether Lady Jiang can go to hell, I’m quite clear about.”
Xia Yan was startled and looked at Jiang Ruan warily.
Jiang Ruan sighed: “Lady Jiang thinks that having entered this small Buddhist hall, this life holds no hope. You probably want to place all your hopes on second sister and second brother. But why doesn’t Lady Jiang think about this—if the matter of the legitimate mother’s adultery spreads out, how will second brother and second sister hold their heads up in the capital in the future? How will they have good prospects?”
Xia Yan’s body trembled. Yes, if her adultery and framing of the legitimate daughter spread outside, how would Jiang Chao’s colleagues view him? Which good family would be willing to marry Jiang Susu? How important a legitimate mother’s reputation was to her children, Xia Yan knew very clearly. She suddenly looked up: “How would outsiders know? The master won’t spread it!” she screamed. Jiang Quan loved the pair of children so much, naturally he wouldn’t air the family’s dirty laundry. Once it spread, Jiang Quan would have nowhere to put his old face.
Jiang Ruan smiled even more gently: “With so many people talking, there are no walls that don’t leak in this world. How can Lady Jiang be so certain it won’t spread?”
“It’s you… it’s you…” Xia Yan looked at Jiang Ruan as if seeing a demon: “You want to harm them…”
“You’re the one harming them, not me.” Jiang Ruan stared into her eyes, speaking word by word.
Xia Yan suddenly knelt before Jiang Ruan and began kowtowing non-stop: “I beg you, don’t harm them, please, save them. After all, they’re your siblings. It’s all my fault. Just resent me alone—they’re innocent.”
Xia Yan kowtowed dozens of times in succession, but Jiang Ruan remained unmoved. Finally, she raised her head, a flash of determination in her eyes, and sneered: “If you really want to go out and talk, then go ahead and talk.”
“Is Lady Jiang thinking right now that as long as you end your own life, everything will be fine?” Jiang Ruan said softly.
Xia Yan looked at her in terror. Yes, that’s what she was thinking. If Jiang Ruan insisted on spreading this matter, she would hang herself with a rope. Once dead, outsiders could no longer use this matter to gossip about Jiang Susu and Jiang Chao. She was already ruined—in this life, she only hoped Jiang Susu and Jiang Chao could live comfortably and contentedly. Who knew Jiang Ruan was like a roundworm in her belly, seeing through her thoughts with one word.
Jiang Ruan laughed: “Lady Jiang’s love for her children is truly moving. But I wonder if second sister and second brother would think the same of Lady Jiang?” She leaned down, looking directly into Xia Yan’s eyes: “I think second sister and second brother would also feel shame and anger at having such a mother. If Lady Jiang cannot end her own life, they would certainly find ways to erase Lady Jiang, because to them, Lady Jiang is like a stain.” She stared at Xia Yan’s frightened eyes, laughing cheerfully: “When Lady Jiang sees her own children trying to erase her existence, you’ll surely be very sad. I just wonder who will act first—second sister or second brother?”
She straightened up, looked at Xia Yan casually, her tone strangely cold: “Lady Jiang, rest assured, I won’t let you die so easily. Your life won’t be ended by me. To kill you, I must let your own flesh and blood do it.” Her tone was enchanting and seductive, containing a strange cruelty, like spirits from the underworld beckoning to people. She said calmly: “This wonderful show of relatives destroying each other—how could this county princess, with her heart like a snake and scorpion, miss it?”
The red dress swayed gracefully, trailing across the ground. The door of the small Buddhist hall slammed shut with a “snap,” and the sound of someone’s breakdown and weeping could be heard inside.
Jiang Ruan looked up and coldly instructed the two old women outside the door: “Watch her carefully. Don’t let her die.”