Meiqing Courtyard was the courtyard where Zhao Mei had once lived, and every plant and tree within had been carefully tended by her. It had good orientation and feng shui masters had examined it, declaring it completely auspicious. After Zhao Mei’s death, the courtyard was renamed Yanhua Garden, where Jiang Susu and her mother now resided.

The woman leading Jiang Ruan, Old Lady Wang, was one of Xia Yan’s people. Her shrewd triangular eyes constantly examined the three of them while her mouth never stopped: “Eldest Miss doesn’t know that new people have been added to the courtyards now. Second Miss has grown up and been given her own separate courtyard. Space is tight now, but Eldest Miss’s room was specially arranged by Madam herself. I wonder if Eldest Miss likes it.”

Lu Zhu looked around as they walked, and since she was a newly brought maid, the surrounding servants simply took her for a country girl who had never seen the world, finding the Jiang manor curious.

When they reached a certain courtyard, Old Lady Wang smiled: “This is it.”

Jiang Ruan surveyed the surroundings. The courtyard wasn’t large, but since she had few servants, it was more than sufficient. Inside was fairly clean, and pushing open the door, the room was neat and tidy with all necessary furniture intact – countless times better than the estate.

Seeing this, Lian Qiao and Bai Zhi breathed sighs of relief and helped settle the luggage. Seeing Jiang Ruan standing in the room looking thoughtful, Old Lady Wang approached with a smile: “Though this courtyard is somewhat remote, it’s peaceful. Fourth Miss’s courtyard isn’t far from here either, so when free, Eldest Miss can have a companion and won’t be bored.”

Jiang Dan? Jiang Ruan smiled slightly: “I think this courtyard is quite good. Please thank Mother for me, but since this is my courtyard, I’d like to change its name. Please trouble Nanny to inform Mother for me.”

Old Lady Wang agreed with a smile. Jiang Ruan walked out of the room again and came to the courtyard’s front gate. Above the gate hung a plaque with three large characters: “Floating Duckweed Courtyard.”

What a “Floating Duckweed Courtyard”! Xia Yan could indeed read people’s hearts. These three ordinary characters, if placed in her previous life, would have surely made her feel dejected for a long time. But now this Floating Duckweed Courtyard should indeed have its name changed.

In the evening, Old Lady Wang came again, firstly to convey Xia Yan’s message that since the courtyard was given to her, she could change the name as she wished, and secondly that Jiang Quan and Jiang Chao had returned late today and wouldn’t be dining together, so she should just eat by herself.

The legitimate daughter had returned to the manor, yet her father wouldn’t even meet her face – one could imagine how cold and heartless this was. Hearing Old Lady Wang’s words, both Bai Zhi and Lian Qiao felt half their hearts turn cold. Currently, the person closest to Jiang Ruan in the Jiang manor was Jiang Quan, yet with Jiang Quan being so humiliating now, Jiang Ruan’s future days would surely be harder than imagined.

Bai Zhi and Lian Qiao each harbored their own thoughts, while Lu Zhu stood beside Jiang Ruan who was writing, saying quite happily: “Miss’s calligraphy is really beautiful.”

On the snow-white paper, two large characters flowed like dragons and snakes: “Ruan Residence.” They truly possessed magnificent bearing. People say that seeing one’s calligraphy is like seeing the person – the brushstrokes were smooth and rounded, yet revealed a hidden sharpness within. As if concealing inner anguish beneath a calm exterior, appearing gentle as water at first glance, but actually harboring killing intent everywhere.

“You can read?” Jiang Ruan asked Lu Zhu.

Lu Zhu shook her head: “I can’t read, but this servant knows that Miss’s calligraphy is just excellent.”

Jiang Ruan laughed. Xia Yan, once the Great Jin Dynasty’s foremost talented woman, had easily agreed to changing the courtyard’s name, appearing very magnanimous but actually wanting to see her make a fool of herself. She wanted to replace the characters on that plaque, but having just returned to the manor with not a penny to her name, she could only write them herself. But since she had entered the estate at age five, with no one there to teach reading and writing, everyone believed she had long become an illiterate fool. If she could truly write well, who knew how ridiculously she would be mocked.

Lu Zhu asked puzzledly: “Miss never learned to read or write on the estate, how did you learn?”

How did she learn? Jiang Ruan’s gaze fell on the paper before her. In her previous life, she had also been turned into a beautiful fool by Xia Yan, learning only music and dance, so that whenever the Great Jin Dynasty’s people mentioned her, they would disdainfully say: “That beautiful fool? She only knows the skills of lowly entertainers, far inferior to her talented and brilliant younger sister.” After being sent to the palace, countless women with superior dancing and musical skills filled the palace. To gain favor, she was forced to undergo many devil-like training sessions, and among these, calligraphy was personally taught by the Eighth Prince.

Back then, under the rain of flowers, he had taught her to hold the brush just like this, writing on snow-white paper such romantic words as: “Exquisite dice with red beans, do you know the bone-deep lovesickness?” Who could have thought that was merely another act?

Looking at it now, she should thank the Eighth Prince. His calligraphy was considered the most elegant in the Great Jin Dynasty. He always said her writing was too soft, lacking strength, which was why she ultimately met her doom. Now her calligraphy remained smooth and gentle, but she wondered if he could detect the killing intent within.

Jiang Ruan smiled, lifting the paper from the desk and blowing on it before handing it to Lu Zhu: “Frame it and hang it on the courtyard gate.”

Bai Zhi and Lian Qiao also smiled seeing this: “Ruan Residence – what a fine name. Miss’s calligraphy is so beautiful, it would be wonderful if Young Master could see it.” Only after speaking did they realize they had misspoken, looking at Jiang Ruan somewhat uneasily.

Jiang Ruan’s gaze paused. When Zhao Mei died and she was sent to the estate, Jiang Xinzhi had knelt in the ancestral hall for a day and night, but ultimately couldn’t make Jiang Quan change his mind. In anger, Jiang Xinzhi threw himself into the military, instructing her before leaving that she must return home in glory, so no one would dare bully her again.

In those unbearably painful days, Jiang Xinzhi was her only spiritual pillar, until later on a certain day at the estate when news came from the Jiang manor saying that Jiang Xinzhi had died in battle, his body lost without trace.

She suddenly remembered that in her previous life, when news of his death arrived, it seemed to be two years later. Now it was still two years earlier – was there still a chance to change things? Thinking of this, Jiang Ruan suddenly became excited. If Jiang Xinzhi were still alive, she wouldn’t be completely alone in this world. But… how could she know if Jiang Xinzhi was still alive? And how could she change his fate?

Seeing Jiang Ruan frowning tightly with an unreadable expression, Lian Qiao asked worriedly: “Miss?”

“Lian Qiao, when Mother died, I was bedridden and didn’t know what was happening outside. I only knew that Elder Brother knelt in the ancestral hall for a day and night, then came to bid me farewell. You and Bai Zhi were both outside – I ask you, do you know which general Elder Brother enlisted under?”

Lian Qiao was startled, exchanging glances with Bai Zhi before shaking her head: “Young Master didn’t say, and this servant doesn’t know. But this servant remembers very clearly that at the time, the border barbarians were causing trouble, and both the Chen Army and General Guan were recruiting new soldiers, but we don’t know which one it was.”