The spring rain that had fallen during the day finally stopped by nightfall.
The Jiang manor had been very peaceful recently, as if nothing had happened. Jiang Youyao had been found, though she had gone mad—but at least she was quietly mad. Old Madam was keeping Jiang Yuanbai by her side to raise, so busy every day she couldn’t manage everything. The two brothers Jiang Yuanbai and Jiang Yuanping were busy with government affairs and came home very late.
In the Third Branch, Yang Shi was holding several bolts of new fabric. As soon as she entered, she called out, “Yuyan, come over here quickly.”
Jiang Yuyan walked out from behind the door. She held a lamp, bringing dim light into the room. The two bolts of fabric in Yang Shi’s hands had gorgeous patterns. Yang Shi held the fabric up against Jiang Yuyan and gestured a couple of times, saying, “This can make two new outfits.”
“Mother, I can’t wear…” Jiang Yuyan shrank back. Her appearance was plain, and she had always dressed plainly too. She didn’t like wearing these gorgeous clothes because the clothes would only make her appearance seem even more ordinary and dull. But Yang Shi seemed not to recognize this point and always wished she could pile all the exquisite and formal clothes and jewelry onto her.
“There’s nothing you can’t wear.” Yang Shi glared at her. “You dress so drably all day long—what kind of appearance is that? In a few days, I’ll take you out to a banquet. When the time comes, dress nicely. You’ve reached the age to discuss marriage. When those madams see you dressed well, they’ll naturally look at you more. Don’t you want to marry a good husband?”
Jiang Yuyan murmured acknowledgment without answering. She didn’t dare argue. Whatever Yang Shi said, she had to obey. But Jiang Yuyan also understood that she wasn’t like Jiang Li, who had a father who was the Chief Minister. She wasn’t even as pretty as Jiang Yu’e. From her birth to her appearance, she had nothing to be proud of anywhere on her body. She probably wouldn’t be able to marry a satisfactory husband.
“Mother, where did this flowered fabric come from?” Jiang Yuyan asked.
“Your sister sent it,” Yang Shi said. “Your sister at Marquis Ningyuan’s manor has plenty of fabric. She picked out two bolts and sent them over to make clothes for you. Your sister still thinks of you in everything. You should learn more from your sister.”
Jiang Yuanxing walked in from outside. As soon as he entered, he heard Yang Shi lecturing Jiang Yuyan. Yang Shi had a fierce temperament. Jiang Yu’e’s personality resembled Yang Shi’s shrewdness, but Jiang Yuyan was dull like Jiang Yuanxing. Therefore, Yang Shi always found fault with Jiang Yuyan and wanted her to learn from Jiang Yu’e. But how could a person’s temperament be easily changed?
“Stop talking about Yuyan,” Jiang Yuanxing couldn’t help saying. “What’s there to say?”
Seeing Jiang Yuanxing had returned, Yang Shi said to Jiang Yuyan, “Go back to your room and rest first. Your father and I have things to discuss.”
Jiang Yuyan nodded, turned around, and walked out of the room carrying the lamp. Jiang Yuanxing sat down on a stool and asked, “What is it?”
“Yu’e sent a letter today.” Yang Shi pulled out a letter from the drawer and handed it to Jiang Yuanxing, saying, “It says Zhou Yanbang has divorced his wife.”
“Divorced his wife?” Jiang Yuanxing first frowned, then nodded. “The Shen family had an incident, so naturally Marquis Ningyuan’s manor would divorce the wife.”
“In the letter, Yu’e’s meaning is that although Marquis Ningyuan’s manor is good, Zhou Yanbang cannot enter an official career, so daughters of high-ranking families probably won’t easily want to marry into the Zhou family. This way, she has hope of becoming the heir’s wife,” Yang Shi said.
“The heir’s wife?” Jiang Yuanxing asked back, “How is that possible?”
“Why isn’t it possible?” Seeing Jiang Yuanxing deny it outright without even reading the letter, Yang Shi felt uncomfortable too. She said, “You tell me—in terms of talent and appearance, is Yu’e any worse than those official families’ young ladies? Why can’t she become the heir’s wife? Yu’e said that Zhou Yanbang treats her well now, which shows their feelings are good. The only difference is in birth.”
These words stabbed at Jiang Yuanxing’s sore spot. Jiang Yuanxing said, “So what? How can birth be changed? Although we’re in the Jiang family, we’re not the First or Second Branch!”
“You’ve forgotten,” Yang Shi pushed him. “Relying on the Jiang family, naturally we have nothing. But now you’re the Right Chancellor’s man. And the Right Chancellor is Prince Cheng’s man. We’re working for Prince Cheng. If we please Prince Cheng and accomplish something impressive, getting you promoted to a higher rank is easy as pie. At that time, our daughter’s status will naturally be extraordinary. How would Marquis Ningyuan’s manor dare to neglect her? They’d happily rush to elevate Yu’e to principal wife!”
“You make it sound easy. What can we do? That previous matter was just a coincidence,” Jiang Yuanxing said. “Now the Right Chancellor completely ignores us!”
The matter with Ji Shuran—the Third Branch had told the Right Chancellor about it and received a large sum of silver from him. The Right Chancellor had also promised that if they had any information in the future, they could tell him and he would pay handsomely. At that time, Jiang Yuanxing and Yang Shi had tasted the sweetness and thought their fortune was turning. But aside from the Ji Shuran matter, they hadn’t obtained any secrets from the Jiang family, so naturally they had nothing to tell the Right Chancellor. Gradually the Right Chancellor had grown cold toward them—after all, they had no use.
“My husband, you really have no brain,” Yang Shi leaned close and said in a low voice. “Just think about it—how did Princess Yongning end up in her current state? If not for our manor’s Second Miss meddling, rescuing Xue Huaiyuan in Tongxiang, Xue Huaiyuan wouldn’t have recovered his senses and sued Princess Yongning and Shen Yurun. It can be said that without Jiang Li, Princess Yongning wouldn’t have died. Who Princess Yongning hated most must be Jiang Li!”
Jiang Yuanxing’s gaze deepened. “You mean…”
“Princess Yongning is Prince Cheng’s sister. Prince Cheng must want to avenge Princess Yongning. Although we don’t know what secrets the Jiang family has, and Jiang Yuanbai and Jiang Yuanping are shrewd as foxes, leaving no vulnerabilities. But Jiang Li is just a young girl. No matter how capable, she can’t overturn heaven. If Prince Cheng wants to move against Jiang Li, we only need to tell Prince Cheng when Jiang Li will pass by, when she goes out, even help arrange things a little, and it’ll naturally work.”
“At that time, we’ll have accomplished a great deed. Prince Cheng will be pleased. Your official career will flourish. Will Yu’e still worry about not being elevated to principal wife?”
……
The Jiang family’s Third Branch planned to use themselves as a pledge of allegiance to Prince Cheng. Jiang Li knew nothing of this. The days passed with rare peace, though it was only temporary peace—still, it was precious.
When the peach blossoms in Yanjing began blooming one after another, the weather had warmed enough to be called true “warm spring” season. Grass grew and orioles flew, flowers bloomed red and willows turned green. When spring rain fell at night, the next day brought bright sunshine.
Tomorrow was Jiang Li’s birthday—or rather, Xue Fangfei’s birthday. Jiang Li had already arranged with Ye Mingyu in advance to visit the Ye family tomorrow. Though she called it a visit, Jiang Li wanted to use this opportunity to spend her birthday with Xue Huaiyuan. She knew Xue Huaiyuan would never forget that this day was A’li’s birthday. At that time she would lay everything out with Xue Huaiyuan and reveal her identity.
She had to make it clear to Xue Huaiyuan that she was Xue Fangfei, whether he believed it or not. If Xue Huaiyuan believed her, then they as father and daughter would have one more reason and support for living in this world. Even if just for each other, there was still hope for everything.
Therefore the next morning, Jiang Li rose early to dress and groom herself.
Jiang Li chose the colors of clothes and jewelry that Xue Fangfei used to love wearing in the past. This puzzled Tong’er and Baixue greatly. But they felt Jiang Li looked very beautiful dressed this way, so they just assumed Jiang Li wanted to try a different style. After informing the Jiang family’s gatekeeper, Jiang Li got into the carriage and headed toward the Ye family.
Outside, the sunshine was perfect. It was said that these past days the peach blossoms on nearby mountains had all bloomed. Many people went up the mountains to see the peach blossoms and also visit temples to pray for marriage matches. Spring was always such a gentle season. It felt like anything done in this season, any hope wished for, would receive a perfect reward.
Sitting in the carriage, Jiang Li listened to the bustling crowds on the streets outside. She didn’t know if it was because she was nervous about facing Xue Huaiyuan with honesty, or for some other reason, but since last night she had felt restless and her eyelids kept twitching, as if something was about to happen. She tried to comfort herself, thinking she was just worried Xue Huaiyuan wouldn’t recognize her. She reminded herself over and over—it’s fine, it’s just a small matter that would happen sooner or later. And as long as she explained properly, Father would surely believe her.
The route from the Jiang family to the Ye family had been traveled thousands upon thousands of times. Not just the coachman—even Jiang Li had long been familiar with it. But today the journey felt extraordinarily long.
“Miss, is it a bit hot?” Tong’er took out a handkerchief and wiped the fine sweat gradually seeping out on Jiang Li’s forehead.
“Why are you sweating?” Baixue asked. “Could you have caught a chill?”
Hearing this, Tong’er also became nervous. “Really? Should we go to a medical hall and find a physician to look at you?”
Jiang Li shook her head. “No need. I’m just a bit warm.” Just as she finished saying this, her heart suddenly jumped violently. For some unknown reason, she grew increasingly uneasy and tense.
Before they could say anything more, someone outside suddenly screamed. The carriage lurched sharply to the side. Tong’er and Baixue were caught off guard and both thrown against the back of the carriage. Tong’er said, “What’s happening?”
Jiang Li grabbed the edge of the carriage window and managed not to tumble about like Tong’er and Baixue. She heard the coachman’s voice ring out from outside: “Second Miss, there’s an incident ahead! So many people—we can’t get through!”
Jiang Li lifted the carriage curtain and could see outside. She saw many people running about in panic. There were also carriages like Jiang Li’s charging wildly. Just as the coachman finished speaking, the horses up ahead seemed to be stimulated by something and began running frantically. But because they were blocked by the crowd, they couldn’t run at all.
“What’s happening? Why are there so many people?” Baixue was startled.
Immediately after, someone in the crowd shouted loudly, “Murder!”
As if in response, one after another, cries of “Murder!” rang out, mixed with screams, wails, and curses from people in the crowd. It became complete chaos, enough to make one’s ears feel blocked and limbs go weak. Jiang Li’s heart also beat rapidly.
“What on earth has happened?” Tong’er asked in panic, but no one could answer her.