The eighteen-year-old Zhou Chujin nearly fainted upon hearing these words.

Although the Cheng family’s patriarch Cheng Xu had retired from office ten years ago due to illness, his students and old friends were spread throughout the court and countryside, his lingering authority still present. The eldest master of the principal branch, Cheng Jing, held a position among the Nine Junior Ministers, just one step away from being appointed Grand Secretary. Cheng Xu of the principal branch, Cheng Shi of the second branch, Cheng Zheng of the third branch, Cheng Gao of the fourth branch… all were seeds of scholarship, either having passed the xiucai examination or having their names on the honor rolls—which one wasn’t an outstanding talent of the time? Where did this talk of confiscation and clan extermination come from?

She was terrified beyond measure, forcibly restraining herself from clamping her hand over her sister’s mouth.

Could it be that the fall by the lakeside had caused some mishap?

Otherwise, how could her always obedient and gentle sister start spouting such nonsense?

Zhou Chujin’s heart pounded wildly with fright, yet she dared not show the slightest trace on her face. Not only that, but she also had to comfort her sister in soft, gentle tones: “It’s all right, it’s all right. You just had a nightmare, that’s all!”

Zhou Shaojin was dumbfounded.

Her sister, with whom she shared life and death, with whom she was intimately close, actually didn’t believe her… and even told her with a smile that she had merely had a nightmare!

How could a dream possibly be so real?

Zhou Shaojin refused to believe it.

She urgently spoke to her sister about those details from life, but her sister held her hand with reddened eyes and said painfully, “I know, I know. Everything you’re saying is right. But it’s getting late, and you need to rest. Tomorrow morning, sister will listen to you talk more, all right?”

The flavor of placation and appeasement was so obvious.

Zhou Shaojin’s heart sank.

Not knowing how to face such a sister, she could only look toward the window as if escaping.

It was dusk at this moment, the evening glow dyeing the courtyard a warm orange-yellow. Several young maids still in their hair buns were kicking shuttlecocks in the courtyard, their laughter echoing lightly through the yard like silver bells. Pozi Du, who worked in the kitchen, walked through the middle of the courtyard with a smile carrying a food box, the young maids nearly colliding with her. Pozi Zhao emerged from somewhere, rolling up her sleeves while loudly scolding the young maids. The frightened young maids nodded and bowed, hastily begging for mercy. Pozi Du played the good person, standing before the young maids to speak well of them.

The grape vines had already sprouted tender leaves, the rose bushes at the corner of the wall bloomed vigorously like flames, and magnolia flowers the size of rice bowls hung scattered on the tall magnolia tree, white as jade.

If this was an illusion, then what was she herself?

Zhou Shaojin’s heart felt chilled.

Could it be that she was wrong?

Looking at her sister who, though anxious, still appeared steady and composed, Zhou Shaojin suddenly couldn’t be certain whether she had, as her sister said, merely had a nightmare, or whether she had, as she herself believed, lived through life once before.

Zhou Chujin personally adjusted her sister’s pillow and helped Zhou Shaojin lie down, saying, “Good girl, sister will stay here with you. Close your eyes and sleep for a while. When you wake up, everything will be fine.”

In the end, she still didn’t believe her.

Zhou Shaojin’s emotions were complicated.

Perhaps sister was right!

She consoled herself and closed her eyes.

At midnight, she was awakened by a nightmare.

Her sister, sleeping beside her, immediately got up and held her tightly in her embrace, gently patting her back and saying softly, “Good girl, it’s all right now, it’s all right. Sister is right here beside you!”

Zhou Shaojin was drenched in sweat. Wanting to say something to her sister, she looked up only to catch a flash of terror in her sister’s eyes.

Sister was only an eighteen-year-old young lady herself. Living at her maternal relatives’ home with her young sister, she too had moments of panic and fear!

Zhou Shaojin was astonished, realizing for the first time that the sister she considered omnipotent and indestructible in her heart was merely an ordinary young woman who also needed protection and someone to rely on.

Her lips moved, but in the end she pressed them tightly together, saying nothing.

The next morning, Zhou Chujin kept Zhou Shaojin in the room while she herself went to see their maternal grandmother, Old Madam Guan.

Soon, news spread from the upper residence that Zhou Shaojin was ill. Nanny Zhou, who treated the Cheng family’s women, was invited into the mansion. Wanxiang Residence began to smell of medicinal herbs. Ma Fushan’s wife, the steward pozi of the Zhou family’s inner courtyard, also hurried over. After whispering with Zhou Chujin for a while, she quietly went to several Buddhist temples and Taoist monasteries in Jinling City with flourishing incense offerings and long-standing reputations, not only obtaining talisman water for Zhou Shaojin but also divine incense and yellow prayer papers.

Zhou Chujin had Ma Fushan’s wife stay overnight in the courtyard.

At midnight, they got up to burn the yellow papers.

Awakened by nightmares, Zhou Shaojin stood by the window, quietly watching the flames blaze brilliantly before silently extinguishing, then turned and went to bed, closing her eyes.

Just let it be this way, then?

Why create conflict with her sister over such matters, making her worry and fear, damaging their sisterly bond?

But whenever deep in the night she was startled awake by nightmares, she couldn’t help but think: if all her experiences were real, then the Cheng family would be raided and the clan exterminated. Grandmother, uncles, cousins, even those maids and pozis who had served her, the servants and stewards who had worked for her, every person she knew from the Cheng family would die!

Could she really close her heart and pretend to know nothing of this?

Grandmother’s nurturing grace, her sister’s flesh-and-blood affection, First Uncle’s righteous defense, and the kindness shown her by First Aunt, Cousin Gao, and Cousin Yi—could she truly cast all of this aside and ignore everything?

Just thinking about it made Zhou Shaojin feel panicked, her hair standing on end, filled with lingering fear, unable to close her eyes again.

She decided to discover the truth of the matter, which was why she seized opportunities to observe the surrounding scenes behind her sister’s back.

She just hadn’t expected that her silence wouldn’t bring her sister peace of mind—her sister actually concealed things from their grandmother and went alone to the temple to pray to Buddha for her sake. Beyond being moved and saddened, she felt mostly relief.

Thank goodness she hadn’t insisted in front of her sister that she had lived through life once before. Otherwise, who knew how heartbroken, pained, and despairing her sister—thinking she was possessed by evil—would be?

She couldn’t help but sigh softly, suddenly getting an idea.

Since she was unwilling to conflict with her sister yet feared losing the chance to save the Cheng family, why not quietly investigate in private whether she had merely had a nightmare or had lived through life once before?

If the things she knew all occurred one by one, wouldn’t that prove she had lived through life once before? Conversely, if the things she knew didn’t happen, wouldn’t that prove she had only had a nightmare?

Zhou Shaojin’s eyes suddenly brightened.

She was now twelve years old… so what had happened when she was twelve?

Zhou Shaojin fell into contemplation.

In June, it seemed Cheng Lu would pass the prefectural examination with sixth place, obtaining the qualification of stipended student… In August, Father was suddenly promoted to Prefect of Baoding. Though both were fourth rank and both prefects, Baoding Prefecture belonged to the Northern Metropolitan Region and was a necessary route south from the capital. As long as there were no mistakes, promotion was within sight. Uncle Mian and Grandmother were both very happy… After that, Grandmother celebrated her fifty-sixth birthday. Cheng Lu’s mother, Dong Shi, came to offer birthday wishes and, in front of several old madams of the Cheng family, held her hand and praised her as gentle, obedient, and suitable for managing a household. Cheng Jia even teased her about it, saying that though younger in age, her heart was more anxious, already thinking about marriage at such a young age…

Thinking of Cheng Jia, a face flashed through her mind, and Zhou Shaojin suddenly sat bolt upright in shock.

How could she have forgotten such a person, such an event?

On the twelfth day of the fourth month this year was the eightieth birthday of the Cheng family second branch’s patriarch, Cheng Xu. The Cheng family had made grand preparations for this occasion. Not only were Cheng family relatives and friends invited, but also students and old friends. Even Yuan Weichang—Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion and Minister of Personnel in the capital—sent his eldest son with birthday gifts.

Wu Baozhang’s first appearance at the Cheng family was on the eve of the patriarch’s grand birthday!

Zhou Shaojin’s face became grave as water, her hands involuntarily twisting together.

Wu Baozhang’s father, Wu Xiu, was appointed Prefect of Jinling in the ninth month of the seventeenth year of Zhide. However, Jinling had long been known as “the land of beauty in Jiangnan, the imperial province of Jinling,” its geographical position extremely important. Wu Xiu came from humble origins. Apart from a maternal uncle who served as a Vice Director in the Ministry of Works, he had no powerful backing at court, having obtained the position of Jinling Prefect only through fortunate coincidence. As the magistrate of Jinling, he had above him the hereditary Duke who guarded Jinling, below him aristocratic families that had produced high provincial officials or great scholars of renown—prominent clans of their time—and had to maneuver around his subordinate Liu Mingju, the County Magistrate of Jiangning, whose background was quite complicated and who had designs on the prefect position.

He dared not offend any of them, couldn’t afford to provoke any of them.

His circumstances were extremely difficult.

To preserve his position as prefect, after the Spring Festival, the Wu couple began frequently visiting the great households of Jinling City. Wu Baozhang’s stepmother, Guan Shi, in order to enter the Cheng family, upon learning that Old Madam Guan shared her surname, even claimed Old Madam Guan as her “aunt” and began visiting the Cheng family’s fourth branch.

When Madam Wu brought Wu Baozhang to visit their home, Grandmother had her and her sister come out to receive guests.

Counting the days, it should be during this period.

Zhou Shaojin bit her lip and called out loudly, “Shi Xiang!”

Having stayed up most of last night again, Shi Xiang was leaning against the doorpost of the main hall dozing when she immediately ran in upon hearing the call.

“Second Miss, you’re awake!” She smiled as she drew back the bed curtains, saying, “Shall I help you wash and dress? The kitchen made your favorite crystal cakes and assorted tofu catch today. Should I have the young maids bring up breakfast?”

Zhou Shaojin paid no attention to this, saying instead, “What day is today?”

Shi Xiang paused slightly, then quickly replied, “Today is the twenty-fourth of the third month.”

Which meant there were still twenty days until the patriarch’s birthday.

But Zhou Shaojin had no recollection at all of which day Wu Baozhang had visited their home.

She only remembered that Wu Baozhang was of medium height with a round face, fair skin, large eyes, willow-leaf eyebrows, and a cinnabar mole the size of a grain of rice between her brows. When she smiled she was quite reserved, but when looking at people her gaze flickered slightly, giving one the immediate impression that she wasn’t the type who merely followed rules without knowing how to adapt.

It was the first time in Zhou Shaojin’s life seeing someone with a cinnabar mole between the brows, and she was quite curious. When the elders were speaking, she opened her eyes wide and frequently observed Wu Baozhang.

Perhaps sensing her gaze, Wu Baozhang turned her head to smile at her, speaking to her in a gentle tone. By the Dragon Boat Festival, she even sent zongzi she’d personally wrapped and five-poison sachets she’d embroidered as festival gifts for her and her sister.

Gradually, they began visiting each other.

She felt Wu Baozhang was quite nice and introduced Wu Baozhang to Cheng Jia.

After that, Wu Baozhang began visiting the third branch and won the favor of the second branch’s eldest lady, Zheng Shi, gaining a reputation for virtue and grace, establishing a firm foothold in Jinling’s circle of genteel ladies…