On the tenth of the sixth month, the weather was clear, with a gentle breeze and bright sunshine.
Ling Jingyan, carefully dressed and adorned, looked like a spring hibiscus in full bloom, a sweet smile on her face, especially radiant and charming.
By comparison, Jiang Shi was far more understated, dressed modestly and unobtrusively.
Before her marriage, Jiang Shi had also been renowned as a young lady of a distinguished family, admired for both her talent and beauty. Back then, every time she went out visiting or traveling, she would always dress with great care to outshine everyone else. But after marrying, that competitive, attention-seeking streak had gradually faded.
When Ling Jingshu appeared before them, both Ling Jingyan and Jiang Shi were caught by surprise.
Ling Jingyan blurted out, “A’Shu, why are you going out without even wearing a new dress?”
It wasn’t often that they got to go out, and even the maids were dressed in new clothes for the occasion. Yet Ling Jingshu was wearing nothing but a sky-blue silk skirt to go out in… Ling Jingyan was certain she’d seen Ling Jingshu wear this very dress at least twice before.
And that wasn’t all!
Ling Jingshu’s face was bare of any makeup, her long hair done up in the simplest style, without even a silk flower pinned in it, let alone any vermilion hairpins or jewelry.
Plain and simple, almost to the point of looking shabby.
Ling Jingshu only smiled, unbothered. “We’re going to Huichun Hall today, not to some gathering among young ladies, and certainly not to pay a social call at anyone’s household. There’s no harm in dressing simply.”
“This is a bit too simple, though!” Ling Jingyan grumbled. “Even my own maids are dressed more elegantly than you. Going out like this — if we run into anyone we know, I won’t even be able to introduce you as my cousin without losing face.”
Jiang Shi, far more perceptive and attentive than Ling Jingyan, asked cautiously, “A’Shu, are you worried that dressing too eye-catchingly might draw the attention of ill-intentioned people?”
Ling Jingshu only smiled without answering, which was as good as an admission.
Once bitten by a snake, wary of rope for ten years! If she hadn’t drawn attention to herself in front of those bandits last time, why would they have ever set their sights on her?
Dressed this plainly and simply, and with a veiled hat to cover her face besides, surely she wouldn’t attract any more unwanted attention.
Ling Jingyan kept trying to persuade Ling Jingshu to go back and change into something new: “…It’s still early, there’s still time for you to go change. You don’t need to worry about running into bandits again — Luoyang is right under the Emperor’s eye, it’s perfectly safe…”
Ling Jingshu suddenly turned solemn and said earnestly to Ling Jingyan, “Cousin Yan. Honestly, I’m doing this all for your sake. Why can’t you appreciate my good intentions?”
Ling Jingyan was baffled. “For me?”
What did Ling Jingshu not wearing a new dress or doing her makeup have to do with her?
“Yes, it’s for you.” Ling Jingshu continued with a perfectly serious expression. “If I were to wear a new dress and do myself up beautifully, everyone would be staring at me. Then who would be looking at you?”
Ling Jingyan: “…”
Jiang Shi burst out laughing.
Ling Xiao, too, couldn’t help the corners of his mouth lifting in amusement.
Gnashing her teeth, Ling Jingyan lunged forward with claws bared. “Oh, so that’s it — you’re saying, in a roundabout way, that you think I’m not as pretty as you! Don’t you dodge me, I’m going to kill you right now!”
After all the laughing and teasing, Ling Jingshu still ended up not changing into a new dress, and got into the carriage just as she was.
Ling Jingshu sat by the carriage window, peering carefully through the fine bamboo blinds at the streets outside.
Jiang Shi sat diagonally across from Ling Jingshu, and from her angle, she could see Ling Jingshu’s profile clearly.
Fair, delicate skin, like fine, lustrous mutton-fat jade. Eyebrows of just the right fullness. Long lashes, a slightly upturned nose bridge, lips like vivid cherry blossoms. A small, gracefully curved chin…
There wasn’t a single flaw anywhere.
Like a lotus blossom rising from clear water, naturally beautiful without artifice.
Such beauty — how could it possibly be matched by anything painstakingly crafted through cosmetics and ornamentation?
Jiang Shi sighed quietly to herself.
Every woman wished to be born beautiful, but to be beautiful to such a heart-stopping degree was not necessarily a blessing. If it caught the eye of someone with ill intentions, who could say whether the Ling family would even be able to protect such a peerless gem.
No wonder Ling Jingshu was unwilling to dress up elaborately, and had gone out dressed so plainly instead.
Sensing that Jiang Shi kept glancing at her, Ling Jingshu turned to her with a smile. “Cousin-in-law, why do you keep looking at me?”
Jiang Shi answered, half teasing and half sincere, “I was just thinking — whoever is lucky enough to marry a beauty like you one day will surely treasure you like a rare jewel, and care for you tenderly in every way.”
A flicker of complicated, wistful emotion crossed Ling Jingshu’s eyes, and she gave a faint, twisted smile. “Affection won through looks alone never lasts. However beautiful a face may be, it will eventually grow old and fade. And when that day comes, wouldn’t life only feel more desolate?”
Her tone was calm and faintly cold, as though she were speaking not of herself, but of some unrelated stranger.
Taken aback, Jiang Shi instinctively spoke up to object. “Isn’t that a rather extreme way to think? In this world, there are indeed fickle men who covet beauty and lose interest once it fades, but there are also good men who are loyal and devoted, who never abandon their wives. You can’t condemn everyone with the same brush.”
Ling Jingshu smiled faintly. “You’re right, Cousin-in-law. Cousin is exactly such a loyal and devoted good man. You’re truly fortunate to have married him and to live in such harmony together.”
At the mention of Ling Ji, Jiang Shi’s cheeks flushed, and a glow of happiness shone in her eyes.
Aside from the anxiety of not yet having conceived a child, there was almost nothing left for her to wish for in life.
Ling Jingyan, usually so talkative, had fallen unusually silent since getting into the carriage, her gaze drifting restlessly as though lost in thought.
After hearing Ling Jingshu’s words, Ling Jingyan suddenly spoke up: “A’Shu, if you fell in love with someone, but his status was so exalted that he could never make you his principal wife, would you be willing to marry him as a concubine instead?”
Something stirred in Ling Jingshu’s heart.
It was obvious Ling Jingyan was speaking from personal feeling. The “someone” she had fallen for must be Prince Yan.
Prince Yan was the legitimate son of Empress Xu, and the Emperor’s most beloved youngest son. Among all the imperial princes, he was the most prominent — even more so than the Crown Prince, who was quietly recuperating in the Eastern Palace.
Prince Yan was fifteen this year and had not yet married.
However, the daughter of a mere fourth-rank official clearly had no standing to become an imperial prince’s consort.
A prince’s secondary consort could still be entered into the imperial clan register, making her a proper, legitimate daughter-in-law of the imperial family, with the right to personally raise her own children. Her status ranked just below that of the principal consort. But in essence, she was still, fundamentally, a concubine of somewhat elevated standing.
In her past life, Ling Jingyan’s infatuation with Prince Yan had come to no good end. If, in this life, that obsession could be dispelled a little earlier, it would be a good thing for her…
“No.”
“I refuse to settle for a compromised kind of love! And I refuse to share my husband with another woman! A man who truly loves me would never be willing to let me suffer such a compromise!”
Ling Jingshu looked steadily at Ling Jingyan, her words simple, forceful, and resolute: “If I ever truly fall in love with someone, regardless of his status, high or low, I will remain devoted to him, unwavering, for as long as I live. And he must treat me the same way — in this life, he may marry only me, and give me his whole heart, undivided. Otherwise, I would rather have nothing at all!”