Jiang Si returned to Haitang Residence. A-Qiao presented two items to her.
“Miss, these were sent by the First Miss,” A-Qiao said, handing over a blue cloth bundle to Jiang Si.
The bundle was ordinary but tied with an exquisite knot. Jiang Si knew at a glance it was packed by her elder sister, Jiang Yi, personally.
Inside were a pair of finely embroidered shoes, two pairs of insoles, several pairs of silk stockings, and a pair of ruyi knots for good fortune. Besides these needlework items, there was also a red wooden box.
Jiang Si’s gaze lingered on the red wooden box. She reached out to open it, finding inside a golden hairpin adorned with kingfisher feathers, a white jade hairpin clustered with pearls and gems, and several delicate silk flowers.
Beneath these ornaments was a plain letter.
Jiang Si picked up the letter, and elegant handwriting leaped into view.
She could almost see her elder sister’s gentle smile as she urged her to open her heart, not to be upset over unworthy people, assuring her she would marry someone better in the future. Finally, with a hint of caution and guilt, she explained her inability to visit, hoping Jiang Si wouldn’t mind.
Tears streamed down Jiang Si’s face.
Her elder sister, outstanding in needlework; her elder sister, gentle and kind; her elder sister, humble and fragile, had died at just twenty years old.
Her siblings, including herself, were all short-lived ghosts who hadn’t lived past twenty.
In her previous life, her elder sister had been divorced for having an affair and hanged herself not long after returning to her maiden home.
When the news reached Duke An’s manor, Jiang Si’s first reaction was disbelief.
Her elder sister was timid by nature, as gentle as winter jasmine in early spring. She would rather believe herself capable of having an affair than believe her sister would do such a thing.
She wanted to demand an explanation from the Zhu family but was stopped by her grandmother. In the end, she could do nothing but cry her heart out.
“Miss—” Jiang Si’s reaction left A-Man and A-Qiao at a loss. A-Man called out cautiously, while A-Qiao brought a warm handkerchief.
Jiang Si took the damp handkerchief and wiped her eyes, instructing A-Qiao to put away the things her elder sister had sent. She then picked up another card.
This card was from Second Miss Jiang Qian, inviting her to stay at Marquis Changxing’s manor for two days to cheer up, and suggesting inviting other sisters from the Earl’s manor.
Jiang Si’s fingertips unconsciously pressed hard, crumpling the card’s corners.
Jiang Qian’s invitation had indeed come quickly.
After a moment’s thought, Jiang Si went to the west side room.
The west side room had been arranged as a study, with a desk and a qin table. Since her rebirth, Jiang Si had less leisure time, and the qin strings had gathered dust.
Seeing Jiang Si walk towards the writing desk, A-Qiao was quick-witted and began grinding ink.
Jiang Si quickly wrote a plain letter, sealed it, and handed it to A-Qiao. “Send this to Marquis Changxing’s manor.”
“Miss, are you going to visit Marquis Changxing’s manor?” A-Qiao asked.
Jiang Si shook her head with a smile. “Grandmother is unwell. How could I go out to play as her granddaughter?”
She wrote this letter to decline Jiang Qian’s invitation.
Marquis Changxing’s manor was a thorn in her heart, a poisoned thorn. If she didn’t remove this poisoned thorn, her heart would eventually be filled with toxic sores.
She would go to investigate Marquis Changxing’s manor, but not now.
As she said in her letter, Grandmother was unwell.
Jiang Si was certain that Jiang Qian, who had been neglected at Cixin Hall last time, would return to visit Grandmother tomorrow morning to secure her favor after receiving this letter.
In fact, at this moment, Grandmother’s eyes had already started to ache faintly. By tomorrow, her left eye would be completely blind.
She had mentioned that dream earlier, associating the dream’s events with Jiang Qian. Although Grandmother had verbally scolded her, the seed of doubt had been planted.
After Jiang Qian visits Grandmother tomorrow, and Grandmother’s eyes immediately go blind, she doesn’t believe Grandmother would think of Jiang Qian.
Her grandmother was not someone who put love for her granddaughters first.
Jiang Si felt no guilt in her heart for plotting against Jiang Qian. Not to mention the infuriating things Jiang Qian had done to her in her previous life, just consider the fact that after Grandmother’s eye problem, the fortune-teller who was invited directly pointed to Second Brother Jiang Zhan. It was impossible for Second Uncle’s family not to have had a hand in this.
In her previous life, Second Uncle had gained merit by saving the Emperor’s life, and coincidentally at that time, Father had caused a scandal by getting drunk and staying overnight in a brothel, which led to a lawsuit involving a death.
Father was stripped of his title and driven out of the family, while Second Uncle naturally inherited the title. Because of his merit in saving the Emperor, the title became hereditary.
Grandmother’s greatest wish had finally come true, and she no longer cared about her eldest son’s fate.
When Jiang Si returned to the capital as the Seventh Prince’s consort, over a year had passed since this incident. She didn’t believe in such coincidences and asked Yu Qi to investigate secretly for her.
Unfortunately, just as they uncovered some clues, she died tragically and was reborn.
Jiang Si didn’t care whether there was evidence or not. In any case, it wouldn’t be wrong to treat Second Uncle’s family with a sweeping autumn wind attitude.
“Send this letter to my elder sister,” Jiang Si wrote another letter and handed it to A-Qiao. She then walked out of the study to the courtyard and sat on the swing, lost in thought.
Suddenly, the swing was pushed. The young lady’s red skirt fluttered in the wind.
Jiang Si abruptly looked up, her beautiful face, usually expressionless, now bore a faint smile. “Second Brother is back.”
She stopped the swing’s motion with her toes and reached out her hand. “Where’s my purse?”
Jiang Zhan gave a dry laugh.
“Couldn’t get it back?” Jiang Si frowned slightly, somewhat surprised.
In this life, she and Yu Qi were strangers. She didn’t think Yu Qi was the kind of frivolous rake who would keep a strange young lady’s purse. She had only gotten angry earlier because she didn’t want the possibility of further contact with Yu Qi due to her brother’s connection.
“That dog was too hateful. It might have hidden Fourth Sister’s purse like a meat bone!” Jiang Zhan said angrily.
Jiang Si frowned even more.
Er Niu wasn’t so inconsiderate before.
“Did Fourth Sister have anything important in the purse?” Feeling guilty about not retrieving the purse, Jiang Zhan asked.
“There wasn’t anything important,” Jiang Si replied.
“Does the purse have any special markings?”
Jiang Si shook her head. “No, it doesn’t.”
Jiang Zhan heaved a sigh of relief. “Then it doesn’t matter. A purse torn by a dog probably won’t be picked up by anyone, and even if someone did, they wouldn’t know it’s yours.”
Given the circumstances, Jiang Si could only accept her bad luck. After Jiang Zhan left, she returned to her bedroom and dug out a pair of gold bracelets from the bottom of her trunk.
These gold bracelets were left by Madam Su. When Jiang Yi was about to marry, she gave both bracelets to Jiang Si.
At that time, Jiang Si was just over ten years old and in a fussy phase. She thought gold bracelets were too vulgar and directly pushed them to the bottom of her trunk.
These bracelets were now extremely useful to the current Jiang Si.
The bracelets were hollow, subtly separated by jade beads, perfect for holding various medicinal powders that Jiang Si had just concocted.
Having lived two lives, Jiang Si knew all too well that neither her status as a young lady of the Earl’s manor nor the protection of maids and servants would be enough in certain situations. The only skills that others couldn’t take away would be her true strength.
This day passed uneventfully. As Jiang Si had expected, the next day, Jiang Qian indeed came to visit Old Madam Feng, bringing large and small gifts.
In Cixin Hall, Old Madam Feng looked at her second granddaughter, Jiang Qian, who wore a faint smile, and felt her left eye twitching even more severely.
Why had the golden pheasant come again?