Chapter Two: Jiang Li

The wind rattled the windows, making them bang loudly. A maid reached out to shut them, and on the floor inside the room, a bronze green ox stood, its belly filled with heavy blocks of ice.

Summer heat always arrived early in Yan Capital. Ice had to be transported from a cellar a hundred miles away, and even a small piece was worth ten taels of silver. Let alone a whole slab as large as a stone tray, and inside the room, identical green oxes stood in all four corners.

The air in the room was cool and fresh. On the couch near the small table sat a beautiful woman, resting her chin in her hand, lazily gazing at the account book in front of her. Beside her was a delicate young girl of thirteen or fourteen, nibbling on an iced candied fruit dessert and idly flipping through a mountain of invitations. Two maids stood quietly behind them, gently fanning the pair.

“The rain’s really pouring…” the girl murmured, staring absent-mindedly out the window.

The beautiful woman glanced at her and said, “Don’t eat so many cold things, or you’ll lose your appetite when your father comes home tonight.” She then turned to the maid beside her, “Ruyi, take the dessert away. This tea is cold, bring a fresh pot of fragrant hot tea.”

The girl, though a little dissatisfied, said nothing. Ruyi put down her fan, bent to pick up the dessert and was about to leave when an elderly woman in silk walked in from outside. She didn’t greet Ruyi, heading straight for the beautiful lady, clearly bearing urgent news.

Ruyi paused, then carried the dessert and cold tea out. She could faintly hear voices behind her.

“…They say the illness is serious… She had a fierce quarrel with Abbess Jing’an over the third young lady’s marriage…”

“She’s so ill she can’t get out of bed…”

“The doctor says she won’t survive the summer. Should we tell the master…”

The room grew silent for a moment, then the beautiful lady’s gentle voice sounded, “The master is busy with official affairs these days; there’s no need to trouble him with such minor matters. When there’s time, I’ll tell him myself.”

Immediately after, the girl’s lively voice rang out, “Why bother with her? She should know her place, daring to associate with just anyone.”

“Let’s not talk about that,” the lady changed the subject. “I heard the wife of the new top scholar passed away a few days ago, and we must pay our respects tomorrow.” Her tone was full of sympathy. “So young, to die of illness—what a pitiful person.”

What a pitiful person, Ruyi thought as she walked, never slowing, carrying the silver tray to the kitchen.

The lady of the house was Ji Shuran, the second wife of the chief minister, Jiang Yuanbai. The young girl was Jiang Yuyao, the minister’s prized daughter and Ji Shuran’s own child.

As for the one they spoke of, the person “not expected to survive the summer,” it must be the second young lady, Jiang Li.

Five years ago, Jiang Li was sent to a convent for discipline after a mistake. Since then, it was as if she no longer existed in the Jiang family. Now, Ji Shuran held authority at home, and the only legitimate daughter left was Jiang Yuyao. The chief minister’s legitimate daughter, unable to endure the summer, and no one in the household knew.

But even if they did, nothing would change.

Ruyi sighed inwardly, glancing at the cold tea in her hand. What could she do? The former lady was gone, and the second young lady had such an unlikable reputation.

Such was the world: when a person leaves, the tea grows cold.

…

The Crane Forest Temple on Mount Qingcheng was renowned.

Though the mountain path was rugged, the pine and stone were lush, the forests thick with bamboo, and the scenery was beautiful. The abbot, Master Tongming, was famous far and wide. It was said prayers at Crane Pine Temple were especially efficacious, so people braved the journey just to burn incense.

Not far from Crane Forest Temple was a modest nunnery. Unlike the temple, which bustled with pilgrims, the nunnery was deserted, almost empty.

After a night of rain, the mountain wind was colder. From a room next to the woodshed in the nunnery came the sound of a woman’s sobbing.

“Miss… Miss, what will you do…”

As soon as Xue Fangfei opened her eyes, she was assaulted by noise. She struggled to move her fingers, feeling her body unbearably heavy—then realized it wasn’t her body, but the weight of the blanket.

The quilt, originally thin, had grown heavy and damp from the humidity, icy and uncomfortable. She threw it aside, feeling relief in her chest, and slowly sat up.

The crying beside her stopped abruptly. By the dim candlelight on the table, she saw a face filled with undisguised joy. “Miss, you’re awake!”

Miss?

Xue Fangfei was confused, sizing up the girl before her. The maid looked fifteen or sixteen, her eyes swollen like peach pits, with a cute but painfully thin appearance. She wore an ill-fitting deep blue dress, with not a single piece of jewelry, grinning foolishly at Xue Fangfei.

Calling her “Miss,” could she be a maid? But even in Tongxiang, before marriage, her maids never dressed so poorly.

A sudden jolt brought Xue Fangfei back to her senses. No, the key point was, she didn’t recall ever having such a maid. After marrying into Yan Capital, two of her four personal maids married, and after the incident during the banquet, Lady Shen Yuyong’s mother wanted to kill the remaining two. Xue Fangfei pleaded for their lives and had them released. The rest who served her later must have been Princess Yongning’s spies.

Princess Yongning! Suddenly, flashes of memory came rushing back. Xue Fangfei remembered: Princess Yongning had come to provoke her, and Yongning’s servants strangled her. Did she not die? Impossible. Princess Yongning was ruthless; she couldn’t have left Xue Fangfei alive.

Unless… she’d been rescued? By Shen Yuyong? Or someone else?

Xue Fangfei stared silently at the little maid. The maid’s silly smile faded, and she grew nervous, whispering, “Miss? Miss?”

“Who are you?” Xue Fangfei asked. As soon as she spoke, she felt something was wrong, but couldn’t pinpoint what.

The little maid grew more anxious. “Miss, I’m Tong’er!”

Tong’er? Xue Fangfei couldn’t recall such a person.

“Miss,” Tong’er seemed about to cry. “Miss, I know you’re upset. How could Second Miss steal your engagement? That was arranged for you when Madam was still alive. How could the Ningyuan Marquis family behave so dishonorably? And the master—Miss, I know you resent him, but you can’t just give up everything. If you won’t think of yourself, at least think of Madam. If her spirit in heaven saw you like this, how heartbroken she would be!”

Xue Fangfei stared blankly at the maid’s wailing, pondering what this had to do with the Ningyuan Marquis. She knew the marquis’s heir, Shen Yuyong’s sister, Shen Ruyun—her sister-in-law—admired the heir, the famed handsome man of Yan Capital. But what did that have to do with her?

The maid sobbed on, when suddenly a clap of thunder lit up the room, revealing its cold, shabby state, and illuminating Xue Fangfei herself.

In that instant, Xue Fangfei realized what was wrong.

The voice… tender and crisp, exhausted yet laced with a soft girlish sweetness.

It wasn’t her own voice.

“Who am I?” Xue Fangfei asked.

Tong’er froze.

“Who am I?” Xue Fangfei asked again.

“What are you saying, Miss?” Tong’er thought she was upset and hurriedly replied, “You are the legitimate daughter of Chief Minister Jiang, the second young lady of the Jiang family.” She added, “A true daughter of nobility—the minister’s own!”

Jiang family, minister’s daughter, second young lady, Jiang Li.

Xue Fangfei closed her eyes.

She had become Jiang Li.

－－－－－－Author’s Note－－－－－－

Hello everyone, the holiday is over—how many pounds did you gain?

Updates start today! Schedule as before, every morning at seven!

Also, regarding era names and titles, this story is set in a fictional world, so no historical research! Only concerned with plot logic, my brain is dead _(:зゝ∠)_