Chapter Three: The Heiress

Even after seeing it countless times, Xue Fangfei still found it hard to get used to.
The bronze mirror, edged with embroidery, bore a crack, and so did the face reflected within. The features seemed distorted; the girl in the mirror looked fourteen or fifteen, but, just like her maid Tong’er, she was shockingly thin.
Xue Fangfei recalled herself at fourteen or fifteen—certainly not so sallow and emaciated. Though she was the daughter of the Grand Chancellor, her appearance now seemed inferior even to the servants. This face could not compare to her original one, famed as the most beautiful in the capital.
Yet that face, in the end, had not brought her any better fate—beauty was but a fleeting thing, destined to return to dust.
Her thoughts drifted far. She had never imagined that she might not have died, or rather, that after dying, she would live again as Jiang Li, the daughter of the Jiang family—the prime minister’s cherished child in the capital.
Jiang Yuanbai, as chief academician and the Emperor’s mentor, was the acknowledged leader of all court officials. He never appeared arrogant, but rather moderate, always mediating disputes. Because of this, many openly allied themselves with him, and who knew how many did so in secret.
His influence stretched through every corner of the court, and Emperor Hongxiao trusted him deeply. Yet Jiang Yuanbai never flaunted his power. Xue Huaiyuan had once remarked that such moderation was, in itself, a way to govern. One thing was beyond doubt: Jiang Yuanbai was a high official, and Jiang Li, his daughter, belonged to a noble family.
But this daughter of the Grand Chancellor lived a wretched life. Jiang Li’s mother had come from the renowned wealthy merchants, the Ye family of Xiangyang. The Ye family’s fortune was vast; their jewelry shop, Hongxiang Pavilion, boasted fifty-six branches across the realm. Before Jiang Yuanbai rose to office, Master Ye had favored him, marrying his youngest daughter, Ye Zhenzhen, to him.
Yet after marrying, Ye Zhenzhen took three years to conceive Jiang Li, only to die of illness when Jiang Li was but a year old. Jiang Yuanbai then married Ji Shuran, the legitimate daughter of the Deputy Censor. Ji Shuran gave birth to Jiang Youyao in her first year, and when she was pregnant a second time, Jiang Li, aged seven, pushed Ji Shuran down the steps at a banquet, causing her to miscarry a son and lose her ability to bear children.
Jiang Yuanbai was furious. If not for Ji Shuran pleading on Jiang Li’s behalf, the punishment would have been harsher; even so, Jiang Li was sent to the family temple for reflection.
But the accusation of poisoning her stepmother and murdering her brother stuck. In the capital, the mere mention of Second Miss Jiang conjured her notorious cruelty.
After Ye Zhenzhen’s death, fearing mistreatment by her stepmother, the Ye family tried to bring Jiang Li back to Xiangyang. Had Jiang Li agreed, she could have lived there, but she refused. Over time, the Ye family ceased their efforts.
Xue Fangfei knew these tales well enough, but she hadn’t expected that the so-called vicious and ruthless daughter of the Grand Chancellor would live in such disgrace, while Jiang Yuanbai, revered in the court, and the benevolent Ji Shuran, ignored Jiang Li as she hovered at death’s door.
Perhaps this was their plan all along.
Jiang Li had sought her own death.

The story began when Ye Zhenzhen was still alive. The Jiang family had good relations with the Marquis of Ningyuan, whose heir was born just a year before Jiang Li. Ye Zhenzhen and the Marchioness thought to arrange a childhood betrothal—both families were well-matched and close, making future ties convenient.
What started as a verbal agreement soon became formal when the Marquis insisted on a written marriage contract. Though Ye Zhenzhen hesitated, she was pleased to be related to the Marchioness, who was known for her kindness—a blessing for any daughter-in-law.
Even after Ye Zhenzhen’s death, Jiang Li’s engagement to the Marquis’s heir remained valid. It was not publicly announced in the capital, but both families had the contract.
Yet, days ago, a servant delivering provisions to the convent mentioned that the Marquis’s heir had been formally betrothed—to Jiang Youyao, the third daughter of the Jiang family.
Jiang Li was stunned.
She was the one engaged to the Marquis’s heir; how had it become Jiang Youyao? Fiery by nature, Jiang Li wanted to return to the capital to demand answers, but the old woman who came mocked her mercilessly.
Now, people in the capital knew only the Third Miss Jiang. Who remembered the Second Miss? And if they did, she was nothing but a venomous woman who had harmed her stepmother and younger brother. How could such a person be fit for the Marquis’s heir? Clearly, the Marquis’s household cared little for Jiang Li; otherwise, they would never have agreed to switch the bride.
The old woman sneered that if the Second Miss made a scene, it would only be a joke; even if the Marquis was forced to marry Jiang Li, he would never treat her well, but despise her instead.
Second Miss Jiang turned and threw herself into the lake.
Though rescued, she was gravely ill, growing ever weaker—so thin she could barely stand. Even sick as she was, none from the capital came to see her.
Perhaps only when she died would someone come to claim her body.
Maybe they intended for Jiang Li to waste away in the convent, to die of “natural illness,” leaving them free to dictate her fate as they pleased.
Just as Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong had once waited for Xue Fangfei to die.
Tong’er, indignant, chopped firewood nearby. Though the mountain was not hot, it was cold and damp. Mistress and maid had to manage all their needs themselves, under the guise of “cultivating the mind and refining character,” while the nuns—who had been paid off—silently tormented them.
“If I’d known it would turn out like this, it would’ve been better to return to Xiangyang and the Ye family,” Tong’er said. “What kind of life is our mistress living now?”

Xiangyang...
Xue Fangfei was moved.
Jiang Li’s maternal family, the Ye family, was in Xiangyang; she wished to return to Tongxiang in Xiangyang.
She wanted to pay respects to her father, to kneel before him, confessing her unfilial conduct—marrying a heartless man, courting disaster, causing her father’s death and her younger brother’s loss.
To return to Xiangyang, she had to first go back to the capital, yet she could not even leave this convent.
Three feet above, the gods watched; on rainy days, she could only raise her eyes to the oppressive night, seeing no divine presence.
No matter. Step by step, she would reach her destination.
Princess Yongning had advised her, at the brink of death, to be reborn in a noble family. Now she was indeed in a noble house, though fallen, she would never again be a victim. She wondered if, this time, they were truly prepared for her return.
Xue Fangfei was dead. From this day forth, she was not Xue Fangfei.
“I am Jiang Li,” she told herself.
Reborn as Jiang Li, the second daughter of the Jiang family.