Chapter Three: The Heroine Makes Her Entrance

When Jiang Zhuo returned home, her father was not in the manor.

Jiang Dun was diligent in his official duties and often spent the night in the Hall of State Affairs debating government matters. In the past, this had been entirely ordinary.

But things were different now. In Jiang Zhuo’s memory, the day after she drew her lot at White Horse Temple was the day of the Jade Blossom Banquet, and five days after the banquet, the imperial decree ordering the seizure of the Jiang household arrived.

By careful reckoning, she had only three or four days to prepare.

"Copper Flower, tell the steward that my outing today was leaked. I suspect someone in the manor has been passing information to the outside. Tighten security these next few days and investigate the traitor thoroughly."

"Yes!"

Copper Flower had just finished arguing with someone and was still fuming. Hearing that her young lady was going to be serious only made her more excited.

"So the young lady also thinks that one with the surname Xie is up to no good, then?"

"Also, send someone to find Father and tell him I have an urgent matter."

Jiang Zhuo did not answer, and instead gave Copper Flower a new order.

Having been reborn, Jiang Zhuo felt that many of the things she did were merely based on clues from her previous life. If she were to say so aloud, not only outsiders, but even Copper Flower and her father might think she had gone mad.

Fortunately, Copper Flower asked no questions and went straight to carry out the task.

Jiang Dun was not fond of women and had kept the inner quarters all but empty. After his lawful wife passed away, only Jiang Zhuo remained as his one and only daughter.

This not only gave Jiang Zhuo a unique standing among the noble ladies of the capital, it also allowed her to assume authority over the household’s internal affairs at an early age.

Yet in her past life, Jiang Zhuo had never understood the value of power, and so she had been spoiled into a willful and unruly temper.

Passing through the corridor, Jiang Zhuo entered her father’s study.

The afterglow of the setting sun filtered through the translucent paper windows, casting faint shadows of crabapple blossoms onto the blue-stone floor. The elegant bamboo bookshelves held the classics, histories, philosophical writings, and collected works; a broad cypress desk stood in the center of the room, while in the corner a potted pine from Mount Lu had already begun to wither.

After living two lives, Jiang Zhuo suddenly realized that she did not seem to know this father of hers at all.

She only knew that her father had passed the imperial examinations twice and that his political essays had long been admired by his colleagues after he entered officialdom. His elegant bearing was also often spoken of among the common people, so that every time Jiang Zhuo failed to compose a poem at some gathering, she would have to endure the mockery that Vice Prime Minister Jiang was so brilliant and gifted, so how could he have produced such a daughter with no learning whatsoever.

Treatises on border defense, irrigation and farmland, policy and taxation, letters from friends...

Jiang Zhuo carefully sifted through her father’s correspondence, hoping to find evidence of the family’s destruction from her previous life, but she found no clue at all.

As the sky began to pale with the first light of dawn, Copper Flower, frantic with worry, searched the entire Jiang estate before finally finding Jiang Zhuo slumped over the desk, sound asleep.

Copper Flower, who was always so conscientious and hardworking, sighed. She shook Jiang Zhuo awake from her dream, then instructed the maids beside her to prepare scented water, wring out a handcloth, and wash the young lady’s face before arranging her hair, applying powder, shaping her brows, and tinting her lips.

The woman in the mirror had eyes like cold stars, graceful dark brows, and a face untouched by frost and wind, pale as fresh snow over porcelain. Since Jiang Zhuo had always favored towering coiffures that pointed skyward, with jeweled and gold hairpins to set them off, together with her embroidered finery, her already lush features seemed even more noble and dazzling.

But this time, Jiang Zhuo refused the clothes Copper Flower handed her and instead chose a pale, cloud-patterned blouse of subdued silk from the wardrobe chest.

"What is the young lady doing?" Copper Flower was baffled. "This brocade outer robe with the lychee pattern was specially made for this banquet half a month ago at the Tailor’s House."

Brilliance and ostentation were not necessarily a good thing. In her previous life, the calamity that befell the Jiang family may very well have been caused by Jiang Zhuo drawing too much attention at the Jade Blossom Banquet.

Besides, for Jiang Zhuo, who had lived again, this cloud-patterned blouse, with its excellent fabric, was already quite fine.

"...Lately, plain and elegant satins have become fashionable in the capital," Jiang Zhuo said carelessly, offering a random excuse.

"But—"

"Young lady! Miss Shen’s carriage is already waiting outside!"

Before Copper Flower could object, the servant outside came to urge her, and Jiang Zhuo immediately went out.

Before she was married, Jiang Zhuo and Shen Guanzhi had been close friends and often went out together.

As the daughter of a Court-Attending Gentleman, Shen Guanzhi was not the most dazzling in appearance or family background among the capital’s noble ladies, but she was certainly the cleverest.

The first time Jiang Zhuo met Shen Guanzhi was at a poetry gathering, where Shen Guanzhi turned the eldest daughter of a secondary wife’s deliberate embarrassment into an opportunity, composing a poem on the spot and then using a few light words to praise while subtly mocking her, nearly leaving that sharp-tongued sister unable to keep her face.

The capital’s noble ladies often organized all kinds of gatherings, such as poetry meetings, polo matches, and hunting spectacles. Put plainly, these were nothing more than opportunities for the unmarried girls to show their faces and earn a good reputation, so that the great families might consider them for marriage.

Yet while there were many young ladies, there were only so many eligible and sought-after men of marriageable age in the capital.

Since they were both rivals and companions, it was not uncommon for some of the noble ladies to play petty tricks on Shen Guanzhi and Jiang Zhuo.

Sometimes their clothes would be torn; sometimes their handkerchiefs would be hidden.

But Shen Guanzhi could always spot the errors in time and exact a precise revenge on the one who had started it.

That was why Jiang Zhuo liked being friends with Shen Guanzhi.

Shen Guanzhi was a clever person, and clever people did not bother with such useless little schemes.

But looking back now, Shen Guanzhi was clever to an extreme. It was as if she knew everything and could obtain anything.

"Why is Sister Jiang dressed so plainly today?"

"The jade blossoms themselves are plain and elegant. When one goes to admire flowers, should one really try to outshine them?" Jiang Zhuo replied with a smile, brushing it aside.

Today Shen Guanzhi was wearing a sky-blue, collar-draped gown. The faint blush on her cheeks made her seem even gentler.

After all, Copper Flower had still put many jingling hairpins into Jiang Zhuo’s hair before she left. If one were to speak of plainness and simplicity, she was in truth no match for Shen Guanzhi.

"That is true enough. Silk and ornaments are only things outside the body. You usually dress so splendidly, and today when you wear plain clothes for once, it only makes your bearing shine all the more. No wonder Prince Jing will surely think of you day and night when he sees you."

"Stop talking nonsense. I have no interest in becoming any sort of princess consort," Jiang Zhuo cut in, her face flushing red as she recalled the fate of her previous life.

Yet in Shen Guanzhi’s eyes, Jiang Zhuo’s reaction looked more like a young lady’s shy embarrassment.

Shen Guanzhi smiled and quickly changed the subject, speaking of what she had experienced these past days.

"The day before yesterday, my family got some crabs. Guess what? That mistress of mine sent at least half of them to my room last night!"

"Your mistress was rather kind this time. Looks like she must have realized your strength from the last time and wanted to curry favor with you."

"What do you mean kind!" Shen Guanzhi said brightly. "There’s a pear tree right in front of my room, and just a few days ago it was the season for fruiting. If I had really eaten those crabs together with pears, I’d probably still be lying in bed with a bellyache right now!"

"Something like that actually happened?" Jiang Zhuo was slightly surprised. "You’re not her birth daughter, but if you made a good impression at this banquet, that would be good for the Shen family too. Why would she only think of harming you?"

"Because I’m not her birth daughter, she’s all the more wary of me. She and that dear daughter of hers have bullied me all my life. How could she possibly allow me to climb over their heads for real?"

"Then... what about your father? Does your father know?" Jiang Zhuo asked hesitantly.

"Hmph." Shen Guanzhi gave a cold laugh, her tone flat. "What does he care about the inner quarters? No matter which daughter comes today, he only hopes we won’t make a public fool of him."

Jiang Zhuo silently took Shen Guanzhi’s hand in consolation.