How did he figure that out?
The sky was filled with yellow dust and blood, the war drums thundered incessantly, and large swaths of red soaked the entire land.
The gates of Chaisang were tightly closed, and due to an incident several months ago, the people coming and going were being checked with unusually strict measures.
"Halt!" The soldier held his long sword horizontally, looking at the woman in front of him whose face was covered by a coarse cloth. The skin exposed under the hood was somewhat dark, the corners of her eyes were slightly drooping, and her body was so frail that it seemed as if a gust of wind could knock her over. She was a stranger, and under these circumstances, the woman had entered Chaisang alone. He couldn't help but wonder, "Where did she come from?"
"In the clouds." The woman's voice was low, yet gentle.
"Yunzhong? What are people from Yunzhong doing here?" The soldier secretly gave a wink to the person next to him, and immediately several more people surrounded him.
"I've come to find my wife." The woman bowed. "My wife's husband's surname is Song."
"Your wife?" There aren't many women in Chai Sang who can be called "wife," and there's only one Mrs. Song. The group quickly sized up the woman in front of them. "You can't say for sure."
The woman's eyes curved slightly. Half of her face was covered by coarse cloth, but it was clear that she was in a good mood. She rummaged through the bundle in her bosom for a while before taking out a letter wrapped in kraft paper. "Please help me deliver this to the Song residence, sir. The lady will understand once she reads it."
"Go away, everyone knows that Madam is seriously ill. Aren't you just making things difficult for us?" She then quickly scanned the woman from head to toe. "You don't even know that Madam Song is ill, yet you dare to say you're looking for someone. Could you be a spy?"
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. The woman was slightly taken aback, her eyes darting around as she said, "I really don't know. You can give this letter to Sister Bifan, just say that Granny Zhang from Yunzhong sent it."
Bi Fan should be back by now, she thought with a little unease.
Upon hearing her mention Bi Fan, the group exchanged glances and then took her letter and ran into the city, while the rest kept a close watch on her.
"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back," Jiang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the heavily guarded city gate.
Bi Fan had followed Jiang Yuan for over a decade, and her expression changed the moment she saw the letter. "Who told you to bring this?"
"She says she's Granny Zhang from Cloud City." The soldier who delivered the message glanced at it and knew they were probably acquaintances.
"Wait a moment, I'll go ask Madam." Bi Fan's heart was in turmoil, but she still had some sense.
Inside the room, Zhu Chuan clutched the letter, her fingertips trembling violently. She held Li Qingping's hand and cried uncontrollably, her voice strained as she cried, "It's Miss, it's my Miss!"
Jiang Yuan taught her calligraphy. Jiang Yuan was skilled at writing hairpin flowers, but she happened to teach Zhu Chuan Zhong Yao's small regular script. No one in the world would care about a maid's handwriting, except for Jiang Yuan. She imitated Zhu Chuan's handwriting perfectly in this letter, and her strokes were slender, elegant and graceful.
Li Qingping was also overjoyed. If Zhu Chuan hadn't been holding her back to prevent her from attracting attention, she probably would have rushed out with Bi Fan long ago.
With Bi Fan's help, the arrival went exceptionally smoothly. As soon as Jiang Yuan entered the courtyard, he was quickly pulled into the side room. Bi Fan shrewdly glanced at the door a few times, then quickly closed the door and bolted it shut.
With the hood removed, Jiang Yuan's face, painted black, was revealed. He grinned, and a row of pearly white teeth immediately shone in the sunlight.
"Miss..." Zhu Chuan didn't care about the difference between master and servant at this moment. He almost ran and fell in front of her, his fingers tightly gripping her arm and tears falling on her clothes.
"Keep your voice down!" Seeing that Zhu Chuan was about to cry, Bi Fan quickly covered her mouth. "Walls have ears!"
"What do you mean by 'walls have ears'?" Jiang Yuan was pushed into the house as soon as she returned, and now, seeing the reactions of the three of them, she asked in surprise.
"that is…"
Tap, tap, tap—
Before Li Qingping could speak, there was a knock on the door, followed by a crisp female voice, "Madam, are you feeling better? Our young lady has come to see you."
Meeting Jiang Yuan's suspicious gaze, Bi Fan cleared her throat and said, "Thank you, Miss, but our lady is not feeling well right now, so please go back first."
A moment later, the woman's gentle voice came, with a touch of girlish softness, "Then sister-in-law, please rest well. I'll take my leave now."
Sister-in-law?
After the footsteps outside the door gradually faded away, the group exchanged glances before Zhu Chuan reluctantly spoke up, "It's Miss Huai, a cousin from my ancestral home in Huaizhou."
"Tang Rong'an?" Jiang Yuan was slightly confused.
"You acknowledged it, Madam?" Zhu Chuan regained his senses and called out to Madam again.
Of course she recognized her; she was the birth mother of Song Yanji's eldest son and daughter. How could she forget? However, Jiang Yuan did a quick calculation and realized that four years had passed since Tang Rong'an came to his side in his previous life.
Tang Rong'an was Song Yanji's cousin, and they could be considered true childhood sweethearts. Back then, Jiang Yuan wanted nothing more than to skin her alive and tear her apart. In his previous life, the news of Tang Rong'an giving birth to a child reached Lin'an City almost without warning. The fact that she had raised a son born out of wedlock before giving birth to a legitimate son made Jiang Yuan the laughingstock of the entire city.
Jiang Yuan had always been proud, and the other party was the man she cherished most, so how could she swallow this insult? Before a year had passed, she begged Jiang Zhongsi to write to Li Sheng, asking him to let his two children stay in Lin'an in her place. Li Sheng was naturally very happy to do so, and with a single imperial decree, the two little dumplings were taken back to Lin'an City. Tang Rong'an also came with them.
The Tang Rong'an she remembered was unusually quiet, whether facing the slap she hated to the core or the vicious curse that followed. Even after entering the palace, she often stayed alone in her chambers, the doors of the main hall always tightly closed.
Later, Jiang Yuan fought tooth and nail with the women in the palace, her heart broken time and time again. The day she jumped from Guanyun Pavilion was the first time she truly looked at Tang Rong'an. That day was the third prince's 100-day celebration. She didn't know how, but as she walked, she ended up in Tang Rong'an's Qingxin Palace. She knelt on the cold ground, so frail that she seemed like she would collapse at the slightest breeze. All these years later, she still had that quiet and serene demeanor, as if everything in the palace had nothing to do with her.
"I truly envy you." Yes, Jiang Yuan was envious, so envious she was almost going crazy. She didn't have to do anything, didn't have to fight for anything; Song Yanji would take care of everything perfectly for her. Even that woman wouldn't dare to harm her in the slightest.
“What is there to envy?” Dressed in magnificent robes, she lay prostrate on the ground, looking up at Jiang Yuan. Her eyes were devoid of joy or sorrow, yet they gazed deep into Jiang Yuan’s very being. “The ability to love and hate proves that Your Majesty is still alive. As for me, I am already dead.”
Madam… Instantly, the servants around her knelt on the ground, their bodies trembling like withered leaves in the cold wind.
Jiang Yuan stood high above, coldly watching the men and women kneeling at her feet. She couldn't remember how much she had said to her. The moment she stepped into Guanyun Pavilion, Jiang Yuan suddenly felt that her life was ridiculous. In the end, the one who comforted her was the one she had hated the most at the beginning.
Her thoughts were pulled back to reality. Tang Rong'an's words from that day still echoed in her ears. Jiang Yuan hadn't realized that she had lost the will to live at the time, but now, thinking back on it, she became more and more confused. What did she mean by "she is dead"?
"Have you ever shown your face in front of her?" This question was naturally directed at Zhu Chuan.
"No." Zhu Chuan shook his head. "Miss Biao only arrived in Chaisang a few days ago. I've been hiding from her by pretending to be sick."
The fewer people who know that this lady is not that lady, the better.
"I want to see her." Jiang Yuan pondered for a moment.
Those involved are often blinded by their own perspective; sometimes, once people step outside their immediate circle, they discover that everything is shrouded in mystery.
The tea steamed with wisps of white vapor. Tang Rong'an sat obediently at the wooden table made of ash wood, carefully taking a sip of tea before drinking a second sip, until the little maid beside her secretly pulled her down and she put the teacup down.
Jiang Yuan looked at the person in front of her strangely. Unlike the sickly Xi Shi in her memory, who had a sorrowful look on her cheeks, the person in front of her now had a well-proportioned figure, cheeks like fresh lychees, and a nose like goose fat. A pair of big, watery eyes sat on her slightly round face. She wore a red silk jacket and a blue silk vest with embroidered teeth, which were not new. Underneath her light gray horse-face skirt, she wore a pair of light red embroidered shoes. She looked cute and sensible.
Jiang Yuan hesitated for a moment before speaking, "You must be Rong An."
Nodding, Tang Rong nervously twisted the handkerchief in her hand and cautiously glanced at Jiang Yuan.
"Who is this girl?"
"Sui'er." When Jiang Yuan asked about her little maid, Tang Rong'an quickly replied, "She has been with me since she was a child. She is efficient and hardworking, and has a very good personality."
Sui'er? Jiang Yuan looked at the unfamiliar maid behind her. Both mistress and servant were a little nervous, afraid of incurring her displeasure. But Jiang Yuan was certain that she had never seen this Sui'er in her previous life.
Chapter 40 Reincarnation Begins
“My cousin is now living in the Song residence, so she’s family with me. There’s no need to be so formal.” Jiang Yuan said, pointing to Zhu Chuan. “This is Zhu Chuan, who just came from Yunzhong today. If you need anything, just let her know. There’s no need to be shy.”
"Thank you, cousin-in-law." Tang Rong'an nodded, then picked up her teacup and took a sip of tea.
"Rong'an likes tea?" Jiang Yuan had lived two lives and was much older than Tang Rong'an. Seeing her behaving so obediently with her round face, he couldn't help but ask a few more questions.
"Hmm." Tang Rong'an smiled with her eyes narrowed, a little embarrassed, twisting her handkerchief with her fingers as she said, "Sister-in-law's tea is very delicious, I usually drink a few cups of it myself."
"Is it good?" Jiang Yuan picked up the cup and took a small sip. It tasted bitter, clearly from last year's tea. He put it down and didn't touch it again. "I'm glad Rong'an likes it."
That day, Tang Rong'an stayed in Jiang Yuan's room for half an afternoon. At first, she was a little uneasy, but later, Qingping and the others deliberately coaxed her to play, and she gradually relaxed.
It wasn't until Sui'er noticed that Jiang Yuan looked tired that she signaled to her to take her leave. Tang Rong'an, being a sensible person, said some auspicious words before leading Sui'er away from the courtyard.
As soon as the door closed, Li Qingping rushed to Jiang Yuan's side, staring at her with his round, almond-shaped eyes, and asked, "Sister Jiang, were you deliberately trying to get her closer to us just now?"
She certainly doesn't act like an outsider at all. Jiang Yuan found it somewhat amusing, and only after Bi Fan had collected the teacups did she ask, "What do you all think of Miss Tang?"
"Hmm... When I first heard 'Miss Biao,' I thought it was going to be a vixen." Li Qingping spoke frankly, hugging Jiang Yuan's arm and snuggling up to her, taking a bite of a pastry on the table. "But when she arrived, she looked less and less like a vixen, all soft and squishy like a rabbit."
*Pfft*
Jiang Yuan laughed out loud at her analogy, "How can you evaluate someone like that?"
"It's true." Seeing that she didn't believe him, Li Qingping quickly stuffed the pastry into her mouth, patted the crumbs off her hands, and added, "The other day when you weren't here, she kept coming to pay her respects and ask how I was doing. I got annoyed and couldn't help but scold her a couple of times, telling her not to come here so early in the morning."
"So she came in the afternoon?" Jiang Yuan was taken aback. No wonder, she was wondering why someone would come to visit someone in the middle of the afternoon. "You should teach her something better."
"How was I supposed to know she took it seriously? I thought my cousin would be similar to Zhongli, given his personality." In the end, instead of feeling wronged, she looked for problems within herself and secretly apologized to her during dinner that night. The next day, she moved what she had done in the morning to the afternoon.
“Madam, please don’t listen to the county princess.” Zhu Chuan has been spending time with Li Qingping these days and is not as reserved as before. He dares to make some jokes now. “However, Miss Biao is indeed a bit too soft-hearted. She doesn’t seem like someone raised in a wealthy family.”
That's true. Jiang Yuan glanced at the teapot on the table but didn't say anything.
In the days that followed, Jiang Yuan's "condition" gradually improved. She intentionally contacted Tang Rong'an, which led the little girl to run to her room every few days and stay for half a day. She could even watch with great interest as Jiang Yuan played chess with Qingping, a terrible chess player.
News of Jiang Yuan's recovery was sent to the front lines shortly after her return. Because Song Yansi and Meng Xizhi were locked in a stalemate over the Battle of Pingchuan, the matter of returning to Chaisang was postponed.
However, Jiang Yuan's safe return did indeed put a weight off Song Yanji's mind, making him more decisive in his military deployments. He seized Meng Xizhi's weakness, countering him step by step, forcing him to resort to unorthodox tactics. Although he won a few times, he also suffered heavy losses and had to leave Pingchuan and retreat to Zhuang County.
That day, Jiang Yuan enthusiastically drew several flower patterns, designs that He Niangzi had drawn in her previous life, which she had never done before and found quite novel. Qingping, who disliked needlework, examined them from left to right but couldn't see anything good about them, while Tang Rong'an exclaimed in amazement.
"Rong'an likes needlework?" Jiang Yuan saw that she was interested, so he handed it to her so she could take a closer look.
“I like it.” Rong An carefully took the pattern, her eyes sparkling. She was about the same age as Jiang Yuan, but she still had the heart of a little girl. “Sister-in-law is so amazing. I have never seen such interesting patterns before.”
"I can only draw patterns, but when it comes to actually doing needlework, I'm not good at it."
"Sister-in-law, you can tell Rong'an what you like." She said with a hint of pride amidst her shyness, and with a careful attempt to please. "I'm very good at needlework, so I can help you with embroidery."
"Do you often do these things?" I asked casually.
“My aunt and a few cousins like it, so I often make some to give to them.” Rong’an thought for a moment, then felt a little embarrassed. “But my aunt always says that my double-sided embroidery is not very good, and I need to work harder.”
Jiang Yuan looked at the somewhat bewildered Tang Rong'an, and out of the corner of her eye, she subtly glanced at the little maid behind her. When Jiang Yuan mentioned Song's mother, the maid's expression stiffened, and she was clearly displeased.
Jiang Yuan didn't know much about the Song family. Due to their different social statuses, and the fact that Song's mother was a second wife and not Song Yanji's biological mother, they rarely had any contact.
However, she had never seen her aunt, who had risen to power later in life, raise her former wife's niece. "How does Madam Song treat my cousin?"
After thinking about the Song family in Huaizhou, Tang Rongan said, "It's quite good, but..." She then thought of what Song Yanji had told her, and frowned uncertainly, her face showing some hesitation.
Rong An wasn't a cunning person; her expressions were always written on her face. Jiang Yuan felt that she must have been blinded by greed in her past life to think that Rong An was so unassuming. "Cousin, please speak freely."
“But my cousin said that none of the Song family members are good people.” Tang Rong’an bit her lower lip and hummed for a while before blushing and repeating Song Yan’s words verbatim.
Rong'an lost her father at a young age, and her mother was in poor health, so they took her to Huaizhou to seek refuge. The Song family, taking pity on the mother and daughter, raised them in their household. Her mother never allowed her to play with the Song family's children, saying that she was different from them; she had the surname Tang, while they had the surname Song. However, her cousin also had the surname Song, and her mother liked him very much. She often held her cousin's hand and said, "Rong'an is still young. If I'm not here one day, you must find her a good family to marry into."
Every time her cousin left, her mother would kick her and Sui'er out of the house and hide inside, crying with red eyes. No matter how much she asked, her mother wouldn't say anything, and to this day, she still doesn't know what her mother was crying about. Later, her cousin left, and a few years later, her mother also passed away, leaving only Madam Song to keep her company. Rong'an thought Madam Song was a very good person, and the people in the Song family treated her very, very well, but her cousin found them extremely annoying.
Once the three-year mourning period was over, her cousin sent someone to pick her up from the Song family. Rather than saying he picked her up, it was more like he broke ties with the Song family and snatched her away.
He sent a message to her through someone: "If you don't leave, no matter how much you suffer in the future, I will not come to pick you up."
This was the first time Song Yansi had spoken so harshly to her, but Rong'an understood that he always meant what he said. Before her death, her mother had held her hand and specifically instructed her that her cousin was her only family, and she had to listen to him.
Along the way, the grass was flying and the trees were leaning, and the scenery was desolate. The further north she went, the more uneasy she became. She had been raised in the Song family since she was a child and had never even left the city gate of Huaizhou. Let alone this remote border, she was not afraid.
During the days Jiang Yuan claimed to be ill, she came to see him every day but was rejected every day, leaving her filled with anxiety. What if, what if her cousin-in-law didn't like her? What if, what if she was sent back to Huaizhou again?
That afternoon, she was once again turned away by Jiang Yuan. Sui'er kept comforting her, saying that Madam Song was really sick and did not mean to make things difficult for her.