Chapter 103 Between Light and Shadow

Amidst the ticking of the monitor, Lu Yao's fingertips glowed with a moonlit light as she gently touched Jiang Jinshu's bandaged eyelids.

At the cost of nine lifetimes of reincarnation, each lifetime is marked by the pain of gouging out one's eyes and going blind, and a crack is carved into the stele.

The stele with gouged eyes.

Lu Yao seemed to see Jiang Jinshu, the noble lady from a thousand years ago, kneeling before the monument with gouged eyes, vowing to wait for her return.

"Don't be afraid, it's me."

Lu Yao whispered.

In an instant, the ripples on the monitor transformed into ink marks on rice paper, and the smell of disinfectant was replaced by sandalwood.

A thousand years ago, in the Jiang Mansion of the capital city.

Morning light streamed through the carved window lattice, casting dappled shadows on the desk.

Jiang Jinshu put down his wolf-hair brush and gently blew dry the ink on his new work, "Preface to the Banquet at Peach and Plum Garden on a Spring Night".

"Miss, you write so well!" The maid Xiahe brought in tea and couldn't help but exclaim, "It's much better than those poems circulating outside."

Jiang Jinshu smiled and shook his head: "Don't talk nonsense. Brother's poetry talent is truly excellent. I heard that even the officials of the Hanlin Academy praised his new work 'Autumn Thoughts'."

Just then, the beaded curtain rustled.

Jiang Jincheng strode in, still carrying the chill from outside: "What are you writing, little sister?"

"It's just something I wrote casually." Jiang Jinshu subconsciously covered the poem with her sleeve. "Isn't Brother going to a banquet at the Li residence today?"

Jiang Jincheng, with his sharp eyes, snatched the manuscript: "Let me see. Wonderful! The line 'Life is but a dream' is especially beautiful!"

He quickly folded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket, saying, "I'll go ask Lord Li for his opinion and critique."

"Brother!" Jiang Jinshu hurriedly stood up to grab it, "I haven't finished revising this yet."

"Oh, it's alright. Too much embellishment would only make it less beautiful." Jiang Jincheng nimbly dodged the attack and pulled a brocade box from his sleeve. "Here, I brought you some rouge, the latest arrival from Jiangnan."

After Jiang Jincheng walked away, Xia He stomped her feet angrily: "Miss, why did you let the young master take the poem away again!"

"Xia He!" Jiang Jinshu exclaimed, bewildered. "My brother treats me so well, what's wrong with taking a few lines of my scribbled poetry? Besides, he went to ask for my advice on my behalf."

A few days later, Jiang Jinshu ran into Madam Li, who was visiting his residence, in the garden.

She copied "Preface to the Banquet at Peach and Plum Garden on a Spring Night" again. After reading it, Madam Li praised, "Young Master Jiang is indeed a talented man with outstanding literary skills. This poem has now spread throughout the capital, and there are even singing girls who have composed music to sing it."

Jiang Jinshu's fan fell to the ground with a thud.

She finally understood why Xia He hesitated to speak, and she also finally understood why new works always appeared after her brother took away the manuscripts.

When Jiang Jincheng first took away her poetry manuscript, she naively thought that her brother genuinely appreciated her talent.

That evening, Jiang Jinshu locked the newly written poem in a box and kept the key close to his body.

When Jiang Jincheng came to borrow it again, she shook her head firmly for the first time: "Brother, I want to keep this one for myself."

The atmosphere at home became tense after Jiang Jinshu refused to give her brother the poetry manuscript that day.

Her parents quickly arranged a marriage for her.

Her mother treated her with increasing gentleness, personally bringing her nourishing soup every day. Her father would also often come to sit in her courtyard, asking her what books she had been reading lately and if she had any new works.

Jiang Jincheng was even more attentive, sending her rouge, face powder, and jewelry every few days, saying it was to enhance her makeup.

"Jinshu, your eyesight isn't good, so try not to write too much, it'll strain your mind." Her mother stroked her hair and gently advised, "Your brother said that when you get married, he will definitely prepare a generous dowry for you."

Jiang Jinshu nodded obediently, but felt a vague unease in her heart.

Her vision became increasingly blurry.

The doctor said that people who love reading and writing are prone to this problem; prolonged staring damages the blood, and prolonged sitting damages the qi.

At first, the handwriting was still legible, but later even the outlines of people became blurry shadows.

Many medications were prescribed, but the condition did not improve.

“Miss, please don’t stay cooped up in the room all the time.” Xia He helped her to the corridor to bask in the sun. “I heard that a fortune teller has come to the capital. His divination is extremely accurate. Even the Minister’s daughter has consulted him.”

Jiang Jinshu ran her fingertips along the edge of the fan and whispered, "Really?"

“It’s absolutely true!” Xia He whispered in her ear, “The other day, the daughter of Minister Li went to have her marriage fortune told. The fortune teller immediately saw that her fiancé was having an affair, which angered the Li family so much that they broke off the engagement on the spot.”

Jiang Jinshu pursed her lips.

Lately, she has felt that there is something strange about her marriage—the other party is the son of a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, from a noble family, so why would he be willing to marry a woman who is almost half-blind?

“Xia He,” she hesitated for a moment, “I want to have my fortune told.”

Just as Xia He was about to agree, Granny Liu came out from under the eaves with a smile and said, "Miss, Madam wants you to come over and try on your wedding dress."

Jiang Jinshu was taken aback, then nodded obediently: "Okay."

She was helped into the main room, where her mother was talking to the embroiderer. Upon seeing her come in, her mother immediately pulled her to sit down, saying, "Jinshu, come and try this on. The gold thread on this wedding dress was embroidered by the best embroiderer in Jiangnan."

Jiang Jinshu touched the intricate patterns on her wedding dress, but her mind was on the Taoist master.

“Mother,” she asked softly, “can I go out for a bit? I heard a very accurate fortune teller has come to the city…”

Before she could finish speaking, her mother suddenly tightened her grip: "Nonsense! Your eyesight isn't good, what are you going out for? What if you bump into something? How will you explain it to your future husband's family?"

The father's face also darkened: "Jinshu, the most important thing for you now is to focus on getting married and stop thinking about those other things."

Jiang Jinshu lowered his head and stopped speaking.

The spring rain, as fine as needles, misted the bluestone alley, transforming it into a watercolor painting.

Jiang Jinshu held onto the wrist of her maid Xia He, her embroidered shoes splashing tiny droplets of water as she stepped through the puddles.

Today she specially changed into the clothes of a lowly maid, wearing only an indigo vest over a plain white undergarment, with a wooden hairpin in her hair. This was the simplest outfit she could find.

Without telling her family, Jiang Jinshu disguised herself as a maid and secretly slipped out.

"Miss, it's that blue banner up ahead," Xia He whispered. "I heard that the Taoist priest is a woman, and her predictions are incredibly accurate."

At the fortune-telling stall at the end of the alley, two or three old women were cracking melon seeds and chatting animatedly.

Jiang Jinshu stood with her head down under the elm tree, listening to them talk about how the Taoist priest had calculated who set fire to the rice shop on West Street the day before yesterday, and how he had revealed the hiding place of Master Liu's illegitimate son yesterday.

Raindrops from the edge of the silk umbrella dripped onto the back of her hand, chilling her to the bone.

"What would you like to ask, young lady?"

The voice was clear and crisp.

Jiang Jinshu looked up and vaguely saw a pale blue figure.

The celestial master was about seventeen or eighteen years old, a pretty young girl. On the table was not an ordinary divination stick, but a wooden sword wrapped in coarse cloth.

"I..." Jiang Jinshu had just opened his mouth when a bitter taste suddenly rose in his throat.

She recalled the bowl of medicine her mother had fed her that morning, a newly changed calming formula, but it tasted even more fishy and bitter than usual.

The Celestial Master suddenly leaned over.

Jiang Jinshu smelled a peculiar fragrance, like the cool scent of pine branches after a snowfall.

The other person's fingers touched her wrist, and the thin calluses on their fingertips made her skin itch slightly.

"Has the young lady been experiencing photophobia lately?" The Taoist priest's voice suddenly turned somber. "At dusk, have you seen any blood mist floating before your eyes?"

The copper coin spun around three times on the fortune-telling stall, eventually stacking into a pillar.

"The poison of the black beak can cause eye irritation if it gets into the eyes. The medicine your mother personally serves you every day contains black beak, a specialty of the Nanzhao mines."