Chapter 5 What a coincidence!
Xiao Linshi was an illegitimate daughter of the Lin family. She had always been at odds with Ji Chan's mother, but they had maintained contact over the years.
Ji Chan had overheard her mothers chatting before. It was said that when Xiao Lin was young, she was in love with her then-brother-in-law, the Marquis of Jinyang, which caused quite a stir. However, she was soon married to Zhao Ming, a second-ranked scholar in the imperial examination that year.
The mothers all felt that the reason she still shamelessly associated with the Marquis's mansion was because she hadn't given up on the Marquis.
After getting married, Ms. Kobayashi lived a good life, with both a son and a daughter, and her husband doted on her.
Her husband stayed in the capital through the Lin family's connections and has now risen to the position of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, a fourth-rank official.
Ji Chan only saw this aunt once a year during festivals, and they barely exchanged a few words. Their relationship was very distant. She never thought that after being kicked out of the Marquis's mansion, this aunt would still be willing to associate with her.
After hearing what Aunt Sun said, Achan replied, "Thank you for your concern, Aunt. Everything is fine now."
"It's good that the girl is alright." Madam Sun patted her chest, as if she had breathed a sigh of relief. She had been captured by the Mingjing Division; it was already a miracle that she came back alive.
At the same time, I was a little surprised. I felt that the girl's tone of voice was slightly different from before, and it sounded more pleasant to listen to.
Ah Chan smiled and asked softly, "Mother Sun must be tired after waiting for so long. Why don't you go inside and rest?"
She took out the key from her hidden pocket to open the door, but Granny Sun refused repeatedly: "This old servant will not rest. I just want to pass on a message from Madam. Madam says she hasn't seen you for a long time and would like to invite you over for a chat. I wonder if you are free tomorrow?"
"Since it was my aunt who invited me, I certainly have time."
"That's good then. Miss, please go back and rest well. This old servant will come to pick you up again tomorrow."
Having relayed the master's instructions, Mama Sun did not linger any longer and returned to the carriage. Soon, the coachman drove the horse away.
Ah Chan stood by the door and watched the carriage drive away before turning around and opening the door. As expected, she was covered in dust and it was so cold that she could hardly stand still.
Originally, this was a general store with two floors. After it was taken back, the shelves were also moved away, leaving the first floor empty, without even a stool.
She closed the door, got up, and went upstairs. It was just as cold upstairs, but there were a few more things available than downstairs.
A simple wooden bed, with the quilt neatly folded on it. A wooden cabinet stood against the wall, containing underwear and a new set of winter clothes. In the corner of the cabinet was a wooden box containing some loose silver coins, about ten taels.
The brazier was placed under the bed, filled with charcoal ash and charcoal that hadn't been completely burned.
With the brazier, I won't be so cold that I can't sleep tonight.
Ah Chan turned around and went downstairs to the backyard. Although the shop was in a bad location, it had one advantage: there was a well in the backyard, as well as a storage room, a kitchen, and an outhouse.
If it weren't for this well, the shop's price would be much higher than the others, and it wouldn't have remained unsold for so long. Fortunately, she had a place to stay.
The storeroom contained the charcoal and four bundles of firewood that had been bought earlier, and the kitchen had rice and flour, so there was no need to go out to buy any more.
Feeling unwell, Achan really didn't want to move, but after being locked up in jail for seven days, she needed to clean herself up. So she boiled a pot of water in the kitchen, closed the door, and quickly took a shower using the heat from the stove.
While wiping her body with hot water from the wooden tub, Achan carefully avoided the whip marks on her body, because the doctor in the prison had given her ointment to apply to stop the bleeding, and the whip marks had scabbed over and were healing in the past few days.
When the cloth was wiping her waist, Achan was surprised to find that a thin black line had appeared around her waist after being wiped with hot water.
The lines looked like they were naturally there, but Ji Chan clearly didn't have any such marks on her body when she took a bath.
Then she discovered that the same thin black lines had appeared on her knees and elbows, marks that had obviously appeared on her body in the last few days.
Perhaps… she touched her neck; if there were marks on all four limbs, there should be one here too.
Was it because of these marks that her body was so weak? Achan couldn't be sure.
But they were clearly related to the previous possession, but unfortunately she had no clue and didn't know how to solve it, so she could only take it one step at a time for now.
Fortunately, the marks faded after she finished wiping her body.
Charcoal was lit in the house that night, which finally warmed it up a bit, and Achan managed to get a decent night's sleep. However, she was woken up by the cold at the end of the Yin hour (3-5 AM). The charcoal in the brazier had burned out, and her stomach was growling with hunger.
She lay motionless in bed wrapped in a blanket, radiating a sense of utter despair. Being human was truly miserable; having to eat three meals a day and being vulnerable to freezing to death only intensified her despair.
Consciousness and instinct were locked in a struggle, but in the end, her strong will overcame her hunger instinct. It wasn't until early morning, when Granny Sun came to pick her up, that she ate a few pieces of chestnut cake in the carriage to quench her hunger.
As Madam Sun watched Ah Chan gracefully finish the entire plate of chestnut cake, she sighed inwardly. What a pity! Such a fine legitimate daughter of a marquis's family, now reduced to such a state. It seems she hasn't even eaten breakfast.
After Ah Chan finished eating and drank a cup of hot tea, the carriage had already stopped in front of the Zhao residence.
Mother Sun led her into the inner courtyard, through a long corridor, and they arrived at the outside of the main house.
Perhaps it was bad timing, but as soon as Achan entered the courtyard, she heard a woman's shrill voice from inside the house: "So what if I'm a second wife? I'm going to marry him!"
Judging from the voice, it should be her cousin Zhao Wenyue, whom she had only met a few times in her childhood.
Zhao Wenyue was clearly arguing with her mother about her marriage. It was unclear who she was going to marry. The daughter of the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief was actually willing to become someone's second wife.
Sun's mother was clearly not expected to see such a scene, and her expression was a little awkward for a moment. However, she finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Achan acted as if she hadn't heard anything.
She quickened her pace, pushed open the door to the main room, lifted the curtain, and announced loudly, "Madam, this old servant has brought Miss Chan here."
Sun's mother's voice interrupted the mother and daughter who were arguing. Xiao Lin took a few deep breaths before speaking, "Come in."
As Achan entered the main room, a wave of heat hit her face, and what came into her view was her aunt, Madam Xiaolin, leaning against the daybed. Madam Xiaolin was not much different from the one she remembered, except that her belly was swollen high, indicating that she was pregnant.
Xiao Lin's daughter, Zhao Wenyue, had just argued with her mother and was standing to the side. When she saw A Chan walk in, her gaze towards her was filled with hostility.
Achan couldn't help but wonder, since she seemed to have no connection with this cousin, where did the other party's hostility come from?
"Achan greets Aunt." Achan stepped forward and bowed to Madam Lin.
Her self-identification did not arouse suspicion from Madam Lin, since the two words were pronounced the same and Madam Lin sometimes called her daughter Achan before she passed away.
"Come and sit down." After calling out to her niece, Madam Lin impatiently dismissed her daughter, "Alright, stop making me angry here, go back."
Zhao Wenyue seemed to feel that she hadn't had enough of arguing with her mother earlier, and still wouldn't let it go. She even pointed at Achan and questioned, "Is it because of her that Mother doesn't want me to marry Xue Lang?"
Xue Lang? This surname made A Chan's eyes flicker. Which Xue?
Madam Lin's face immediately turned cold. She slammed her hand on the low table and said resentfully, "You could have been the principal wife, but you insisted on becoming someone else's second wife. You've only met Xue Mingtang a few times, and you've already lost your mind."
Xue Mingtang—Achan certainly knew this name; he was Xue's younger brother. On the night of the Lantern Festival, the phrase "Lord Xue" was practically etched into Ji Chan's mind.
What a coincidence!
As a mother, Ms. Kobayashi believed she was always thinking of her daughter's best interests, but Zhao Wenyue didn't see it that way. In her eyes, her mother was the villain who broke up the couple.
Moreover, she had long known that her mother did not want her to marry the promising Xue Lang because Xue Lang's sister had married her uncle and become his second wife. Her mother actually blocked her marriage over such a trivial matter!
Zhao Wenyue didn't want to make a scene and let Achan see the spectacle, but she also didn't want to let her off easily, so she said something particularly venomous: "Mother, you don't need to speak so righteously. I know that you are wholeheartedly devoted to the Lin family, but everyone in the capital knows that my aunt is having an affair. Everyone is very curious about who my cousin's biological father is."
The fault doesn't lie with Uncle, nor with Xue Lang's sister. Mother, there's no need to impose your Lin family's grudges on your daughter."
Hearing her daughter's words, even Madam Lin was so angry that she felt dizzy. Before she could even speak, she felt waves of pain in her stomach, which startled the maids around her. Mama Sun also ran out to find a doctor.
Zhao Wenyue seemed to finally realize that she had caused trouble, and took advantage of the chaos in the main room to sneak away.
The doctor arrived quickly, prescribed medication to help with the pregnancy, and told her to relax and not get angry.
After seeing the doctor off, Madam Sun couldn't help but advise, "Madam, you are pregnant with both children now, and it wasn't easy for you to conceive the young master. Please control your temper and stop arguing with the second young lady."
Madam Lin snorted coldly: "Did I quarrel with her? She's clearly trying to drive me crazy. And Master, I don't know what got into him, but he actually thinks that Xue Mingtang is not bad. My daughter can't just marry a lowly sixth-rank official. Even if she can't marry into a noble family, she can't just marry like this."
Mrs. Sun sighed. "Madam has had this temper for so many years, and she won't listen to any advice."
Although Ms. Lin was sharp-tongued, her temper dissipated quickly. Once her stomachache subsided, she remembered Achan, who had been left out in the cold.
"I heard you encountered a demonic calamity on the Lantern Festival. Are you alright now?"
Ashan sat in the chair and replied, "It's all over now. The officials of the Mingjing Division investigated and found that I had nothing to do with it, so they released me."
"That's good. Your mother is gone, and now I'm your only relative in the capital. Don't drag me down with you."
Ah Chan smiled. What else could she say? That her aunt was just outspoken?
"You're eighteen now, it's all your mother's fault for insisting on keeping you alive. She didn't even arrange a marriage for you. Now look what's happened, it's not easy to find a good family for you."
Achan lowered her eyes and said softly, "Achan must observe three years of mourning for her mother and has no intention of getting married."
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