Chapter 1 Chapter 1 “Please, please save her…
"Please, please save her!"
A low, piercing cry startled Jiang Wan awake. Bewildered, she looked up, only to find a drafty house before her. The cold December wind, carrying fine sand with it, howled in, and the dilapidated wooden house creaked and swayed in the gusts. The biting chill jolted Jiang Wan awake.
At this moment, she was sitting beside the bed, where lay a woman over fifty years old, with a haggard and sickly face, and a look of pain in her sleep.
"Mother——" Jiang Wan murmured involuntarily.
With this call, memories that did not belong to her came flooding back.
She traveled through time.
The original owner was a son of a powerful and aristocratic family, serving as a personal servant to the eldest daughter of the powerful family. However, once the powerful and aristocratic family was convicted, the men in the family were beheaded, and the women and servants were exiled to the border. The original owner followed his master into exile.
The wind outside the Great Wall was extremely biting. They had been accustomed to a life of luxury in the capital, but now they couldn't even afford a sip of hot porridge. Many people fell ill and abandoned their bundles of straw mats along the way. When they reached the border, only the eldest daughter and the original owner's family were left.
The dying woman on the bed is the original owner's mother.
Jiang Wan sighed, stood up, tucked the quilt for his mother, and pushed the door open to go out.
A thinly dressed young man knelt outside the door, tugging at the doctor's sleeve and begging. Jiang Wan recognized him as the original owner's brother, Jiang An.
The doctor pulled his sleeve out of Jiang An's hand and patted it with a look of disgust: "The money for the medicine from last time hasn't been paid yet. If you can't pay, you might as well slit your own throat and suffer less!"
Jiang An's face was defeated, and the fingers that he had not yet retracted were trembling slightly. It was unclear whether it was because of the cold or because these words brought back sad memories.
Jiang Wan watched this scene and recalled that on the night when the Jiang family was raided and imprisoned, many women committed suicide. One reason was that they were afraid of the bitter cold environment of being exiled to the border, and the other was that the women of officials who had lost their support would be easily trampled upon, so it would be better for them to die with their fathers, brothers or husbands.
The original owner of Jiang Wan's body, that night, watched as a sticky pool of blood mingled with the sour stench of feces and urine surrounded him. The women in his room had either hanged themselves or bit their tongues, and even his wife had died by hitting a pillar. He fainted from fear.
According to the laws of this dynasty, the Jiang family was exiled to the frontier one month after their property was confiscated.
A vast mansion, housing hundreds of servants and servants, was reduced to only a dozen people by the time they set out from the capital for the border. It was September, the autumn winds already rising, and the convicted men were starving, starved of food and clothing, their backs pointed at and pointed at wherever they went. Having lived in the capital's opulence for half their lives, they had no experience of such suffering, and one after another they fell ill. The guards would often only glance at the fallen with disgust, sigh, and then, without a care in the world, sweep them up on a straw mat and toss them on some barren slope.
Three months later, they arrived at Xiaofangpan City, where only Miss Di and Jiang Wan were left. They were tattooed with symbols of their status as convicted slaves and forced to endure hard labor, their every move monitored and denied freedom. Even when their mother fell ill, Jiang An and Jiang Wan could only secretly summon a doctor during their free time.
If no one had treated my mother, I'm afraid she would have ended up being buried wrapped in a straw mat.
Jiang Wan thought to himself that he had traveled through time at this very moment, and while he hadn't experienced the good times, he had also experienced the hard times.
But now that she had taken over the original owner's body, the original owner's family became her own. In the original owner's memories, her mother wrapped her only remaining cotton-padded clothes around her, her cheeks flushed with cold; and whenever the officers raised their whips, her brother would always stand before her, taking the thorny lash for her. Jiang Wan flipped through the original owner's memories, feeling a surge of envy. Before her time travel, she was renowned in the antiques world, commanding the attention of hundreds, yet few truly cared. Now that she had family to support her, she certainly had no reason to watch her family suffer.
Jiang Wan looked at his brother kneeling in the north wind, and his heart ached. He quickly walked over to help his brother up, then turned to the doctor and said, "I've heard that doctors are kindhearted. Could you please give me another day? Don't worry. I'll send the money for the last medicine and this consultation to your house tomorrow. But my mother's illness can't be delayed, so please prepare the prescription."
The doctor waved his hand and said, "I don't treat people for free. You haven't paid your last consultation fee yet. If you can't pay the fee, I won't prescribe this medicine!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Wan took a few steps toward the doctor and lifted his sleeves, revealing a crisscross pattern of red welts. Throughout his exile, the guards had constantly beaten and scolded him, leaving Jiang Wan's arms scarred by fresh wounds, the crisscrossing wounds a bloody mess. The tattered sleeves and pale arm made the scars even more striking. Standing in the snow, head bowed, Jiang Wan felt a sense of precarious loneliness.
Her voice was hoarse, trembling slightly in the snow as she spoke with difficulty, "It's not that I'm intentionally delaying payment. It's just that all the money I had with me has been taken, leaving me with nothing left. Now my family of three is starving. If anything happens to Mother again, I'm afraid my brother and I won't be able to survive... I hope you will have mercy on me, sir."
The doctor seemed unable to bear to look at her, so he turned his face away, sighed heavily, picked up his medicine box and was about to leave.
"Sir!" Jiang An was anxious and quickly grabbed the doctor's sleeve. Just as the doctor was about to break free, he looked down and saw the deep scars on Jiang An's hands, as well as the dry cracks at the base of his palms. He immediately stopped pulling out his sleeve, as if he was afraid of hurting the wound on his hand.
Jiang Wan also argued, "Tomorrow, tomorrow we will definitely collect the consultation fee. We will not let you down."
The doctor didn't turn around, but just stood there in silence for a long time, then sighed and said, "Okay - but let me be frank, if you don't have the consultation fee tomorrow, I can't help you."
"Thank you, sir!" Jiang Wan let out a long sigh and knelt in greeting.
"Little sister, we really have no money." After the doctor left, Jiang An and Jiang Wan went into the house. Looking at their mother who was still sleeping on the sickbed, they began to worry.
After their house was searched, all their belongings were confiscated. Now they do hard labor every day without any wages. Even their meals are provided by the guards. They only have a bowl of cold porridge a day, not even a bit of meat. How can they have extra money to treat their mother?
"Mother's coma is getting longer and longer. We can't delay any longer." Jiang Wan pulled out a box from his lapel and wiped the dusty phoenix hairpin inside. "I'll pawn it after work tomorrow."
"No!" Jiang An said anxiously, "This is what my grandmother left for you as a dowry. When my grandmother passed away, this was the only thing she left behind. How can I pawn it? Otherwise, I'd better go and ask the doctor for help. A doctor has a kind heart, and I'll just get a few scoldings at most."
Jiang Wan shook her head: "The doctor will definitely not treat me if he doesn't get paid. Jewelry is just a personal possession, it's not as important as my mother's health."
Jiang An frowned in embarrassment, thought for a moment, was persuaded by Jiang Wan, and whispered "OK".
"It's time to work!" The officer whipped the ground with his whip, and with a "bang", a cloud of dust was raised.
"What are you two whispering about? Come over and work, do you want to be whipped?" He pointed the whip at Jiang An and Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan hid the hairpin and the box in her sleeve, turned around and ran towards the officer. After a few steps, she turned back and waved to Jiang An: "I will redeem it someday. Brother, trust me."
Jiang An silently watched his sister walking away, and suddenly felt that his sister was different, as if she had grown up overnight. She was no longer the little girl who would only hide behind her mother and him when encountering problems.
He thought of other girls in the capital who were about his sister's age, still acting like spoiled brats in front of their parents and brothers. He couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in his heart. He felt sorry for his sister. It was his incompetence that hadn't been able to protect her. Now his sister had grown so much overnight. The more resilient she had become, the more uncomfortable it was for him.
The second day.
After days of heavy snow, Xiaofangpan City finally welcomed a rare sunny day. Although the wind was still biting cold, the sun still brought a touch of warmth to this harsh winter.
After work in the afternoon, Jiang Wan walked along the bluestone streets, holding the phoenix hairpin in her pocket. Shops lined the streets, and the occasional hawking could be heard. From time to time, a caravan of merchants, dressed in Western clothing, would pass by, hawking their wares in front of the shop owners' doors.
The dynasty Jiang Wan traveled through was called the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the current emperor's reign was called Chengde. Historically, this roughly corresponds to the Western Han Dynasty.
Xiaofangpan was a small, economically backward town on the outskirts of the city, with a population of only a few thousand. Its commercial streets were mostly lined with restaurants and inns selling rice and cloth. The city's inhabitants were mostly poor, with few valuables to pawn, so the only pawnshop was Xu's, located on the corner.
The city gates were heavily guarded. As a criminal slave, Jiang Wan had a tattoo on his forehead, so it was impossible for him to leave the town. He could only go to Xu's pawnshop.
When she arrived at the pawnshop, there was a young man about twenty-four or twenty-five years old sitting in the shop. He was wearing a green cotton coat and fiddling with an abacus out of boredom.
Jiang Wan called out to the shopkeeper and walked forward.
When the young man heard the voice, he thought it was a rich lady coming to pawn her jewelry. He looked up enthusiastically, but saw a criminal slave with a tattoo on his forehead and thin clothes. His face turned cold.
"Go away. If you want to beg, go to the snack shop next door. The owner there is kind-hearted." He waved his hand and said.
Jiang Wan's eyes turned cold, but her expression remained calm. She opened the box, took out the phoenix hairpin, and handed it to the shopkeeper: "I'm here to pawn this jewelry."
Jiang Wan was calm and composed, and in the shopkeeper's eyes, he seemed to have someone to rely on. He looked suspiciously at the street, trying to see if Jiang Wan really had servants following him.
However, the long street was quiet in the afternoon and there was no one outside the pawnshop.
The shopkeeper put aside his doubts and sneered, "Your hairpin is dusty and has a missing corner. I'm afraid it's made of iron leftover from a sword?"
Jiang Wan: You really are a pawnshop owner
Before crossing over, Jiang Wan was a renowned antique dealer in Hangzhou. He was deeply familiar with the production processes of antiques from various dynasties, and could identify the material, age, and value of an item at a glance, making him a renowned figure in the antique business.
Even without the original owner's memories, Jiang Wan could tell that this phoenix hairpin was made of pure gold, and its style was unique to the palace. Although it wasn't particularly valuable, it was more than enough to be pawned for a hundred or two taels of silver.
I had thought that even if the pawnshop owner in Xiaofang Pancheng was not very knowledgeable, he would at least be able to tell that the hairpin was made of pure gold. However, when he saw that Jiang Wan was a convict, he didn't even do a basic appraisal.
Jiang Wan said helplessly, "Please take a closer look, shopkeeper. This phoenix hairpin is made of pure gold and was used by the previous imperial concubine Chunhui at her enthronement ceremony."
"Hahahaha, you are a criminal slave, how could you have the imperial concubine's things? Even if you did, you look so weak and skinny that you should have sold them for food long ago." The shopkeeper looked at him with disdain.
Jiang Wan said coldly, "This item was left to me by my late grandmother as a dowry, so I can't just sell it off. My late grandmother served Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui for decades. The Cangshan jadeite on this phoenix hairpin is pure and clean, without a trace of color. It was exactly what the Imperial Noble Consort loved most when she was alive. I'm sure the shopkeeper has heard of this."
Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui favored clear, pure jadeite. The late Emperor commissioned a special trip to Cangshan Mountain in the southern border to fetch pure jadeite. After expert polishing, these jadeite gems were crafted into round, round pieces, which were then inlaid into the Imperial Noble Consort's phoenix hairpins, step-shaking ornaments, and other jewelry. During that time, the Imperial Noble Consort's continued favor, and jadeite became a popular gemstone throughout the capital. Many women of high rank admired the inlaying of jadeite into their jewelry, though few were as clear and pure as this.
Shopkeeper Xu, though young, had been dealing with jewels and jade for years, and had certainly heard of the Cangshan Jade. He picked up the hairpin and examined it carefully. Seeing that, though dusty, it showed no signs of rust, it was most likely made of pure gold, he expressed a certain satisfaction. But then he turned and saw Jiang Wan's emaciated appearance, and he was stunned for a moment before shaking his head.
He handed the hairpin to Jiang Wan: "No, you can go now."
Jiang Wan was puzzled: "Since you have already experienced it, why don't you accept it?"
The shopkeeper waved his hands impatiently: "If you don't want it, then you don't want it. Why are you asking so many questions?
Seeing the shopkeeper's disdainful expression, Jiang Wan knew he simply saw her as a criminal and refused to accept her. A wave of anger welled up within her, and as she thought of her mother lying in bed, she stepped forward to explain, insisting the shopkeeper accept the hairpin in exchange for the silver she needed to save her mother.
The shopkeeper didn't want to argue any further and shouted, "Come here! Get this criminal out!"
After a while, several waiters came over and stared at Jiang Wan with unfriendly expressions.
"Let's go! Don't interfere with our boss's business here!"
Several people held Jiang Wan's arms, one on each side. Their force was so strong that Jiang Wan couldn't break free at all. They dragged Jiang Wan out while pulling him.
"Wait, shopkeeper!"
Jiang Wan was about to say something else when a voice came from outside the shop.
"Brother Xu!"
The shop curtain was lifted, and a businessman dressed in rich clothes walked in and said with a smile: "Brother Xu, I have imported a lot of fine gold from Dayuan this time. Would you like to take a look?"
As he spoke, his eyes fell on Jiang Wan. He was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Brother Xu, how come such a person appears here?"
The shopkeeper and the businessman were obviously old acquaintances. Hearing the teasing, he laughed and winked, asking someone to kick Jiang Wan out.
Outside the store, several of the merchant's assistants were carrying boxes in from the car.
Jiang Wan was unwilling to leave, and struggled hard to break free. He was pushed out by brute force. When he heard the shopkeeper talking to the merchant, he suddenly stopped.
"Brother Qian, this batch of goods is probably worth five hundred taels of silver, right?"
"Hahaha!" The caravan leader laughed and patted Shopkeeper Xu on the shoulder. "Brother Xu and I get along well, so I'll sell it to you at a discount. How about charging a little less silver?"
The shopkeeper's eyes lit up: "Brother Qian, are you serious?"
When the box was opened, it was filled with all kinds of gold jewelry, shining with golden light.
Jiang Wan glanced at it without hesitation, but his heart skipped a beat. He took the opportunity to take a closer look, his mind in turmoil.
The transportation in Xiaofangpan City is not well developed. Such a batch of gold wares is very valuable. It would probably be even more expensive if the shipping fee is included. Moreover, the styles of the gold wares are the most fashionable at the moment. If Brother Qian only charges the shopkeeper 500 taels, it would be a real deal.
However, Jiang Wan took a closer look and found that the bottom of one of the gold pieces was slightly darker in color, and he didn't know if it was because it was covered in dust during transportation.
A strange feeling came over Jiang Wan.
The servant behind him shouted, "Stop looking! Get out of here!"
The shopkeeper said, "Hurry up and move all these over here!"
"Okay!" A clerk responded and carried the box to the inner room of the shop. When he passed the threshold, he accidentally kicked it and stumbled, causing the gold in the box to clink.
The caravan leader scolded: "Be careful, if it breaks, can you afford to pay for it?"
Jiang Wan had just sensed something was wrong, and when he heard the sound of gold colliding, he felt something was wrong.
Pure gold is softer than ordinary metals, and due to its density, the sound of collision is duller and less loud. However, the sound in the box just now was as clear as a bell, more like the sound of silver or copper colliding.
Jiang Wan thought of the dark yellow color at the bottom of the gold artifact, and an idea came to his mind.
I'm afraid there's something wrong with this batch of goods.
Suddenly, she threw away the clerk's hand and shouted, "Boss, there's something wrong with this batch of goods!"
The shopkeeper was stunned for a few seconds, then angrily said, "You little criminal! Brother Qian and I have known each other for a long time, how could you lie to me?"
"Shopkeeper Xu, you'd better test it." Jiang Wan insisted.
The shopkeeper rolled up his sleeves, bent down and picked up one directly. "I have just seen this gold artifact. It is the real thing. I am used to doing business. I am not inferior to you. Take a look!"
The leader also said, "Brother, why bother getting angry with a little girl? This shipment of goods is huge, and checking each one individually would be a waste of time. Besides, why would I lie to you?"
Jiang Wan broke free from the man holding her. Others couldn't see it, but she had been a giant in the antique world in her previous life, and was used to dealing with such artifacts. She could tell the real from the fake just by looking at the smallest details.
Jiang Wan strode over to the shopkeeper, picked up a jar, and smashed it onto the ground. There was a loud clang. She said, "The bottom of that gold jar is darker than the body, and the sound is loud and crisp. Pure gold hitting the ground shouldn't make that sound, right?"
The body of the can is gold in color, but the bottom is darker in color, and it makes a crisp sound when it falls to the ground.
In all likelihood, brass and tungsten-iridium simulated the interior, and then the exterior was gold plated.
Gold objects doped with these impurities have the same density as gold.
With the knowledge of the people of this dynasty, they would only use quality and hardness to test the authenticity of gold. If they encountered gold of almost the same quality, similar appearance, and hardness that could not be bitten open by teeth, the people would most likely be deceived and would have no way of detecting the abnormality.
This businessman surnamed Qian is really good at counterfeiting. If it were used on someone else, his fraudulent method today would be perfect.
I just happened to meet her!
The leader's face paled instantly. The shopkeeper also became cautious and waved to his clerk, "Check each one carefully!"
Several men released Jiang Wan and went to check on her. Her restraints loosened, and she breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.
As long as the shopkeeper finds that there is a problem with this batch of goods, he will definitely change his opinion of her.
She had helped the shopkeeper so much today, and he would never treat her with the same disrespectful attitude as before.
At that time, she could try to sell the hairpin again and get the shopkeeper to accept it.
As Jiang Wan was thinking, he looked up and met the vicious gaze of the businessman.
His eyes were like knives, as if he wanted to cut off Jiang Wan's flesh.
Jiang Wan held his breath and turned to watch the shopkeeper's inspection.
Her knowledge cannot be wrong, as long as, as long as the shopkeeper can find a fake one, it will be fine.
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