Chen Niangzi
"Thank you for your help, madam." As the three of them reached an alley, the young woman lifted her veil and looked at Jiang Jin gratefully.
"It's nothing, it's just that the Dou family has gone too far. But you can't give this hairpin away, it would be bad if it brought misfortune upon someone else." Jiang Jin watched as the young lady took out a handful of gold coins from the sachet at her waist.
"This is what that person scattered earlier. I picked it all up; it's gold, after all, we can't let it go to waste." He then tried to stuff it into Jiang Jin's hand.
"I don't lack gold and silver jewelry. You should keep it for yourself; you can use it to make a new hairpin." Jiang Jin noticed that the young lady and her maid's clothes were rather thin, so they probably didn't have any extra money.
"It's too late. Tomorrow is my elder sister's birthday. Asking someone to make one will definitely cause delays." The young woman looked at the dirt on the ground with some frustration and sighed. "Ever since my elder sister miscarried, she has been depressed. I wanted to cheer her up on her birthday, but I messed it up instead."
"Are you from Songzhou?" Jiang Jin asked, noticing the unique Songzhou-style flowers embroidered on the sachet at the young woman's waist.
"I..." The young woman remained silent, only glancing around.
"It's alright. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine too. Let's pretend today's events never happened. Madam Dou may have some grievances, but she won't take any major action out of consideration for the court." Jiang Jin knew everyone had their own unspeakable difficulties, so she didn't press the matter.
"My elder sister suffered a miscarriage, so Father sent me to the capital, ostensibly to visit her, but actually..." The young lady didn't finish her sentence, but Jiang Jin understood what she meant.
"Are you Madam Chen?" Madam Chen looked at Jiang Jin in surprise as she quickly put on her veil.
"How did you know?" The panic in her voice was somewhat pitiful.
"I am Jiang Jin. I saw Madam Chen and Chen Wu Niangzi on my way to Beizhou." Jiang Jin understood the whole story in an instant.
"It's not convenient to talk here, let me take you to Yangchun Pavilion." Seeing that Jiang Jin had no intention of harming her, Madam Chen thought for a moment and then followed Jiang Jin to Yangchun Pavilion.
"When Madam Chen and her entourage entered the capital, their boat was intercepted by bandits. Fortunately, they escaped in a small boat and encountered General Wei and me. No one was injured." Jiang Jin poured two cups of hot tea and placed them in front of the two of them.
"But Mother and Fifth Sister still..." Tears streamed down Chen Niangzi's face as they fell onto the table.
"How is Consort Chen? Judging from your appearance, aren't you a member of the Crown Prince's faction?" Jiang Jin sensed that the young woman before him didn't seem like someone who had come to compete for Consort Chen's favor.
"My sister is feeling better, but she's still a bit weak. The imperial physician said she needs to rest and recuperate." Madam Chen sipped her hot tea.
“Father wants to send someone to the capital to help my sister secure his favor with the emperor. I came here voluntarily; the others all have their own agendas, but I truly want to stay by my sister’s side.” Madam Chen choked up again.
"With Fifth Sister gone, I only have Elder Sister left. The house is so cold, and the palace is so cold too." Madam Chen, who had been worried and anxious day and night, finally had a chance to vent her frustrations today.
“Your elder sister loves you too.” Jiang Jin sighed and looked at Chen Niangzi’s puzzled expression. “Once you enter the Eastern Palace, there’s no turning back. Your elder sister understands your personality, so she has never forced you and may even have covered for you to some extent. Otherwise, do you think you could still be a content young lady?”
Jiang Jin looked at Madam Chen's eyes, which were red again, and rubbed her temples. "Madam Chen must be walking on thin ice. You can't stay here forever without a name or status."
"I..." Madam Chen gripped the porcelain cup, making up her mind, "I'm willing to become the Crown Prince's concubine so I can stay by my elder sister's side and protect her." Jiang Jin looked at Madam Chen's still very youthful face and shook her head.
"That would only make it harder to keep her. If you had favored your elder sister, how would you face that? If you were pregnant, what would you do then? If you have neither favor nor pregnancy, how do you know if your father will send another woman to you?" Upon hearing this, Madam Chen knelt down at Jiang Jin's feet.
"Please, Lady Jiang, save me! I'm not greedy. I don't want gold, jade, or power. I just want to be able to see my sister from time to time in the capital. She's my only family now. Without her, I have no home left." Jiang Jin looked at the heartbroken Lady Chen and saw a reflection of her own childhood in her.
"Get up first." Jiang Jin squatted down and helped Chen Niangzi up. "Now that the Crown Prince knows of your existence, it's not difficult to make him give up his thoughts about you. The difficult thing is to prevent your father from sending other people to the capital."
"First, you need to help your sister regain favor and put your father at ease. Then, you need to extinguish the Crown Prince's hopes for you. That should also be considered a success, and then you can stay in the capital smoothly." Jiang Jin's few words contained a great deal of difficulty.
"My elder sister is quite favored in the Crown Prince's Palace. Father only sent me here because he was afraid she wouldn't be able to conceive..." Madam Chen explained softly.
"That's not enough. He'll only stop when the Crown Prince tells your father himself." Although Jiang Jin disdained Governor Chen's methods, she was powerless to stop him. "Besides, would your elder sister even say such things?"
"Make sure your father believes your elder sister is favored. If he sends another sister over, she'll be angry and who knows what she'll do next. He can't possibly interfere in the Eastern Palace." Jiang Jin pointed out a clear path for Madam Chen.
"As for the Crown Prince, you just need to let him know that you are more useful than becoming his concubine. It doesn't matter what, anyway, he still has the bridge between Consort Chen and Governor Chen that hasn't been broken." Jiang Jin understood that Lady Chen had taken her words to heart. As for whether things would succeed or not, that was no longer her concern.
"Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Madam Jiang." Madam Chen looked at Jiang Jin with gratitude in her eyes. "You are truly a heroine among women. I wish I could be like you."
After speaking, Madam Chen smiled and said, "I was just talking nonsense. Madam is an outstanding person, how can I compare to her?"
"Don't think like that. Although Madam Dou is domineering, she has seen a lot of gold and silver jewelry. The fact that she could snatch your hairpin shows that she is better than many craftsmen in the capital."
Jiang Jin smiled and shook her head, "Women already face many difficulties, so they shouldn't underestimate themselves. If given the same circumstances as men, we can be just as good." Jiang Jin then had several dishes served and watched as Madam Chen ate them in small bites before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
"The Crown Princess isn't a bad person. If she has any difficulties, it's perfectly acceptable for a concubine to confide in the mistress." Jiang Jin felt some sympathy for the Crown Princess, but unfortunately, she was powerless to help her.
"Thank you, Madam Jiang." Madam Chen, accompanied by her maid, bowed again to Jiang Jin. "If you ever need anything from me in the future, please don't hesitate to ask. I will do my utmost to help." Madam Chen then put on her veil and hurriedly left the room.
It was already night when they returned to the guard's residence. Although it wasn't curfew yet, there were already far fewer people on the streets. The common people all looked hurried, afraid of being caught by the Imperial Guards.
"Madam." The steward placed a warm hand warmer into Jiang Jin's palm after seeing her. "The General was originally waiting for you at the manor today, but he had to leave due to some business in the Imperial Guard. He specifically instructed me to wait for you here, Madam."
"Alright, curfew is about to start, have someone close the gates." Jiang Jin nodded. The Wei residence was somewhat different from what it had been at the beginning; the flowers and trees in the garden seemed more vibrant.
"Madam." As soon as Jiang Jin entered the courtyard, Abei led Gu Si Niangzi to bow to her.
"Have you thought it through?" Jiang Jin took Gu Si Niangzi's hand and sat her down on the stool. The girl's face was still young, but her eyes revealed an undisguised ambition.
"I want to be like you, Madam!" When Gu Si Niangzi saw Jiang Jin suddenly smile, she knew he was right.
"That's good, that's ambitious, but why do you want to become like me?" Jiang Jin didn't know if Mo Niang had taught her to say those words or if they were her own thoughts.
"Because I want to control my own destiny and don't want to depend on others. Even if you divorce General Wei, you can still have your own life. But other women would only have the option of remarrying or spending the rest of their lives in a temple. I don't want to be that kind of person." Gu Si Niangzi had never understood why her neighbor's sister always came back covered in injuries, yet she still refused to divorce him, until one day she overheard their conversation.
"What good is divorce? If the family won't accept it, she'll have to remarry. It's just repeating the same mistakes." At that moment, a chill ran through Gu Si Niangzi's heart.
"Good." Jiang Jin couldn't help but admire Mo Niang's child for having such ambition.
"Tomorrow a master will come to teach you the Six Arts of a Gentleman. The day after tomorrow, I will have someone take you to the horse farm to choose a foal to learn riding and archery. This path is the most arduous. Of course, I can choose a good family for you to marry into and raise children in the inner courtyard, but that would mean your life and honor would depend on your husband." Jiang Jin gave Gu Si Niangzi his final advice.
"Don't worry, Madam. What men can do, I can do too; what men can't do, I can do as well!" A voice in Gu Si Niangzi's heart told her that this was her chance to change her fate, and that one day she could control her own destiny.
"Alright, it's getting late, you should go back and rest. Come to my room at dawn tomorrow and I'll take you to see your master." Abei led Gu Si Niangzi away. Jiang Jin was finally able to rest for a while. She had just lain down when Zi Yuan's blood-written letter filled her mind.
"Madam, I had the kitchen warm some milk for you." Ah Bei came in carrying a jug of milk.
"Thank you for your hard work." When Jiang Jin came to the Wei family, she only brought Abei with her, so all the burdens fell on her shoulders.
"What are you saying, Madam? You provide me with good food, drink, and lodging, and give me money every month. You never beat or scold me, and sometimes you even reward me. Most of the work in the manor is done by the steward, and I can only take care of your daily needs." Abei sat by the couch, feeding Jiang Jin bite by bite.
"Madam, please don't be so hard on yourself. You are not a god and cannot predict everything. To put it presumptuously, even the emperor cannot have everything go his way. Madam is kind-hearted and wants to protect everyone, but you are the most important. You cannot continue to indulge in the past."
Ah Bei had been by Jiang Jin's side for many years and had long regarded her as family. Seeing her in this state, he felt very sorry for her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com