As soon as Xin Jiuwei stepped into the mansion, she saw her father stride out of the study with a solemn expression, clutching a gold-embossed letter in his hand.
"Jiuwei, come with me." Father Xin's voice was deep, and the wrinkles on his forehead were deeper than usual.
Inside the study, the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood. Xin's father laid the letter flat on the table, and Xin Jiuwei immediately recognized the crape myrtle flower seal on it—it was an urgent document from the capital.
"The Eldest Princess and the Second Prince will be visiting Yingzhou soon," Xin's father said, tapping the letter lightly with his fingertip. "They say they're coming to attend the Buddhist festival at Lingyin Temple."
Xin Jiuwei unconsciously tightened her grip on the handkerchief.
No, the timing doesn't match.
In her previous life, the eldest princess and her entourage arrived in Yingzhou in the spring of the following year; it's only early autumn now...
"Father, do you know why His Highnesses have come at this time?"
Father Xin shook his head: "The official document only says that we'll be observing the people's conditions along the way." He sighed, "I've already ordered people to prepare for our reception. You should also stay home as much as possible these days, lest you offend any important people."
Xin Jiuwei lowered her eyes and agreed, but her heart was in turmoil.
Princess Xiao Yuesheng, the only younger sister of the current emperor, is known for her free and unrestrained nature. When Xin Jiuwei met her in her previous life, she only thought that she was a smiling tiger. Although she had a good relationship with the second prince, she was not punished by Xiao Xun after the new emperor ascended the throne. Instead, she became an even more noble and unrestrained eldest princess.
The fact that someone as ruthless and decisive as Xiao Xun could spare her only shows that he is unfathomable.
And the second prince, Xiao Zhuo...
"Jiuwei?" Mr. Xin called out in surprise, "You don't look well."
"My daughter just..." Xin Jiuwei forced a smile, "Remembering that the Princess loves wisteria the most, and ours has already withered, we need to find something new and interesting to entertain her."
Mr. Xin nodded with satisfaction: "You've thought things through thoroughly. By the way, I heard you went to see Master Jueming again today?"
Xin Jiuwei's heart skipped a beat: "It's just delivering copied Buddhist scriptures."
"Hmm." Father Xin seemed thoughtful. "The master greatly admires you, which is a good thing. Now that distinguished guests are arriving, if you can gain the favor of the Princess..."
Xin Jiuwei answered absentmindedly, her thoughts already wandering far away. The royal family's sudden early arrival, Jueming's words, "Someone is coming," and the deadline he set for the antidote... none of this was a coincidence.
In the days that followed, Qi Huaiyu, like a persistent venomous snake, spread rumors everywhere.
In teahouses and taverns, one can always hear people talking:
"Have you heard? Miss Xin is a gold digger who kicked her childhood sweetheart, her cousin, out of the house..."
"Indeed! Young Master Qi is so devoted, he waits outside the Xin residence every day..."
"Master Jueming's claim of having a connection with Buddhism? Who knows if it's just an excuse..."
These rumors even reached the young ladies' quarters. When Xin Jiuwei attended the flower banquet, several young ladies deliberately talked loudly in front of her:
"Some people, once they've climbed the social ladder, turn their backs on you..."
"The sacred Buddhist temple has become a fig leaf..."
Xin Jiuwei sat upright, sipping her tea slowly and deliberately. Only after they had finished talking did she speak softly, "Miss Wang praised Xue Yingxue's jade bracelet last month. Do you know its origin?"
Miss Wang blushed instantly. Xin Jiuwei smiled slightly, stood up and left, her skirt sweeping across the fallen flowers on the ground.
On the carriage back to the manor, Wang Qing stamped her feet in anger: "Miss should have exposed Qi Huaiyu's true colors in public!"
"It's no use." Xin Jiuwei lifted the carriage curtain, looking at the pedestrians pointing and whispering at her on the street. "People only want to believe what they want to believe."
Just like in her past life, no matter how she tried to explain, everyone ultimately concluded that she was the one clinging to Qi Huaiyu, and that she was shameless...
"Let's go to the eldest young master's courtyard," Xin Jiuwei suddenly said. "I haven't seen my brother for a few days."
Xin Yunzhou's courtyard was unusually quiet. Xin Jiuwei gestured to the maid not to announce her arrival and walked through the corridor alone, only to find her brother sitting under the grape trellis, with not the classics of history and philosophy spread out in front of him, but a copy of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.
"elder brother?"
Xin Yunzhou hurriedly closed the book, and upon seeing it was his younger sister, he breathed a sigh of relief: "It's you..."
Xin Jiuwei sat down beside him and picked up the military book. The margins were covered with annotations, the handwriting not neat, but revealing a rare seriousness.
"Was this arranged by Mr. Ye?"
Xin Yunzhou shook his head, his ears slightly red: "I...I read it myself." He hesitated for a moment, "Little sister, I might really not be cut out for studying..."
Xin Jiuwei opened the military treatise and saw a page that had been repeatedly rubbed until it was wrinkled—it was the passage from the "Nine Grounds" chapter that said, "Throw them into a place of certain death and they will survive; trap them in a place of death and they will live." Next to it was a simple formation diagram, crude but with a clear idea.
Xin Jiuwei's heart skipped a beat. In her previous life, her elder brother had also mentioned wanting to join the army, but their father had flatly refused, leaving him depressed and unhappy.
"Does my brother want to join the army?"
Xin Yunzhou looked at her nervously: "Don't you think I'm useless? I can't do well in school, so I'm trying to take shortcuts..."
"How could that be!" Xin Jiuwei grasped her brother's hand, noticing the thin calluses on his palm from years of using the abacus. "Even Minister Zhao praised your mathematical skills; that's true talent."
Xin Yunzhou's eyes reddened slightly: "But Father..."
"I'll talk to Father," Xin Jiuwei decided. "But my brother has to promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Finish reading this book." She solemnly placed the military treatise back into her brother's hands. "Since you've chosen this path, you must see it through to the end."
As she left her brother's courtyard, Xin Jiuwei looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh of relief. She finally understood the deeper meaning of Mr. Ye's words—not everyone has to walk the same path; only by finding the right direction for oneself can one go further.
Just like when she was reborn, didn't she choose a completely different path from her previous life?
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