Chapter 1 Returning to the Capital
On the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, snow and wind locked Nanjing in darkness.
Xie Sangning looked through the sedan curtain and saw that the stone lions in front of the Zhenguo General's Mansion were covered with a thin layer of snow, making them look like two sickly white cats.
She tightened her hand warmer around her neck, her slender fingers peeking out from her sleeves.
"A general's mansion, so poor, it doesn't even have a servant to sweep snow." The maid Ruxia curled her lips, her disdain almost overflowing.
My master has always been quite pampered, I don't know why he wanted to come back to this place.
Last month, Xie Sangning received a letter from the second branch of the Zhenguo General's Mansion, saying that the old lady missed her very much and asked her to return to Jinling as soon as possible so that she would no longer have to stay in the bitter cold of Xihan.
The letter was full of arrogance and condescension, which made Xie Sangning laugh.
The old lady would miss her? That would be like the sun rising in the west.
It's simply because her father, a general who has been stationed on the border for ten years, is finally returning to the capital, and the second wife's family is worried about how to explain it, so they are now in a hurry to send her back to the capital.
At the age of six, Xie Sangning, a legitimate legitimate daughter, was sent to Xihan to fend for herself by the second wife's daughter, Xie Wuyou, who was jealous of her legitimate status.
Unfortunately, he froze to death on his way to the Western Cold, but by a stroke of luck, he traveled to the 22nd century.
In the 22nd century, she frantically studied knowledge that the Qing Kingdom lacked, hoping to one day return.
As fate would have it, she managed to swerve to avoid an elderly person who was recklessly crossing the road, and in doing so, she accidentally swerved the steering wheel and ended up back in Qing Kingdom.
It returned to the time when I was six years old and had just been sent to Xihan by the second wife.
This is what she has been longing for day and night. Here, she has her father, brothers, and enemies whom she cannot let go of.
Xihan is a desolate place, where it seems like there are only spring and winter in a year. Due to its terrain, not many crops can be grown there.
Ordinary people would have a hard time surviving there, let alone a six-year-old child.
But Xie Sangning is different now. She has lived for decades in the 22nd century and has some kind of mental block.
Now that Xie Sangning is willing to go back, it's naturally to reclaim what's rightfully hers. The reason she didn't go back before was because... going back before accumulating enough resources would only increase the difficulty of the game and reduce its enjoyment.
The second wife has enjoyed this for so long that she's almost forgotten who this general's mansion really belongs to...
Lost in his reminiscence, the sedan curtain was roughly lifted by a hook, and the second wife, Madam Wang, carried a wooden tray with a rough porcelain bowl filled with murky pepper soup, the cheap pepper smell pungent at her nose.
"Wait a minute." Xie Sangning covered her nose with her sleeve. "Is this soup made with aged Sichuan peppercorns?"
Wang's lips twitched: "You haven't been back for so long. Drinking this will ward off bad luck. After all, it was bad luck that led you away back then..."
"Go and get a cup of Golden Jade Dew." She lowered her eyes and coughed lightly. "I can't stand the smell of Sichuan peppercorns, and this is so cheap and low-class, it's not presentable at all, just like this General's Mansion now..."
What was supposed to be a show of force was turned into a tea ceremony by Xie Sangning's words, which made Wang, the second wife, stand up for a moment and then her face turn bright red.
"Nonsense! You should be happy that we brought you back from that impoverished place to enjoy a life of luxury! Why are you still complaining about this and that..." Second Master Xie Chengzong strode over, and as soon as he finished speaking, he saw the extravagant sedan chair in front of him.
The entire sedan chair was carved from sandalwood, with glass bells hanging from each of the four corners of the roof, each bell containing a fragrant pill—everything the General's Mansion could not afford.
Xie Sangning covered her mouth and chuckled, gently extending her left hand. Ru Dong quickly helped her up, and after she stood still, Ru Dong put her hands on her hips and said, "What? The proper mistress of the General's Mansion is back, and this is all the people to greet her? The young lady has only been gone for a few years, have all the rules of the General's Mansion been eaten by dogs?! These dogs digested it a little too quickly, didn't they?"
Xie Sangning dipped her hands into the washbasin held by Ruqiu and laughed, "Alright, she's only a second wife after all, so that's how it is. What's fake can't become real, and a pheasant can't turn into a phoenix."
Upon hearing this, Xie Chengzong and Wang Shi turned ashen-faced with anger under the mocking gazes of the onlookers.
After Xie Sangning washed her hands, Ru Chun helped her up, Ru Xia draped a snow-white fox fur coat over her, and handed her a freshly lit hand warmer. Ru Dong clapped her hands, and the servants began to carry out more than 500 large boxes from the sedan chairs behind.
This scene stunned everyone. Even a princess couldn't produce such a large dowry when she got married, let alone her own family's property.
No wonder, this journey took more than twice as long as normal!
Is this someone we brought back from a poor, destitute place?
Then all the high-ranking officials and nobles in Jinling must have crawled out of beggar's dens.
It's no wonder they were so surprised; the boxes used to hold the items were all inlaid with sizable green agates, and each box required at least four people to lift.
The concept of being low-key simply doesn't exist for Xie Sangning.
The only downside to being high-profile is the significantly lower safety factor, but that's not a problem for her.
She didn't come back to be subservient.
In Jinling, from the General's Mansion to the Imperial Palace, everyone is an enemy...
The cold wind, carrying snow, swirled up a few sycamore leaves, which landed in front of the general's mansion gate.
Xie Sangning's gaze fell on those few leaves, and her brows furrowed.
Without a word, Ru Dong took a broom from the servant's carriage. The broom handle was made of fine sandalwood and wrapped with gold thread.
This was a special gift from the young lady to her!
In just a few breaths, Ru Dong swept away all the snow and fallen leaves in front of the General's Mansion, so fast that the second branch of the family had no time to react.
Ru Xia scoffed, "Has the General's Mansion been reduced to such a shabby state by your second branch of the family? You can't even sweep the snow in front of the door properly. Is it that you can't afford a gatekeeper or that you have no manners?"
Wang's fake smile froze. She stared at the gleaming broom and the clean floor, feeling a rush of heat to her head.
Is that a broom?
That was clearly a golden whip lashing the second wife's face! Pure humiliation!
She had managed the household affairs of the general's mansion for many years, but Xie Sangning used a broom wrapped with gold thread to tell everyone that she was incompetent in managing the household!
It's like saying: Look at you people who have taken over the nest, you can't even sweep the snow in front of your own door properly!
The onlookers finally snapped out of their shock, and someone couldn't help but burst out laughing, followed by hushed whispers and uncontrollable laughter!
The second wife and her husband could no longer bear it, and fled into the general's mansion as if their backs were turned, not wanting to show their faces in public again.
——
After all five hundred boxes were delivered into the courtyard, Madam Wang quickly instructed the gatekeeper to lock the gate to block outside view.
She then put on a fake smile again, clutching her handkerchief as she stepped forward and said, "Sang Ning, your second aunt will take you to the courtyard now, but..."
Her eyes swept over the boxes, a hint of greed in them.
"I'm afraid you don't have room to put these boxes in your yard, but the public storeroom can barely fit them. Let's move them into the storeroom for you first, it'll be safer that way."
As he spoke, he raised his hand, as if to command the servants in the mansion to take action.
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