Chapter 3

Copper mirror (铜镜), reverse

Despite the many times she had looked at her face, Xue Fang Fei was still not used to it.

There was a crack at the side of the copper mirror, making the face reflected in the mirror to also have a cracked image. The face of the person reflected was distorted but she appeared to be 14 or 15 years old, the same age as the servant girl, Tong'er; and she was shockingly thin.

Xue Fang Fei recalled that when she was 14 or 15 years old, she definitely did not have this yellowish and sickly appearance. Saying that a chief assistant's official daughter looked like this; one was afraid that it still would be better to be a lower-ranked person instead. This face and her original face, which had been the number 1 beauty in Yanjing, really could not be compared.

However, in the end, that face also did not have any good ending. It turned out beautiful women would suffer unfortunate fates1, just like how she had met her demise.

Xue Fang Fei's train of thought couldn't help but fly far away. She absolutely did not expect herself to still be alive. Or perhaps she should say that she had died but then came back to life. But it would do, to be Yanjing's Jiang family's Chief Assistant official daughter Jiang Li.

Jiang Yuanbai, as the Chief Assistant and the Emperor's highly respected teacher, was blindly followed by the current court officials. Jiang Yuanbai was currently sitting in the upper position but he did not act high and mighty. On the contrary, he appeared ordinary and all his work was completed professionally. Due to this, in the middle of the imperial court, people seemed to want to be good friends with him; but nobody knew what their intentions were in the dark.

Jiang Yuanbai's connections could be found throughout the whole royal court. Emperor Hong Xiao also treated him with extreme trust. Yet Jiang Yuanbai did not act conspicuously. Xue Huaiyuan once said, acting like a seemingly ordinary person was in fact also a type of behavior of an official. However, there wasn't any doubt, Jiang Yuanbai was a high official. And Jiang Li was also the official daughter of a respectable and famous family.

Though there was actually nothing great in this honorable Chief Assistant's life. Jiang Li's birth mother came from a rich merchant family in Yanchao, Xiangyang. The Ye family was extremely wealthy. Solely from their jewelry store, Hong Xiang Lou, located in Yanchao, they could open fifty schools of the six-schools of philosophy. At that time, Jiang Yuanbai was not yet a government official. After some pondering, Old Master Ye quickly settled the marriage of the young miss Ye Zhen Zhen to Jiang Yuanbai.

Three years after getting married, Ye Zhen Zhen gave birth to Jiang Li. Who would have thought, when Jiang Li was one year old, Ye Zhen Zhen fell ill and passed away. Jiang Yuanbai then remarried to the Vice Imperial Censor's2 di daughter, Ji Shuran. In the first year after getting married, Ji Shuran gave birth to Jiang You Yao. Jiang Li was seven years old when Ji Shuran got pregnant with her second child. During a feast with many guests, in the presence of the madams, Ji Shuran was pushed down a flight of steps. Ji Shuran had a miscarriage; she lost a son and her body foundation was wounded. She wouldn't be able to bear any more children.

Jiang Yuanbai was very angry. Luckily Ji Shuran pleaded on behalf of Jiang Li for leniency. Although she was spared, Jiang Li was sent to a temple.

However, Jiang Li's charge of harming the first wife and murdering the brother couldn't be settled just by sending her away. When talking about the Jiang family's second miss, the people in Yanjing would also remember her as already being so vicious at such a young age.

Actually, after the death of Ye Zhen Zhen, afraid that her stepmother would mistreat Jiang Li, the Ye family sent over some people to bring Jiang Li back to their family. If she was willing, she could go to Xiangyang to live with the Ye family. Not even bringing the subject up to Jiang family, Jiang Li herself stated that she was not willing. After being turned down several times over time, Ye family also no longer came.

Xue Fang Fei was also aware of the capital city's idle gossip. She was just not expecting that the so-called vicious and ruthless Chief Assistant's daughter was actually living in this difficult environment, especially when Jiang Yuanbai currently had an excellent reputation, while it was said that Ji Shuran's heart was compassionate like a Buddha. Yet, towards Jiang Li's demise, she seemed to be not in the least bit concerned.

Perhaps, this was what they had planned.

For Jiang Li to attempt suicide.

Originally, when Ye Zhen Zhen was still alive, Jiang family's relationship with Marquis Ningyuan was pretty good. Marquis Ningyuan's heir was born first, and by coincidence, he was older than Jiang Li by one year. Ye Zhen Zhen and the Marchioness thought, why not fix their engagement when they were still young. The two families' status were well-matched, and both were experienced government officials. In the future, they could look after one another.

Stemming from a verbal pact, Marquis Ningyuan only found out after the marchioness properly wrote a marriage contract to give the Jiang family. Although Ye Zhen Zhen somewhat hesitated, she was also thinking of the possibility of being a family with the marchioness through marriage. The marchioness had a benevolent heart, having this kind of mother-in-law, her daughter would certainly be able to get along smoothly and steadily.

Afterwards, although Ye Zhen Zhen had passed away, Marquis Ningyuan's heir and Jiang Li's engagement was still valid. Even if it hadn't been announced in Yanjing, there were witnesses to the marriage contract.

However, a few days ago, a Buddhist nun came to the small nunnery to deliver rice and provisions. She mentioned that Marquis Ningyuan's heir was betrothed to Jiang family's third young miss, Jiang You Yao.

Jiang Li was immediately stunned.

Marquis Ningyuan's heir was obviously betrothed to Jiang Li, how did it become Jiang You Yao? Jiang Li had an intense and fiery character. She wanted to go back to Yanjing and demand clarification.

Nowadays, the people in Yanjing only knew the Jiang family's third young miss. Nobody knew who Jiang family's second young miss was. Even if they knew, it was only as the sinister daughter who had harmed her own younger brother. This kind of person, how would she be suited to Marquis Ningyuan's heir? It could be assumed that Marquis Ningyuan residence also did not desire to take the engagement with Jiang Li seriously. Otherwise, they wouldn't consent to Jiang family's second young miss being replaced by Jiang third young miss.

The old woman ridiculed Jiang second young miss who was noisily screaming to return home. She also joked that, even if in the end Marquis Ningyuan residence had no choice but to marry Jiang Li, they also would not treat her well. Instead, it was more possible that they would be disgusted with her.

Upon hearing that, the Jiang family's second young miss threw herself into the lake straight away.

Seemingly rescued but right afterward contracting a serious illness, she ended getting thinner with every passing day. Originally, she was already very thin, but now it seemed that she would collapse with a single blow from the wind. However, despite falling sick and looking like this, nobody from Yanjing came to see her.

Perhaps, they were just waiting for her to die, and only then would someone come to collect her corpse.

It was possible that this was exactly what they wanted to do: for Jiang Li to slowly die at the small Buddhist temple. Let her 'die of an illness' in a natural way. Everything was only following the intention of the one in charge.

This was similar to the time when Princess Ningyuan and Shen Yurong wanted Xue Fang Fei to die slowly.

Tong'er angrily looked at the mountain pile of chopped firewood located on one side. Contrary to the quantity, it wasn't warm, but cold and damp. Both master and servant's basic needs were entirely self-sufficient. Putting it grandly, "to see the wisdom of cultivating the heart and nurture the character".

"If I had known earlier that it would be like this, at that time, it would have been better to go to Ye family in Xiangyang," said Tong'er, "how would our young miss have spent her days ah."

Xiangyang...

Xue Fang Fei felt slightly moved.

Jiang Li's maternal family, the Ye family, was located in Xiangyang. She could go to Tongxiang from Xiangyang.

She wanted to go back and give offerings to her deceased father. She wanted to go back and kneel to her father for being unfilial. To marry a person with the heart of a wolf and the lung of a dog1, wasn't that inviting disaster? Harming the father to die from anger and the younger brother to lose his life.

If she wanted to return to Xiangyang, it was vital for her to first go back to Yanjing. At present, she was not allowed to go out of the Buddhist nunnery at all.

Raising the hands three times2, there were the deities; on this rainy day, raising the head there was only alarming darkness, no deities could be seen.

Unobstructed, she would walk step by step, walking energetically so she could arrive sooner to that place.

At that time when she was facing death, Princess Yong Ning gave her a piece of advice, for her to reincarnate as the daughter of a distinguished family in her next life. Now, she was already the daughter of a distinguished family. Although she was in dire straits, it was impossible for her to be trampled anymore. This time around with her coming back, could they still be as well prepared as before?

Xue Fang Fei had already died, from now onwards, she was no longer Xue Fang Fei.

"I am Jiang Li," she said to herself.

Jiang family's second young miss, Jiang Li.

Footnotes:

1: 狼心狗肺 - idiom meaning cruel and unscrupulous.

2: act of praying with joss sticks in Buddhism.