"Young Master Xue, Lady Xue, what a coincidence to meet you here," Zhao Wenyue said, spotting Xue Mingtang and promptly forgetting her mother.
Lady Xue gave Zhao Wenyue a slight smile. "Is Miss Zhao here with her sister? Why are you dressed so plainly for an outing?"
The sister she referred to was, naturally, Achan, standing nearby.
Hearing this, Zhao Wenyue’s gaze toward Achan turned venomous, and she inwardly blamed her mother for only caring about Ji Chan, neglecting to plan for her own daughter’s future, which led to her embarrassment in front of Xue Mingtang’s sister.
Achan finally understood why Ji Chan had fallen to such a state. Lady Xue’s words were laced with provocation, delivered so subtly that it must have been how she dealt with Ji Chan in the past.
Bit by bit, she eroded Marquis Jinyang’s affection for Ji Chan, driving her out of the household and eventually making her disappear.
The unpredictability of human hearts was something Achan had learned early on.
Zhao Wenyue might not see through Lady Xue’s true nature, but Lady Xiao Lin certainly did.
She let out a cold snort. "Unlike Lady Xue, whose Marquis Jinyang isn’t here, yet you’re dressed so flamboyantly. I wonder which of your children’s fathers you’re here to meet?"
Achan couldn’t help but laugh aloud, raising her sleeve to cover her mouth slightly, though she made no effort to hide her amusement at Lady Xue’s expense.
Even Lady Xue, usually so composed, turned pale with anger at Lady Xiao Lin’s words.
Lady Xue’s two children glared at Lady Xiao Lin and Ji Chan, seemingly wanting to retort, but she raised a hand to stop them.
Lady Xue glanced at Lady Xiao Lin’s belly and said coldly, "Lady Zhao, you’d better watch your words for the sake of your unborn child."
"I’ve done nothing wrong, so I don’t need to watch my words. I suppose Lady Xue must spend her days praying at home?" Lady Xiao Lin shot back.
With that, she glared at her daughter. "Wenyue, Achan, hurry up and follow me."
"Mother!" Zhao Wenyue hesitated, torn, but seeing others nearby pointing and gossiping, her face burned with embarrassment, and she quickly followed her mother up the mountain.
Achan, however, felt no shame. Lady Xiao Lin’s sharp tongue, when aimed at someone she disliked, was truly refreshing.
Lady Xue watched Achan and the others continue up the path but had no intention of following, merely staring coldly at Achan’s graceful figure.
She had noticed earlier that many young men’s gazes were drawn to Ji Chan.
How had she not realized before, back at the marquis’s residence, that Ji Chan was so captivating? And Lady Xiao Lin, who had little to do with the Lin family when they were alive, was now oddly devoted to their daughter after her death.
"Mother, they’ve gone too far. When we get home, we must tell Father," Xue Ying said, her heart aching for her silent mother.
"Enough. Don’t bother your father with such trivial matters," Lady Xue replied. Her husband already felt uneasy about driving Ji Chan out, and she certainly wouldn’t let anyone bring her up in his presence.
After being scolded by her mother, Xue Ying turned to tug at Xue Mingtang’s sleeve. "Uncle, you must teach them a lesson for Mother."
Xue Zhao spoke up to stop her. "That’s enough, Yingying. Don’t trouble Uncle."
Xue Mingtang patted Xue Ying’s head. "Alright, Uncle will teach them a lesson for our Yingying."
"Mingtang," Lady Xue said, looking at her brother. Hadn’t he said there might be people from the Mirror Division behind Ji Chan? How could he still dare to act?
"Don’t worry, Sister. I have a plan," he assured her.
Soon, Achan and her group reached the Flower Goddess Temple, a modest structure where many young women lined up to offer incense.
Outside the temple, vendors sold plum blossom branches for two wen each. Worshippers would toss the branches into a pair of jade vases in front of the Flower Goddess’s statue. Those who succeeded would receive the goddess’s blessing for the year.
Lady Xiao Lin, tired from the climb, rested on a stone bench and sent Sun Mama to buy two flower branches for her daughter and niece, instructing them to join the queue to offer incense to the Flower Goddess.
Achan took her branch and lined up at the back of the crowd, but Zhao Wenyue threw her branch to the ground and stomped on it.
The mother and daughter began arguing over the earlier incident with the Xue family.
Zhao Wenyue accused Lady Xiao Lin of being rude to the Xue family, while Lady Xiao Lin called her daughter foolish. The argument escalated until Zhao Wenyue, fuming, stormed off, flinging her sleeves.
Sun Mama hurriedly sent a maid to chase after her while staying behind to calm Lady Xiao Lin.
Achan followed the crowd into the Flower Goddess Temple, offered her incense, and tried to toss her branch, but her weak strength caused it to hit the vase’s rim and fall short.
The girl behind her let out a disappointed "Ah."
When Achan came out, she was surprised to find Zhao Wenyue still hadn’t returned.
She approached Sun Mama and asked quietly, "Sun Mama, hasn’t Wenyue come back yet?"
Sun Mama replied, "One of Second Miss’s maids just returned and said she’s at stalls on the other side, picking out jade hairpins. She’s probably buying something to apologize to Madam."
As they spoke of Zhao Wenyue, she returned.
Whether her mood had improved from shopping or she had come to terms with things, Zhao Wenyue now had a smile on her face, holding a white jade hairpin.
To Achan’s surprise, the hairpin’s quality was quite good.
To find such fine jade in a place like this made Achan wonder if Zhao Wenyue had been swindled.
Lady Xiao Lin seemed to share the concern, but upon asking, she learned the vendor had sold it to her for only five taels of silver.
When Lady Xiao Lin kept questioning, Zhao Wenyue grew impatient. "Oh, Mother, stop asking. The vendor said it was fate that he sold me this hairpin. Let me put it on for you."
The jade hairpin, carved with cloud patterns, didn’t quite match Lady Xiao Lin’s ornate, gem-encrusted gold hairpin, but she kept touching it, clearly delighted by her daughter’s gift.
Perhaps she felt her daughter had grown sensible, buying gifts to please her, and no matter what it was, it made her happy.
With Zhao Wenyue in a better mood, Lady Xiao Lin smiled. She personally picked a flower branch for her daughter to offer to the Flower Goddess, and this time, Zhao Wenyue obeyed.
Seeing Achan watching eagerly, Lady Xiao Lin beckoned her over and, when she approached, slipped two silver ingots into her hand. "Don’t just stand here. Go browse the stalls and buy something you like."
Her purpose in bringing Achan today was to show her off, hoping those with intentions would inquire about her.
Achan accepted the silver and obediently went to explore.
She was curious about the jade hairpin Zhao Wenyue had bought and followed the maid’s directions to the stall, only to find no one selling jade hairpins.
Puzzled, she asked a nearby vendor selling velvet flowers. "Sir, where’s the person who was selling jade hairpins here earlier?
The vendor replied without looking up. "Oh, him? He packed up already. He was only here for a short while."
"Did he sell many jade hairpins?" Achan asked.
"Not really. He sold one, and the old man chatted with the girl who bought it for a long time, probably sweet-talking her. She paid five taels of silver for it. I’d bet she got swindled."
Achan frowned, sensing something odd. Why did it seem like the vendor had targeted Zhao Wenyue specifically?
When she asked about the vendor’s whereabouts, the man didn’t know, so she let it go.
She wandered the stalls, bought some floral cakes, and on her way back, purchased a bag of candied chestnuts.
Unfortunately, she ran into Lady Xue again on her way to find Lady Xiao Lin.
This time, Lady Xue was accompanied only by a maid, with no one else around.
Their eyes met, neither willing to step aside in this narrow encounter.
Lady Xue’s maid stepped forward brusquely. "Miss, you’re blocking our Lady Marquis’s path. Move aside."
Lady Marquis. Achan thought the title would have stung Ji Chan deeply. Lady Xue knew exactly how to hit where it hurt.
Unfortunately for her, that soft-hearted girl was gone.
"As it happens, I have something to say to Lady Marquis," Achan said.
Lady Xue squinted at Achan, who stood unfazed with a steady smile. Glancing around and seeing no one under the nearby tree, Lady Xue walked over, and Achan followed.
"Speak, then," Lady Xue said.
"I want my mother’s dowry returned from the marquis’s residence. I hope Lady Marquis will arrange for it to be sent to me when you have time," Achan said bluntly.
Lady Xue scoffed. "Who are you to make demands of me? Your mother committed adultery and was expelled from the marquis’s household. Her dowry belongs to the marquisate."
"Is that so? Then I’ll have no choice but to beat the Dengwen Drum," Achan said, smiling as she leaned in to whisper in Lady Xue’s ear. "Let’s see. What should I accuse him of? How about Marquis Jinyang flouting the law, trying to pass off an illegitimate child as the heir to the marquisate? Your son won’t just lose his chance at the title, he’ll be lucky to leave the house. And your daughter, do you think she’d die of shame?"
Achan knew that in the Great Xia, titles could pass to brothers or illegitimate heirs, even distant relatives, but not to children born of adultery.
"You wouldn’t dare!" Lady Xue fumed.
"Oh, I dare," Achan said, her words piercing like needles. "If you make life hard for me, I’ll make sure no one has it easy. You claim my mother committed adultery, but you couldn’t find her lover. I say you and Marquis Jinyang were illicit, and your two children are proof."
Lady Xue clenched her fists, regaining her composure.
She sneered. "You think you’re clever, but who would believe you? Even if they did, no one would dare speak up for you."
Achan blinked, her thick lashes fluttering like a fan, and her next words nearly made the Mirror Division guard hiding in the tree fall off his perch.
"Others might not dare, but Lord Bai wouldn’t hesitate to help me," she said.
Lady Xue’s expression shifted, recalling her brother’s warning about Ji Chan’s possible connection to the Mirror Division. He had mentioned Feng Yang, but Ji Chan was now claiming the Commander, Bai Xiuming?
And her tone dripped with ambiguity.
"Ji Chan, don’t drag people you can’t afford to offend into your petty dowry dispute," Lady Xue warned.
"I’m no match for Lady Marquis," Achan replied. "At most, Lord Bai and I have had… intimate contact. Unlike you, who bore the marquis two children."
Achan mused that, by human standards, a man touching a woman counted as intimate contact. That man had whipped her, leaving her skin torn and bleeding, so didn’t that count as touching? Why not call it intimate?
She hadn’t used Feng Yang’s name, as he’d forbidden it, so she used Bai’s reputation instead. Xue wouldn’t dare confront him. If only she’d learned his name, it would’ve sounded even more convincing.
As Achan’s words grew more outrageous, the Mirror Division guard hiding above wiped the sweat from his brow.
Having watched her for days, he’d thought Miss Ji was gentle, but her boldness and disregard for propriety stunned him.
Per regulations, he had to report everything Ji Chan said and did.
He shuddered to think of Commander Bai’s expression when he read today’s report.
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