Chapter 194: Escaping from the Snake Pit to the Tiger’s Den
Wu the Third walked toward the center of the city with the master.
On the way, they ran into his colleague, Xiao Jia.
Xiao Jia was following a young couple; the woman was wearing a hat and a veil, obscuring her face, but judging by her figure, she was certainly a young lady.
In the past, it would have been normal for a woman to dress like this on the street.
Noblewomen didn’t want to be seen when they went out.
But now, on the streets of Jingzhou, everyone was open and relaxed; even the daughter of Lord Sima, who was so beautiful, would walk directly on the street, so being so coy and covered up seemed a bit strange.
However, one look and you could tell they were from out of town, which was normal.
Jingzhou received a huge number of tourists from out of town every day.
The outskirts of Jingzhou were constantly being expanded, with houses being built, and many people were moving their whole families there.
Xiao Jia cupped his hands in greeting to Wu the Third, and they brushed past each other.
The veiled woman seemed to stiffen and lowered her head.
Xiao Jia felt slightly strange; the couple he was leading did look a bit odd, not like a proper married couple, but more like they were eloping.
But as long as they didn’t commit any crimes, it wasn’t his business.
Censor He followed Wu the Third to see the Censors Suite and didn’t pay attention to the young couple passing by.
The woman was wearing a hat and veil, clearly unwilling to be seen.
Naturally, Censor He wouldn’t stare at a young woman.
Seeing them pause, the woman only turned her back; Censor He assumed she was just shy.
It was his first time in Jingzhou, so it was impossible for him to know any young girls.
Xiao Jia continued forward with his guests.
“If the Young Master and Miss are visiting Jingzhou for the first time, you must buy the Jingzhou Three-Piece Set; it is excellent for personal use or as a gift.”
The veiled woman was none other than Jiang Wan. After the accidental death of her eldest brother, she had also been secretly investigating the cause of his death.
She had originally thought Jiang Changtian was responsible, but Jiang Changtian claimed that the Seventh Prince had ordered it.
She didn’t believe it, but upon investigation, it seemed to really have nothing to do with Jiang Changtian.
Although Ming County was filled with the presence of Jiang Changtian, the death of her eldest brother was actually not his doing.
It really did have the hand of the Seventh Prince in it.
Because she was, conversely, the person who understood the Seventh Prince the best.
This was what truly terrified her.
She felt that if their family continued to stay in Ming County, they would end up like the family of Jiang Changtian in her past life—wiped out.
Now, Mother and her younger sister had actually already escaped from Ming County.
She had heard that her Mother had even become a concubine of Heir Han, and her own younger sister was currently in the capital, living as the daughter of the Heir, enjoying wealth and glory.
Mother didn’t want them anymore.
Her eldest brother was dead.
She had tried to escape from Ming County several times, but was always brought back under the guise of protecting her safety.
She was stuck in Ming County with her Old Madam and father, unable to leave.
This small county town was the place where she grew up, but she had no nostalgia for it, only deep fear.
She hated that dream; why did it have to let her know so much? Let her know she had a wonderful future, high position and great power, within her reach, yet she was trapped in Ming County like a caged beast.
Everything was reversed.
She felt as if she were experiencing the suffering of the family of Jiang Changtian in her past life.
Although, if you really analyzed it, they weren’t living that bitterly.
At least the Jiang Mansion was still there, and they still had servants and such.
But there was no hope in sight.
That was the most desperate part.
During this period, Jiang Wan had struggled.
She learned from her dream that there was a Shangqiu Temple in Jingzhou, inside of which was a famous Master Jingren, who loved collecting beautiful young girls or girls with strange fates; in the future, Master Jingren would even be a guest of the royal family.
Later, one of the concubines was offered by Master Jingren.
That concubine was extraordinarily beautiful, with a heart like a viper, and fortunately, she was short-lived; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to fight her.
It was also from that concubine that she learned of the existence of Master Jingren and knew that the way Master Jingren trained those women was very perverted and terrifying.
Thus, she carefully and circuitously leaked information about Jiang Mianmian to Master Jingren.
She succeeded.
Because when she thought about it day after day, she discovered that everything changed, and it seemed to start from when Jiang Mianmian was born and did not die prematurely.
She remembered that day when she went to pray to Buddha; she saw the Buddha’s eyes shed tears, which shook her heart and soul.
It seemed that from that day on, everything began to change.
Jiang Feng didn’t die, Jiang Mianmian didn’t die, Lady Qin didn’t die, Jiang Yu didn’t disappear, and Jiang Changtian didn’t go missing.
She felt she had found a way; as long as Jiang Mianmian died, everything would return to the right track.
But then, Shangqiu Temple disappeared.
When she received this news, Jiang Wan trembled all over.
How could it be? How could someone be so crazy?
But thinking that the person was Jiang Changtian, yes, he was a madman, a complete and utter madman.
Day after day, Jiang Wan seemed to have given up.
Her father became obsessed with Buddhist scriptures and began to chant them all day long.
Her Old Madam, who used to chant scriptures all day, stopped chanting and was always wailing and scolding people because she was uncomfortable, and her wounds always hurt.
Pain would cause a person’s emotions to collapse, and she would occasionally receive news of the happy life of the family of Jiang Changtian in the Prefecture City: Jiang Yu’s married life was happy, Lady Qin was a guest of honor for the Prefect’s wife, Jiang Mianmian had become the most dazzling young lady in the Prefecture City, Jiang Feng had studied under a famous teacher and was becoming more and more promising, and Commander Jiang’s authority was growing heavier and his power greater.
Whenever there was any trivial good news, someone would recite it to Old Madam Jiang.
After reciting it, they would say: “Madam, you were just not content. Such good children, you wanted to drive them out of the house and even removed them from the family register, oh my.”
This made Old Madam Jiang feel a heart attack every time, and she developed a new ailment of heart palpitations.
Old Madam Jiang felt physically unwell herself, and the death of her eldest grandson was a great blow to her, but the greater blow was her son’s lack of spirit.
The degeneration of her eldest son, who chanted Buddha’s name every day, made her feel very desperate.
She used to chant Buddha’s name every day, but in reality, there was no Buddha in her heart.
But her eldest son chanting Buddha’s name every day was clearly a sign of being possessed; he had truly put on monk’s robes and began to eat vegetarian food; except for not having his head shaved, his every move was no different from a monk.
Old Madam Jiang cursed her son, and except for when she mentioned that promiscuous woman Madam Wu, which touched him slightly, at other times he seemed unaware; no matter what she said, he would reply with “Amitabha.”
She knew that Huaisheng hated her.
Because of an accidental argument, Jiang Huaisheng cursed the Heir, and after Old Madam Jiang accidentally let slip that Heir Han was his own brother from the same Mother, Jiang Huaisheng became like this.
He was indifferent to everything; except for the fact that he was still at home, he was basically no different from a monk.
Even seeing that Jiang Wan was of age and could have her coming-of-age ceremony, Jiang Huaisheng didn’t care.
Old Madam Jiang was also in no mood.
Jiang Wan served her Old Madam every day and listened to her curses every day, becoming increasingly exhausted.
Finally, after much planning, she disguised herself as a stranded woman and was saved by a young master.
She pretended to have lost her memory and followed that young master all the way out of Ming County.
The moment the carriage stepped out of Ming County, she really felt as if the shackles on her body had shattered, and her whole body felt light.
She had observed this young master, whom she targeted, for many days before choosing him.
Although she had never seen this young master in her dreams and he shouldn’t be someone she was familiar with, she saw that his demeanor was noble and he was generous with his money.
The accessories on his body, as well as the details he inadvertently revealed, were all styles of nobles from the capital.
He claimed to be a young master out traveling; he was handsome, acted with loyalty and simplicity, and must be a descendant of some great family.
He called himself by the surname Liu.
The Liu family in the capital—she remembered there was indeed such a family, but they were not prominent, belonging to the middle class in the capital; Young Master Liu’s aunt seemed to have married into the palace, but was only a noble lady.
But no matter who he was, as long as he could save her from Ming County, that was fine.
She already had a demon regarding Ming County.
But as a result, after Young Master Liu left Ming County, he didn’t return to the capital but came all the way to Jingzhou.
He said he came because of its reputation and was originally going to Jingzhou, but took a wrong turn, which led him to Ming County and accidentally saved Miss Qingqing.
Young Master Liu didn’t know how to address the young lady, but seeing her in green clothes and extremely beautiful, he temporarily called her Qingqing.
Although there was ambiguity along the way, he still treated her with courtesy.
Young men and women, with red sleeves adding fragrance, traveling together like this, it was hard not to develop feelings.
As an “amnesiac” stranded young lady, Jiang Wan naturally couldn’t stop him from going to Jingzhou.
But thinking of the famous Commander Jiang, Jiang Wan still felt instinctive fear.
Upon entering the Prefecture City, she put on a hat and veil, but didn’t expect that it would instead be inexplicably eye-catching; no one on the street was dressed like that.
But she could only bite the bullet and do so.
Just arriving at the Prefecture City, she didn’t expect to see the famous Censor He.
Censor He was a very tough person; even after the emperor had been changed several times, he was still a censor.
Jiang Wan was glad she was wearing a veiled hat and hadn’t been discovered.
Like a frightened bird, she was just afraid of being discovered.
She and Young Master Liu followed the guide to the shop and heard the young man introducing it eloquently: “…This is the property of The Eldest Miss of our Lord Sima’s family; it is all her dowry.”
“Your Lord Sima is truly doting on his daughter; giving such a generous property to a daughter who is married off. I heard he has another daughter, is that right?” The servant beside Young Master Liu asked curiously.
“Yes, these storefronts, as well as the inns, restaurants, shops, and land in the city, are all the property of the young ladies. Lord Sima is extremely good to both daughters.”
Jiang Wan held a porcelain bottle in her hand, lowering her head to smell the rich fragrance inside; this was for washing hair, and this one bottle cost one tael of silver. Just the items in this one shop were worth thousands of taels, and they had even queued at the entrance for a while before coming in.
There were also cheaper versions, and people were buying them incessantly; without needing to enter the shop, they could buy them at the stall at the entrance. Customers were endless, and the sound of copper coins clinking was incessant.
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