Chapter 79
The rainy condition was progressively becoming heavier than before.
The common people that resided close to the hillsides had met with difficulties as large mudslides rushed downwards. The Bo Chang reservoir was the capital’s largest reservoir and the farmlands in the capital completely relied on this area to draw water via irrigation for their fields. So with the rising trend of ferocious rainfall upon their lands, the water level became unrestrained in the reservoir. There seemed to be a risk of the reservoir being crushed by the immense volume of rainfall and the potential for a hazardous overflow. Xuan Li had led his subordinates to manage the waters in an attempt to temporarily suppress the momentum of the rising water level.
In the top-scorer’s fu, the young zhuangyuan gentleman was standing by the window, frowning in contemplation as he looked at the rainwater .
Just then, Liu Furen came in holding a bowl of dark brown sugar and ginger soup and placed it on the table. Seeing Liu Min so, she then sighed, “What sort of disaster is this to have harmed so many families in this way.” They had initially been part of the common people and had only recently risen to such a status, therefore, they were extremely sympathetic to the sufferings of the common people. If not for the fact that Liu Min had entered the imperial court to become a government official, perhaps they would be similarly destitute and homeless just like these commoners, in desperate poverty whilst beset by hunger and cold.
Liu Min patted Liu Furen on her shoulder as he consoled her, “Mother, you don’t have to worry, soon all will pass.”
“If it wasn’t for General Zhao who has distributed provisions as disaster relief, who knows how many of the common people would starve to death.” Liu Furen lamented, “General Zhao is a good official; when you are in the imperial court, you should certainly try to get closer to him.”
Liu Min nodded. Thus, the rainfall continuously poured down without the slightest sign of stopping. However, eventually, there would be a day when the wealth of Zhao Guang would also be completely spent. This matter could merely just be a splash of water on the fire that burns one’s eyebrows, a quick fix for a desperate situation in an extreme emergency. It was not a long term plan. As he recalled how Eighth Prince had actively and in a friendly action asked him about his opinions with regards to this flood a few days ago, it seemed that Eighth Prince was planning to exert himself to keep this flood in check. Verily, if this person genuinely harboured thoughts to cherish the people of the land under the heavens then how could such an esteemed individual possibly ruminate over resolving such a precarious situation with him, out of all other possible officials at his disposal, in such a casual manner?
Almost imperceptibly, Liu Min sighed. The waters in the imperial court were not shallow and only those who had placed themselves in its midst could understand that discerning the underlying currents and hearts of those in power was extremely difficult too.
In a steady succession of a dozen or more days, the act of bestowing congee to the common populace never seemed to cease as the capital gradually quietened down. If one could speak of any fresh news, then it would be that the capital’s garrison army caught a group of bandits that pretended to be refugees in the area of the east of the city’s Chong Xin farmstead. The manpower of that day’s capital garrison troops was insufficient and the daren who was on garrison duty had sought out the Capital Magistrate to borrow some men. They had then gone to Chong Xin farmstead which soon after became a ground of a fierce battle. With great difficulty, they had managed to subdue these bandits and had locked them up in the prison, yet in the span of a night, those bandits had all committed suicide to escape punishment.
Whilst the populace in the capital had clapped their hands in applause for such a satisfying resolution to the problem, at the same time, they were similarly concerned. In this manner, if the capital was not too peaceful and secure, then the days ahead would be even more challenging. Contrary to what one might expect, with this situation, the capital city’s garrison army morale was high after extricating themselves from the pressure dealing with a prolonged and stressful situation concerning the captured bandits.
* * *
In Ruan Ju, Jiang Ruan was currently leaning against the divan whilst embroidering. In the past while she was in the rural residence, due to Zhang Lan’s family’s coercion, she had embroidered day and night until she had developed dead calluses on her hands. In this lifetime after being reincarnated, she hated that in her past life; she had died with her body being badly damaged and riddled with scars. In this life, she was not willing to have any of those scars remain on her body. Now that she had returned to the Jiang fu, the embroidery needlework that had once been her livelihood was thrown aside without a care. Yet these days, once the dead calluses on her hands had completely peeled off and her skin had once more become delicate, now one could see that these hands of hers seemed like a young lady’s of an influential family. Only then, did she pick up these things once more.
Lu Zhu entered from outside and surveyed her surroundings to make sure there was not a person in sight around them. Then, she walked close to Jiang Ruan and quietly remarked, “Miss, a person from the General fu has come. They want to see the person who has bestowed congee in their name.”
Jiang Ruan smiled lightly, “Is it truly someone from the General fu?”
“There is an official seal and looking at it, it does not seem like a fake.” Lu Zhu commented, “Miss, how do you plan to reply to them?”
Jiang Ruan then put down the embroidery in her hands as she picked up the celadon teacup at the side. Lightly stroking the rim of the teacup in her hands, she continued, “Then tell them that tomorrow early in the morning, I will personally visit them at their own residence and call on them.”
“Miss?” Lu Zhu was stunned.
Jiang Ruan said, “Go then.”
The Zhao family, since they had already brought up such a request, had likely fixated on the idea of definitely having a meetup face to face. This too was good, the days of Jiang Xin Zhi’s return to the fu were steadily closing in. Just relying on her own strength was truly too difficult and now that she had placed the bargaining chip clearly in front of them, she would carefully see if the Zhao family was willing to give this favour in return.
* * *
Within the capital, once the Zhao family received this news, Zhao Guang’s complexion had become profoundly solemn. A few days ago Zhao Yi had arrested a group of refugees in the Chong Xin farmstead and based on Zhao Yi’s retelling, those people were bodyguards adept in martial arts. He swore that they were absolutely not ordinary refugees. Yet within a night’s span in the imperial prison, all of them had committed suicide to escape punishment. It could be assumed that this was no simple matter. After all, it was unknown who was the mastermind in this whole affair. Yet, Zhao Guang was still able to make a few possible guesses. After listening to hearsay in the capital that Eighth Prince’s fu had recently tightly closed their gates, some had said that a large number of bodyguards had been executed.
The young lady that Zhao Yi had mentioned bumping into, both the Zhao father and son had thought that the person behind it and the one bestowing the congee were definitely one and the same. Based on Xuan Li’s methods of handling things, this person ought to have set themselves against Xuan Li. However, the unknown person in question had also helped the Zhao family several times. Only now, one could not speak too much in fear that what is said can not be unsaid. After all, the other party’s identity was still uncertain and what if it was Xuan Li’s stumbling block for them? They had gotten someone to go to the venue where they had been giving out congee and instructed their subordinate to put forward the request for meeting the person behind this operation face to face to sound them out. Yet, the opposite party had then said they would pay them a visit at their residence tomorrow. This sort of conduct, it truly made one unable to clearly fathom their intentions.
Zhao Yuan Jia asked, “Father, since that person dares to pay a visit to our residence, then they must have done adequate preparation. Shouldn’t we also make our own arrangements?”
“No need,” A spark of contemplation flashed through Zhao Yuan Ping’s astute eyes as he replied, “rather, I think the other party has done so to express that they have no ill-intentions: at least, they will not raise a dispute with us in the General fu.”
“Even if he (they assumed the gender of the mastermind) does not have a conflict of interests with us,” Zhao Yuan Feng seemed wholly unconcerned as he remarked, “we, the people brought up in the General fu, what could we possibly be afraid of? Whether it is a god, or a ghost, we can just ruthlessly beat them up until they become round like a pig. Then, wouldn’t they be honest?”
“Shut up,” Zhao Guang fumed and glared at him, angered by Zhao Yuan Feng’s words, “F*** you, can’t you grow a brain? Lao‘er[1] says, it is true, however, just to safeguard against any tricks that person might pull, let us first have your mother, furen and Yulong settled well.”
[1] Lao’er (老二) – second-eldest child in a family. Here it refers to Zhao Yuan Ping, who is Zhao Guang’s second eldest son. This is a more casual and affectionate way of addressing someone in the family, a nickname of sorts.
“Second Brother,” Zhao Yuan Feng nudged the most intelligent amongst them, Zhao Yuan Ping, “what kind of person do you think that person will be?”
“I don’t know.” Zhao Yuan Ping shook his head, “We’ve all seen Father’s colleagues before and it can’t be one of them. Anyways, tomorrow we will know who it is.”
That night, the Zhao family all slept, restless and disturbed. Early in the morning of the second day, Jiang Ruan boarded the carriage to set off. Every few days, Lin Zi Xiang would give her an invitation and Xia Yan maintained a gentle, considerate and warm motherly-like appearance. Therefore, contrary to what one might expect, she would have no reason at all to stop her (Jiang Ruan). Moreover, these few days, she had been busy with Jiang Su Su’s matters. Jiang Quan’s attitude towards her had somewhat softened and so Jiang Su Su was able to avoid going to the private temple. However, as opposed to what they had hoped, Jiang Su Su had not been able to sleep well for a consecutive amount of days for more than half of the past month already. She continued to say that in the middle of the night, there was a ghost who knocked on her doors. Despite inviting several physicians over, her health did not seem to improve either. Thus, Xia Yan was extremely concerned.
Ever since the General fu had gotten the Emperor’s praise and recognition from the act of bestowing congee to the masses, all of their colleagues in the officialdom had seen the changes in the wind and had set their helms. They had acted pragmatically and flexibly whilst trying to take advantage of the situation and momentarily, their front yard had been as busy as a marketplace and was filled with many visitors. Today, however, they had especially returned all invitation cards (with intentions to visit), specifically to await that one person.
Gu lu, gu lu. The wheels of an ashy grey coloured carriage travelled forward and stopped in front of the General fu’s gates.
From inside, a slim young lady dressed as a maidservant hopped down and went straight ahead towards the young manservant that was on gatekeeper duty. After speaking a few words, that young manservant hurriedly left. After a short period of time, Zhao Yi took big strides forward from inside those large gate doors. Behind him, there were several robustly built bodyguards following suit. Upon seeing that maidservant, they were slightly startled. Then, just like forming a boundary, they stared attentively at the carriage that was at the gates.
The maidservant then walked over to the side of the horse carriage and standing on tiptoes, she bent inwards to speak a few words. As the curtains on the carriage were lifted by someone, from the inside, another person dressed as a maidservant hopped down.
Zhao Yi frowned, for this person to come outside, why did they bring two maidservants; why did they conduct themselves like they were a female?
Following closely, a maidservant with a slender figure then supported the person in the horse carriage down. Yet, who but an old lady with a stooped figure appeared with her eyes covered with a black slip of cloth. Seeing this, one would assume that it could be a blind person who needed to be assisted by that tall and slim maidservant as they walked to a side.
Zhao Yi then stared wide-eyed as he found it hard to conceal the shock in his heart. Could it possibly be that the person that they were looking for was this blind old lady? This truly was something that made one feel too astonished. Then, he meticulously took a measure of the old lady. Yet, he was unable to find any unique point, so it was even more puzzling for him. All at once, he was unable to determine anything.
“Young Master?” The gentle voice came from a place ahead of him. It was only then that Zhao Yi realised that while he had been staring at the blind old lady, at some point, another person had alighted from the horse carriage. With a conical bamboo hat placed on them, one could not see their facial features but that voice of hers, it was definitely one of a female. Moreover, it was rather familiar sounding.
He had not expected that the person that would come forward to the General fu would be a female and Zhao Yi was stunned, “Miss, please follow me.”
The four people then followed Zhao Yi as he walked inside the fu. In his heart, Zhao Yi was filled with surprise. Since it was a female, then it was fine to have just two maidservants following her. But why did she have to bring along a blind madam as well?
As he was thinking this, that person suddenly reached up to take off their hat, revealing a familiar face to him.
Zhao Yi gaped as he was tongue-tied, “It’s you!”
“It is.” Jiang Ruan smiled lightly, “Zhao daren, I trust you have been well since we last met.”
In that split-second, Zhao Yi flushed as he looked at that bright and beautiful face of the young girl before him. Upon seeing her visage, he was somewhat fumbling for words as he felt ashamed; after all, the other party was only a young girl that was just merely in her teens. In any case, he himself was close to his twenties, how could he have just reddened upon looking at a young lady like this? He then suddenly thought of something as he replied in shock, “The person who has been giving out congee, that was you?”
“It wasn’t me.” Jiang Ruan responded and seeing Zhao Yi’s expression of heaving a sigh of relief, she then added, “It was a person under my employ.”
“You-you-you-you-you……” Zhao Yi stuttered, “Who on earth are you?”
“Zhao daren, anyways, I have also saved your life once.” Jiang Ruan laughed, “I will not harm you.”
Zhao Yi did not speak; now that the current political situation in the capital was this chaotic, there were many people who were glaring at the Zhao family like a tiger watching its prey, waiting for an opportunity to pounce on them. Who knew if this would be a trap? However, just like his father, Zhao Yi had a similar personality: mild, kindhearted and upright. He knew of the principle where one must repay favours given to them and had decidedly cupped his hands in greeting, “Young Lady’s kindness for saving one’s life, on another day, one will definitely doubly return the favour[2].”
Strangely, he felt a particular sort of familiarity and closeness to Jiang Ruan. His intuition told him that this young lady in front of him would definitely not treat the Zhao family unfavorably. He had many questions. However, as he saw the slight smile of Jiang Ruan’s side profile, he then swallowed them down. These questions of his, once they had reached the hall, Zhao Guang and his uncles[3] would naturally raise them.
[2] Jiù mìng zhī ēn, tā rì dìng dāng yǒng quán xiāng bào (救命之恩，他日定涌泉相报) – The author had used the last part of this expression that originated from a proverb and had adapted it. The original meant this: dropping the boon of the water, one will flow the spring water out in return. This means that when one receives even the slightest amount of grace from someone else, they ought to doubly repay the favour (through actions) in turn.
[3] Bofu ( 伯父 ) – father’s elder brothers or his older uncles.
Zhao Yi led the four people towards the General fu’s main hall. Compared to the refinement of the Jiang fu, the General fu seemed more imposing and splendid. Upon a glance, the bodyguards in the fu appeared extremely bold and powerful. As Jiang Ruan and her entourage walked past them, she could not resist casting stealthy glances over at them.
While Lian Qiao and Bai Zhi were both somewhat nervous, Zhou momo’s body had been trembling nonstop throughout their walk into the fu. In her heart, Jiang Ruan was unable to stop from laughing at the thought that as expected, Zhao Guang had done some ruminating over her arrival. The guards in here seemed as if they were facing a great enemy with how they treated her and she thought that if they were a threat, the guards would be more than capable.
Once they reached the front of the main hall, Zhao Yi took the lead to step inside. Sitting on the main seat, Zhao Guang completely and naturally emanated an air of a General; this was the oppressive atmosphere that he had cultivated through the innumerable battles he had experienced and borne through like a blood-laden baptism. It could not help but make one feel an irrational fear. Zhao Yuan Jia, Zhao Yuan Ping, Zhao Yuan Feng- these three people sat at his two sides. Zhao Yuan Jia was upright and steady, Zhao Yuan Ping seemed wise, farsighted and shrewd whilst Zhao Yuan Feng appeared confident, free and unrestrained. At a glance, these three sons of the Zhao family actually seemed to be men of extraordinary talent.
As Zhao Yi stepped into the hall with big strides, his fingers stealthily gestured a few signs towards the few people in the hall. Of course, that was their secret signal. It meant that there was no danger.
Zhao Yi turned towards the exterior of the hall and remarked, “Miss, please enter.”
Lifting her foot, Jiang Ruan stepped inside the hall.
These four people present, Zhao Guang and his sons, had all frowned as they looked towards the doors of the hall. Then they saw a young girl dressed in red clothes walking in unhurriedly from outside. Dressed from head to toe in a date-red colour, she was adorned in a magnificent zhuang hua silk[1] blouse that had flower motifs in the style of ruyi patterns on it. This coordinated with a windingly long, mild red damask silk skirt that trailed on the ground; this was embroidered with gold silk thread that outlined the Han Ren embroidery style[2] that the skirt had been made with. Draped over her shoulders was a Kuanhua brocade [3] cloth that was embroidered with brightly coloured cicada wings as a motif in the structure of a ruyi pattern. Her long hair was bound up in an unique and elegantly prominent wo duo bun[4], and she had adorned her wrist with an amber and lapis lazuli strung bracelet. On her waist was a supple silk palace belt[5] and on top of the belt, there was a fragrance pouch with pile embroidery[6] woven onto it. On her feet, she was wearing an embroidered pair of shoes with sprinkles of butterflies and flowers stitched on them. At a rough estimate, this young girl seemed to be only in her early teens. Yet, she was born with such astonishing beauty. Her facial features were extremely bright and beautiful yet they did not seem overly frivolous. Instead, there was a certain sort of calm to her beauty.
[1] Zhuāng huā (妆花) – A style of weaving tawny silk together into a clothing piece, it refers to patterns woven with colourful threads. Golden flake-shaped threads are often used to weave the outlines of the design’s contours to integrate the golden and silvery threads with the patterns to look more dignified and graceful. It is also the most complicated but representative style of silk weaving jacquard fabric. A jacquard fabric is a type of cloth that features an intricate pattern woven into the warp of a special mechanical loom rather than it being printed on the surface which often equates to a costly cloth due to the time and skills involved in making this fabric. This zhuanghua silk work is made of twisted silk fabrics with clear grains on the surface making the decorative pattern more striking. The Zhuanghua Silk fabric is one of the four most honoured and famous brocades that originates from Guangxi. Most of the Zhuanghua style silk choses the auspicious elements like flowers, plants, plumages of birds, four-footed beasts, fishes, magical clouds, the Eight Immortals of Daoist mythology and the Eight Treasures etc as symbols of power and good fortune in shape of a ruyi. The tones of the variety of colours used in these silk fabrics are often rich, bright, gorgeous but also in coordinated harmony.
This is how the flower motif would look like in this four ruyi pattern, replacing the birds with flowers.
[2] Hán rén xiù (韩仁绣) – The han ren embroidery style is a well noted embroidery method in the Han dynasty that came from the Xinjiang region. It is a repeatedly warped (many coloured, many layered) Jacquard weaving silk embroidered work.
[3] Huàn huā jǐn (浣花锦) – Kuan Hua embroidery has the characteristic traits of being minimalistically simple, unadorned, elegant and stylish. According to some, its name came from the design inspiration of the patterns of the ripples made from fallen flowers into the pond. It originated from the Song dynasty by the working people.
[4] Wō duò jì (倭墮髻) – It is a historical hairstyle for women that was popular during the Han Dynasty in which the hair was gathered up in a lopsided bun. For more information, here is an intricate video of the process of preparing such a hairstyle: link
[5] Gōng tāo (宫绦) – Similar to the korean norigae, it is a cord or string that is part of the belt that is tied at the waist where both midsections of the belt that are tied intricately in knots together have jade pendants, golden ornaments or bone engraved carvings. At the very end of the remaining belt, there are tassels.
[6] Duī xiù (堆绣) – A tibetan embroidery that was a groundbreaking cultural art from the temple, it originated from the Kumbum (Chinese Ta’er) monastery in Qinhai which was formerly the Amdo province in Tibet. This was their Tibetan ethnic artwork that had fallen under the category of the thangka (Tibetan Buddhist scroll painting). It is made using a variety of cotton, silk and satin cut into the different patterned shapes of the design which is then meticulously piled onto each other to make a complete image. Then, using brightly coloured thread, it is embroidered onto a cloth. This tibetan pile embroidery is considered one of their three finest art of their culture.
However, what was most shocking was not this at all.
With a smile gracing her features, she walked inwards.
Zhao Guang was looking at her in astonishment while his three sons abruptly sat upright as they too stared at her closely.
Step by step, as she got closer, Zhao Guang slowly straightened as his eyes stared widely. His lips could not help but tremble as he cried out in a low voice, “Mei‘er.”
Zhao Yuan Jia and the rest had long since been dumbstruck.
Too alike, she was too alike. If one did a comparison, she (Jiang Ruan) bore an uncanny resemblance to Zhao Mei’s appearance.
Even though Jiang Ruan had only inherited sixty to seventy percent of Zhao Mei’s features, to those of the male dominated General fu, Jiang Ruan looked too similar to Zhao Mei. Zhao Yuan Jia and his brothers had not seen Zhao Mei for so long, yet the Zhao Mei in their memories was similar at this particular age. She loved to dress herself from head to toe in red clothes. She appeared passionate like a fire and used to run around, smiling and laughing as she followed along behind her elder brothers to go riding.
This person had already passed away and their appearance had been forever sealed up in their memories. Now that they had suddenly seen Jiang Ruan, it actually felt like a sense of the deceased had been reunited with them once more.
Yet as for the one that had received the largest impact, none could surpass Zhao Guang.
With a tremor of his lips, he could not even say a single word.
Jiang Ruan’s gaze lightly swept through the room and took in the whole scene of each person’s expression . As for the Zhao family, actually in her previous life and in her current one, she had never truly gotten in contact with them. However, when she was younger, Zhao Mei had often retold stories about the things that had happened in the General fu, and also talked about her (Jiang Ruan’s) rough and stubborn maternal grandfather and her maternal uncles, who each had their own different personalities. She would recount her own (Zhao Mei’s) former and happier times while she was living together with her brothers and parents. Even if it was just a description about them, Jiang Ruan could still remember imagining that that had been such a blissful tableau.
At that time, Jiang Ruan had always asked Zhao Mei, “Why does Maternal Grandfather and the others not come to see us?”
Zhao Mei’s brows would then be shaded over in melancholia, “It’s all Mother’s fault. Mother has made a big mistake and does not deserve their forgiveness.”
Originally, she had not understood what Zhao Mei had meant but now that she had had time to think about it, that mistake was precisely just the most sorrowful pain in the heart of a woman. What other matter could be more miserable in this world than finding out, after one had abandoned their loved ones, that the husband was a ravenous wolf- an evil person in disguise?
She had been born in a court official’s family thus Jiang Ruan was used to a life filled with fighting and scheming against each other. Yet based on what Zhao Mei had said in the past, in the General fu, she had always been blunt and whenever she had met with anything she was dissatisfied with, she would frankly and straightforwardly come to blows about it immediately. It was a pity that until the very end in her past life, Jiang Ruan had never gotten the chance to personally see the General fu even once and had only received the news of the execution of the whole family and the confiscation of their property.
Now in this life, at present, she was treading on the true grounds and soil of the General fu.
She lightly smiled as she spoke, “General Zhao.”
With one address, “General Zhao,” Zhao Guang was able to pull back his emotions and recompose himself. The young girl before him, her looks were definitely too similar to Zhao Mei’s. Yet, at a closer glance, this was not completely accurate either. When one saw Zhao Mei’s appearance, one would see her fiery passionate exterior yet in fact, her personality was actually soft and gentle like cotton. She had a sort of innocence and naivety that came from being unversed about worldly affairs. Yet this young girl, evidently she too had been dressed from tip to toe in red clothes. The colours were a fiery red yet when on her, she gave off an icy-cold impression. In the depths of her eyes, what was revealed through those hoods were profound depths that seemed like they had weathered through the vicissitudes of life that were ill-matched to her age. Although her smile was gentle, her personality was too cold, really, extremely cold.
She was not Zhao Mei.
“Who are you?” The most impetuous tempered Zhao Yuan Feng stood up and demanded, “Why do you look this similar to my elder sister!”
Amongst the few sons of the Zhao family, Zhao Yuan Feng and Zhao Mei were the closest to each other. Zhao Yuan Jia was ten years older than Zhao Mei and had always been her considerate eldest brother. As for the bright, wise and farsighted Zhao Yuan Ping, although he would usually dote on Zhao Mei; when all was said and done, he still had no idea how to coax and make her happy. Only Zhao Yuan Feng, these two, the elder sister and young brother duo were both of similar personalities: passionate and uninhibited. Their ages were not too far apart either so they had always climbed trees and rode horses together. Thus, Zhao Yuan Feng and Zhao Mei had always been very close; and now that he had suddenly seen Jiang Ruan, naturally, his heart was irrationally and emotionally stirred.
With a light smile, Jiang Ruan took a quick glimpse of him, “Third Maternal Uncle?”[7]
[7] Xiǎo jiùjiu (小舅舅) – youngest maternal uncle
As if struck by lightning, Zhao Yuan Feng retreated two steps and pointed at Jiang Ruan, “Did you call me Maternal Uncle?”
Zhao Yuan Jia and Zhao Yuan Ping’s complexions had all changed as they looked at Jiang Ruan incredibly. Zhao Guan’s body too had firmly jolted in shock.
Disregarding everyone’s amazed gazes at her, Jiang Ruan continued, “I am the person who has used the Zhao family’s name to bestow congee, and I am also currently the Jiang family’s eldest di daughter, the Jiang family’s Ruan niang.”
With a smile on her face, she spoke, “Based on our close yet distant family relations, I should make my salutations towards all of you.” She slightly bowed towards them and continued, “Ruan niang greets Maternal Grandfather, Eldest Maternal Uncle, Second Maternal Uncle and Third Maternal Uncle.”
Zhao Yi, who had all along been spectating by the walls of the hall, had finally spoken, “You are Paternal Aunt’s[8] daughter?”
[8] Gūgu ( 姑姑 ) – paternal aunt.
He had always known that his father had a younger sister and he had a paternal aunt. However, this paternal aunt of his was precisely the unmentionable taboo of the Zhao family. When he was born, his paternal aunt no longer remained in the fu; she was a paternal aunt that he had never seen before. From his wet nurse’s and momo’s lips, only then had he known just the tiniest bit of the events behind this affair. Now, this young girl who had saved him once, she was actually his paternal aunt’s daughter?
Jiang Ruan looked towards him, “I’ll be troubling you, Da Biaoge[9].”
[9] Dà biǎogē ( 大表哥 ) – This is a form of address for the eldest older male cousin from her mother’s family.
The Zhao family father and son pair both looked at her, not saying a single word in shock.
Lian Qiao lightly pressed onto Zhou momo’s hand and at this, Zhou momo then cottoned on implicitly and wordlessly as she shot forward to kneel and cried out, “Master, Master, do you still remember this slave? At that time, it was you, sir and Furen who had instructed this old slave to follow the young miss to enter the Jiang family!”
“Zhou momo?” Zhao Guan was startled for a moment. Initially, Zhao Mei had been insistent on marrying into the Jiang family and had not even hesitated to sever all relations with the Zhao family. On that day, when she had packed all of her belongings to leave the fu, he and Furen had called on Zhou Yin, who was in the fu, and had her follow suit at Zhao Mei’s side.
In an instant, more than a decade had actually passed since then.
“How did you become like this?” Zhao Guan frowned. Back then, Zhou momo had gone as a person that was wholly intact. However, now that he had chanced to look upon her again, she had turned into a blind person and her body, it did not seem well at all as she appeared to be at the cusp of recovery after a serious illness.
“It was because of the vicious-hearted people of the Jiang family.” Zhou momo replied, “Though the Jiang family harmed Young Miss, it was little Miss that has retrieved the life of this old slave back. Not only that, they also want to harm Young Miss (Zhao Mei’s) daughter and son. Master, save little Miss please!” After saying this, with no heed or concern for herself, she abruptly gave Zhao Guang a kowtow. Anyone seeing this scene could not help but feel an incomparable feeling of sadness.
Jiang Ruan had then gotten Bai Zhi to support Zhou momo as she looked at Zhao Guan. The expression on Zhao Guan’s face was one of astonished shock while in that split second, his complexion had become ashen. He snarled with clenched teeth, “Jiang Quan!”
“It is precisely my biological father,” Jiang Ruan apathetically responded, “General Zhao, I request that you please aid Ruan niang.”