Early summer, the first year of the Jingtai era of the Ming Dynasty.
After the capital’s defense the previous year, Shi Heng won one victory after another. After the New Year, he was promoted from earl to marquis. His family, who had been living in Datong, all moved to the capital, where a new residence was hastily built. It was finally completed in mid-March, and the Shi family moved in together on the day of the Buddha’s Birthday.
Since then, the Marquis’s residence had been bustling with visitors, and every day brought some happy occasion.
That day, there was a celebration in the servants’ quarters in the southwest corner of the residence. Chen Shan’s wife had chosen a girl from the Tao family, a household of low-ranking servants, for her younger son. The two families were to arrange a childhood betrothal.
Chen Shan and his wife were dowry attendants of the Marquis’s wife, Madam Zheng. Chen Shan managed shops outside the residence, while his wife was an assistant stewardess in Madam Zheng’s service and greatly valued by her. The Tao family, by contrast, were all low-ranking servants. When the Chen family came to arrange the match, everyone in the courtyard was astonished. They all said that the Tao girl was fortunate, truly blessed. Once she became the daughter-in-law of a stewardess, wouldn’t it be easy for her to land a comfortable, lucrative post in the residence?
Besides, the Tao girl was still young. This was only the initial betrothal ceremony, but the Chen family had brought an impressive array of gifts, all laid out in the courtyard: sugar, tea cakes, fruit, pastries, silk, silver bracelets, jade bracelets, a longevity lock, and more. Everything had been prepared.
Six families lived in the courtyard. With a celebration like this, of course everyone wanted to come and have a look.
“Are these tea cakes Longjing?”
“They look like Songluo to me.”
“What’s wrong with your eyes? Those are Longjing, and these are Songluo. I’ve seen them in the master’s rooms before.”
“Look at that silk! It’s gleaming gold in the sunlight. Sister Xiang is so lucky!”
“Look here. Those two sets of silver hairpins and bracelets must weigh ten taels!”
“Ten taels of silver in hairpins and bracelets? Could that girl even wear all that?”
As everyone chattered, Chen Shan’s wife glanced at the crowd outside and looked pleased. She had a young maid carry out sweets and walnuts for everyone in the courtyard. There was enough for all. You might have thought the Madam herself was handing out rewards to the servants. Chen Shan’s wife certainly knew how to make a grand show of it.
Inside the Tao family’s home, the adults sat together, chatting happily. The only person missing was Tao Xiang, the girl who was to be betrothed.
Chen Shan’s wife asked, “Sister Huai-shu, where’s Sister Xiang?”
“She’s resting in her room. Don’t worry; she’s very happy about the match,” Ruan Yinzhu replied with an ingratiating smile.
Chen Shan’s wife nodded. Marriages among the maids and young male servants in the residence were usually decided by their masters. But the First Madam would hardly object if Chen Shan’s wife had chosen a maid she liked to be her daughter-in-law. Pleased with herself, she lifted her chin and was about to speak when the little boy hiding behind Ruan Yinzhu interrupted her.
“Mother, if Sister’s happy, why did she jump into the river?”
His innocent question landed like a bolt of thunder. Chen Shan’s wife’s expression changed, and she shot to her feet.
“She jumped into the river?”
“When did that happen?”
Ruan Yinzhu pinched her younger son hard, then turned to Chen Shan’s wife with an ingratiating, sheepish smile. “Please don’t worry, Mama. She slipped and fell into the water yesterday. I had a doctor needle her and check her pulse. She’s fine, truly.”
“How is she now?” Chen Shan’s wife asked.
“She’s awake, but she caught a chill, so I told her to rest in her room.”
At that, Chen Shan’s wife gave Ruan Yinzhu a sidelong look. “Are you sure she’s all right?”
“She’s fine, really. She’s doing well.”
Chen Shan’s wife let out a breath and slowly sat down. “This is her happy occasion, after all. Bring her out. I have a nice gift for her, too.”
Ruan Yinzhu readily agreed, but her legs felt as though they were weighed down with stones. She could hardly move.
Ever since Tao Xiang had woken that morning, she had lain motionless in bed like a corpse without saying a word. No matter what anyone asked, she stared at the ceiling. When they pressed her, she even tried to bang her head against the wall. She still had a large lump on her forehead. What would Chen Shan’s wife think if she saw it? She might suspect that the family opposed the match.
As Ruan Yinzhu fretted, a thump sounded outside. For a moment, no one could tell where it had come from. Everyone in the room fell silent, listening. After a while, someone outside suddenly called, “Sister Xiang? What have you been up to? Why do you look like that?”
At the words “Sister Xiang,” Ruan Yinzhu’s heart lurched. She rushed into the inner room. A bench stood by the open window. Tao Xiang was nowhere to be seen in bed.
By the time Ruan Yinzhu ran back out, Tao Xiang had already limped to the courtyard gate.
“You wretched girl! Where do you think you’re going?”
Tao Xiang looked back at Ruan Yinzhu and shouted, “I won’t go through with this childhood betrothal! Anyone who wants it can have it!”
Ruan Yinzhu’s face turned livid. How many times had she bowed and smiled to secure this match? Their family was lucky Chen Shan’s wife had chosen them. Other families would have begged for such an opportunity and still not gotten it!
And now Tao Xiang was refusing?
Ruan Yinzhu was furious at her daughter for throwing away such a chance. Then she looked at Chen Shan’s wife, whose face was black as a pot. Was this wretched girl trying to bring disaster on the whole family?
“Get back here!”
Chen Shan’s wife’s expression darkened. She turned to Ruan Yinzhu and said coldly, “Didn’t you say the girl was willing? What’s going on?”
“She is willing, Mama! I made a point of telling her yesterday.”
Chen Shan’s wife glared at Ruan Yinzhu, then turned to the young male servants who had helped carry over the betrothal gifts. “What are you waiting for? Go bring her back!”
The young servants had been eating peanuts. At Chen Shan’s wife’s command, they answered in a flurry, put the peanuts away, and got to work.
Tao Xiang had sprained her ankle jumping out of the window, and it hurt terribly. She ignored Ruan Yinzhu shouting after her.
She had just graduated from university and found a job she really liked. She’d been planning to celebrate by playing a couple of games, and then—just like that—karma came crashing down on her. She’d died suddenly!
When she opened her eyes again, she was in the Ming Dynasty.
It was an era she liked, but no matter how much she liked it, she still preferred the modern world: her phone, computer, television, air conditioner, games, takeout, spicy malatang, luosifen, and instant noodles!
How could she give up any of those?
And yet Heaven had shown her no mercy. Not only had she transmigrated, she had become a hereditary servant! Being a servant for generations was bad enough, but now her family was arranging a childhood betrothal for her, pairing a female slave with a male slave.
Damn it! Her original body was only seven years old! She was still at the age when she could trip over her own schoolbag!
She had spent the entire morning lying in bed like a corpse, piecing together whatever useful information she could from the original owner’s memories. This was the second year after the defense of the capital, which meant it was Jingtai Year One. She was in the Marquis of Wuqing’s residence, in Shi Heng’s household. She didn’t remember much else, but she did remember the Coup of Seizing the Gate. Three years after it, the Shi family would be wiped out. She thought it over carefully: if she didn’t leave the Shi residence, she had ten years to live at most…
Ten years. She’d be only seventeen. She couldn’t return to the modern world, but she didn’t want to die, either.
And the most urgent thing now was to get out of this cursed betrothal.
The Tao family were hereditary servants of the main branch. Tao Xiang thought through the household’s relationships: the Old Madam, Zhou; the First Madam, Zheng; and two concubines, Dong and Li. The First Madam had one son and two daughters, Concubine Dong had a son and a daughter, and Concubine Li had one daughter.
She thought it over and over. The eldest young lady would soon turn fourteen, and the First Madam was preparing dowry maids for her daughter. That might be Tao Xiang’s best option.
As for what work she could do, her degree was in accounting. But she was so young that no one would believe her if she claimed she could keep books. Besides, the Ming Dynasty’s bookkeeping methods were different from modern ones. She needed someone to save her right away, and for that she had to show a skill that would produce immediate results. Her only choice was to become a hairdressing maid.
Once she’d made up her mind, she heard Ruan Yinzhu calling for her to come meet Chen Shan’s wife. She acted at once and climbed out the window.
She hadn’t yet adjusted to her new body and still thought of herself as an adult. She’d assumed a drop of more than a meter wasn’t very high. Who knew she’d sprain her ankle when she landed?
Tao Xiang had barely run out of the courtyard when she saw people chasing after her in the distance. She yelled, “I’m going straight to the Madam to complain! I’ll tell her you’re trying to drive me to my death! Just you wait!”
As she ran and shouted, she prayed silently that she would run into the eldest young lady.
The eldest young lady visited the Old Madam every afternoon to keep her company and chat. This was her usual route, but Tao Xiang didn’t know whether she had gone already or had already come back.
The people behind her were still chasing, and her foot hurt. What if she got past this spot and missed the young lady? She slipped behind a rockery and sat down to rest. Then a sharp voice came from ahead.
“Which household are you from? What are you skulking around here for?”
Tao Xiang followed the voice and immediately spotted the eldest young lady, Shi Dongrui, surrounded by her maids. The woman who had just scolded her was a stern, fierce-looking matron in her forties.
But to Tao Xiang, she looked like a savior. She hurried to get up and go to her, but her legs gave way. She stumbled and crawled the rest of the way, making a sorry sight.
“Please save this servant, Young Lady!”
Tao Xiang bowed her head. While she was down, she worked up a good cry. When she raised her face, tears were already rolling down her cheeks.
Shi Dongrui looked at her and frowned slightly. Then she glanced at the young male servants searching around nearby and asked, “Which courtyard are you from? What are they doing?”
“This servant is from the Tao family by the west side gate, Young Lady. I haven’t yet been assigned to serve in a courtyard. Chen Shan’s wife sent them to drag me off to be betrothed! This servant has always admired you and has been practicing hairstyles, hoping that once I entered the household, I might serve you. I don’t want to be betrothed!”
“Please save this servant, Young Lady!”
“This servant was born into this household and will die its ghost. At least let me fulfill my wish of serving you before I die!”
“Silence! Talking of dying and living—what kind of sharp-tongued girl is this?” the matron snapped.
Tao Xiang quickly stopped speaking, but the tears kept falling. Shi Dongrui couldn’t bear to see her like that; her brows drew tightly together.
“You’re a hereditary servant?”
Tao Xiang nodded vigorously. “Yes.”
Shi Dongrui said displeasedly, “Why arrange a childhood betrothal for a hereditary servant? Whether she’s paired with a young male servant or a farmhand, shouldn’t that wait until she’s seventeen or eighteen?”
Mama Qi looked troubled and explained, “Chen Shan’s younger son has been ill for a long time. I suppose they want the marriage to bring him good fortune.”
“That still doesn’t give them the right to force a match!”
Shi Dongrui turned to Tao Xiang and asked, “You said you practice hairstyles every day and want to be my hairdressing maid?”
Tao Xiang nodded with all her might. “Yes, Young Lady.”
Shi Dongrui pointed to one of the maids beside her. “If you can do her hair exactly as it is now, I’ll keep you by my side. If you can’t, you’ll go home.”
“This servant will do as you say, Young Lady.”
“All right,” Shi Dongrui said. “Come with me.”
Tao Xiang got up and hopped after her. Shi Dongrui glanced back. “What happened to your foot?”
“This servant sprained it by accident just now.”
Shi Dongrui turned and instructed someone beside her, “Xingyu, go fetch Dr. Song, the woman physician.”
Then she said to the young male servants who had caught up with them, “Go back and tell Chen Shan’s wife that I’m taking the girl with me.”
They all bowed slightly in acknowledgment.
Shi Dongrui took Tao Xiang to Chunhui Courtyard. As soon as they entered the room and sat down, she told the hairdressing maid to bring the dressing case. Then she looked at the maid she had pointed to earlier.
“Lanxin, let your hair down so I can see whether this girl really has some skill, as she claims, or whether she’s trying to fool me.”
“This servant wouldn’t dare,” Tao Xiang said.
As she spoke, Lanxin had already let down her hair. When her eyes met Tao Xiang’s, she suddenly cried, “Oh! I forgot to have her look at it before I took it down! Young Lady, if she hasn’t had a chance to study Zhuqing’s hairstyle, just have her do Zhuqing’s hair instead.”
Shi Dongrui was still considering this when Tao Xiang said, “Young Lady, to save trouble, I’ll do this sister’s hair.”
“You can do it?”
“This servant will try.”
Lanxin’s hairstyle was a bun with the hair parted at the temples and the side locks left loose. Tao Xiang had been interested in hairstyling and makeup for a long time. She’d started experimenting during summer breaks in middle and high school, and in college she’d worked part-time at a photo studio. She had even sought out a teacher to learn many different ways of arranging hair. Besides, she had paid close attention earlier when the eldest young lady said she was going to have Lanxin’s hair done. She saw no problem.
But once Tao Xiang got to work, she realized that her small arms and hands weren’t nearly as nimble as she was used to. Lanxin had a lot of hair, and Tao Xiang needed to make sure the style was secure without hurting her. Her ankle still hurt, too. It was far from easy.
To prevent Lanxin from helping Tao Xiang cheat, Shi Dongrui wouldn’t let her look in the bronze mirror. She also ordered the maids and matrons nearby to keep quiet. The little courtyard fell silent. Everyone watched intently as Tao Xiang’s deft hands gradually gathered Lanxin’s hair into place.
Lanxin hadn’t taken this seriously. She thought Tao Xiang had said all that just to make the young lady take pity on her. A little girl who couldn’t even hold on to a head of hair—how could she style anyone’s? Lanxin had assumed Tao Xiang would try, and that would be the end of it. But nearly the time it takes to burn a stick of incense had passed, and the young lady still hadn’t told her to stop. She could hardly resist asking someone to bring the bronze mirror.
When Tao Xiang saw that Lanxin was about to move her neck, she hurriedly said, “Please bear with me a little longer, Sister. I’ll be done soon.”
Tao Xiang was braiding the lock of hair she had left beside Lanxin’s temple. It was thin, so she finished the braid quickly. She drew it diagonally up over the head and secured it with a small pearl flower, then put back the kingfisher-feather hairpin she had removed earlier.
When she had finished, a maid brought the bronze mirror. Tao Xiang hopped over to take it and held it up for Lanxin. “It’s done, Sister. Take a look.”
Lanxin studied her reflection. She looked as though she had never let her hair down at all. The pearl flower and kingfisher-feather hairpin were in exactly the same places.
“What clever hands you have, little one,” Lanxin said. She raised her eyes to Tao Xiang and saw her standing on one foot, her little face flushed and covered in sweat.
Touching the pearl flower in her hair, Lanxin turned to Shi Dongrui and spoke up for her. “It looks exactly the same to me, Young Lady. Take a look. Will you keep her?”
Shi Dongrui was just about to answer when a sudden shout came from the courtyard gate.
“Young Lady! Something’s wrong!”
“Chen Shan’s wife is coming to our courtyard with a crowd of people!”