The newcomer was none other than Jiang Wanhe, who had not been seen during the day.
She kicked open the courtyard gate and stormed in with an imposing manner.
Just as in her previous life, the moment she saw Jiang Wantang, her face was filled with anger and disdain, the disgust in her eyes almost tangible.
Jiang Wantang sat upright on the stone chair in the courtyard, glanced at her, her expression cold.
Jiang Wanhe was less than two years younger than her, her appearance entirely taking after Madam Qin. Unlike Jiang Wanfu’s bright and charming looks, Jiang Wanhe could only be considered delicate and pretty, with a petite figure that gave off the air of a modest young lady from a humble family.
Jiang Wantang had not seen her at the banquet today, likely because Madam Qin, sensing something amiss, had not allowed her to appear.
Madam Qin’s affection for this youngest daughter remained as deep as ever.
When Jiang Wanhe got a clear look at Jiang Wantang’s face, she froze for a moment before adopting a haughty and disdainful posture.
Seeing Jiang Wantang ignore her presence, she angrily shouted, “So you’re that crude girl from the countryside.”
“Is it you who, the moment you returned, bullied your legitimate elder sister and Mother, causing chaos in the Xiangfu?”
Jiang Wantang paid her no mind.
“Hey, I’m asking you a question, are you deaf?” Jiang Wanhe fumed.
“Country folk will always be country folk, an uncouth fool with no manners!”
Hearing this, Xiuzhu immediately rolled up her sleeves, ready for a fight.
“What, a lowly maid from the countryside dares to lay a hand on me?!” Jiang Wanhe sneered arrogantly.
“If you dare touch me, I’ll have your hands and feet chopped off!”
Just as Xiuzhu was about to step forward to teach her a lesson, Jiang Wantang patted her hand, signaling her to stay calm.
Then, Jiang Wantang stood up and walked step by step toward Jiang Wanhe, looking at her with a faint, mocking smile. “Legitimate elder sister?”
“So, you’re here to stand up for your legitimate elder sister, Jiang Wanfu?”
In her previous life, Jiang Wanhe had relied on being her biological sister, assuming Jiang Wantang would not do anything to her, and had freely insulted and bullied her to curry favor with Jiang Wanfu.
“Of course!”
“Not only that, I also want you to return those two hundred thousand taels of silver notes!”
So, Madam Qin had sent her to demand the money.
Jiang Wantang smiled, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
“Want the money?”
Jiang Wanhe looked arrogant and entitled. “It’s not about wanting—that money belongs to the Xiangfu. What right does a country girl like you have to take it?”
Jiang Wantang said coldly, “And if I don’t give it back, what can you do about it?”
Jiang Wanhe seemed not to have expected her to show no respect at all. Her face turned pale, then flushed red with anger. “If you don’t give it back, I’ll never acknowledge you as my sister!”
“Who cares!” Jiang Wantang scoffed disdainfully. “Keep your ungrateful wretch of a sister for Jiang Wanfu.”
“If you don’t want a beating, get out!”
Jiang Wanhe had never suffered such humiliation before. Her face flushed red with anger on the spot. “You dare hit me, just try—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Jiang Wantang raised her hand and slapped her, sending her tumbling to the ground.
Jiang Wanhe fell to the ground, clutching her swollen cheek, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Jiang Wantang looked at her contemptuously. “Still want to try again?”
Jiang Wanhe cried out in pain, struggling to get up. “You actually hit me?!”
“I’ll fight you to the death!”
With that, she flailed her arms and legs, lunging at Jiang Wantang.
With another crisp slap, Jiang Wanhe was sent tumbling to the ground once more.
This time it was the other cheek, making a perfectly symmetrical pair.
Jiang Wanhe covered both sides of her face, sitting on the ground as she cried out in shock.
Madam Qin, who had been hiding outside the courtyard, rushed in upon hearing the commotion. Seeing Jiang Wanhe’s red and swollen face, her eyes instantly turned red with anger. Without a word, she raised her hand and swung it forcefully toward Jiang Wantang’s face.
Jiang Wantang lifted her hand, effortlessly catching Madam Qin’s wrist, and pushed her directly to the ground.
Seeing this, Madam Qin tried to get up and retaliate.
But Jiang Wantang said coldly, “Lady Jiang, this is the second time. If there’s a third, I won’t hesitate to take action!”
The first time was for Jiang Zhixu, and this time was for Jiang Wanhe.
Madam Qin looked into Jiang Wantang’s icy eyes and froze mid-action.
Seeing that force wouldn’t work, she switched to a softer approach.
Madam Qin took out a handkerchief, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
“Wantang, your mother was just momentarily blinded by anger.”
“Wanhe is your legitimate blood relative, your own sister. How could you hit her?”
“You are sisters bound by blood, after all. As the elder sister, you should protect your younger sister.”
But before Jiang Wantang could respond, Jiang Wanhe shrieked, “She is not my legitimate elder sister!”
“I have a legitimate elder sister. She’s just a crude person from the countryside, unworthy of being my sister!”
Jiang Wantang sneered coldly, “Lady Jiang, did you hear that?”
Madam Qin nudged Jiang Wanhe.
The latter, displeased, covered her face and ran out crying.
Madam Qin wanted to chase after her but, thinking better of it, held herself back.
“This child…” Madam Qin sighed helplessly, forcing an awkward smile as she explained to Jiang Wantang, “Wanhe is still young and a bit willful. Don’t take it to heart.”
“But she has a pure heart and truly recognizes you as her sister.”
Xiuzhu, standing to the side, snorted coldly, “The Third Young Lady looks about fourteen, doesn’t she? She’s almost old enough for her Coming-of-Age Ceremony and marriage. Still young?”
Madam Qin instantly grew angry, defending her child, “What would a country bumpkin maid like you know?”
“When masters are speaking, it’s not your place to interrupt.”
Xiuzhu rolled her eyes directly at her.
Just as Madam Qin was about to erupt, Jiang Wantang said coldly, “I’m from the countryside too. Since you look down on us, you may leave.”
Hearing this, Madam Qin panicked and quickly forced a smile. “Wantang, that’s not what I meant.”
“Wanhe is, after all, your blood-related sister. How could an outsider compare?”
Hah, blood-related sister?
In her past life, Jiang Wanhe had called Jiang Wanfu “sister” over and over, so affectionately.
But toward her, Jiang Wanhe had never shown anything but disdain and contempt, never once treating her kindly.
A faint, deeply mocking smile curved Jiang Wantang’s lips. “Yes, we are both your flesh and blood. You treat her like a precious jewel, quietly planning for her, fulfilling every duty a mother should…”
Even Jiang Wanfu, who isn’t your own, you treat as your own.
“But why… when it comes to me… can’t you do the same?”
The icy questions pierced Madam Qin’s ears.
Madam Qin’s face stiffened, visibly displeased by Jiang Wantang’s questioning. “Since ancient times, a woman’s marriage revolves around her husband. Offending one’s husband means losing support, making life in the household even harder.”
“If you hadn’t displeased your father, Wanhe and I would have had an easier time in this household.”
As she spoke, Madam Qin’s voice grew increasingly resentful. “In the end, it’s you who has brought trouble upon us…”
Jiang Wantang had no desire to waste words on her; she had long grown weary of such talk in her previous life.
Her eyes were icy cold: “So, what is it you want me to do?”
Upon hearing this, Madam Qin dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, tears flowing on cue: “Actually, your sister and I have not had an easy life these years.”
“If you gain influence in the palace in the future, do not forget to help your sister more, to arrange a good marriage for her…”
After speaking, she looked at Jiang Wantang with hesitation.
“And what else?” Jiang Wantang stared at her expressionlessly, her tone laced with sarcasm: “Have you perhaps forgotten something important?”
Seeing her remain unmoved, Madam Qin’s expression turned colder: “In that case, I shall speak plainly today.”
“Soon, you will enter the palace. With food, drink, and servants to attend to you, I imagine you won’t need much silver.”
“Your two hundred thousand taels might as well be given to your sister as her dowry.”
“After all, she is your own sister.”
“It is only right to give it to her.”
Jiang Wantang was nearly driven to laughter by Madam Qin’s shameless behavior.
She curled her lips into a cold smile: “You two truly disgust me!”
With that, she pointed toward the courtyard gate, her tone indifferent.
“Get out!”
“Another word from you would only dirty my ears!”
“You…” Madam Qin trembled with rage, pointing a shaking finger at her, her face livid: “Fine! Fine! Fine!”
“You’ve grown up, you’ve become capable!”
“You unfilial daughter, you ungrateful wretch…”
“Xiuzhu, throw her out!” Jiang Wantang said impatiently.
“Right away!”
Xiuzhu swiftly lifted Madam Qin and carried her out as if she were an old hen.
After the commotion, the small courtyard finally quieted down.
That night, the moon hung high in the sky, and all was still.
In the early spring evening, the gentle breeze carried a slight chill.
Jiang Wantang stood alone in the courtyard, lost in thought, wearing a pear-blossom white gown. The faint moonlight illuminated her delicate profile, her skin fairer than snow, her dark hair cascading like fine silk, clinging to her graceful figure, making her appear even more enchanting.
Yet her solitary figure, stretched long by the moonlight, seemed somewhat lonely.
Xiuzhu watched her slender, resolute back and, recalling the events of the day, couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.
Indeed, after being away from home for ten years, having such cold and heartless family members, how could she not be distressed?
She picked up a cloak and walked over, draping it over Jiang Wantang’s shoulders, her voice filled with concern: “It’s late, and you’ve always been sensitive to the cold. Why are you standing in the courtyard, letting the cold wind blow on you? Is something troubling you?”
Jiang Wantang snapped out of her reverie and smiled at her: “Xiuzhu, do you think that after a person dies, an obsession can truly bring them back to life?”
Xiuzhu shook her head: “I have never believed in ghosts or gods.”
Jiang Wantang looked up at the bright moon in the high sky and smiled.
“I didn’t believe it either before…”
But now, she was grateful.
Heaven had taken pity on her, allowing her a second chance.
Xiuzhu was somewhat surprised: “Miss, you were so lost in thought just to ponder this question?!”
Jiang Wantang pondered for a moment before letting out a light laugh: “Not just that. I was thinking about many things from the past.”
“Some things, when experienced, felt like the end of the road, but looking back now, they seem like a new beginning.”
It’s truly wonderful to be alive!
Xiuzhu looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and then asked: “Does Miss not feel any discomfort in her heart?”
Jiang Wantang smiled brightly, “How could that be? Having lived so many years, there has never been a day more unrestrained than today.”
To strike when she wished, to scold when she pleased.
Freed from the shackles of blood ties and kinship, the people of Xiangfu were nothing in her eyes.