Jiang Zhuo had originally returned to the palace ahead of the other female officials of the Music Bureau. However, because of a small incident on the way back, she ended up arriving even later than Qin Sile and the others.
Fortunately, she still made it back before the palace gates were locked, so no major trouble arose.
Yet within a single night, she had been trapped, drugged, broken through a window, fallen into water, startled by a runaway horse—one accident after another, without pause.
That very night, Jiang Zhuo developed a fever.
Thankfully, Tonghua stayed by her side to care for her, and Qin Sile also helped summon the imperial physician. The physician only said that she had been frightened by the fall into the water and needed to rest for several days.
The weather over these days was not very good either—constantly overcast. Vast stretches of dark clouds hung motionless in the sky; there was no wind, and no rain fell, leaving only a stifling gloom that irritated the heart. Jiang Zhuo felt that it was just as well not to go to the Music Bureau for the time being.
After lying in bed for two days, she grew truly restless. Unable to stay idle, Jiang Zhuo coaxed Tonghua into taking her outside for a walk, thinking it would help her get some fresh air.
When they reached a peony grove, Jiang Zhuo overheard palace maids chatting idly about the choice of the Prince Jing’s consort.
“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has not only decided on Miss Shangguan as the principal consort, she has also taken a liking to the Shen family’s legitimate daughter as a secondary consort. Eunuch Liu just went to deliver the two imperial marriage edicts.”
“The Shen family? Which Shen family? How come I’ve never heard of them?”
“The Miss Shen who composed lyrics and music together with Sile Jiang at the Qionghua Banquet. I think her name was Shen something—Zhi, perhaps…”
It was Shen Guanzhi.
Jiang Zhuo silently concluded that the matter of Prince Jing choosing his consorts was indeed following the same course as in her previous life.
“Miss Jiang—” someone suddenly called out to Jiang Zhuo, who was standing among the flowers. “So you’re here!”
Only then did the two chatting palace maids notice Jiang Zhuo behind them. Aware that their words had been improper, they panicked and hurriedly bowed.
Jiang Zhuo waved her hand indifferently and said nothing further, turning instead to look at the newcomer.
“Greetings, Nanny Li. What brings you here today?”
Jiang Zhuo noticed that Nanny Li still addressed her as “Miss Jiang.” Presumably, since the candidate for Prince Jing’s consort had already been decided, there was no longer any need for her to remain in the palace.
“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager requests that you go to Qingshou Palace. She says she has something to instruct you.”
Nanny Li’s eyes flickered, her words vague, as if she knew something but did not dare to say it outright.
A sharp flash of light tore across the sky—a bolt of lightning. Several breaths later, a dull roll of thunder echoed from within the clouds.
Jiang Zhuo frowned slightly, a faint sense of unease rising within her. Still, she only said that she needed to return to her room to fetch her pipa before following Nanny Li.
“There’s no need for you to take the pipa this time, miss,” Nanny Li stopped her. “I’m afraid… since you’ve only just recovered from a serious illness, you won’t have the leisure to play.” At the end, fearing Jiang Zhuo might not believe her, she added, “That is Her Majesty’s Dowager command.”
“Is Her Majesty in a bad mood today?” Jiang Zhuo probed cautiously.
Nanny Li shook her head, her expression complicated, but she refused to say anything more.
Jiang Zhuo did not ask further.
When she arrived at Qingshou Palace, she did not have to wait long this time. After Nanny Li announced her presence, she was allowed to enter directly.
Yet just before stepping through the palace doors, Jiang Zhuo lifted her head and glanced at the dark clouds outside the eaves, which seemed on the verge of pressing down upon them. The ominous feeling in her heart grew ever stronger.
“You’ve come?”
The Empress Dowager still sat high upon the couch, but this time the screen had been removed.
At the previous Qionghua Banquet, the Empress Dowager had sat behind a lowered curtain, and with male guests present, Jiang Zhuo had not raised her head.
This was the first time Jiang Zhuo saw the Empress Dowager’s true appearance.
She noted that the Empress Dowager wore her hair in a high bun crowned with a nine-dragon floral hairpin. Silver threads had already crept into her temples, and fine wrinkles spread from the corners of her eyes like phoenix tails. Yet her gentle eyes gave her an air that combined both kindness and authority.
“This subordinate greets Her Majesty the Empress Dowager and wishes Her Majesty robust health and blessings of longevity.”
“‘This subordinate’?” The Empress Dowager took a sip of tea handed over by Nanny Li. “It seems that over these days, you’ve already adapted to your position as a female official of the Music Bureau.”
“In reply to Her Majesty, A-Zhuo has only recently arrived at the Office of Female Attendants and lacks experience. However, whatever Her Majesty commands, A-Zhuo will certainly do her utmost to learn and carry out.”
The Empress Dowager neither affirmed nor denied Jiang Zhuo’s change of address. Instead, she ordered someone to hand a memorial to Jiang Zhuo.
“Take a look at this.”
It was a memorial submitted by a local official to the Son of Heaven. By rights, Jiang Zhuo should not have seen it.
But since it had appeared before her…
The sense of unease in Jiang Zhuo’s heart intensified. Afraid to speculate further and abandoning all formalities, she accepted the memorial almost in a panic and opened it—
“I secretly observe that former Vice Councillor Jiang Dun, having retired and returned to his hometown, unexpectedly encountered fierce bandits on the twenty-seventh of this month while passing through Xinan County in Quzhou Prefecture. He was unfortunately killed. Upon hearing this, I am deeply shaken and hereby report it. I humbly request that Your Majesty order the Circuit Judicial Commissioner to apprehend the bandits within ten days and transfer them to the Court of Judicial Review for execution.”
Jiang Zhuo had never had a private tutor in her childhood; every stroke of her characters had been taught by Jiang Dun himself. Yet now, she felt as though she could no longer understand these words.
Perhaps it was because she had been ill these past few days.
She should have asked Nanny Li to read it aloud for her. Jiang Zhuo raised her head, about to seek help—
But large tears suddenly spilled from her eyes, soaking and blurring the ink on the memorial.
The torrential rain that had been brewing for days finally poured down as well, pattering against the bluestone bricks outside the corridors, stirring up the heat and dust that had accumulated over these days.
When she had been mocked as a mere entertainer by young lords and ladies who were once inferior to her, Jiang Zhuo had not cried. When she had been forcibly locked in a dark chamber and drugged by Marquis Wuwei, she had not cried. When dandies and villains had chased her through the streets on horseback to block her way, she had not cried either.
But now, Jiang Zhuo cried.
“…The dead are gone. Miss Jiang, do not grieve excessively,” Nanny Li sighed as she handed her a handkerchief. “You have only just recovered from illness. If Vice Minister Jiang has a spirit in the afterlife, he would certainly not wish you to damage your own health because of this.”
Jiang Zhuo stared at Nanny Li in disbelief. She did not understand what Nanny Li was saying.
Her father could not be dead. In her previous life, when her family was confiscated and he was exiled, he had gone north. In this life, when her father resigned and returned home, he went south.
Unless—unless someone intended to harm her father!
Jiang Zhuo fixed her gaze on the words “roving bandits” in the memorial.
No matter what, her father had been a senior official of the second rank. The Jiang household had many people, and when her father returned home, it was impossible that he would not have guards and retainers accompanying him.
What kind of bandits would dare to rob a former vice minister? And what kind of bandits could kill all the guards of the Jiang household?
“His Majesty was also deeply grieved upon learning of Vice Minister Jiang’s fate. Moreover, hearing that you have suffered many grievances in the Music Bureau these past two days, he has specially bestowed his grace.”
The Empress Dowager’s voice was kind and gentle, yet carried an authority that brooked no question.
The young eunuch who attended the Empress Dowager closely cleared his throat and proclaimed the edict:
“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The daughter of the late Vice Councillor Jiang Dun, Jiang Zhuo, is gentle in temperament, upright in virtue, and has served the Empress Dowager with utmost devotion. Now, because her father was killed on the road, special consolation is granted, and she is hereby conferred the title of—”
Kneeling prostrate on the ground, Jiang Zhuo was in a daze and did not hear the rest.
The summer cicadas in the palace were crying too mournfully. Jiang Zhuo thought their sound was as sharp and piercing as silver needles drilling into the ears—yet after listening for a long time, it felt as though all sounds had vanished, leaving utter silence.