The cold wind howled, and heavy snow filled the sky.
Six-year-old Xiao Qingran knelt in the courtyard wearing only a bellyband and shorts, her eyebrows and earlobes frozen into ice crystals.
“Father, I didn’t push Fourth Sister—she fell into the lake herself…”
“You still dare to argue!”
Jiang Wenxiang slapped her flushed little face with a sharp crack.
Gritting his teeth, he said, “Six years ago, you and Yue’er were born on the same day. But her birth was at dawn, with the rising sun and clear skies, the colorful morning glow like a phoenix spreading its wings and soaring.
Your birth, however, was in the second watch of the night, with thunder, lightning, and torrential rain, the dark night sky like a demon devouring everything.
Even then, I knew she was the Fu Nu, and you were the Zaixing.
I truly regret not having strangled you in your swaddling clothes back then, allowing you to live until now and commit the heinous crime of harming your own sister.
From today onward, you will go to the estate in the countryside to fend for yourself. Without my order, you are never to set foot in Chengxiangfu again!”
“No, please…” Xiao Qingran wept bitterly, quickly crawling to Jiang Wenxiang’s feet. Her chapped, swollen fingers cautiously grasped the hem of his robe. “Father, I really didn’t push Fourth Sister. Please don’t send me away. I beg you…”
“Get away!”
Jiang Wenxiang looked at her with utter disgust and kicked her five zhang away.
“Ah… sob… sob…”
Xiao Qingran ignored the pain and turned to crawl toward her birth mother, Cai Xiumei.
“Mother, please talk to Father. I’m not the Zaixing. I didn’t push Fourth Sister. Mother… sob… sob… I don’t want to leave home. I want you, Mother. Mother, hold me…”
Cai Xiumei tightly hugged her son, who had just turned one month old, and merely glanced at her coldly.
“Ranran, you are flesh from my body. No one wishes more than I do that you weren’t the Zaixing.
But because of you, your father despises me.
Because of you, I suffered a difficult birth and severe bleeding.
Because of you, this family nearly fell into ruin.
Ranran, you must go.
I’m afraid if you stay, you’ll end up harming your little brother!”
The snow… suddenly stopped.
And in that moment, her tears dried up as well.
Xiao Qingran stared in shock at her mother, who had always seemed gentle and kind, her face ashen with despair.
Staggering to her feet, the icy snowflakes cut across her face like knives.
Cold to the bone, pain piercing her heart.
“Fine, I’ll go.”
…
Ten years later.
In the Jiang family’s guest hall, Jiang Qingyue cried until she was drenched in tears.
“Father, I don’t want to marry the Seventh Prince. The one I’ve always loved is the Third Prince!”
Jiang Wenxiang lovingly patted her head. “Don’t worry, Yue’er. Since you were little, I’ve carefully nurtured you with the goal of making you the mother of the nation one day.
The Seventh Prince’s birth mother was merely a palace maid, and he is frail, sickly, and disabled in both legs. Someone like that isn’t even fit to polish your shoes. I will absolutely not let you marry him.”
It was all because of that vile Consort Xu, who feared that his precious daughter marrying the Third Prince would increase the Third Prince’s influence. She bewitched the Emperor into betrothing his precious daughter to that useless Seventh Prince.
Jiang Qingyue sniffled. “But the imperial decree has already been issued. Where is there any room for change?”
Jiang Wenxiang gave a sinister smile. “Have you forgotten? The decree only says: ‘The Jiang family has a daughter, born on the eleventh day of the seventh month in the eighth year of Changxing, whose eight characters align with those of the Seventh Prince, a match made in heaven…’ Our Jiang family has more than just you born on that day.”
Jiang Qingyue’s eyes lit up.
“Father, are you talking about Fifth Sister?”
Jiang Wenxiang laughed heartily, “Hahaha… Yue’er is indeed clever. By the reckoning of time, she should be arriving soon.”
“Since Fifth Sister has returned, I will go and summon everyone in the household.”
Of course, she would gather everyone to witness the spectacle of that country bumpkin who hadn’t been seen for ten years!
As noon approached, snowflakes began to drift gently from the sky.
The Jiang family’s main hall was filled with laughter and chatter, crowded with people.
Old Lady Jiang sipped her tea, leaning slightly on the soft couch, waiting for Jiang Qingran to come and pay her respects as her grandmother with a kowtow.
“Fifth Young Miss has returned home!”
Following the servant’s announcement, a young maiden slowly stepped inside.
She wore a light cyan soft smoke gauze dress, draped over with a flowing white fox fur cloak.
Her figure was slender and graceful, light as a feather.
Her skin was like congealed cream, her lips as if touched with rouge.
Her eyes, like clear pools, held a myriad of stars, and the plum blossom red mark on her forehead shone brilliantly.
Her long black hair cascaded down, simply tied into a bun at the crown of her head and adorned with a white jade hairpin.
She was as beautiful as Jiutian Xuannü, untouched by worldly dust—peerless in beauty, elegant and ethereal.
Everyone present was stunned. How could this wild girl raised in the countryside be far more beautiful than Jiang Qingyue, who was hailed as the number one beauty in the imperial city?