Rongguo Estate:
After receiving Jia Yuanchun’s letter, Lady Wang pondered the matter for a while before bringing the letter to Rongxi Hall to see Lady Jia. “Mother, Eldest Miss sent a letter. Your daughter-in-law could not decide on her own, so I came to consult Mother.” With that, she pulled the letter from her sleeve and handed it to Lady Jia.
Curious, Lady Jia took it, unfolded the pages, and read through them before her brows furrowed slightly. “Since Yuanjie said so, there is no harm in looking for her. If she is found, perhaps it can bring some benefit to our Yuanjie. If she is not found, nothing is amiss, aside from wasting a bit of time and effort.” She knew Lady Wang had always cared deeply about Jia Yuanchun; if it were a trivial matter, there would be no need to consult her directly, so she asked, “Is there some problem?”
Lady Wang glanced at Yuanyang standing beside Lady Jia. Understanding the look, Lady Jia motioned for Yuanyang to step outside. Yuanyang offered a respectful curtsy and withdrew. Once the doors were closed, Lady Wang lowered her voice and said, “Mother does not know this, but as for the birth characters requested by Prince Jing, your daughter-in-law found them strangely familiar. Upon careful thought, I recalled that those characters match Concubine Zhou’s remarkably well.”
Because Concubine Zhou was not born within the household and had been purchased into the estate years ago specifically to serve as Jia Zheng’s concubine, Lady Wang had glanced at her birth chart back then to ensure it did not clash with Jia Zheng’s. That was why she found them familiar upon seeing them today. Before coming to see Lady Jia, she had already checked Concubine Zhou’s slave contract, confirming that the characters matched perfectly. However, because Concubine Zhou’s status was that of Jia Zheng’s concubine, Lady Wang had come to seek Lady Jia’s decision.
After all, she was her son’s concubine; presenting her to another household inevitably carried the suspicion of currying favor with the powerful elite. If word leaked out, Jia Zheng might well acquire the shameless reputation of a climber crawling upward by any means necessary. Lady Jia found herself momentarily undecided, she wished to help Jia Yuanchun, yet she did not want to splash muddy water onto Jia Zheng’s reputation.
Sensing Lady Jia’s hesitation, Lady Wang stepped forward to persuade her, “Mother, in ordinary times, a family of our standing would never need to send away a domestic concubine to curry favor with a prince. It is simply a matter of having no other choice under these desperate circumstances.” Seeing Lady Jia remain silent, she knew her words had struck home, so she continued, “Now that Yuanjie is trapped in Prince Jing’s estate with no way out, as her mother, I yearn day and night for her to no longer waste her youth in vain. In the future, whether she returns home or takes another step forward, either path would be good.” Mentioning Jia Yuanchun brought tears to Lady Wang’s eyes, deeply moving even Lady Jia. Was she not thinking the exact same thing? Right now, the young men in the family were completely useless, so why else would she force her Yuanjie to go to such an unsightly place?
Lady Jia let out a weary sigh and said, “When Zheng’er returns tonight, you two husband and wife should come over together. I, this old woman, will be the one to speak to him about this matter.”
Lady Wang wiped away her tears, stood up, and bowed to Lady Jia. “Thank you, Mother.” With Lady Jia taking the blame to speak of it, she and her husband could avoid generating marital discord.
Prince Jing’s Estate:
Gu Zhaoyan was performing acupuncture to purge the toxins from Jinyu’s body while Prince Jing watched from the side. Seeing the pitch-black blood flowing out through the silver needles, he couldn’t help feeling deeply astonished, the fury in his heart blazing like volcanic magma. He was currently investigating the matter of Jinyu’s poisoning and Gu contamination, and having already made some headway, he expected to uncover the full truth before long.
“She has already sent the news back. So long as she has the intention, she will eventually come to see me of her own accord,” Prince Jing remarked, touching upon the movements within the Rongguo Estate. “Come to think of it, Jia Yuanchun can be considered your elder sister. What are your plans regarding her? Do you wish for me to grant her release to return home?”
Gu Zhaoyan began pulling the silver needles from Jinyu’s body, shaking his head at the question. “No. Although we are siblings, there is no real emotional bond between us. If she does not wish to return home, it will inevitably end in resentment. Best to wait and see what she intends to do.”
At that, Prince Jing noted, “Back then, Jia Yuanchun was selected to enter the palace, and owing to Noble Consort Zhen, she ended up winding up at my estate through various twists and turns. I can see that even though she is unwilling, she has no choice but to take a gamble. If I were to ask, she likely wishes to reenter those heavy palace walls once and for all.” When all was said and done, it simply stemmed from the Rongguo Estate’s daily decline and the lack of capable male heirs in the household. Though the reigning Emperor still showed a measure of benevolence toward these noble families, once the new emperor ascended the throne, any misstep would spell disaster.
Recalling the ultimate fate of the Rongguo Estate from the original text, Gu Zhaoyan didn’t quite know what to say for a moment. He thought to himself, that ending was merely written by an outsider, perhaps reality will not unfold this way? After all, Jia Zheng was still his biological father, at worst, he could properly settle them comfortably when the time came to resolve this circle of karma.
Gu Zhaoyan scooped the sleeping Jinyu out of the wooden tub, while Prince Jing dried the water droplets from the boy’s skin, wrapped him snugly in a blanket, and carried him over to place him on the bed. After instructing the servants to tend to him carefully, Prince Jing stepped outside together with Gu Zhaoyan.
“The Master is truly a miraculous physician. After just two rounds of detoxifying treatments, my son’s health has improved immensely,” Prince Jing praised.
Gu Zhaoyan smiled. “It is also thanks to the potent efficacy of Your Highness’s medicinal ingredients, otherwise we could not have replenished his internal deficiencies so swiftly.”
Hearing this, Prince Jing chuckled. “As royalty, we naturally keep some rare medicinal herbs on hand. If the Master has any needs, feel free to take whatever you require from the storeroom. Saving my son’s life is far more precious than these herbs.”
“Since the Prince puts it that way, this poor monk will not stand on ceremony.” Conversing and smiling, Gu Zhaoyan and Prince Jing gradually walked into the distance.
As night began to fall, the moment Jia Zheng returned, he was summoned by Lady Wang, and the two of them went together to see Lady Jia.
“I wonder what mother summoned your son for?” Jia Zheng offered a bow to Lady Jia before taking a seat in the chair below her.
Lady Jia waved all the servants out of the room before speaking. “A few days ago, Yuanjie sent word that Prince Jing is looking for someone whose birth characters match the little prince’s so she may go before the Buddha to cultivate and pray.”
Hearing this, Jia Zheng nodded. “Indeed, such a matter exists. But what does it have to do with Yuanjie? Is it worth troubling your old ears with it?”
“Yuanjie originally thought of having you help search so as to share the Prince’s worries. But I never expected that the moment I saw those birth characters, they looked remarkably like Concubine Zhou’s. Hence, I asked your wife to check, and sure enough, they match Concubine Zhou’s characters identically.” Lady Jia lifted her eyelids to glance at Jia Zheng, and seeing his furrowed brows, she finished her remaining words, “This is a good thing. Concubine Zhou practices Buddhism daily and possesses deep affinity with the Buddha, she can surely help Prince Jing’s little prince pray and cultivate before the Buddha.”
“Inappropriate!” Jia Zheng refused without a second thought, his expression turning rather unsightly. “Concubine Zhou is my concubine, how can she replace the little prince to cultivate and pray before the Buddha? Furthermore, if people found out that I sent away my own concubine just to curry favor and attach myself to a prince, what face would I have left to present to the world? Inappropriate, highly inappropriate.”
Hearing him speak thus, Lady Wang couldn’t hold back her soft weeping as she protested, “My lord only cares about your own face, yet you never once thought of our Eldest Miss. She is already twenty-two years old, if she continues to idle away her youth in Prince Jing’s estate like this, will she not waste her life away entirely?” As everyone knew, Prince Jing had no intention of remarrying, nor did he show any fondness for women, his estate didn’t even have a single concubine’s maid in waiting. No matter how much longer Jia Yuanchun stayed in Prince Jing’s estate, it would be of no use whatsoever.