The third day of the sixth month was a Break Day, suitable for sharpening knives, repairing tools, and slaughtering livestock.
Dayue Capital was decorated with lanterns and colorful banners. The people excitedly crowded along both sides of the main street, the baskets in their hands filled with all kinds of fresh flowers, silk flowers, sachets, eggs, and assorted pastries. They gazed expectantly toward Yong’an Gate.
“They’re here! They’re here!” someone among the people closest to Yong’an Gate suddenly shouted.
Cheers erupted from all around as an army slowly entered the capital through Yong’an Gate.
At the head of the army rode the Grand General of Huaihua, Xu Yuanshan. He was over forty, clad in silver armor and exuding an imposing dignity.
Beside Xu Yuanshan was a young man with handsome, refined features. His armor gave him an additional air of austere killing intent.
He was Xu Yuanshan’s eldest son, the twenty-one-year-old Commandant of Martial Valor, Xu Qiming.
Xu Qiming’s bearing caused the girls by the roadside to blush. One after another, they threw handkerchiefs, silk flowers, and sachets at him, abandoning their usual restraint as they shouted, “Young General! Young General~”
In a private room on the third floor of Spring Dawn Tower beside the main street, a young woman watched this scene through the window, her eyes icy cold.
Beside her, the maid Qinghe pursed her lips. “Miss, look at these girls. It’s as if they’ve never seen a man before. Their eyes are glued to the Young General, and they all wish they could stick themselves onto him.”
Seeing that her young mistress remained unmoved, Qinghe was somewhat puzzled.
Her young mistress had always been madly in love with the Young General. How could she remain so calm now, even as so many women cast flirtatious glances at him and threw sachets at him?
Qingyang, standing nearby, smiled. “Qinghe, the Young General is returning this time to marry Miss. How could those twittering little birds ever catch the Young General’s eye? Stop worrying over nothing.”
Qinghe had been about to retort when she suddenly let out an “Eh?”
“Wait, look! Who’s the man beside the Young General? He looks unfamiliar. He’s rather handsome, too.”
Generally speaking, anyone who could stay by the Young General’s side had to be one of his trusted confidants. Yet Qinghe had never seen this man in the residence.
Perhaps because the man was also quite good-looking, some girls threw silk flowers at him as well.
But the man merely glared at the girls, his eyes filled with anger. Whether intentionally or otherwise, he blocked the silk handkerchiefs the girls threw toward Xu Qiming.
Jiang Youning looked at the man Qinghe had mentioned. A trace of killing intent flashed through her eyes, and the corners of her lips curved upward.
Song Xiuyi, we meet again.
At the very last moment of her previous life, Song Xiuyi had stood before her sickbed holding a bowl of medicine, smiling as she said:
“Sister, since you’re about to leave, I’ll let you be a ghost who dies knowing the truth. I had already become Cousin’s woman while we were at the border. From beginning to end, the only person he loved was me.
“He married you merely to gain a good reputation and obtain what your Jiang family left behind.
“The Xu family has taken care of you for so many years. They couldn’t possibly let those things benefit outsiders.
“Oh, right. In truth, Mother-in-law never liked you. Nor did she like that mother of yours who died so young. Mother-in-law specially had me bring this bowl of medicine to you. It will send you off on your final journey.
“A parasite like you, shamelessly clinging to someone else’s family while no one wants you around, would be better off dying sooner. Then everyone can live happily ever after, don’t you think?
“Still, I have to thank you, Sister. If you hadn’t married Cousin, allowing your father’s former subordinates to serve him, and used the Jiang family’s wealth to manage everything for him, Cousin could never have risen to become a third-rank Cloud-Command General so quickly.
“Sister, you have at least made full use of yourself. The Xu family’s care over all these years has not gone to waste. You can leave in peace.
“But seeing as we were sisters, I’ll tell you one more secret.”
After saying that, Song Xiuyi leaned close to Jiang Youning’s ear and whispered a few words. She then gripped Jiang Youning’s chin forcefully and poured the entire bowl of medicine into her mouth.
In an instant, Jiang Youning felt as though her internal organs were being scorched by branding irons. Every inch of her skin felt as if it were being cut by a blunt knife, and even every breath she drew carried the taste of rust.
Blood flowed from the corners of her eyes, and the world before her turned completely red.
Red like the overwhelming hatred surging in her chest!
Her pupils gradually widened. The pain in her marrow faded away along with the last trace of her consciousness.
But how could hatred fade?
When Jiang Youning regained consciousness, she discovered that she had returned to the day before Xu Yuanshan and Xu Qiming’s triumphant return.
The heavens had given her a chance to live her life over again. How could she let it pass her by?
Very well!
In this life, she would have some fun playing with them.
The suffering she had endured would have to be repaid by the people of the Xu residence—several times over!
She had come today to watch Xu Yuanshan and Xu Qiming return in triumph only to confirm whether Song Xiuyi had returned with them, just as she had in her previous life.
Now that she had confirmed what she wanted to know, it seemed that nothing was different from her previous life. Jiang Youning rose to her feet. “Let’s go.”
Qinghe was full of delight. “Miss, are you going downstairs to welcome the Young General? I prepared quite a few sachets for you. If you give them to the Young General, he’ll certainly be happy. It’ll also show those blind, cheap hussies who the true Young General’s wife is.”
After saying that, Qinghe hurried downstairs first, the sachets she had embroidered herself hanging from her hand.
Jiang Youning watched Qinghe, a faint glimmer passing through her eyes.
In her previous life, she had trusted too deeply in this maid who had accompanied her since childhood. As a result, she had failed to notice that Qinghe’s feelings had long since changed.
That had given Qinghe the opportunity to help Song Xiuyi drug her food and help her pour that final bowl of poison down her throat.
Looking at things now, there had been signs of everything long ago. She could only blame herself for being blind to them in her previous life.
Seeing how anxious Qinghe was, was the sachet truly meant to be given on her behalf—or was Qinghe the one who wanted to give it?
Heh. Since Qinghe wanted to give it, Jiang Youning would let her.
“Qingyang, come with me somewhere.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Qingyang had just been about to call Qinghe back when Jiang Youning stopped her. “Don’t call her. Let her go.”
Qingyang glanced at Jiang Youning and said nothing more. For some reason, she felt that her young mistress had changed, though she could not explain exactly what was different.
But her young mistress was the mistress, while she was merely a servant. She only needed to obey her young mistress.
The entrance to Spring Dawn Tower was packed with people. Qinghe ignored Jiang Youning behind her and pushed forcefully through the crowd.
“Make way, make way! I’m from the General’s Residence. I’m here to give the Young General a sachet.”
Everyone was excited at that moment, and many girls were competing to give the Young General sachets and silk handkerchiefs. Who would pay any attention to Qinghe? Some people even secretly shoved her aside.
Seeing this, Jiang Youning quietly turned around and left Spring Dawn Tower.
“Miss, where are we going?” Qingyang could not help asking.
“You’ll know when we get there.”
When Qingyang saw that her young mistress had brought her to the entrance of Jingzhao Prefecture and removed the imperial proclamation posted on the wall, she felt as though the entire world had gone wrong.
For a moment, Qingyang thought there was something wrong with her eyes. “Miss, this imperial proclamation…”
Before Qingyang could finish speaking, a yamen runner immediately hurried over to Jiang Youning and clasped his hands in salute.
“May I ask which family you are from, young lady? Have you read the contents of the imperial proclamation clearly? Once it has been taken down, you cannot change your mind,” Li Shan said solemnly.
In Dayue, anyone who regretted taking down an imperial proclamation would be sentenced to three years of penal servitude and twenty strokes of the spine staff.
If someone took down the proclamation recklessly without meeting the requirements, they would receive forty strokes of the spine staff. An ordinary person would lose half their life even if they did not die, and might even be left permanently disabled.
Everyone who took down an imperial proclamation did so only after careful consideration.
The young lady before him was dressed unlike an ordinary commoner. A young lady from a wealthy family would certainly be literate. Since she had taken down this imperial proclamation, she must have had her reasons.
Jiang Youning returned his salute. “I am Jiang Youning, the legitimate daughter of the Grand General of Guide, Jiang Congjian. Having taken down this imperial proclamation today, I will not regret it.”
Li Shan froze. He had never imagined that the young woman before him would be General Jiang’s legitimate daughter.
General Jiang had been one of the commanders who followed the late Emperor in establishing Dayue. Brave and skilled in battle, he had been granted the title Grand General of Guide by the late Emperor.
Unfortunately, seven years ago, he and his son Jiang Su had died on the battlefield during a war against Cangwu. Madam Jiang had been devastated and passed away from illness not long afterward, leaving behind only one daughter.
For this reason, the late Emperor had given the Jiang family many rewards. The Jiang family’s legitimate daughter had been adopted by General Xu Yuanshan, a close friend of General Jiang while he was alive. Everyone in the capital knew this.
If this young lady truly was the Jiang family’s daughter, then she indeed had the right to take down the imperial proclamation.
But…
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