Аt еightееn, Zhоu Сhujin nearlу fаintеd uроn hearing this. Althоugh thе Cheng fаmily pаtriаrсh Сhеng Хu had retirеd from office due to illnеss tеn yеars аgо, his disсiрles аnd fоrmеr аssоciаtes were sрrеad thrоughout the cоurt and the сommon рорulасе, аnd his lingering influenсе remаinеd. Тhe еldest sоn оf the main brаnсh, Chеng Jing, held a pоsition among thе minоr ninе ministers, just оne step аwау from bеing арроintеd as а сhanсellоr or grand сounсilоr. Сheng Хu оf thе mаin branch, Chеng Shi of the second brаnch, Cheng Zhеng of the third brаnch, Сhеng Gaо of the fourth branch... all were promising scholars. Some had passed the imperial examinations at the county level, while others had earned their names on the provincial examination lists. Which of them was not an outstanding talent of the time? How could there be any talk of the family being raided and exterminated?
Terrified, she barely managed to stop herself from clamping her hand over her younger sister’s mouth.
Could it be that the fall by the lake had caused some sort of damage?
Otherwise, how could her usually obedient and gentle sister be speaking such nonsense?
Zhou Chujin’s heart pounded with fear, but she dared not show the slightest hint of it on her face. Instead, she had to comfort her sister in a soft, gentle voice: “It’s all right, it’s all right. You just had a bad dream!”
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
Her sister, whom she had relied on for survival and shared an intimate bond with, actually didn’t believe her... and even told her with a smiling face that she had merely had a nightmare!
How could a dream feel so real?
Zhou Shaojin refused to believe it.
She anxiously recounted the details of their daily life to her sister, but her sister, with reddened eyes, took her hand and said painfully, “I know, I know. Everything you said is true. But it’s getting late, and you need to rest. Tomorrow morning, I’ll listen to you again, all right?” The tone of dismissal and placation was unmistakable.
Zhou Shaojin’s heart sank.
She didn’t know how to face such a sister and could only escape by looking out the window.
It was dusk, and the evening glow dyed the courtyard a warm orange-yellow. A few young maidservants, still wearing their hair in childish buns, were kicking shuttlecocks in the courtyard, their laughter ringing like silver bells as it echoed lightly through the yard. Old Woman Du, who worked in the kitchen, crossed the courtyard with a smile, carrying a food box. The young maidservants nearly bumped into her. Old Woman Zhao, the sweeper, suddenly appeared from somewhere, rolling up her sleeves as she loudly scolded the young maidservants. The maidservants, frightened, bowed and nodded, hastily begging for mercy. Old Woman Du played the good person, shielding the young maidservants and speaking kindly on their behalf.
The grapevines had already sprouted tender leaves. The roses in the corner of the wall were blooming in full, fiery splendor. Magnolia flowers as large as bowls, white as jade, hung scattered on the tall magnolia tree.
If this was an illusion, then what was she?
Zhou Shaojin felt a chill in her heart.
Could it be that she was wrong?
Looking at her sister, who, despite her anxiety, still appeared calm and steady, Zhou Shaojin suddenly couldn’t be sure whether she had merely had a nightmare, as her sister said, or whether she had truly been reborn, as she believed. Zhou Chujin personally adjusted her sister’s pillow, helped Zhou Shaojin lie down, and said, “Be good. I’ll stay here with you. Close your eyes and sleep. When you wake up, everything will be fine.”
In the end, she still didn’t believe her.
Zhou Shaojin’s feelings were complicated.
Perhaps her sister was right!
She comforted herself and closed her eyes.
In the middle of the night, she was awakened by a nightmare.
Her sister, sleeping beside her, immediately sat up, held her tightly in her arms, patted her back gently, and said softly, “It’s all right, it’s all right. I’m here with you!”
Zhou Shaojin was drenched in sweat. She wanted to say something to her sister, but when she looked up, she caught a flicker of fear in her sister’s eyes.My sister is just an eighteen-year-old girl after all. Living alone in her maternal family's home with her young sister, she too must have moments of panic and fear!
Zhou Shaojin was stunned, realizing for the first time that the sister she had always seen as all-powerful and indestructible was just an ordinary girl—someone who also needed protection and someone to rely on.
Her lips trembled slightly, but in the end, she pressed them tightly together and said nothing.
The next morning, Zhou Chujin left Zhou Shaojin in their room and went to see their grandmother, Old Madam Guan.
Soon, news spread from the main house that Zhou Shaojin had fallen ill. Madam Zhou, the physician who treated the women of the Cheng family, was summoned to the residence. The Fragrant Garden Residence began to fill with the scent of medicinal herbs. Madam Ma Fushan, the stewardess of the Zhou family's inner courtyard, also hurried over. After whispering with Zhou Chujin for a while, she quietly went to several renowned and bustling temples and Taoist monasteries in Jinling City, not only fetching blessed water for Zhou Shaojin but also sacred incense and yellow talisman papers.
Zhou Chujin had Madam Ma Fushan stay overnight in the courtyard.
In the middle of the night, they rose to burn the yellow talisman papers.
Awakened by a nightmare, Zhou Shaojin stood by the window, silently watching the flames blaze brightly before extinguishing without a sound. She then turned back to bed and closed her eyes.
Perhaps this is for the best?
Why argue with her sister over such matters, causing her worry and fear, and damaging their sisterly bond?
But whenever she was startled awake by nightmares in the dead of night, she couldn’t help but think: if her experiences were real, then the Cheng family would be raided and exterminated. Her grandmother, uncles, cousins, even the maids and servants who had attended to her, the stewards and attendants who had worked for her—every Cheng family member she knew would die!
Could she really bury her heart and pretend to know nothing?
Her grandmother’s nurturing kindness, her sister’s deep affection, her eldest uncle’s righteous support, and the kindness of her eldest aunt, Cousin Gao, and Cousin Yi—could she really cast all of that aside and ignore it?
The mere thought left Zhou Shaojin panicked, horrified, and filled with lingering fear, making it impossible for her to close her eyes again.
She decided to uncover the truth, which was why she seized every opportunity to observe her surroundings behind her sister’s back.
She never expected that her silence would not bring her sister peace of mind. Instead, her sister had secretly gone to a temple alone to pray for her, keeping it even from their grandmother. Moved and saddened, Zhou Shaojin felt even more relieved.
Thankfully, she hadn’t insisted in front of her sister that she had been reborn. Otherwise, her sister, believing she was possessed, would have been utterly heartbroken and despairing.
She couldn’t help but sigh softly, suddenly struck by an idea.
Since she didn’t want to clash with her sister but feared missing the chance to save the Cheng family, why not quietly investigate in private whether she had merely had a nightmare or truly been reborn?
If everything she knew came to pass, wouldn’t that prove she had been reborn? Conversely, if none of it happened, wouldn’t that prove it was just a nightmare?
Zhou Shaojin’s eyes suddenly brightened.
She was now twelve years old… What had happened when she was twelve?
Zhou Shaojin sank into deep thought.In June, it seemed Cheng Lu would pass the county-level imperial examination with the sixth rank, earning the qualification of a stipendiary scholar... In August, her father was suddenly promoted to the prefect of Baoding. Although both were fourth-rank positions and both were prefects, Baoding Prefecture belonged to Northern Zhili and was a crucial route south from the capital. As long as no mistakes were made, a promotion was just around the corner. Both Uncle Mian and her grandmother were delighted... Later, her grandmother celebrated her fifty-sixth birthday. Cheng Lu’s mother, Madam Dong, came to offer birthday greetings and, in front of several elderly ladies of the Cheng family, held her hand and praised her for being gentle, humble, and well-suited for marriage. Cheng Jia even teased her about it, saying that although she was younger, she was more eager, already thinking about marriage at such a young age...
Thinking of Cheng Jia, a face flashed through her mind, and Zhou Shaojin suddenly sat up in shock.
How could she have forgotten such a person, such an event?
On the twelfth day of the fourth month this year, it was the eightieth birthday of the Cheng family’s second branch’s patriarch, Cheng Xu. The Cheng family made a grand celebration for the occasion, inviting not only relatives and friends but also disciples and long-standing acquaintances. Even Yuan Weichang, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Scholar of the Wenyuan Hall, and Minister of Personnel, who was far away in the capital, sent his eldest son to deliver birthday gifts.
Wu Baozhang first appeared in the Cheng family just before the patriarch’s grand birthday celebration!
Zhou Shaojin’s expression turned grim, and her hands involuntarily clenched tightly together.
Wu Baozhang’s father, Wu Xiu, assumed the position of Jinling Prefect in September of the seventeenth year of Zhide. However, Jinling was known as the "land of southern beauties, the imperial capital of Jinling," making its geographical location extremely important. Wu Xiu came from a humble background and had no powerful backing in the court aside from a brother-in-law serving as a supervising secretary in the Ministry of Works. He had only managed to secure the position of Jinling Prefect through a stroke of luck. As the local official of Jinling, he had to contend with the hereditary Duke guarding Jinling above him, the prominent noble families below him who had produced high-ranking officials or great scholars, and his subordinate, the magistrate of Jiangning County, Liu Mingju, who had a complicated background and coveted his prefect position.
He dared not offend any of them, and none were easy to deal with.
His situation was quite difficult.
To retain his position as prefect, after the Spring Festival, the Wu couple began frequently visiting the influential households of Jinling. To gain entry into the Cheng family, Wu Baozhang’s stepmother, Madam Guan, upon learning that Old Madam Guan shared her surname, even claimed Old Madam Guan as her "aunt," beginning to socialize with the fourth branch of the Cheng family.
When Madam Wu brought Wu Baozhang to visit, her grandmother had asked her and her sister to meet the guests.
Calculating the days, it should have been around this time.
Zhou Shaojin bit her lip and called out loudly for Shi Xiang.
Having stayed up late again the previous night, Shi Xiang had been dozing off against the doorpost in the hall. Hearing the call, she immediately rushed in.
"Second Miss, you’re awake!" she said cheerfully, pulling back the bed curtains. "Shall I help you freshen up? The kitchen made your favorite crystal cakes and assorted tofu soup today. Should I have the maids bring breakfast?"
Zhou Shaojin ignored her and asked, "What’s the date today?"
Shi Xiang was momentarily taken aback before hurriedly replying, "Today is the twenty-fourth of March."
That meant there were still twenty days until the patriarch’s birthday.
But Zhou Shaojin had no recollection at all of which day Wu Baozhang had come to visit.She only remembered Wu Baozhang as having a medium build, a round face, fair skin, large eyes, and willow-leaf eyebrows, with a grain-sized cinnabar mole between her brows. When she smiled, she appeared quite reserved, but when she looked at people, her gaze would flicker slightly, making one feel that she was not the type to rigidly follow rules without knowing how to adapt.
Zhou Shaojin, encountering someone with a cinnabar mole between their brows for the first time in her life, was very curious. While the elders were speaking, she widened her eyes and occasionally glanced at Wu Baozhang.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Wu Baozhang turned around and smiled at her, speaking to her in a gentle tone. By the time of the Dragon Boat Festival, she had even sent handmade zongzi and embroidered five-poison sachets as holiday gifts to her and her sister.
Gradually, they began to interact more frequently.
Thinking Wu Baozhang was quite decent, Zhou Shaojin introduced her to Cheng Jia.
Afterward, Wu Baozhang began to frequent the third household and gained the favor of Madam Zheng, the eldest daughter-in-law of the second household. She earned a reputation for being virtuous and proper, establishing her footing in the social circles of Jinling's noblewomen...
※
To align with the chapter content, adjustments have been made to the chapter titles and such...
※
;
OpenNovel