Chapter 31 - A Battle At The Doorstep

From the horse carriage, a maidservant assisted her as the rumoured di daughter of the Jiang family finally appeared before the crowd.

However, they saw a girl who was at the spring of youth, wearing plain cotton clothing and a chasteberry wood hairpin. Wearing a worn dark-green coloured cotton-padded jacket that was laden with water caltrop patterns, she had paired it with a light grey coarse cloth skirt. Long tresses were loosely pulled up in a bun with a simple wooden hairpin and two locks of hair had curled by her ears. In contrast with her inky black hair, those dainty and delicate ears that were like white jade, it made one shift their gaze in her direction and widen their eyes to look upon her.

As she slowly raised her head, she revealed a delicate goose-egg shaped face. Jiang Su Su’s skin was already very fair, however, this girl’s skin was even fairer than Jiang Su Su’s, so much so that it seemed to appear as moist and clear as water. Perhaps due to being travel-worn, there were faint traces of a powdery-red flush on her cheeks. As the pair of eyes filled with glossy lustre lightly surveyed her surroundings, the rise on the corner of her eyes seemed to bring out a faintly discernible charm which caused the people around her to only have eyes for her. Jiang Su Su’s dressing was outstanding and made her appear to be incomparably elegant and refined. In comparison, this girl’s dressing was old and worn, however, it still made her appear to be extremely beautiful and gorgeous. It made people unable to help but surmise that if she were to change into brightly coloured clothing, who knew how splendid of an appearance she would have.

Generally speaking, the more beautiful and gorgeous a girl’s looks were, the more likely it was for her appearance to seem gaudy and vulgar. In general, only a style like Jiang Su Su’s, that was elegant and refined, would remain stunning for a long time. Yet, this girl that was wearing plain cotton clothing and a chasteberry hairpin, had extremely beautiful and gorgeous facial features which made her look gentle and reserved. It made her exude an indescribable sense of steadiness that though she had weathered through many hard years that were not insignificant, they were still tinted with steady and beautiful colour. Although she was still young, there was a kind of magnificence and maturity to her conduct.

As she walked steadily towards the Jiang fu’s entrance, people with good eyesight noticed that her skirt did not seem to move a single jot. Looking at the girl walking forward once more, they noticed her back was ramrod straight as she walked step by step and one could not find any flaw in her at all. Initially, they had assumed that the Jiang family’s di daughter, who lived in the countryside residence without any instruction, would inevitably be unable to conduct herself well under public scrutiny. Nonetheless, it seemed that this girl was not only noble and righteous, she also had an excellent upbringing and an outstanding appearance that could actually keep pace with the Jiang family’s second daughter Jiang Su Su.

Xia Yan hurriedly went over, swiftly stood before Jiang Ruan and carefully did a once-over of her. Then, she took her hand and spoke gently, “Good child, you have suffered.”

Jiang Ruan looked at her with a smile on her face, and Xia Yan had tears in her eyes and her gaze was filled with sincerity. If she had not learned a lesson from her past life, Jiang Ruan herself would have nearly been convinced that the other person was treating her sincerely. However, she still lightly remarked, “Jiang Ruan is unfilial and caused mother to be concerned.”

At this moment, Jiang Su Su walked forward as well and with a slant of her head, she sized Jiang Ruan up for a while and laughed, “Jiejie has finally returned home. A few days ago, Mother kept talking about jiejie’s return, and now that we have finally seen you in person, Mother can finally relax too.”

Smiling, Jiang Ruan directed her gaze towards her. Comparing with her memories, Jiang Su Su had remained unchanged. Elegant and exquisite with no flaws, she appeared as innocent and sincere as if she was an otherworldly fairy that was unfamiliar with the ways of the world; as if it was only natural for her to be carefree and without worries. The birthmark below her eye was as vivid as before, yet who knew if it was this resplendently red because of her inhaling the fresh blood of the Zhao family.(Disregarding the over the top language, it means that she played a major role in conspiring against the Zhao family, i.e., JR’s maternal family)

Although she had given herself more than sufficient reminders, at the moment she saw Jiang Su Su, Jiang Ruan still could not help but stop breathing for a short second. She was overcome with huge waves of hatred overflowing her as she looked at this face of guileless and pure benevolence. It was this face that had caused her to bury her entire lifetime and ruin all of her future prospects.

With her sensitive perception, Jiang Su Su had noticed the change in Jiang Ruan’s gaze. She was unsure of what was wrong because even though the other party was smiling, yet, the light in her eyes were incomparably cold as if it was restraining terrifying emotions in them. With a jolt in her heart, Jiang Su Su unconsciously retreated two steps back and the smile on her face also stiffened slightly.

In her heart, Jiang Ruan took deep breaths to calm herself as she smiled, “It’s alright, I have now returned.” Gently saying this, her smile was beautiful and amiable. Yet, it made both mother and daughter feel a strange air of eeriness, as if those words were spoken with a fierce inflection.

The turbulent undercurrents surged, however, the crowd remained unaware. They only remarked that seeing the di daughter and the second daughter of the Jiang family standing together was indeed a sight for sore eyes. One was bright eyed with a brilliant smile that made one unwilling to leave her, the other was slim and delicate with a mild temperament that made one feel tenderness and pity towards her. When the two pretty girls were together, it somewhat deepened one’s impression of Jiang Ruan. Thus, this identity of hers as the Jiang family’s di daughter became irrefutable.

Yet in the crowd by the Jiang fu, a sharp voice made an appearance, “It has been a long time, Da Jiejie has become even more beautiful.”

Jiang Ruan glanced up and looked over. The person speaking was the Jiang family’s shu* daughter of the second concubine, Jiang Li. Her facial features were similar to Jiang Quan’s which were rather harsh and hard, and thus, was lacking womanly gentleness and beauty. As she looked at Jiang Ruan, she suddenly gave a tight smile, “With beautiful looks like Da Jiejie’s, is there a need for you to wear this sort of clothes as a contrast. Unless you were afraid that we sisters would be envious of Jiejie’s clothes and hid them away extremely well.”

*Shù (庶 ) – children born of a concubine, as opposed to those born from the official wife (di).

These comments caused one to conjecture wild and fanciful thoughts and made one think that Jiang Ruan actually wore old clothes on purpose to invite others to scrutinize and gossip about her. The crowd had always enjoyed watching dramatic scenes and knew that there were always plots and schemes in a residence. Therefore, they were extremely interested to see the continued development of the events happening right before their eyes.

Jiang Ruan’s folded hands at her bosom twitched slightly as her smile deepened. Just that the smile did not reach her eyes. As expected, Xia Yan was too anxious. This would become her first successful battle upon returning to the Jiang fu. If she was unable to perfectly resolve what happened today, then she might not be able to have a firm and stable position to fall back on in the upcoming days. Or maybe, in the capital, this reputation of hers as the Jiang family’s di daughter had to be established once more, and thus, would require a new plan.

“It is getting windy outside, and I am worried that mother and sisters will catch a cold. Perhaps we should go into the courtyard to speak instead,” Jiang Ruan lightly spoke. Noticing that she had found an excuse to avoid Jiang Li’s sharp remarks, the crowd was rather disappointed that she did not show the drive that she had initially shown in the law court. So they concluded that perhaps this di daughter of the Jiang family was hoping to pass her days in tranquility. Just then, they heard Jiang Ruan continue, “Lian Qiao, Bai Zhi, you can bring in those chests into the fu too.”

Lian Qiao and Bai Zhi nodded in acknowledgment and the two people lifted the curtains of the horse carriage open. The audience could clearly see that there was only one chest in the horse carriage. Carefully, Lian Qiao and Bai Zhi lifted it out of the carriage. It seemed that they were unable to bear the weight and in a few short steps, they were panting. The people began deducing what sort of treasures could be in it- after all, the Jiang fu could be considered as a rich and powerful noble family. Looking at the current situation, the treasures in the chest were likely immeasurable. Could this di daughter of the Jiang family be trying to fool people and guard her wealth in a pretence to depict herself as pitiful and garner sympathy?

Jiang Li lightly smiled and spoke few sentences to the maid-servant standing to a side. That maid-servant then moved a few steps forward to stand before Lian Qiao. Jiang Li then laughed, “Have a look at the strenuous expressions of Da Jiejie’s two maid-servants, in all likelihood, it is very heavy so why not let Cui Er help you.”

Without waiting for Lian Qiao to let go, Cui Er actively went forward to support the chest. Lian Qiao had yet to relinquish her grip and Cui Er had already moved two steps forward. With a resounding bang, the chest had split into two, right down the middle, and the buckle on top loosened. With that, it dropped and broke open. The lid of the chest had entirely toppled over and half of the things in it completely fell out with a crash.

As the noise caused a stir in everyone’s heart, the smile on Jiang Li’s face grew increasingly joyous. Everyone was stretching their necks to look over the contents. Xia Yan’s mouth opened slightly and Jiang Su Su had a curious expression on her face. The only exception was Jiang Ruan who had let out a light sigh.