abcnovels
Chapter 226
Chapter 226
... in the Capital City.0
The cold came earlier.0
Old Madam Meng had put on her full makeup early in the morning.0
She was a First-rank Imperially-Conferred Lady.0
Her ceremonial robe was large and thick.0
The golden jewelry on her hat was piled high, heavy enough to make her neck problems worse than others'.0
Looking at his well-dressed mother, Meng Qingshe was startled.0
"Mother, are you going to the palace for an audience with the Emperor? His Majesty hasn't been seeing people lately, I haven't seen him in a long time. I hear he's only meeting with all sorts of strange and mystical people."0
Old Madam Meng tossed back the pearl curtain on her hat.0
"What audience? All that kneeling and bowing is exhausting. I'm going to avenge my daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law."0
My old man is still suffering in the frontier, braving the northwest wind so you can all live good lives, fighting life and death battles, bayonet combat, bloody knife fights.0
How can we let our family be bullied by some nobody female mystic?0
What Liu family adopted daughter? The Liu family is nothing, they have to kowtow before me.0
What princess's good friend? Princesses have to be polite when they see me.0
I don't care if you're some immortal or goddess.0
You dare speak ill of me?3
Anyway, my reputation in the capital is already bad. This old lady hasn't made a move in many years, those people may have forgotten why my reputation is bad. Is it because my temper is too good?0
Early in the morning, the First-rank Imperially-Conferred Lady set out grandly in her carriage, leading a troop of people escorting a huge object covered in red cloth, heading majestically towards the residence of the Liu family's divine woman.0
The people of the capital love a spectacle.0
The shocking news that the divine woman said the Meng family would end without heirs had already spread everywhere.0
Some people with too much time on their hands and nothing better to do delighted in hearing such bad news about the nobility.0
In truth, they had no grudge or enmity, and weren't even clear on what the Meng family had done for the country and people.0
They just blindly followed what others said.0
How many good people could there be among the powerful and wealthy?0
No heirs?0
That must mean they've done too many evil deeds.0
Heavy with murderous energy, they deserve it.0
He must be a bad person, otherwise how could he have no heirs?0
Then they started talking about the divine woman's feats again.0
The divine woman looked at a man and said there was an official aura above his head, crimson in color. Sure enough, not long after, that man was promoted, even jumping up two ranks.0
There were also cases of her seeing women's marriage fortunes and such.0
All extremely accurate.0
The divine woman certainly wouldn't lie.0
When people saw Old Madam Meng wearing her official robes and sending a cart of gifts, reportedly to see the divine woman, they wondered if she was offering heavy tribute to ask for her fate to be changed?0
It can't be changed, didn't the divine woman say their murderous energy was too heavy?0
People followed along to watch the excitement.0
A grand procession.0
...0
At a residence on the west side of the city.0
The exterior was unremarkable.0
But the interior was very luxurious.0
With pavilions, towers and halls.0
Land in the capital was extremely valuable.0
But this residence Chu Xi had acquired for her, though not in the best eastern part of the city, was impeccable in every other way.0
The east was for nobility, the west for the wealthy.0
Since arriving in the capital, Jiang Wan's life had become spectacular.0
She took to it like a fish to water.0
As if all her previous suffering had been preparation for this moment of blossoming.0
"When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on any man, it will exercise his mind with suffering, subject his sinews and bones to hard work, expose his body to hunger, put him to poverty, place obstacles in the paths of his deeds, so as to stimulate his mind, harden his nature, and improve his ability."0
This saying resonated deeply with Jiang Wan.0
She had lived it step by step.0
The days and nights of despair, confusion and fear she once experienced in Ming County were exchanged for her brilliant success in the capital.0
Even the matter with Young Master Liu was easily resolved.0
Except that Young Master Liu was still infatuated with her, privately insisting he would marry no one else, the Liu parents very shamefacedly adopted her as their daughter.0
Open and proper, with full dignity.0
As expected, Chu Xi was still attracted to her, though he tried hard to restrain himself and never said it out loud. But the conditions in this residence kept improving, the gifts she received kept increasing, even more attentive than she had seen in her dreams.0
Everything was developing well.0
And according to what Princess He'an revealed, her father the Emperor also wanted to meet her, and would likely summon her for an audience. She should prepare herself to respond well.0
These past few days she hadn't attended any banquets, quietly waiting at home.0
She had resumed her daily routine of copying Buddhist sutras, reading books, burning incense, and playing the zither.0
With her grandmother by her side, well cared for, she had also recovered a lot.0
Having abandoned her grandmother once, then twice, Jiang Wan would never do such a thing again.0
Because she discovered that having an elder by her side made everyone praise her for being filial, giving her a natural advantage.0
If she were truly alone, it wouldn't look right.0
Sometimes bad things aren't necessarily bad.0
It was just that with winter coming, grandmother's chest pains flared up daily. When in pain, her temper worsened, erupting every day, which was quite vexing.0
Jiang Wan got some expensive pain-relieving powder for grandmother to inhale.0
Grandmother had been quieter these past two days.0
Otherwise she would curse Jiang Changtian non-stop, sometimes cursing her eldest son too, and cursing the fickle Wu. If not for her, how could her oldest son have become a monk? How could Rong'er have drowned? How could that bitch Wu still have the face to live, she should die.0
As for the daughter Wu took away, Old Lady Jiang never mentioned her.0
It was said she had changed her name to Han Shu, and Heir Apparent Han doted on this daughter his concubine brought excessively, treating her like a true princess.0
He had taken her to wander the imperial palace since she was small.0
She had even ridden on the back of the head eunuch who served the Emperor.0
Mischievous and causing trouble without restraint, the current Emperor must be going senile, he didn't favor his real princesses much, but not only doted on Heir Apparent Han, he was also extremely fond of this daughter who suddenly appeared, reportedly Han Shu had even climbed onto the dragon throne and tugged the Emperor's beard.4
This was all witnessed by court officials.0
Old Lady Jiang cursed Wu, but was very clear-headed, never once mentioning bringing Shu'er back.0
Today was bitterly cold.0
Jiang Wan paid her respects to grandmother and lit some pain-relieving powder for her.0
"Grandmother, it's cold and you're coughing again. I got some good pears yesterday, I'll stew them myself for you to eat, it can help stop the cough."0
Old Lady Jiang closed her eyes and nodded slightly.0
Old Lady Jiang had an extremely strong desire for control all her life. She never imagined Wan'er would abandon her and run away. She said there was an accident or something, but Wan'er had been clever since childhood, if she didn't want to, how could such an accident happen?0
Old Lady Jiang still felt estranged in her heart, but at this point, as an old woman with no new support, she could only pretend to be muddled.0
The finest snow pears, very large. Delicate white fingers holding a small silver spoon to scoop out the pear cores, removing them and adding in fritillary bulbs and rock sugar, to be stewed as a cough remedy.0
She was actually making it specially for Cousin Chu Xi.0
It was said that Chu Xi was mischievous as a child, and was once punished to kneel by his stepmother. In the cold of winter, he caught a chill and developed a chronic condition, so he was prone to coughing when the weather turned cold in winter.0
In her dreams, she had searched everywhere for prescriptions to stop Chu Xi's cough, finally discovering that stewed pears worked best. It wasn't that the medicinal effect was strongest, but that cousin was willing to eat this - he was reluctant to take medicine, probably having some aversion to it deep down.0
In any case, this was how Jiang Wan was - when she wanted to be good to someone, she would take care of them meticulously in every way.0
It wasn't without reason that she was able to become Empress in her past life.0
This time, although things had deviated a bit at the start, everything was back on track now, even better than before.0
As she finished preparing the third pear, a servant came to report.0
Old Madam Meng, the First-rank Imperially-Conferred Lady, had come to deliver gifts.0
Jiang Wan unhurriedly prepared the fourth pear. In her past life, although she was also a noble lady, she was inferior to others in every way in the capital. Everyone there was a noble lady, all with better family backgrounds than hers.0
She had to be cautious, afraid of making any misstep.0
This time, everyone was cautious around her, afraid of saying the wrong thing in front of her.0
Jiang Wan spoke of the Meng family with righteous confidence, because that was how things should have ended up.0
When she was imprisoned and tortured at the Jiang residence, she had told them everything, but in the end Jiang Changtian still wanted to kill her. Even though she had already seen Chu Xi, with hope right before her eyes, he still wouldn't let her go.0
Unexpectedly, even Heaven helped her in the end.0
There was actually an earthquake.0
Even more miraculously, the earthquake happened right in front of her, but didn't harm her in the slightest.0
From that moment on, Jiang Wan felt that she was someone protected by Heaven.0
She would set things right and become the ultimate winner.0
As for Jiang Changtian saying he had given her a secret drug from Shangqiu Convent, it was indeed a thorn in Jiang Wan's heart, because she found that she was indeed much more beautiful now than at this time in her previous life.0
Everyone who saw her was amazed.0
But as long as she could enter the imperial palace and become the final victor, the imperial family also had some secret medicines.0
Wasn't that why Zi Lu rebelled, to get secret medicine to cure his son?0
In this life, his son hadn't even died yet, but he himself was dead.0
A youth who couldn't speak wouldn't cause any big waves, so it didn't matter.0
As for Old Madam Meng, Jiang Wan felt some disgust towards her. In her previous life, when discussing marriage, she was technically the unmarried granddaughter-in-law. Later, after Meng Shaoxia died in battle and she became the crown prince's concubine, Old Madam Meng actually slapped her in front of everyone when she went out to attend an event.0
This also made her the subject of mockery for a long time.0
In this life, she would have her revenge.0
After slowly carving all six pears, she instructed the servants to steam them before changing her clothes to greet the guests.0
After all, she was a First-rank Imperially-Conferred Lady, and she had to show some respect.0
As for saying unpleasant things, they shouldn't blame her. After all, fate was predetermined.0
When Jiang Wan finished dressing up and went out to greet the guests, the entrance was already crowded with commoners watching the spectacle.0
"The goddess's memorial tablet is so grand!"0
"Even a First-rank Imperially-Conferred Lady has to wait this long."0
"That tall cart of gifts covered with red cloth, what could it be? Could it be coral? I heard coral is more expensive than gold. Being so tall, it must be worth a fortune."0
"Those rich people just earn their money through sinful means."0
"It might be a jade tree. My second aunt's cousin works as a servant in a prince's household and said she's seen one. A tree made of jade, with leaves so green they look real, fruits made of gemstones, and a trunk of gold... tsk tsk."3
The cold wind blew, but it couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the onlookers.0
The First-rank Imperially-Conferred Lady, Old Madam Meng, sat in her carriage at the entrance, allowing others to point and comment, her dark old face showing no concern.0
This only served to highlight the goddess's high status.0
The commoners chatted excitedly.0
"Even a First-rank Imperially-Conferred Lady has to wait obediently."0
Finally, as all eyes were fixed and the spectators' noses began to run from the cold wind, the door opened.0
The crowd saw the legendary goddess.0
"Wow!"0
"Ah!"0
Exclamations rang out as everyone felt the wait was worth it.0
The goddess was indeed divine, exuding an otherworldly aura even from afar. She was breathtakingly beautiful.0
It wasn't an ordinary kind of beauty, but something indescribable and mystical. Everyone's gaze was irresistibly drawn to her, as if she were the only person in sight.0
Jiang Wan politely greeted Old Madam Meng.0
However, Old Madam Meng didn't get out of her carriage. She simply said, "I heard you said my Meng family would have no descendants. I think you're young and spoke carelessly to attract attention, without thinking it through. Now that I'm here in person, are you willing to take back your words and explain properly? I've prepared a generous gift for you."0
Jiang Wan smiled, "I'm sorry, Old Madam Meng, but fate cannot be changed. One can accept fate, but not alter it. It's better to do more good deeds and accumulate virtues."0
The crowd laughed.0
This goddess telling the old lady to do more good deeds and accumulate virtues implied that she had done many unscrupulous things in the past.0
Old Madam Meng wasn't angered. She said, "If that's the case, then I'll take my leave. However, since the gift has been brought here, there's no reason to take it back. You can predict marriage fortunes for young ladies and future prospects for young men, but you shouldn't joke recklessly about the fate of the nation. My Meng family has guarded the borders for generations. If we were to have no descendants, there's only one possibility – dying in battle for the country. If all the men in my Meng family were to die, would you all still have the chance to stand here?"0
Old Madam Meng's carriage turned and left.0
Her words shocked the crowd, leaving their faces pale and uncomfortable.0
Jiang Wan also felt a bit embarrassed. This old woman had blown things out of proportion. She had spoken about the Meng family, but the old lady had elevated her family to such heights, seemingly unafraid of a great fall.0
The soldiers bringing the gift lifted the red cloth and removed the lid.0
The curious crowd craned their necks to look, only to smell an unbearably foul odor.0
This tall, large barrel was actually filled with nightsoil.4
The soldiers forcefully tipped the barrel over in front of Jiang Wan. She dodged quickly, but her shoes were still splattered with yellowish-brown stains.0
The man-high barrel of nightsoil spilled more than half its contents into the courtyard, flooding the path and covering the flowers and grass.0
The soldiers then took large ladles and evenly spread the remaining contents on the main gate.0
Old Madam Meng had said it was to ward off bad luck, fighting poison with poison. If someone couldn't speak kind words, they could only be smeared with excrement.0
As the carriage rolled away, the fully made-up Old Madam Meng sat with a straight back, moving forward without hesitation.0
...0