The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort (Chapters 1- 203)

Chapter 114 : The Pure-Hearted Xiao Shao

Translated by : Minodayz

Edited by : Anks & Ely

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After returning to Ruan Ju, Jiang Ruan had all the maidservants withdraw. Even Lian Qiao and Lu Zhu did not know what had happened; the only one with any knowledge was Tian Zhu and since she was quite a taciturn person it was difficult to ascertain anything from her expression. So although they were a little bewildered, all of the maidservants still obediently withdrew and left the room, and Jiang Ruan was left alone.

Jiang Ruan sat before the study desk without thinking of anything, and in the blink of an eye, the sky had already darkened. She only felt a slight sting of moodiness as she stood and then left the room. The courtyard in Ruan Ju could not be considered to be large so she walked along the small yard towards a wall of the courtyard and sat leaning against it.

The moon of the summer night was big and round as if it was a massive pearl and it lit up the courtyard very clearly. Jiang Ruan lightly sighed as Xia Yan's words abruptly resurfaced in her mind once more.

It was Jiang Dan, Jiang Dan was the one who had doctored Zhao Mei's tonic daily with poison.

She thought about how prior to her death, back then Third Yiniang had entrusted Jiang Dan to Zhao Mei. Zhao Mei was in charge of the household as the matron of the family, therefore she had felt distressed for Jiang Dan losing her mother at a very young age. Thus, she had indeed treated Jiang Dan as her own biological daughter to dote upon. Although, at the time Jiang Quan had long since treated Zhao Mei quite coldly- Xia Yan seemed to be more like the matron of the family. However, Zhao Mei and the other wives and children in the family had all gotten along harmoniously.

As for Jiang Dan, when she was younger, Jiang Ruan had only thought that this fourth sister of hers was a little too timid. Occasionally, Jiang Dan would be overly clingy towards Zhao Mei that even she(JR) would look over and be a little jealous. However, as she had pondered over it, she reconsidered and assumed that it was just a little girl without her own mother who wanted to rely on her di mother.

But now that she reflected upon the past, she felt a chill all over. Back then, all those poisons that Zhao Mei had ingested were Jiang Dan's doing and not only that, Jiang Dan had also drugged her(JR) too. At this moment, Jiang Ruan finally understood why her body had always felt inefficient; in her early years, she had unknowingly ingested food that had been methodically adulterated with poison. Thinking back, Jiang Dan acted rather timid-like at that time, which meant that in their everyday life, she could not find many opportunities to get close enough to lace her refreshments and snacks with poison. Then later, she had gone to the rural residence otherwise she wasn't sure if she'd still be alive.

Jiang Dan, Jiang Ruan grimaced internally. Although she had long been aware that there was another person well hidden within the fu, she had not expected it to be someone this cruel and unscrupulous. Upon reflecting on her mother's life, it felt like such a joke, and Jiang Ruan could not decide if she felt anger or grief.

She wasn't aware how long she had been leaning against the courtyard wall until she felt her whole body begin to ache. As such, she stood up intending to return to the room, but when she turned her head, she was taken aback. Standing quietly not far away under a tree was a young man dressed in black, silently watching her. It was obvious that he had been there for quite some time.

"You.... have returned," Jiang Ruan stated. Xiao Shao had disappeared a few days ago, and now out of the blue he had randomly surfaced. With so much weighing on her heart, she did not bother to even lash out and rebuke him for his unannounced visit this late in the night.