Part 1: A Dream Within A Dream / Rebirth of Ill Fated Concubine

Chapter 010 Transformation

Chen Fang and Zhang Lan were laughing. When they heard the words, they looked towards the door. 

They saw three figures coming against the light. The girl in the lead had a thin body wrapped in a large cotton jacket, but she looked strangely delicate. The sunlight made her pale skin crystal clear. It seemed that her facial features became clear overnight. Her eyes were no longer as lifeless as before. There was an indescribable charm at the end of her eyes. Her eyes were like flowing spring water. 

There was no dullness, only a strange agility. She raised her eyebrows, and her voice was clear and pleasant, with a clear coolness: "Madame Lan?"

Zhang Lan suddenly came back to her senses, and even Chen Fang on the side woke up, looking at Jiang Ruan half jealous and half angry. This down-and-out official lady seemed like a different person today. When she looked at her shallow eyes, she didn't even know who she was.

"The young lady is here." Although Zhang Lan said this, she did not move at all. She just tapped her legs tiredly and said, "Today, I finally waited for the chores on the farm to be resolved and had some free time. I wanted to visit the young lady, but I didn't expect that the young lady was not there. I sprained my ankle while looking around, so I rested in the room. Please forgive me for my rudeness."

Lian Qiao's eyes were already spitting fire. Zhang Lan's words seemed impeccable on the surface, but they were blatantly humiliating Jiang Ruan. She was just a servant, but she sat when the master was standing. She really had no sense of respect. 

She wanted to scold her, but when she saw Jiang Ruan's eyes, Lian Qiao suddenly changed her mind and stood quietly beside Jiang Ruan like Zi Su, without saying a word.

Jiang Ruan smiled slightly: "Madam, it's serious. Madam, you have worked hard for the farm, so you should have a good rest. Jiang Ruan feels bad for making Madam so tired. Why not let Jiang Ruan massage Madam's legs, maybe Madam will feel better?"

Zhang Lan listened to Jiang Ruan's words. She felt very comfortable at the beginning, but her face changed when she heard the latter part. After Jiang Ruan finished speaking, she stood up immediately: "Miss, what are you talking about? Miss is the master and I am the servant. Miss, please don't embarrass me. I am very scared."

Jiang Ruan glanced at Zhang Lan, with a hint of surprise in her tone: "Madam can actually stand up. Seeing that Madam is fine, Jiang Ruan is relieved. Otherwise, if Madam is in trouble, Jiang Ruan really doesn't know what to do."

Zhang Lan secretly hated that Jiang Ruan's words just now were obviously to give her face, but if the latter part of the words were spread outside, she would be in trouble. There is no reason for a master to care the legs of a servant. Even if the superior gave a hint, if such a thing were spread, people would only say that she was a servant bullying her master and bringing shame to the Shangshu Mansion. 

The best way is to openly find no faults, but to make things difficult for the other party. She didn't expect that she had been hunting geese all her life, but today a young goose pecked her eyes in the same way. Thinking of this, Zhang Lan looked at Jiang Ruan again. Jiang Ruan only had a faint smile and stood there quietly. There was a feeling that she could not be seen through. 

Zhang Lan immediately felt a subtle fear in her heart. The other party was just a twelve-year-old girl. How could she not see through her? Was she a demon?

Chen Fang on the side could not guess what Zhang Lan was thinking. She only felt that this usually cowardly and vulnerable master looked quite imposing today. Although none of the jewellery she wore could match her own, she was still beautiful and lively. She was immediately jealous and said without thinking, "Miss, you are well now, can walk around. I think you can start embroidering the handkerchief tomorrow. It should be finished after the New Year."

When Jiang Ruan was sent to the farm, Zhang Lan said that everything here could not compare to the prosperity and comfort of the capital. Many things needed to be done by hand. Jiang Ruan was not needed for farm work such as chopping wood on weekdays, but Zi Su and Lian Qiao were enslaved a lot. The two good girls were already covered with calluses at a young age. 

Jiang Ruan herself was not much better off. She did not have to do farm work, but she still had to do embroidery. Every month, she had to hand in 20 embroidered handkerchiefs to the farm to pay for her own expenses. 20 embroidered handkerchiefs were not a small number. Lian Qiao and Zi Su also helped to make some, and they could barely make up the number. However, the patterns were complicated and the embroidery was complex. It was very hard to embroider one by one. Especially at the New Year, 20 pieces became 30 pieces, which was really difficult.

Jiang Ruan smiled lightly: "Of course."

Having hit a soft nail, Chen Fang wanted to embroider Jiang Ruan, but she didn't want the other party to agree to it. She gritted her teeth and said, "Then the young lady will have a hard time. Be careful not to finish it when the time comes and cause trouble."

Jiang Ruan raised her eyebrows: "Madam Lan, the important thing today is the embroidery of handkerchiefs?"

Zhang Lan was stunned and smiled: "Look at this old servant's memory. I want to ask the young lady, the farm is going to send food to the mansion. Does the young lady want to take a letter to the master and his wife?"

Letter? Jiang Ruan's fingertips moved slightly. It had been so long that she almost forgot that during the years she stayed at the manor, she would write letters to Jiang Quan and her elder brother at the end of each year. The content of the letters was nothing more than hoping that they would take her back. Year after year, the letters she sent out fell into the sea without a reply, and what she waited for was the bad news that her elder brother Jiang Xinzhi died in the battlefield. After her elder brother's death, her life actually had no hope.

People who have died once see things more clearly than before. She will no longer pin her hopes on the ruthless and ungrateful Jiang Quan. Instead of waiting to die, it is better to take the initiative. As for the letter, there is no need for it. Jiang Quan will not read it. In the end, it falls into the hands of his daughter, Jiang Susu, which is just a joke for others to add to their tea.

"Father is busy with official duties, so there is no need to write this year." Jiang Ruan looked at her fingertips: "Madam Lan, I don't have any letters to bring."

Zhang Lan was stunned. Jiang Ruan would write letters and bring them back every year. The servants knew whether these letters would work or not, but no one would give up their hopes. Jiang Ruan no longer brought letters back. Was she really discouraged and no longer hopeful?

Zhang Lan looked at Jiang Ruan with some suspicion, but she could not see anything wrong. She barely suppressed her uneasiness. No matter what, the more discouraged Jiang Ruan was, the easier it would be to report to the boss, which was a good thing for her. Then she smiled: "In this case, I will go to prepare the food and take my leave."

After Zhang Lan and Chen Fang left, Zi Su wondered: "Why didn't the young lady send a message? Are you angry with the master?"

"Life is precious, how can I have the time to be angry with him." Jiang Ruan sat down at the table and looked at the pale face of the girl in the rusty bronze mirror: "We are all going back, why send a message? If there is any, just say it directly in person."

"Go back?" Lian Qiao's eyes lit up: "Young lady, have you thought of a way to go back?"

Jiang Ruan stretched out her hand, slowly touched the gap on the edge of the bronze mirror, and smiled faintly.

Of course there is a way, but before leaving, there is still a debt to be collected.

(End of this chapter)

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