Chapter 191: She Wants to Take a Desperate Gamble

In the dead of night, Mu Jiang couldn't sleep.

The weather was fine—not a wisp of cloud in the night sky. A bright moon hung high beyond the back window, casting snowy moonlight across the window lattice.

Mu Jiang dragged a chair over, sat down beneath the back window, and watched the tree branches sway with the moon shadows.

Her mind kept circling back to what Nanny Sun had said to her when she'd first gone to the ancestral hall.

“...Such a pity. He should have been a crown prince.”

Those words rang out crystal clear.

Mu Jiang had revisited them countless times. Between the Grand Lady's attitude, Third Brother's behavior, and the emperor's murderous intent toward the imperial physician, she finally understood.

She had thrown up more than once.

Really thrown up—body and soul defiled, making her retch until she nearly brought up yellow bile.

She had wept bitterly, too.

She had even tried to end her own life.

Mu Jiang was no ordinary adopted daughter. She had lived in the Grand Lady's warm chamber well into her teens—she was the most honored young lady of the entire Duke of Chen's mansion.

Her clothing, food, and everyday expenses were modeled after a princess.

Before Zhou Yuanshen inherited the title, Mu Jiang had already set her sights on him. She thought he was worthy of her. He was handsome, silent, tall, and capable. Even if he never got the dukedom, the emperor and the Grand Lady would give Mu Jiang a generous dowry so they could live well together.

Then the family's heirs all died, and Zhou Yuanshen became the Duke of Chen.

Mu Jiang still remembered that night. She'd been so excited she didn't sleep a wink.

She kept saying, "My judgment is really good."

The man she'd chosen had risen through adversity to gain power and status, and they would share in the glory together.

She expressed her feelings to him.

He frowned, dodged her simply and bluntly; from then on, Mu Jiang could hardly ever get near him. When he wanted to slip away, he was as smooth as an eel—impossible to catch.

But in Mu Jiang's heart, he already belonged to her.

She went to ask the Grand Lady whether they could be betrothed. The Grand Lady said at the time: "Of course not. If you like Yuanshen, I'll let you be his concubine."

Mu Jiang thought the Grand Lady was joking.

She was Mu Jiang, the orphan girl the emperor had picked up—she was like a princess.

And she had been raised personally by the Grand Lady.

What elite family couldn't she marry into? Why become a concubine? It was absurd.

"Then I'd rather marry into some outside family," Mu Jiang said petulantly.

The Grand Lady smiled faintly. "Childish talk. A-Jiang, your grandmother has always doted on you. You wouldn't force me to use your deed of indenture to keep you in line, would you?"

Deed of indenture.

Two words, and all of Mu Jiang's vanity shattered into nothing.

She stared at the Grand Lady in disbelief.

Wasn't she like a princess? How could she still have a deed of indenture?

That was when Mu Jiang understood: she was merely an orphan girl the Grand Lady had raised. If she was obedient, the Grand Lady would hold her up high; if she wasn't, she had a deed that could be sold at will.

Accepting this wasn't easy.

Mu Jiang compromised and moved out of the Grand Lady's Shou'an Courtyard to Lijing Yard.

Her treatment didn't change much. She was still the most honored young lady of the Zhou family—all the best food and finest things went to her first.

The First Lady and Second Lady both had to pamper and revere her like a precious daughter.

A girl raised in a honey pot all her life had little backbone and no spine. Mu Jiang simply accepted it.

Nanny Sun once told her: "The proper wife of the Duke's mansion must come from a distinguished family. Her natal clan needs influence to support the Zhou family in mutual alliance—that's the purpose of marriage."

The man she'd set her heart on would marry some lady of noble birth.

Mu Jiang thought: among all the fine ladies in the capital, how many lived better than she did?

But that wasn't right.

She hardly knew any aristocratic women of high rank. She was so honored, and everyone in the mansion fawned over her—yet few people outside sent her invitations to visit.

So...

Did all the great families know perfectly well that she was just an "orphan girl"?

She could eat well and drink well, but she bore no bloodline of a great house, and there was no family behind her. So she had no value worth cultivating.

Perhaps that was exactly what the Grand Lady had put out word about.

Mu Jiang should have woken up then.

But she didn't.

A person won't turn back until they've reached the edge of the cliff. Mu Jiang still held onto a great deal of hope—she still had a brighter future ahead.

Until she reached this point.

Has she resigned herself now?

Mu Jiang pressed a hand to her chest. No, she hadn't.

She had once carried a "crown prince" in her womb. She could walk a wider, broader road.

Once she succeeded, she would vent every ounce of her anger.

The Grand Lady who deceived her, Cheng Zhao who humiliated her, and cold-hearted Zhou Yuanshen—they were all her enemies.

She would make them wish they were dead!

"Madam, aren't you asleep yet?" asked the maid on night duty.

Moonlight filled the room. Seeing her sitting there, the maid fetched an outer robe and came over, draping it over her shoulders.

Mu Jiang couldn't be bothered to look at her.

"I'm going to sleep," she said.

"Tomorrow morning you're to go to Shou'an Courtyard for breakfast and accompany the Grand Lady in chanting sutras. I'll call you then. Please rest easy," the maid said.

Mu Jiang lay down quietly and said only after a long pause: "No need to call me tomorrow. I won't go to Shou'an Courtyard. Tell the Grand Lady for me."

The maid was briefly startled.

Then she acknowledged the order, not daring to argue.

Mu Jiang closed her eyes.

She wouldn't be living in this courtyard for much longer. Soon, she would move into the palace.

Even if it disgusted her to serve the man she'd always thought of as her "father," she could do it.

Once she gained power, her days of glory would begin.

Actually, thinking about it, this path was easier to walk.

If she had another son in the future, and with the Zhou family's support her son became crown prince and then emperor, she would be the Empress Dowager.

And then, Zhou Yuanshen would probably love her even more, wouldn't he?

Mu Jiang fell asleep.

During the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Duke of Chen's mansion had nothing pressing to do—all the preparations had long been finished. No business was conducted that day. Cheng Zhao's stewards were all given leave, while Huan Qingtang's stewards were on duty; some sat down and immediately began making snide remarks, insinuating that Huan Qingtang was incompetent.

At noon, a table of food and wine was laid out in Jiangyun Yard.

The second branch of the family celebrated the festival a day early.

Cheng Zhao drank several cups with her in-laws and Zhou Yuanshen, and her cheeks instantly flushed pink, a glow spreading from her forehead down to her neck.

"Your tolerance for liquor!" the Second Lady was startled. "Are you dizzy? Quick, go brew some hangover soup."

"Not too dizzy—it just shows on my face too easily," Cheng Zhao said.

Zhou Yuanqi also drank a few cups of sweet wine, which was low in alcohol. He felt nothing and teased Cheng Zhao for being useless with drink.

"I had no idea you were this bad with alcohol," the Second Lady laughed. "Next time, I won't dare urge you to drink."

Cheng Zhao looked tipsy, but her spirits seemed fine.

After lunch, she and Zhou Yuanshen returned to Nonghua Yard.

Zhou Yuanshen touched her cheek—it was hot and soft. He whispered, "Want to take a soak in the bath?"

Cheng Zhao: "Don't you dare think of tormenting me. I'm already drunk."

"Only you soaking—I don't have time to keep you company. I still need to go out for a bit. Something's come up," Zhou Yuanshen said.

Cheng Zhao: "..."

Zhou Yuanshen dropped a kiss on her lips. "If you ask me to stay, I'll stay."

Cheng Zhao laughed in exasperation.

She pushed him out.

"No matter what happens tonight, don't be afraid," Zhou Yuanshen said.

Cheng Zhao understood what he meant. "I'm not afraid."

Only then did Zhou Yuanshen leave.

Cheng Zhao didn't take a bath. She curled up on the couch and fell asleep.

That sleep was deep and pleasant. When Cheng Zhao woke up, it was mid-afternoon, and she felt utterly refreshed.

A hint of rosy color still lingered on her cheeks.

As Suyue applied her makeup, she remarked that the skin beneath the powder was naturally flushed, prettier than any rouge.

Cheng Zhao dressed up in fresh attire and went to the Scarlet Cloud Court, where she joined her mother-in-law to head together to the Night Banquet at the Leaning Sunset Pavilion.