In the late spring of the twelfth year of Jingming, in the capital city, at the Anping Marquis Mansion.
A heavy rain the night before had washed the sky clear, and a gentle breeze carried the fragrance of flowers through the courtyard.
The maidservants climbed wooden ladders, holding bright red lanterns aloft to hang them beneath the eaves.
The courtyard was a scene of bustling activity, with everyone so busy they barely touched the ground, yet each face was brimming with joy.
For the Anping Marquis Mansion had received joyous news!
An imperial decree had arrived, summoning the eldest daughter to enter the palace as a consort!
After receiving the decree, the Marquis and Madam were overjoyed, and the entire household received generous rewards. Thus, though these days were hectic, no one complained.
The maidservants carried lanterns and colorful silk, decorating from the main courtyard outward, spreading to the eastern and western wings.
By the time they reached the small courtyard in the southwestern corner, their backs and legs ached, and their arms were too tired to lift.
A round-faced maidservant said, "Let's just skip this place. The Marquis and Madam won’t come to this forgotten corner anyway."
Another long-faced maidservant hesitated, "But Second Miss Jiang Yunshu still lives in Yunshu Courtyard..."
The round-faced one scoffed, "She wouldn’t dare complain to the Marquis and Madam!"
In the end, they hung a few lanterns haphazardly, couldn’t be bothered with the silk decorations, and left.
Inside the latticed window, the maid Zhezhi overheard their words and fumed, "How dare they treat the young lady like this?"
Second Miss Jiang Yunshu, seeing Zhezhi’s puffed-up cheeks, shook her head and began reciting, "Don’t be angry! Life is like a play..."
By the time she reached the line, "Others may be angry, but I won’t be," Zhezhi finally couldn’t hold back a giggle.
With that laugh, her anger dissipated.
"Young lady, you’re using that trick again!" Zhezhi stomped her foot.
Jiang Yunshu grinned. "A trick doesn’t need to be fancy—just effective."
Zhezhi sighed. "Young lady is too easygoing… Why aren’t you angry at all?"
Why wasn’t she angry?
Jiang Yunshu thought to herself, because she hadn’t paid any property fees!
Yes, Jiang Yunshu was a transmigrator.
In her previous life, she had lived to twenty as a classical dancer. During a performance, an accident struck—a stage light fell and crushed her, ending her life.
When she opened her eyes again, she was a newborn in the Great Qi Dynasty’s Anping Marquis Mansion.
Her birth mother had died in childbirth, her father paid no attention to household affairs, and her stepmother disliked Jiang Yunshu, a mere concubine-born daughter.
To make matters worse, her elder sister, Jiang Zhaohua, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Marquis Mansion, was a paragon of virtue, beauty, and talent—renowned throughout the capital.
This only made Jiang Yunshu, the insignificant concubine-born daughter, seem all the more invisible.
It sounded like the classic setup of a pitiful noble family’s forgotten child…
Fortunately, in this life, she had a kind grandmother who doted on all her grandchildren, regardless of legitimacy. While her elder sister was naturally the apple of their grandmother’s eye, Jiang Yunshu, too, enjoyed her grandmother’s protection—well-fed, well-clothed, and with her own small courtyard!
Having died young in her past life, Jiang Yunshu was determined to enjoy this one to the fullest.
Now sixteen, she had spent these years in leisurely obscurity, perfectly content as the Marquis Mansion’s unnoticed resident.
She was utterly satisfied with her current life. Food? Free! Clothing? Free! Lodging? Free!
In her past life, she had shared an apartment; now, she had her own courtyard!
Jiang Yunshu never envied her elder sister’s grand residence. After enduring one, two, three, four, five eccentric roommates, anyone would roll around in happiness upon getting their own private space!
As for minor slights like today’s, Jiang Yunshu never took offense.
So what if the maidservants lavishly decorated the main courtyards and half-heartedly tossed a few lanterns her way?
It was only natural. In her past life, she had lived in a mixed-tier residential complex where, during festivals, the townhouse areas were always adorned more elaborately than the high-rise sections.
To Jiang Yunshu:
Grandmother, the Marquis, and Madam = townhouse owners.
Maidservants = property management staff.
Herself = high-rise owner? Or high-rise tenant?
Whether she owned or rented didn’t matter—what mattered was that she hadn’t paid a single cent in property fees!
Not a single cent, yet she still got festive decorations, even if the lanterns were a bit sparse… Why be upset?
She explained this logic to Zhezhi, substituting "silver" for "property fees."
Zhezhi stared, dumbfounded. "Young lady, what kind of nonsense is this?!"
Taoye, standing nearby, chuckled helplessly. "After all these years with the young lady, don’t you know her nature? She only sees the good in people, never the bad."
Taoye and Zhezhi were Jiang Yunshu’s two personal maids, close in age to her and long-time companions.
On the day they were named, Jiang Yunshu had just learned the Zhezhi dance from Concubine Qiao in the neighboring courtyard. When the two little maids were brought to Yunshu Courtyard, she plucked their names from a poem about the dance:
"The red candles shift, Taoye rises;
The purple silk stirs, Zhezhi arrives."
Taoye and Zhezhi.
Back then, Jiang Yunshu had thought that if new maids came, their names were ready—one called Red Candle, the other Purple Silk.
But over the years, no new maids joined Yunshu Courtyard, while Taoye and Zhezhi grew ever more capable.
Taoye was steady and skilled in needlework; Zhezhi was lively and excellent at gathering news.
That evening, Zhezhi went to the kitchen to fetch dinner, hoping to learn how the eldest daughter had been chosen for the palace—her young lady loved "gossip"!
At first, Zhezhi hadn’t understood why Jiang Yunshu called such news "gossip," but the term had stuck.
The eldest daughter becoming an imperial consort was undoubtedly the juiciest "gossip" the Marquis Mansion had seen in years!
Yet instead of gossip, Zhezhi returned with other news.
"Young lady, the eldest daughter has a high fever!" she announced.
Jiang Yunshu quickly asked, "Is it serious?"
Zhezhi nodded gravely. "They say it came on suddenly—her forehead is burning hot, she’s unconscious, and delirious."
"The Marquis has already summoned a palace physician, but even after medicine and acupuncture, the fever won’t break."
Jiang Yunshu was alarmed. With ancient medical standards, a persistent high fever could be fatal!
Zhezhi asked, "Should the young lady visit her?"
Jiang Yunshu shook her head without hesitation. "No!"
It wasn’t that she lacked sympathy, but her relationship with her elder sister was distant at best.
Her elder sister had always looked down on her, and Jiang Yunshu had no fondness for someone who disdained her.
She reasoned that her presence would only upset her sister, and her father and stepmother would see her as a nuisance.
Zhezhi had expected this answer. "Then we’ll pretend we don’t know!"
"Don’t worry, young lady—I overheard about the fever in secret. No one noticed."
Jiang Yunshu gave her a thumbs-up.
She thought that would be the end of it.
But that very night, Jiang Zhaohua awoke from her feverish stupor, crying and thrashing:
"I won’t enter the palace! I won’t go!"
"Let Second Sister go in my place!"
