"Zhaozhao, why on earth do you want to marry into the Duan Family?" Lady Hou asked.
"I... I dreamed that Duan Jinxing would remain steadfastly devoted, sharing a lifetime with his wife as her one and only," Jiang Zhaohua replied.
She didn’t dare admit she had been reborn, so she lied and claimed she had dreamed of future events. Now, it seemed like the perfect excuse!
If she had revealed her rebirth, her parents would have assumed she had died for the emperor’s burial—how could she explain knowing things that happened years after her supposed death?
Hearing her daughter’s answer, Lady Hou suddenly understood. So that was the reason.
She smiled and said, "Then I’ll find you a family with strict rules—one where the husband can’t take a concubine unless he remains childless past forty."
Jiang Zhaohua grew anxious at her mother’s words.
A lifetime of devotion was important, yes—but even more crucial was the fact that Duan Jinxing would rise to become Chancellor, securing his wife the title of First-Rank Noble Consort!
Could her mother really find her a second future Chancellor?
But the real reason she wanted to marry Duan Jinxing was something Jiang Zhaohua couldn’t bring herself to say.
She... she didn’t want her mother to think she was chasing fame and fortune.
So instead, she countered, "Mother, why won’t you let me marry Duan Jinxing?"
This time, it was Lady Hou who fell silent.
How could she admit to her own daughter that the Duan Family was a superficially decent but inwardly wretched match she had deliberately chosen for Jiang Yunshu?
In her daughter’s eyes, she had always been a good mother—one who never mistreated her half-siblings.
And it was true—Lady Hou would never sabotage the marriages of other illegitimate daughters. But Jiang Yunshu... only Jiang Yunshu...
Lady Hou thought of Jiang Yunshu’s birth mother.
Jiang Yunshu’s mother was Aunt Su, the first concubine the Marquis took after marrying Lady Hou.
She was breathtakingly beautiful.
The first time Lady Hou saw Aunt Su, she was first shocked, then chilled to the bone.
With such a stunning concubine in the house, how could the Marquis still spare a glance for his wife?
At the time, Lady Hou had just given birth to Jiang Zhaohua. Her figure was ruined, her face haggard. The tenderness and patience the Marquis had shown her during their newlywed days vanished—redirected a hundredfold toward Aunt Su.
Aunt Su soon became pregnant, and the Marquis doted on her even more.
Though Aunt Su always observed the rules of a concubine, maintaining a respectful facade toward Lady Hou, her mere presence in the Marquis's Mansion kept Lady Hou awake at night.
Lady Hou thought, I gave birth to a daughter. If Aunt Su bears a son, will there even be a place for me in this household?
Thank the heavens—Aunt Su also had a daughter.
And thank the heavens... Aunt Su died in childbirth!
But the daughter Aunt Su left behind grew up looking more and more like her.
Except for a pair of eyes that resembled the Marquis, every other feature mirrored Aunt Su’s.
Every time Lady Hou saw Jiang Yunshu, she was reminded of Aunt Su—filled with disgust... and fear.
When it came time for Jiang Yunshu to marry, Lady Hou resolved: She must not be allowed to marry into a powerful family.
But while the Marquis cared little for his illegitimate daughters, he still wanted them to form advantageous matches, expanding the Marquis's Mansion’s connections.
Lady Hou slowly convinced him that Jiang Yunshu’s lazy temperament made her unsuitable for a high-ranking household. Marrying a promising but impoverished scholar would be better—once the scholar rose in the court, he would still be an asset to the family.
The Marquis agreed, instructing Lady Hou to select a husband for Jiang Yunshu from among the most promising scholars.
After careful investigation, Lady Hou chose Duan Jinxing.
The Duan Family was the poorest of them all!
Duan Jinxing’s father had also been a scholar, but he died young. His widowed mother scraped by on meager family resources to fund his education, relying on relatives’ charity.
And Duan Jinxing’s widowed mother had an insufferable temperament!
She was known for making scenes and taking advantage of others—neighbors shook their heads at the mere mention of her.
A poor widow who poured everything into raising a scholarly son? Once a daughter-in-law entered the household, who knew how much torment she would endure!
Lady Hou had chosen the Duan Family to trap Jiang Yunshu for life.
How could she let her own daughter jump into such a pit?
But her daughter, as if possessed, was now desperate to marry Duan Jinxing!
Left with no choice, Lady Hou laid out the truth: how poor the Duan Family was, how difficult the widowed mother was...
"How could such a family be worthy of you? How could I bear to see you suffer in that household?"
Jiang Zhaohua was stunned by her mother’s words.
In her past life, living in the Nine Thousand-Year-Old Lord’s estate, she had only heard of Duan Jinxing’s repeated promotions—culminating in his rise to Chancellor.
She truly hadn’t known the Duan Family was so poor, nor about the troublesome widowed mother.
But Jiang Zhaohua quickly dismissed these concerns. None of it mattered!
The Duan Family’s current poverty was temporary—Duan Jinxing would soon rise in rank, and their circumstances would improve!
Until then, she could simply use her dowry to support them for a couple of years.
Once Duan Jinxing became a high-ranking official, the dowry she spent would be repaid a hundredfold.
In fact, Jiang Zhaohua now saw the Duan Family’s poverty as an advantage.
In her past life, when her half-sister Jiang Yunshu married, the Marquis's Mansion had given her a meager dowry—she couldn’t have supported the Duan Family even if she wanted to.
But Jiang Zhaohua was different. As the Marquis's Mansion’s only legitimate daughter, her mother had long assured her that her dowry would be substantial.
By using her dowry to aid the Duan Family, Duan Jinxing would surely remember her kindness, deepening their bond...
This lifetime, she and Duan Jinxing would be even more devoted than he and Jiang Yunshu had been in her past life!
As for the difficult widowed mother? Jiang Zhaohua wasn’t worried.
A low-born, ignorant old woman—what trouble could she possibly cause, even if she threw tantrums?
After marriage, Duan Jinxing would naturally side with her.
After all, in her past life, she had only heard of Duan Jinxing securing the First-Rank Noble Consort title for Jiang Yunshu—never for his mother.
Jiang Yunshu had been utterly unremarkable, yet Duan Jinxing treated her so well.
Now that she—far superior to Jiang Yunshu in every way—was the one marrying him, Jiang Zhaohua was certain Duan Jinxing would treat her even better.
Jiang Zhaohua omitted the fact that Jiang Yunshu had married Duan Jinxing in her past life, sharing only the rest of her thoughts with her mother.
"The Duan Family’s current poverty is temporary, and the widowed mother is nothing to fear..."
But her mother’s expression remained disapproving!
"Zhaozhao, I’ve raised you too sheltered. You don’t understand how dark the hearts of those from the mud can be..."
Jiang Zhaohua’s nose stung. How could she not know? In her past life, she had crawled through the mud for over a decade!
It was because she knew that she was determined to stand at the very top!
This lifetime, she would live better than anyone else.
And Duan Jinxing—he was the highest peak she knew.
Realizing she couldn’t persuade her mother, Jiang Zhaohua gritted her teeth and confessed: "Mother, I dreamed that Duan Jinxing would become Chancellor."
"The Duan Family’s poverty, the difficult mother—none of it matters."
"I’m marrying the future Chancellor."
Lady Hou gasped, shocked by her daughter’s words.
She had schemed so hard to trap Jiang Yunshu in a miserable marriage—only to have picked the future Chancellor?
Thank goodness Zhaozhao had that dream!
It must have been heaven’s blessing!
Yet even so, Lady Hou couldn’t bear to let Jiang Zhaohua marry into the Duan Family: "Being the Chancellor’s wife may sound glorious, but the hardships behind it..."
But the decision was no longer hers to make. The Marquis of Anping entered just then, overhearing the conversation: "What are you two discussing?"
"What do you mean, the future Prime Minister and his wife?"
Before Lady Hou could stop her, Jiang Zhaohua had already revealed everything to her father.
Without hesitation, the Marquis of Anping made his decision.
"Marry! Of course she must marry!"
"A future Prime Minister is certainly worthy of my Zhaozhao."
The Marquis of Anping had already bribed the Imperial Astronomers to "calculate" that Jiang Zhaohua's fate clashed with the Emperor's, while Jiang Yunshu's destiny was highly auspicious for the Emperor.
He then arranged for a few whispers to reach the Emperor's ears.
The Emperor, frail in health, was particularly superstitious about such matters.
The Marquis of Anping was certain it wouldn’t be long before the palace issued an edict, replacing Jiang Zhaohua with Jiang Yunshu as the imperial consort.
The Marquis had been fretting over whom Jiang Zhaohua should marry if she didn’t enter the palace—until this wonderful news arrived!
"Once the imperial decree is announced, my lady, you must negotiate the marriage with the Duan Family."
"Our Zhaozhao shall become the Prime Minister's wife!"
Jiang Zhaohua wiped away her tears and smiled. "Thank you, Father!"
Then she quickly lowered her head, feigning the shyness of a maiden to conceal the ambition burning in her eyes...
In this lifetime, the title of Prime Minister’s wife would be hers. The highest honor for a noblewoman would be hers. The envy of every woman in the empire—would all be hers!
