Spring Among Pear Blossoms - Chapter 2
After all my diligent efforts, the man beneath me finally began breathing faintly.
His eyes were still shut, however. There was no sign that he would wake.
Sweat covered my forehead.
The comments had been right. If I’d arrived even a little later, he might truly have died.
I heard one of the household servants outside.
“I saw the second Miss Jiang carrying a plate of pastries into the west courtyard from a distance.”
“The heir’s temper has become so strange lately. I hope nothing has happened.”
Then came the Princess Consort of Zhennan’s voice.
“The future of this household rests on him alone now. If anything happened, how could I face the late prince in the afterlife?”
The door flew open, and a great crowd poured in.
Every face was grave.
I knew this performance well.
When I was nine, I had watched them use it to drive my mother to her death under a false accusation.
My sister rushed in first. She glanced at the bed, faltered, then put on an expression of anguish.
“Poisoning a dog at home the other day was bad enough. Now you dare poison a person?”
The guests from the main hall had followed her. They murmured in dismay.
“I’d heard Minister Jiang’s second daughter was simple-minded. I never imagined even a fool could be so vicious.”
Tears instantly filled Jiang Danyue’s eyes.
“I know you’re jealous that I can marry Prince Zhennan’s heir, Yuanyuan. But when has our family ever denied you anything? No matter what, you should never have poisoned him.”
Remembering my role as a fool, I looked at her and grinned.
Jiang Danyue wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and bent her knees in a respectful greeting to the princess consort.
“Though Jiang Yuan is my most cherished sister, the Jiang family will never overlook her taking a life.”
At that moment, my father, the Minister of Rites, arrived.
He had drunk two cups of wine at the feast. After squeezing his way to the front, he saw the scene before him and flushed with rage.
“Get down this instant! Jiang Yuan, have you no shame at all?”
I gave another silly grin and stayed where I was.
Come on. I was supposed to be a fool.
If I understood propriety, what kind of fool would I be?
My father’s face darkened.
“Our family has always been upright and honorable. How can I let you ruin our name? Today I’ll beat this unfilial, disloyal wretch to death!”
He had barely finished when a long, pale hand reached out from beneath the half-fallen bed curtains and caught the back of my head.
I was pulled forward a few inches and lowered my gaze.
Our eyes met.
“This little fool has compromised my virtue,” Xie Ling said meaningfully. “Death would let her off far too easily.”
“Wouldn’t you agree, Minister?”
The princess consort and Jiang Danyue exchanged a look as though they’d seen a ghost.
He was still alive?
Tears still clung to my sister’s face.
The young ladies who had come to watch the spectacle blushed and hurriedly looked away.
“So she wasn’t poisoning him.”
“Then the two of them were… Oh!”
Someone sucked in a breath.
Xie Ling’s long black hair was disheveled, his collar slightly open, and I was still straddling him.
The words “compromised my virtue” left plenty to the imagination.
My father was stunned, too. Through gritted teeth, he promised Xie Ling an explanation.
Xie Ling coughed.
“No need. My west courtyard happens to be short of a maid to tend me during my illness.”
My father clenched his hands.
“After such an outrageous offense, making her serve you as a slave would be entirely justified. Even making her pay with her life would be reasonable.”
Then he changed tack.
“But ours is an honorable family. We cannot have two daughters serving the same husband.”
With those words, my sister’s betrothal to Xie Ling was finished.
The princess consort pressed her fingers to her brow and sighed that such a fine match had been ruined.
She was Prince Zhennan’s second wife, not Xie Ling’s birth mother.
I looked at the apparently regretful princess consort, then at my righteous father.
What a shame those two weren’t married to each other.
My sister stared at me for a long time, then suddenly spoke.
“My sister, a maid to Lord Xie? At home, Yuanyuan is cherished more than anything. She’s young and loves food. We’d gladly give her the finest delicacies at every meal…”
“My lord, you must cherish her. Please do not neglect my little sister.”
Xie Ling said nothing.
I gave my sister a sweet smile.
Jiang Danyue instantly began weeping as though she might faint. Several young ladies close to her helped her up.
“Your sister has stolen your marriage, and you’re still thinking of her?”
“Kind people really do get trampled on.”
As her maid led her away, tears hung on my sister’s fair face, but she could barely hide her delight.
The princess consort said that Xie Ling had always managed the west courtyard himself, so she could hardly interfere.
Everyone left with her.
I was wondering when my sister had begun conspiring with the princess consort when Xie Ling spoke beneath me, his voice rough.
“How much longer do you intend to sit on me?”
I clapped my hands as though reluctantly ending a game.
“I’m done playing. I’m going home to eat.”
The bed was too hard. As I climbed off, I caught my foot on his knee and nearly fell headfirst.
I only just managed to steady myself.
Xie Ling coughed for quite a while on the bed. His dark eyes fixed on me.
“Second Miss Jiang, you aren’t really a fool, are you?”
My heart tightened.
