Chapter 18 The Feigning-Death Concubine

Chapter 18: The Concubine Who Faked Her Death

Jiang Shuning had been delivering a blood-nourishing tonic to Xiao Lingchuan in the palace for several consecutive days, but upon learning of his recovery, she stopped going.

It wasn't that she was unwilling to face Xiao Lingchuan, but rather that unsettling news from her ancestral home in Xuzhou had her on edge.

That day, she had asked Madam Jiang about Jiang Yaozhen's birth mother and subsequently secretly sent people to the vicinity of the Xuzhou Taoist temple to search for the concubine's grave.

On the pretext of repairing the tomb, she ordered the coffin to be opened. As expected, it was empty.

This confirmed her suspicion: the dark figure she'd glimpsed in Jiang Yaozhen's courtyard that night was indeed Jiang Yaozhen's birth mother—the concubine, formerly a songstress.

Back then, she had not died from difficult childbirth but had feigned death to escape. Yet, unable to let go of her biological daughter, she had frequently sneaked back into the Jiang residence over the years to visit.

This was a secret Jiang Shuning had never uncovered in her previous life.

She couldn't figure out why, if the concubine couldn't bear to leave her daughter, she had departed in the first place.

The Jiang family wanted for nothing, and the mistress was kind and benevolent. Someone from a songstress background could even whip servants at will without punishment—a life others could only dream of.

What kind of major event could compel a mother to abandon her own flesh and blood and stay away for over a decade?

Jiang Shuning had no clues. She couldn't even be sure whether setting an inescapable net within the Jiang residence would truly be enough to subdue this exceptionally skilled concubine.

After much deliberation, she concluded that the safest approach was still to have Jiang Yaozhen leave the Jiang residence.

Since the concubine had been sneaking into the Jiang residence all these years for Jiang Yaozhen's sake, as long as Jiang Yaozhen was sent away, she would surely follow. Thus, the Jiang residence could quietly resolve this hidden danger.

Jiang Shuning proposed to Chancellor Jiang that Jiang Yaozhen be sent back to their ancestral home, though she didn't mention the concubine. After pondering for a moment, Chancellor Jiang agreed.

He went to Jiang Yaozhen's courtyard that very day to inform her.

"Your mother and I have arranged a marriage for you back in our ancestral home. You will depart for there shortly and be married off in two years!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yaozhen's face instantly turned deathly pale.

She fell to her knees with a thud before Chancellor Jiang, tears welling in her eyes. "Father, your daughter is the Secondary Legitimate Daughter of the Jiang family. How can I be married down to a place like Xuzhou? I won't go! If I must marry, I should marry a prince!"

"Silence! How dare you bring this up!" Chancellor Jiang was furious. "Your status as Secondary Legitimate Daughter was proposed by your elder sister. Not only are you ungrateful, you repaid kindness with enmity, attempting to ruin her reputation! To be so malicious at such a young age—how could I have fathered a daughter like you! Whether you agree or not, you will marry into that Xuzhou family!"

With that, Chancellor Jiang stormed off, leaving Jiang Yaozhen kneeling on the ground, tears falling like broken strings of pearls.

She bit her lower lip hard, her heart filled with resentment and unwillingness.

Xuzhou was a poor, desolate, remote backwater—how could it compare to the bustling capital?

How could she, Jiang Yaozhen, ever be content to marry into such a place?

She wiped her tears and had her trusted nanny, Nanny Song, secretly summon Dong Mei.

Since Qiu Yue had been sold off, Dong Mei had been like a startled bird, too terrified to contact Jiang Yaozhen again.

Now summoned, she entered the courtyard trembling with fear, head bowed, not daring to meet Jiang Yaozhen's gaze.

"Dong Mei," Jiang Yaozhen's voice was as cold as ice, carrying a hint of threat. "I've given you quite a few pieces of jewelry over time. If I tell Father some jewelry is missing and suspect you stole it, do you think you'd be driven out of the Jiang residence?"

Dong Mei was terrified upon hearing this. She fell to her knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly. "Second Miss, please spare this servant! This servant knows she was wrong, this servant will never dare again!"

Jiang Yaozhen sneered. "Scared? Then hurry up and tell me, what has my elder sister been up to lately?"

Dong Mei spoke between sobs, her words fragmented. "The Eldest Miss... these past few days, following the Master's orders, she has been visiting the Fourth Prince in the palace daily... Also, I heard her say she sent someone to Xuzhou to investigate the concubine's grave... Beyond that, this servant truly knows nothing else!"

"What? She sent someone to investigate my mother's grave?" Jiang Yaozhen's heart tightened, a flicker of panic flashing in her eyes. "Did they find anything?"

"This servant doesn't know. The Eldest Miss didn't say."

"Dismissed!"

If Jiang Shuning discovered her mother was still alive, the consequences would be unimaginable!

After a moment of hesitation, she summoned Nanny Song again and instructed, "Help me think of a way to get a message to the Fourth Prince. Tell him that the person he's looking for, I can arrange a meeting for them. But I have a condition."

Jiang Yaozhen took a deep breath, a trace of madness flashing in her eyes. "I want him to come to the Jiang residence to propose marriage—to marry me!"

Xiao Lingchuan was the least favored among the princes. Were it not for the dire circumstances, she would never consider marrying him.

However, Chancellor Jiang was determined to send her to that remote place, Xuzhou. She had no other choice but to stake everything on one desperate gamble, doing whatever she could to remain in the bustling capital.

Marrying a prince was undoubtedly the most direct and effective strategy at the moment.

Xiao Lingchuan soon received the note sent by Jiang Yaozhen's messenger.

The Seventh Prince happened to be by his side. Glancing at the note's contents, he couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. "This Second Miss Jiang certainly has quite the nerve, daring to demand so bluntly that you marry her, Fourth Brother! Speaking of which, who exactly is her birth mother? Why are you so fixated on meeting her?"

Xiao Lingchuan's eyes were inscrutable, his voice low. "Her birth mother is none other than the long-lurking Nanyue spy!" The Seventh Prince was stunned upon hearing this, taking a long moment to recover before urgently asking, "Fourth Brother, how did you know?"

"That dance Second Miss Jiang performed at the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet was no ordinary dance," Xiao Lingchuan said gravely. "It was a Nanyue tribal dance, known only to the Nanyue people. Chancellor Jiang's family has been loyal to Daye for generations. The only one with a mysterious background is that concubine of songstress origins—Second Miss Jiang's birth mother. Therefore, I concluded she is the Nanyue spy, and that dance was passed from her to her daughter."

"But that's far too risky!" the Seventh Prince said incredulously. "How could a Nanyue spy dare to let her daughter perform that dance publicly? Wasn't she afraid of exposure?"

Xiao Lingchuan gave a cold laugh, a glint of frost in his eyes. "Perhaps she intended precisely for someone to recognize it."

The Seventh Prince was taken aback, staring at him. "Fourth Brother, are you saying that Nanyue spy deliberately led you to discover it?"

After all, Xiao Lingchuan's own birth mother was also Nanyue, and only he had seen the Nanyue tribal dance.

The Seventh Prince suddenly remembered something and said urgently, "The 'spy' captured last Moon God Festival was merely a death warrior you heavily bribed. He took poison and died as soon as he was imprisoned—the Ministry of Justice gained nothing. Although His Majesty's opinion of you improved slightly because of it, Fourth Brother, your position is sensitive now. You absolutely must not have the slightest connection to a genuine Nanyue spy. If she seizes the opportunity to scheme and makes His Majesty suspect you of colluding with the enemy, the consequences would be unthinkable!"

"Scheme against me? She should first weigh whether she has the capability!" Xiao Lingchuan's eyes flashed with a fierce, sinister aura, his tone icy.

The Seventh Prince cautiously continued, "Then, Fourth Brother, do you intend to agree to Jiang Yaozhen's condition? The status of Consort of the Fourth Prince—how could it be lightly bestowed upon the descendant of a Nanyue spy?"

Xiao Lingchuan's gaze turned sharply cold. "Naturally not!" he stated decisively.

Meanwhile, in the Qili Courtyard of the Jiang residence, Jiang Yaozhen anxiously awaited a reply.

When she learned that Xiao Lingchuan had flatly refused her proposal, shock and confusion intertwined in her heart.

"How could this be?"

She knew well that the Fourth Prince, Xiao Lingchuan, was typically aloof and distant by nature. Yet she hadn't expected that, despite clearly needing something from her, he would refuse so unyieldingly.

An untimely memory surfaced in her mind: the occasional glimpses she had caught of Xiao Lingchuan looking at Jiang Shuning, his gaze containing an indescribable, turbulent emotion.

Could it be that even he had developed feelings for Jiang Shuning?

She grew furious. What kind of spell had these princes fallen under, to be so infatuated with Jiang Shuning one after another?

Just then, the newly arrived maid, Chun Hua, pushed the door open and entered. After hesitating a moment, she said softly, "Second Miss, the Third Prince has sent people to the residence again to propose marriage, bringing many valuable betrothal gifts... However, the Eldest Miss ordered them all to be sent back."

Jiang Yaozhen's face fell upon hearing this, jealousy blazing in her heart.

She clenched the embroidered handkerchief in her hand, her knuckles turning white from the force.

Jiang Shuning! Why does she always effortlessly steal everyone's attention?

Why does the favor of the Third Prince fall solely upon her?

She couldn't let Jiang Shuning carry on like this any longer—that marriage proposal should have been hers!

Late at night, the lanterns in the rear courtyard of the Jiang residence had long been extinguished. Jiang Yaozhen sat alone at her dressing table, the flickering candlelight casting her face in a sinister light.

Suddenly, she turned toward a vague, dark figure in the corner, her voice icy, laced with venom: "Mother, help me kill Jiang Shuning. Once she is dead, I will be the Jiang family's only legitimate daughter. Father will not only abandon the idea of marrying me off to Xuzhou but will also spare no effort in securing a royal marriage for me."

The shadow, ghostly and silent, seemed to pause for a moment before slowly nodding in response...