A Willing Mistake, My Lady – Chapter 25

The Rose-like Youth

Little Chenyu Runs Away From Home

The Wu family had not been at peace lately. The matter of Li Qingmei being captured by the flower-picking thief was known to all. Although Shen Hetang had ordered his men not to speak of the girl’s state of undress, how could such a thing be kept secret? Even if nothing had happened, people’s imaginations would run wild.

            

Wu Daoyuan, furious that Li Qingmei had ruined the Wu Manor’s reputation, had locked her in the woodshed. He was truly having a run of bad luck; not a single one of them gave him any peace of mind. They were all promiscuous bitches. Once he had a free hand, he would deal with these two shameless little sluts. A recent shipment of his had run into trouble, and if he couldn’t sort it out, he would lose a great deal of silver. He was completely overwhelmed.

As for Li Qingmei’s mother, she had been listless and sick lately. Her once-sturdy body had somehow become frail, and after Li Qingmei’s incident, she had collapsed into her bed with anger. Wu Daoyuan had recently started sleeping in a separate room, and now she found the sight of her daughter more irritating than ever. It hadn’t been easy for her, widowed so young. It wasn’t that no one had taken an interest in her before, but the ones she liked looked down on her for having a daughter—a burden¹, and a losing investment² at that. And the ones who didn’t mind her daughter, she herself looked down upon. She had remained single until she was a beauty past her prime, with a few lovers along the way, but none of them were sincere. Not one had wanted to marry her. Who would have thought her good fortune was waiting for her at the end? Just when she had all but given up hope, Wu Daoyuan appeared.

She had never dreamed that in this lifetime she would become the second wife to a wealthy master. It was more unbelievable than a pie falling from the sky. Everything had been going so well, but it was all the fault of this troublemaking curse of a daughter, who had dragged her into this sordid mess. Now she was implicated, despised, and kept at a distance by the Master. How could she dare say a word when he punished Li Qingmei by locking her in the woodshed?

            

On the day she was brought back, Li Qingmei went to the Yamen with the bailiffs. Swallowing her shame, she gave her testimony and was escorted back to the Wu Manor by Shen Hetang and another bailiff. When Wu Daoyuan heard what had happened, his expression was a sight to behold. The look he gave Li Qingmei was one of gritted teeth. This traitorous freeloader—eating his food, drinking his drink, and yet she’d learned from Jiang Chenyu to find a man for herself outside.

She had even delivered herself into the hands of a flower-picking thief, implicating the Wu Manor’s reputation in the process. Utterly stupid. He would teach her a good lesson later.

After the bailiffs left, Wu Daoyuan locked Li Qingmei in the woodshed and ordered Nanny Wu to give her a beating as a lesson. Pinched black and blue, Li Qingmei felt new hatred rise on top of her lingering fear.

            

In the stuffy, pitch-black woodshed, her thoughts turned to the person next door, the one as bright and noble as a clear moon after rain. A look of obsession and calculation flickered in her eyes.

She was locked in the woodshed for three days, and her mother never once came to see her. Steeling her heart, Li Qingmei jumped out the window and ran. She had no intention of trying to make a life for herself outside; instead, when no one was looking, she slipped into the neighboring Jiang Manor.

At that moment, Jiang Chenyu was engrossed in checking her account books. In the beginning, because her paternal grandmother had disliked her mother, she had given her the name Hua Shile³ the day she was born—a girl—signifying that her parents’ feelings were like flowers that had bloomed to the end of their season, and the affair was over.

            

It was said that when her maternal grandfather found out, he was so angry his nose was crooked. He specially went to consult a master, spending a good deal of silver to give her a new name, even going so far as to change her surname in his fury.

The master said the child’s birth chart was full of fortune, and she had the bearing of a celestial maiden descended to earth. She required a name that could anchor her beauty, so that her fortune could be all the more stable. After listening to this wandering immortal ramble on, Master Jiang happily presented him with a bag of silver and received the name Jiang Chenyu⁴—a name both common and elegant. But this expensive name could only be used in secret within the Jiang family. In public, she still had to be called Hua Shile. Not that she was called that for many years. Soon enough, his good-for-nothing daughter returned home with his darling little granddaughter in tow. That bag of silver hadn’t been spent in vain after all!

Her father’s family certainly didn’t want her, and perhaps had even forgotten she existed, but she had still inherited the Hua family’s beauty and her birth father Hua Rong’s cunning. When her mother was still alive, she had once gone to see her father in secret. She saw him leading his other children on an outing with his new wife. She had wanted her father to see her, but at that sight, she felt he was no longer hers.

            

Despite this, she was the most outstanding of the children. As a child, she learned to read faster than her male cousin who was three years her senior. Later, after returning to the Jiang family, her maternal grandfather often took her with him when he went out on business, teaching her his methods and telling her that all of this would be hers one day, so she had to at least learn how to manage it.

As she grew older and more beautiful, her grandfather’s strength failed, and he could no longer manage the shops. At the time, Wu Daoyuan was still wearing a mask of piety and virtue, so it was only natural that everything was handed over to him.

Her birth father, Hua Rong, had come from a declined and impoverished family of scholars. He was talented and handsome as a fine orchid⁵, and with almost no effort at all, he had captured her mother’s heart. Relying on her maternal grandfather’s wealth, he, a poor scholar, transformed into a minor official from a well-to-do family.

            

But her paternal grandmother truly despised her mother’s merchant-class background, always feeling that her son should be matched with a lady of noble birth. This plain, delicate daughter-in-law, who looked as though she couldn’t hold up the facade of a great clan, seemed petty just to look at. And after she gave birth to a girl who was sickly all day long, the grandmother wouldn’t deign to give her so much as half a glance.

From the day her mother married into the family, rules were laid down for her. For as long as Jiang Chenyu could remember, her mother rose at dawn every day to wait on her mother-in-law, and at night, she had to wash her grandmother’s feet. Though there were maids and servants, the old woman insisted that her daughter-in-law serve her.

Her mother had endured again and again for her father’s sake, but in the end, for the sake of his career, he had latched onto a new and powerful family. Perhaps his greatest kindness was allowing mother and daughter to return to the Jiang family, so that from then on, their lives and marriages would have nothing to do with one another.

            

When she was small, she still harbored a yearning for her father. She wanted to go and tell him that she was ten years old, that she was the Hua family child who looked most like him and was the smartest. She wanted to see if he regretted abandoning them.

But the little girl, disguised and carrying silver and dried rations, traveled by cart and on foot, asking for directions. After several exhausting days, she finally arrived at the Hua Manor, only to be denied entry at the main gate. They treated her like a beggar and shooed her away. Just as she was trying to think of a way to get inside to find her father, she saw him emerge, holding a four- or five-year-old girl in one arm and leading a slightly younger boy with his other hand.

So it wasn’t that he didn’t hold his daughters; he just didn’t hold her. Watching him laugh and chat with his new wife as they went to see the flower lanterns, little Jiang Chenyu followed for a while, and then suddenly, it all felt meaningless.

            

With her eyes brimming with tears, she saw a man by the side of the road selling himself to bury his father. He was seven chi⁶ tall and wore a full, bushy beard. A murderous aura emanated from him, yet there he was, kneeling without a copper to his name, selling himself into servitude just to buy a coffin for his father. The people around them were watching for the spectacle, but no one dared to buy a man who looked so much like a brigand.

Suddenly, a small figure squeezed through the crowd. Though her hair was a mess and her face was smudged with grime, it was still clear she was a girl as exquisitely carved as pink jade.

“Take me home, and this ingot of silver is yours!” The girl’s voice was clear and melodious, like the prelude to a song, yet her tone was steady and composed, as if she weren’t joking at all.

            

The onlookers stared at the little girl in shock. The silver ingot in her hand was bigger than her palm—a full ten taels.

The burly man looked at the little girl before him as if she were a celestial attendant to the goddess Guanyin, radiating light. But he hadn’t lost his senses. “Child,” he asked regretfully, “this silver must belong to your parents. You should take it back to them!”

“This silver is mine. Besides, with so many people watching, I won’t be able to hold onto it if you don’t take it! Take it, bury your old father, and then take me home tomorrow!” The little girl’s voice was not loud, but every word was resolute. And while you’re at it, she added in her heart, bury my father as well!

            

The formidable man’s eyes reddened unexpectedly. “This humble one will surely repay the young lady’s great kindness by working like an ox and horse for you.”

“After you’re finished tomorrow, come find me at the Chunfeng Inn. I’m staying there tonight!” she whispered, leaning closer to him.

The big man nodded gratefully, his throat too choked with emotion to speak. As she turned to leave, he could only shout “I will!” at her small, retreating back.

            

She had bank notes on her as well, and the Chunfeng Inn was the only one she knew by name. But she didn’t know it was not a proper establishment.

The owner saw her bank notes and served her well with food and drink. On the way back to her room, however, she ran into a drunkard. Though he was so drunk he could barely stand, he still managed to spot the beauty hidden beneath her disheveled state.

A hand shot out and yanked Jiang Chenyu into a room. She was so terrified she lost all her strength, managing only two small cries for help. The waiter was used to such things. The man who had just grabbed the little girl was Young Master Liu, a man of power and influence in their county town, not someone to be trifled with. It was just this girl’s rotten luck today; usually, Young Master Liu wasn’t so indiscriminate.

            

Lying by the stairs was a rose-like youth, dressed in magnificent red, embroidered Hu barbarian-style clothing⁷. He was like a rose swaying in the wind. His hair was pulled back into a high ponytail that hung down as he slouched against the corridor railing. He was an eye-catching sight, yet he had no proper posture whether standing or sitting, leaning against the railing with one long leg propped up, a blade of foxtail grass⁸ dangling from his lips.

“So much pressure… so much pressure… the pressure is mountainous⁹! Not only must your father pretend to be a man, but also play the dandy. Fuck it!” the youth muttered, twirling the blade of grass in his mouth.

Just then, a cry for help seemed to come from a room up ahead. He perked up instantly. Wasn’t this the perfect scene for a hero saving a damsel? Or a scene with two men fighting over one woman would be good, too. But he was still young, and that was exactly why the effect would be better—ruin his reputation early to eliminate future troubles. Mmm, excellent!

            

But when he pushed the door open, he was dumbfounded. The bastard had grabbed a child. The sense of justice in his very bones exploded. He shot forward and kicked Young Master Liu squarely in the face, nearly snapping his neck.

“Are you even human? Open your dog eyes and see how old this kid is! You’ve got some nerve. You’re finished!” he snarled, pointing at the fallen Young Master Liu.

He quickly pulled the terrified little girl behind him. He was in no mood for theatrics now; he just wanted to teach this beast a lesson.

            

Kicked to the ground, Young Master Liu stared at the youth before him in disbelief, then began to howl. “You’ve got guts! Don’t you dare run off! You little brat, you’re even prettier than she is! Just you watch, if I don’t tie you both up and take you back with me, then my surname isn’t Liu!”

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The author has something to say:

Mm, everyone can probably guess this youth is the original owner. But Shen Hetang didn’t just take over the original owner’s body. I’m afraid everyone will get confused, so here’s a little spoiler. I reckon darlings who’ve read a lot of transmigration novels can guess the setup. I won’t explain it too clearly; it will be written about later!

            

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