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    A Willing Mistake, My Lady

    A Willing Mistake, My Lady – Chapter 5

    by Little Panda

    Forged Identity

    How did she end up rolling into his arms?

    The flower bud he had nurtured for three years, just as it was ready for picking, had been snatched away1 by some pretty boy who’d appeared out of nowhere. Oh… no… a piece of dog trash. After his humiliating retreat, Wu Daoyuan returned to the main hall on the west side of the manor and smashed several vases in a mad rage. Seeing Nanny Wu outside the door, he vented his fury on her.

    “How did they carry on right under your nose? You can’t even keep an eye on one little girl. What use are you to me?” he snarled at the old woman.

    “Master, it was all a smokescreen2 from Miss Jiang,” Nanny Wu wailed, snot and tears streaming down her face. “The moment I knew a man had entered the manor, I rushed to her chambers. But who knew she’d refuse to open the door, dead set on it, and even had that girl Chuntao pester me? She was determined to carry on her sordid affair with that man.”

    Hearing that Jiang Chenyu was determined to be with that piece of dog trash, Wu Daoyuan’s head throbbed even more fiercely. If not for his protection, that eye-catching little minx would have been snatched away by wolves and tigers long ago. Now that her wings had hardened, she thought she could just fly away on her own. It wasn’t that simple.

    His gaze turned viciously toward the east wing, and he began plotting how to drive the outsider away. The suddenness of the event had forced him to drop the gentlemanly facade he had always maintained.

    Now that the girl had tossed the embroidered ball and made her marriage a matter of public knowledge, and since that man seemed to have some skills, getting rid of him quietly was probably impossible. It would require a long-term plan.

    At the first light of dawn, Jiang Chenyu awoke. Her hand touched smooth fabric, and beneath it, a lean waist. She jolted back to her side of the bed. Her hand went to her own burning cheeks. It’s over. I can never face anyone again. She had rolled into his arms in the middle of the night and fallen asleep, her own arms wrapped tightly around him.

    Aaaaaaaah! she screamed silently in her heart. She knew Shen Hetang had married her for two reasons: one, he had amnesia and no home to return to, and two, he knew she was in trouble and wanted to help. Their marriage might be full of variables. For instance, had he been married before? Did he have a fiancée?

    But when she remembered the way he had kicked a guard two zhang3 away with such gentle, elegant grace, she found it hard not to be moved. Peeking through her fingers, she studied his face in the hazy morning light. His skin was a cool white, comparable to the finest jade. His lips were beautifully shaped, their color a rich vermilion. The first time one looked at him, their attention would be captured by his phoenix eyes, sharp and noble. But a second glance, and one would be entranced by his red lips.

    As she watched, Jiang Chenyu unconsciously reached for his hand, lacing their fingers together. His hand was somewhat hard; she could clearly feel the knuckles, so unlike her own boneless softness. Just holding it gave her a profound sense of security.

    Could she be a bad person and keep him by her side…?

    After one shocking day after another, sleep was truly the best way to rest. Shen Hetang opened her eyes. The pandemonium4 of yesterday was over. Who knew what new drama awaited her today.

    For the past two days, she had slept fully clothed in the same outer robe. And each morning, Jiang Chenyu would have a new set of clothes ready for her. A girl of only sixteen could manage a household’s inner and outer affairs so clearly. It truly made Shen Hetang see her in a new light.

    Based on her observations, the clothing and customs here were similar to the Ming dynasty of ancient China. Most common were round-collared robes5, short cross-collared jackets, horse-face skirts6, standing-collar long shirts7, and brocade cloaks8. Women from families with even a little status dressed with an ethereal air, their sleeves wide and flowing, the hems of their skirts seeming to create lotuses with every step9.

    Some of these elaborate and beautiful garments were stately and elegant, others bright and playful. Shen Hetang, who had never seen such things before, was secretly amazed. But this also told her that the country’s governance and development were likely quite good.

    Only, this place wasn’t called the Great Ming. It was the Great Qian Dynasty10, and the reign title was Xuande11. This confirmed she had transmigrated into a fictional world12. Fortunately, back in her own world, besides a dog she’d raised like family, there was no one else to miss.

    Sigh. I should focus on getting through the present before worrying about anything else. Though the clothes of this Great Qian Dynasty seemed like a terrible waste of fabric, they were actually quite friendly to her. The men’s inner shirts13 all had high collars. Her build was on the leaner side for a man, but her height met the standard.

    In this era, men who were over 1.8 metres tall were rare. At over 1.7 metres, she had long legs. Dressed in a high-collared long robe, she possessed an indescribable, roguish charm. Luckily, she also had a naturally cold face that discouraged people from approaching her, which was how Jiang Chenyu had ended up with her.

    Shen Hetang changed into a sky-blue set of everyday clothes embroidered with a cloud pattern. She touched the high collar of her inner shirt, feeling a little more secure.

    The original owner of this body was not well-developed—a B-cup at most. Just as she was thinking about binding her chest like they did on television, she discovered that the original owner had worn a modified vest. Not only did it make her chest appear flatter, but it also had a slight shaping effect. She didn’t have to worry about it at all.

    Just as she finished washing up, Jiang Chenyu entered with breakfast.

    “Husband, you’re awake. It’s time for breakfast. You’ve had a hard couple of days, so I had the kitchen stew some chicken soup. The fat has been skimmed off, so it’s still light.” Seeing no movement from the west wing, she had brought Shen Hetang’s breakfast herself.

    “Thank you for your hospitality. I’m not a picky eater,” she said gently, though she felt a bit embarrassed. She still wasn’t used to the schedule here and always woke up later than Jiang Chenyu. She resolved to change that tomorrow.

    “Why is my husband so polite? When my mother was alive, she called me Yaoyao14. You can call me that, too. They’re not allowed to,” the young woman said, her lively eyes seeming to smile as if she were sharing a special secret just with her.

    “Alright. Then I’ll call you Yaoyao from now on. It’s a very nice name,” Shen Hetang replied, subconsciously thinking of the ‘yao’ from the phrase about a flourishing peach tree, because it suited her so well.

    “Then, in return, may I call you A-Tang?” Jiang Chenyu ventured, testing the waters step-by-step, like a creeping vine.

    “Of course. ‘Husband’ and ‘wife’ feel very unnatural anyway.” Being called by a name was much more comfortable for her.

    Shen Hetang discovered she had quite the appetite, more than twice that of Jiang Chenyu. She wondered where all the food went on this slender frame. But while she was thin, she was far from weak. New as she was to this body, Shen Hetang hadn’t yet realized that sometimes, just by standing there, she appeared as sharp as an arrow nocked on a bowstring.

    She glanced at the girl opposite her, who had a small, well-proportioned frame. A figure where adding a little would be too much, and taking away a little would be too little. How did she maintain it on just that small bowl of rice?

    “Young Master eats with such a blessed look! Even Miss was inspired to have another bowl of soup!” Chuntao watched the two of them, finding them more and more well-matched, and she grew chattier.

    Is she saying I eat a lot? Huh…? It’s not an excessive amount, is it? Sigh, living under someone else’s roof really makes you sensitive. She glanced subtly at Jiang Chenyu, who showed no reaction, so she let the matter drop. Heaven and earth are vast, but eating is the most important thing. If it weren’t for her stomach, she might not have waded into these muddy waters in the first place.

    On the outside, Shen Hetang was the picture of a gentleman. On the inside, her thoughts were a mile a minute.

    After the meal, Jiang Chenyu gave her a piece of paper. On it was written her new identity in detail.

    A native of Lin’an County, Suizhou. Both parents deceased, leaving behind one hundred mu15 of farmland which was sold for travel money. Came to Qingyuan County to seek refuge with relatives, but the address was wrong and they could not be found. Subsequently met Miss Jiang at the Jinxiangyu Teahouse, was married, and entered the Jiang Manor as a matrilocal husband.

    Though writing that someone’s parents were deceased was a bit impolite, it saved a lot of trouble. Besides, Shen Hetang’s own parents had passed away many years ago, so she didn’t find it offensive.

    “Here are five hundred taels of silver. Take it. We’ll probably face a joint interrogation16 in a couple of days, so you should be prepared.” Jiang Chenyu took five one-hundred-tael silver notes17 from her purse and handed them to Shen Hetang.

    “You’re not afraid I’ll take the money and run?” she asked, looking up.

    “A wife who absconds is treated as an adulterer, punishable by fifty lashes. In serious cases, her status as a commoner is revoked18 and she is sentenced to servitude. The same applies to a matrilocal husband,” the young woman explained slowly and deliberately, her voice melodious.

    Shen Hetang’s fingers, holding the silver notes, trembled. “Wife,” she said ingratiatingly, “why don’t you hold onto these for me?”

    “If I hold them, how will they believe the silver is yours? Just keep it. I trust you.”

    Staring at the huge fortune in her hands, Shen Hetang’s joyful heart grew a little heavy. This money wouldn’t be easy to keep. It was danger pay for charging into battle. But then she looked at the little beauty before her and figured that, even without the money, she probably would have stepped up anyway.

    Jiang Chenyu’s guess was correct. On the other side of the manor, Wu Daoyuan was indeed scheming how to get all of the Jiang family’s assets into his own pockets. Before Old Master Jiang passed away, he had left his dozen or so shops to his daughter, which in effect meant he had given them to Wu Daoyuan.

    But he had still left two relatively low-key but solid businesses for Jiang Chenyu: a rice and grain shop and a tea shop. Compared to the textile firm and restaurant, these two were rather lackluster. Moreover, they were managed by old-timers who were difficult to sway. They recognized only the Jiang bloodline and were completely immune to his charms.

    At the time, Jiang Chenyu’s mother had been weak and easily bullied, and she’d followed his every word. He hadn’t paid any attention to the two small shops left for the little girl. He figured he could just slowly transfer the property deeds into his own name later. Since Jiang Chenyu was still under his thumb, getting his hands on the remaining two shops was only a matter of time.

    His only dissatisfaction was that the old master hadn’t left much ready cash. All these years, he’d only managed to gather a little over twenty thousand taels in silver notes. He’d had his suspicions, but his wife was incapable of lying, and his stepdaughter had an air of pure innocence. He never did find any more silver notes.

    For the past few years, he had ostensibly been running the business, but his abilities were limited. At best, he could keep the shops his father-in-law left him breaking even. The annual profits were spent on greasing palms, managing the Jiang family’s relatives, and his own wining and dining while traveling for business. By the end of the year, there was nothing left.

    No matter how freely he lived outside, back in Qingyuan County, he maintained the image of a good son-in-law. A couple of distant relatives of the Jiang family were waiting eagerly for him to make a mistake so they could take his place.

    Now, the sparrow he held in his hand had flown away. If he couldn’t be happy, then no one could. The little girl’s wings had hardened, so she couldn’t blame him for no longer shielding her from the wind and rain.

    Footnotes

    1. Jiéhú (截胡) is a mahjong term for when a player snatches a winning tile just as another player is about to declare victory. By extension, it means to intercept and snatch something away from someone at the last moment.
    2. Zhàngyǎnfǎ (障眼法) literally means 'eye-covering method.' It's a trick, diversion, or smokescreen intended to deceive.
    3. A zhàng (丈) is a traditional Chinese unit of length, roughly equal to 3.3 metres (about 11 feet).
    4. Jīfēigǒutiào (鸡飞狗跳), literally 'chickens flying and dogs jumping,' is an idiom describing a scene of total chaos and pandemonium.
    5. Yuánlǐngpáo (圆领袍) is a round-collared robe, typically worn by men in various historical Chinese periods.
    6. Mǎmiànqún (马面裙), or 'horse-face skirt,' is a traditional skirt with a distinctive flat front and pleated sides, commonly worn during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
    7. Lìlǐng chángshān (立领长衫) is a long garment with a standing collar, a style that became more prominent in the later Ming dynasty.
    8. Jǐnduàn pīfēng (锦缎披风) is a cape or cloak made of brocade, a richly decorative shuttle-woven fabric.
    9. Bùbù shēng lián (步步生莲), 'create lotuses with every step,' is a classical Chinese expression for an exceedingly graceful feminine gait. It originates from a legend about Concubine Pan of the Southern Qi dynasty, for whom the emperor had golden lotus flowers inlaid on the floor so that she would 'create lotuses with every step.'
    10. Dà Qián Cháo (大乾朝), the Great Qian Dynasty. This is a fictional dynasty, not a historical one.
    11. Xuāndé (宣德). While this was a real reign title during the Ming Dynasty (1426–1435), here it is used within the fictional Great Qian Dynasty.
    12. Jiàkōng (架空), literally 'propped up in the air' or 'fictional,' refers to a story set in an alternate history or a completely made-up world that is not tied to real-world historical timelines.
    13. A zhōngyī (中衣) is an inner garment, worn over the undergarments but beneath the main outer robes.
    14. Yāoyāo (幺幺). The character 幺 (yāo) means 'youngest' or 'little one,' making this a term of endearment for the baby of the family. Shen Hetang mishears it as the homophone 夭夭 (yāoyāo), from the famous Book of Songs verse táo zhī yāoyāo (桃之夭夭), which describes a peach tree in full, radiant bloom — a classical image of youthful beauty. The poetic association is especially apt, as Jiang Chenyu's maid is named Chuntao (Spring Peach).
    15. A mǔ (亩) is a traditional Chinese unit of area, equivalent to about 667 square metres or approximately 0.165 acres.
    16. Sāntánghuìshěn (三堂会审) literally means 'a joint trial by three judicial bodies.' In old China, this was a serious affair for major cases. The phrase is now used idiomatically to describe a severe interrogation or being grilled by multiple parties at once.
    17. Yínpiào (银票) were promissory notes used as currency, representing a large amount of silver. They were much easier to carry than bulky silver ingots.
    18. Qù liángjí (去良籍) means to have one's status as a 'good' or free commoner revoked, making them a non-person in the eyes of the law. They could then be sold into slavery or assigned as a state-owned laborer.

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