In the chamber, Jiang Rong sat in front of the mirror, admiring herself adorned in phoenix coronet and rosy robes, her bright eyes and dazzling smile reflecting the image of a maiden reaching maturity. She felt a sense of surrealism as if she had truly returned to ten years ago. Was it heaven's pity upon her?
"Rong'er, how did you come back?" Second Uncle Jiang Changshi pushed the door open, his expression complex. He truly didn't expect Prince Xie Lingxi to detect the switch even with the veil.
Upon realizing it wasn't Jiang Rong, he left in a huff. However, Changshi wasn't flustered at this moment. The Northern Prince's household couldn't afford everyone to know that on the day of the grand wedding, the prince's bride had eloped. Today, they had to bring Jiang Wan in first and complete this marriage.
Later, they could find an excuse, such as mistakenly bringing the wrong person, to change Jiang Rong's identity to Jiang Wan. Even though the prince had stormed off in anger, the Northern Prince's household would surely send someone to tidy up the situation. They would still make Jiang Wan wear the bridal attire and pretend to be Jiang Rong.
However, things didn't go as expected. Prince Xie Lingxi returned, with Jiang Rong in tow. Seeing her, Jiang Rong sighed softly, "Uncle Changshi, we were caught by Xie Lingxi outside the city. If I didn't come back with him, what could I do? Please forgive me, Uncle Changshi. I must confess, I didn't elope, and I knew nothing about the switch..."
"Otherwise, Wouldn't the prince blame us?" Changshi's heart sank, anxiously asking,
"Uncle Changshi, rest assured, Rong'er will naturally protect you all. Rong'er was captured and felt lifeless. She wanted to die, but when she remembered Uncle's nurturing kindness, she couldn't bear to leave you all behind..." Jiang Rong's eyes reddened, tears welling up.
Changshi held his breath. It all sounded so plausible, but why did everything feel so wrong?
"Don't be sad. You still have plenty of time. In the future, you and Wenyuan will have a chance..." Changshi feigned consolation.
In reality, he sneered inwardly. Even if you marry into the Northern Prince's household today, what's the use? You'll only live for another month! If only I could have Jiang Wan marry in your place. From then on, the Jiang family could bask in the glory of the Northern Prince's household. But now that it had come to this, and with the Northern Prince's men outside the door, he couldn't possibly let his daughter ride in the bridal sedan. he could only make do.
"Rong'er, I can't rest assured if you go alone to the Northern Prince's household. Yingchun is your senior maid, raised alongside you and most trusted by you. Why not let her accompany you as your maid and elevate her to a concubine? She could assist you in the future!" Changshi suggested, pretending to be considerate.
Jiang Rong glanced at Yingchun, who was behind her, helping with her hair, and smiled faintly, "That's a good idea. Uncle Changshi is always so thoughtful."
Uncle Changshi deliberately came to inquire about the news, and then, based on the current situation, made the most advantageous response. After hypocritically expressing concern for Jiang Rong for a while, he left.
Jiang Rong was very clear about what he was thinking. he must be thinking that if he didn't hurry up and keep a concubine with Xie Lingxi, he wouldn't be able to benefit from the North Prince's Mansion. Jiang Rong remained composed, lowering her head to glance at her wrist, where there was a crimson mark like cinnabar. It was the mark left by the Yellow Springs poison.
In her previous life, Xie Lingxi had told her that Yellow Springs was a kind of poison that needed to be taken continuously for a month to become effective. Only the Jiang family could do this. She didn't believe a word of it. Xie Lingxi, in her eyes, was nothing more than a ruthless tyrant who had abducted her. How could she believe a villain over her own family?
He probably knew recently that she had been poisoned, suspected that the Jiang family was the culprit, and knew Shen Wenyuan's true identity. So he married her back, sparing no effort to find medicine to cure her. However, Jiang Rong never believed him for a moment.
Everyone knew that the North Prince was a young dandy who bullied men and women, forcibly marrying the second daughter of the Jiang family and breaking up a good match. But no one knew that he was just trying to save his beloved.
"I hope you can live well," his words lingered in her ears. Jiang Rong couldn't help but tighten her fist under the sleeve of her robe. From now on, she would never let down Xie Lingxi's intentions.
"Yingchun, you've worked hard over the years. I'll take you to the North Prince's Mansion. Are you willing?" Jiang Rong asked seemingly casually.
Yingchun quickly bowed and saluted, "It's up to Miss's orders. Wherever Miss goes, I'll follow!"
Jiang Rong curved her lips slightly. Before she died, she finally realized that the Yellow Springs poison she had been exposed to every day was administered by this trusted maid, Yingchun, who fed her a bowl of ginseng soup personally.
All the maids around her were arranged by Mrs. Chang, Uncle Changshi's wife. Yingchun was the one who kept an eye on her for Mrs. Chang. In the Jiang family, she couldn't even handle a maid. But now, in the North Prince's Mansion, Mrs. Chang wouldn't even have a chance to collect her corpse.
