Chapter 023: Entering The Palace

After saying this, Jiang Xuening didn’t care about her expression and turned to leave.

Many times, she couldn’t distinguish her feelings towards Wanniang. But all the tragedies of her previous life were ultimately related to Wanniang.

Logically, she should hate her.

But whenever she thought of Wanniang’s daughter, whom she cared about deeply but never asked about, she felt that Wanniang was both hateful and pitiful.

In her previous life, Jiang Xuening had taken Jiang Xuehui’s opportunity and her marriage, forcing her way into the palace to be Shen Zhiyi’s companion reader. In this life, although she tried to avoid the palace, everyone seemed to push her towards it. Even the matter of becoming a companion reader fell on her head without her name being submitted, as if someone was pushing her into the palace from behind.

Everything seemed not much different from her previous life.

This made her wonder: in this reborn life, can she really change anything? Or is she just repeating the same mistakes?

*

Early the next morning, before dawn, Jiang Xuening was served by her maids to get up, wash, and dress. After bidding farewell to her parents and taking a few pieces of luggage, she got on the carriage.

Ministers entered the palace through the Meridian Gate;

The women of the palace or those like her who entered the palace as companion readers entered through the Zhenshun Gate in the northeast corner of the palace.

Most of the selected companion readers were between seventeen and twenty years old, the best age for young girls. When Jiang Xuening arrived, some people were already there. She rarely appeared at gatherings of noble girls and was not familiar with them, but they knew each other and were talking softly near the palace gate.

But as soon as the Jiang family’s carriage arrived, the murmurs stopped.

Everyone turned to look at her.

Their eyes showed more or less curiosity or fear: the name initially submitted by the Jiang family was Jiang Xuehui, but later the one selected to enter the palace as a companion reader suddenly became Jiang Xuening. This matter was known not only within the Jiang family but had also spread outside. How could these girls from noble families not pay attention to such things?

Others fought tooth and nail for this opportunity.

But Jiang Xuening, sitting at home, did nothing, and the opportunity fell into her lap.

It was really hard for people to stay calm.

As soon as Jiang Xuening got off the carriage, she saw several familiar faces: they were indeed the same people who were companion readers in her previous life.

One of them was You Yue from the Qingyuan Marquis’s Mansion.

At the Double Ninth Festival banquet that day, Jiang Xuening did not give her any face, which created a grudge. At this moment, she was wearing a beautiful palace dress, looking dignified and virtuous, but the gaze she directed at her was full of undisguised hostility, even with a hint of malice.

Jiang Xuening thought to herself that she better not come looking for trouble, otherwise, her situation in the palace this life wouldn’t be much better than the last. If she accidentally killed her in a fit of anger, it wouldn’t sound good if it got out.

Next to You Yue was Fan Yilan, the daughter of the Minister of Rites, who was named the best poet at the last Double Ninth Festival banquet. She was the most plainly dressed among everyone, not even wearing a single earring, with a serene and ethereal air. Entering the palace didn’t seem to excite her.

Others looked at Jiang Xuening with somewhat strange eyes, but Fan Yilan just glanced over indifferently, neither curious nor jealous.

Jiang Xuening knew that she was the only one among the twelve companion readers who did not yearn for wealth and glory and eventually did not stay as a companion reader.

Next was Zhou Baoying, the third daughter of the Marquis of Dingyuan, the youngest among everyone, and the beloved jewel of the Marquis. Her small face still had a bit of baby fat, round and chubby, with a pair of bright, grape-like eyes.

She stood in front of the palace gate, looking around without any fear.

Her fair and tender hands were holding a small oil-paper bag, constantly taking out candied fruits to eat, her cheeks moving like a little hamster, staring at Jiang Xuening with wide eyes.

She was a girl who could be won over with just a little snack.

But there was one downside—

That was, whoever gave her snacks could win her over. Probably because she was still young and naive, completely without principles.

The remaining ones were Yao Rongrong, Fang Miao, and four others.

Jiang Xuening found the four unfamiliar and had no impression of them.

It seemed they were sent back by the palace officials during the days of learning palace etiquette and familiarizing themselves with the palace environment due to poor etiquette and academic qualifications.

She remembered the first two somewhat.

Yao Rongrong was the lowest-born among those entering the palace this time, the daughter of Yao Douping, a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy. Her appearance was that of a delicate beauty, but her attire was somewhat shabby compared to the other noble girls.

She looked at people with lowered eyes.

When she looked over and met Jiang Xuening’s gaze, she immediately withdrew her eyes, not daring to look at her again. Jiang Xuening remembered Yao Rongrong because she was the slowest learner among everyone in her previous life.

Finally, there was Fang Miao.

She had a delicate face, clean and neat; her lively eyes were a bit too active. There was a small red mole on her eyebrow, making her look a bit charming. If you looked closely, you would find that she was wearing a light blue dress today. Because September belongs to metal in the five elements, the lesser yin energy is warm and moist, and it is born with water.

Yes, Fang Miao was the only daughter of the Director of the Imperial Observatory.

Growing up, she learned to observe celestial phenomena and calculate solar terms from her father, and was immersed in the study of the five elements and eight trigrams, even able to read fortunes and perform divination.

Whether she was accurate or not, Jiang Xuening didn’t know.

In her previous life, Fang Miao was very popular because of her interest in this area. In the evenings, she would often gather with others to calculate marriage prospects and fortunes, fitting in perfectly.

Jiang Xuening didn’t care about how they looked at her because her plan for this life was very clear—

Learn etiquette?

You can’t wake someone who is pretending to be asleep, and no matter how good the palace officials are, they can’t teach someone who is determined to stay away from the palace.

She couldn’t be bothered with these people. So after getting off the carriage, she didn’t go to talk to them, but stood at a distance from the palace gate.

The eunuch guarding the gate glanced at her, counted on his fingers, and said, “There are nine people now, three more are missing. Please wait a moment, ladies, and I will take you into the palace shortly.”

Yao Rongrong timidly asked, “Who hasn’t arrived yet?”

Zhou Baoying, munching on candied fruits from her oil-paper bag, pouted and casually replied, “The last to arrive must be Sister Xiao, and Sister Chen and Sister Yao will probably come with her.”

The expressions of the others became subtly different.

Zhou Baoying, being the legitimate daughter of a marquis and close to Xiao Shu and others, spoke without thinking there was anything wrong. But the others couldn’t compare to their status.

Now, most of them were waiting here, but some hadn’t arrived yet.

Who wouldn’t think that those who hadn’t arrived were putting on airs?

As they were talking, a luxurious carriage approached Zhenshun Gate and stopped in front of them.

The coachman placed a footstool down from the carriage.

The eunuch who had spoken to Jiang Xuening and the others hurried over, smiling broadly, and bowed by the carriage: “Miss, you have finally arrived.”

It was indeed Xiao Shu in the carriage.

She was wearing a wide-sleeved, flowing yellow dress, with jade ornaments jingling at her waist. She got off the carriage with the help of the eunuch’s hand, smiling: “Today, it’s Eunuch Huang who came to receive us. The princess didn’t tell me.”

Huang Renli also smiled: “Her Highness knew many companions were coming today and was very happy. She specially sent me to take a look and report back to the princess.”

Everyone understood that Huang Renli was a eunuch trusted by Princess Leyang.

Even such a eunuch came forward to help Xiao Shu off the carriage. The prominence of the Xiao family and Xiao Shu’s close relationship with the princess were evident.

There were more people in the carriage besides Xiao Shu. After she got off, two more people stepped out.

Jiang Xuening raised her eyebrows slightly at the sight.

Miss Chen Shuyi, the daughter of Grand Secretary Chen Yunjin, rarely entered the palace and was not very familiar with Princess Leyang, but she had a very good relationship with Xiao Shu.

This was because they both came from equally prominent families in the capital.

Although her appearance was not as striking as Xiao Shu’s, she had a dignified and elegant air, always wearing a faint smile. However, her eyes showed a thoughtful and calculating nature, indicating she was a reserved and cautious person.

The last person was quite interesting.

She had almond-shaped eyes and willow-leaf eyebrows, her hair styled in a single bun, with crescent-shaped white jade earrings and a delicate jade lock hanging on her chest. Her appearance and attire indicated her noble background. However, as she got off the carriage, she frowned slightly, looking somewhat irritated and gloomy, as if she had encountered some difficult and unpleasant matter.

Jiang Xuening had a deep impression of her.

She was Yao Xi, the daughter of Minister of Personnel Yao Taifu—

She almost married Zhang Zhe, but halfway through the marriage negotiations, she stubbornly broke off the engagement and spread rumors throughout the capital that Zhang Zhe was cursed to bring misfortune to his wives. Her father also suppressed Zhang Zhe in the court, causing Zhang Zhe’s elderly mother, Madam Feng, to fall seriously ill.

In the end, after much selection, she married Zhou Yinzhi.

She then helped Zhou Yinzhi rise to power with the support of her family. However, only three years later, she died in childbirth in Zhou Yinzhi’s mansion, which was filled with concubines.

At this time, Yao Xi was probably negotiating her marriage with Zhang Zhe and was troubled by it.

After all, Zhang Zhe had just had a conflict with the Jinyiwei.

It didn’t seem like he had a promising future.

Jiang Xuening didn’t know why, but although she knew she wasn’t a good person in her previous life, her methods were not as despicable as Yao Xi’s. She looked at Yao Xi from top to bottom, left to right, and just couldn’t feel comfortable with her.

Abandoning Zhang Zhe and choosing Zhou Yinzhi…

Truly, what a waste of those beautiful eyes!

Her gaze was calm and meaningful as she looked at Yao Xi.

Yao Xi had just gotten off the carriage and was looking around at the others.

But when she accidentally met Jiang Xuening’s gaze, she paused, stunned.

Jiang Xuening, however, suddenly smiled brightly, standing beside the others, showing a friendly and pleasant demeanor, as if she had a good impression of Yao Xi, even nodding in greeting.

Yao Xi was puzzled.

But Jiang Xuening’s smile was so beautiful that even a woman couldn’t resist it. Although Yao Xi didn’t understand, she instinctively returned the smile. 

Jiang Xuening’s face was pure and kind, but inside she was sneering: In this life, you better not cause trouble, or I will definitely teach you a lesson!