Chapter 6

"How can you not marry!" Lady Xiao Lin said, as if she had heard something utterly outrageous, earnestly trying to persuade her. "With looks like yours, if you're lucky, you could even enter a prince's or marquis's manor. Even being a concubine is better than suffering outside. If you observe three years of mourning, by then, what family would still want you?"

Though she was reluctant to admit it, her elder sister's daughter was indeed strikingly beautiful. Even after being worn down at the Mingjing Division a few days ago, her beauty remained undiminished, now tinged with a fragile, pitiable air that stirred sympathy.

Back then, her elder sister had surpassed her solely by relying on her face—she understood men's hearts all too well. If those nobles and princes ever laid eyes on Ji Chan, many would surely start scheming.

Lady Xiao Lin had never hidden her ambition to cling to the powerful. If not for her daughter looking too much like her husband, with only average features, she would have paved a path for her long ago.

Now that her daughter was fixated solely on that Xue Mingtang, the only one she could count on was this niece.

Lady Xiao Lin felt she had already considered her niece's interests thoroughly—this was clearly a win-win deal. Yet A Chan remained utterly unmoved.

Listening to Lady Xiao Lin paint a rosy picture of her future, A Chan finally spoke: "Thank you for your kindness, Aunt, but Mother repeatedly warned A Chan that she could only marry as a principal wife, and must never stoop so low."

Lady Xiao Lin's face immediately darkened, and she snorted coldly in displeasure. "How ungrateful! With your current status, even marrying a scholar would be a stretch, and you still dream of being a principal wife? It's all your mother's doing, teaching you to be as stubborn as a block of wood."

She began to rattle off a litany of complaints against Lady Lin, as if venting all the resentment she had harbored for years.

A Chan simply sat quietly to the side, neither refuting nor agreeing.

Just then, a maidservant announced from outside: "Madam, the Eldest Young Master has arrived."

Hearing that her son had come, Lady Xiao Lin's face showed no joy; instead, she frowned. "Isn't he supposed to be at the academy? Why has he come to see me?"

Her coldness toward her son was not without reason. A few months ago, she had discovered that her eldest son had been staying out for several nights in a row. After interrogating his personal attendant, she learned that the son she had pinned all her hopes on had been coaxed into visiting a gambling den.

By the time she found him, he already owed the gambling house over a thousand taels of silver. She had to send a maid back to the manor to fetch the money to settle the debt, or she wouldn't have been able to take him home.

After returning, she told her husband, who gave their son a severe beating and warned that if he continued gambling, he would be thrown out of the house.

Lady Xiao Lin was furious herself and added a few harsh words, only for her son to shove her, nearly making her fall.

Because of this, she now found her eldest son particularly irksome.

Zhao Wensheng, entering from outside, heard his mother's words and said with a smile, "I heard that Mother has recently taken a sudden liking to river fish. On my way to the academy, I saw a vendor selling live fish, so I bought some and turned back to the manor."

As his eldest son said, during the first three months of her pregnancy, her reactions had been severe—she threw up everything she ate and suffered greatly. Now, at six months along, she had developed a craving for the fishy smell.

Unfortunately, fresh fish were scarce at this time of year, so she couldn't indulge fully.

Knowing her son had thought of her, Lady Xiao Lin's brow relaxed, and she chided him affectionately, "No wonder you reek of fish. You're quite thoughtful."

She gently stroked her slightly swollen belly. "This little brother of yours, I reckon, will love fish. Not like when I was pregnant with you—back then, I craved sweets."

"I don't like sweets at all," Zhao Wensheng muttered, then turned his head and noticed Ji Chan, dressed in a plain-colored padded dress with a distant, delicate expression. A flicker of admiration rose in his eyes. "And this young lady is..."

"What young lady? That's your cousin Ji from your aunt's family."

"Oh, so it's my cousin. Why haven't I seen her visit before?" Zhao Wensheng stared intently at A Chan.

"Enough, don't pry into your cousin's affairs."

Lady Xiao Lin didn't want her son to have too much contact with Ji Chan. If he took a liking to his niece, would they end up marrying within the family?

She absolutely could not agree to someone like Ji Chan entering the Zhao family now.

Zhao Wensheng shot A Chan a few more glances before reluctantly looking away.

Seeing this, Lady Xiao Lin's face turned cold. "It's time for you to return to the academy, or the tutor will report you to your father."

"Yes, I understand."

"Also, your father says you're not naturally gifted, so you have to work harder than others. If I hear of you fooling around again, I'll have your father send you back to our hometown."

Zhao Wensheng hung his head and replied listlessly, "I wouldn't dare."

As he turned around, A Chan clearly saw the anger in her cousin's eyes.

Once Zhao Wensheng left, Lady Xiao Lin's attention returned to A Chan. She seemed determined to marry her off, extolling the benefits of marriage from every angle, even using herself as an example.

Lady Xiao Lin had always felt that, aside from her pair of children not being ambitious enough, her life after marriage had been excellent. Her husband doted on her completely, and there were no concubines or maidservants in the household—far better than her elder sister, who didn't even know her husband kept a mistress.

A Chan listened to Lady Xiao Lin's boasting and offered a few perfunctory compliments.

Then she heard, "Look at you—you can't do anything, you don't even have a livelihood, and you still want to observe three years of mourning for your mother. You'll probably starve to death within a month."

A Chan thought back. Ji Chan indeed had no skills to make a living, since no one had ever expected she would need them.

As for A Chan herself, if it came to skills, she did have one.

It wasn't something she had deliberately learned. During the year she was separated from her parents, she had grabbed only one book from her mother's desk—a book on incense-making.

Later, whenever she missed her parents, she would read it, and over time, she memorized it.

"You're worrying too much, Aunt. A Chan has studied incense-making and can use it to support herself."

"You know how to make incense? Why didn't your mother ever mention it?" Lady Xiao Lin looked skeptical.

"I only learned it to pass the time in my spare time. Mother didn't know either."

"Anyone can talk. Whether you can support yourself depends on your skill. Since you think you're capable, make a calming incense tomorrow, and I'll test it first."

A Chan gently refused: "Aunt, you're pregnant now. It's best not to use incense."

She could make incense suitable for a pregnant woman, but people's hearts were unpredictable. If something happened to Lady Xiao Lin and someone framed her, it would be trouble. She didn't want to invite problems.

"Then make an incense to repel mosquitoes and insects."

A Chan smiled wryly. "Aunt, it's not the season for mosquitoes yet."

Lady Xiao Lin was growing impatient. "You keep making excuses about making a batch of incense—are you actually just lying to me?"

A Chan felt helpless. She rarely encountered someone as self-centered and quick-tempered as Lady Xiao Lin.

"Since Aunt wants it, then A Chan will prepare an insect-repelling incense for Aunt to see tomorrow."

"Fine, I'll be waiting at home." As she spoke, Lady Xiao Lin yawned, and Mama Sun hurried over to help her lie down.

Seeing this, A Chan also rose to take her leave.

Lady Xiao Lin waved her hand, and before pulling the covers over herself, she instructed Mama Sun to see A Chan out later.

A Chan left the main room and waited outside for a short while before Mama Sun emerged with a smile.

Mama Sun saw A Chan out through the main gate of Zhao Manor. Seeing no one around, she took two silver notes from her sleeve pocket and pressed them into A Chan's hand.

A Chan stared at the two one-hundred-tael notes, momentarily stunned. "Mama Sun, what is the meaning of this?"

Mama Sun smiled and said, "This was prepared by the mistress on my behalf. She said, lest the young lady think her aunt doesn't care for you, take this money to buy yourself some clothes, and use the rest for spices. If the young lady's skill is truly good, there will be more benefits in the future."

A Chan didn't hesitate long before pocketing the money. "Please thank Aunt on my behalf, Mama Sun. I will visit again tomorrow."

"Very well, young lady, take care."

After walking one street away, A Chan was still thinking about Lady Xiao Lin.

This aunt was truly a difficult person to describe. If you called her good, her abacus beads would practically fly into your face, and she made no effort to hide her snobbery and selfishness.

But if you called her bad, in all of Shangjing City, among those connected to Ji Chan's maternal Lin Family, there was more than just this one concubine-born daughter. Yet she was the only one who had inquired about Ji Chan's whereabouts and sent her money.

Perhaps Lady Xiao Lin gave her money for spices only to ensure A Chan would have more "selling points" in the future. But when a person was down and out, to still have someone remember them and be willing to lend a hand was already rare.

Unlike her—from the Northern Wastelands to Shangjing City, so much time had passed, and no one cared whether she lived or died.

Standing on the bustling street, A Chan felt inexplicably lonely.

The passersby around her, some with smiles on their faces, others walking in haste, all had homes to return to after the day's busyness. But she had no home.

It wasn't until someone accidentally bumped into her that A Chan snapped out of that low mood.

Human life was so short. She had many things to do—how could she spare time to dwell on people and pasts that had nothing to do with her anymore?

Demons could while away the years, but humans could only look forward.

For now, she needed to exchange some silver first, then go to the West Market to buy her usual spices. Although most of the incense recipes in that book weren't meant for ordinary people, she still knew a few common ones.

A Chan first went to a money exchange to get twenty taels of loose silver and four twenty-tael notes.

For an ordinary household, twenty taels of silver could last a very long time. A Chan took a stroll through the West Market and bought a pile of common spices, spending less than five taels.

But just as she was leaving, she spotted a section of uncarved black wood at a stall selling wooden carvings.

According to the stall owner, it was a piece of fifty-year-old willow wood that had turned black shortly after being cut down. Willow wood was average in quality, but this color was rare. If she wanted it, it would cost at least one tael of silver.

A Chan hesitated but still bought that piece of wood. Yin Willow grown in extremely yin places—useless now, but it might come in handy later.

The owner didn't offer delivery service, so A Chan had to find someone in the market to carry her wood back. The porter said the wood was heavy and Changping Quarter was far, so he'd need a flatbed cart, and it would cost her ten coppers.

A Chan thought it was too expensive. Just as she was haggling with him, a group of Mingjing Division Guards suddenly charged into the West Market.