Jian Ruonan was lazy, not stupid.
Never mind three points of interest a day-even if she lost a hundred points a day, Jian "Slacker" Ruonan wouldn't panic.
The most important thing for a successful slacker was a good attitude. Her guiding principle was simple: once you owed enough, another debt was nothing to worry about.
So what if she owed points? At worst, she would keep using rough toilet paper.
The basic slacker's code: unless someone held a blade to your throat, never bother turning yourself over.
Since she already owed so much, why not play a few more rounds?
The system was useless anyway. She could owe eighty or a hundred thousand points-getting the goods first was what mattered.
The system: [...Host, don't push your luck. Our hearts are connected. I can hear what you're thinking.]
Jian Ruonan: [So what if you can? Heh, I'm giving up and slacking off.]
The system: [...]
[Ding-] [The points shop will remain closed until all outstanding points have been repaid!]
Nan Nan needed oxygen: Trash!
Aside from Madam Min and Jian Ruonan, quite a few ladies and young misses were seated in the reception hall.
Seeing her staring into space in a corner, Madam Min pulled her over and introduced her to the officials' wives present. "This is our household's fifth young miss, Ruonan. Ruonan was sickly as a child, and Master Chengyuan suggested sending her south, so we sent her to her aunt's home in Jiangsu..."
The Jiangsu-Zhejiang region was a land of fish and rice with a flourishing literary culture. Being sent to Jiangnan gave the impression that Jian Ruonan was valued by her family, and that sending her away had truly been an unavoidable choice.
The officials' wives present had more hidden angles than a lotus root had holes. Madam Min feared they would look down on Ruonan.
She held Jian Ruonan in her arms with great affection, making it clear to everyone that Jian Ruonan was a daughter she cherished in the palm of her hand.
The ladies on good terms with Madam Min gave Jian Ruonan plenty of first-meeting gifts, then took her hand and asked, "What books have you read over the years? What accomplishments have you learned?"
Officials' daughters had tutors hired to teach them at home. They had to study the Four Books for Women and learn embroidery. Even if they weren't proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, they still had to know the basics.
Jian Xilu was an accomplished zither player who often performed before noble young ladies and officials' wives. She had also mastered an elegant flower-adorned style of small regular script, and Madam Min often had her help write invitations for flower-viewing gatherings.
As the marquis household's eldest legitimate daughter, Jian Xilu was poised and gracious, with a reputation for talent that spread far and wide. When she first came of age, it was no exaggeration to say that matchmakers nearly wore through their threshold.
With such an outstanding elder sister born of the principal wife, surely her full younger sister couldn't be far behind.
All the ladies in the reception hall turned to Jian Ruonan.
Jian Ruonan was speechless. Even in ancient times, she couldn't escape the fate of being made by her parents to perform her talents before friends and relatives.
Apart from the advertising slogan "The Jiangnan Leather Factory has gone bankrupt, and the boss has run off with his sister-in-law," Jian Ruonan knew nothing. She did her best to play a shy little girl while thinking of a way to decline.
Suddenly, a woman's sarcastic voice rang out. "Oh, I hear the talented ladies of Jiangnan are exceptionally gifted, every bit the equal of our capital's young misses, if not better. Surely even if the fifth young miss has learned only the barest basics, she can still open our eyes."
The speaker was a middle-aged woman who stood out among the officials' wives decked in gold and silver.
She wore a simple dress of plain brocade, with a silver hairpin in her hair and only a pair of plain silver clove-shaped studs in her ears.
Despite her modest attire, the officials' wives around her showed no contempt. Some even seemed to be subtly flattering her. Her seat alone made it clear that the duke's wife treated her with considerable courtesy.
With that one simple remark, the middle-aged woman instantly drew plenty of hostility toward Jian Ruonan.
Jian Ruonan was utterly bewildered. Why were these people looking at me so sharply?
She immediately asked the system to dig up the gossip. It turned out that before the new year, the emperor had acquired a new beauty from Jiangnan, whose soft Wu dialect rose and fell melodiously and whose charms were endless.
Not long after entering the palace, she had leaped several ranks to become Consort Yi. Recently, word had spread that Consort Yi was carrying an imperial child. Before long, promotion to the rank of consort was practically guaranteed.
With Consort Yi enjoying imperial favor, there was naturally no shortage of flatterers.
The capital's noble young ladies and Jiangnan's talented women each had their own strengths. The problem was, praise was one thing, but why lift one side up by trampling the other? Plenty of idiots had belittled all the capital's noble young ladies as utterly worthless while praising Consort Yi.
With a single remark, the middle-aged woman had slapped the label of "talented lady of Jiangnan" onto Jian Ruonan, inevitably stirring up everyone's indignation.
They were all waiting to pick her apart.
After finishing the gossip from the system, Jian Ruonan hurriedly said, "Although I grew up in Jiangnan, all my tutors were hired from the capital. You can tell from my accent, ladies-I can't even speak the Jiangnan dialect."
So she was one of their own. Their gazes immediately grew friendly.
Their questions softened too. "What do you know, then?"
Jian Ruonan was caught in a bind. If she said she knew nothing, wouldn't she disgrace the capital's noble young ladies?
Suddenly, Madam Min spoke. "Nan Nan knows a little medicine."
Jian Ruonan: *??*
Since when did she know medicine?
Madam Min thought that being able to recognize athlete's foot and knowing what a fungal infection was ought to count as knowing medicine.
Medicine was not only an unusual accomplishment but a practical one. Most importantly, she couldn't demonstrate it. After all, no one would let a girl of barely ten treat them.
Sure enough, once the ladies present heard that her accomplishment was medicine, they offered a few grand-sounding pleasantries and let the matter drop.
But the middle-aged woman from earlier gave a cold laugh and refused to relent. "What branch of medicine, exactly? What medical texts has she read? What illnesses can she diagnose? Doesn't Madam Wang suffer from headaches? Why not have Ruonan take a look?"
[System, just who is this middle-aged woman? I haven't offended her. Why does she keep coming after me?]
The system dug around in the Melon Patch.
The middle-aged woman's surname was Song. The Song and Min families had been close for generations, and Madam Song and Madam Min had once been intimate friends before marriage. When marriage arrangements were being discussed, Madam Song had set her heart on Jian Zhang. After pleading for ages, she finally persuaded her mother to approach his family. Unexpectedly, not long after her mother's visit, she heard that Madam Min and Jian Zhang were already betrothed, and their families were preparing to exchange birth-date cards.
Later, Madam Song married a poor Hanlin scholar. Compared to Madam Min, the eldest daughter-in-law of a marquis household, her status was worlds apart.
From then on, Madam Song hated Madam Min.
She believed Madam Min had swooped in and stolen her love.
[Ah, so Madam Song had a secret crush on my father?! Another romantic debt caused by that pig's trotter of a dad!]
Madam Min: "..."
No wonder Madam Song had suddenly turned against her. At last, she had found the reason.
[What? Madam Song still has feelings for my father even now?!]
[After all these years, is Madam Song really that devoted? Oh, oh, it isn't devotion-her husband looks like a toad... Someone actually looks like a toad?! Are there pictures? No? They only become available after upgrading with more points? System, you really are unbelievably useless.]
[Didn't Madam Song marry a poor Hanlin scholar? Why is everyone flattering her?... So that poor Hanlin scholar is now the left vice censor-in-chief, renowned for his integrity and close to the emperor... No wonder. People always fawn on the high and trample the low.]
While Jian Ruonan secretly feasted on gossip, Madam Song was sizing her up.
The other ladies didn't know much about Madam Min, but Madam Song knew the Marquis of Jinyang's household inside out.
This Jian Ruonan was a concubine's daughter. She had been sent to the estate in Daxing because she brought misfortune upon her family. Sallow and scrawny, she probably hadn't even been fed properly. What could she possibly know about medicine?
But why would Madam Min value a concubine's daughter so highly? As Madam Song studied Jian Ruonan, a flash of insight suddenly struck her.
Jian Ruonan looked almost exactly like Madam Min had in her youth.
Jian Chuxue, whom Madam Min had always doted on most, hadn't been brought along today.
After a little thought, Madam Song understood. The daughters had most likely been switched.
This was a scandal in the marquis household.
Once she got home, she would have her husband submit an impeachment against them.
Censors had the right to submit reports based on hearsay.
[Oh no! Madam Song's husband, Censor Cao, will soon impeach my father for failing to govern his household and allowing confusion between the legitimate and concubine-born daughters. Inspector Wei will seize the chance to drop a stone on someone already down a well, claiming my father forced Concubine Wei to enter the household as his concubine back then. My father will be demoted, and the petition to appoint him heir to the marquisate will be rejected too!!]
[Sure enough, our whole family is cannon fodder!]
[My life as a legitimate young miss of a marquis household has only just begun!]
Madam Min: !!
What could she do?
With confusion between legitimate and concubine-born daughters in the marquis household, its young ladies would be looked down upon whenever they went out. Finding marriages for Xilu and Ruonan would become difficult too.
[Let me see what dirt there is on Censor Cao. Oh, this Censor Cao is quite something. If this gossip gets out, it's a crime punishable by beheading!]
Madam Min's heart pounded wildly. She concentrated and held her breath, waiting for Jian Ruonan to spill the gossip.
Jian Xilu stopped chatting with her friends as well and pricked up her ears.
Just then, Madam Song said, "Ruonan, come and take a look at Madam Wang. Her headaches are acting up, and she's feeling quite miserable."
Jian Ruonan's inner voice stopped abruptly.
Madam Min glared furiously at Madam Song, wishing she could swallow her whole and skin her alive.
Interrupt someone's gossip feast, and you would marry a toad again in your next life!
Before you continue