The Brocaded Tale of The Girl Si -- Chapter 1: Night

The Brocaded Tale of The Girl Si

Chapter 1: Night 

"Fourth Miss, it's time." The servant, Ah-Mann, walked into the inner room, lifted the rainy blue gauze curtain hanging on the canopy bed, and whispered to the woman who was resting.

It was early summer at this time. The view outside had just completely dimmed, and the faint night enveloped the woman's face. In the tent, through the candlelight on the case, the image of the young lass could vaguely be seen.

The woman's eyebrows are perfectly shaped, with a long nose and cherry lips, peach cheeks, and snowy white skin, she is indeed an outstanding beauty.

The Young Lady is the Fourth Miss Jiang Si of the Jiang family of Count Dongping Mansion.

Seeing her lady's face, Ah-Mann's heart rose with anger as she brought up the injustices for this young miss.

Is it possible that the third son of Duke Anguo Mansion is blind? With the fourth miss's stunning beauty, she is qualified enough to enter the palace, but he was not very enthusiastic about their engagement. Did he really think that the Fourth Miss is not worthy of him?

 Ah-Mann's anger originated from the Poetry Meeting during Spring.

The Poetry Meeting was organized by some famous young masters in the capital. It was nothing more than a group of young people who got together to drink and chant poetry for fun. When some were slightly drunk, they jokingly said that they envied Ji Chongyi, the third son of Duke Anguo Mansion, for he was about to marry the rumored first-class beauty of the capital.

Unexpectedly, Ji Chongyi only laughed, then with a drunken spirit, he said: "Shell beauty does not matter. A woman should focus on her gentle character and kindness."

It was a young man's drunken talk, and it was over after they heard it. When they woke up and sober from the effects of wine, the wind had already passed without a trace. Who knew that those words would quickly spread out. And the fourth lady of the Jiang family abruptly became the laughing stock of the entire capital.

The Count Dongping Mansion had a shallow foundation, and the title could only be inherited from the third generation. By the time Jiang Si's father, Count Dongping, was already in the third generation, Jiang Si's elder brother did not even ask for the title.

In other words, the clan has declined. After 100 years of Count Dongping Mansion, the clan will withdraw from the circle of nobles and become ordinary people.

In people's conclusion, a lady from such a family would readily perform a salute to Duke Anguo Mansion. Let us not talk about the chances. It is enough to make many people pay attention to Jiang Si, whom they say has the possibility of climbing up the ladder.

Ji Chongyi, the third son of Duke Anguo Mansion had said that the outer beauty of women is not important and that he values quality, and ​​temperament more. Does this not imply that he dislikes the individuality of the fourth miss? Is he saying that her beauty is nothing but an empty shell, and she has a poor attitude?

Regardless of whether Ji Chongyi had said it intentionally or unintentionally, Jiang Si lost a big face as soon as his words came out. And when she went out to attend a gathering of young ladies, she overheard the gossip.

Jiang Si seemed to be a woman with a strong temperament but still came back sick. This illness lasted for half a month.

Jiang Si, who was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, opened her eyes suddenly.

The curvature of her eyes is extremely beautiful, and when it reaches the end of her eyes, it slightly goes upwards, which outlines her unspeakable beauty of elegance.

At this moment, the pair of beautiful eyes met Ah-Mann with a faint smile: "What are you doing behaving like a man?" 

"This servant does feel angry for the Fourth Miss. It is clear to see that someone has no eyes."

Jiang Si's smile in her eyes quickly faded, but the arc of her mouth deepened, and she said indifferently: "That person had never seen me, it is hard to talk about someone having no eyes."

"Miss, you still speak for him!" Seeing the lady who had lost weight in just half a month, Ah-Mann felt distressed and unconvinced.

Half a month ago, the young lady went to Count Yongchang Mansion to attend the Flower Appreciation Banquet, and when she heard the rumors, she cried so much. She even smashed her favorite splendid jade ornaments. When mentioned about the third son of Duke Anguo Mansion, she gritted her teeth with hatred.

Why has it changed now? What happened?

"It is not speaking for him. It is just a drunken word." Jiang Si turned her eyes, looked at the other maidservant Ah-Qiao standing beside the screen, and ordered, "Ah-Qiao, go and get the two sets of outfit that I asked you to make a few days ago. Bring those clothes." 

A short while after, Ah Qiao brought two sets of clothes, she gave one to Ah-Mann, and the other was waiting for Jiang Si to put on.

 Ah-Mann put the clothes on her body and angrily said: "A drunken talk that made people laugh at Fourth Miss."

Jiang Si's eyes grew colder. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Whatever it is." 

Unfortunately, it started with an ill-matched marriage.

Back then, she was young and ignorant. She was so proud to marry the third son of Lord Anguo Mansion, who knew that the third son, Ji Chongyi, had already been in love with someone else.

Ji Chongyi's lover is a commoner.

The woman who was from a peasant family rescued Ji Chongyi, who had an accident back then when he went out to play. Ji Chongyi was then found by a State Official, after recovering from his injuries for a few days. The two of them have been in love and have been secretly meeting since then.

Jiang Si only learned about this after their marriage.

And before, while she was still full of longing and proud of their engagement, Ji Chongyi had opposed the elders in the family many times solely due to his desire to stay in love with his lover.

The marriage was already around the corner by then, and the Duke Anguo Mansion naturally did not allow Ji Chongyi to mess around. What is more, he wants to marry a commoner woman who is not as good as the Jiang family. Naturally, Ji Chongyi's resistance and dissatisfaction did not spread.

Jiang Si thought about Ji Chongyi's drunkenness and felt that he was so stupid at that time. But after getting angry, she could not help but find a justification for what he said back at the Poetry Meeting. She even thought that he was not unethical, not like those vulgar men who would only care about women's appearance.

And tonight, the night of April 15th, the eighteenth-year of Jingming, this famous noble son would dare to run to the bank of Moyou Lake together with his beloved and jumped into the water to die because of love.

In her previous life, Ji Chongyi had been rescued, but his lover died.

In order to conceal this scandal, their marriage, which was initially scheduled for early winter, took place a few months ahead of plan. After she married with happiness, her husband with a white moonlight in his heart had not touched her. This lasted for nearly a year until the day Ji Chongyi died, unexpectedly.

Then after her husband's death, more changes happened in her former life, until she opened her eyes after experiencing a tragic death and returned to the year when she was fifteen.

It can be said that all her misfortunes started from marrying Ji Chongyi. And now that she has come back, her top priority is to resolve this marriage. Later on, she will face the eccentric Third Master Ji and the implausible Duke Anguo Mansion. Once her engagement is settled, she would draw a clear line and never interact with them again!

Swiftly, Jiang Si had put on her clothes and nodded to Ah-Mann: "Ah-Mann, let us go."

 Ah-Mann lifted the baggage on the chair.

Ah-Qiao hesitated for a moment and stopped Jiang Si: "Fourth Miss, it is so late, are you really going out? The second door has already been locked--"

"It is okay. These are all set. Ah-Qiao, be good. Just guard the yard so well." Jiang Si looked firm.

If possible, she certainly did not want to run out and to take risks at night, but apart from these two close servants, she could not find any reliable people to help.

Seeing this, Ah-Qiao nodded his head and said: "Fourth Miss, rest assured." And they went out.

Jiang Si took Ah-Mann quietly out of her Haitang Residence and walked through the garden and the gates to the second door that was covered by lush trees.

"Fourth Miss--" Ah-Mann whispered while looking at the closed door.

T/N: Sorry for the bad translation :( | Newbie here | This is my first English Translation. Let me know my errors and I would readily correct them. Thanks. 

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