A Rebirth: Joined As One - Chapter 3

Jiaping twenty-eight, the first day of the first month.

Early that morning, the New Year’s greeting card written by the Prime Minister’s residence in Jing Ya’s name was delivered to the Princess Royal’s residence.

Jing Ya had written that greeting card herself, but it contained only ordinary New Year’s wishes. Even if someone deliberately wanted to inspect it, they would not be able to find anything unusual.

Soon, the person who had delivered the greeting card returned and said that the Princess Royal’s residence was declining guests today, and had only accepted the card that had been sent over.

Hearing this, Jing Ya had more or less expected it.

That was as it should be.

After all, the Princess Royal had only just awakened from unconsciousness yesterday. No matter how miraculous her recovery was, it was impossible for her to have the energy today to deal with all the visitors coming to offer New Year’s greetings.

Besides, even if she truly did have the energy, she had to appear as though she did not. At the very least, she had to put on a show for those in the palace.

But in that case, there was no telling when the Princess Royal would see the greeting card she had written. If there was still no movement after the tenth day of the first month, then Jing Ya would have to personally make a trip to the Princess Royal’s residence.

Jing Ya lightly rubbed her fingertips together, pressing down the impatience rising in her heart. Her face remained calm and indifferent from beginning to end.

The Prime Minister’s residence had always been one of the liveliest places during New Year’s visits, and even Father Jing, in his position, could not avoid this share of bustle.

Father Jing and Madam Jing received guests in the main hall. There were colleagues, students, fellow townsmen, and old friends.

The visitors were also divided by how close or distant their relationships were. Those who were closer would come together, while those who were more distant would consciously avoid overlapping with them. In any case, they would not crash into one another.

Jing Ya did not go to the front hall. She sat alone in the rear hall. From time to time, little maids came in to deliver something. When Wang Lan came over to bring Jing Ya a hand warmer, she happened to run into a little maid who had just finished delivering something and was about to leave.

The little maid was about to fall, so Wang Lan caught her along the way.

Once the little maid had steadied herself with Wang Lan’s help, she hurriedly said, “Thank you, Sister Lan!”

“What are you doing? Why are you running back and forth?” Wang Lan asked while smiling, withdrawing her hand and continuing to support the bottom of the hand warmer.

Hearing this, the little maid stuck out her tongue, then mischievously jerked her chin toward the door and said, “Sister Lan, hurry inside. The rear hall is cold, and Miss is waiting for your hand warmer. I’ll be going first, Sister Lan!”

After saying that, she lifted the hem of her skirt and ran off.

The rear hall was close to the front hall, so one could not call out loudly. Wang Lan had no way to stop her and ask clearly, so she could only let her go.

When Wang Lan entered the rear hall, she saw Jing Ya sitting upright beside the desk, holding a brush and writing.

Jing Ya was copying down a list of names.

Even though she had only just been reborn two days ago, the matters of her previous life were already several decades away from her. She no longer remembered many people’s names very well. It was perfect, then, to take advantage of today’s idle time to copy them down again. In the future, whether she chose to save them or eliminate them, she would have a rough idea in mind.

When she heard Wang Lan come in, Jing Ya happened to have just finished writing the last name, so she set down her brush.

Wang Lan walked to the desk and handed the hand warmer to Jing Ya. Jing Ya raised her hand to take it and placed it on her lap. Her palms covered it, and the warm but not scorching heat instantly spread through both of her hands.

“You should have brought it over earlier,” Jing Ya said as she warmed her hands, making her first joke since returning.

But Wang Lan pouted and said, “Then Miss should just go write in the study, or simply return to your room and write there. Why must you stay here in the rear hall?”

“It’s not as if you don’t know how cold it is here.”

Jing Ya pressed her lips together and smiled faintly. “This place is closer to the gatehouse, so Xiao Ling can save herself some running.”

“Closer to the gatehouse? Why does Miss need to be close to the gatehouse?” Wang Lan was somewhat puzzled. Then she remembered the little maid she had run into at the door and immediately understood. “The things Miss just had Xiao Ling send over… from the gatehouse… were they visiting cards?”

The smile at Jing Ya’s lips deepened slightly. She turned to look at Wang Lan, and the emotions in her eyes became a little deeper. “You are rather clever.”

Wang Lan, who had died for the Jing family in her previous life, was now still only a little maid with a few traces of quick wit.

Wang Lan covered her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled smugly. “Of course. Otherwise, wouldn’t all these years following Miss have been for nothing?”

Jing Ya said no more. She only pushed the finished stack of visiting cards on the desk to the side and said, “Since you’re here, take these back to the gatehouse.”

“Yes.” Wang Lan knew her limits and did not ask further. She put away her handkerchief, gathered the stack of visiting cards, picked them all up, and carried them out.

Only after seeing Wang Lan leave did Jing Ya withdraw her gaze. She lowered her eyes to look at the still-wet ink on the paper and let out a faint, quiet sigh.

She wondered how things were going on the Grand Princess’s side…

The Grand Princess’s residence.

Although the gates of the residence were wide open, there were so few visitors that one could catch sparrows there. Even the pedestrians passing by on the street outside were rarely seen. There was not the slightest festive bustle that should have belonged to New Year’s Day.

Inside the residence, people lowered their voices everywhere, afraid of disturbing the Princess Royal, who had only just awakened from her long sleep.

A maid carefully carried medicine into the bedroom. With her brows and eyes lowered, she did not dare look too much at the Princess Royal leaning against the head of the bed. She only presented the medicine with both hands and said softly in a low voice, “Princess Royal, it is time for your medicine.”

The Princess Royal gave a casual sound of acknowledgment, then closed the book and set it aside. She took the medicine bowl from the maid’s hands and directly tilted her head back to drink it. Even in that movement, she carried an unruly air.

But when the maid saw her drink the medicine so readily, her eyes widened in shock. She even forgot to offer the candied fruit she was holding in her other hand.

After wiping her mouth, the Princess Royal caught sight of it and casually asked, “What is it?”

The maid glanced at the medicine bowl, which did not have a single drop of medicine left in it, then shook her head. She only brought the small dish of candied fruit before the Princess Royal, indicating for her to take some.

Yet the Princess Royal merely waved her hand and directly dismissed the maid.

The maid answered yes and turned to leave. But after hesitating again and again, she turned back around, looked worriedly at the Princess Royal, and asked, “Princess Royal, do you… not find the medicine bitter?”

The Princess Royal paused in the act of turning a page. Only then did she remember that she had already returned to twelve years ago.

Twelve years ago, it turned out that she had still been afraid of bitterness?

As soon as she remembered it, a bitter taste indeed began to spread from the root of her tongue in all directions. Everywhere was bitterness, so bitter it almost became unbearable.

The Princess Royal furrowed her brows and immediately picked up a piece of candied fruit, placing it in her mouth.

The sweetness began from the tip of her tongue, slowly reclaiming the territory occupied by the bitter taste. Quietly and silently, yet with fierce momentum, it took only a moment to drive all the bitterness out.

Only when she could no longer taste the bitterness did the Princess Royal’s knitted brows slowly relax.

Seeing this, the maid felt somewhat relieved. She tidied up the medicine bowl and turned to leave, but before she had taken more than a few steps, she was called back.

The Princess Royal was still leaning against the head of the bed, turning the pages of her book as she ordered, “You. Go tell Xue Chan to bring me all the visiting cards sent over today.”

“Yes.”

The maid answered, then carried the things out.

In less than a moment, someone else came in, holding a large stack of visiting cards. They were arranged neatly, but the pile was still very high, reaching all the way to the shoulder of the person who had entered.

The newcomer placed the visiting cards on the table, braced herself against the edge of it, and panted for breath.

After standing there and resting for a little while, the newcomer felt that she had recovered enough. Only then did she poke her head out from behind the screen to look at the Princess Royal on the bed and ask, “Princess Royal, all the visiting cards submitted today are here. Do you want to read them?”

The Princess Royal lifted her eyes and swept them over that familiar face peeking out from the side of the screen. Without betraying anything, she curved her lips slightly and said, “Reading them would be troublesome. Why don’t you read them aloud to me instead?”

“Read them? Then… should I read all of them, or just the names?”

“Can you manage to read all of them?”

The face by the screen drooped. “I can’t…”

“Then just read the names.”

“All right!” Hearing this, the drooping face instantly became lively again. Xue Chan happily turned back and began reading aloud the names signed on each visiting card for the Princess Royal.

“…Xu Jing, Zhang Mingji, Jing Ya, Gu Yangwen…”

Amid all those familiar names, the Princess Royal suddenly heard one that sounded especially familiar. Suspecting that she had heard wrong, she said, “Wait. The one you just read—was it Jing Ya?”

“Ah, yes. What’s wrong?”

“Which Jing? Which Ya?”

“The Jing from the Five Classics, and the Ya from Erya. Jing Ya. She’s the only daughter of Prime Minister Jing. Princess Royal, haven’t you seen her before? Have you forgotten?”

Jing Ya…

It really was Jing Ya…

The Princess Royal’s hand tightened, and the page she was holding immediately crumpled into a ball. Xue Chan, standing in the outer room, heard no sound from inside, but she did not dare rashly poke her head around to look again. She could only ask from across the screen, “Princess Royal, what is it?”

“Nothing. Bring me her visiting card.” The Princess Royal released her hand, smoothed out the page, closed the book, and set it aside, waiting for Xue Chan to bring the item in.

Xue Chan did not dare delay and immediately delivered that New Year’s greeting card to her.

The Princess Royal unfolded the greeting card. When she saw the two characters of Jing Ya’s name at the signature, the mood she had originally settled suddenly fluctuated again.

Jing Ya…

She had schemed and planned for twelve years to seize power. Every step, every person—she had calculated them all. The only thing she had failed to account for was this little mouse. And it was precisely this little mouse she had overlooked who had pried away twelve years of her hard work.

At the thought of her defeat in her previous life, the Princess Royal clenched her teeth in unwillingness. The greeting card in her hand was also crumpled.

“Where is she right now?”

“Where? Who?”

“Jing Ya.”

“Oh… at this time, Miss Jing should be at her own residence, shouldn’t she? After all, there are many guests on New Year’s Day, and the Jing family has so few people. They’re probably very busy.”

“Go. Bring her here for me.”

“The Princess Royal wants to invite Miss Jing? But it has already been announced outside that you are not receiving guests today. If this reaches the palace…”

The Princess Royal fiercely threw the crumpled New Year’s greeting card in her hand onto the ground. “Then find someone and have her killed for me.”

Xue Chan: “…Is Princess Royal joking?”

The Princess Royal raised her eyes to look at her. There was a smile hanging at the edge of her lips, but it was cold and sinister. She asked, “Do I look like I am joking?”

Xue Chan lowered her head and did not dare look. Catching sight of the wrinkled visiting card on the ground, she thought for a moment, then recited all the words someone else had taught her. “Princess Royal, in the past, the Prime Minister’s residence never sent New Year’s visiting cards here. This year, however, they sent one under Miss Jing’s name. Presumably, Miss Jing also has the intention of repairing relations with you…”

“Since she has such intentions, Princess Royal might as well wait until your health improves a little and meet her. After meeting her, then… mm, then it would not be too late to make a decision.”

“And Miss Jing is deeply beloved by Prime Minister Jing. If you can become close to Miss Jing, then Prime Minister Jing…”

She did not continue speaking, and in truth, she knew full well that she had already said too much.

But there was no helping it. Her Princess Royal had already spoken of having someone killed. If Xue Chan did not persuade her properly, then before the first month was even over, the capital would have one more shocking bloody case. Wouldn’t that be terrifying?

Fortunately, the Princess Royal was not someone incapable of listening to others. It was only because her anger had been too intense for a moment that she had let out that ruthless statement.

Now that the ruthless statement had been made, and she had listened to some persuasion, her anger slowly settled.

Yes. It was rare for her to live this life over again. She should not make her first move so easily.

The Jing family was a chess piece. In her previous life, even in the hands of that young nephew of hers, they had been able to carve out such a situation. If, in this life, that chess piece could be in her hands, then it would certainly help her create an even greater situation.

Besides, she had also seen the Jing family’s ending…

Compared with hers, it could be considered miserable. Their whole clan was gone. If Jing Ya also had this chance to begin again, then the first thing she would probably want to do was take revenge on that nephew of hers.

The Princess Royal lowered her eyes and looked at the greeting card on the ground, crumpled into a ball. In her heart, she had made her calculation.

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Countdown until Princess Royal & Jing Ya meet—two chapters~