A Rebirth: Joined As One - Chapter 6

Although the Princess Royal had already confirmed that Jing Ya was someone she could use, the anger in her chest had yet to be vented. She had to find some way to resolve and release it.

After all, suffering losses was something the Princess Royal had never done.

And so, during the remaining days of the first month, Jing Ya felt that her life had become especially fulfilling.

Every few days, she would be summoned to the Princess Royal’s residence. Most of the time, after she went, she would merely sit there dryly. Once she sat down, it would be for half a day, and no meal would be provided. She would simply be made to sit there hungry. Then, when she had more or less starved long enough, the Princess Royal would thoughtfully have someone come to see the guest out.

And throughout all these days of “visiting,” Jing Ya did not see the Princess Royal’s true face even once.

She had asked the people of the Princess Royal’s residence once, but the answer the Princess Royal had someone send out was that her body had yet to fully recover, so it was not convenient for her to come out and receive Jing Ya.

As for the question of why she still insisted on summoning Jing Ya over when it was inconvenient to receive her, Jing Ya did not continue asking.

If the Princess Royal wanted to toy with her, then Jing Ya had to cooperate and be toyed with. There was nothing worth asking. In any case, everyone knew it. They simply did not say it aloud, so appearances could still be maintained.

After being summoned over two or three times, Jing Ya gained experience. When she went again, she brought a book with her to read.

There was no one in the front hall, so she was happy to be at ease, quietly flipping through her book. When the Princess Royal learned that Jing Ya had turned the front hall into a study, she felt that it was somewhat boring, but she did not stop. She still summoned Jing Ya to the residence every one or two days. In any case, it was all torment. Since Jing Ya felt this method of torment was acceptable, then the Princess Royal naturally did not need to be polite.

As time passed, the people in the Princess Royal’s residence almost came to know Jing Ya by sight.

Jing Ya herself could also be considered familiar after the first visit and accustomed after the second. Except for the rear courtyards she could not enter, she had almost figured out the layout of the Princess Royal’s residence.

On the twenty-eighth day of the first month, Jing Ya was once again summoned to the Princess Royal’s residence early in the morning. She sat there dryly and read for most of the day, and only near dusk did she receive permission to leave.

Jing Ya closed her book and prepared to depart, but when she passed by the warm lake, she was drawn in by a twin-stemmed red lotus blooming beautifully in the water.

It was still winter now, yet there was actually a lotus in full bloom. It seemed the warm lake truly lived up to its name.

Jing Ya was wholly curious, and that twin-stemmed red lotus also happened to be very close to the shore. So Jing Ya carefully stepped onto the frozen earth and leaned closer to look at the red lotus in detail. But who could have known that the frozen ground was not solidly frozen? The soil underneath had also been warmed loose by the hot mist of the warm lake. And so, the moment Jing Ya stepped on it, the frozen ground sank. Even though she had been extremely careful before, Jing Ya still could not avoid the force of inertia. In an instant, she fell into the warm lake along with the collapsing earth.

With a splash, a considerable spray of water rose up.

After that, well, people in the capital began spreading rumors that something was wrong with the warm lake, that it specifically brought misfortune to people. At the turn of the year, two people had actually fallen into it!

As for the fact that the two people who had fallen into the warm lake had actually fallen into two warm lakes in completely different places, no one cared about that.

But these rumors were something Jing Ya, who was in the middle of a high fever that would not break and several bouts of unconsciousness, could no longer hear.

As for the other one who had also fallen into a warm lake, the Princess Royal, although she could hear these messy rumors, she did not take them to heart.

Compared with the warm lake, the Princess Royal was clearly more concerned about Jing Ya.

“Xue Chan, tell me. Did Jing Ya really fall into the warm lake? And is it also true that her high fever won’t break and that she has fallen unconscious several times?”

Xue Chan tilted her head and thought about it. “The latter part is hard to say… But I did personally see her fall into the warm lake. Princess Royal, you can absolutely believe that part.”

The Princess Royal still felt that something was not quite right. “Then is it possible that she doesn’t want to come over, so she’s pretending to be ill?”

Xue Chan thought for a moment and said, “Probably not, right? Didn’t Miss Jing get pushed into a lake by Zhang Shaoheng last late autumn? I heard that ever since then, Miss Jing’s health has never fully recovered. Surely she wouldn’t go jump into a lake herself just to avoid you, would she?”

“Zhang Shaoheng?”

“Yes, the son of Zhang Zhaoyan, the vice minister of the Ministry of Rites. On Lantern Festival night a few days ago, he was one of the people in the group you gathered.”

“Then why did he push Jing Ya? Does he have some grudge against her?”

Xue Chan smiled and said, “A grudge? Of course there is one. After all, with the Jing family in such a position, it would be very difficult for them to have no grudges with anyone among the civil and military officials of the court.”

“Never mind those further away. As for one close at hand… Zhang Zhaoyan, before the New Year, was quite the major grudge.”

The Princess Royal hugged the hand warmer inside her sleeves, nodded, and said, “Tell Yu Qiong to pass the order down. Have them think of a way and make a move. As for this Zhang Zhaoyan… there is no need for him to remain in the capital any longer.”

Xue Chan was rather surprised. “Is the Princess Royal doing this for Miss Jing?”

The Princess Royal lifted her long brows, naturally carrying an air of noble arrogance beyond reach. “It is merely returning a peach for a plum. Besides, Jing Ya can now be considered one of mine. There is absolutely no reason for her to be bullied by others for nothing.”

Right, how had she forgotten? Her Princess Royal’s protectiveness toward her own people was also famous.

Xue Chan nodded silently. In her heart, she raised Jing Ya’s position another level and said, “Then Princess Royal, I’ll go tell Yu Qiong.”

“Mm, go.”

The Princess Royal calmly let Xue Chan go pass the message to Yu Qiong. Among the people at her side, aside from Xue Chan, Yu Qiong, and a few others, there were still many usable people, but most of them could not make her feel as satisfied or reassured when using them.

With the defeat of her previous life as a mirror, every person around her had been reflected clearly, from skin to bone.

But there was no rush to clean them up yet. The time had not come. Slowly, slowly…

Right now, the main issue was still Jing Ya, that little mouse. She had to watch her properly. She could not let her attention slip for even a moment. That little mouse was clever, and her hide was very slippery. The moment the Princess Royal loosened her grip, Jing Ya would surely slip away.

That was what the Princess Royal thought. But right now, that slippery and clever “little mouse” could only lie weakly in bed, listless and limp, without the strength to slip anywhere.

Still, weakness was weakness, and cleverness was still cleverness. For instance, half of this sickly appearance was an act.

Seeing Jing Ya lying in bed, Wang Lan asked in confusion, “Miss, aren’t you already much better? Why are you still lying in bed every day? Isn’t it tiring?”

Jing Ya said, “Wang Lan, you are mistaken. I am still ill.”

Wang Lan poured out a large bowl of bitter medicine and brought it over to Jing Ya, saying very “thoughtfully,” “Since Miss is still ill, then please sit up and drink this bowl of medicine first.”

Jing Ya did not get up. “Am I not still unconscious? How can an unconscious person get up to drink medicine?”

Wang Lan said with distress, “That’s right. Miss is still unconscious, so naturally you can’t drink medicine by yourself. Mm, I suppose I should be the one to pour the medicine down Miss’s throat.”

As she spoke, she moved to help Jing Ya up. Jing Ya hurriedly hid farther inside the bed. “Wang Lan, Wang Lan!”

Wang Lan stopped by the bed and asked, “Is Miss calling me? Has Miss finally awakened?”

Jing Ya hugged the quilt and said, “I’m awake. Give me the medicine. I’ll drink it myself. That will save you some trouble too.”

Wang Lan looked at Jing Ya with a face full of disapproval, but in the end, she still handed the medicine bowl over.

Jing Ya accepted the medicine and only drank a small half of it. The rest, she did not continue drinking. Wang Lan did not force her to drink all of it either. She merely held the bowl that still had most of the medicine left and looked at Jing Ya, saying, “Miss, you must not do this again.”

“Even if you don’t want to go to the Princess Royal’s residence, you shouldn’t torment your own body!”

“You already fell into a lake once last autumn and winter. The physician said you absolutely must recover properly. If you end up with a lingering illness in the future, do you still want to live a long life or not?”

Jing Ya continued wrapping herself in the quilt. Hearing this, she looked toward Wang Lan and said helplessly, “Do you think I deliberately jumped into that warm lake?”

“Wasn’t that the case?” Wang Lan, who knew her miss’s temperament very well, still believed this explanation quite a bit.

Jing Ya gave a soft sigh. “Wang Lan, I really was looking at the lotus by the lake and didn’t notice that the frozen earth beneath my feet had softened. That was why I accidentally fell in.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely true.”

Wang Lan believed most of it, but she was still a little reproachful. “Then Miss, you absolutely must not be so careless again. You have fallen into water twice in less than half a year. In my view, there’s an eighty percent chance that water is incompatible with you this year!”

“Where do all these supernatural explanations come from?” Jing Ya could not help smiling.

Wang Lan, however, said with an earnest face, “It’s true. People outside are all saying there’s something wrong with the warm lake, and that’s why the Princess Royal and you fell into it one after the other.”

Jing Ya smiled without speaking and did not pick up Wang Lan’s thread.

“Wang Lan, what day of the second month is it today?”

“The nineteenth day of the second month.”

Jing Ya nodded. “Good. I’ll lie down for a few more days.”

“You’re still going to lie down?!” Wang Lan could hardly believe it.

Jing Ya shook open the quilt, lay properly in bed, and said, “Yes. There isn’t much time left. If I can lie at home a while longer, then I’ll lie at home a while longer.”

Besides, if she got out of bed now, then tomorrow, she would certainly be called to sit at the Princess Royal’s residence again.

Although she had already made up her mind to follow the Princess Royal, there was no need for her to accept all these little torments wholesale. In the Princess Royal’s faction in the future, her position should be that of an allied minister, not a plaything.

So making herself look foolish to entertain others was enough once or twice to loosen the other side’s defenses.

The moment Wang Lan heard that there was not much time left, she instantly thought of Jing Ya’s newly added identity. Her gaze toward Jing Ya, who was lying in bed, softened considerably and carried reluctance. “Once your illness is better, you’ll have to go to the Princess Royal’s residence…”

Jing Ya smiled. “Yes.”

However, she planned to time it precisely and move into the Princess Royal’s residence only when classes began in the palace. That way, she could save herself the trouble of being toyed with by the Princess Royal every day in the Princess Royal’s residence.

Once she thought of how Jing Ya would have to leave the residence after getting out of bed, Wang Lan immediately had no objections to Jing Ya’s behavior of remaining in bed. She even seemed somewhat supportive.

And so, under the united insistence of mistress and servant, Jing Ya continued lying in bed until the twenty-ninth day of the second month before finally getting up.

Previously, people from the Princess Royal’s residence had come several times to urge her. Their meaning each time was that Jing Ya should go to the Princess Royal’s residence earlier. Yet when Jing Ya truly could walk on the ground again, the people sent to hurry her suddenly stopped coming.

But even if no one came to urge her, Jing Ya still had to consciously have people pack her things and prepare to move.

Thus, everything was packed properly on the twenty-ninth. On the thirtieth, Jing Ya brought a pile of belongings and headed to the Princess Royal’s residence.

After arriving at the Princess Royal’s residence, no one stopped her. There was even someone who came over very enthusiastically to lead Jing Ya to the place the Princess Royal had assigned for her.

When it came to accommodations, the Princess Royal did not mistreat Jing Ya. The small courtyard was quiet and elegant, and it was right beside the Princess Royal’s own residence.

The servants from the Jing residence busied themselves arranging Jing Ya’s lodgings and putting away all the things they had brought. Several of them worked until they were sweating. Yet just as they were about to finish tidying everything, the chief administrator of the Princess Royal’s residence hurried over. The anxiety on his face even looked rather convincing.

The chief administrator said, “Oh my, why have you started arranging things here?”

The several Jing residence servants all stopped and looked at him, not knowing what he meant. The chief administrator then said, “The Princess Royal has already entered the palace. Classes in the palace begin tomorrow. If Miss Jing stays here, how could she possibly make it in time for school and class?”

After rambling on and on, the meaning was that Jing Ya had to move all over again.

The servants from the Jing residence looked indignant, and anger also rose in their hearts. He had not come earlier to remind them, and had specifically waited until they had finished tidying before coming to say this. Was this not deliberate?

Jing Ya, however, felt no particular indignation. She merely silently gathered a few everyday items and placed them into the clothing chest. Then she closed the chest and pushed it in front of the chief administrator, saying, “Then I will have to trouble you to send me into the palace.”

The chief administrator repeatedly said he did not dare, then nimbly called people into the room to carry the chest outside.

Jing Ya looked at the room that had already been arranged and said to the people from the Jing residence, “All right. There is no need to continue tidying. Leave it as it is. All of you return to the residence. Once Father comes back from court, tell Father that everything is well with me.”

Those people answered yes with red eyes.

After parting from the Jing residence’s people, Jing Ya rode in the Princess Royal’s carriage toward the palace, toward the place she knew far too well, where she had lived for more than ten years.

She had come to the same place again.

But this time, she had chosen to come here herself.

From this day onward, the path of her previous life would be entirely changed.