Chapter 1
Chapter 1
While the eldest young lady lay unconscious in bed, everyone in the marquis household was throwing a birthday banquet for a maid.
She had been unconscious for two days, yet the manor remained perfectly calm. No one cared. Even the physician had been hired as an afterthought by a steward.
By then, the eldest young lady had lost everyone’s trust. They all silently agreed that this was merely another trap she had staged to frame someone.
That was when I arrived in her body.
This was a female-led power fantasy, but I was not the heroine.
The heroine was Qinghe, a first-rank maid serving Grandmother.
She was attentive and humble, composed and clever. A single casual remark from her could make everyone around her lose all reason, admire her, and submit to her from the bottom of their hearts.
Through one confrontation after another, the eldest young lady’s loving grandmother, her stern but indulgent father, her devoted younger brother, and her childhood sweetheart and third-ranked jinshi fiance all turned against her. Every one of them chose Qinghe instead.
Later, with everyone cheering her on, Qinghe managed the household and shops, dominated the business world, and became the Third Prince’s confidante during a disaster-relief campaign. She secured the title of imperial merchant, established her own household, and began her ascent as the greatest merchant woman in the realm.
The day the eldest young lady died alone in a secluded estate, snow was falling and the room was bitterly cold.
Her eyes remained wide open as she murmured, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It wasn’t…”
Ever since I entered this body, a strange sorrow had kept surging through my heart.
She might have been the vicious supporting character, but she had truly lived in this world. She had loved, and she had suffered.
Perhaps, in one fleeting instant, she had glimpsed her ending. When our consciousnesses merged, I distinctly felt her resolve.
It was quiet and absolute, leaving herself no path back.
Her heart had died. She had stopped fighting.
But I could not.
That ending belonged to the role the story had written for her.
It did not belong to me.
I walked into Grandmother’s courtyard.
The room was packed with people and laughter. Plates of fruit and pastries covered the table, while gift boxes large and small filled one corner.
Grandmother sat on the main couch, speaking fondly to a slender young woman seated in the place of honor to her left.
That woman was Qinghe.
My younger brother, Lu Heng, sat nearby, watching her with shining eyes.
The instant I entered, the lively room fell silent.
Guilt flickered across Lu Heng’s face when he saw me. He forced a smile.
“Sister, I’m glad you’re awake.”
I ignored him, walked straight past, and respectfully greeted Grandmother.
Grandmother sighed before she spoke.
“Wan’er, you were at fault in the incident by the pond. I hope these last two days have given you time to reflect. Qinghe is capable and attentive in her service. Stop singling her out. You are the legitimate daughter of a marquis. You should conduct yourself like one.”
I looked at the grandmother who had once loved me beyond measure.
My mother had died when I was young, and I had grown up at Grandmother’s knee. She taught me to read and keep accounts. With great affection, she once told me, “Though women like us may be confined to the inner residence, we are no less capable than men.”
But now, I had just awakened after two days of unconsciousness. She did not ask about my health. Her first words were a defense of Qinghe.
“Yes, Grandmother. I will remember your instruction.”
I answered with respectful composure.
Everyone in the room stared in surprise.
In the past, the eldest young lady would have coaxed or thrown a tantrum in such a situation. She would invariably have made a scene, never accepted the rebuke so meekly.
Grandmother opened her mouth, then closed it again. It was as if all the admonishments she had prepared had suddenly lost their destination.
Lu Heng frowned at me, apparently wary of whatever trick I might be planning.
My gaze shifted slowly to Qinghe.
Every maid in the room wore clothing appropriate to her rank. Qinghe alone wore a plain green dress and a simple wooden hairpin.
She was not breathtakingly beautiful, but she was elegant, cool, and possessed of an almost otherworldly grace.
“Is that a seat you should be occupying?” I asked.
Grandmother sat on the main couch. There had originally been two round-backed chairs on either side, but to make room for a long table of refreshments, all four chairs had been moved to the left.
Qinghe sat upright in the first and most honored one.
Lu Heng immediately protested.
“Sister, today is Qinghe’s birthday. Grandmother made a special exception—”
“Are you saying I should sit below her?”
“Why not? I’m sitting below her too!”
“That only proves how cheap you are.”
Lu Heng froze. Then his eyes widened and his face flushed scarlet.
I looked at this younger brother as the body’s memories surged through me.
The night Mother died, nine-year-old Lu Wan held six-year-old Lu Heng in the mourning hall. For as long as he cried, she comforted him.
When he fell unconscious with measles, she kept watch beside him for three days and nights.
When Father whipped him for causing trouble, she threw herself over him without a thought. The scar across her back still ached whenever the weather turned wet.
This was the brother she had protected with her life.
Yet when she and Qinghe fell into the pond together, he had not hesitated. He saved Qinghe first.
“You’re always like this!” Lu Heng burst out, his voice thick with disappointment and disgust. “You’re still blaming me for not saving you first that day, aren’t you? But weren’t you the one who pushed Qinghe into the pond? Wasn’t she the innocent victim? And this talk about being unconscious for two days—who knows whether it wasn’t another scheme to frame her?”
“Second Young Master, please stop,” Qinghe said softly as she rose.
Then she looked at me with bright black eyes, neither flinching nor retreating.
“The eldest young lady is right. This seat is above my station. The Old Madam merely granted me a special privilege because today is my birthday. Qinghe overstepped.”
Her response was reasonable, poised, and neither servile nor overbearing.
She assumed responsibility while using Grandmother as a shield.
With her head held high, she moved to the farthest corner of the room and stood there in silence, the very picture of someone unmoved by favor or humiliation.
Lu Heng glared at me.
Grandmother sighed heavily.
I acted as though I noticed nothing and sat in the first chair on the left.
Just then, several stewards hurried in from outside and dropped to their knees.
Grandmother frowned. “What happened?”
Steward Zhou, who managed the storehouse, stammered out an explanation.
Father would soon be leaving on a hunting trip and had ordered the servants to prepare his riding clothes in advance. When they opened the storehouse, they discovered tiny holes in the silk, satin, and cloud-patterned robes stored there. Many valuable garments had been ruined.
Grandmother flew into a rage.
“Useless, all of you! You cannot even safeguard a few garments!”
The stewards kowtowed in panic. Steward Zhou looked toward Qinghe, pleading for help with his eyes.
Qinghe lowered her gaze and smiled. As everyone expected, she spoke.
“Please calm yourself, Old Madam. I believe I have some idea of the cause. Why not let me inspect the storehouse with Steward Zhou first?”
Grandmother’s expression eased, and she nodded.
In less than the time it took half a stick of incense to burn, Qinghe returned. Standing gracefully in the hall, she reported with perfect composure.
“Old Madam, the wardrobes were sealed for too long. Trapped moisture bred moths. I have ordered all the garments carried outside to air in the sun. I also had dried peppercorns scattered inside and moisture-absorbing charcoal sachets hung up. That should kill every last insect.”
The entire room relaxed.
Several senior stewards sighed with heartfelt admiration.
“Miss Qinghe is the capable one. We guard the storehouse every day, yet the moment something happens, we lose our heads. None of us thought it through as carefully as she did!”
“True ability reveals itself in the smallest details. Miss Qinghe is so young, yet her mind is far sharper than ours. We have no choice but to respect her!”
Grandmother was delighted.
She called Qinghe over, took her hand, and said fondly, “I always knew you were reliable. Ten stewards together are not as attentive as you. You must shoulder more of the manor’s affairs for me in the future.”
Qinghe remained humble and did not flaunt her achievement.
“I merely happened to notice a few clues. The stewards are the ones who work hard every day. Why not raise their monthly wages as a reward for their efforts?”
Grandmother agreed at once.
The stewards’ eyes reddened with emotion. They repeatedly thanked Miss Qinghe and the Old Madam for the reward.
Lu Heng watched Qinghe without blinking, unable to hide his admiration and infatuation.
The hall was harmonious and cheerful.
“Ha.”
I suddenly let out a quiet laugh.