The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort

rson would have flown into a fury, yet Second Miss and furen kept smiling, and were so polite.
How can there be such people in this world? Even a clay figure has some degree of rudimentary emotion.

Jiang Ruan smiled faintly.
Xia Yan was well-educated and capable of sound judgement; Jiang Su Su was elegant and refined.
For the both of them, their reputations were the millstones around their necks.
In order to preserve their noble skin, they would not do anything that would cause them to lose their dignity, and would always be appropriately magnanimous when others were around.
Just now, she had repeatedly emphasised her identity as the eldest di daughter, would Jiang Su Su have experienced great difficulty holding back her ire? Regardless, this was only the beginning.

Xia Yan acted quickly.
By afternoon, the seamstress from Ruyi Lou had arrived at Ruan Ju.
She was a young lady named Liu Ru Yi.
Ruyi Lou was one of the best shops in the capital for made-to-order clothing, specialising in clothes for the young ladies of the rich families in the capital.
The affairs of the young Miss of the Jiang family had been the talk of the capital for some time now, so Liu Ru Yi was also very curious about this Miss Jiang.

When she arrived at Ruan Ju, she saw the two large, flamboyantly written characters, “Ruan Ju”, on the plaque at the entrance of the courtyard.
The characters were remarkably imposing, and the brushstrokes were both refined and free-flowing.
They seemed like a sword, which had yet to be drawn, harbouring the hint of a sharp edge.
Liu Ru Yi was accustomed to doing business on a daily basis with rich and influential families, so she had quite substantial knowledge of the essentials of calligraphy and scholarship[2].
Upon seeing these characters, she could not help but sigh in admiration.
In the capital, the calligraphy of the Eighth Prince had always been praised as being refined and elegant, but she felt that the characters on this plaque were similarly exceptional.

[2] Wen fang si bao ( 文房四宝 ) – lit.
the four treasures of the study i.e.
writing brush, ink stick, ink slab, and paper.
These are the four items necessary for calligraphy, which is also a display of scholarship – as you can imagine, only the upper classes had the money and means to study and practice calligraphy.

Plaque at the entrance looks something like this

When Lian Qiao, who was ushering her into the residence, noticed Liu Ru Yi staring intently at the entrance plaque, she smiled and said, “This was written by the mistress of our residence.”

Liu Ru Yi smilingly said, “Very well written.” As one could tell a person’s character by their brushstrokes, Liu Ru Yi had already gained a favourable impression of this young miss of the Jiang family, whom she had yet to meet.

After entering the residence, Lian Qiao announced, “Miss, Liu gugu[3] from Ruyi Lou has arrived.”

[3] Gugu ( 姑姑 ) – Aunt.
Refers to paternal aunts (a father’s sisters, whether younger or older), but is also a respectful term of address for ladies older than oneself.

Jiang Ruan put down the book she was holding and looked up.
Liu Ru Yi was stunned.
Even though she had visited the residences of many nobles and influential people to make clothes, and had seen no small number of beautiful women, she could not help but be amazed when she saw Jiang Ruan.

Jiang Ruan had grown tired while reading, and was reclining on the soft couch.
Her entire body seemed comfortably ensconced, and as she lifted up her eyes, she gave off an aura of unconscious indolence.
However, her charming eyes, rising up, also contained a cold severity which she had yet to conceal.
The effect was like that of a cool and elegant Chinese rose, attractive in the very coldness of its manner.

Soft couch (ruǎn tà 软榻)

Chinese Rose (rosa sinensis)

She immediately gave Liu Ru Yi a small smile, at which point the aura of coldness instantly disappeared, to be replaced by the bright gentleness of spring water.
“Liu gugu.”

Liu Ru Yi also concealed her amazement and smiled.
“I am here to make clothes for Miss Jiang.
Here are several bolts of satin; Miss Jiang may kindly select a bolt.”

The bolts of satin displayed on the table were all made of first rate silk thread, and were of an assortment of colours: the sky after rain, the essence of autumn, honey peach, bright pink, delicate yellow.
All were colours a young lady would feel delighted to wear.
These colours that Xia Yan had chosen for her were all vibrantly bright, and she had not chosen in error.
Clearly, anyone wearing clothes of such colours would instantly become a foil to Jiang Su Su.
The more vivid the colour, the more Jiang Su Su, with her white-clothed figure, would float like a fairy.
The contrast would be completely unfavourable to Jiang Ruan.

Jiang Ruan pointed at a bolt of bright red satin right at the centre and said, “That one.”