Chapter 1: Rebirth and Return

The cicadas droned feebly. Beneath the eaves of the main house, two maids in rose-red, collarless half-sleeves leaned idly—Peachblossom and Willowgreen, the personal attendants who had accompanied the lady of the Dantai household as part of her dowry.

Inside, Lady Ye, mistress of the Dantai household, was deep in hushed conversation with the Fifth Miss, Dantai Xuan. All others had been dismissed from the room.

With a heavy hand, Lady Ye slammed her teacup onto the table, glaring at Fifth Miss Dantai Xuan. “Look at the mess you’ve made! Your father will return from the yamen soon—how am I to explain this to him?”

Dantai Xuan gave a petulant huff, refusing to answer. Tears brimmed in her large eyes, and she pressed a pale yellow silk handkerchief around her almond-shaped eyes, sobbing, “Mother, is this how you speak to your own daughter for the sake of that wretched girl? Am I not your flesh and blood, or is Dantai Jing your daughter now?”

“Outrageous!” Lady Ye jabbed her painted red fingertip against Dantai Xuan’s forehead, leaving a crimson mark. “Calling her that again and again—what sort of language is that for a magistrate’s daughter? Have you learned nothing of decorum? Or have you let all your manners go to the dogs?”

“It’s not as though you haven’t said worse about her behind closed doors, Mother,” Dantai Xuan retorted. “Why is it only you may speak ill of her, but I must hold my tongue? If it weren’t for her cursed mother occupying the mistress’s seat for years, my sister and I wouldn’t have borne the shame of being called concubine’s daughters for seven years. If I had been recognized as the legitimate daughter from the start, Brother Ziyu would never have spared Dantai Jing a glance!”

Her hatred for Third Miss Dantai Jing ran deep, to the marrow of her bones.

Lady Ye, though seething, found herself unable to scold her own daughter too harshly. Yet when Dantai Xuan mentioned Brother Ziyu, her anger flared anew. “Again with this Wang Ziyu! What is so special about him that you would lose all reason and push Dantai Jing into the water? She still lies bedridden in Pear Blossom Court, unable to rise. When your father returns, how am I to explain this? Am I to tell him his daughter was so jealous of her third sister winning Wang Ziyu’s affection that she tried to drown her?”

Lady Ye’s disappointment was palpable. Wang Ziyu was nothing more than a penniless scholar; had he not attained the scholar’s degree so young, her husband would never have allowed him to study at their household academy. The boy had nothing but an ambitious father and a destitute home—what was there to like about him? If not for her desire to please her husband and rid herself of the troublesome Third Miss, Lady Ye would never have gone to such lengths.

She did not know how deep Wang Ziyu’s feelings ran for Dantai Jing. All she knew was that if she hadn’t instructed Suyue to whisper Wang Ziyu’s name relentlessly into Dantai Jing’s ear, and had not let the household gossips spread word that the scholar and the third miss were a perfect match, things might never have come to this.

When Dantai Xuan pushed Dantai Jing into the water, she hadn’t thought so far ahead. It was simply jealousy, a bitter wish that Dantai Jing might vanish forever, that no one would remember her illegitimate birth, that no one would compare her to Dantai Jing, and that Brother Ziyu would no longer ignore her.

Now, as Lady Ye spoke of her father, Dantai Xuan’s bravado faltered. If it came out that she had pushed Dantai Jing into the water, what punishment would await her? Would she be forced to kneel in the ancestral hall?

Her knees trembled. Back when Dantai Jing’s mother was mistress, she had knelt there more times than she could count. The mere thought of that incense-laden hall made her unsteady.

“Mother,” she whimpered, her eyes red and wet. The tears she had forced out earlier—helped along by onion juice on her handkerchief—now flowed from real fear. Clinging weakly to Lady Ye’s tulip-purple sleeve, she whispered, “Will that wretched Dantai Jing truly die?”

Lady Ye shook off her hand. “How should I know? Her fever still hasn’t broken. Nurse Xu says her forehead is hot enough to cook an egg. If it doesn’t subside by morning, she won’t survive the night!”

“Mother!” Dantai Xuan was truly terrified now. The thought of her father’s grim face made her stammer. “Mother, you know I only acted out of spite because she always overshadows me. I never meant for her to die!”

Lady Ye’s silence was grim. Seeing this, Dantai Xuan bit her lip and played her final card, weeping. “You’ve never been to the academy, Mother. Dantai Jing is so well-liked there—everyone smiles and laughs with her, but they look down on me and Sixth Sister, treating us with cold disdain. And why? Isn’t it because you rose from concubine to mistress? Dantai Jing seems to delight in reminding everyone—she’s always quoting her mother’s teachings, always saying that anything good she does is because her mother taught her young. Every compliment she receives, she credits her mother. And that ‘mother’ she speaks of is never you!”

Watching Lady Ye’s face darken further, Dantai Xuan knew her words were hitting home.

She continued, as if speaking on Lady Ye’s behalf, “The ‘mother’ she never stops mentioning—that’s not you, Mother!”

Lady Ye was so enraged she could barely speak. If not for her status as a former concubine, she would not have to endure such gossip—she was the magistrate’s wife now, yet there were always people whispering behind her back.

In her fury, she hurled the magpie-and-plum blossom porcelain teacup from the small table across the room. “That still doesn’t justify pushing her into the water! If she dies, the blame will fall entirely on you, and I will be implicated as well!”

Her chest heaved with agitation, and she nearly tore the handkerchief in her grasp. There were far subtler ways to rid themselves of Third Miss Dantai Jing; there was no need to drag herself into the mess.

The sharp crash of shattering porcelain startled the two maids under the eaves awake. They opened their eyes to see Nurse Xu and Suxin supporting a swaying, pale Dantai Jing, right before them.

Peachblossom and Willowgreen sobered instantly. They had no idea when Dantai Jing had arrived, or how much she might have overheard.

As Lady Ye’s dowry maids, they had known from the moment they were sent outside that the conversation would center on Third Miss Dantai Jing—no doubt full of curses and complaints. They were so used to such talk that they’d nearly dozed off.

Now, finding the very subject of their mistress’s ire standing before them, they were terrified. If Third Miss had overheard too much and Lady Ye decided to hold them responsible, their lives would be forfeit.

“Third Miss…” Peachblossom, the bolder of the two, raised her voice to alert Lady Ye and Fifth Miss, gritting her teeth as she stepped forward. Looking at the frail Dantai Jing, she asked, “Third Miss, aren’t you burning with fever? Why have you come out?”