nashuaworldcup Chapter 1 Jiang Zhi's Rebirth
Chapter 1 Jiang Zhi's Rebirth
"do not want!"
Jiang Zhi woke up in a cold sweat, the trembling still lingering throughout her body. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and the foreign object in her mouth made her gasp for breath greedily.
The maid standing beside her looked worried, clutching Jiang Zhi's sleeve tightly, and asked with concern, "Miss, did you have a nightmare?"
The familiar voice instantly cleared Jiang Zhi's drowsy mind. He frowned and slowly focused his gaze on the person in front of him.
It was her personal maid, Wu Shi.
But wasn't she already dead because she was tricked by Jiang Luan's maids into being sold to a brothel while trying to protect herself?
"Noon?" Her nose tingled, and her eyes became misty.
He responded at noon.
She instinctively reached out to touch the person in front of her, only to be surprised to find that her hands, which had been crippled, could now move.
The warmth of her hands reminded her that she was still alive.
But the excruciating pain I felt before I died was so real, was it all a dream?
No! This is not a dream!
Jiang Zhi looked around; they were in a carriage.
Jiang Zhi spoke cautiously, "I'm just a little dazed after waking up from a dream. It's noon... What day is it? Where are we going?"
Wu Shi found the young lady's reaction a little strange, but did not press the matter. He turned around and fetched a box. "Miss, this year is the 18th day of the first month of the 15th year of Zhengxing. You said you wanted to go to Peiyue Pavilion to replace this."
Jiang Zhi paused, staring intently at the box.
This is her mother's dowry!
The 18th day of the first month of the 15th year of Zhengxing?
Jiang Zhi's mind was a bit confused; she had somehow traveled back to three years ago.
In her past life, she was tricked by that vile woman Liu into sending her mother's dowry to Peiyue Pavilion to be melted down and replaced with a different style as a coming-of-age gift for her precious daughter Jiang Luan!
However, after drinking the plum wine handed to her by Lady Liu at her coming-of-age ceremony, she was afflicted with a love potion, which led her to have physical intimacy with a strange man.
When she woke up, the curse had been lifted, but there was no one else in the room.
She thought no one knew about this and took a chance, until Prince Jing, Gu Yuan, approached her privately.
Tell her that he is the man she spent the night with, and that he is willing to give her and the child in her womb a legitimate status.
She believed it and married into the Prince Jing's mansion with a grand wedding procession of ten miles of red bridal procession and thousands of acres of fertile land, causing a sensation.
He also assured his uncle Lu Pingsheng, "I will only love Zhi'er and will not take any concubines or set up any side rooms."
Seeing his honesty and persistence, his uncle married her off to him.
But after she gave birth, she repeatedly refused to be intimate with him.
The Emperor is ill, and the Crown Prince has not yet been appointed.
After the power struggle, Prince Jing became the crown prince and was about to ascend the throne, but he secretly imprisoned her in a dark dungeon.
Only then did she realize that Gu Yuan had married her simply because of Lu Pingsheng's military power.
My poor uncle was fighting for him on the front lines, but he was heartless and ungrateful back in Kyoto!
In the dark dungeon, he looked down at her with disgust, his arm around the giggling Jiang Luan.
"You, a woman who has been touched by others, still think you can make me devoted to you? You're just dreaming."
"If you have no use to me, do you even deserve to set foot in my Prince Jing's mansion?"
"I want that man to know that his beloved woman and his children are all just stepping stones for me!"
It was only then that Jiang Zhi realized that Gu Yuan's marriage to her was solely for the purpose of seizing the position of Crown Prince and eliminating his rivals.
She and her blood relatives were victims of their royal struggles.
Now God has given her another chance. She will make amends for all the mistakes she made in her past life, step by step!
"I'm not going! Turn around! Go back home!" She hugged the box tightly to her chest, her eyes sharp.
The carriage turned around and returned along the same route.
The carriage stopped at the main gate of the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence, and Jiang Zhi helped Wu Shi down from the carriage.
As soon as she entered the mansion, she was stopped by Granny Zhang.
"The young lady is back. Madam wants you to wait for her in the main hall."
Granny Zhang was sharp-tongued and mean-spirited, with slanted eyes, and her gaze towards her was full of disdain and mockery.
Seeing that she didn't respond, Granny Zhang widened her triangular eyes and said, "I'm talking to you, can't you understand me?"
Jiang Zhi looked up and saw that familiar face. Overwhelming hatred enveloped her, and her slender body trembled slightly.
Since childhood, the stepmother, Liu, had been served by Zhang Mama. Because Liu was in charge of the household's security, this unruly servant's status naturally rose.
Jiang Zhi, an unfavored legitimate daughter, was deliberately neglected and harshly criticized by Granny Zhang.
When she was sent to Liangzhou, Granny Zhang was assigned by Madam Liu to supervise her.
They say they're teaching rules, but it's really just doing hard labor. If you do it well, you get beaten; if you don't, you get beaten even more.
His entire body was covered in sore flesh.
"At noon, what should be the punishment for a servant's disrespect?" Jiang Zhi asked, tilting his head.
“Miss, let alone the rules in our household, even in the entire Great Yan, if a servant is disrespectful, slapping or caning is considered lenient,” Jingzhu replied respectfully.
Jiang Zhi looked at the arrogant Zhang Mama in front of her and spoke gently.
"Since Granny Zhang is so articulate, let's give her a good talking-to."
Upon hearing this, Granny Zhang sneered arrogantly, "I'm an old nanny by the Madam's side, how dare you hit me?"
Jiang Zhi looked at her coldly, then suddenly kicked her in the knee. Zhang Mama cried out and her fat body fell to her knees with a thud.
"I am the legitimate daughter of a marquis. Why should I ask whether I dare to punish a wicked servant? You should beg me to spare your life."
"Chenxi, give Zhang Mama a good stretch. If we don't teach her a lesson for her sharp tongue, what will we do if she embarrasses the Marquis's mansion in the future?"
After Jiang Zhi finished speaking coldly, he was about to walk towards the main hall.
Chenxi was a maid who did odd jobs in her courtyard. She was straightforward and strong. After a few slaps, Zhang Mama's mouth would probably be unable to speak for a long time.
Chenxi readily agreed, and seeing that Zhang Mama was about to stand up, she kicked her in the knee again, then kicked her face from both sides.
"How dare someone so ignorant of the rules, privately torturing and beating people in their own courtyard! What kind of behavior is this!"
The angry shouts grew louder as they approached. Jiang Zhi's eyelashes fluttered; it was Liu Shi...
Jiang Zhi looked up at her, and before her eyes was the image of her mother before her death.
When she was five years old, her mother took her to Suzhou to celebrate her birthday.
On their return to the capital, the horse that her mother was riding suddenly spooked. Her mother was trampled by the horse while trying to protect her. She was recuperating in bed, but suddenly passed away overnight.
At the funeral hall, she was heartbroken, and then she heard people who came to pay their respects saying behind her back that she was a jinx who had caused her mother's death. She was furious.
She fainted.
Liu then prevented her from appearing in front of the mourning hall again, and she was not even present on the day of the funeral.
Suddenly, the reputation of being unfilial and bringing misfortune to his mother weighed heavily on him, and Lady Liu whispered in his ear again.
They said they were afraid she would be too heartbroken again and be hurt by outsiders' words, so they sent her to Liangzhou to avoid the storm.
He was away until he was seventeen. Half a month ago, he returned in triumph because his uncle fought against the enemy and made great contributions.
That's how I was brought back.
Jiang Zhi lowered her eyes and looked at the disheveled Zhang Mama.
“If a servant is rude, what is wrong with the master disciplining the servant?”
Zhang Mama immediately crawled to her knees before Madam Liu, her lips trembling and her eyes red, "Madam, you must do justice for this old servant!"