Written by: Qian Shan Cha Ke
Crying blood and tears, she pledged a poisonous vow. The gods did not fail her. She was sent back to a decade ago. The legitimate daughter of Jiang family returned from hell.
Forget it, whatever. Since they already claim...
Title Reference – 自作孽 (zìzuòniè) – disaster one brings on oneself / to be responsible for something bad that happens to oneself / to have only oneself to blame.
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Trigger Warning: miscarriage, domestic violence.
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There are no impenetrable walls in the world, especially not when a lady was seen almost naked in public and was from a noble family. Rumours flew thick and fast throughout the capital. However, when it rained, it poured; the heavens seemed to think that the Jiang fu hadn't suffered enough before another piece of gossip soon emerged.
Within the Jinying Wangfu, Jiang Ruan sat at a table enjoying top-grade purple bamboo shoot tea and peony tea cakes with cream, which were sweet but not so cloying that it would irritate the senses. The Jinying Wangfu employed only the best chefs; the food they made was simple yet exquisite, and even the imperial palace wasn't able to reach such a level. The Wangfu's servants had mentioned to Lu Zhu that the late Prince Jinying was a man who knew how to enjoy life, and so had carefully selected these chefs from many different places. But after he and his wife passed on, the manor fell to Xiao Shao whose nature and taste ran to the simpler side, and the chefs became useless despite their skills. But now that a young lady had finally come, they all wanted to get into her good graces in the hopes of having more opportunities to show off their skills.
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Purple Bamboo Shoot (Zisun) Tea
Although this reason sounded a little ridiculous, Lu Zhu still gradually relaxed, because through this, the servants revealed their true thoughts, that is, they sincerely took Jiang Ruan as their future mistress. The biggest worry for the maids had been the servants because although Xiao Shao himself hadn't said anything, Jiang Ruan was marrying into a higher social class with this marriage. However, no one in the Jinying Wangfu treated her with any less respect than she deserved.
Lian Qiao walked in with a smile as Jiang Ruan sipped her tea. "Miss."
Jiang Ruan hummed in reply as Lian Qiao put freshly picked flowers in a vase painted with gold accents. Although the Jinying Wangfu was magnificent, it always felt a little lacking, perhaps due to Xiao Shao's cold temperament. It was fine when Xiao Shao was alone because he didn't care about his material possessions, but now that Jiang Ruan was going to spend her future days here, Lian Qiao wondered how she could add some colour to the place. After all, the minds of men and women were different. For example, just adding a few stalks of flowers brought a sense of liveliness to the place.
