“Men do not like women to be too forward.”
“You must have a sense of propriety.”
The instructing matron stood before the bed curtains, teaching with meticulous care.
Jiang He knelt behind the instructing matron, her head slightly lowered as she listened, her bearing and expression beyond reproach.
The dense red gauze curtains concealed the faces of the two people within, yet allowed those outside to see their movements clearly. Nor were they simply immersed in pleasure; every motion within the curtains had to follow the instructing matron’s commands.
This was an indispensable lesson before marriage.
Originally, this lesson should have been learned by Princess Jiang Yuheng, but Jiang Yuheng had sent Jiang He here to listen in her stead, using it to humiliate her.
Though they shared the same surname, Jiang Yuheng was Princess Xuanji of Qi, while Jiang He was merely a servant.
Now Jiang He had accompanied the princess to the capital of Yong, a thousand li away, and was staying in the guest residence to prepare for the wedding.
The princess of Great Qi was to marry the new ruler of Yong and become his empress.
Those the instructing matron had brought here to teach with their bodies were all women of the pleasure quarters.
They had been blindfolded and sent in, unaware of where they were.
And the one who benefited from this convenience was the captain of the princess’s guards.
In the guard captain’s eyes, prostitutes were merely objects, deserving no pity.
Jiang He rose to her feet.
“I have learned it. May I leave now?” Her face was pale, tinged with blue, as she waved for the attendants to withdraw.
The instructing matron was somewhat worried, and tentatively tried to have the woman demonstrate a little more.
Making the princess’s future husband satisfied was the most urgent matter at present.
It had been inconvenient while they were still in the palace of Great Qi. Now that they had arrived in Yong, with the wedding only three days away, there could be no more delay.
“Matron, do not worry,” Jiang He said with a nod. “This servant will tell Her Highness the princess everything I saw today, exactly as it was.”
The instructing matron still hesitated. “I have heard that before marriage, the ruler of Great Yong must strictly abstain from women. This servant is truly afraid that if the princess does not learn finely enough, she may displease His Majesty when the time comes.”
At present, a prince of Qi was in Yong as a hostage. The court of Qi was counting on this marriage alliance to have the new ruler of Yong release the hostage prince back to Qi.
They had little confidence in the princess’s appearance, and could only put effort into other matters.
Jiang He shook her head. “Since he abstains before marriage, it would not seem very good for our princess to know too much.”
The instructing matron understood at once and smiled, finally allowing Jiang He to return.
Jiang He lowered her wide sleeves, folded her hands before her chest, dipped her delicate head slightly, and walked slowly toward the palace where the princess resided. Two palace maids followed behind Jiang He, passing through pavilions and towers with carved railings and painted beams, shadowing her every step.
Here, one had to be even more cautious.
The Seven States had been locked in chaotic war for more than five hundred years. Great Yong now befriended those far away and attacked those nearby; its marriage alliance with Qi was for the sake of attacking the countries caught between Qi and Yong.
Therefore, there were many who wanted the princess of Qi dead.
On the journey from Qi to the capital of Yong, the diplomatic procession had already encountered several assassination attempts.
Jiang He had reminded the princess that even though they had now reached Yong’s guest residence, the guards must not relax their vigilance. But judging from the fact that the guard captain had personally come to demonstrate today, it seemed the princess had not taken Jiang He’s concerns to heart.
Before she entered the hall, a palace maid came out to relay a message, saying that the princess wanted old duck congee and had ordered Jiang He to deliver it to her bedchamber at the third quarter of the hour of Hai that night.
Jiang He was somewhat puzzled.
The third quarter of Hai was already deep into the night. Why did the princess insist on having congee at that time? Moreover, in the past, after Jiang He finished cooking, the princess’s personal maid would deliver it inside. Today, she was being made to deliver it herself. Could there be some special reason?
Jiang He nodded and answered yes, then walked toward the small kitchen.
The reason the princess had retained some restraint when mistreating Jiang He all these years was also because Jiang He was skilled at cooking. No matter who it was in the palace, no one had ever been able to fully learn her techniques.
Jiang He slaughtered the old duck and placed it into boiling water, scalding and plucking it, then opening the belly and removing the organs. She rinsed it clean with fresh water, cut it into pieces, and put them into the pot. After washing her hands again, she peeled the ginger and sliced it into fine shreds. After that, it was a matter of watching the heat.
When the duck meat was cooked but not falling apart, she added japonica rice and shredded ginger, then drew several pieces of firewood from the stove chamber to lower the flame and simmer it slowly. Nearly two hours later, the duck meat had almost melted into the congee. By then, the congee was fragrant and thick, with no floating oil on the surface; if one held a mouthful and slowly swallowed it, the meat and rice dissolved on the tongue, while the broth was mellow and sweet in the aftertaste.
Jiang He ladled the duck broth into a three-legged soup cauldron patterned with fish. When she looked up, the world outside the small kitchen had already gone pitch-black. A guard-like figure stood outside the door, urging Jiang He, “The princess has been waiting impatiently.”
Outside, it was so quiet that it felt strange.
A faint sense of foreboding rose in Jiang He’s heart.
Carrying the soup cauldron, she entered the princess’s bedchamber. Though candles were lit inside, not a single guard or maid could be seen. Evidently, in order to do something, the princess had dismissed them all.
The guard led the way ahead and knocked on the final palace door. The door slowly opened from within. Jiang He walked inside and saw the princess seated before her dressing case, carefully looking at some letters.
Her body was adorned with dazzling jewels, her cheeks faintly flushed. Her pair of phoenix eyes were wide, as though she were somewhat vexed.
The guard who had led Jiang He here had already withdrawn. The one who opened the door and then shut it again was the guard captain she had seen not long ago.
So before this, only the princess and the guard captain had been inside the bedchamber.
Jiang He set down the soup cauldron, bent her knees in a curtsy, and took her leave.
The princess raised a hand to stop her. “Jiang He, you have already learned those things, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Jiang He said with her head lowered.
The princess looked her up and down, then said with great interest, “Good. I have dismissed everyone here. Then you and the guard captain shall demonstrate it for me.”
What?
So the reason she had been specially summoned at this hour was for this!
Before Jiang He could refute, the princess continued on her own, “I would never go look at those women of the pleasure quarters and dirty my eyes. But watching you is different. You are a pure maiden who grew up by my side.”
“No!” Jiang He refused decisively. Because of her anger, her voice trembled slightly. “Though this servant’s status is lowly, I still know the importance of chastity and reputation. Those matters, this servant can describe to Your Highness, but to demonstrate them with another person is absolutely impossible.”
In order to survive, she had rarely defied the princess. But today was different.
Hearing this, the princess flew into a rage. She turned and flung the letters she had been reading at Jiang He, sneering, “Chastity and reputation? If you cherish your reputation so much, how did you hook up with the young master of Wei? These three years you have been in the palace, the letters he sent have piled up enough to fill an entire room!”
The young master of Wei’s letters?
Three years ago, Jiang He’s father had died while on a diplomatic mission to Wei. The young master of Wei, Wei Ji, had taken Jiang He and evaded the pursuit of their enemies, escorting her over a thousand li back to her homeland of Qi. After her father died, there were no elders left in her family, and Jiang He was arranged to enter the palace, becoming a female official there.
But Jiang He had never received any letters from Wei Ji.
So he had written letters, but all of them had been intercepted by the princess.
“How could you...” Jiang He bent down to pick up the letters, but the princess continued to curse her. “Since you know so well how to seduce men, why did you even need to learn from others? Today is the perfect chance for you to display the methods you learned. Let me see exactly how, on the road that year, you seduced Wei Ji!”
Jiang He abruptly stood and tried to flee. She had only taken one step when the guard captain pounced from behind, locking her tightly in his arms and dragging her toward the bed.
And the princess simply sat smiling before her dressing case, her lips curved as she watched the scene.
The letters Wei Ji had written lay trampled beneath her feet.
“Behave yourself today, and I will spare your life.”
She did not care about Jiang He’s life. She merely wanted to destroy Jiang He’s purity.
Jiang He’s hands clawed wildly, trying to grasp something.
She thought of all the grievances she had suffered in the palace over the years. She thought of how she had only wanted to live, yet after retreating step by step, she had still been forced to this point.
The folding screen was knocked over, the table tilted askew, and the bed curtains tore with a single yank. Jiang He struggled with all her might toward the food table. At last, her fingers touched the three-legged soup cauldron, and she drew something out from beneath it.
It was a sharp boning knife.
When the guard had hurried her in the kitchen, unease had risen in her heart, and she had quietly placed the knife beneath the cauldron. Now, it just happened to save her life.
There was no time to consider the consequences.
Jiang He suddenly followed the force of the guard captain’s pull and retreated with him. Her steps were wide and swift, causing the unprepared guard captain to nearly fall. The hands gripping Jiang He’s waist instantly loosened. Seizing the chance, Jiang He turned and slashed the guard captain’s throat with one stroke.
The boning knife was thin and sharp, cutting through windpipe and blood vessels.
The guard captain staggered backward, and spurting blood drenched Jiang He from head to toe. His eyes bulged as though he wanted to say something, but his ruined windpipe could only make a hissing sound.
The moment the guard captain collapsed to the ground, Jiang He turned once more and looked at the princess, who stood there dumbfounded.
The smile on the princess’s face froze. She stared at Jiang He, standing there bathed in blood. This servant girl whom she had always bullied now looked as terrifying as a Yama from hell come to claim lives.
The princess screamed in shock and fell to the floor. Then she crawled two steps, staggered to her feet, and ran toward the door.
“Someone! Come quickly! Jiang He has killed someone!”
Knife in hand, Jiang He stepped forward and pursued the princess.
The princess did not manage to shout many times before her voice stopped abruptly, cut off in the long corridor. Then came a thud, as though someone had fallen to the ground.
Without stopping, Jiang He walked out of the bedchamber.
The scene in the corridor made her eyes widen suddenly, and she took a step back.