Chapter Twenty-Four: The Little Princess of the Jiang Dynasty

"Princess!"
A shard of porcelain flew straight toward Jiang Jiu!
Jiang Jiu casually grabbed a small stool from inside the sedan and held it behind the curtain. With a dull thud, the shard was deflected, falling outside the sedan.
Shen Yue Ru was badly frightened, sitting dazed inside, her eyes unfocused.
Hong Zhu flung open the door:
"Princess! Are you hurt anywhere?"
Jiang Jiu shook her head.
A group of guards quickly surrounded the sedan, wary of further attacks.
Hong Zhu drew the curtain and called out to the crowd:
"Audacious! Who dares to plot against Her Highness the Princess?"
In the corner, a figure clad in black melted into the shadows and vanished around the street.
Hong Zhu picked up the porcelain shard:
"Whoever saw where this shard was thrown from, the Princess will reward you handsomely!"
Everyone had been engrossed in the street commotion, none noticing such details, each silently lamenting their fate and the loss of gold.
"I—I—I saw it came from that corner..."
A small beggar, mustering his courage, pointed to the spot where the black-clad figure had lurked.
Hong Zhu signaled to a guard, who cautiously approached with his short sword.
"Be careful."
The guard searched the corner thoroughly, returning with a broken shoe and a shattered bowl.
He wrapped the two pieces as evidence; these would be enough for the palace spies to uncover the mastermind.
Hong Zhu took out a bulging purse and handed it to the beggar.
The beggar, shrinking back, accepted it, a smile breaking across his face.
He had just been kicked, and happened to see something fly from that direction—now his mother would have money for medicine!
"Princess! I am wronged—please, help me!"
Jiang Jiu lifted a corner of the curtain; a woman knelt on the ground, her face weathered, hair in disarray.
"Hong Zhu Auntie?"
Jiang Jiu gave Hong Zhu a slight signal, asking her to inquire into the matter.
"What grievance do you have?"
The woman cried:
"My name is Dou Kou. Some days ago, I quarreled with my husband. In anger, he wanted to divorce me. I was upset and pretended to agree, thinking he would coax me back in a few days, as he always did. But after seven or eight days, he never returned home. Anxious, I searched everywhere, and only just now did a neighbor tell me my husband was at the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion. I went to look, but they insisted he wasn’t there and refused to let me in! I truly don’t know what to do—please, Princess, help me!"

Jiang Jiu frowned. "Could it be the neighbor was mistaken?"
A plump woman carrying a bamboo basket squeezed out from the crowd:
"I went looking for my husband that day and clearly saw Dou Kou’s husband Liu drinking with the courtesan. I called out to him, but he didn’t answer. We’ve lived in the same alley for years—how could I mistake Liu?"
Dou Kou, hearing her neighbor’s clarity, began to kowtow endlessly toward Jiang Jiu’s sedan, begging for justice.
"In that case, Hong Zhu Auntie, have a few guards take her to the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion to search."
"Yes, Princess!"
Hong Zhu selected several guards and led Dou Kou inside, invoking royal authority.
The crowd thickened; half came for the spectacle, half to see Jiang Jiu.
Shen Yue Ru finally recovered, squeezing Jiang Jiu’s hand. "Is that girl’s husband really in the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion?"
"I don’t know. But, what kind of place is the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion?"
Shen Yue Ru blushed, unsure how to explain. "It’s mostly a place for drinking and watching performances."
[Master, this Drunken Fragrance Pavilion is quite strange. I can’t see what’s inside at all!]
Jiang Jiu was confused as well. The upgraded main system was supposed to allow her to see everything, so why was it still blocked?
[Master, something’s wrong with this place! It gives me a discomfort, like eating something foul. The spiritual energy here is extremely thin.]
Jiang Jiu had sensed the thin spiritual energy early on, thinking it was due to the environment. Now, could it be because of the pavilion itself?
"Yue Ru, have you ever been inside?"
Shen Yue Ru blushed even deeper. No proper lady would ever enter such a place. "Never!"
"Oh~"
Seeing Jiang Jiu’s disappointment, she added,
"Little Jiu, such places aren’t for women like us. Don’t even think of sneaking in someday!"
Jiang Jiu pouted, unwilling. "Alright~"
Shen Yue Ru finally pinched Jiang Jiu’s cheek, watching the situation outside.
Soft and plump—she had wanted to pinch Jiang Jiu’s cheek for ages; today, her wish was granted.
She wondered how she ever came up with such a wicked idea back then—thank goodness Jiang Jiu was rescued, or she’d regret it forever!
"Husband! My husband!"
"Did you really see your husband, young lady?"
Hong Zhu saw Dou Kou emerge in tears, handed her a handkerchief.
Dou Kou sobbed harder:
"I saw him! That’s my husband! Truly him!..."
"But..."

The guard hesitated, with Hong Zhu’s permission, "But that man doesn’t acknowledge this lady at all. He sits with women on both sides and calls Madam Dou Kou ugly..."
His voice grew softer.
Dou Kou’s tears intensified. "He must be angry and refuses to recognize me... Princess, what should I do... He never spoke to me this way before. He once said I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen..."
Jiang Jiu drew the curtain aside, showing half her face:
"Was your relationship with your husband good before?"
Dou Kou quickly knelt.
"We grew up together, childhood sweethearts. Our relationship was always good..."
"Then... what did you quarrel about?"
Dou Kou abruptly stopped crying. "I hadn’t slept well that night, and woke up with dark circles. When he returned from selling goods and ate breakfast, he complained my cooking was bad and said I was nothing like before..."
The whole street fell silent.
Jiang Jiu understood then—Dou Kou’s husband had likely been visiting the pavilion long before.
Dou Kou seemed to realize it too:
"So... my husband already has someone else..."
Jiang Jiu said nothing. Shen Yue Ru and Hong Zhu sighed; these days, people cared only for appearances.
Poor Dou Kou, bound by love all her life...
Dou Kou wiped her tears, knelt upright before the sedan:
"Thank you, Princess, for guiding me. I have been married to him for years, and he has broken our families’ contract. I must have him leave that place and divorce me properly. But now, his mind is clouded."
Jiang Jiu did not refuse. "That’s easily solved. Tomorrow at noon, go to the county office. Someone will see justice for you."
"Thank you, Princess!"
The crowd slowly dispersed, clearing a path for Jiang Jiu. Everywhere she passed, praise followed.
Jiang Jiu withdrew inside the sedan.
"Little Jiu, you’re amazing!"
"Hehe, my brother says a Princess ought to act like one. Wasn’t I grand just now?!"
"Yes, very grand!"
Jiang Jiu’s proud little expression nearly drained Shen Yue Ru’s heart.
Across the street, on the tea house’s second floor, a masked man in white, like a celestial being, watched everything.
Jiang Jiu sensed something, drew her curtain, and looked toward the tea house’s second floor. Their eyes met directly.
"...Grand Master..."