Chapter 2: A Bowl Of Sweetness, Cold To The Bone

After Jing Chun left, she still secretly went to make a bowl of chilled snow yuanzi.

Avoiding Matron Wu, she carried it over and placed it before Pu Jinyu.

“Miss, your monthly period is due soon.

This servant used less ice.

Your stomach has always been weak, so I added less sugar as well.”

Jing Chun carefully observed her expression, lowering her voice as she coaxed her.

The young lady before her slightly lifted her lashes and looked at the chilled sweet soup on the table, remaining silent for a long while.

Seeing this, that strange sense of unease surfaced once more in Jing Chun’s heart.

She did not know what was wrong today, but she felt that Pu Jinyu was different from usual.

Especially quiet.

She sat there with a blank face and lowered eyes, making it impossible to read any emotion from her expression.

Could it be that Matron Wu’s words had struck a sore spot in her heart?

The more Jing Chun thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Pu Jinyu had been raised in the countryside since childhood.

After she returned to the capital, the marriage between the Yan and Pu families drew near, leaving very little time.

In order to remake her entirely and have her learn the habits of the eldest daughter, Pu Wange, Madam Pu was exceedingly strict.

Matron Wu was even worse.

Whenever Pu Jinyu made a mistake, she would beat her with a board.

The ruler came down mercilessly, without the slightest restraint.

As she struck, she scolded her for being steeped in rustic habits.

She said every gesture and movement reeked of small-household vulgarity.

A body full of poverty and sourness.

All of it had to be changed.

She would twist her ear and curse at her to always remember her identity.

From the moment she stepped into the Pu household until she married out, she was no longer the illegitimate daughter Pu Jinyu, but the Pu family’s legitimate eldest daughter, Pu Wange.

Every single movement could not be wrong.

She even brought up her birth mother, Concubine Ruan.

Pu Jinyu loved and trusted her concubine mother deeply.

If not for her sake, Pu Jinyu likely would never have come to the capital to enter the Pu household and suffer such humiliation.

And precisely because of Concubine Ruan, she endured everything in silence.

Pu Jinyu had always been enduring.

At first, she cried.

Later, she endured until her eyes turned red.

Even when she was beaten for making mistakes, her back slick with cold sweat, she never shed a single tear.

Standing beneath the deep courtyards of the Pu household, her figure was slender and frail, soft yet unyieldingly resilient.

Before the wedding, she was carved into the likeness of Pu Wange within a short span of time by the Yan family.

A red veil was placed over her head, and she was carried away in the bridal sedan chair.

She had thought this marriage would only need to be maintained briefly.

One or two months.

At most half a year.

Then everything could be returned to its rightful place.

Who could have known that the eldest young lady’s illness would worsen beyond recovery, and that she would pass away.

She had to continue maintaining this marital alliance under the identity of the Pu family’s eldest daughter.

Because the time spent “carving” her before marriage was too short, when she did not speak, she resembled Pu Wange by sixty or seventy percent.

Yet there were still many flaws.

If someone close approached her, they would surely detect the differences and see through the deception.

The Yan family had stood in the capital for a hundred years, enduring and illustrious, firmly seated as the foremost noble household.

The Pu family’s ancestors had once been evenly matched with the Yan family, but in later years the Pu family declined.

They could no longer compare, and instead clung to the Yan family to maintain appearances.

This marriage could not afford even the slightest mistake.

If it were discovered, the Pu family would truly be finished.

They could not afford to offend the Yan family.

Thus, Madam Pu sent Matron Wu over to continue watching her closely during idle hours, controlling and disciplining Pu Jinyu at all times.

Matron Wu’s words were as unpleasant as ever.

She knew Concubine Ruan was Pu Jinyu’s weakness, so she liked to use her to provoke her and force correction.

Every time Concubine Ruan was mentioned, the words were unbearably harsh.

Pu Jinyu would always bristle in anger, fiercely protective.

In the past, she had shouted back with reddened eyes.

Later, she stopped shouting altogether.

She would only stare coldly at Matron Wu.

This time, Matron Wu had mentioned Concubine Ruan again.

Pu Jinyu was likely angered because of this.

“Miss, you—”

Jing Chun was about to speak again, planning to bring up Concubine Ruan’s recent situation, to say she was doing well and that Matron Wu’s words were careless and should not be taken to heart.

Pu Jinyu had already moved the jade spoon.

She stirred the snow yuanzi and interrupted her.

“Thank you for going to such trouble.”

Jing Chun pursed her lips and changed her words.

“…This is what this servant ought to do.”

At this moment, the young lady’s manner of eating was exquisitely elegant.

Every movement carried the shadow of Pu Wange.

After three years, Pu Jinyu’s original temperament had nearly been ground away.

She truly resembled Pu Wange more and more.

Jing Chun had followed Pu Wange since childhood.

Aside from Madam Pu, no one knew Pu Wange better than her.

Looking at Pu Jinyu’s profile now, she felt dazed for a moment.

It was as if she were seeing Pu Wange’s shadow from the past.

But thinking of certain matters, she fell silent.

Pu Jinyu noticed her gaze and stopped eating, turning her head to look over.

The moment their eyes met, that heavy thud rose again in Jing Chun’s chest.

Because the young lady’s gaze was unusually quiet and deep.

Like a dangerous dark pool.

One could not tell when it might surge.

Within it lurked a faint, concealed sharpness.

Why would she have such a feeling?

Could it be that Third Miss knew something?

Impossible.

She never left the inner quarters.

Yet standing before her, Jing Chun felt as though her thoughts and secrets were being seen through.

Third Miss had been fine this morning.

What could she possibly know?

Perhaps she was simply too hurt by Matron Wu’s scolding.

Jing Chun forced a smile.

“Is it that this snow yuanzi doesn’t suit Miss’s taste?”

Pu Jinyu liked rock sugar frost.

But because her body needed nourishment, very little had been added.

Pu Jinyu looked at Jing Chun for a long while.

So long that Jing Chun’s skin prickled.

Only then did she reply.

“No.”

She lowered her head and stirred the jade spoon, watching the ice fully melt.

A trace of hidden mockery flashed through her eyes.

“This snow yuanzi is very good.”

When she raised her head again, her face had returned to its usual proper smile.

The powdered exterior was clearly Pu Wange’s face.

Yet when it moved, it was not quite the same.

Faintly, Pu Jinyu’s own features surfaced beneath.

“Jing Chun, you did very well.”

“I should thank you.”

Thank you for helping my legitimate elder sister deceive me all these years.

For coaxing me, gaining my trust, making me believe you were a good person.

For making me willingly become a substitute.

Living in fire and water for her.

Dying miserably in the end.

Back then, she truly believed Jing Chun was a good person.

“Miss, what’s wrong with you today?

Why are you suddenly thanking this servant?

These are all things I should be doing.”

Strange.

Jing Chun could not explain it, only that Pu Jinyu seemed to be implying something.

“Is that so…”

The young lady murmured softly.

What things in this world are born as obligations?

Things that must be done?

“Miss—”

“I won’t eat anymore.”

She set down the jade spoon and told Jing Chun to take it away, saying it need not be made again.

Jing Chun froze.

“Why?”

Because it disgusts me.

Pu Jinyu slowly wiped her lips and said calmly,

“Matron Wu doesn’t like it.

If she finds out, you’ll be punished by having your allowance docked again.”

“Besides, didn’t you say it yourself?

I need to nourish my body now.

Chilled foods are bad for the stomach.”

Everything sounded reasonable.

Yet the unease in Jing Chun’s heart did not fade.

Unable to think it through, she hurriedly carried the snow yuanzi away.

***

When she returned, Pu Jinyu was holding a brush and reviewing the accounts.

She was auditing the expenses needed for the upcoming banquet.

Madam Yan had two sons and two daughters.

Her second daughter had married yesterday and would return home in three days.

Despite knowing Pu Jinyu handled matters reliably, Madam Yan still sent instructions that the homecoming banquet must not go wrong.

If not for the recent exhaustion of preparing her sister-in-law’s wedding day and night, Pu Jinyu would not have been caught resting in the afternoon and scolded by Matron Wu.

Jing Chun knew how tired she was.

The Yan household was enormous, with endless affairs.

Managing everything inside and out every day—Pu Jinyu was still so young.

Though Concubine Ruan said the sisters were close in age, in truth, Pu Jinyu was much younger than Pu Wange.

She had never learned household management from childhood.

She learned accounts in haste, forcing herself to appear composed and capable.

The effort she later put in went without saying.

At first, she did not manage the inner household.

But after General Yan’s old injury relapsed two years ago, Madam Yan’s eldest son, Yan Chiyun—once Pu Jinyu’s brother-in-law and now her substitute husband—took control of the household.

All inner affairs fell onto her shoulders.

To avoid mistakes, Pu Jinyu endured sleepless nights.

She dared not sleep deeply.

She grew visibly thinner.

Even now, she remained constantly on edge.

Without being told, Jing Chun stood beside her and ground ink.

Pu Jinyu’s eyesight had been damaged years ago from exhaustion.

She saw poorly and needed extra candles.

As Jing Chun pulled a sheet of paper, she accidentally struck a nearby candle stand.

It was about to topple toward Pu Jinyu’s hand—but before it fell, Pu Jinyu calmly withdrew her hand and lifted the account book.

She did not look up.

She did not pause.

As if she had known all along.

Jing Chun froze.

A coincidence… right?

Pu Jinyu remained expressionless and told her to clean the spilled wax, then resumed marking the accounts.

Jing Chun said nothing.

***

That night, dinner was taken in the main hall as usual.

After attending elders and serving medicine, Pu Jinyu reported household matters to Madam Yan.

It was late when she returned.

Hot water had been prepared.

“You may go.

I’ll do it myself.”

Jing Chun hesitated but withdrew.

Immersed in the bath, warmth spread across her skin.

Fatigue slowly dissolved.

She leaned back.

The water climbed higher.

Her face submerged.

Makeup blurred and smeared.

Longer.

Deeper.

Until suffocation pressed in.

Until consciousness faded.

Just as death closed in, her eyes snapped open.

She surged up, gasping violently, coughing.

Water streamed from her hair and ears.

She steadied herself.

She could not die.

Not like this.

Too pathetic.

Too suffocating.

She had lived a lifetime as a substitute and a shadow.

Given a second life—why should she die so easily?

Her executioners still slept soundly.

She looked into the bronze mirror.

Her real face stared back.

***

When she stepped out, greetings sounded outside.

Jing Chun rushed in, froze, and whispered urgently that Master had returned early.

She needed to hide her bare face.

Pu Jinyu did not lower her head.

She raised her eyes and looked outward—at the tall figure stepping through the doorway.

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