Dawn broke.
Another day had passed.
Jiang Mingxi took the Dragon Bone and left the house early in the morning.
She was still wearing the expensive outfit she had bought, but this time, she was no longer composed; her heart was full of anxiety.
After all, she had caused quite a stir at the temple fair yesterday, and now her face was known to both the Gendarmerie and many townsfolk.
Sure enough, as soon as she turned a corner, she bumped into a squad of Gendarmerie soldiers conducting a street check.
The leading Gendarme glanced up at Jiang Mingxi and was momentarily stunned. His gaze lingered on her clothes for several seconds, full of suspicion. “Second Young Master?”
Jiang Mingxi naturally understood the reason for his reaction.
Important people never wore the same clothes two days in a row.
A flicker of panic flashed across Jiang Mingxi’s face.
She clumsily covered her face, a shy blush appearing beneath her fingers. Lowering her voice, she tried to sound fierce but was clearly nervous, “Remember, you didn’t see me today!”
The Gendarme’s eyes swept over her misbuttoned shirt, the wrinkled, once-straight fabric, and the faint red traces of rouge left on it.
Suddenly, realization dawned on him, and he flashed a knowing smile that all men understood. “Yes, yes, I didn’t see you today.”
After the Second Young Master walked away, the Gendarme still joked with his companions, “Who knows which courtesan he spent the night with yesterday. Still young, thin-skinned.”
Dodging and hiding all the way, Jiang Mingxi finally reached the clothing shop.
She was here to buy clothes again.
The logic was simple: she was going to knock on Young Master Xiao’s door with the Dragon Bone, so she couldn’t show up in the same outfit as yesterday.
When it came time to pay, Jiang Mingxi couldn’t help but feel a bit resentful toward the unfamiliar Young Master Xiao.
These rich folks always broke the rules, making her spend several more silver dollars for no good reason.
She was determined to get a good sum out of him later.
After changing into her new clothes, Jiang Mingxi followed the address given by Xiao Zhu to a quiet, secluded courtyard.
This seemed to be the County Governor’s private residence, tranquil and refined.
Jiang Mingxi knocked on the door, and soon, an Old Servant came to open it. After she explained her reason for visiting, the Old Servant invited her in for tea and said he would send someone to call Xiao Zhu.
……
When Xiao Zhu heard from the County Governor’s servant that a Master Jiang had come to visit, he was taken aback.
Housekeeper Xiao Zheng sneered, “You just met yesterday, and now he’s here bright and early. How attentive! Only a fool like you would believe he doesn’t have an ulterior motive.”
Xiao Zhu lowered his head and said nothing.
Housekeeper Xiao continued, “You stay out of this. Just throw him out right away.”
But Xiao Zhu lifted his head, a hint of stubbornness in his voice. “I want to go… I still don’t think Master Jiang looks like a bad person.”
This made Xiao Zheng furious.
“Fine, fine! Seems you won’t cry until you see the coffin! Go on! If I meddle with you again, I’m a dog!”
……
Jiang Mingxi waited for nearly half an hour before Xiao Zhu finally arrived.
At first glance, Jiang Mingxi keenly sensed something was off about Xiao Zhu’s mood.
His eyes were red, his expression gloomy, and there was obvious resistance in the way he looked at her.
Jiang Mingxi’s heart sank, but she kept a calm face, smiling in a friendly yet not overly familiar way, “Sorry to bother you. It’s just that I got my hands on a real treasure yesterday, and I thought you’d be delighted, so I brought it over for you.”
Xiao Zhu forced a smile. “May I ask what book Master Jiang has brought?”
“It’s not a book,” Jiang Mingxi replied with a smile. “I’ve brought something even more interesting than a local gazetteer.”
She had intended to keep him in suspense, but Xiao Zhu suddenly looked up at her, a trace of grievance and resentment in his eyes.
He said stiffly, “No need, I have other matters to attend to. I won’t keep you any longer, Master Jiang, please leave.”
That was a direct order to leave!
Jiang Mingxi’s internal alarm bells went off—something had clearly happened that she didn’t know about.
Right now, she had to dispel Xiao Zhu’s suspicions immediately!
Jiang Mingxi put on a slightly aggrieved expression. “What are you so upset about that you have to take it out on me? I thought, since we’re from the same hometown, we ought to look out for each other. That’s why I went to such lengths to help you find some Oracle Bone Script. But if that’s not what you want, then I’ll take my leave.”
She stood up to go, and as expected, Xiao Zhu stopped her.
His cold demeanor vanished, replaced by an eagerness he couldn’t hide as he hurriedly asked, “You said Oracle Bone Script? Is that true? Where did you find it?”
Jiang Mingxi laughed inwardly—hooked!—but kept her tone cool, “Don’t you have things to do? I won’t bother you, then.”
Now, it was Xiao Zhu’s turn to panic.
His face flushed, and after a torrent of apologies and kind words, he finally coaxed Master Jiang back into his seat. Jiang Mingxi pulled a small cloth bundle from her pocket and handed it over carelessly. “Here, see for yourself. Is it Oracle Bone Script?”
Jiang Mingxi was afraid of losing or damaging it, so she had wrapped the Oracle Bone Script in over a dozen layers of cloth, finishing with a tight knot.
Now it was Xiao Zheng’s turn to struggle.
He patiently unwrapped the bundle, sweating all the while, when someone else entered from outside.
Jiang Mingxi turned to look—it was an elderly man with graying hair and a long, scholarly beard.
Though his jacket looked ordinary, Jiang Mingxi’s sharp eyes and experience at the clothing shop let her instantly recognize the fabric as genuine Suzhou Song Cotton— the same prestigious cloth that won a Jin-Yin Medal at the “Nanyang Industrial Exposition” in Nanjing six years ago.
Jiang Mingxi was puzzled; she remembered the newspaper saying Young Master Xiao had gone abroad to study, but she hadn’t heard he brought his father along.
The old man entered and swept an unfriendly gaze up and down Jiang Mingxi.
Jiang Mingxi had seen this look many times in her previous life.
It was the look reserved for trash.
She narrowed her eyes and saw Xiao Zhu immediately stand up from his seat, trembling as he called out, “Housekeeper Xiao, what brings you here?”
Someone wearing such fine fabric was only a high-ranking servant in the Xiao Family.
Though Jiang Mingxi knew the Xiao Family was wealthy, this still exceeded her imagination.
Housekeeper Xiao ignored Xiao Zhu, first wrinkling his nose and then fanning the air in front of it, as if he had caught a whiff of something foul.
He pointed straight at Jiang Mingxi. “Throw him out.”
Several strong servants immediately rushed out from behind him, grinning menacingly as they closed in on Jiang Mingxi.
Jiang Mingxi’s face darkened as she looked at Xiao Zhu. “What is the meaning of this?”
Xiao Zhu was stunned, anxiously explaining, “Housekeeper Xiao, Master Jiang really isn’t a fraud…”
“Not a fraud?” Housekeeper Xiao shot Jiang Mingxi a contemptuous glance from the corner of his eye and sneered, “He reeks of poverty, just a fallen wretch, coming here to show off and swindle. Hurry up and throw him out—he stinks.”
Reeks of poverty.
He stinks.
The Housekeeper’s words were like a slap, snapping Jiang Mingxi out of her beautiful dream.
Her coat had cost six silver dollars—one more than her previous one.
She had bought a new shirt and pants for two silver dollars. The shop clerk had sworn up and down that the outfit had come from the harbor…
For this meeting, she had even risked going to the bathhouse, spending twenty cents to scrub herself clean from head to toe, using scented soap.
She had imitated the behavior and mannerisms of young gentlemen she’d seen working as a busboy in high-end restaurants in her previous life.
She thought she had finally managed to live with some dignity in this life.
But…
No matter how hard she tried, the Xiao Family’s Housekeeper only needed a sniff to see through all her disguises.
What did it mean to “reek of poverty”? Did it really smell that bad?
Was it a stench that only stuck to the poor?
Jiang Mingxi didn’t know.
She simply wiped all emotion from her face, shook off the hands reaching for her, and said coldly, “No need to throw me out. I’ll go myself.”
Then, with her chin stubbornly raised, chest out and head held high, she strode out the door.
……
Watching Master Jiang’s departing figure, Xiao Zhu couldn’t hold back any longer and said with some grievance, “Grandpa Xiao, why did you say that? He doesn’t stink at all—he smells nice.”
“You silly boy, you still don’t believe me. He may look like a young master, but he reeks of cheap perfume, and his clothes smell musty. Look at the mud on his soles, the frayed cuffs and hems, and the calluses on his hands… I’ve seen plenty of swindlers like him!”
Xiao Zheng poked Xiao Zhu’s head hard with a finger. “You’d better learn!”
Xiao Zhu’s eyes went wide— he was stunned.
After a moment, he suddenly cried out, “Oh no, he forgot to take his thing!”