Chapter 1 - Substitute

Substitute

Suihe[1] 3rd year, summer

Jiang’s residence was located in a greener environment with various types of trees and bushes. Hence, people can walk around the residence without being noticed by others.

Mu Mingtang, who was wearing light blue coloured clothes, was standing behind a bush without alarming the two people who were talking.

One of them was King Jin and the other was his old lover who he hadn’t seen for a long time.

“Brother Ji, please forgive me. I’m the one who wronged you. I blindly believed those lies and misunderstood you. That’s why I ran away from my parents and you. Fortunately, everything on your side has been fine, otherwise, I really “…”

The woman in the green called Jiang Mingwei choked up suddenly and could not speak. She was wearing plain makeup. She wasn’t a gorgeous beauty at first glance, but when you pay attention to her, you will see that she was an attractive woman.

Her big eyes were full of tears. Xie Xuanjin was so worried upon seeing her teary eyes. He took a step forward and held Jiang Mingwei’s hand: “Mingwei, let go of the past. As long as you come back, everything will be fine. You are the true miss of Jiang’s family. Nothing will be changed.”

Ms.Mingwei burst into tears: “But, Brother Ji, I’m no longer worthy of you. When I was deceived by those people, I couldn’t see clearly. I doubted your intentions, and ran away from marriage at the Shangyuan Festival[2]. I thought a lot this year. It was my fault back then. I can’t blame others, I’m satisfied with my current life, and I don’t dare to expect anything else. I heard that you are already engaged to her. It’s great, she will take good care of you for me. “

“No, Minwei.” Xie Xuanji anxiously took a step forward, and almost hugged Jiang Mingwei. He looked into Jiang Mingwei’s eyes and said: “nothing has changed, as long as you come back, I will always be here. Yes, the marriage contract was changed to Jiang Mingtang, but it was because the imperial decree was issued to Jiang Mingtang. You can understand that Uncle Jiang could not disobey the imperial edict, so he had to stick to it. That’s why he claimed a daughter from outside to take your place. But no matter what, she is fake. Now that you are back, why should a substitute take your place? My wife’s position has always been reserved for you.”

“But, I was kidnapped by those barbarians, and my whereabouts were unknown for a year. The royal family cares more for the chaste, I know that I am clean, but will others believe it? If I marry you, others will laugh at you.”

Jiang Mingwei seemed to be ashamed after telling that.

Xie Xuanji, who was always gentle, calm and self-controlled, couldn’t help smiling happily and hugged Jiang Mingwei into his arms: “That’s great, Mingwei, that’s great. I’m happy to hear that you do not belong to other men, you are still a virgin. Don’t worry, except you and me, and Uncle Jiang and madam Jiang, nobody knows that you have disappeared that year. So Madam, when outsiders ask, you can just say that you are recuperating in another place. I will look at other matters, you just need to feel at ease and prepare for marriage.”

Jiang Mingwei’s face turned red, and a shy smile appeared on her face. After staying in Xie Xuanji’s embrace for a while, she gently pushed Xie Xuanji with a pale face and said : “Brother Ji, even though I’m very pleased to hear that your heart is still for me, I’m not worthy of you. My position in your life already belongs to someone else. She is behaving better than me and more filial than me. She won’t make my parents angry like me.  That’s why my parents adopted her. If I show up again, not only delay your marriage, but also make the second lady unhappy”

“Mingwei, what are you talking about?” Xie Xuanji said coldly, without any hesitation, “I have never had any feelings for her, I have always regarded her as your substitute. The same is true of Uncle Jiang and the others. If she was not similar at three points as you, how could she enter the door of the Jiang family with her humble status as a refugee? If she doesn’t know her identity and dares to target you, I will never let her go.”

Jiang Mingwei made a soft cry: “Brother Ji…no…..”

Xie Xuanji’s chest became painful, and couldn’t help hugging Jiang Mingwei tightly, “Mingwei, Just come back. Uncle Jiang and I have been waiting for you for a year. Now, it’s time to return everything to its original owner.”

Mu Mingtang, who was eavesdropping, smiled with self-pity. She felt that she was a joke from the beginning to the end.

Those are childhood sweethearts. No matter what has happened earlier, after solving misunderstandings they will be reunited. Then they will definitely enter into marriage with both parents and live happily ever after: Mu Mingtang thought.

The “she” in Jiang Mingwei’s mouth and the “substitute” in Xie Xuanji’s mouth are Mu Mingtang.

What Xie Xuanji said was true. Mu Mingtang indeed doesn’t have a noble family background like Xei Xuanjin and Jiang Mingwei. Xie Xuanji was a prince, who was known as King Jin, and the other person, Jiang Mingwei, was the daughter of a high-ranking official.

Mu Mingtang was not born in the Capital city. She was originally from Xiangyang, and her family was neither a scholarly family nor an official family, but a merchant. Although he was not born in the main-house, his parents were harmonious and the family was prosperous.

An unfortunate incident happened when Mu Mingtang was twelve years old. In the third year of Hongjia, the army of Jieren entered the city for a massacre. Mu Mingtang’s parents were also killed. But Mu Mingtang was lucky to stay alive.

Later, the Marquis of Wu’an entered the city, fought against the Jieren army and defeated them.

After that, Mu Mingtang followed many refugees to the north, looking for a place to live. She became a penniless orphan from a daughter of a wealthy business family.

Mu Mingtang had a very difficult journey. Fortunately, she met a kind woman called Zhou who was also an orphan. That kind woman protected Mu Mingtang as her own granddaughter.

Later, Mu Mingtang and grandmother Zhou stopped at Chenliu and planned to start life again. Both of them became familiar with each other throughout the journey. Mu Mingtang really regarded Granny Zhou as her grandmother, and planned to take care of granny Zhou in the future. The two of them depended on each other for life, sewing, washing clothes, weaving bamboo strips, and everything. As a result, life finally improved a little, but grandma Zhou fell ill because of overwork.

Mu Mingtang tried her best, but granny Zhou still did not survive, and died before spring came. After Zhou died, Mu Mingtang cried a lot and sent grandmother Zhou to the ground with dignity within her limits.

After granny Zhou died, the pawn shop owner of their village saw that Mu Mingtang was pretty, and he had bad intentions. He told the people in the street that Mu Mingtang stole from his shop. Mu Mingtang has been able to survive till now, so didn’t want to surrender to the shop owner without a fight. Hence, she began to fight with him on the street. As a result, they were stopped by a line of well-dressed guards.

After seeing them, she knew that they were people she couldn’t afford to offend. so she immediately restrained her arrogance, lowered her head and dared not contradict. At that time, a maid came down from a very wealthy carriage. The maid was wearing a clean Shiqing Ru skirt, her hair was tightly pursed, and the soles of her shoes were cleaner than Mu Mingtang’s face. Seeing Mu Mingtang’s appearance, the maid seemed to dislike it for a while, and then she pinched her nose and said, “Your ancestors smoked green smoke. Come with me, our wife wants to see you.” Seeing that the other party has a carriage, can also afford guards, that person may be a government official. Mu Mingtang followed tremblingly, only to discover later that her identity not only limited her knowledge, but also her imagination. The people who stopped her that day were not only from an official family, but also the wife of the main house of the deputy envoy of the third division in the capital.

Mrs. Jiang looked at Mu Mingtang for a while and asked someone to take her back.  When Mu Mingtang arrived in the capital, she was cleaned and asked to wear clean clothes. Next day, she was taken to meet Mr. Jiang and Mrs. Jiang.

Mr. Jiang looked at her for a long time and said to Mrs. Jiang: “Just follow what you said.”

After that moment, her life turned upside down.

Mu Mingtang was adopted by Mrs. Jiang as the second daughter of Jiang Honghao, the deputy envoy of the third division. Her name changed from Mu Mingtang to Jiang Mingtang.

Even though Mu Mingtang was confused at first, she felt secure. How could she, a refugee, become a noble lady? She felt that she was lucky. Mu Mingtang was afraid of losing all of this, so she would do whatever Mrs. Jiang  asked her.

Later, Mu Mingtang learned the true reason for her adaptation. They were searching for Jiang Mingwei, the eldest lady of Jiang’s family in Chenliu that day.

The maids said that the festival was too crowded, and the eldest lady went out to look at the lights and got lost accidentally. Even if Mu Mingtang was not from a noble family, she could still feel that the maid was not telling the truth. Even though her parents are merchants, they would arrange for a maid to accompany her. So, how could an official family not arrange maids and guards for their lady?

While searching for her daughter, Mrs. Jiang caught a  glimpse of Mu Mingtang on the street. Mrs. Jiang looked at her for a while and found that Mu Mingtang and her lost daughter were similar in age, and even their faces were somewhat similar.

That’s why Mrs. Jiang brought Mu Mingtang back. After Jiang Honghao saw her, he felt that his wife’s idea was good. Later, Mu Mingtang was adopted by the Jiang family and changed his surname to Jiang.

Mu Mingtang who lost her parents could understand the pain of losing a daughter. So to pay off her gratitude, she began to live in the shadow of another person. She lived in Jiang Mingwei’s former house, learned to speak like Jiang Mingwei, and learned to walk like Jiang Mingwei. She hid all her true personality and turned into another person. She was afraid of being thrown out of Jiang’s house, and she was afraid of going back to the days lived as a refugee.

Mu Mingtang was locked up and intensively trained for a year, and finally transformed into the famous lady that Mrs. Jiang wanted. Even though she could not fully compare to Jiang Mingwei who was born rich and noble, Mrs. Jiang was reluctantly satisfied.

In March of this year, Mrs.Jiang officially took Mu Mingtang out to cross the road. At that time, Mu Mingtang really understood the real reason for the adaptation and why Mrs. Jiang was anxious to train her well.

It turned out that Jiang Mingwei had a marriage agreement with the prince, King Jin.  Jiang’s eldest lady’s disappearance will not cause trouble for King Jin. The emperor has the ability to take back the marriage agreement. However, the Jiang family will be in trouble. They will miss the opportunity to join the royal family and climb up in society.

King Jin, was known as a virtuous man and was the most popular candidate for the crown prince in the court. If the emperor would not have been neighbours with the Jiang family before he ascended the throne, he would never have put such a great honour on the Jiang family’s head.

To Mu Mingtang’s understanding, Jiang Mingwei escaped from marriage. But Mrs. Jiang always insisted that her daughter was kidnapped. Jiang Honghao was furious when he learned that Jiang Mingwei was gone, and he was so angry that he said that he did not have Jiang Mingwei as a daughter, and even refused to send someone out to chase Jiang Mingwei. Mrs. Jiang felt sorry for her daughter and left to search for her.

Mrs. Jiang only hoped that Jiang Mingwei was on a whim, and would come back when her heart was dissipated. If she didn’t come back, or it was too late, then letting Mu Mingtang on top would be a remedy. After all, the emperor gave marriage to King Jin and Jiang Honghao’s daughter, but he didn’t say that it must be Jiang Mingwei. After adopting Mu Mingtang, Mu Mingtang barely counts as Jiang Honghao’s daughter.

In March, Mrs. Jiang completely gave up her expectation of Jiang Mingwei and officially introduced her second daughter “Jiang Mingtang” to the wives of officials in the capital. In April, Mu Mingtang and Jin King Xie Xuanji, under the care of their elders, looked at each other across the screen.

Even though King Jin got to know that Jiang Mingwei had escaped from the marriage, he quietly helped Mrs. Jiang to find Jiang Mingwei. Later, seeing that the wedding date was approaching, Xie Xuanji said nothing and accepted the substitute arranged by the Jiang family.

Mu Mingtang knew that, like Mrs. Jiang, King Jin also looked at her as Jiang Mingwei. She will be a substitute all of her life. However, it didn’t bother her. As long as she can live well, she will not be greedy for the love of King Jin.

Who knows, just today, at the birthday banquet arranged by the Jiang family for Mu Mingtang, the original owner Jiang Mingwei actually appeared.

At the banquet, Mu Mingtang found that King Jin was walking away secretly. Mu Mingtang followed quietly and found out about such a drama.

After listening to the two lovers’ conversation, she felt that her good luck was over. So, what will happen to a poor substitute like me?

Mu Mingtang didn’t want to listen anymore, so she turned around and walked back. Halfway, she met a maid who came out looking for her.

“Second miss, madam said that you can’t walk around, why can’t you remember it?”

The maid stood in the other direction and didn’t see the figures behind the bushes. Xie Xuanji and Jiang Mingwei both stopped talking when they heard the voice. Xie Xuanji’s expression changed, he quickly bypassed the block and saw a person wearing light-blue clothes moving away. He recognized that person was Mu Mingtang.

The maid chattered endlessly, and Mu Mingtang just ignored it, didn’t argue, and didn’t respond. She went to her chamber and  waited quietly, waiting for the Jiang family to deal with her.

The Jiang family or King Jin didn’t come to talk to her. After waiting for a long time, a maid came and said: “Second Miss, this is the eldest lady’s house. The eldest lady will get angry if you are here. Please move out.”

Mu Mingtang was stunned for a while, then stood up and nodded and said, “It makes sense. This was originally my sister’s room, and now that the eldest sister is back, I have no reason to stay here anymore. The house, I’ll clean it up now.”

“No need.” the maid frowned, and said, “Everything in the room belongs to the eldest lady, even the clothes. Second lady, come out on your own. That’s enough.”

Mu Mingtang was humiliated but she moved from the house she lived in for a year to a cold guest room without saying a word. She thought that whatever happens in the future, there will be someone from the Jiang family who will come and  greet her.

Facts have proved that Mu Mingtang still thinks highly of herself. She was left in the guest room and lived unnoticed for three days. At noon on the fourth day, someone finally came to her: “Second Miss, master called you.”

Mu Mingtang tidied herself up and walked to the study. In the study, Jiang Honghao was already sitting. To her surprise, Xie Xuanji was also there.

Mu Mingtang glanced up, and saluted Jiang Honghao very ladylike: “Father.”

Looking back at what happened over the past three days, Mu Mingtang knew that Xie Xuanji is now her former fiancé. So there is no reason to greet him.

“Well.” Jiang Honghao just nodded. He looked at the girl in front of him, thinking of what was going to happen in a while, and felt pity. In any case, she stayed in Jiang’s house for a year.

He held his beard in one hand and said, “You must have known that your eldest sister is back. King Jin’s marriage contract was originally with Mingwei, and it is really helpless for you to replace him. Do you understand?”

Mu Mingtang bowed his head meekly: “I understand.”

“That’s good. But don’t worry, since you have become my adopted daughter, I will not treat you badly. King Jin has discussed with His Majesty about your marriage. His Majesty agreed today to let you marry into the Qiyang Palace. Although you are my adopted daughter, the Jiang family will not let you down. After you marry into the Qiyang Palace, you are still a princess. In the future, the two of you sisters will become concubines, and you must watch over each other in the clan, so that you can live up to your father’s teaching. You have today, you are really extraordinary.”

Mu Mingtang was stunned for a long time before he realised what Jiang Honghao was saying. She is still the princess, but instead of marrying the King of Jin, she is supposed to marry the King of Qiyang?

“Father, King Qiyang, isn’t he already a living dead?”

End of chapter 1

Translator Notes:

1. Chinese ear at the Western Han Dynasty ↵

2.The Lantern Festival, also called Shangyuan Festival, is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar, during the full moon. ↵#footnote2b