Jun Jiuling

Chapter 10: Returning in Appeasement

Miss Jun’s voice was soft and slow, and as she spoke her voice got even softer, until only Old Lady Fang could hear her last sentence clearly.

Old Lady Fang looked at the girl before her, and despite the fact that she had survived through many hard times, she still wore a shocked expression.

“What did you say?” she couldn’t help but ask.

Miss Jun had already let go of her hand and silently stepped backwards.

“I have already reached an agreement with the Ning Family. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other,” she said softly.

Reached an agreement with the Ning Family? Nothing to do with each other?

Why couldn’t Old Lady Fang understand what she meant?

Of course, if it were another person who said that, she would understand, but Miss Jun...

Old Lady Fang looked at her with a strange expression.

The girl before her wore out-of-fashion clothing and had the face of an evil creature.

“What sort of trick are you playing?” she asked.

The young servant girl had already recovered from her shock. When she heard this, she snorted.

“My family’s Miss Jun has already rejected the marriage with the Ning Family,” she said, her voice choking up with grief upon the words ‘rejected the marriage’.

Miss Jun was really too pitiful. Master and Madam had passed away, and the two of them were sent to this useless maternal family. No one there helped them, but rather just bullied Young Miss.

When the people around them heard that Miss Jun had backed out of the marriage, they were in shock.

“How is this possible?” blurted out the maidservant closest to the two girls.

Miss Jun looked at her and smiled.

“Why would this be impossible?” she asked gently.

Of course it was possible. It was impossible to get married. The Ning Family would never acknowledge the engagement. Yet, that little servant girl had said that their family’s miss had backed out of the marriage.

Miss Jun had come to Yangcheng in order to marry into the Ning Family, and had been so unseemly bothersome about it that she was ready to even give up her life for it. How could she, then, possibly agree to back out of the marriage?

“Of course it is possible, my family’s Miss Jun…” The young servant girl looked at the maidservants and spoke ferociously.

She hadn’t finished talking when she was interrupted by Miss Jun.

“We can talk further about this once we have returned,” she said, looking at her surroundings.

Everyone subconsciously looked around them and discovered that people had gathered to watch the commotion.

Some people were pointing at them and whispering to one another, obviously knowing who Miss Jun was.

Miss Jun had hated the fact that people did not know her as the Ning Family’s Tenth Noble Son’s fiancée, so much that she even went to the Ning Family’s residence in Beiliu Town to show off.

After the cheap trick of hanging herself in the inn, perhaps everyone in the small town knew who she was.

So, wasn’t it her intention that more people would know who she was? Why would she suggest to leave first?

Everyone’s gazes naturally fell onto Miss Jun.

Miss Jun’s downcast eyes were still, no emotion to be seen.

“Grandmother, thank you very much for coming here to get me.” She dropped into a respectful curtsy. "I have put Grandmother through a lot of trouble and a lot of shock."

Old Lady Fang’s hand trembled slightly. As she watched Miss Jun, she became increasingly more amazed. Within that amazement there was a hint of a complicated emotion.

Put through a lot of trouble and shock.

Old Lady Fang had never thought that she would hear this sentence, especially from her granddaughter who had never spared her more than a glance.

As this thought flashed through her mind, Old Lady Fang recovered from her shock, and some lingering suspicions reappeared in her mind.

What does this granddaughter want to do?

“Young lady is speaking jokes. It is us who have caused trouble for you and let you suffer humiliation,” she said in a cold voice. She looked at Miss Jun who did not say anything more. “Since you want to come to our Fang Family’s residence, let us go.”

After she finished talking, she turned to the maids and gave them a meaningful glance. The maidservants understood and stepped back.

Miss Jun did not say anything further and followed Old Lady Fang.

Miss Jun was leaving, so the little servant girl glared at the maidservants from the Fang Family to express her dislike and dissatisfaction, but did not say anything.

Old Lady Fang had brought two carriages with her. She got into one, and a maidservant beckoned Miss Jun to get into the other. Then the servants squeezed into Old Lady Fang’s carriage.

Miss Jun, of course, would not ride with such lowly existences like them in the same carriage.

The two carriages sped away under the gazes of the crowd. No one paid attention to the maidservant of the Fang Family standing amidst the crowd and listening to their chatter.

Even though the carriage was not travelling along the public road, they still drove very smoothly.

“What kind of carriage did they give us.” The little servant girl wore a face of disdain as she complained in the carriage. “Pulling people is different from pulling goods. It’s such a cold day, yet they didn’t give us a charcoal brazier? Do they want to deliberately freeze Miss Jun to death.”

Miss Jun looked at the carriage, and noted that the carriage was very well made. It just didn’t have any decorations and did not have any charcoal braziers installed either. There was only a thick cushion and some pillows.

“Of course it is for pulling people,” said Miss Jun.

She returned her gaze to the window, remembering a girl who could not get up after being injured from the hanging. A Miss Jun that died.

She stroked the carriage cushion. This arrangement was very useful, but the thing was, she was occupying a dead person’s body.

Although Jun Zhenzhen had already died, her body would not be laid to rest.

Wind whistled through the curtains of the compartment, bringing in a biting cold air.

“Are you cold, Miss Jun?” asked the little servant girl with a voice full of concern, while rubbing her hand. Soon after, she complained, “How could they not have a heater inside a carriage?”

Although the master and servant pair looked down on the Fang Family, they had no qualms about enjoying everything the Fang Family had to offer. In their minds, it was the Fang Family’s honor to have them.

What laughable and hateful children.

Miss Jun could not help but sneer. But it quickly went away, and her emotions began to churn.

For people like the original Miss Jun and her servant, it was their ‘right to enjoy’ what they had snatched from other people. They felt entitled to the others’ charity.

Her tightly clenched hand, resting on her knee, was hidden within her sleeve. The sharp pain prevented the shout clogged in her throat from escaping.

Since she had woken up, everything had been extremely strange to her, exceeding her knowledge. She could only calmly respond to the present situation, pushing away the emotions that made people lose their reasoning. It was the only way to prevent herself from going crazy.

Hatred most easily made people lose their reasoning.

Miss Jun parted the curtains and looked out through the compartment window.

“Miss Jun, is it too cold?” The little servant girl was unaware of her mood. She only saw her actions and soon repeated herself, her face twisted with dissatisfaction. “How come there isn’t even a hand-warming stove?”

The little servant girl moved to the front of the carriage.

“Stop, stop,” she called out. “Get a hand-warming stove.”

The people outside were confused by her shouts, but did not dare to ignore her. They informed Old Lady Fang in the front, and soon a maidservant came out from the first carriage bearing a hand-warming stove.

The little servant girl looked at the hand-warming stove and frowned.

“This is an old hand-warming stove,” she said disdainfully.

The maidservant wore a face of forbearance.

“We left without time to prepare. This belongs to one of the servants, Miss Jun can use it.”

The young servant girl threw away the hand-warming stove.

“Aiya, it’s so dirty. How could I stand such a stink!” she screeched.

The maidservant looked unwell.

The little servant girl wasn’t yet finished speaking.

“...and why does this carriage not have any charcoal braziers? And the cushion is so thin, we’ll freeze to death…” she muttered in complaint.

Miss Jun, who had been lost in her thoughts, could not help but smile.

“Liu’er,” she shouted out.

The little servant girl immediately stopped speaking.

“That’s enough, you’ve already said everything that is of any urgency. It’s not much further now, just bear with it,” said Miss Jun.

The little servant girl heard Miss Jun’s words and obeyed, merely snorting at the maidservant next to the carriage.

“Go, go,” she waved her hand dismissively.

The maidservant stiffly paid her respects to Miss Jun, then turned to leave.

The carriages resumed their pace. When they saw the ashen face of the maidservant, the other people in Old Lady Fang’s carriage expressed their sympathy.

They had all heard what the young servant girl had just said.

“Miss Jun spoke well this time,” said the maidservant.

No matter what was said, she was still Old Lady’s granddaughter. Old Lady could loathe her, but she was her blood kin. Even if she broke their bones and tendons, the servants must still be respectful.

Old Lady Fang, who had been reclining against a cushion with her eyes closed, snorted.

“She actually played the strict master, the hero,” she said. “We should see what she means to do.”

The maidservants lowered their heads and did not dare to respond.

The carriage curtains were blown open by the wind, so they could faintly hear the little servant girl’s voice coming from the carriage behind them.

“...Miss Jun, I will give you my clothes to cover yourself…”

“...Miss Jun, do you want to drink tea? ...ah, you haven’t drunk tea in a while... fortunately, I drank a couple of cups at the Ning Family’s residence…”

“...There is actually no tea on this carriage…they really are too…”

Miss Jun turned to look at the young servant girl.

“There is no need. I am not thirsty or cold. The air coming through the curtains feels nice,” she said. “You should just rest for a moment.”

The little servant girl was afraid that Miss Jun had told her to rest for a moment, because she was too annoying and wanted her to shut up.

Before today, she wouldn't dwell this much on Miss Jun’ words. Miss Jun always said what she meant. Only, when Miss Jun was talking with Eldest Madam Ning, they were obviously speaking amiably, but Eldest Madam Ning had left with such an ashen face. Now that she thought about it again, there seemed to be hidden meanings within Miss Jun’s words.

As Miss Jun’s most capable and only servant girl, Liu’er felt that she needed to understand what Miss Jun said in order to avoid mistakenly going against Miss Jun’s intentions.

After thinking about it, Liu’er was silent and did not look at Miss Jun for a quarter of an hour, even more certain that Miss Jun had meant for her to shut up.

Miss Jun looked out the window without moving; Liu’er thought that her neck must feel stiff.

“Miss Jun, what are you looking at?” she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

Miss Jun looked out the window at the fields around Beiliu Town. The fields were vast; at the moment they looked desolate because of the wintry days, looking somewhat wilder.

“The scenery,” she said.

She had been to many places and seen many sceneries, but she had never gone to the north of the capital. She hadn’t thought she would be able to see this place after dying.