Chapter 91: Going After Green Ivy

The two jailers exchanged a look. Outsiders all said that Xia Jiujiang and Lu Luo shared a bond of master and maid as deep as flesh and blood, but now it seemed that was not entirely true after all. The princess was the princess; she regarded herself as a mistress, and servants could only ever be servants. Since Xia Jiujiang wanted double portions of food, then let her suffer double portions of poison.

The jailers watched as Xia Jiujiang finished her meal and closed her eyes to rest, then kept pacing in front of her cell from time to time, waiting for the poison to take effect and kill her.

Annoyed by the constant noise, Xia Jiujiang said, "Do you think this cell is mere decoration, or do you think I can escape? Why do you keep wandering around in front of my cell?"

Seeing that Xia Jiujiang was still vigorous and full of life, the two jailers trembled with fear. As the saying went, one who has done no wrong fears no knocking from the dead; they, having done wrong, found Xia Jiujiang standing there unharmed as though they had seen a ghost.

They had already put every last bit of poison they had into the food, yet it had done nothing at all. Now they had no way to continue trying to poison Xia Jiujiang; even the cleverest woman cannot cook without rice. They could only wait until the shift changed before leaving the cell.

After the jailers left, Lu Luo's stomach let out a rumbling growl. She hurriedly covered herself, afraid the sound of her own belly would upset Xia Jiujiang.

Seeing that Xia Jiujiang was in a foul mood today and rather irritable, Lu Luo only grew all the more careful. After all, the princess had been framed by the Xia family and turned into a prisoner today, yet Lu Luo's obedient, pitiful manner only made her even more endearing.

Xia Jiujiang narrowed her eyes and took in Lu Luo's movements. Then she opened her eyes and said, "That food was poisoned."

Lu Luo's face changed at once. Her mouth fell open in shock. She had thought that after being locked in this tiny, walled cell, they had at last found a safe haven, never imagining that even the food brought in would be poisonous.

Alarmed, she said, "Princess, why did you only tell this to this servant now? What if you had eaten those meals yourself! No, we must summon the imperial physician to examine you. I will call the jailers at once..."

Lu Luo was overcome with regret. She had even blamed Xia Jiujiang in her heart for being in a bad mood and refusing to let her eat simply because she had been confined in prison, never imagining that the food had been poisoned.

She rushed anxiously to the door, wanting to summon the jailers.

Xia Jiujiang grabbed her hand and said, "Lu Luo, it's useless. The death of Old Madam Xia was a trap set to frame me. They poisoned the food because they wanted to settle matters before anything could go wrong. Now that we have fallen into prison, we are at their mercy."

The foolish girl only knew how to worry about Xia Jiujiang and had not the slightest thought that she herself had nearly eaten poisoned food.

Lu Luo's eyes reddened all at once. "Why? Why are they doing this to us? We have done nothing at all. Miss, why must you suffer so much? Back in the Xia family, they bullied you endlessly. Finally, you became the Princess of Jin, and even then they would not spare you. Why..."

Lu Luo's weeping made Xia Jiujiang's nose sting. This silly child was still pitying her, not knowing that the real Xia Jiujiang had long since been killed by the people of the Prime Minister's Residence. Still, having such a maid who truly cared for her could be counted as a kind of blessing.

Xia Jiujiang said to her, "It's all right. That poison does not affect me at all."

Inside Xia Jiujiang's body was the mother Gu of the Five Poisons; no poison could harm her.

Tears fell from Lu Luo's eyes in a steady patter. "Princess, why did you eat those poisoned meals in order to save me? And then you still comforted me, saying it was nothing. How could it be nothing? Since they meant to kill us, the poison must have been vicious."

Xia Jiujiang said, "I really am fine. Lu Luo, you have been by my side for some time now. You should have seen it too: I am not the same Xia Jiujiang as before."

Lu Luo stared, wide-eyed. Only then did those red-rimmed eyes truly resemble a startled little rabbit. She was somewhat stunned. What did she mean, the Xia Jiujiang from before?

Xia Jiujiang drew a breath and said, "I am not the master you once knew."

Lu Luo looked at her in confusion. "Princess, what are you saying... How could you not be this servant's mistress?"

Xia Jiujiang suddenly said, very seriously, "Whether it is my temperament, my martial skill, or my use of poisons, I am all different from the Xia Jiujiang of the past. So the jailers' poison has no use against me."

Perhaps moved by Lu Luo's feelings for her, Xia Jiujiang chose to tell the truth. She also wanted to see how Lu Luo would react, to know how a maid who stayed so close to her would regard Xia Jiujiang.

If even Lu Luo could not accept it, there was no need to mention Jun Bu Wen.

Lu Luo was stunned for a moment. She understood what Xia Jiujiang was saying. Since entering the Jin Prince's Residence, Xia Jiujiang had changed completely; her words, her manner, and even her tastes were utterly different from before. Lu Luo had faintly sensed it, but she had never once imagined that this meant Xia Jiujiang was no longer Xia Jiujiang.

Xia Jiujiang went on, "You may not believe me, but the real Xia Jiujiang was already poisoned to death by the Xia family when she married into the Jin Prince's Residence. I am only a soul that took over Xia Jiujiang's body."

Xia Jiujiang did not know how else to explain it. Perhaps only such a thing as soul transference could make sense of it.

Lu Luo's mouth opened in astonishment. The shock and bewilderment that swept over her in that instant were plain to see. She had heard storytellers speak of souls taking over corpses before, but she had never imagined that such an almost unheard-of thing could truly happen.

Xia Jiujiang said, "I have never told this secret to anyone. Now you have been dragged into prison because of me, and I do not know what we will face next. Afraid that your life may be in danger, I decided to speak of it."

If they meant to use darker means, Xia Jiujiang could protect Lu Luo once, but not a second time. She might have to command the Gu insects to cut a bloody path out.

Lu Luo took a step back. Her expression was impossible to describe: shock, disbelief, and yet also a touch of being moved.

Xia Jiujiang said, "If you resent me for anything, if you are angry that I hid this from you until now, I will bear it without complaint. And if, in the future, you wish to leave my side, I will not stop you."

Suddenly, Lu Luo knelt before Xia Jiujiang and said, "Princess, what are you saying? I only know that no matter who you truly are, no matter what you become, you ate poisoned food to save me. In Lu Luo's eyes, you are my mistress. You are my young lady. That will never change."

Though the Xia Jiujiang standing before her was not the same as the one before, the life she had shared with her over this period was not false. Xia Jiujiang had cleared the Jiang family’s name; she had dealt with the people of the Xia residence only because they had come looking for trouble first. And Xia Jiujiang even said that it was she who had dragged Lu Luo into prison, when in truth it was she who had been dragged in by the burden of being the Xia family’s legitimate daughter.

Lu Luo pitied the young lady who had already died, but the Xia Jiujiang of now had also made the young lady live out a different kind of brilliance. She had restored justice to the Jiang family in her stead, and stood straight in her stead. In Lu Luo's heart, there was no difference between the two.

Lu Luo said to Xia Jiujiang, "Miss, even if the whole world abandons you, Lu Luo will always remain by your side."

Xia Jiujiang's heart trembled. She had not expected Lu Luo to accept her, even to stand by her side without hesitation, and she could not help feeling moved.

To answer sincerity with sincerity will, in the end, always return a sincere heart.

Only this moving scene was interrupted by a cold, mocking voice. "The master-servant devotion between the princess and her maid is truly touching."

Xia Jiujiang looked up and, seeing Gao Shanshui, immediately drew her brows together. It was already deep in the middle of the night. What was Gao Shanshui doing here at a time like this?