After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Entangled by the Paranoid Eldest Princess - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Wen Chenqing felt somewhat restless, so she simply set her book aside.

“Is Miss A-Jin not awake yet?”

Coming out and seeing Ginkgo dozing off while sunbathing, Wen Chenqing glanced toward A-Jin’s room.

Ginkgo stood up and rubbed her eyes. “I haven’t heard any movement. Miss A-Jin seems to be sleeping a bit long today.”

“Miss, do you need me to wake her up?”

“No need. Since she’s not awake, I’ll go out for a stroll. If you’re tired, go back to your room and sleep as well.”

Ever since coming here, the Miss no longer thought about competing with the Eldest Miss; she spent all day reading, and consequently, Ginkgo had become quite idle too. She watched the Miss’s slender back as she left the courtyard and let out a yawn, her eyes squinting against the stinging sunlight. In truth, this current life wasn’t bad at all.

Wen Chenqing walked along the path where she usually exercised, but her heart was not as calm as usual.

A-Jin had such a background and had now lost her memory. If she sent her back, wouldn’t she be pushing her into a fire pit? But if she kept her, she would have to plan carefully for the long term.

Occupied by these thoughts, Wen Chenqing accidentally wandered quite far. Just as she was about to turn back, she saw a group of people about ten meters ahead, dressed in mourning clothes and wailing as they carried a coffin past.

She stepped aside to avoid them. As the procession passed, Wen Chenqing noticed that the middle-aged couple with greying temples were people she had met just two days ago—the parents of the girl knocked down by the horse’s hooves under the restaurant. In just two or three days, they looked as if they had aged ten years.

A grey mist settled over her heart, and Wen Chenqing let out a sigh.

Upon her return, A-Jin happened to be awake. Thinking of the scroll in her room, Wen Chenqing steeled herself, looked directly into her eyes, and said, “There is news regarding your family.”

Si Jinghua had expected this, yet she feigned disbelief. “Really?”

Seeing her expectant look, Wen Chenqing felt a twinge of pity. “Come to my room; let’s talk there.”

This was the first time Si Jinghua had stepped into Wen Chenqing’s bedchamber. She looked around and found the room tidy and organized, handled in a way quite different from Ginkgo’s handiwork in her own room; it was likely Wen Chenqing cleaned it herself. Moreover, there were few decorations; upon entering, one saw only thick stacks of books and scrolls.

“The day we ate at the restaurant, I heard the people at the next table talking about the Yun Family Manor. I felt there were some coincidences between you and the eldest Miss Yun, so I asked someone to investigate.” Wen Chenqing handed a few sheets of paper from her desk to A-Jin, knowing she was literate. “These are the results. You… take a look first.”

Si Jinghua took them and looked down. Sure enough, it was the narrative she had long ago ordered her people to prepare.

After a long time passed without any reaction from A-Jin as she read, Wen Chenqing grew worried. “You… don’t be sad. Since you have successfully escaped, you no longer have any connection to the past. You are completely free now.”

She hurried to comfort her, but when A-Jin lifted her head, she still saw her eyes were rimmed with red. Crystal tears condensed on her long, thick lashes. Learning everything, A-Jin looked as if she had been struck through the body by a heavy hammer, making one wonder if she would collapse from the weight of it in the next second.

Wen Chenqing’s nerves tightened. Recalling how A-Jin had fainted without a word during their first meeting, she prepared herself to act as a pillar of support at any moment.

Raven-black lashes trembled. The moment the tears fell, A-Jin’s hands, clutching the papers, covered her face. She could hide the tears, but she couldn’t hide the helpless, broken tremor in her voice. “My family… my past was actually like this? What should I do from now on…”

The sound of her sobbing was intermittent and heart-wrenching. Hearing her try to suppress her cries so quietly, Wen Chenqing comforted her: “If you want to cry, then cry it all out. You’ll feel better.” Only by venting emotions thoroughly can one move on.

Since A-Jin woke up, Wen Chenqing had not seen her show such blatant vulnerability; her sadness and helplessness had always been subtle and restrained. It was good to take this chance to let it all out.

The sobbing in her ears paused, and then the volume indeed grew louder. Wen Chenqing saw her covering her face tightly with both hands and didn’t think much of it. It was just that her shoulders were shaking as she cried; she seemed truly heartbroken.

Wen Chenqing felt a pang of sorrow. Without overthinking, her body reacted—just as she used to do when out with her mentor and encountering a distraught person in need of help—she leaned forward and gave her a hug.

Wen Chenqing pulled her into her arms, her left hand reaching over her shoulder to hold her, while her right hand gently patted her back. Their heights were similar, so A-Jin’s face ended up resting against her shoulder.

“Your original home was a fire pit; you absolutely cannot go back. Don’t worry about having no place to go. Stay here for now, and we will slowly plan for the future together.”

The whimpering at her shoulder gradually stopped. While Wen Chenqing comforted the heartbroken and lost person in her arms, her own features bore a trace of melancholy.

In truth, her situation was so similar to A-Jin’s. A-Jin had a home she couldn’t return to—or rather, a place that could no longer be called home. She had also lost all her memories; everywhere she looked was filled with strange people and things. Though Wen Chenqing couldn’t feel exactly the same, she could relate to that helplessness.

The world is fickle. They were both people who had been abandoned by certain things. Sometimes, looking at this strange world, Wen Chenqing thought that if Heaven hadn’t been especially merciful and given her another life, it would have been fine; she had no lingering attachments or regrets when she died. But since Heaven had done so, she still wanted to struggle to live in this unfamiliar world.

Her family ties were thin; she had been dropped off by her parents to be raised by her grandparents since she was small. She didn’t spend much time with her parents, and later they had a cute, clever younger sister to entertain them. She had never been wholeheartedly sheltered or loved; if she didn’t love herself, wouldn’t life be too bitter?

So she worked hard to adapt to this strange world, and then she met A-Jin, who was a blank slate. Wen Chenqing knew she felt a sense of transference toward A-Jin. She was an outsider who had luckily inherited memories to adapt. A-Jin was a native who had lost all memories. They both needed to adapt; their essence was the same.

Wen Chenqing felt a wave of sadness and softened her voice. “Don’t worry. I will stay with you through this difficult time.”

Si Jinghua had been trying hard to fake a cry when Wen Chenqing leaned in, so she didn’t see the movement. Consequently, she was stunned when she realized she was being held in a hug. With this shock, the crying stopped.

Her first reaction was that if Wen Chenqing wasn’t a fool, then she was a person who harbored designs on her beauty, taking the chance to take advantage of her—after all, her reaction at the restaurant that day couldn’t be faked. But Wen Chenqing’s movements weren’t suggestive; she could feel that she was indeed sincerely comforting the piteous “A-Jin.”

Tsk, what a blockhead. The person was so dull, yet her actions were quite bold. Si Jinghua felt uncomfortable all over.

Wen Chenqing soon let her go. Seeing that A-Jin’s emotions had leveled out but her head was still lowered, she handed her a handkerchief to wipe her tears. Si Jinghua didn’t take it; instead, she pulled out her own swapped-out handkerchief and quickly wiped away non-existent tears.

Wen Chenqing put her handkerchief away and pointed toward the desk, saying softly, “There is also a portrait of you from the past here. Do you want to see it? Perhaps it might trigger a memory?”

The scroll was unfurled. Si Jinghua recognized at a glance that it was a portrait she had ordered a court artist to paint when she was in plain clothes. She shook her head, indicating she remembered nothing.

Wen Chenqing looked at the lifelike portrait and said, “It’s okay if you can’t remember. However, since this is yours, you should keep the painting.”

Looking at Wen Chenqing, who had returned to her calm and composed self, Si Jinghua said almost involuntarily, “I don’t want it anymore. You keep the painting.”

Wen Chenqing: “You don’t want it?”

The snapping-back-to-reality Si Jinghua compensated: “I can’t remember anything. Seeing it only makes me feel bad. You keep it for me.”

Wen Chenqing looked at her expression and believed her. She rolled the painting back up with movements that were brisk yet full of care, placing it back into the scroll tube.

As Si Jinghua watched her eyes wander, looking for a place to store it, a thought occurred to her: she seemed never to have carefully observed Wen Chenqing’s looks. Looking closely now, she was actually quite extraordinary. Wen Chenqing had well-proportioned brows and clear, spirited eyes; she carried an air of bookishness and a reserved, calm temperament. Yet, occasionally, her actions gave off an unexpected sense of craftiness.

Si Jinghua thought of that day at the Marquis’s manor when she solemnly claimed her brain was frozen; thinking back now, it was actually quite cute.

After Wen Chenqing put the scroll away, she suddenly heard Si Jinghua say behind her in a voice still hoarse from crying: “There are so many books on your desk. The place where I’m staying now was originally supposed to be your study. By taking over your space, I must be affecting your studies.”

Wen Chenqing hurried to say, “Not at all! There’s plenty of space here for me to use; it hasn’t affected me at all!”

The phoenix eyes A-Jin turned toward her were clearly written with the word “Disbelief.”

Wen Chenqing emphasized: “Really. The lighting inside isn’t good; I usually read in the courtyard anyway.”

A-Jin gazed at her.

Wen Chenqing gave her a smile. “It’s the absolute truth.”

Si Jinghua looked away, suddenly not understanding what her purpose was in bringing up the study. She frowned in annoyance, thinking Wen Chenqing was truly strange to be affecting her emotions like this.

The matter of the study was dropped aimlessly. Later, when Ginkgo found out, she suggested that Miss A-Jin could share a room with her so that the Miss would have her study back. Upon hearing this, Wen Chenqing smiled and thanked Ginkgo for being so thoughtful but said it wasn’t necessary. A-Jin didn’t look like someone accustomed to sharing a room, and the study wasn’t a necessity for her anyway. So, as she had repeatedly emphasized, it really wasn’t required.

In her spare time, Wen Chenqing wondered: what could an amnesiac A-Jin do?

Physically demanding work was out of the question; A-Jin couldn’t handle it. Something less physically demanding required a trade; that would depend on what A-Jin liked to learn. However, since A-Jin was literate, Wen Chenqing felt that the Imperial Examinations might be the best path currently.

In ancient times, usually only wealthy families could afford the costs of education. In a society with such low literacy rates, being able to read and write meant many choices for the future. A-Jin could take charge of her own fate through studying. If she went the examination route, she could become an official; if her ability was limited, she could become a clerk for the government. Stepping back further, she could teach or find work in a printing house. These were all things she could manage given her physical condition.

During their evening exercise time, Wen Chenqing brought A-Jin along. Si Jinghua initially refused. Usually, when she wanted to move her limbs, she went to the training grounds to draw bows and ride horses; she looked down on Wen Chenqing’s strange movements. But when Wen Chenqing’s big, serious eyes looked at her, she felt it wouldn’t hurt to go and see what kind of “moth” she was going to stir up.

The two went out together. Tonight, Wen Chenqing didn’t perform those odd movements. After a long period of small talk as a preamble, she finally brought up the plan she had thought of in the afternoon.

Go and study.

Si Jinghua watched her for a long time, seeing how she was seriously planning for her future. Wen Chenqing asked, “Why aren’t you speaking? Do you feel there’s something wrong with it?”

“I don’t want to study.”

Wen Chenqing asked patiently, “Why?”

“Can’t I just stay with you forever?”

Wen Chenqing explained: “But we can’t always be together forever. A person must be responsible for themselves; the only person in the world you can rely on is yourself. If you can control your own destiny, no one will ever be able to call the shots for you again. Your life will be free.”

Where on earth did these thoughts of hers come from? Even if she were neglected, the Wen family wouldn’t deprive her of food and drink. That being the case, was supporting a beauty she found pleasing to the eye really that difficult for her? Si Jinghua was truly perplexed.

The current Wen Chenqing would personally handle chores, was pleasant toward the servants, and occasionally said strange things. She was practically a different person. Second Miss Wen had undergone a massive personality shift after falling into the water; so, what kind of lonely ghost had occupied her body?

Si Jinghua was filled with a desire to investigate. Who was she? What did she want to do by occupying this body? Would she ever go back?

Doubts rose one after another in her heart, but Si Jinghua didn’t forget to play the piteous part, spouting nonsense: “But I have no memories at all. Even if I know some characters, so what? I don’t want to go out and see people I don’t know. I’m afraid; I get annoyed when I see them. I only want to stay with you.”

“…”

Is this the fear of losing all memory, or a ‘baby bird’ complex? Wen Chenqing understood.

But Wen Chenqing found she had “understood” too early. Because starting the next day, A-Jin began to cling to her like a shadow.