Transmigrated as Jane’s Ghostly Godmother - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Refusing to Wait for Death — The Gap in Information

“That person is wrapped up like a mummy…”

Jane couldn’t help but think of the stories she had read about a place called Egypt, where people were wrapped like that after they died. Reading that passage had shocked her no less than the first time she learned about ghosts and ghouls.

While her fear of ghosts had lessened considerably due to her familiarity with Lin Zhao, she thought: the same thing happening twice? No, thank you.

But since Beatrice could see this “mummy,” it was likely just a strange fashion choice. She only hoped she wouldn’t have to encounter such a person. With that thought, Jane withdrew her gaze. Their carriage finally began to move through the thinning crowd.

As the carriage passed the tailor shop, the cloaked figure finally squeezed inside.

The shopkeeper looked up, and upon seeing the visitor, his face immediately broke into a professional and fervent smile. “Good day, Mr. Lint. Your custom-made garments are ready.” He respectfully presented an exquisitely packaged garment bag and carefully accepted the coins handed to him, his movements fluid and practiced. Once he confirmed the payment was correct, he spoke tentatively, in a tone bordering on a plea:

“Sir, if I may be so bold. This design you’ve created… is of a sophistication I have never seen in my many years in this trade. I wonder… would you consider authorizing this shop to produce and sell a small batch? Of course, all royalties would be paid to you at the highest rate.”

Lin Zhao took the bag, her fingertips lightly brushing the texture of the fabric as if checking the quality. She didn’t respond immediately, and the silence made the shopkeeper’s heart leap into his throat. After a moment, she unhurriedly pulled out a pen and paper from beneath her cloak.

“Mason Trading Firm, Account L-07. If there are profits, deposit them there.”

The shopkeeper took the note with both hands, staring at the concise, powerful handwriting and the name of a firm that represented immense credit. A flash of ecstasy erupted in his eyes. He understood that what this mysterious gentleman had granted was not just a permit, but a golden opportunity to make a fortune.

“Yes! Yes! Please rest easy, sir! Everything will be done according to your instructions!” He nodded frantically. When he looked up again, “Mr. Lint” had already turned and silently blended into the crowded street outside, as if he had never been there at all.

Re-entering the crowd, Lin Zhao garnered countless strange looks from passersby. But she was in an excellent mood and didn’t care; she was reviewing the earlier negotiations in her mind, nearly ready to hum a tune.

After Mason had left the drawing room, the door had opened again to admit Edward Harrison. He had shed the restraint he showed in the hall, his face now covered in a fervent smile. The shell of an old-fashioned gentleman had peeled away, revealing the true face of a profit-driven merchant.

“Mr. Lint, we can finally have a proper talk!” He sat down, speaking impatiently. “Regarding Mr. Giannette, please be sure to write to him immediately to mention in detail that my daughter is of marriageable age, comes from a wealthy family, and possesses a gentle and excellent demeanor!”

Lin Zhao leaned toward him, the shadow of her cloak falling over the note she offered.

“Since Your Excellency understands my connection with Mr. Eyre, the credit for introducing Miss Eyre should naturally belong to me. In exchange, I am willing to speak well of your daughter to Mr. Giannette. The gentleman seeks a lady of noble birth, yet he is recently widowed; the matter of a betrothal will require several years of planning, which happens to align with your daughter’s age. What does Your Excellency think of this fine match?”

The smile on Harrison’s face froze. He had expected the other party to bring this up, but not so directly. He coughed lightly, trying to brush it off. “I only just heard that Mr. Eyre was looking for a relative. Mr. Lint’s words… where do they come from?”

Lin Zhao ignored his feigned ignorance. She handed over another note, its content more aggressive than before.

“In that case, I shall recognize Miss Eyre myself. At the ball, I will invite her to dance. I trust Your Excellency will not interfere. After all, Miss Eyre and I have a past acquaintance in England; I intended to visit her upon arriving on the island, but Your Excellency beat me to it.”

The phrase “beat me to it” was like a slap across Harrison’s face. He knew playing dumb was pointless. The other party had laid their cards on the table: either you give up this favor voluntarily, or I snatch it away in public and leave you humiliated.

Weighing the pros and cons, he immediately adopted a more sincere expression. “The gentleman’s words are too harsh. Since you and Miss Eyre knew each other first, it is only fitting that you inform Mr. Eyre. I would, of course, be happy to see it happen.”

He then pivoted, finally revealing his true intent: “However… since Mr. Lint is on such close terms with Mr. Eyre, I wonder if you might provide a small introduction for me in business? As you know, cooperation with Mr. Eyre would be of great benefit to both of us.”

This was his ultimate goal. Since the “niece” card could no longer be played, he would switch cards. Lin Zhao did not hesitate. In his presence, she wrote a properly phrased recommendation letter, stamped it with her mysterious “L” wax seal, and handed it to Terry with instructions to deliver it to Grapevine Villa immediately. Satisfied that his goal was achieved, Harrison took his leave after a few pleasantries.

Finally, it was the turn of the last and most critical guest.

John Eyre entered, holding the recommendation letter “facilitated” by Harrison that Terry had just handed him, but there was no joy on his face. His eyes were far colder than the words in the letter.

“Mr. Lint,” he began sharply, his voice steady and keen, “I have granted everything you requested. However, clouds of doubt remain in my mind. Both Harrison and yourself use my niece as a bargaining chip for your own convenience. Forgive my bluntness, but it is difficult to see any difference between the two of you.”

This was a severe accusation. Lin Zhao knew that if she couldn’t dispel his doubts, her entire plan would crumble. She stood up, placed her hand over her heart, and gave a solemn, ancient greeting to show her sincerity. Then, she presented the first note.

“What I do is not for trade, but to repay a debt of gratitude. I was once saved by a member of the Eyre family, and I dare not forget this kindness. What I do today is merely to offer my humble strength for Miss Eyre’s sake.”

“Repaying gratitude?” John Eyre turned the words over in his mind, thinking of his benevolent clergyman brother. The stranger’s words held a clumsy sincerity, but it wasn’t enough to convince a seasoned merchant. His suspicion remained.

“Even so, why wait until today to contact me? If Harrison hadn’t brought her here, would you have intended to stand by and do nothing? Forgive my intrusion, but is your surname… perhaps Reed?” He could only assume the stranger was another, more sentimental distant relative.

Lin Zhao visibly paused at being mistaken for a Reed. She shook her head and presented a second note.

“I have been busy on behalf of Mr. Giannette, with no freedom of my own. By the time I had a moment to breathe and sought Miss Eyre’s tracks, Mr. Harrison had already reached her first. I had no choice but to resort to these tactics. It is a great stroke of luck to have Mr. Eyre’s help. Now, I can finally comfort the spirit of my old friend.”

A reasonable explanation, coupled with the heart-piercing phrase “comfort the spirit of my old friend,” caused the hardest part of John Eyre’s heart to soften. He probed once more: “Then, in return, is there anything Mr. Lint needs from me? Wealth, connections—you need only ask.”

Lin Zhao shook her head again and presented the third and final note.

“Mr. Eyre, the matter I required of you is already complete. The rest is not a trade, but a fool’s earnest request to you and to Miss Eyre. If you do not mind, allow me to explain in detail.”

As expected. Seeking nothing would be abnormal. Seeing this, John Eyre’s guard lowered slightly, and he cautiously signaled for her to continue. Lin Zhao handed him a letter written in neat, earnest handwriting.

He scanned it quickly, the hand holding the paper trembling slightly as a storm brewed in his heart. When he looked at Lint again, his gaze had completely changed. In this moment, he believed in Lint’s friendship with ninety percent certainty. He solemnly folded the letter, tucked it into his breast pocket, and for the first time, offered a sincere smile of respect to the figure under the black robe.

“I promise you, sir. To tell the truth, the request in your letter is also my own heart’s desire. Once Jane finishes her remaining year of schooling, I will bring her to Madeira, adopt her as my daughter, and cultivate her with all my heart.”

“Then, I shall take my leave. I look forward to seeing you at the ball.”

Ending the memory, Lin Zhao was back outside the trading firm. With everything settled, she felt a weight lifted. She headed straight for her room, planning to gather her things and find a quiet time to go back to Jane.

However, as soon as she stepped into the room, she felt her legs lose strength. A familiar dizziness rushed to her head.

Does intense joy also trigger a forced shutdown?

“Wait…” Not now! The ball—

—What is the point of its existence anyway?

Jane strode angrily toward Mr. Harrison’s study, cursing inwardly. The ball, marriage, enduring in silence—everything existed only for the pleasure of the beneficiaries! It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t kind!

She was so angry she could barely stand straight thinking about what had just happened. Upon returning from the commercial street, she had gone to her room but failed to see the figure she hoped for. Instead, her most worried-about friend, Eleanor, was curled up under her quilt in a room of deathly silence.

Before she could ask anything, Mrs. Harrison appeared like a ghost. With an impeccable smile, she simply said Eleanor needed quiet rest and that she had prepared a new room for them.

“Dear children, do not worry too much,” she had soothed softly, her tone brookng no argument. “Prepare well for tomorrow night’s ball; that is what you ought to be doing.”

Jane didn’t even have time to pack her things before she was politely “escorted” out by a maid. She stared at the softly closed door, the agitation and unease in her heart swelling.

“…The ball, the ball! Is a single ball worth everyone losing their minds?” On the way to the new room, Jane finally couldn’t help but complain in a low voice.

Walking ahead, Beatrice stopped abruptly. She didn’t turn around, but explained in a tone so flat it was almost cold:

“…That is because you think you are going there to dance. But others are not there for that at all.” She paused, as if weighing her words, before spitting out an even harsher truth. “For girls of our background, a grand ball is never a playground. It is a marketplace. A marketplace to select a future husband and decide the fate of the rest of one’s life.”

“…?”

These words exploded in Jane’s mind like thunder, stopping her in her tracks. She stared incredulously at Beatrice’s calm back—which looked as if she were merely stating the weather—and felt a massive, suffocating sense of absurdity from that composure.

Beatrice made no further reaction to Jane’s shock, walking straight to the new room and pushing the door open. Jane hurried to catch up, closing the door behind her, and questioned her in a voice that could no longer be restrained: “Betty! You’ve known about this all along, haven’t you?”

Beatrice sat on the edge of the bed, looking up with a faint expression that even held a trace of pity:

“It’s no secret, Jane. Everyone knows. Perhaps… only you didn’t. Once a girl reaches a certain age, the nature of the ball changes. For Eleanor right now, it is indeed a bit early, but it’s only a matter of a year or two.”

“But how could Mrs. Harrison…! Lina is clearly so unhappy! Weren’t you just as worried about her as I was? Didn’t we… didn’t we try to find a way together? Why can you be so cold now?”

Just as unbearable as the cruel truth was the detached, indifferent attitude of her friend. Jane hadn’t been this angry in a long time; she stared at Beatrice, questioning her through gritted teeth.

“Don’t speak as if being red-faced with anger like you is the only normal way to be. I want to do something for Lina even more than you do; otherwise, I never would have agreed to cooperate with your fantastical plans. But what we could do is already done. Miss Constance said so as well. We are guests of the Harrison family; do you expect to rush in and scream at Mr. and Mrs. Harrison and hope they miraculously change their minds?”

It was rare for her to say so much at once. Jane hesitated, and more counter-questions poured down like a rainstorm.

“You are laughably naive! You can talk calmly with Miss Constance about some future of ‘not marrying,’ but how could Lina or I ever do that? Every bit of education we have received since childhood is to become a qualified lady of a noble house who can bring glory to the family! What is the point of talking about freedom or rebellion? We aren’t at school where we can hide because we don’t want to face something. Where could we hide? And for how long?”

“In the beginning, I had already comforted Lina! she was just a bit afraid; wouldn’t it have been fine as long as she didn’t think about it for a while? It was you who insisted on saying those dream-like words that caused her so much pain! You are the one who most needs to change—haven’t you realized that?”

Jane looked at Beatrice, seeing her beautiful face flushed red from the rapid-fire words, her expression twisted in excitement, almost overlapping with the flickering ghosts in storybooks. Jane had thought that after all their time together, they had reached some level of mutual understanding. Now it seemed that day was still far off.

“I don’t know what counts as ‘possible to change,'” Jane said, her voice turning ice-cold, “but I know that if I do nothing, then nothing will ever change.”

“One final reminder,” Jane added, “if you still want to win Miss Constance’s favor, you had best hide those thoughts. Don’t go complaining later when she treats me with more affection than she treats you.” With that, she left the room without looking back.

And now, she stood outside Mr. Harrison’s study. She took a deep breath and knocked.

“Mr. Harrison, may I speak with you?”