Chapter 12
Chapter 12: A Diary That Could Spoil the Future
That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.
Jiang Jiang put out the oil lamp and lay on her bed, breathing evenly. To anyone watching, she was asleep.
In truth, she was writing her diary.
[Jianping Year Three, First Month, Day Twenty-Six. Weather: light snow turning clear.
Today was a good day. The court’s army returned victorious. Everyone went to watch Liu Cheng An’s style, and even Gu Yan Qing went—probably because of Gu Yan Huan. She likes Liu Cheng An so much, but that kind of love is destined to get no response.
If Gu Yan Huan had never fallen for Liu Cheng An, what would her future have been?
The list will be posted in a few days. I wonder if Brother will pass.
I’ll have to pay for the inn, but at least Brother agreed to take me into Inner City to wait for the results. If I remember right, the night Chen Jin Ting moves is the night before the list goes up. That’s the liveliest night in the capital—exam candidates everywhere—and there’s no curfew. I can learn the streets ahead of time, find the back alley behind the Chu residence, and wait to pick up scraps…]
Jiang Jiang had no interest in Chen Jin Ting as a man.
She just… really liked his money.
In the original plot, after Chen Jin Ting woke up, he left the heroine a huge stack of banknotes to repay her kindness. It was an absurd amount—her early start-up fund.
So much money.
And when Chen Jin Ting collapsed in that back alley, he’d still been carrying a thick bundle of notes. Those notes came from the household he’d assassinated—loot, not wages.
Dirty money like that should be redistributed.
To the poor.
Jiang Jiang felt, with great sincerity, that she was exactly the poor who needed “help.”
She had a plot cheat, but she couldn’t use it openly. The transmigrated heroine was here; Jiang Jiang couldn’t risk showing any modern knowledge.
So what could she do?
She refused to accept being useless.
Other people’s plot might be unchangeable, but taking a little money on the side… surely that was possible.
She wasn’t greedy.
Just one note.
No—three.
With money, the Jiang family’s life would be easier.
Fortune came from taking risks.
This score—she was doing it.
With her decision made, Jiang Jiang finally fell asleep for real.
Jianping Year Three, First Month, Day Twenty-Seven.
Before dawn, Gu Yan Qing was already seated in an official sedan heading for the Imperial City. Today was court day.
In the Qing Yun Kingdom, there was a morning audience every three days. In the capital, officials of rank four and above all had to attend.
Because of yesterday’s snow, the roads were slower than usual. When Gu Yan Qing’s sedan entered the Imperial City’s outer section, it stopped directly in front of the Dai An Courtyard.
The Dai An Courtyard was where ministers rested and waited before the morning audience. On ordinary days, court officials also gathered there to talk and pass the time.
Inside were many rooms. The largest belonged to Gu Yan Qing alone, bestowed by the emperor.
Gu Yan Qing entered his room. The hour was still early; candles burned, and a brazier glowed with heat.
As usual, he sat down on the low couch and took out the Capital Gazetteer.
It had become a habit—waking early to read the diary of an unseen woman, letting her words settle him.
But today, something was off.
From the very first line, Gu Yan Qing’s brow tightened and his gaze cooled, because he saw a name he didn’t expect:
Gu Yan Huan.
And not only that.
This newest entry revealed more than before.
How did she know Yan Huan liked Liu Cheng An?
How could she claim that love was destined to go unanswered?
And then—
Chen Jin Ting.
If Gu Yan Qing remembered correctly, Chen Jin Ting was a jianghu drifter… and a notorious assassin the court had been hunting for years.
The diary claimed Chen Jin Ting was in the capital.
And that he would act on the night before the list was posted.
The back alley behind the Chu residence…
Gu Yan Qing’s gaze shifted, then settled into calm, icy stillness.
The list would be posted in a few days.
And for the first time, he found himself truly looking forward to it.
Could the diary’s words really come true?