The Commoner's Life of Miss Jiang

My new novel, A Day of Stallkeeping at Daxiangguo Temple, is now underway. If it interests you, please check it out! Jiang Ran transmigrates to the Northern Song and lives in the suburbs of the capital. The good news: Her family has over a hundred mu of farmland, so it looks like they’ll never go hungry. The bad news: That has nothing to do with her. Her family are tenant farmers hired by the Marquis of Yongning to look after his estate. And there’s worse news: Her parents, who belong to the third branch, are honest and blindly filial. They do the most work and get the smallest share. When the eldest branch realizes their daughter is about to become a maid at the marquis’s residence, with a bright future ahead of her, they immediately split off from the family. Jiang Ran says: This is clearly good news. Land in Bianjing is worth its weight in gold, and the cost of living is sky-high. You have to buy vegetables and meat, but the estate is enormous. Aside from the several hundred mu set aside by the marquis for farming, there are plenty of little unused plots. Put them all to use, and the problem of startup capital is solved. Sell delicious food, and the problem of finding a way to make money is solved. The capital is prosperous, and the night markets stay open until midnight. Why worry about finding a place for herself? Jiang Ran sets herself a modest goal: first, go see the capital’s night market. ** A little scene: Her parents are honest and blindly filial, but luckily her older brother is capable and dependable. After an accident, Jiang Ran learns that he isn’t actually a member of the Jiang family by birth, and that his origins are connected to a power struggle in the marquis’s household. Her brother suddenly turns out to be a young master of the marquis’s family. She carefully thinks back over the years and can’t recall ever offending him. She earned money to support his studies and exams for an official post. Sure, she kept most of it for herself, but she was never stingy with him. She also cooked for him, even if she did always make him work. She can always say she was toughening him up, body and mind... Jiang Ran is relieved. She has an older brother who spent sixteen years as a young master and is now an official at court, as well as an adopted brother she gets along with. She’ll be fine from now on. Her brother: You sure will. P.S. Before she finds out, it’s strictly sibling affection. My new novel, A Day of Stallkeeping at Daxiangguo Temple Xu Ying transmigrates into the body of a third-class maid in the courtyard of the eldest young master of the Marquis of Anning’s household. As soon as she arrives, she’s sent to Daxiangguo Temple to recite scriptures and reflect on her actions because the original owner slept with the second young master. The maids in the courtyard cry as they see her off, but Xu Ying thinks this is clearly good news. As the temple with the most flourishing incense in the dynasty, Daxiangguo Temple has countless pilgrims and monks. She can save up quite a bit by setting up a little pastry stall. Isn’t that better than being a maid? * One day, Xu Ying is delivering pork floss cakes to the temple abbot when she accidentally walks into the wrong courtyard. A young master is sitting inside. He has flirtatious phoenix eyes and watches her with an amused, half-smile. Xu Ying stammers, “S-S-Sec... Second Young Master, what are you doing here?” Zhao Yuanzong gives a humorless smile. “Thanks to you, I got kicked out.” * Later, the eldest young master comes looking for her, offering to buy her a house and make her his mistress. Xu Ying’s face remains impassive. “After spending all this time at the temple, I’ve seen through worldly attachments. From now on, I only wish to enter the monastic life and spend my remaining days with a lamp and the Buddha.” Once he leaves, Zhao Yuanzong comes in from next door and pulls her into his arms. “Seen through worldly attachments? Spend your remaining days?” Theme: Live well.