Transmigrated as the Doomed Scumbag Alpha of the Eldest Princess (GL , ABO) - Chapter 3
While Jiang Si was thinking of a plan, Mowan Ci spoke again.
“May I ask, Marquis of Jiajing, where is my residence?”
Jiang Si looked up at her but didn’t respond right away.
Mowan Ci didn’t know what was going on. Jiang Si could casually brush off subordinates, but not someone like her.
It only took a few words from Mowan Ci to throw her off.
She had never been good at dealing with people like Mowan Ci. If the princess talked a lot or stayed completely silent, Jiang Si could act along or even pretend to be mute. But Mowan Ci’s words were cold and sharp.
She was clearly not someone who could be swayed by kindness or threats.
Jiang Si had just arrived in this world. She didn’t yet understand the situation or how she was supposed to live in it. For now, staying calm was the best option.
“Su Xun, take the Princess to…” Jiang Si started to speak, wanting to assign Mowan Ci a place to stay, but she stopped mid-sentence.
She had no idea where Mowan Ci was actually supposed to go.
If the original Jiang Si had acted cruelly and given Mowan Ci a terrible place to live, then asking her to go there now would only make things worse.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Si quietly told Su Xun, “Find a suitable courtyard for the Princess to stay in.”
From what little she had seen, Su Xun seemed sharp and sensible. He would likely understand what she meant without needing detailed instructions.
Sure enough, Su Xun quickly bowed and replied, “Yes, my lord.” Then he stood straight and walked toward Mowan Ci and Zhi Miao.
This time, Zhi Miao cooperated fully. Without needing to be told, she helped Mowan Ci into the carriage, and they entered the marquis’s estate through the main gate.
To Mowan Ci and Zhi Miao, the estate was nothing impressive. Compared to the imperial palace in the capital, it was small and simple.
But for Jiang Si, it felt enormous.
So large, in fact, that she had no idea where her own room was.
Mowan Ci had only just entered the estate when Jiang Si, using a headache as an excuse, nearly collapsed at the gates.
Luckily, Ye Chan returned after seeing Cheng Pu off and helped Jiang Si walk to the study in the northern wing.
As they walked, Jiang Si tried to memorize the way. But the winding paths were difficult to remember. Thankfully, she wasn’t someone who got lost easily. She figured she could probably find her way out if she needed to.
Once they reached the study, Jiang Si felt overwhelmed by the wedding robe she was wearing. It was far too heavy and complicated. She wanted to take it off, but Ye Chan helped her lie down on the couch first. Even after she settled in, Ye Chan didn’t leave.
She stood nearby, looking like she had something to say.
Jiang Si was starting to get irritated.
She waved her hand, signaling Ye Chan to leave, but Ye Chan didn’t move.
No longer willing to pretend she hadn’t noticed, Jiang Si sat up with a tired expression and asked, “What is it?”
Her irritation was real, but she wasn’t so angry that she would speak harshly to Ye Chan. Still, she knew the original Jiang Si likely wouldn’t be kind, so she acted that way on purpose.
As expected, Ye Chan didn’t seem bothered by her tone. She stood straight and spoke seriously.
“My lord, what should we do next?”
“Do what?” Jiang Si looked at her, partly to test her and partly because she really didn’t know what Ye Chan expected her to do.
Her glance made Ye Chan freeze for a moment. She quickly lowered her head.
“I just didn’t think my lord would ignore the Princess like this.”
“Oh? Then what do you think I should do?”
Jiang Si narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Are you suggesting that I spend the night in the Princess’s room?”
What a ridiculous idea. She was not the original Jiang Si.
Showing up in front of Mowan Ci now would only increase her hatred.
Jiang Si looked at Ye Chan with a faint smile.
“Should I listen to you then?”
Ye Chan’s heart skipped a beat. She frowned slightly and lowered her head again, her voice soft and uncertain.
“I spoke out of turn.”
“And about the matter with Xiang Ning, I failed in my duties. I will accept the punishment.”
Jiang Si guessed the original version of her would have exploded in anger. But she couldn’t bring herself to act that way. She just kept her face still and said nothing.
Ye Chan looked up briefly, then bowed and turned to leave.
The door opened and closed quietly behind her. Only then did Jiang Si turn her head and let out a soft sigh.
“Do not let anyone disturb me.”
She said nothing about punishment. She would let Ye Chan decide that for herself.
Ye Chan paused for a moment outside. There was a faint look of disappointment in her eyes.
Jiang Si didn’t see it. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have cared.
With Ye Chan gone, Jiang Si finally had time to sort through the truth.
She had entered the world of a novel.
Now she regretted not memorizing the whole story.
Even finishing the book would have helped. But she had only read the long and boring background at the start.
Now all she had were a few scattered details to go on.
Jiang Si paced around the room a few times and discovered, behind the folding screen, the “antiques” mentioned in the original story.
Most of them were documents of royal commendation and tribute left behind by the original host’s great-grandfather.
Jiang Si couldn’t tell just how much respect the original host had for these things, to the point of placing them in the study.
But King Pingjiang, Jiang Mian, was indeed a legendary hero.
He raised arms alongside the founding emperor of Yue and, after more than a decade of war, helped save the suffering people and established the nation.
In the early days of the kingdom, the borders were unstable. Jiang Mian fought off the northern tribes single-handedly, forcing them to flee and not return for twenty years.
But even heroes grow old.
As the only non-royal vassal king in Yue, Jiang Mian was resented by almost everyone except the founding emperor and a few military officials. The crown prince’s tutor and his faction saw him as a thorn in their side.
So when the next emperor, Emperor Taizong, took the throne, he used the excuse of guarding against northern tribes to banish the entire Jiang family to the border.
To his credit, Emperor Taizong showed some humanity. He simply exiled them, keeping them out of sight. Later, due to renewed threats from the tribes, he even officially named Jiang Mian’s son, Jiang Zeng, as heir to the Pingjiang title, granting them the right to hereditary succession.
Father and son had devoted themselves to the empire. Even in old age, King Pingjiang still led troops into battle, again and again crushing the enemy’s morale. Sadly, in his final campaign, he was gravely wounded and died soon after.
Jiang Zeng then became the new King Pingjiang. Emperor Taizong finally began to trust the Jiang family. Jiang Zeng’s status in court rose sharply. The emperor invited him to return to the capital multiple times, but Jiang Zeng declined every time, choosing instead to guard the border. Emperor Taizong stopped insisting. He knew the corrupt officials in court would never accept Jiang Zeng anyway. Perhaps it was better for him to remain at the northern frontier, protecting the nation from afar.
During Emperor Taizong’s reign, Jiang Zeng lived in relative peace. But once the young next emperor took the throne, everything changed.
First, Jiang Zeng’s title was downgraded. He was no longer King Pingjiang, only Duke Jiajing. His territory was also reduced, limited to a small northern district known as Jiajing County.
Years of peace made the new emperor indulgent and pleasure-seeking. Combined with interference from his maternal family, Jiang Zeng’s status continued to fall, until he was eventually demoted to Marquis Jiajing.
Not long after, he died with resentment in his heart.
The Jiang family’s misfortune didn’t end there. The original host’s mother, who was the last Marquis Jiajing, passed away shortly after returning from a routine tribute mission. The novel was vague about the cause of her death.
It was possible that the original host treated the Princess so harshly because of her mother. But then again, maybe not.
Because aside from disrespecting the Princess, the original host had a horrible personality—violent, selfish, arrogant, and unpredictable. During battles with the northern tribes, she pillaged villages and slaughtered captives without mercy.
That was probably why the new emperor feared her enough to force the noble Princess to marry her as a concubine.
The more Jiang Si thought about it, the more confused she felt.
While reading the book, she hadn’t given it much thought. Other than sharing the same name as the character, which had annoyed her, the story was meant to be a tragedy anyway. The main character didn’t have to be perfect. If they were, what would be the point of a sad ending? A happy romance would have made more sense if that were the case.
But now that she had entered the story herself, she had no idea how to act it out.
She had never been in love, so she didn’t enjoy sweet romantic stories. Instead, she had always preferred painful ones. The few scenes in the original novel that showed the original host and Mowan Ci together were all explicit moments.
It didn’t bother her too much. Who didn’t like a little spice?
But thanks to censorship, even those scenes were vague. Most of their interactions were full of emotional tension. The original host tried to humiliate Mowan Ci, but the Princess’s cold personality was completely unmoved.
She spent her days quietly in her room or tending to fish and flowers with Zhi Miao in a small courtyard. She never once sought out the original host on her own.
In fact, the only time the Marquis visited the Princess was to harass her, using that as an excuse.
She even used vile methods to force Mowan Ci into submission.
After all, the two of them eventually had a child, so something like that was bound to happen in the plot.
But now that Jiang Si was the one controlling this body, she was determined never to let that happen.
After reading through the glorious history of King Pingjiang, Jiang Si returned to the couch and kept turning things over in her mind, trying to figure out how those events came to be.
But since she had only skimmed the story, she couldn’t remember much at all.
The more she thought about it, the more troubled she became.
It wasn’t about how to live as Marquis Jiajing. After all, she was now the one in charge. Slowly changing things and influencing the people around her was possible.
What really gave her a headache was this world’s absurd ABO setting.
The original host was a Qianyuan, while the Princess Mowan Ci was a Kunze. Only a pair with those identities could suppress each other’s scent bond. And if they reached a certain age without a proper match, they would suffer greatly, both physically and emotionally.
In other words, even if Jiang Si avoided being with Mowan Ci, she would still need to find a Kunze to get through the heat period.
She wondered if there was some miracle medicine that could change this fate.
The original host was supposed to be twenty-two years old now, with three years left until the limit.
As for the Princess… how old was she again?
Jiang Si remembered she was older than the original host, but couldn’t recall by how much.
Jiang Si eventually fell asleep on the couch. Her earlier command had been followed well. No one disturbed her from night until morning.
She had a good sleep, so she woke up in a decent mood. But when she opened her eyes and saw the carved sandalwood furniture and wooden screen again, half of that good mood instantly vanished.
The other half was ruined by the dream she had the night before.
The chaotic and unclear dream gave her a headache. After massaging her temples for a bit, she turned over and lay back down.
Just as she settled in again, someone knocked on the door.
Before she could say anything, a nervous voice came from outside. It sounded like a timid maid.
“My lady…”
The soft voice outside made Jiang Si feel a little uncomfortable. She didn’t pretend to be annoyed but asked gently, “What is it?”
A reply came quickly, “My lady, we came to help you change clothes.”
This voice sounded different from the first one. It was deliberately soft and sweet, almost cloying.
It made her feel even more uneasy.
Jiang Si wasn’t used to being waited on. She also didn’t want anyone to see her looking so disheveled right after waking up. She was about to refuse.
Just then, the door opened from the outside.
Two maids entered. One looked very young, her appearance delicate and youthful. The other was much older and dressed quite differently.
The younger maid wore a plain cross-collar ruqun, while the older one wore a light red open-front robe with a very short top, almost like a chest wrap from a distance.
Jiang Si guessed the overly sweet voice had come from the older maid.
Her makeup was carefully done, but her intentions clearly weren’t pure.
In contrast, the younger maid held a water basin with both hands, standing properly with her head lowered the entire time.
Jiang Si was about to tell them to put down the things and leave when she noticed Su Xun standing at the door. He seemed to have something to say.
She raised her hand, calling him in. But Su Xun didn’t step inside right away. Instead, he glanced at the two maids, then cupped his hands and said politely, “It’s not urgent. I don’t wish to disturb you, my lady. I’ll come back later.”
Su Xun knew how to read the room. But in this case, his retreat only made Jiang Si feel worse.
In her heart, she silently scolded the original host for lacking self-restraint.
She quickly called out, “If there’s something to report, just say it now.”
The older maid kept fluttering her eyes and acting coy. Jiang Si could not bear the act and refused to let Su Xun escape as her only way out of the awkward moment.
Her hair was uncombed, her face still unwashed, and she was still wearing yesterday’s wedding robe. After letting Su Xun in, she told the younger maid to put down the basin and go find a few casual outfits for her.
She didn’t bother speaking to the older maid at all.
She picked a deep red round-collar robe, but as soon as she did, the older maid stepped forward to help her change. Su Xun stood nearby with an amused expression.
Jiang Si frowned. She was not pleased.
She sent the maid away, changed clumsily by herself, and finally looked back at Su Xun.
He was still smiling, but when he saw her expression, he became more serious.
He asked, “Should we send Quan Fang and Sang Zhi out of the estate or assign them to the soldiers?”
“What?” Jiang Si didn’t know who he was talking about, so she asked.
Su Xun pointed toward the two maids who had just left and explained, “The one in the plain ruqun is Sang Zhi. The other is Quan Fang.”
“My lady didn’t seem to like either of them.”
Disliking them was one thing, but Jiang Si hadn’t expected the matter to be dealt with so quickly. For now, she chose to put it aside.
“We’ll decide later. Why did you come so early?”
Su Xun didn’t bring up the maids again. Instead, he took out a letter from his robe.
“This was sent by Miss Xiang Ning through someone else. Would you like to read it?”
Xiang Ning again?
Jiang Si had no particular opinion of her, but she was curious. She wanted to know how the original host had been involved with Xiang Ning and whether anything had happened that crossed a line.
Su Xun noticed her hesitation and quietly placed the letter on the desk, leaving it up to her whether to read it or not. He then took two steps back and bowed again.
“There is one more matter. The Princess has invited you to the Southern Courtyard to talk.”
“She sent her maid, Zhi Miao, to deliver the invitation in person.”
Jiang Si frowned. She couldn’t understand it.
By logic, the Princess should want nothing to do with the original host. Why would she ask to meet?
And besides, would that kind of meeting even be called a friendly conversation?
“My lady, should we go?” Su Xun asked again after she remained silent for a while.
Jiang Si snapped out of her thoughts and made her decision.
“Yes. I want to see why the Princess has suddenly gone off-script and wants to talk to me.”