After the New Emperor Ascended, He First Demoted Me to Farming - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On the day Xie Xuan ascended the throne, rain poured down outside the palace walls.

I stood beneath Chengtian Gate, the hem of my dress soaked through, listening to the waves of voices inside shouting, “Long live the Emperor!”

Everyone was looking at me.

Palace maids looked at me. Eunuchs looked at me. Even the young imperial guards at the gate couldn’t help sneaking glances.

They were probably all thinking, Why hasn’t Jiang Wan gone in yet?

Three years ago, Xie Xuan was deposed and thrown into the Western Garden Cold Palace.

The Crown Prince’s Junior Tutor Mansion collapsed overnight, and I went from noble young lady to laundry maid in the Side Palace.

Back then, everyone avoided him like a plague, and I was the only one who climbed over the wall in the middle of the night to bring him steamed buns.

Later, when assassins chased him down, I hid him in a woodshed.

When his fever wouldn’t break, I traded half a jade pendant for medicine.

I had seen him at his lowest.

So now that he was at his most glorious, everyone naturally assumed I should share in that glory.

Even I had believed it a little myself.

Not much.

Just a little.

After all, Xie Xuan had come to see me only last night.

He wore a plain black robe, rain clinging to his shoulders, and stood in my drafty little room. In a low voice, he asked me, “Jiang Wan, do you want to leave the palace?”

I was mending socks at the time.

“I do.”

He looked at me.

“What if you leave in a way that looks rather ugly?”

“How ugly?”

“People may laugh at you.”

I raised my head.

“Xie Xuan, I’ve spent three years washing clothes in the Side Palace. What kind of laughter haven’t I heard?”

He was silent for a long time.

Then he took a piece of paper from his sleeve.

“No matter what you hear tomorrow, stay alive first.”

I took the paper.

There were four words written on it.

Do not trust the imperial edict.

At the time, I thought he was planning to put on some bitter little act.

I hadn’t expected him to go so hard.

The New Emperor’s first decree upon ascending the throne did not confer titles on consorts, did not pardon old officials, and did not reward meritorious subjects.

Instead, it demoted me to Qingzhou to farm.

When the eunuch announcing the decree finished reading, the silence around us was so complete you could have heard a pin drop.

Then someone laughed.

The sound was very soft, but it cut like a knife.

“What deep affection through hardship? His Majesty remembers her clearly enough-first thing he does is send her off to dig dirt.”

“The daughter of a criminal official was never worthy of entering the palace in the first place.”

“Did she really think she could become empress?”

Kneeling in the rain, I heard every word.

The eunuch with the decree walked up to me and lowered his voice.

“Miss Jiang, His Majesty also has an oral command.”

I looked up.

His gaze was complicated.

“North Ridge is barren and bitterly cold. If you cannot endure it, accept your fate.”

That didn’t sound like Xie Xuan.

My heart sank slightly.

The eunuch handed me a wooden box.

“A gift from His Majesty.”

I opened it.

There was no gold or silver inside.

Only a small rusty hoe, a packet of grain seeds, and half a broken piece of jade.

I recognized that half of the broken jade at once.

Three years ago, I had used the other half to trade for medicine for Xie Xuan.

Pressed against the bottom of the box was a land deed.

Thirty mu of wasteland at the foot of North Ridge.

Suddenly, I felt like laughing.

On the day the New Emperor ascended the throne, he gave me a hoe.

In all the capital, there probably wasn’t another affection like this to be found.

I kowtowed.

“This guilty woman thanks His Majesty for his grace.”

When I rose, I saw a familiar figure atop Chengtian Gate.

Xie Xuan stood high above, watching me from afar.

The curtain of rain was too thick. I couldn’t make out his face.

I could only see his hand gripping the wall, his knuckles white as snow.

I hugged the wooden box tightly and turned to set out.

Just as I reached the palace gate, the rapid beat of hooves suddenly sounded behind me.

A young imperial guard caught up to me and shoved an oiled paper bundle into my hands.

“Miss Jiang, eat these on the road.”

I froze.

Inside the oiled paper were two steamed buns.

Still warm.

The young man didn’t dare say more. He turned and ran back into the rain.

I lowered my head and looked at the buns, and my nose suddenly stung.

Three years ago, I stole steamed buns for Xie Xuan.

Three years later, he had someone return two to me.

Not much.

Just enough for me to survive today.