Chapter 382 Jing City Would Be in a Mess!
In Shazhou, the news that Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing died was like a bolt from the blue. However, Shazhou was far away from Jing City and so it hadn’t been sent there yet.
At this moment Jing City was in a mess. An urgent message arrived from Beijiang, saying that Madame Zhuang took her beloved daughter’s letters written in blood and returned to Jing City to host her funeral.
According to the rules, the urgent message could only be delivered for a military emergency.
But now, n.o.body would find fault with Jiang Tianchi because of the power of the Jiang Family. Most of those who knew Madame Zhuang well wiped the sweat to appreciate that Jiang Tianchi was kind to tell them before she arrived lest they were captured unconsciously when they knew nothing.
Like the Mi Family, when Old Madame heard the news, her face turned pale immediately. She rushed to ask her servants to prepare a generous gift and sent it to Qiu Yelan. And she also sent a maid to remind her daughter, Madame Mi.
Her daughter-in-law, Madame Chu, was confused, “Mother, I hear that the reason why Madame Zhuang came back is to host the funeral for Chunfu Princess. Does it have anything to do with us? Even if my sister offended Qiu Yelan before, it has been a long time ago.”
“How long has it been?” Old Madame Mi sneered, “You are young. You don’t have much contact with her and so you don’t know how horrible she is. To prevent Jiang Tianchi from having concubines, she stayed in Beijiang to supervise him. She hasn’t returned for so many years until today. Her daughter was killed and so she came back to handle it. Do you think she will just handle the matter of her daughter? I can tell you if she comes back, Jing City will surely be in a mess. She will revenge on all those guys who maltreated her people in her maiden family and her kids and grandkids. Otherwise, she won’t give up.”
Madame Chu was shocked, “How dare she?”
“Of course, she dares to!” Old Madame Mi said disdainfully. “Her mother-in-law, Madame Tao, is the second wife, who lost her son so early. In the future, she will rely on her stepson and step-grandson to take care of her when she is aged. Even Empress Dowager needs her brothers and nephews to help her act as regent. The most reliable kids for Empress Dowager and her daughter are in the fourth branch. Who dares to stop Madame Zhuang?”
“Isn’t there still Marquess Qin?”
“If Marquess Qin said the word ‘punishment’, even if Jiang Yadan is in Shazhou, Jiang Yazhu and Jiang Yashuang would surely kneel to beg for taking the punishment in place of their mother. Not to mention Jiang Yazhu, Jiang Yashuang is the most excellent kid in the Jiang Family. Though he is young, he enters into the Hanlin Academy because of his ability. Do you think Marquess Qin will punish him?”
Old Madame Mi sneered, “Besides, what I just said was under the situation that Madame Zhuang would punish people in the Jiang Family. If she comes here and kills someone, not to mention she smashes the stuff in our house, what do you think Marquess Qin will do? I promise he will pretend to know nothing. He even will wait for us to apologize to them!”
Though the Mi Family was the in-laws of the Jiang Family, they didn’t have any crucial members to stand for them. Marquess Qin allowed them to profit from a.s.sociation with them. But if they wanted Marquess Qin to make efforts to protect them, they were wrong.
Madame Dou was a lesson. If it had been the Mi Family, Marquess Qin would surely have been tired of bothering Madame Zhuang. Jiang Yashuang was there, he wouldn’t punish Madame Zhuang. Why did he summon his intractable daughter-in-law to make himself unhappy?
Madame Chu took a breath, “I will supervise them to prepare the gifts right away!”
Old Madame Mi was not the only one who trimmed the sails.
Even the Xue Family and Prince’s Mansion of Xihe were busy preparing gifts. It was deeply rooted in their minds that Madame Zhuang was insolent, fierce, and ferocious.
In Marquess Qin’s Mansion, Marquess Qin slammed papers of the urgent message in front of Jiang Yashuang and said without expression, “See it!”
Jiang Yashuang bent over and pick it up. He looked through quickly and smiled, “My father tells the truth!”
“Truth?” Marquess Qin was so angry, “Do you think that I can’t figure out that though he says he is for the overall situation, he actually is threatening me?”
No wonder Marquess Qin was so angry. Jiang Tianchi said at the beginning of the message that Madame Zhuang cried for three days after she received her daughter’s letters written in blood. He choked back the grieve to persuade her but failed. And then the two hugged each other and cried many times. They were thin to the bone. He had no choice but to allow her to come back to host their daughter’s funeral and greet their eldership.
This was normal in the past. However, in the next part of the message, Jiang Tianchi used a regular script to write “In Memory of My Dear Baby Good Daughter Jiang Qi Zheng on three pieces of papers” and “It’s a Pity We’ve Been Separated for so Many Years” on two pieces of papers. But he hadn’t finished yet!
These were followed by a whole piece of “How Pitiful is My Little Grandson Who Lost His Mother before He Was One Year Old”, a whole piece of “How Pitiful Are My Sons and Grandchildren Who Have Lost Their Sisters and Aunts After Years of Being Deprived of Maternal Love by Their Parents and Grandfather”, and a whole piece of “How Pitiful Is It that My Wife and I Have Lost Their Daughter in Middle Age After so Many Years of Guarding the Border”!
The content all mentioned that other branches could enjoy family reunions while they, people of the fourth branch, lived a hard life. Besides, he all mentioned that garrisoning the frontier was so difficult that even if talents could not take it over after several months of training. The one who might be capable of taking over the business must practice and study for a long time. But it might be possible!
That was not the point. The point was that Jiang Tianchi made it seriously that he believed Marquess Qin, Sir Jibei, brothers, nieces, and nephews would understand their feelings at this moment very much!
And they all knew his wife was perfect but she was a little cranky. At this moment she was struck by the loss of her daughter. So, if she did something offensive when she came back to Jing City, Jiang Tianchi said he hoped they would forgive her and not mind it as the fourth branch was so pitiful.
In Marquess Qin’s eyes, Jiang Tianchi told him directly, “My wife wants to come back to create a disturbance this time. If you don’t hope the Northern Army has some accidents, let her go. If she wants to beat someone, let her go. It will be best that you cheer by the side. If she wants to punish someone, let her go and pick up the pieces for her!”
“Otherwise, either you can find someone else who is at my age or younger than me to take charge of the Northern Army, or I will create disturbances for you!”
Hearing Marquess Qin’s rebuke, Jiang Yashuang said frankly, “My parents love my sister. Losing a daughter in middle age is a kind of great sorrow in life. If my father can bear it as if nothing has happened, he is not telling you the truth. Now in his message, there exists resentment, which means it is human nature to be sad. It also shows that he is your son and so he doesn’t cover up in front of you.”
Marquess Qin didn’t know how to answer his grandson because he didn’t know Jiang Qizheng was alive while Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing died. He said a few moments later, “Your granduncle has not brought back any messages. What if someone else did it?”
“My father just wants to let my mother come back to beg for justice for my sister. He doesn’t want to create a disturbance in our family.” Jiang Yashuang said calmly, “What do you mean, grandfather?”
“…” Marquess Qin rubbed his forehead distractedly, “Anyway after Madame Zhuang comes back, you have to persuade her.”
Obviously, due to the changes these days, Marquess Qin, who had always been calm about changes, almost lost his mind. He even made an indiscreet remark. Pausing for a while, he was back to normal. He said calmly, “Though we can’t decide someone to replace your father, we don’t have to compromise to your branch. The frontier of Darui is not guarded by only a person!”
“If you want to kill your brothers…” Marquess Qin raised his head and watched him with a cold face, “And then I will divide the power of the Northern army equally among the commanders. I will call your father to court to be an officer, which is better than that you kill your brothers once I die.”
Jiang Yashuang looked at him for a while. He looked back and said, “Don’t be oversensitive, grandfather. No matter my father or me, we won’t do that. It is my eldest uncle and my third uncle who are jealous of us and aggressive to us all the time.”
“When Madame Zhuang is about to arrive, go to pick her up!” Marquess Qin waved his hand with a sullen face, “You can leave.”
In fact, not only people like Old Madame Mi who are afraid of being visited by Madame Zhuang and Marquess Qin who felt uneasy about Madame Zhuang’s arrival, but Qiu Yelan was also nervous.
When Jiang Yashuang was called away by Marquess Qin, she frowned and talked to Mrs. Zhou, “What if my mother-in-law doesn’t like me?”
“How is that possible?” Mrs. Zhou cheered her up, “Human beings all love beauty. Anyone who marries you will be pleased with your appearance. Not to mention you’re pregnant right now! For the sake of your son, when Madame Zhuang comes back, she will love you so much!”
“That’s possibly not true!”
Qiu Yelan said to herself. She would be a.s.sured during the previous period. But the experience of Madame He and He Shuijin taught her a lesson. He Shuijin was so sweet and beautiful. She was also good at wealth management. Besides, she could manage family affairs. She was so diplomatic that being her mother-in-law was so easy.
She believed if her son could marry a wife like her, she would surely help his wife supervise him and prevent him from philandering and so his wife would treat him well completely.
But what Madame He did? Not to mention that she was choosy to her in private all the time, when her daughter-in-law was pregnant, she even tried to cause her to miscarry!
“If my mother-in-law is annoyed like Madame He, I will be in trouble as I am pregnant.” Qiu Yelan was so frightened when she thought of it.
Seeing her acting like this, Mrs. Zhou felt it incredible.” Though it is said that Madame Zhuang is vixenish, it is her att.i.tude towards outsiders. For her families, like Jiang Yadan, she loves him so much!”
“That’s it! I heard that the reason why Madame Zhuang broke into the mansion of the first branch and killed the maid in front of the eldest master’s wife was that the maid ran into Jiang Yadan and she didn’t apologize to him, excusing him for sending stuff to her master.”
“In every letter, she wrote to princes and princesses when she stayed in Beijiang, there existed so much love in them.”
“You know that’s for her sons and daughters. I am her daughter-in-law. I am completely different.” Qiu Yelan was speechless. “Alright. I just worry about that for a while. Now I feel so much better.” If she didn’t make a promise to He Shuijin that she won’t take Madame He, the freak, as an example, Mrs. Zhou wouldn’t understand her anxiety.
But her anxiety was just a possibility. What Sheng Shishui worried about would be true.
After all her husband was the guy that Madame Zhou wanted to kill. As her daughter-in-law, she wouldn’t have a happy life.
At the very least, if Madame Zhuang was not against her but Jiang Yazhu, her fate was decided by her husband. After all, she didn’t have a son to rely on.
“Let our kitchen make some dessert. I want to talk to Yelan.” Though Sheng Shishui was mentally prepared for her mother-in-law, she was still anxious. Finally, she made a decision that was not well-advised. She wanted to beg Qiu Yelan to intercede for her.
“Yelan is Jiang Yashuang’s wife. She is the Commandery Princess and she is beautiful. My mother-in-law will love her as she loves Jiang Yashuang. If she intercedes for me, my mother-in-law won’t treat me so badly.”
Sheng Shishui said to herself, “I don’t expect that she gives me dignity. I only hope she won’t make me feel embarra.s.sed.”