Chapter 449 More Doubts
Last November, Sir Jibei, the youngest one in his generation of the Jiang Family, just died.
It was just only six months that people of the Jiang Family didn’t finish the mourning apart from grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Kui Xiannan was ill now, which was an obvious blow to the Jiang Family in Jing City.
What made Marquess Qin sad most was that it was the remaining members of the Gus who a.s.sa.s.sinated Jiang Jingzhan. And Marquess Qin was. .h.i.t hard after receiving the news for this reason!
Therefore, Marquess’s Mansion could be in the charge of Madame Tao.
Madame Tao told the whole story to the younger generation in grief, “More than half a month ago, Jingzhan went out to race horses. When he pa.s.sed a dam, a woman suddenly rushed out under the dam and almost frightened the horse. Jingzhan was going to be angry, but when he saw that the woman was only thirteen or fourteen years old and very beautiful, he changed his att.i.tude and fell in love with this woman.”
Qiu Yelan was speechless and she said, “Did no one think of checking this unknown woman?” Qiu Feng, a recognized warrior, might not be treated with kindness when walking along rivers and lakes, let alone the Jiang Family, which built its glory at the sacrifice of other people’s life.
It seemed that Madame Tao knew something so she sighed, “This matter is supposed to be very suspicious, but there is a reason. Since Tianluan married the former emperor and became the empress, our Jiang Family became the imperial family. In Kui County, the Jiang Family is a first-cla.s.s one. Many women tried their best to seduce Jingzhan and his brothers. Therefore, Jingzhan and his followers said they just met once again.”
As a saying went, man should pay his romantic debt. Jiang Jingzhan happily led this beauty home to enjoy their day and he had a quarrel with his wife Madame Jin Junior. Unexpectedly, the next day, after sunset, he didn’t come out of his room. The servants didn’t hear his orders when they pa.s.sed by. Some people noticed something wrong and told Madame Jin Junior. Madame Jin Junior knocked on the door with resentment but she couldn’t get any response. Therefore, she was in a panic and entrusted someone to tell her mother-in-law and father-in-law. She went to the door and called the strong servant to hit the door.
As soon as the door opened, all people almost stumbled due to the b.l.o.o.d.y air inside.
Madame Jin Junior was almost dragged by maids into the inner room. Her husband was stabbed many times and seriously injured just with the intact face. Man of Sacrifice who died beside her husband was still stained with the blood of Jiang Jingzhan. b.l.o.o.d.y words “Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth” were written on the quilt. Seeing the scene, Madame Jin Junior fainted.
Later, Jiang Tianjun and his wife were also carried away after seeing that. In Kui County, the Jiang Family was not wealthy as that in Jing City. Madame Han was not born in a wealthy family and was not much n.o.bler than Madame Lin, Kui Xiannan’s first wife. The Second Old Mater and the Fifth Old Master were not allowed to be officials and they didn’t marry women from n.o.ble families. Therefore, they all married daughters of local squires with limited ability and knowledge.
So, when they first saw such a thing they were very worried. How could they conceal it? In less than an hour, Kui Xiannan and his wife knew that.
Jiang Jingzhan was only twenty years old this year and his birthday was in the second half of the year. Jiang Jingzhan was not an adult yet. Kui Xiannan and Madame Han had supervised this great-grandson since he was very young, watching him get married without offspring. He died at a young age so miserably. How could the two old people bear it?
… Of course, Kui County was anxious to report the situation to Jing City, which was mainly for the sake of Kui Xiannan as the importance of Madame Han came second. Moreover, none of the informants mentioned her.
Madame Tao didn’t bother to mention this stepsister-in-law. After telling the story, she asked everyone, “Tianao has to be in mourning and they must go back to hometown to observe filial piety. How about the mourners of you?”
Strictly speaking, the rise of the Jiang Family was mainly thanks to Kui Xiannan. Without his efforts, Marquess Qin and Sir Jibei could not be cultivated when they were young, and later they might not be able to be strong and powerful rapidly. In this way, they might miss many opportunities for development and growth, and it was almost impossible for them to make today’s achievements.
However, emotionally speaking…
These offspring of Marquess Qin and Sir Jibei had no feelings for Kui Xiannan.
It was not strange that Eighth Old Master Jiang Tianxiao was indifferent to Kui Xiannan because he was born in Jing City and never saw his uncle. Jiang Tianqi who was older than Jiang Tianxiao had ever seen this uncle and was doted on by Kui Xiannan. Jiang Tianao’s manner in these years had already made Kui Xiannan angry. Although Jiang Tianqi was in a state of alliance with the first branch, it was difficult to express how many true feelings he had for this uncle now.
Jiang Tianchi never said bad words about Jiang Tianao. Between uncles, Qiu Yelan was more inclined to support Sir Jibei.
Therefore, when Madame Tao asked this question, whole people were silent for a while and it took a long time for Madame Zhuang to break the silence, “Uncle Mengmin has made a lot of contributions to our Jiang family, but now the war in Beijiang is raging, and my husband is busy and can’t get away. So, we can only let Dan’er, the eldest son, go on his behalf!”
After that, they were silent.
Obviously, Madame Zhuang meant that the fourth branch should dispatch Jiang Yadan because Jiang Yadan had nothing important to do in Jing City. But for example, she, her daughter, her son-in-law, her youngest son, and daughters-in-law were not going there.
Led by Madame Zhuang, Jiang Tianqi of the third branch said, “Fine, we can only dispatch Yayi to go with Yadan, you know… He lost his brother.”
Jiang Tianqi took a glimpse of the fourth branch while saying that.
Actually, the eighth branch was the most helpless. Jiang Tianxiao had married Huang and several concubines one after another in these years. But now he just had two daughters, namely Jiang Qixiao and Jiang Qipian. He didn’t have sons and even if he had sons, his sons were not old enough to serve on behalf of him. Therefore, Jiang Tianxiao had no choice but to go there.
Madame Tao didn’t say anything about this matter. Although the Jiang Family was prominent now, they were finding themselves at the front line so they couldn’t cause any trouble. If all people went back to their hometown to mourn, even if they didn’t observe filial piety there, so many people would have to go back and forth for several months. No one knew what would happen in the future.
“Fine. All of you can disband and ask a maid to look at the first branch… Don’t make Tianao too sad.” Madame Tao said calmly, “And I will ask Chaohai’s opinion. Anyway, someone must be going, you can pack your luggage first.”
After saying goodbye to go out, Madame Zhuang said indifferently to Jiang Yadan, “Since they raised you when you were very young, you should go. We’ll go back to the fourth branch to discuss things!”
Although the third branch and the eighth branch would go to Beijiang in person, the eighth branch had no choice. Because they didn’t have sons, they had to do it by themselves. The third branch had a hypocritical manner
“The war in Beijiang is going to break out. We thought that the heaven gave us another chance. Unexpectedly, Uncle Mengmin would…” Jiang Tianqi entered the room of the first branch. He felt guilty and sad when he saw Jiang Tianao who had aged a lot in just one day.
It is often said that cousins were the best brothers and sisters of their peers when they were young. When Madame Han married, she didn’t treat Jiang Tianao and Jiang Tianyuan very well so they lived a miserable life at that time. Later, when Marquess Qin returned to his hometown to visit his relatives, he told Kui Xiannan in a rage and insisted on taking his nephew and niece to his side and raising them by his first wife, Madame Dou.
Therefore, Jiang Tianao and Jiang Tianqi grew up together. It could be said that Jiang Tianchi grew up with them, but Jiang Tianao was several years older than Jiang Tianqi, and he was much older than Jiang Tianchi. How could they play together with such an obvious age gap? Therefore, the relationship between the eldest son and the third son was the best, and they were estranged from the fourth son.
Until their youth, they took the official careers one after another. As Marquess Qin and Sir Jibei ignored them time and time again, the two cousins began to be divided gradually and later formed an alliance because of the threat of the fourth branch.
At the moment, the two cousins were sitting opposite each other. Looking back on their life experiences, they all felt overwhelmed, “I can clearly remember that there was no suspicion between us at the beginning. I don’t know how it comes to be what it is today.”
“I have to return to my hometown to observe filial piety. You are difficult to support alone and you may not be able to compete against the fourth branch.” Jiang Tianao was absent-minded for a long time and said with a hoa.r.s.e voice, “It’s better to be quiet. Let us just endure it for the time being!”
“If we endure, is there any hope for us to revenge for our sons?” Jiang Tianqi was old, but he cried loudly, “My eldest brother, you have Yun and Xu’er who are excellent children. So, you don’t need to worry about any successors. I’m not… I have no excellent children. Apart from Qing, Qisheng, and Yaheng, is there anyone else who can represent the whole family? They are not more sophisticated than He Shuijin. How can I not revenge for Qing?”
Jiang Tianao had a miserable smile and said, “What can you do? As Qiu Jinglan is a.s.sisted by Ren Ziyong, we may not fail in this war. If we fail this war, will you be able to take his military power successfully? Don’t forget that the ident.i.ty of the step-wife of Jiang Yadan. If Duke of Huainan and Empress Dowager cooperate with each other, it won’t be easy to convict Qiu Jinglan. After all, he is not the commander in chief now and he still has Han Jishan as a cover! If they win, Han Jishan will definitely give him merit. If they lose, Han Jishan will take the blame for him!”
He breathed a sigh of relief and said wearily, “Time is advantageous for me! Time is not advantageous for you and me!”
“We will always have solutions.” Jiang Tianqi was silent for a long time and whispered, “Despite the hardships, our father and uncles still made a progress. It can be seen that human effort is the decisive factor! Although the fourth branch now has advantages, but… It may not be that we have no strength to fight back!”
“Be careful!” Jiang Tianao whispered, “Although Jiang Tianchi is not in Jing City, he still has his people spy on us… And our little nephew is very hard to deal with.”
When they talked in secret, the fourth branch was also discussing this matter, but the atmosphere was certainly not as sad as that of the first branch.
“There are also many people in Kui County. Jingzhan was our junior. Although he was the eldest grandson of the fifth branch, he just had a little advantage in the ranking. He was not outstanding and had not undertaken any heavy responsibilities.” Madame Zhuang took the first to say, “The remaining members of the Gus would kill him at the sacrifice of a Man of Sacrifice. Are they not afraid of being found by us through clues? It’s really strange!”
At that time, Chu Yitong had already finished the confinement in childbirth and Jiang Yadan was sent to the first branch to offer condolences. After Madame Zhuang finished speaking, others were waiting for their first sister-in-law to answer.
“Will the target be directed at my uncle?” Chu Yitong pursed her lips, “This time Kui County was in a hurry to tell us. Wasn’t it because my uncle was shocked by this? Moreover, Jingzhan died… So miserable!”
“So, the people who gave the information to your grand uncle are suspicious.” Madame Zhuang frowned, “I don’t know if people in Kui County realized this. Don’t miss the point. Amidst the war, your grand uncle’s life is the most important, which is more important than killing the enemies.”
Jiang Qizheng pondered, “Although the people in Kui County have never been out of the house, they often don’t think carefully when they encounter great matters. But Jiang Yayun and his wife, my first sister-in-law, and Xu’er are all there. So, they should think of it.”
Madame Zhuang thought for a while, “Yes! If your grand uncle pa.s.ses away, it will not be a good thing for the first branch. I think the first branch must do the best in this matter!”
“In fact, what makes me strange is that although I don’t know what about the house that Jingzhan lived in, since he was stabbed by the Man of Sacrifice with countless knives, the house must be b.l.o.o.d.y and terrible! But didn’t anyone notice the change in the room that night? Even if Jingzhan was subdued at that time and couldn’t shout, the sound of knife stabbing into the body and blood splashing should not be very small in the quiet night. Moreover, it is May now, and more than half a month ago, the climate was warm and it was not very cold. So normally speaking, the window in the house should be open at night. Even if it was covered with green screen sash, how could it prevent the spread of b.l.o.o.d.y smell?”
“It was unreasonable that Jingzhan was found dead the next evening!”
Madame Zhuang and others were startled, “Do you mean…”