CH 17

“Let’s go home.” Old Madam Xu slapped each of her grandchildren on the back. When it was Jiang Yue’e’s turn, the old madam glanced at Shen Qi, who was beside her. In the end, she let Jiang Yue’e off out of respect for her grandson-in-law.

“We’re leaving just like that?” Jiang Yue’e asked. Why did she feel so nervous about this?

“If we don’t leave, what are we staying here to do? Watch your younger sister act like a demon?” Old Madam Xu said bitterly, “Let’s go home!”

The old madam’s tone was unhappy when she said they were going home, but that wasn’t what made Jiang Mingyue’s eyes redden. During that time in her previous life when she had been abandoned on a barren mountain and turned into a lonely wandering ghost… She had wanted to go home, but she couldn’t go home at that time.

“Let’s go,” Old Madam Xu said and grabbed Jiang Mingyue’s hand.

Jiang Mingyue had her head lowered, so Old Madam Xu did not notice there was something off about her granddaughter’s mood.

Old Madam Xu simply continued on garrulously, “You’re like this every day. Why can’t you just let this old woman pass through one day in peace? Why is it so difficult? Tell me, why is my life so hard? I’ll make you pay for this when we get home!”

“Sure, let’s go home,” Jiang Mingyue replied softly.

Jiang Mingyue’s voice sounded sweet and lovable whenever she spoke quietly.

Shaken by how coy Jiang Mingyue sounded, Old Madam Xu raised her hand and slapped Jiang Mingyue’s arm again.

Old Madam Xu said admonishingly, “Speak properly!”

“Have you given the physician the money for the treatment yet?” Old Madam Xu then asked Jiang Yue’e after scolding Jiang Mingyue.

Jiang Yue’e nodded hurriedly. She didn’t just pay him; she paid him more than was required. Otherwise, why would Dr. Sun hide in the inner courtyard and stay out of this matter?

Anyuan Houfu’s carriage was parked in front of the medical hall, very close to the entrance steps. As for the people who rushed over to watch the excitement, they were now a dense crowd of people occupying the previously empty space in front of the medical hall. If it was not for the servants of the Marquis’ manor standing in front of the carriage and blocking it from the crowd, the crowd would probably have already overturned it.

Just as Old Madam Xu pulled Jiang Mingyue out of the medical hall’s entrance gate, a woman shouted from the crowd, “This Second Miss is just fine. She didn’t commit suicide, so why did you say she did?”

Old Madam Xu held her granddaughter’s hand tightly. This was precisely what she had been afraid of. She didn’t care about making a scene and having herself known as a ferocious woman, but she cared about Jiang Mingyue. Her granddaughter had yet to get married, so what would they do if her reputation got ruined? The Wei family’s third son had already damaged her granddaughter’s reputation. Was it going to be damaged yet again?

Jiang Mingyue shot a glance into the crowd.

In the crowd, a chill ran down the neck of a matron from Wei Xiangfu. There were so many people crowded together here. How did the Jiang family’s second daughter manage to pick out that it was her when there were so many people talking?

“You.”

Right when the Wei family’s matron was startled by Jiang Mingyue making eye contact with her, someone rushed up to her and grabbed the lapel of her coat. By the time the matron realised what was happening, she had already been pulled out of the crowd.

Jiang Mingyue recognized the one who pulled the Wei family’s matron out from the crowd. He was Zhao Lingyun’s attendant. Many years later, this man would be exiled together with his master. Compared to that time when he was covered in wounds all over and in miserable and dire straits, this attendant was currently very young and filled with vigor. He was even a little fat; it was obvious from a glance that he frequently ate delicious food and drank hard liquor with his master 1Figuratively: to live well.

“Hu Lu, let her go,” Zhao Lingyun said to his servant as he walked out from the crowd. “She is old enough to be your mother. Aren’t you afraid she’ll take advantage of you if you keep grabbing onto her like that? What will you do if she says you’ve tainted her purity and then forces you to marry her?”

What Master Zhao said was obscene. These were the kind of words idlers loved to hear the most, and the crowd immediately burst into laughter.

The matron could not bear this kind of humiliation. The moment Hu Lu let her go, she opened her mouth with the intention of yelling.

“What did you say just now?” Zhao Lingyun said right before the Wei family’s matron got to speak. “You said that the Jiang family’s Second Miss didn’t commit suicide. Hearing you say this, it seems like you find it a pity that she didn’t successfully kill herself, right? I wonder, do you have a grudge against the Jiang family’s Second Miss?”

The Wei family’s matron was stumped by Zhao Lingyun’s question.

Jiang Mingyue: “Sobs.”

“Oh, no. My dear,” Old Madam Xu reacted quickly. Hearing Jiang Mingyue cry, Old Madam Xu immediately said anxiously, “Don’t scare your grandma anymore. Let’s stay alive, okay? Can you bear to let your grandma, a person with white hair, send off someone with black hair?”

Jiang Mingyue buried her face in her hands and wept.

Old Madam Xu wiped her tears as she cried out, “It’s killing me. It’s killing this old woman!”

The other three members of the Jiang family, as well as the additional Shen Qi, all stood there dumbfounded. They were too slow to react, so they couldn’t participate in the play that was being acted out before them.

“I asked you a question,” Zhao Lingyun shot at the Wei family’s matron. “Do you have a grudge against the Jiang family’s Second Miss?”

The matron shook her head. How could she dare to admit it?

At this time, Old Madam Xu had already pulled Jiang Mingyue into the carriage and urged the coachman, “Quickly. Let’s go home.”

The coachman flicked his whip and immediately drove away without waiting for the other four masters.

“Just you wait and see!” Old Madam Xu shot out ferocious words to the Wei family’s matron through the carriage window.

“I’ll be making a complaint to the government official.” Zhao Lingyun waved his hand dismissively. “The Jiang family’s Second Miss doesn’t leave home and stays indoors all the time. What wrong could she have possibly committed against you for you to have a grudge against her? The one you have a grudge against must be Marquis Anyuan. I’ll have to investigate and find out which family you’re from. Since you’re someone with a grudge against Marquis Anyuan, if you’re not a surviving member of a renegade faction, you must be a foreign spy!”

Master Zhao’s words almost paralyzed the Wei family’s matron with fear. She was just following the orders of the Wei family’s eldest daughter to come here and yell out to expose the Jiang family’s second daughter. Why was she now accused of being a surviving member of a renegade faction or even a foreign spy? S-She could not bear this!

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