Chapter – 07
Pressure
Early the next morning, Jiang Li came to Wutong Courtyard to pay her respects to Xia Jinzhi.
Xia Jinzhi looked even worse than she had the day before.
Jiang Li held her hand. “Mother, you and Father…”
Xia Jinzhi gently stroked her daughter’s soft hair and said, “Don’t worry. You’re a junior; you shouldn’t get involved in this! It wouldn’t be good for your reputation.”
Jiang Li bit her lip, hesitating. After much internal struggle, she finally voiced her rebellious thought.
“Mother, you don’t have to endure this for my sake. You and Father should divorce. He has no true feelings for you. I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life in coldness and misery.”
Xia Jinzhi’s expression remained indifferent. She evaded the topic directly, pretending nothing was wrong as she said to Nanny Zhao, “Go to Yanshou Courtyard and tell them I’m unwell, so A-Li and I won’t be coming to pay our respects today.”
After Nanny Zhao bowed and withdrew, Xia Jinzhi brought out the dowry list she had prepared for Jiang Li.
Seeing her mother enthusiastically discussing the dowry, Jiang Li followed her lead and didn’t bring up the subject again.
Meanwhile, at Yanshou Courtyard.
Members of the second and third branches arrived one after another to pay their respects to the Old Madam Jiang.
No one knew what had happened at Tongxin Residence the previous night, so everyone arrived in high spirits today.
After all, Jiang Changyi’s return was supposedly triumphant, and according to custom, the Emperor would bestow rewards. They could all benefit and share in the glory.
But today, the Old Madam Jiang was late in appearing, so everyone had to wait in the front hall. Fortunately, Nanny Chun came out to attend to them, serving tea and refreshments to make the wait more comfortable.
The third branch’s wife, Qin Yuzhu, wife of Jiang Changqi, raised an eyebrow and surveyed the hall. She noticed only members of the second and third branches were present.
She leaned over and whispered to her sister-in-law beside her, “It’s not surprising that the eldest master had women by his side after so many years at the border. But how is it that he has two such big children, and yet the household had no idea at all? Do you think the eldest sister-in-law knew about this? I thought her reaction yesterday was a bit strange!”
Shen Zhisu, wife of the second branch’s Jiang Changyu, had a gentle expression. She simply lowered her head and gave a slight shake.
Qin Yuzhu pondered, finding it increasingly odd.
“Usually, the eldest sister-in-law is the first to arrive for morning and evening greetings. Why hasn’t she come today? And eldest brother and A-Li aren’t here either.”
The truth was, she had been unable to glean any information from the east courtyard last night, which was why she had finally spoken to Shen Zhisu, hoping she might know something.
Yesterday, when Jiang Changyi appeared with Su Jingwan and the two children, the entire household had been shockedāexcept, apparently, for the Old Madam.
Before long, the Old Madam appeared, supported by Nanny Chun.
Her eyes were slightly swollen, with dark circles beneath them, and a tired frown creased her brow. She had clearly not rested well. After taking her seat at the head of the room, she let out a heavy sigh.
She seemed deeply troubled, far from at ease.
Everyone rose to pay their respects.
The Old Madam scanned the crowd but didn’t see anyone from the first branch. Her brow furrowed slightly, betraying her unease.
“Rise, all of you!”
Once everyone was seated, Qin Yuzhu covered her smile with a hand and said, “With eldest brother back, Mother was so happy she couldn’t sleep. Eldest brother and sister-in-law haven’t seen each other in years; I’m sure they had endless heartfelt words to share last night, which is why they’re late for morning greetings. They should hurry and bring our new sister-in-law and the two children over for us to meet.”
The hall was quiet. Beside her, Shen Zhisu kept her head bowed even lower.
Qin Yuzhu studied the Old Madam’s expression, her suspicions growing.
The Old Madam’s expression remained calm, her eyes sweeping over Qin Shi without any visible emotion as she spoke steadily, “We talked late into the night at the east courtyard, so I excused them from their morning greeting today.”
Qin Yuzhu, unsatisfied that she hadn’t uncovered anything, smiled again and said, “Mother, eldest brother, and eldest sister-in-law kept us completely in the dark! The nephew and niece are already so big, and we knew nothing at all!”
Originally, the first branch had no sons. After Jiang Li was born, Shen Zhisu gave birth to their second daughter, Jiang Wei. Then Qin Yuzhu gave birth to their third daughter, Jiang Rou. Following that, Concubine Shu of the third branch bore a fourth daughter, Jiang Ying, who was a concubine’s daughter.
After four granddaughters in a row, the Old Madam grew very anxious.
It wasn’t until Qin Yuzhu gave birth to Jiang Yao, the first legitimate grandson of the Jiang family, that he was doted upon from childhood and became the Old Madam’s beloved.
Even later, when Shen Zhisu gave birth to a son, Jiang Ze, he couldn’t compare.
In Qin Yuzhu’s eyes, her son was the legitimate eldest grandson of the Jiang family and would surely inherit the entire Jiang estate in the future.
This made her very proud. For all these years, it was the one thing she felt gave her an edge over Xia Jinzhi.
So what if Xia Jinzhi was of noble birth and her family held great power?
So what if she managed the household?
She had only given birth to a girl. With Jiang Changyi stationed far away at the border, when her daughter married out, Xia Jinzhi would have no son to see her off. She would end up with nothing. Who knew what her fate would be in old age?
She even fantasized that if Jiang Changyi never returned, Xia Jinzhi would eventually have to rely on *her* son in her old age. Then everything Xia Jinzhi had would belong to her son.
But now, this suddenly appearing nephew had directly taken her son’s position as the eldest grandson. If he were also placed under Xia Jinzhi’s name, he would become the legitimate first-born grandson!
Then what would be left for her third branch?
She now felt as if everything she had was being stolen away.
How could she possibly accept this?
How could the Old Madam not know her thoughts? Qin Yuzhu was short-sighted, restless, profit-driven, and had no idea of her own limitations.
If she found out what had happened in the east courtyard, she would definitely make a huge scene.
“Changyi and Jinzhi share deep feelings, and Jinzhi is virtuous. Naturally, she wouldn’t stand by and let the first branch have no heir. The woman from last night was rewarded with a yard of white silk. The two children have been accepted into the family and will be registered under Jinzhi’s name.”
Qin Yuzhu smiled stiffly. “Eldest brother is truly fortunate…”
The Old Madam’s words sounded grand and proper, but if that were truly the case, why bring them to the capital just to have her killed? There was definitely something fishy. It must have been that Xia Jinzhi couldn’t accept the mother and her two children. Perhaps she hadn’t even known they existed.
As they spoke, a servant announced, “The eldest master has arrived.”
Jiang Changyi strode in. The fatigue and dark circles under his eyes were even more pronounced than the Old Madam’s.
Everyone except the Old Madam rose to greet him.
Jiang Changyi bowed. “This son pays his respects to Mother!”
The Old Madam’s gaze looked behind him, as did everyone else’s.
But Jiang Changyi had come alone.
This was his first time paying respects since returning to the capital! Everything felt deeply peculiar.
“Alright, sit down, all of you.” Seeing the situation, the Old Madam knew that Jiang Changyi hadn’t succeeded in placating Xia Jinzhi. But she still had to maintain appearances. “Didn’t I tell you to rest well and not come for morning greetings today? Jinzhi and A-Li must be exhausted. Good thing you didn’t bring them, or I wouldn’t have let you hear the end of it.”
Jiang Changyi lowered his head. “Mother is considerate. They truly are exhausted. We reminisced late into the night and were too excited to sleep well.”
Mother and son put on a coordinated act.
Qin Yuzhu curled her lip in disdain, clearly unconvinced.
Just then, another announcement came: “Old Madam, Nanny Zhao from the First Madam is here!”
Nanny Zhao walked in swiftly, eyes fixed ahead, a faint smile on her face, and nodded calmly. “Old Madam, the First Madam is unwell. The Eldest Miss is attending to her. They won’t be able to come for their greetings for the next few days. Please forgive them.”
She too had come from the palace, having previously been a maid-in-waiting to the Empress Dowager. She had her own dignity and was not a servant of the Jiang family.
As soon as she spoke, the expressions of both the Old Madam and Jiang Changyi changed.
A woman who was perfectly fine suddenly became unwell right after Jiang Changyi’s return.
This was blatantly tearing down the ridiculous facade they had just tried to build!
The Old Madam’s face turned ashen as she glared at Nanny Zhao, speechless.
Nanny Zhao remained neither humble nor arrogant, her back straight as she turned and left.
