Xia Yan beamed, "Then I shall not disturb laoye anymore, I’ll go check on Chao’er." Then, she walked up to the door and her smile instantly disappeared as she left. She walked through the corridors towards the courtyard where Cui Yu was looking after Chao’er. Upon seeing her enter, she hurriedly retreated to the side.
Jiang Chao was lying motionless on the bed. Xia Yan sat down beside him and took his hands which were covered in white bandage and pressed them to her lips, gently saying, "Chao’er, rest assured, mother will take revenge for you."
Lin Lang who stood at the side, asked, "Furen, you really want to matchmake Eldest Miss and Second Young Master Li?"
"How could it be," Xia Yan’s smile was ruthless, "I want her, in this lifetime, to only be able to be a small concubine by Li Yang’s side. As for the official wife, she better not think about it. I want her to be ruined and only be able to be a play toy for the Li family’s father and son. I want her to marry into the Li family and suffer for a lifetime!"
Lin Lang could not help but shiver with fear, then she heard Xia Yan laugh lightly, "Second Young Master Li’s official wife? Dream on!"
* * *
The issue regarding the capital’s Bai Hua Lou was spread like wildfire, within a night it seemed like it was spread through all the streets and alleys. These few days, the Jiang family became the capital’s hot topic, but it was all about ridiculing them.
At Jinying Wang’s fu, a young man wearing a black cloak with rain flower designs and an embroidered crane on it stood at the window. The attire complemented his look, making him appear even more tall and studious. A snow white pigeon flew from outside the window and landed on his palm. He retrieved a slip of paper attached to its legs through a red string. The pigeon’s red bean-like eyes looked at him and he stretched out the tip of his finger and stroked the pigeon’s head. The pigeon chirped once joyfully before flapping its wings and flying into the sky.
Xiao Shao opened the slip of paper to read it before gently furrowing his eyebrows and knocking on the table. Suddenly, two people dressed completely in black appeared from inside the house.
"Master," one of them starting speaking first, "we have checked it out. This subordinate followed the Imperial Academy’s page boy. The letter came from the capital’s Jiang Quan’s fu, the sender is Jiang fu’s Eldest Young Lady’s servant. However, we did not manage to check whether the two have any connection."
"I understand, you’re dismissed." Xiao Shao said indifferently.
The silence resumed inside the house, Ye Feng stood behind Xiao Shao and after thinking for a while, said, "Before, the rumors were also spread from this Eldest Jiang Miss. Master, this Eldest Jiang Miss has a suspicious identity."
"She isn’t our enemy." Xiao Shao said. When he first investigated that it was Jiang Ruan, he was astonished too. Those who knew the question to the final imperial examination were usually only the Emperor’s people. Jiang Ruan was a young lady who stayed in her boudoir, and no matter what, it was impossible that she was an enemy agent from the palace. However, she had many unfathomable things about her. For example, last time at Assistant Minister Shen’s fu, she actually knew of their most hidden secret. He had three hundred thousand Jin Yi Imperial Guards under him and he never had any information that he couldn’t find out about. However, towards this Eldest Jiang Miss who appeared out of nowhere, he couldn’t find any suspicious points. It was as if she was supposed to know those secrets.
He heard about yesterday’s event that took place in Bai Hua Lou as well. Recently, the Jiang fu continuously being in trouble seemed to all have started since the day this Eldest Jiang Miss returned to the fu.
Facts were proved when one of his Jin Yi Guards found the manservant following Jiang Chao at Bai Hua Lou. He admitted that he took someone’s money and purposely tempted Jiang Chao to go forward. The last spearhead pointed towards Jiang Ruan.
He couldn’t help but crease his eyebrows, "There is something wrong with this matter. Continue to investigate, see how she is connected to Eighth Brother." If she was indeed Xuan Li’s chess piece, she would be treated differently.
Ye Feng thought about it then said, "What about that Second Jiang Miss, a few days ago she came again and Steward Lin chased her away."
"There’s no need to be concerned about it." Xiao Shao said indifferently.
Ye Feng shrugged his shoulders and stopped talking.
* * *
When Li Dong who was at home received Jiang Quan’s invitation, he also shook his head and said, "That’s strange, what does Jiang Quan want? Usually we have no relation, yet he suddenly issued an invitation, what’s the purpose."
Li Dong’s belly was protruding, the beautiful woman by his side was feeding him grapes while saying, "Maybe he wishes to build a connection with laoye."
Li Yang’s lustful eyes were sizing up Li Dong’s latest woman and on hearing these words he said, "It’s not going to work. Yesterday, it was Jiang Chao who made me lose face. I must definitely find a chance to settle scores with him."
"That is enough," Li Dong said, "Your younger brother is returning to the capital in a few days, don’t create trouble for him. Who is that Jiang Chao, to be worthy of you to bear grudges."
Li Yang was about to say something more, when the beautiful woman giggled, "Nu[1] does not know who Jiang Chao is, but before nu entered the fu, nu has heard that the Jiang family has two daughters and both are unrivalled beauties."
[1] Nu ( 奴 ) – Slave.
Upon hearing this, Li Yang’s eyes immediately lit up, "What you said, is it true?"
"It is naturally true, nu does not dare to lie to Young Master." That beautiful woman smiled, "Eldest Jiang Miss is extremely charming and alluring, Second Jiang Miss is beautiful and elegant. Both also possess talents that are unmatched, this is a fact that everyone in the capital knows. Come to think of it, Eldest Young Master usually does not bother with rich young ladies, so you must not have known."
"I never thought that Jiang Chao would have this sort of two younger sisters. I wish to have a look at their graceful demeanors." A spark of interest lit up Li Yang’s eyes, "Father, when is Jiang Quan’s invitation for?"
"It is tomorrow." Li Dong looked at his son’s gaze and was well aware of it, "Why, do you wish to go to the Jiang fu too?"
"This type of beauty, I definitely want to have a glimpse of their elegance. To see whether the people in the capital are lying." Li Yang’s laugh was somewhat vulgar, "Jiang Chao caused me to lose Mu Dan, if his two sisters are pretty enough, I will not settle scores with him."
"You better make your intentions clear," Li Dong said, "The reputation of the Jiang Misses is not something you can toy with as you wish. I see that you’re not young anymore, you should be getting married already. Just in time, tomorrow, when you go to the Jiang fu and if you see anyone you fancy, just marry her into the family."
"I still do not wish to marry." Li Yang’s face fell and after thinking for a while, he asked the beautiful woman again, "How is the relationship between these Jiang fu’s two daughters?"
"Eldest Jiang Miss recently returned to the capital, therefore, she’s not familiar with certain things, but I heard from others that she has her own demeanour of doing things, she seems gentle and unrestrained." That woman smiled, "Second Jiang Miss is naive and romantic and she is also unworldly, everyone in the capital knows about this."
"In terms of temperament, both of them are not too bad." Jiang Chao licked his lips, "If I really want to marry, I might as well marry more than one. It is also a wonderful thing."
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Translated by : Salv
Edited by : Anks & Ely