Chapter 164 Two-in-One

"It's all because of your mother..." Ji Jiaming, his clothes soaking wet, stormed back from outside, and went straight back into the house without finishing his sentence.

What did this kid do?

Oh, Mom took your older brother to a matchmaker, and they almost got scammed. Your brother was furious.

【What? Who plotted against my brother?】 Ji Yingying turned around and went to her older brother's room.

[Lu Shangshu's daughter wants to follow your second sister-in-law's example and jump into the water to be rescued by your eldest brother.]

[And then my older brother saved him?]

[There's no saving him. He didn't want to go down, but someone kicked him down, and then he climbed back up on his own. As for Minister Lu's daughter, she was rescued by General Luo.]

Why is my older brother angry?

He was angry because that young lady immediately started shouting that it was our big brother who saved him, and she even cried and demanded that our big brother take responsibility.

What did my older brother say?

[They didn't say anything, just asked our mother to come over, and then left.]

[They're gone already? No follow-up?]

No, Mom's back. Go see what happened.

Ji Yingying turned and left again, giving Ji Jiaming's page a bag of Banlangen cold medicine before she left.

"Give this to your older brother, and take it with hot water."

"yes"

Ji Yingying ran very fast and soon arrived at the front hall, where Fang Yulan was indeed there.

"Mother, what happened to my brother?"

How is your brother?

"She's taking a bath, she should be fine."

Your mother won't tell you, do you want some melon seeds?

"If you want some gossip, tell me, tell me." Ji Yingying took out a bag of melon seeds, ready to enjoy the gossip.

[Your mother made sure that Miss Lu saw clearly who had rescued her, and also made it clear to her that it wasn't our eldest brother who saved her. She even scolded Miss Lu. Tomorrow, Minister Lu will probably come to apologize.]

【Oh~ how did they curse you?】

[Your mother said: Look carefully, this is General Luo, General Luo, not my Ming-ge'er. My Ming-ge'er was pushed into the water, he came up and went back. If you keep talking about my Ming-ge'er, I'll make you go back down again.]

Xiangxiang imitated Fang Yulan's tone, and it was indeed somewhat similar.

[Hehe...and then?]

[Then, Miss Lu lowered her head and cried. Our mother directly asked Prince Qi to bestow a marriage upon her, and just like that, Miss Lu was married off to General Luo as a concubine, not the mistress of the house.]

【Huh...? Why?】 Ji Yingying didn't understand what this meant.

General Luo said he wouldn't marry Miss Lu because he already had someone he liked, and they were about to get married. He only said he would take her into his household as a concubine.

General Luo clearly doesn't think much of this woman.

[Yes, yes, I don't think much of her. Miss Lu is a good person, but she has a wicked servant. As long as we get rid of that servant, she won't go astray.]

[Hehe, Minister Lu is quite a nice guy. Do you think I should help him?]

It's up to you now. Anyway, your brother isn't involved, so you can relax.

Ji Yingying nodded secretly. Since her older brother hadn't been affected, there was no need to worry.

"Mother, did you take my eldest brother to be married today?"

"Sigh! It's because I see your second brother running to Minister Yan's mansion every day that I'm thinking of getting him married as soon as possible. Your mother can finally breathe a sigh of relief."

[Sigh, what are you sighing about? You're marrying her and she won't be separating from the family, so you'll still have to worry. Then when she's pregnant and has the baby, you'll have to worry about the child too. Haha, my goodness, she's so worried! She should be worrying about herself instead. Loving others is less important than loving yourself.]

Your mother is happy about it!

Yeah, I wonder if she'll be furious when I grow up and tell her I don't want to get married and I'll only ever be alone?

Fang Yulan: ...No, no, she's already used to it. Now that Ji Yingying will have a princess's residence, after her two sons get married and separate from their families, the two of them will live with Ji Yingying.

When they grow old and die, Ji Yingying will still have the Princess's Mansion and the royal family. At that time, the royal family will take care of things for her, and they won't need to worry about anything.

“Mother, these things can’t be rushed. Eldest brother’s marriage won’t happen so quickly. You can arrange for second brother to get married first. Second brother doesn’t have to wait until eldest brother gets married before he can get married. What if eldest brother doesn’t meet someone he likes until he’s thirty? Wouldn’t that be holding second brother back?”

“Mom, let’s not think about all that. Let’s just get things done for whoever comes first. Isn’t that better?” Ji Yingying said, while also trying to persuade her.

Actually, she wanted to persuade her to separate the family after marriage, but she didn't dare. These people's traditional ideas were deeply ingrained and she couldn't say anything to them. She could only influence them slowly.

“You’re right. I’ll discuss it with your father tonight.”

"Alright, alright, Mother, you and Father should discuss it carefully. There's no need to rush. There's no good year ahead."

"Um."

"Here, Mom will have a spicy snack."

Fang Yulan sighed. Her daughter was starting to take things out of that space without any restraint. She just took it out of the bag, which was so small, how could it possibly fit?

"You should eat less of these things too, they're bad for your health."

At this moment, Ji Yingying's eyes widened, which surprised Fang Yulan, who thought she had been exposed.

If I didn't know what my mother looked like, I would suspect she had been possessed.

[Possession is unlikely, we're just watching the show! But you should be careful, with the detective in the lead, there might be others coming up, like reincarnated beings or time travelers.]

You're right, there might even be spacetime rifts, we just don't know about them.

[Yes, yes, we're just a bystander system; if we're unsure, there are other systems that can handle it.]

Ji Yingying couldn't help but nod. There couldn't possibly be only one system in the world; there might be other systems as well.

"I know, Mother. You rest well. I'll go talk to my eldest brother and tell him not to worry. Then I'll tell my second brother that we'll find time to go to the Yan family to propose marriage."

Ji Yingying comforted her and then left for Ji Jiaming's courtyard.

"Big brother, big brother, have you finished showering?"

"You're all done washing up, what are you doing here?"

"Of course I came to see my elder brother. Elder brother, have you drunk the Banlangen I saved for you?"

"Drink it." Ji Jiaming poked her forehead and said, "You, are you here to eat melon seeds?" As he spoke, he placed the melon seeds next to him in front of her.

"Hehe, big brother, I just..." Before he could finish speaking, Ji Jiayu rushed in.

"Big brother, how are you?"

"These two brothers are so good. I never saw how brothers get along in my past life. Now I know. They are so loving!" These words made the two of them a little embarrassed.

"Little sister, what are you doing here?"

"Can't I stay here?" Ji Yingying retorted, hummed, and then started eating sunflower seeds. Her two older brothers kept lots of snacks in their room, so there was always something for her to eat whenever she came over.

"No, brother, I'm not in a hurry to get married, really, you absolutely can't..."

"Wait, what nonsense are you talking about? Listen to me." Ji Yingying stopped him. If he continued, Ji Yingying felt that things were about to escalate to this or that.

"Okay, go ahead."

Ji Yingying then clapped her hands, stood on the chair, and said, "You two listen up!" As she spoke, she poked the air with her hand.

"Just now, I went to talk to Mother and told her that Second Brother should get married first. As for Eldest Brother, he can get married whenever he finds someone he likes. Mother agreed."

"What?" Both of them replied in shock, clearly not believing it. Since ancient times, the eldest brother has not married, so how could the younger brothers and sisters get married?

"Little sister, your sister Yan and I don't really need to rush." ​​Ji Jiayu scratched the back of her head shyly, looking a bit silly.

"Second brother, Mother said that she will go to propose to you in a few days. She also said that she is now preparing the betrothal gifts."

Anyway, we won't let anyone scheme against our family. Besides, my two brothers' marriages aren't going well, and we can't keep my second brother waiting.

"Really?" Hearing their own thoughts, Ji Jiaming and Ji Jiayu finally believed it was true.

My true feelings don't lie; if they do, I'll be in trouble with my grandmother.

"Alright, alright, your little sister is here. Your little sister is quite capable, after all."

Ji Yingying snorted, looking very smug, which made her two older brothers unable to resist reaching out to pat her head.

"Stop touching me, stop touching me, I'm going back to sleep. Today is the first day of my holiday, I want to read a storybook." Ji Yingying ignored them and went straight back.

As for what happened to the two brothers...

Let's love each other!

The next day, Ji Yingying was woken up by the system before she was even fully awake.

[Xiangxiang, what are you doing?]

[What else can you do? Look at what you're doing!] It's swaying and rocking, like being on a carriage, and you're tied up, your hands are numb from the ropes binding you.

After looking up and taking in her surroundings, Ji Yingying lay back down: "Tell me, have we been kidnapped, or what?"

[Kidnapping, what else could it be?]

Do you know who kidnapped me?

I don't know, I've been calling you for a long time, but you won't wake up.

He's been drugged; it's no wonder he won't wake up.

"Can you tell me where we are?" Ji Yingying asked. She was so calm; if the driver saw her, he would be shocked.

On the way to Jiangnan.

[Jiangnan?]

Yes, the current details regarding Ji Yingying are as follows: While Ji Yingying was sleeping, she was drugged and knocked unconscious. Masked kidnappers then carried her out the back door and drove away from the capital towards Jiangnan. The masked men followed her the entire way, encountering three groups of people along the way: one group to rescue her, one group to kill her, and another group trying to take advantage of the situation. Because the masked kidnappers were powerful, Ji Yingying was taken to Jiangnan, sold to an old widower, and tortured to death.

After Ji Yingying's death, Ji Sasa killed the widower and committed suicide for love! Ji Yingying's parents resigned from their jobs and left the capital to return to Xinhe County. Ji Jiaming remained unmarried for the rest of his life, while Ji Jiayu married Yanni, but Yanni died shortly after giving birth.

This is what the latest gossip is like.

Good heavens, is this some kind of bombshell? I was actually played to death by an old widower...

Are you trying to kill me? I'm still a child!

[That's just how it is, there's nothing Xiangxiang can do.] Xiangxiang said, looking aggrieved: [Host, maybe you've offended someone. Think about your sharp tongue, and your cowardly behavior. You might have really offended someone.]

Sigh... I suspect it's the Princess Consort of Qi.

[What are you doubting? That woman is dead, dead. It couldn't have been her. Besides, you can't keep assuming it was Princess Qi who tried to assassinate you just because she did it out of the blue. Maybe it was someone else!]

"That seems to be true, but I..." Before he could finish his thought, the carriage stopped for a moment, and soon someone lifted the curtain and threw in an unconscious man, who appeared to be a wealthy merchant from that area.

Who is this person?

[I don't know, he's injured. Please help him quickly, it might be your destiny.]

[What kind of coincidence is this? A grown man like him, and he still got kidnapped.]

[Host, he was a well-known wealthy merchant in Handan City. He was murdered by someone hired by his half-brother. He had just returned from doing business in the capital when he was killed on the way by the men his half-brother had bribed. Because he was exhausted, he was stabbed and then sold to our leader. Our leader thought he could make some money from it, so he took him in.]

Good heavens, how cruel is his brother? Didn't he know?

[I know. Originally, I wanted to deal with his half-brother, but unfortunately, there was a traitor among my own people who betrayed him, which led to his current predicament.]

"Please save him! He's rich, very rich!"

"Save me? How can I save you? Just tell me, I'm tied up myself."

Ji Yingying yawned and asked weakly, "What about Rong Er?"

I don't know.

Rong Er: He was being punished. He only left when he went to the palace to report to the emperor. Unexpectedly, when he returned, he was gone.

[Host, you're right. You're tied up too. That's terrible. It seems you can't save him. He won't have a chance for revenge.]

[His melons sound pretty good, do you want to tell me about them?]

His name is Lian Mulan. He is the only legitimate son in his family, ranking second in the Lian family. He has an older half-brother and an older half-sister, and a younger half-sister and a younger half-brother. The whole family is eyeing this position.

His mother was weak and was murdered. Over the years, he lived a miserable life. The character "Little Bitter Gourd" in the novel is like that. In any case, he had a very bad time in the Lian family. However, after he grew up, he became very ruthless. He killed the concubine who killed his mother and also killed his two younger brothers.

[His half-brothers' mother was also suppressed to the point that she dared not touch him. Not only that, he was also very good at business; there was no business he couldn't handle.]

Do you have any cucumbers, or anything like that (like poop cucumbers)?

No, if it were a novel, he would be the male lead, the "bitter gourd" male lead, and there would be a reborn female lead or a transmigrated female lead.

【No?】 Ji Yingying sat up with a thud and looked at his face carefully. He was quite good-looking.

Yes, he worked very hard. After starting his formal education, he spent all his time either studying or practicing martial arts. However, he was severely oppressed by that concubine. He was often hungry, cold, and bullied. The only time he was bullied so badly that she wanted him to kneel and drink urine, he grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed her. After being locked in the ancestral hall for ten days, no one dared to bully him anymore. However, many people still cursed him, but he eventually dealt with them. He was ruthless and didn't talk much, so no one dared to offend him, and life became a little easier for him.

[Okay, she's pretty strong, I'm saved.] Ji Yingying took a pair of scissors from her spatial storage and slowly cut her ropes.

[Xiangxiang, can't you upgrade to be a little more useful? Like, could you help me untie the rope?]

[Sorry, host, I can't. I'm just a gossip-eating system.]

"Ha, you're completely useless," Ji Yingying said disdainfully.