Chapter 42
Yin Su's eyes flashed with a moment of struggle, and he took two steps forward. After a long while, he managed to say, "Madam Jiang, can I hug you for a while?"
Jiang Zhaoli was startled for a moment, then came to his senses and distanced himself from him, saying in a cold tone, "Don't think that I forgive you just now because I helped you."
"I know you won't forgive me." Yin Su clenched his fists. His usually gentle eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of melancholy, which continued to spread from the inside out.
He sighed, then smiled and said, "I don't dare to ask for your forgiveness, Madam Jiang. I hope you can find a better person in the future."
"Don't meet someone like me again, someone with blood on his hands... a selfish person. People like you deserve to find someone better to match with, and it will never be my turn." He lowered his voice for the last sentence, as if he was muttering, or as if he was reminding himself again not to overstep the line.
Jiang Zhaoli clenched his palms, took a deep breath, and spoke after a while: "If I look for someone, I will naturally find someone I like."
Yin Su smiled, with sadness and disappointment in his eyes, and said three words with a wry smile: "That's good."
Jiang Zhaoli gritted her teeth and said, "Don't you have anything to say to me?" Even if she explained a little, even if she told her everything, she didn't say the last sentence.
Yin Su paused and said, "Yes."
A light voice echoed above, like a warning bell ringing in my ears: "May my lady live a life without worries and be happy every year."
After he finished speaking, he bowed and looked at her deeply, his eyes filled with many emotions that she couldn't understand. Without waiting for her to speak, he turned around and left.
The fallen leaves fell and hit Jiang Zhaoli's feet right on target. Her heart trembled violently.
She stared blankly at his resolute back, with a surge of warmth in her eyes.
Yin Su, it's you who left me this time.
—
Before the flower banquet was over, Jiang Zhaoli left the house first, claiming she was not feeling well. The conversation between the two of them just now was not a pleasant one, and she did not want to wait for the flower banquet to be over before riding in the same carriage with Yin Su back home.
After returning home, she first reported the donations for the flower banquet to her grandfather, then chatted with him for a while. On the way back home, she stopped by to see her third aunt.
It lasted until the evening and she had no time to rest.
It was not until Chuntao reminded her that she realized that Yin Su had not returned. Jiang Zhaoli then realized it belatedly and sent someone to Luo Mansion to inquire. The servant of Luo Mansion said that Yin Su had already left the mansion and was not there.
Hearing the servant's reply, she frowned.
He had never come back so late before. Even if he had, he would have sent someone to tell her and would not have disappeared without saying a word.
These two words suddenly flashed through her mind. She froze abruptly, and suddenly remembered what he had said to her during the day. Now that she thought about it carefully, those blessings and the final greetings seemed like - a farewell.
Farewell? Jiang Zhaoli's pupils shrank suddenly, her fingertips curled slightly, she tightly grasped the handkerchief, her eyes were dull, and she didn't know how to react.
She didn't expect him to leave in this way.
She stood up suddenly and trotted to Fengchun Hall while Chuntao was stunned. Chuntao was worried and wanted to follow her, but Nanny Hong held her arm and shook her head at her.
When I opened the door, there was indeed a palm-sized note on the table with only five words written on it: Madam Jiang, take care.
The paper passed through her palm and fell to the ground without a sound. It seemed as light as a feather, but in fact it hit her heart like a thousand pounds, making her breathless.
A gust of wind blew, and the paper that fell on the ground was blown to the corner of the wall.
It was only then that Jiang Zhaoli realized that Yin Su... was really gone.
—
The next morning, Yin Su still hadn't returned. Jiang Zhaoli sent his trusted men to search for him secretly. After a few days, there was no trace of him in the entire Luo City, as if he had disappeared without a trace.
After another sleepless night, Jiang Zhaoli put an ice pack on his eyes. Before he could fall asleep, he heard the sound of fighting outside.
The chaotic footsteps surrounded the entire Jiang Mansion like a dark cloud covering a city.
From outside came the panicked screams of the maid and the terrified pleas for mercy of the servant.
The entire Jiang Mansion was instantly thrown into chaos.
When they arrived at Wenmingcuiyuan, they did not break in, but stood in the courtyard waiting. The leader was the high-spirited Song Tisi. With sharp eyes and a sonorous tone, he spoke towards the main door, and his deep voice reached directly into the house: "Miss Jiang Er is in the house."
Chun Tao and Madam Hong were in tears and knelt down in front of the group, "Please, Mr. Song, please don't embarrass the young lady. Let her have a good rest first. We can talk about anything tomorrow. The young lady has caught a cold these days. She took medicine today and finally felt a little sleepy. She hasn't slept for several days."
The official stepped forward and clasped his fists: "We are also enforcing the law impartially."
"Don't try to stop us, lest the swords and knives have no eyes."
Jiang Zhaoli endured the dizziness and hurriedly put on his coat, with his hair disheveled and not able to be combed.
She hurriedly opened the door. Nanny Hong and Chuntao were controlled by them and dared not move.
"Nurse, Chuntao." Jiang Zhaoli stretched out her hand towards the two of them. Nanny Hong immediately shook her head at her, signaling her not to do so. She gritted her teeth and trembled as she retracted her hand.
She wrapped herself up, turned her gaze back to Song Tisi, and asked coldly, "What does Song Tisi mean?"
Since their last collaboration, the two have become half-friends. She admires Song Ti Si's impartial way of enforcing the law. Luo City finally has a fair adult.
Song Tisi waved his hand, and the clerk immediately turned his back after receiving the order. Song Tisi said calmly: "Excuse me, Madam Jiang Er. The defense map of Luocheng was lost. After an overnight investigation by the Criminal Division, it was found that it was related to your son-in-law."
Jiang Zhaoli frowned, and a sweet and fishy taste suddenly surged in her throat. She resisted the urge to cough: "Do you have any evidence?"
Song Tisi: "Of course there is."
He unfolded a piece of cut sleeve material and showed it to her: "This is the clothes of your son-in-law. I found it in Lord Luo's room. According to Lord Luo, there is a mechanism in his room. If you don't take it by force, the mechanism will not be activated."
Jiang Zhaoli's pupils trembled. She leaned against the door frame, squatted down, and murmured, "Impossible." Yin Su would not do that.
Song Tisi suppressed the pity in his eyes and told the truth word by word: "Today, City Lord Luo told me that after investigation, only Yin Su entered his room. And as far as I know, Yin Su left the city yesterday. He took the defense map and headed towards the direction of Min. If he was not guilty, why would he run away?"
Song Tisi walked towards her and slowly squatted down. He sighed softly and said in a voice that both of them could hear: "I'm sorry, Miss Jiang Er."
Jiang Zhaoli felt dizzy, his throat tightened, he covered his chest tightly and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Miss, Miss Jiang Er." Everyone was shocked and ran towards her.
"Go and call the doctor."
When Jiang Zhaoli woke up, it was already evening. Chuntao was watching over her. She saw the little girl secretly wiping her tears. When she saw that she woke up, Chuntao showed joy on her face: "Girl, you are awake."
Jiang Zhaoli nodded weakly, propped herself up and forced herself to sit up. She half-leaned on the couch and said vaguely, "How long have I slept?"
Chun Tao curled her lips and said, "Miss, you were not asleep at all. You fainted and vomited blood all over the floor. You scared me."
"Fortunately, the doctor said it was just a case of anger and it won't be a problem."
Jiang Zhaoli: "Chun Tao, have you found your uncle?"
Chuntao bit her lip: "No."
"Young lady, please don't mention that unfaithful man anymore. I am so angry for you."
Jiang Zhaoli smiled and said, "Okay, I won't ask what's going on outside, how are Grandfather, Second Uncle and the others?"
Chun Tao: "They are all fine. The Third Madam heard that you were ill and wanted to come visit you, but the officials disagreed."
All the maids and servants in the Jiang Mansion were allowed to leave the house, and everyone in the Jiang family was trapped in the house and was not allowed to step out of the yard. They were only allowed to move around in the yard, and could convey any information they needed or needed.
At the same hour, all the courtyards of the Jiang family were in chaos.
The shouting and cursing of Second Aunt and Second Uncle rose and fell, lingering in the air. Second Aunt twisted her hands anxiously and paced back and forth in the yard.
"What should I do? What should I do? Lin'er's wedding is coming up soon, but this has happened. Will Lin'er's wedding be affected? Will the Song family...will the Song family dislike our Lin'er?"
Jiang Yuxing pouted: "Brother Song is not that kind of person."
Second Aunt walked closer and poked her forehead, pretending to be surprised: "Your eldest brother Song is not that kind of person. What about his family? How do his family think of your sister? Will your sister be able to enjoy happiness when she marries him in the future? It's all Jiang Zhaoli's fault. He chose an ancestor to come in and harm all of us."
Hearing her mother's absurd words, Jiang Yuxing frowned and retorted dissatisfiedly: "Mother, this matter has nothing to do with my second sister. How can you put all the blame on my second sister? My second sister had no choice in choosing a son-in-law. It was my mother and grandfather who said that my brother-in-law was good and had a good-looking son. How could my second sister refute it? Don't put all the blame on my second sister when something happens. We are a family, not enemies. We shouldn't blame each other like this."
Jiang Yuxing sniffed. Her second sister must be feeling very uncomfortable right now. Her brother-in-law leaving without a word must have been a huge blow to her.
She could see that her second sister liked her brother-in-law very much. If the officials had not stopped her from leaving the yard, she would have rushed to her second sister's side to keep her company.
When Second Aunt heard this, she glared at her and was so angry that she wanted to pull her ears, but Jiang Yuxing dodged. Second Aunt saw this and pinched her waist and scolded, "Hey, why did I raise a traitor like you? You don't support your sister, but support others instead."
The second uncle held the third aunt with a heavy face and said, "That's enough, stop making trouble."
"Axing is right. Li'er has also been kept in the dark. How could she know? It was you and Dad who started it all."
"How could you..." Second Aunt widened her eyes in disbelief. What was going on today? Everyone, young and old, was going against her.
The second uncle straightened his face and said in a serious tone: "I am telling the truth. Things are different now. Don't make trouble. What is more important now is that our family is united and we can get through this together."
Now it is still unknown how they will be dealt with. The Tixingsi said that they will deal with them together after Yin Su is found, but the Jiang Mansion will never reopen if he is not found. If the family is not united and friendly at this time, the Jiang Family will really fall apart.
Seeing that he was rarely serious, Second Aunt snorted coldly and stopped talking. She curled her lips and went back to her room.
Third Aunt and Yaya were also surrounded in the yard. There were only two of them left in the yard. Yaya was extremely scared, with fear written all over her big eyes. The last time her mother was taken away, it was the same scene. Many people came and her mother hid her. She watched with her own eyes as the group of people took her mother away.
Third Aunt finally managed to coax Yaya out from under the table. She held onto Third Aunt's arm tightly and refused to let go, staring at the people outside with wide eyes: "Mother, Yaya, don't let them take you away."
She had already lost one mother and didn't want to lose this one too.
Third Aunt smiled and comforted her: "They are not arresting me, don't be afraid."
What they didn't know at the moment was that there were many people gathered in front of the Jiang Mansion. They were all people watching the excitement on the street, whispering and pointing.
"What crime did the Jiang family commit? Why are they being targeted by the Criminal Division?"
"I said that women can't be in charge of a family. The Jiang family, which has lasted for a hundred years, is now going to be destroyed by a woman. What a pity, what a pity."
"What? It has nothing to do with Miss Jiang Er. It was her son-in-law who secretly stole the defense map of Luo City. The Lord of Luo City was furious and surrounded the Jiang family, asking them to hand over the person."
"What? The defense map was stolen? Aren't we in danger?"
"The son-in-law has already left the city. It may be difficult to bring him back."
"This Miss Jiang is so pitiful."
"What's so pitiful about that? Haven't you heard the saying that people of the same family stick together? They are birds of a feather. No one should be allowed to see each other."
"What do you know? The Jiang family are all good people." Suddenly, a handsome young man in the crowd scolded everyone. This man was Huang Er from the dyeing workshop.
The Jiang Mansion was sealed, so he couldn't enter and he didn't know what was going on inside. He could only walk around here every day to check out the situation. Who would have thought that today he would hear these people talking nonsense and belittling the Jiang Mansion again, and the anger in his heart was instantly aroused.
When the people saw that it was Huang Er, the owner of the dyeing workshop, they all turned their faces away and laughed at him. Huang Er was not to be outdone and fought back with every word. They almost got into a fight, until the noise was too loud and the people from the Tixingsi were driven away.
Even with Huang Er speaking out to defend them, the rumors could not be stopped. His power was too small to have any effect.
For a time, the news that the son-in-law of the Jiang family stole the defense map and fled the city overnight spread throughout Luo City in an instant, becoming a topic of conversation among the people after dinner. Some extreme people even ran to the door of the Jiang family and cursed loudly.
The Jiang family became a laughing stock because of this, and they even mocked the second Miss Jiang's vision of people, saying that she was young and only cared about picking a good-looking son-in-law but did not consider his character. As a result, she brought harm to the Jiang family and even the entire Luo City.
Jiang Zhaoli had not left his room for the past few days and had no idea what was happening outside.
During this period, Song Shiyan came several times, but was unable to enter. When he was in a stalemate with the guards, Chief Secretary Song directly notified Mr. Song to come and take him away. In a moment, Mrs. Song sent more than ten people to forcibly drag Song Shiyan back to the mansion.
Jiang Zhaoli sat in front of the window in a daze, his eyes looking somewhere unknown.
Song Tisi handed the food box to Chuntao, who took it inside. Chuntao took it and walked into the inner room. Seeing that the girl was still worried, she sighed softly.
Ever since her brother-in-law left, the girl became silent and often stared out the window in a daze. She really couldn't bear it and tried to persuade her with kind words, but the girl didn't listen to her or the nanny.
She knew that the girl was feeling miserable, but she didn't tell anyone and kept it to herself until she got sick.
Chuntao gradually began to hate her son-in-law in her heart. If it weren't for him, the girl wouldn't have become like this. If he wanted to leave, he could just leave alone, but why did he harm their Jiang family and the girl like this?
Chuntao suppressed her anger, put the food box on the table, and laid out the food one by one.
"Girl, it's time to eat."
Jiang Zhaoli just nodded lightly and nothing else.
Chun Tao had no choice but to feel distressed. She walked out dejectedly and happened to meet Song Tisi who was waiting at the door. He asked, "How is it? Have you eaten?"
Chun Tao shook her head: "The girl still has no appetite like yesterday."
"Song Tisi, the girl just can't figure it out for the moment, it will be fine when she figures it out."
Song Tisi hummed lightly.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
