In the evening, Jiang Rongqing came back and heard that Jiang Mingzhi had gone to apologize. He nodded with satisfaction. Jiang Mingzhi took the opportunity to tell him about his plan to find a female teacher for Jiang Yushu.
Jiang Rongqing's brows immediately furrowed. "Don't you know how old your second sister is? Are you going to be an old maid yourself and leave your sister at home as an old maid too?!"
Jiang Mingzhi had no intention of arguing with her adoptive father. She said frankly, "Studying and getting married don't conflict. My sister can study while waiting to get married. If father thinks the expenses are too high, I can pay for them."
"You're paying?" Jiang Rongqing looked at his eldest daughter in bewilderment, feeling as if he had just met her for the first time. "I've never seen anyone in this family you dislike, yet you're willing to spend so much money to hire a female tutor for your sister. You're quite thoughtful."
After saying that, he sneered twice, brushed off his dusty sleeves, turned around and left, "It's up to you to do whatever you want, anyway, you pay the money."
Jiang Mingzhi bowed and replied, "Yes, your daughter respectfully sends you off, father."
The next day, Feng suddenly ordered the family to prepare a dowry for the second young lady.
The incident happened suddenly. Jiang Mingzhi was stretching her arms and legs in the yard, Qingtang was embroidering under the eaves, Ping'er and Zan'er were pruning branches and ironing clothes that had just been dried respectively. When everyone saw Mother Duan who came to inform them of this, they were all stunned.
Qingtang put down her needlework and stepped forward, asking, "Whose son is this?"
"The second young master of the Feng family." Mother Duan did not keep anyone in suspense and told the truth directly.
Jiang Mingzhi didn't react for a while, but when she reacted, she couldn't help laughing. Is Feng crazy? The second son of the Feng family has been tossed back and forth so many times, and she is not tired of it, but she is tired of it!
"Hasn't the second young master of the Feng family already married? What's going on? Could it be that he wants the daughter of a prominent marquis to be his concubine?"
Even the words made people want to laugh. Madam Duan's face turned grim as she explained, "Second Young Master Feng and his new wife are not on good terms, so he asked Madam to find a gentle and kind young lady to be his concubine. The child she would give birth to would also be a legitimate son. Madam thought this match was a good one and agreed to it."
"Does the Feng family have an imperial throne to inherit? The second master of the Feng family is also extremely noble, but he and his new wife are not getting along, so he wants to take another family's daughter in as a concubine. I have never heard of such a reason!"
Mother Duan had already seen the eldest lady's eloquence and was mentally prepared, so she was not thrown off guard.
"Miss, what you said is really humiliating. The decision was made by Madam. If you have any dissatisfaction, you should go and tell Madam. Madam asked me to come here to ask Aunt Qingtang to get the dowry list for the late Madam. The second young lady is getting married, and the dowry must be prepared as soon as possible."
After saying that, he walked around Jiang Mingzhi and came to Qingtang, "Aunt Qingtang, please help me get the dowry list of the late Madam!"
Her attitude was quite respectful, but without Jiang Mingzhi's nod, how could Qingtang give her anything?
Jiang Mingzhi was too lazy to waste time talking to a servant. She could figure out the matter even with her toes.
Feng was deliberately trying to disgust her. If she couldn't control her, she would control Jiang Yushu. They were sisters, and Feng must have known this, and she would not sit idly by.
When Jiang Mingzhi arrived at Qinghuiyuan, Feng was directing the maid to wipe her dowry. These things had just been moved out of the warehouse and were covered with thick dust.
As soon as Jiang Mingzhi entered the room, he accidentally kicked over a green-glazed jar with a lotus pattern. The jar rolled around and slowly stopped at Feng's feet.
"Hey, who has offended our eldest lady?" Feng said sarcastically and slowly walked down the stairs.
Jiang Mingzhi didn't even look at the kicked-over jar and turned directly to Feng: "Madam, you are so elegant that you still have the mood to pack your dowry at this time. What's going on? Are you planning to marry off both daughters at the same time?"
The subtle threat in these words froze the smile on Feng's lips. "What do you mean?"
Jiang Mingzhi looked around, her eyes moving and her aura emanating from her body. She had tolerated Feng for a long time, but Feng didn't understand what she said and kept provoking her again and again.
"Madam, if you don't want the Duke of Song to cancel the engagement, then you should focus your energy on these scrap metals. If you try to target us sisters again, it will be more than just a matter of ruining your reputation."
She spoke neither loudly nor softly, and only a few people in the yard could hear her.
Feng thought Jiang Mingzhi would come looking for her, but she didn't expect her to be so arrogant. Not only did she say that she was the one who did it before, she also threatened her that if she didn't stop, she would intensify her efforts to deal with her.
"You're so brave!"
"Madam, I'm not the only one who knows how courageous I am. You don't need to yell at me here. I'll give you a gavel and you can sit in the yamen and judge cases. I don't want to hear anyone link me or Yushu to those random people in the Feng family. This is the last time I'm going to speak to you properly."
There was no strong emotion in her voice, but it was calm as if she was narrating an insignificant matter.
Feng's face turned red like a cooked shrimp, and she stood there trembling with humiliation.
Even though she came from a humble background and had been looked down upon many times, she had never been cursed so bluntly. She had never heard so many unpleasant words in her life, even if she had heard them all these days.
Jiang Mingzhi didn't argue. After saying what he needed to say, he kicked the can at his feet, turned around and left.
Feng was so angry that she was shaking all over, but she still suppressed the urge to tear Jiang Mingzhi apart. She just looked at Jiang Mingzhi's back with resentment and sneered silently.
When Mother Duan saw Feng's expression, she knew that the lady was probably very angry this time. She wanted to persuade her, but she didn't know where to start.
There has been a long-standing grudge between the Madam and the eldest daughter. These days, they have gone from fighting secretly to fighting openly. The two of them are like glaring at each other and neither of them is willing to give in. Now it has come to this point. What can one say?
Jiang Yushu soon learned that his elder sister had been to Qinghui Courtyard. Xuezhi told Jiang Yushu all the information she had found out, but Jiang Yushu did not look happy.
"Second Miss, are you unhappy?"
Xuezhi lowered her voice and muttered, "The eldest lady even broke up with the Madam for the sake of the second lady. This shows how much the eldest lady values the second lady."
She has been following the Second Young Miss for some time. In the past, the Second Young Miss had to be humble in front of the Madam and the Third Young Miss and suffered countless grievances. Now, there is finally someone who can protect the Second Young Miss, and she is happy for the Second Young Miss.
Jiang Yushu came to her senses belatedly. She looked up at the top of her head and felt as if a stone was pressing on her chest, almost making it difficult for her to breathe.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
