Old Stories
In countless midnight dreams, Jiang Moyun would recall childhood memories. For example, right now, leaning against the headboard, watching Lin Bairan clutching her clothes tightly, habitually twirling his hair, she was once again lost in reminiscence…
Jiang Moyun grew up without a mother, but her mother's influence is present in every aspect of her life.
——
"Girls aren't suited to be in charge; they're too indecisive. A beautiful girl like Qingchen is really not suited to handling guns. She should just enjoy life and not do these exhausting tasks." These seemingly caring words elicited murmurs of agreement from the group at the table, creating an annoyingly noisy murmur.
"Want the company? Then I'd like to ask you all, compared to Qingchen, what have you all done for the company?" At the family banquet, the father sat at the head of the table, dressed in a simple and elegant Tang suit.
Well... actually, saying "rustic" isn't quite right.
Jiang Moyun thought expressionlessly.
After all, Father's attire today was far more exquisite and eye-catching than usual—a black jacket and silver skirt, with exquisite bamboo patterns embroidered in gold thread on the cuffs and hem, and a string of emerald green Buddhist beads on his wrist. At first glance, the clothes were unremarkable, but in fact, every detail exuded luxury.
But the most precious item was actually the seemingly understated black jacket. The jacket itself exuded a luxurious aura, its subtle patterns shimmering under the light, sparkling with every movement. The fabric for this garment came from Suzhou. Every year, silkworms spun silk at the beginning of April, and only a small portion of the finest quality was used as raw material. Even with four or five skilled embroiderers working overtime to rush the production and sending it to the capital, the first batch of new fabric wouldn't arrive until the end of June in previous years. Machine-made foreign fabric was indeed faster and more abundant, but scarcity made it valuable, and there were always those who enjoyed flaunting their status through such extravagance. The fabric was also prioritized according to social standing, going first to the most prominent officials and dignitaries. The remaining fabric wouldn't be released to the public until the end of August—what others had rejected—but each release was met with a frenzy of buying, making it incredibly rare and expensive.
Now, in mid-June, my father is already wearing his newly made clothes, and anyone with a little knowledge of quality can tell that even the first batch of new fabrics this year would be hard to find of better quality.
To receive it so far ahead of schedule, and with such quality, requires not only financial resources, material resources, and connections.
Actually, none of these are the most valuable things. What's truly remarkable is the origin of this garment—a congratulatory gift from the eldest son of the currently most powerful Wu family, presented directly to his father. The Wu family used to be in the arms trade, but the current patriarch, shrewd enough to assess the situation, abandoned their criminal past and successfully transformed the family business. And that gentleman is now the most prominent figure in Beijing, a true celebrity, someone who has fought his way through the chaos of war, and is the undisputed heir.
This move clearly demonstrates the collaboration between the two, and the meaning behind this garment cannot be taken lightly.
Jiang Moyun saw all of this clearly in her heart, but she chose to remain a cold observer amidst the turbulent intrigue and deceit. Even when her father sought her and her sister's advice this morning, she only casually uttered the phrase "a peacock spreading its tail feathers."
Her father was so angry that he jumped up and down, laughing and cursing her as a little brat. In the end, she was only able to escape her father's "pursuit" thanks to her older sister's intervention and good words.
Jiang Moyun knew, of course, that her father despised these flashy but ultimately meaningless things, bestowed with empty titles like power and status, which were in reality the most vulgar of all. But faced with the disgusting wolves and tigers around them, they had no choice but to dress this way. These pretentious, self-proclaimed noble "upper-class" people possessed the most cynical snobbery and the most sensitive noses in the world. They drooled with greedy malice, waiting to see her show signs of fatigue before rushing in to tear off her juicy flesh and devour her.
However, Jiang Moyun didn't care about any of this. She was the youngest daughter in the Jiang family, with her father and older sister above her. In the unpredictable world, all she cared about was being happy.
"What do you mean by that? You're just an outsider who married into the family, and you think you're something special!" Immediately, someone couldn't sit still anymore. He slammed his fist on the table, stood up, pointed at his father's nose, and cursed loudly, his face turning red with anger.
Jiang Moyun sat casually on a row of chairs behind her father, one leg propped up on the coffee table beside her. She had no manners at all. If it were any other time, some ignorant old man would definitely scold her for not following the rules.
However, the atmosphere had now reached a freezing point, and those annoying troublemakers naturally had no energy to pay attention to her, which allowed her to have some peace and quiet. In stark contrast, her older sister stood respectfully beside their father, a polite smile always on her face, her elegant demeanor truly impeccable.
Although the two are only three years apart, apart from their somewhat similar appearances, they are completely different in every other way.
Besides her older sister, her two cousins, who usually stay by her side, are not here today. Most likely, as a precaution, to avoid today's events, they were both sent away by their parents beforehand, and are probably busy with some insignificant chores outside.
As for why she and her sister don't stay together?
That was naturally because this so-called warm "family dinner" was clearly hierarchical; she was deemed unworthy to sit at the table, not even allowed to get close. In their eyes, it was probably a great honor to have her sister, a young girl, stand motionless for hours, constantly serving tea and water. Jiang Moyun couldn't help but roll her eyes, finding all this talk of status and power disgusting. She just wanted her sister to rest. Normally, she wouldn't care about rules; she'd simply rush over and pull her sister to rest, not giving a damn about these hypocritical people. Unfortunately, today wasn't a good day for them to find fault and exploit the situation, though perhaps no one would dare to.
"So boring, I might as well go practice dancing," she muttered irritably. However, she still hoped this tedious family dinner would end soon so the people she cared about could rest, so naturally she wouldn't cause any more trouble, but she couldn't leave early either. Therefore, she could only treat it like a theater, enjoying everyone's diverse performances. She was quite satisfied with her seat; after all, besides the main seats where her father and sister sat, this was the best viewing spot in the entire room, and most importantly, she could sit comfortably without getting tired.
Jiang Moyun munched on sunflower seeds with great interest while observing the middle-aged man, whose face was red with anger. She settled into a comfortable position in her chair and couldn't help but sigh, "What a foolish ringleader." If she remembered correctly… he was one of the people who initially proposed splitting power and calculating shares.
"Which uncle is this again?"
I can't remember. Anyway, he was just a headless fly who couldn't see the situation clearly and was blindly stumbling around. He was just a discarded pawn sent by someone with ulterior motives to test his father's attitude.
And soon she'd become a stray dog, discarded like trash. "How pathetic, even on the verge of death, she can't grow a brain," she thought sarcastically and coldly.
No, puppies are cute, you can't use puppies to insult people, Jiang Moyun silently corrected herself in her heart. She really loved puppies, but unfortunately, because she was allergic to dog hair, she would probably never have the chance to own a puppy in this lifetime.
"It turns out I'm the most pitiful one." This time, a genuine sense of sorrow welled up within me.
As expected, his father was completely unfazed by his accusations, his expression unchanged. He glanced at him with a half-smile, then indifferently looked around at the various expressions on everyone's faces, and finally softly called out his sister's name, "Qingchen".
The older sister simply smiled, beckoned two bodyguards, and they dragged the incessantly talking man away. During this process, the man continued to struggle, hurling vulgarities and making a nasty, unpleasant noise.
"It's so noisy," she thought irritably.
"It is inappropriate to use foul language at family dinners."
Almost simultaneously, Jiang Moyun heard her sister's words and her inner complaints ring out together, followed by a gunshot.
For a moment, the banquet hall was silent except for the faint sound of wind and cranes passing through. Scattered drops of blood splattered in the still air, spreading a faint smell of blood. Everyone looked in astonishment at the person being dragged away. Scattered bloodstains were left in his path, and the bullet hole in his body was about two inches from his heart, almost killing him instantly.
However, at this position, his life is already nearing its end; it's just a matter of whether he dies sooner or later.
"Take him away and treat him properly, don't let him die." Jiang Qingchen put down her gun and gave the order, her tone as calm as if she were discussing today's dishes.
"Whoosh~", Jiang Moyun couldn't help but whistle in her heart, thinking how cool her sister was.
"Qingchen, this is, after all, your third uncle. Even if he was a little rude, it would be best to show some mercy." The one who spoke was the fourth uncle, speaking in a very gentle tone. Of the seven or eight siblings in their generation, it seemed that he was the only one left. And because he always seemed sinister, appearing very kind but never speaking good news, Jiang Moyun gave him a nickname—"Evergreen Vine".
Sure enough, the moment this old "evergreen" opened his mouth, he made his sister the target of everyone's criticism. However, his words reminded Jiang Moyun of the man's identity earlier—wasn't he the one who said his sister wasn't suited to handle a gun? Honestly, it's a pity he wasn't killed; giving him a bullet was too lenient.
Faced with the accusations from this group of people, Jiang Qingchen did not say much, but simply had someone bring up some documents—evidence that her third uncle had sold confidential information to the rival.
The expressions on the faces of the people at the table all changed.
“According to the rules, traitors should first be subjected to family punishment before being executed by firing squad,” Jiang Qingchen said calmly.
Jiang Moyun had been carefully observing everyone's expressions when she heard these words and suddenly realized that she hadn't intentionally held back earlier.
"The adults can decide how to punish people themselves. I never knew that a mere junior could so brazenly overstep his bounds." The fourth uncle was offended and couldn't help but feel a little angry.
Jiang Qingchen waited for him to finish speaking calmly and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "The first patriarch said that every junior in each generation has one opportunity to directly take charge of the Punishment Hall before they turn fifteen."
The most striking difference between her and Jiang Moyun in appearance was their eyes. Jiang Moyun had upturned phoenix eyes that appeared sharp when she wasn't smiling; while she had gentle, peach-blossom eyes, her gaze vast and unfathomable, looking soft and vulnerable—the kind of eyes most easily looked down upon in this cutthroat world surrounded by wolves. Yet she simply stood there, her words laced with coldness, calmly facing the malice of the room, "The previous generation's condition was to seize a production chain from their rivals; now it's that piece of land in the west of the city."
She casually placed the land deed bearing her name on the table, paused briefly, then glanced at the disapproving expressions on everyone's faces, finally unable to resist bursting into laughter, a laugh that seemed to bloom like peach blossoms in full bloom. Jiang Qingchen laughed freely in the stagnant air, "And those who govern the Hall of Punishments have the power of life and death, relying solely on family law, which allows no room for arbitrariness."
The first head of the family was Jiang Moyun's maternal grandfather's father-in-law.
His maternal grandfather, a man from a poor background who married a wealthy woman, ordered strict adherence to numerous rules established by the first patriarch to make his power grab appear "forced." One of these rules was the control of the punishment hall, which he feigned by relaxing restrictions, allowing both men and women to compete. However, the conditions for each generation remained extremely stringent, and until actually achieved, they were generally disregarded—everyone knew it was just a show, a joke.
However, I heard that it had already been fulfilled once before, but due to face-saving reasons, they could not break the contract, so they had to set even more stringent conditions this time.
Who was it last time?
Oh, right, it's her mother.
Jiang Moyun then laughed along with him.
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