Chapter 226 Looking Down on People
Jiang Tong, who considered himself a well-versed military strategist and a successful general, was still only thinking about interests and calculations when dealing with his son, whom he had abandoned because he was "useless" but was now eyeing because he was "useful." He felt no remorse or affection whatsoever.
After racking his brains for about an hour, Jiang Tong was satisfied and called his attendant to wash up, change clothes, turn off the lights, and go to sleep.
The next morning, Jiang Tong was in better spirits than he had in previous years. He first went to the yamen where he was to take office to report for duty, and then couldn't wait to go home and start writing a letter to Jiang Yuan.
Although he didn't seem to consider his debt to Jiang Yuan at all when he was pondering whether to persuade Jiang Yuan to acknowledge his ancestors and how to do so, he immediately put on a completely different face when writing the letter.
In his account, he was not a disqualified father who decided to win over Jiang Yuan with false kinship because he saw an opportunity for profit, but a father who sacrificed his family for the greater good and was a pillar of the country with good intentions.
In his letter, he said that it wasn't that he didn't care about Jiang Yuan, his eldest son, but that he had faced many crises in the past. In order not to bring danger to Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu, he had to harden his heart and ignore them.
Now, he has resolved all the troubles around him and has the objective conditions to bring Jiang Yuan back.
He also casually wrote, "There is a brave young general in the court today who happens to share the same name as my son. Whenever I hear people mention this person's name, I miss my son even more."
To make his performance of "not knowing that the distant river is the distant river" more convincing, Jiang Tong did not send the letter directly to Zijing Pass or Yi County. Instead, he dispatched his trusted attendant and guards to Mingfu Village in Tang County with a large pile of gifts.
This group of people knew perfectly well that they would not be able to find the person they were looking for in Mingfu Village, but in order to ensure that their lord's plan could be implemented smoothly, they still had to make this trip.
A group of people, whose attire clearly indicated their impressive background, entered the village in a grand manner, some on horseback and others in carriages, and then brazenly inquired about Jiang Yuan's residence.
The villagers were both curious and fearful. They dared not ask questions in front of this group of armed and imposing people, but they couldn't stop the group from talking.
According to Jiang Tong's plan, they intended to first establish the father-son relationship between Jiang Yuan and Jiang Tong in the village.
Upon hearing that the group of people had come to find their lord's eldest son, who had been living among the common people, the crowd immediately erupted in uproar.
Some people watched the spectacle intently, trying to hear more exciting news from those people, while others sent their ignorant but quick-footed children to inform the village head and Wang Xiaozhi.
Not to mention the village head's family and Wang Xiaozhi's family, who were completely bewildered and had countless questions and concerns that arose uncontrollably from the bottom of their hearts after hearing about this, just consider Wang Dayou and Wang Eryou, who were also watching the spectacle, as well as their respective wives and children. After learning that Jiang Yuan was actually the eldest son of a powerful family in the capital who had been living away from home, they were almost immediately filled with uncontrollable fear and regret.
They were afraid because they feared retaliation, and regretted it because they realized they had missed a golden opportunity to rise to prominence along with their cronies.
The two families hid in the crowd, their faces grim and silent, trying their best to minimize their presence.
Fortunately, although the villagers usually looked down on these two families, at most they only cast a contemptuous glance at the timid people, rather than revealing all the things they had done to Jiang Yuan in front of the people sent by "Jiang Yuan's biological father".
Upon receiving the news, the village head and Wang Xiaozhi quickly brought their families over, along with Dr. Chen and his wife, who had also heard about the incident.
Hearing the villagers calling out "Village Head" and "Xiao Zhi," the men sent by Jiang Tong exchanged a subtle glance, knowing that the two must be the village head of Mingfu Village and Jiang Yuan's country sister.
They stared at Wang Xiaozhi with such disdain and contempt that Chen Zhao's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
He pulled Wang Xiaozhi behind him, blocking the condescending and disdainful gazes of those people.
Other villagers, out of natural fear of these "important people," didn't see anything wrong with their aloofness. However, the shrewd village head, Doctor Chen, and several other village elders felt no liking for these people whatsoever.
No matter what, Wang Xiaozhi is the only bloodline left by Jiang Yuan's adoptive parents. If these people were thinking straight, how could they treat the daughter of Jiang Yuan's benefactor with such undisguised contempt?
Even if you're not moved to tears, offering a generous gift and showing respect and courtesy shouldn't be a problem, right?
Moreover, these people only claimed to be guards and attendants of Jiang Yuansheng's father's mansion. To put it bluntly, aren't these people just servants in Jiang Yuansheng's father's household?
If the servants treated Wang Xiaozhi this way, how could their master possibly treat her well?
Thinking about it more deeply, if they despise Jiang Yuan's only bloodline so much, they probably won't be very respectful or polite to Jiang Yuan, the "young master" they call him.
If Jiang Yuan really goes with them, they and their families will likely suffer even more at his hands.
If that's the case, then why did they suddenly come all the way to Mingfu Village?
I have a feeling... this family is probably up to no good.
While everyone pondered this in their hearts, they did not show it on their faces. The village head put on a professional smile and chatted politely with the group of men on horseback carrying swords.
The conversation was very simple; it was just to tell them that Jiang Yuan had already left Mingfu Village.
As for where he went, the village head sighed regretfully and said that he only knew that he went to another county, but he did not know the exact location.
Of course, those people didn't believe it. Their patriarch had already investigated and found out that although Jiang Yuan was expressionless and taciturn most of the time, he had helped protect the village with Hao Yu during the war years and had also secretly helped those villagers who were about to starve to death. Therefore, he was well-liked in the village.
If others said they didn't know Jiang Yuan's exact whereabouts, that group might believe them to some extent, but they didn't believe that Chen Lizheng and Wang Xiaozhi had lost contact with Jiang Yuan.
After all, even disregarding their past relationship with Jiang Yuan, just considering Jiang Yuan's success, they should cling to him desperately.
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