Jiang Jinzhao closed his eyes. The memory of the little girl who always tugged at his sleeve for candy gradually overlapped with the woman before him, her hair adorned with jewels and jade. He suddenly recalled that day in the ancestral hall, the old lady clutching the family tree and sighing, "Zhao'er, favoring a concubine and abandoning your wife is the root of family chaos."
"Concubine Hao." When he spoke again, his voice was as cold as a pond. "The trial of your mother, Yu, who embezzled the mistress's dowry will begin in three days. I hope you will be there on time." After saying this, he whipped his horse and his moon-white figure quickly disappeared into the depths of the woods.
Xue Xin looked at Jiang Yihuan's sullen face, sighed softly, and handed over the water bag: "General, if you are really worried."
"Who's worried about that vicious woman!" Jiang Yihuan snatched the water bag and drank it, but he choked and coughed repeatedly. He wiped his mouth and threw the water bag back. With a dark face, he spurred his horse into the dense forest, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Twenty feet away, at the edge of a mountain stream, Jiang Songyi dipped her arrowhead into the water. As the blood-red hue spread across the azure waters, the silver bell on her wrist suddenly rang without a sound. Squinting at the swaying shadows of the trees on the opposite bank, she drew three feathered arrows from her quiver.
…
Jiang Yihuan clenched his whip and looked at his brother's tall back. "Brother, although Yuyao is not a blood relative, we have watched her grow from a little boy to a young woman. How can we fake the brother-sister relationship we have had for over ten years?"
Jiang Jinzhao adjusted the saddle with his back to the crowd, his dark sleeves stained with morning dew. "Sixteen years of living in luxury in the Marquis' Mansion has produced an ungrateful person. If she truly cared about her brotherly love, why would she collude with outsiders to destroy Songyi's reputation?" He suddenly turned around, the jade pendant on his waist making a crisp sound against the scabbard. "Or is it that in your eyes, Songyi is not your biological sister?"
"I." Jiang Yihuan was speechless. He caught a glimpse of Jiang Yuyao's tears, and subconsciously moved to the side to block his brother's sight. "Someone must have framed her! Don't you trust Yuyao's character, brother?"
"Character?" Jiang Jinzhao sneered, tossing the file aside. "Last December, she secretly met with the Fourth Prince. This spring, she persuaded Song Yi to drown at the Princess's residence. There's witnesses and physical evidence for every single thing." He suddenly approached his younger brother, the tassel of his sword brushing across his whitened knuckles. "Before my grandmother had her stroke, she held her hand and said, 'Raising a tiger is a disaster.' Do you think she's lost her mind?"
Jiang Yuyao stumbled to the front of the horse, her embroidered shoes stained with mud: "Big brother, please understand, Yuyao has never done that."
"Save your tears." Jiang Jinzhao jumped onto his horse and looked down at the sobbing girl on the ground. "This trick works on the third child, but on me—" He whipped his horsewhip through the air, breaking the willow branches. "It only reminds me of how your mother tricked your father into taking you and your daughter in."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
