"My poor Shan'er!"
"Jiang Shisen, you must compensate my daughter, you must compensate!" Mrs. Xu couldn't bear the death of her beloved daughter. Her hair was disheveled, and she grabbed her husband's collar, scratching and tearing at him. Heartbroken, she wailed, "Shan'er is your own flesh and blood. She's young, naive, and a child. She made a mistake in a moment of confusion. You can scold her and punish her, but even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. How could you be so cruel?"
Jiang Shisen was also heartbroken, his face drooping. Exhausted, he disdained to engage in a brawl with the woman. He shoved his stepwife aside and said in a trembling voice, "Yushan is not young anymore. She's disobedient and unfilial, committing an unforgivable sin. She deserves it."
"You are so cruel that you beat the child to death. I, I will fight you!" Xu cried bitterly and refused to listen to anything. She rushed forward and attacked again without any composure.
"Mother, calm down!" Jiang Mingcheng didn't bother to wipe his tears. He anxiously tried to dissuade her, blurting out, "The nail in the back of my second sister's head was an accident. Who would have thought there would be nails sticking out of the wooden frame? Father didn't mean to do it. He definitely didn't do it on purpose. Maybe, maybe it really is God's will."
"God willing?"
Upon hearing this, Xu's face turned pale with anger. She turned around, raised her hand, and slapped her eldest son with a loud slap. She scolded him in frustration, "Mingcheng! That's your sister, your biological sister. Do you think your biological sister is unforgivable in your eyes? Ah? Do you even understand the bond between a brother and a sister?"
"I understand! I understand!"
Jiang Mingcheng was slapped, his cheeks burning. He choked and whispered, "In my mind, my eldest and second sisters are both my biological sisters, both my father's children, and we're all family. Just now, my mother saw it with her own eyes. My second sister was so inexplicably filled with resentment that she actually wanted to kill her nephew? It's unbelievable. From childhood to adulthood, she was clearly the most favored, even my younger brother took a back seat. Why is she still not satisfied? I really can't understand it."
Jiang Shisen was heartbroken, but at the same time, he looked at his eldest son with relief, murmuring through his tears, "A loving mother often spoils her child. As expected, a loving mother often spoils her child! Your second sister was simply too spoiled. She would throw a tantrum and act recklessly at the slightest displeasure, and ultimately suffered the consequences and lost her life. Fortunately, your father has always been strict in disciplining his son. Otherwise, what hope would your father have for the rest of his life? Who would he rely on when he gets old?"
"nonsense!"
"Even if I doted on Shan'er a little more, I was serious about teaching her well and never spoiled her."
"Besides, what do you know?" Mrs. Xu beat her chest and stamped her feet, clutching her husband's sleeve tightly. She insisted, "Shan'er is not crazy at all. She is just, just going on a long journey for the first time. It's a long journey, and the desolate mountains and wilderness along the way are bound to be filled with wandering ghosts or unclean evil spirits. My poor daughter must have been 'haunted' by some filthy thing, and she can't help herself. Her foolish words and actions are not her will!"
"My Shan'er, how innocent!"
After saying this, Xu collapsed and crawled towards her daughter. She trembled and closed the eyes of her dead body, and promised in a hoarse voice: "My poor child, I believe in you. Don't worry, I will definitely ask a master to cast a spell to exorcise the demon and bring you peace."
The other side
Wang Qiaozhen listened for a long while, then suddenly stood up, unable to bear it any longer. She angrily said, "Humph, how can Yushan be called 'pitiful, miserable, and innocent'? Shouldn't the truly pitiful and innocent be my nephew? He's just a little baby, still breastfeeding. What wrong did he do? He was almost killed by his so-called aunt. It's a disaster sent from the sky!"
"Fortunately, Yushu and her son are safe. Otherwise, how would you have compensated them?"
"Besides," Wang Qiaozhen said with a dark face, unable to hold back her words, "today is my mother-in-law's birthday, a very happy day, and Yushan is dead, and one of her maids is dead too. What kind of thing is this? It's so unlucky!"
Xu opened her mouth but was speechless.
Jiang Mingcheng stepped forward and bowed to apologize: "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, we will do our best to deal with the aftermath."
Jiang Shisen felt duty-bound and said solemnly, "Today's events are not only a misfortune for our family, but also my own fault for not teaching my mother-in-law well. I have caused so much trouble for her, and I feel extremely guilty for my disrespect. Don't worry, as my son said, I will clean up the mess as soon as possible and do my best not to cause her any more trouble."
When the eldest daughter-in-law questioned her, Wang turned a deaf ear. But when her in-laws responded, she had to turn her head away, sighed, and answered tiredly: "Yushan is dead. I have nothing to say. You can handle the aftermath."
Jiang Shisen nodded, "I'll do it right away!" He straightened his clothes and adjusted his hat. He looked as if he had aged ten years. He walked closer with renewed energy, bent down, and asked with concern, "How are you?"
"I'm fine, but the child lost a lot of blood, was seriously injured, and was frightened." Jiang Yushu hugged the child with her left hand, feeling anxious and confused.
Jiang Shisen stood up, his back hunched, and sighed, "Take good care of him."
Jiang Yushu's eyes were red and she nodded.
"It's come to this. Please accept my condolences." Guo Honglei, a veteran of the military, was very familiar with wounds, and he quickly bandaged his wife's palm wound. He gathered his strength, surveyed the mess, and advised, "Please sit down for a moment, have a cup of tea, and calm yourself. We'll discuss how to deal with this later."
"Okay, okay." Jiang Shisen walked slowly, sat down dejectedly, and his old age was evident.
Jiang Yushu glanced at the corpse, wanting to say something but stopping herself, completely unsure of what to say.
"Wuwuwawa..." The baby's cry never stopped, and his voice had long been hoarse. The wet nurse tried to feed the baby, but the baby was in so much pain that he couldn't drink and cried loudly.
Doctor Fang Sheng in the mansion was concentrating on treating Guo Ye's wounds carefully.
The baby's left arm had been slashed by the scissors, leaving a wound about an inch long, tearing the skin and flesh, and blood soaking the snow-blue coat. The tip of the knife had left several small bloody wounds on the baby's neck, along with several bruises. Although his life was not in danger, he was in great pain.
The doctor lowered his head, carefully cleaning the wound, and instructed: "Hold on, hold on tight, don't let the little master struggle."
Jiang Yushu kept comforting the child and asked in a hoarse voice, "Does this wound need to be sutured?"
"It has to be stitched, otherwise the bleeding won't stop."
"Sew it up, bandage it quickly!" Guo Honglei stroked his son's head, feeling his hands sweaty. He felt extremely uncomfortable and whispered, "Don't cry, it will be fine soon. Be a man, just bear it and it will pass."
Wang and others surrounded the child, trying every possible way to comfort him.
In about two cups of tea, the wound was bandaged and the bruise was applied with medicine.
"Your sister died in this room. Before she died, she still hated you and your daughter with a venomous hatred. Therefore, from now on, Ye'er should not live here!" Wang stood up and ordered without hesitation: "Pack up! No, there's no need to pack up! Buy all the new clothes and other things! Come on, come quickly! Take the child to my room to live for a while. I'll find him another room later."
Jiang Yushu glanced at the corpse again, scanning the bloodstains on the ground. She felt horrified and agreed decisively, "Old Madam, what you said makes sense. I'll do as you say! I'm just worried that the child will cry in the night and disturb your rest."
"No problem."
Wang sighed, "Oh, it would be strange if you didn't cry. The danger just now would have frightened not only the children but also the adults." After saying this, she walked away while giving instructions:
"Honglei, you help clean up the mess. It's best to resolve it before dawn to avoid gossip from the neighbors."
"I understand." Guo Honglei greeted his younger brother and escorted the women away. "Don't worry, mother. Go and rest. I'll leave this place to you."
When passing by the Jiang family of three, Jiang Yushu stopped, remained silent for a moment, and advised, "Please accept my condolences, father, and take care of yourself. You are an imperial envoy, and your mission is not yet complete. The family also needs the head of the household to take charge of the overall situation... Cheer up."
"Well, okay, good girl, Yushan is such a disappointment. She almost killed my grandson. I will definitely find a way to make it up to you!" Jiang Shisen looked at his eldest daughter with guilt and made a solemn promise. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw his step-wife suddenly rushing towards him. He immediately stood up and raised his head to question:
"I've scolded you and beaten you, what else do you want? Do you want to kill me and make your daughter pay for her death? Fine! Just kill me, and from now on, you can live with your sons on your own!"
"You——" Xu was stunned and shrank into silence.
Jiang Mingcheng was at his wit's end. He knelt anxiously, looking up and pleading, "Things have come to this. Please, Dad and Mom, calm down. If we don't work together, I'm afraid our family will fall apart."
Xu was stunned for a moment, her whole body trembling. Subconsciously, she thought to herself: My daughter is the apple of my eye, and my husband is the sky. The sky must not fall. Orphans and widows cannot live. So, she burst into tears, suppressing her grief, and reminded him, "Cheng'er is right. You are the head of the family. You must not let anything happen to you. Sit down, sit down and rest for a while. Look at you, your face has changed."
"It's all because of you guys! Cough, cough, cough, cough——" Jiang Shisen was overwhelmed with worries and coughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back.
Xu's mother and son were startled and hurriedly moved closer, "What's wrong?"
Wang had already led the younger generation away and was not at all impatient to meddle in other people's affairs. If it were not for the face of Minister Jiang and the second son and his wife, she would have exploded on the spot.
But in a dynasty where "filial piety is above all else," Jiang Yushu couldn't just walk away indifferently. "Father, calm down. Be careful not to let your anger get to your health. Wait a moment, I'll go get a doctor."
Jiang Shisen leaned back in his chair, panting and unable to speak.
After a while, Guo Honglei settled the mother and child, and the couple returned together, saying, "Fang Sheng, come and take a look."
"Yes." Fang Sheng opened the medicine box and quickly took Jiang Shisen's pulse.
Jiang Shisen slowed down and urged, "Yushu, you're injured, and the child has suffered. Honglei is here, so go take care of the child. Also, remember to apologize to your mother-in-law on behalf of your family. Tell her that I'll apologize formally after I finish what I'm doing."
"I understand. Mingcheng, take good care of your elders."
"Um!"
The couple whispered a few words to each other, and then Jiang Yushu hurried to the upper room to accompany the child, her steps hurried and her face filled with worry.
The next day at noon, at the back of the county government office
"snort!"
"I'm so unlucky today. I got scolded so early in the morning." Wei Xu looked ugly. He took off his outer robe as soon as he entered the room and threw it to the ground.
"Sir, calm down." The servant Shitou hurriedly picked up his robe and said soothingly, "Lord Shen is an official from the Ministry of Revenue, and he's your superior. He's decided to conduct an investigation, so we have to be prepared to deal with it."
"nonsense!"
"Do I need you to teach me this?"
The servant smiled awkwardly and offered tea, "I was just worried you might get sick from being angry."
Wei Xu sipped his tea and burned his mouth. He became even more angry and slammed the cup down on the table. He said angrily, "How can this be! It was clearly Special Envoy Jiang who loaned out those three million kilograms of grain. Now that they're questioning me, I'm the one getting scolded!"
"She doesn't know what just happened yet."
"Oh, I don't think so." Wei Xu was embarrassed by the scolding and was even more worried about the impact on his career. He speculated, "Her father is also an imperial envoy. I guess Lord Shen, out of respect for Old Lord Jiang, is being partial and lenient with her, only blaming me. So, she chose to take leave at this critical moment and hide away at home."
"To shirk responsibility like this is simply despicable behavior. It's really too much!"
Master and servant share the same fate. The servant asked worriedly, "Then, what should we do now? Master Shen has given instructions and will question us further this afternoon."
The more Wei Xu thought about it, the angrier he became. Furious, he slammed the table and ordered, "Go to the Guo residence immediately and tell her something's wrong! If she makes an excuse not to come to the yamen, then she must be up to something and deliberately plotting against her colleagues. Humph, if she doesn't show up, I'll also pretend to be sick. Everyone can do that."
"At worst, we'll lose our official hats together!"
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