Chapter 43 Surely no mother would want to harm her son, right?
Jiang Yu carried Jiang Yunkang to Jiang Jiarong's courtyard. As soon as they entered, a maid announced their arrival. Then, the second young mistress, Wu Zhengyan, and a woman in her forties, who still retained her charm, came out.
The woman bowed to Jiang Yu and said, "Greetings, Miss."
Jiang Yu had never seen this woman before, but she roughly guessed that she must be Jiang Chengye's concubine and Jiang Jiamu's birth mother. Sure enough, Wu Zhengyan introduced her, "This is Aunt Zhao."
Jiang Yu nodded and said, "Auntie, there's no need for such formalities."
Aunt Zhao stood up and asked with a smile, "Why is Young Master Sun with you?"
Jiang Yu looked at Wu Zhengyan and said, "I ran into Yun Kang in the garden. He was playing by himself. He said he came out with a maid named Su Yun, but I don't know where that maid went."
Wu Zhengyan's expression changed upon hearing this, and then she looked at Aunt Zhao, whose personal maid was Suyun.
Aunt Zhao's face also turned flustered, and tears welled up in her eyes. She said, "Just now, while you were helping the second young master take his medicine, I asked Suyun to take the young master out to play. Who knew she would be so careless?"
“Auntie,” Wu Zhengyan said in a trembling voice, “is this what you told me about, with several maids and servants following us?”
"I...I don't know either," Aunt Zhao said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I...I don't know where everyone went. Waaaaah..."
Aunt Zhao started crying, and Wu Zhengyan's face turned purple with anger. But Aunt Zhao was her mother-in-law, and there were some things she wanted to say but couldn't.
At this moment, the curtain to the main hall was lifted, and the emaciated Jiang Jiamu was helped out. Seeing Jiang Yu's embarrassed expression, he said, "I'm sorry to have made you look so foolish, little sister, cough cough cough..."
When Wu Zhengyan saw him coughing, she quickly went over to pat his back. After coughing for a while, Jiang Jiamu smiled and said to Wu Zhengyan, "I'm fine, don't worry."
Wu Zhengyan looked worried, but still smiled and said to Jiang Yu, "Little sister, you've come all this way, come inside quickly."
"Aunt, you should go back now," Jiang Jiamu said to Aunt Zhao in a somewhat indifferent voice.
Aunt Zhao nodded hesitantly with tears in her eyes, then walked away, turning back to look at herself every few steps.
Following the couple into the hall, Wu Zhengyan helped Jiang Jiamu sit down, then took Jiang Yunkang from Jiang Yu's arms and said with a smile, "It seems Yunkang likes your little sister."
Jiang Yu smiled as well, "Yun Kang is very well-behaved."
Jiang Yu wasn't familiar with the couple, so she didn't chat much and soon said goodbye. Wu Zhengyan saw Jiang Yu to the gate of the courtyard and said with a smile, "When you have time, I'll take Yun Kang to visit your little sister."
Jiang Yu smiled and agreed, then left with Xia He. After walking for a while, Xia He whispered to Jiang Yu, "Miss, don't you think Young Master Yun Kang looks a bit like Marquis An Yuan?"
Jiang Yu was taken aback, and then Xia He said, "The eyes, mouth and chin are very similar."
"You've only met Marquis Anyuan once, yet you remember his appearance so accurately?" Jiang Yu said with a smile.
Xia He blushed slightly and said, "It's mainly because Marquis Anyuan is too...handsome, so I secretly took a few more glances."
Jiang Yu knew she had a habit of liking handsome men, so she didn't say anything. Instead, she carefully considered what Marquis Anyuan looked like. But she had only seen him once, and hadn't looked closely, so she only had a general image in her mind.
Marquis Anyuan is Lu Yifang's biological father, but Jiang Jiamu is an illegitimate son and has no blood relation to Lu Yifang, let alone Marquis Anyuan. So how could Jiang Yunkang possibly resemble Marquis Anyuan?
He thought about Jiang Jiamu's appearance again, then shook his head. Jiang Jiamu was so thin that he was no longer recognizable as human; you couldn't see anything about him at all.
She whispered to Xia He, "You're not allowed to say those things again, understand?"
Xia He knew the seriousness of the matter and quickly and solemnly promised, "This servant will absolutely not say it again."
Jiang Yu hummed in agreement, thinking to herself that she would take a good look at what Marquis Anyuan looked like next time she saw him.
...
After Jiang Yu left, the second young mistress Wu Zhengyan hugged Jiang Yunkang and cried, saying, "We are born of concubines. I don't say anything about people in the mansion putting others down, but how could my aunt do this? Doesn't she know that servants always have to watch their masters' faces? If she valued Yunkang, would the people in her courtyard treat Yunkang like this?"
Who would leave a three-year-old child to play by themselves? If it weren't for the older sister finding out, who knows what might have happened.
Furthermore, everyone in the manor knows that Father dotes on her. If he could mention you or our Yun Kang to Father, would your health be like this? Would our Yun Kang be so neglected? Yun Kang is the Duke's only great-grandson.
I'm not going to fight them for anything. I just want a good doctor to see you, and I hope our Yunkang can grow up healthy.
"Cough cough cough..."
Upon hearing her words, Jiang Jiamu coughed violently again. Wu Zhengyan quickly stopped complaining, put Jiang Yunkang down and patted his back, saying, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have said those things and made you worry."
Jiang Jiamu coughed for a while, then pulled her to sit beside him and said softly, "Your aunt came from a brothel. Not to mention the madam, even the Duke doesn't want to see our family. You've suffered because of me."
Wu Zhengyan shook her head with red eyes, "You know how I lived at my parents' house before, let's not talk about this."
She pulled Jiang Yunkang into her arms, paused for a moment, and then lowered her voice to say to Jiang Jiamu, "I see that my younger sister likes Yunkang. She is favored by the Duke and is also very capable. What do you think about me having her bring Yunkang to the Duke? If the Duke likes our Yunkang..."
“No,” Jiang Jiamu said. “Look at all the things my younger sister has done since she came back. You’ll know she’s an extremely intelligent person. She’s the legitimate daughter of the main wife, while we are illegitimate children. We’re not on the same side by nature. The fact that she sent Yun Kang back today shows her kindness, but she won’t help us.”
“This…” Wu Zhengyan’s face showed a hint of resentment.
Jiang Jiamu patted her hand and said, "Just wait, the Duke's mansion is about to change, and that might be our turning point. I don't ask for anything else, just to be separated from the government."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "As for your younger sister, don't fawn over her, but don't distance yourself either. Just treat her normally."
Wu Zhengyan sighed, "I understand."
Looking at Jiang Jiamu's thin and bony body, Wu Zhengyan said again, "I always feel that the medicine your aunt gave you is not working. After drinking it for so many years, your illness has not improved at all. On the contrary, your health is getting worse and worse."
Jiang Jiamu was silent for a while before saying, "She is still my birth mother, she would never kill me."
Wu Zhengyan looked at him, wanting to say something more, but just as Jiang Jiamu said, Aunt Zhao was still his birth mother, and no biological mother would want to harm her son.
...
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