Chapter 71 How can we keep him?
After leaving the Duke of Chu's courtyard, Jiang Yu headed towards Lu Yifang's courtyard. At the gate, she ran into the Lady of Jiangling Marquis and Zhang Xiangling, both of whom looked quite unwell.
Jiang Yu bowed to them. Lady Jiangling looked her up and down and then said, "Miss Jiang, now that you've divorced and returned home, you should stay here quietly. If you keep causing trouble... humph, let's see which family will want a girl like that in the future."
Jiang Yu smiled, her smile radiant. "There's no need for Lady Jiangling to worry about that. You haven't even sorted out your own affairs, yet you're meddling in other people's business. What kind of talk is that?"
Jiang Yu, of course, didn't need her to answer, and continued, "That's called a troublemaker. With a troublemaker as the mistress of the house, who would want to befriend someone from such a family?"
"You..." Lady Jiangling never expected Jiang Yu to retort so directly, even calling her a troublemaker. Her hands trembled with anger.
"Sharp-tongued, you'll get what's coming to you sooner or later," said Lady Jiangling, pointing a trembling finger at Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu looked at her indifferently, "Madam, you should worry about your own affairs. My affairs are the affairs of the Duke of Chu's mansion, and you have no right to speak on them."
To sever ties with the Jiangling Marquis's mansion, Jiang Yu naturally spoke in ways that were as offensive as possible. Of course, it was also true that the Jiangling Marquis's wife was disliked by many.
She added, "I don't know if I'll feel better or worse in the future, but right now, everyone knows who's suffering."
Upon hearing this, Lady Jiangling rushed forward to strike Jiang Yu, but was stopped by Zhang Xiangling.
“Mother, now is not the time to cause trouble.” Zhang Xiangling glared at Jiang Yu and said through gritted teeth, “Is my younger sister eager to kick me while I’m down?”
Jiang Yu looked back at her calmly, "If you want, sister-in-law, we can still be like before."
Her tone was calm, but her sincerity was unmistakable. Zhang Xiangling didn't understand what she meant for a moment, and quickly pulled Lady Jiangling away. They still had matters to discuss and had no time to linger with Jiang Yu.
The mother and daughter left in a hurry, and Jiang Yu stepped into the courtyard. Feng, the old woman beside Lu Yifang, quickly bowed to her, "Madam is inside, Miss, please go in quickly."
Jiang Yu stepped to the door, and Granny Feng smiled as she lifted the curtain for her. After watching Jiang Yu go inside, she gently lowered the curtain, her heart filled with a myriad of emotions.
When this young lady first returned, she said some things she shouldn't have in order to solidify her position by the lady's side. Thinking about it now, it's terrifying. This young lady is definitely not someone to be trifled with; from now on, she'll have to serve her with utmost care.
Jiang Yu entered the room and sat down next to Lu Yifang. Upon seeing her, Lu Yifang sighed and said, "Just as you said, no matter what the Lady of Jiangling Marquis said, I just said I wasn't feeling well. With such a big thing happening, I can't even process it myself, and I can't control it. They had no choice but to leave."
“Mother did a great job,” Jiang Yu said with a smile.
Lu Yifang gently patted her and said, "Your older sister... Xiangling has had a hard life, encountering such a thing. But..."
She sighed heavily again.
Jiang Yu knew that she had known Zhang Xiangling for many years, and that she was soft-hearted, so it was normal for her to feel sorry for Zhang Xiangling. However, when it came to matters concerning the safety of the family, these personal grievances and resentments were nothing.
After some thought, Jiang Yu decided to tell Lu Yifang about the Jiangling Marquis's salt smuggling business. As the matriarch, Lu Yifang had previously entrusted household management to Zhang Xiangling, but from now on, she would be in charge. As for Wu Zhengyan, she would need to hone her skills for a while longer.
“Mother, there’s something I have to tell you.” Jiang Yu leaned close to Lu Yifang and said in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Seeing her like this, Lu Yifang's expression became even more serious. These past few days, one major event after another had occurred, and she was starting to overreact.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Yu smiled reassuringly and then whispered, "Our investigation has revealed that the Marquis of Jiangling's residence was involved in the smuggling of salt."
Lu Yifang's mouth dropped open. "This...this...were they also schemed against like your father?"
Jiang Yu shook her head. "It shouldn't be."
Lu Yifang was even more shocked, but thinking of the situation of the Jiangling Marquis's mansion, she sighed and said, "In recent years, the Jiangling Marquis's mansion has become increasingly short of money, and your sister-in-law... Xiangling has often helped them out. But no matter how difficult it is, we can't do something like beheading and exterminating the whole family!"
Jiang Yu sighed inwardly. Her biological mother was indeed not a qualified matriarch. A qualified matriarch, upon hearing this, should have immediately considered whether the Jiangling Marquis's mansion would affect them, given their kinship through marriage. Yet, she sighed instead.
But everyone's personality is different, so we can't be too demanding.
She whispered, "Mother, our Chu State Duke's Mansion is also going through a lot of trouble right now, and we can't take care of the Jiangling Marquis's Mansion. Besides, they did it voluntarily, so we have no reason to get into trouble because of them."
Lu Yifang was taken aback for a moment, then immediately nodded. She realized that as the mistress of the Chu State Duke's Mansion, her primary concern at this time should be the interests of the Chu State Duke's Mansion.
Seeing the embarrassment on her face, Jiang Yu thought to herself that there was still hope. She continued, "What I discussed with my grandfather was to sever ties with the Jiangling Marquis's mansion as soon as possible. We can't let them implicate us."
Lu Yifang nodded, but her face showed difficulty. "But if we sever ties with the Jiangling Marquis's Mansion, what will happen to Xiangling? What will happen to Yuanyuan?"
Jiang Yu: "If she wants to stay in our manor, we will not mistreat her. After all, she was also a victim in the matter of her elder brothers being replaced. However, she cannot have any dealings with the Jiangling Marquis's manor in the future."
"This..." Lu Yifang looked at Jiang Yu and opened her mouth to ask, "Jia Rong... he really committed suicide?"
Jiang Yu paused for a moment and said, "Since Grandfather said so, it must be true. Mother, you've been with him and his mother for over twenty years. Even if he wasn't close to you, you still treated him like your own son. I understand that you're saddened by his current situation. But your sadness and grief over his plight is also hurting Brother Jiamu."
Lu Yifang was taken aback, then said somewhat helplessly, "I...no, I'm just feeling sad."
Jiang Yu grasped her hand. "I know you are soft-hearted and kind, and you feel that he was switched at birth, so the fault doesn't lie with him. But he knew he wasn't the legitimate son when he was six, and he conspired with Aunt Zhao to harm Brother Jiamu. This time, he conspired with others to frame Father. Has he ever treated you and Father as family? Has he ever treated the people of the Duke's Mansion as family?"
Lu Yifang was at a loss after hearing Jiang Yu's words. Jiang Yu felt a little sorry for her, but there were some things she had to say: "This time, Father was framed for smuggling salt. If we hadn't discovered it early, what would have happened?"
Lu Yifang gripped the handkerchief tightly, her lips pressed together.
Jiang Yu looked at her and said, "Whether he conspired with others to frame Father intentionally or unintentionally, it proves one thing: he is not of one mind with us. Think about it, he is not of one mind with us, yet he knows everything about Father. How can we let him live?"
"This..." Lu Yifang's mouth dropped open, and after a long while, she finally asked, "He... didn't commit suicide?"
“I don’t know, it was Grandfather who resolved it.” Jiang Yu said, “Mother, whether he committed suicide or not, he deserved to die just for plunging the Duke of Chu’s mansion into a crisis of extermination.”
"And your father?" Lu Yifang asked.
She had mixed feelings about Jiang Chengye. Thinking about everything she had endured over the years, and how her own son had been switched with Jiang Chengye's concubine, she wished he were dead. But a voice inside her told her that she didn't want Jiang Chengye to die.
Then Jiang Yu said, "Grandfather said that Father is still useful."
In other words, they won't take Jiang Chengye's life.
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