Why didn't you tell me your true identity in Chapter 34?
Emotionally speaking, Jiang Yu now leans more towards her adoptive parents, after all, they had lived together for so many years. Therefore, she doesn't want her parents to feel like they are living under someone else's roof, nor does she want the people from the Duke of Chu's mansion to have any intention of doing them a favor.
Although it was a feudal society, the status of the Duke of Chu's mansion far surpassed that of her parents. To outsiders, even the slightest thing that slipped through the fingers of the Duke of Chu's mansion was considered a great favor to her parents.
But Jiang Yu wanted them to treat each other as equals; if that wasn't possible, then they should stay far apart. Therefore, she refused to let Lu Yifang's house be given to her parents.
Of course, Lu Yifang had no intention of bestowing any favors, but what about the others in the Duke of Chu's mansion? For example, this eldest sister-in-law's complexion was clearly not as good as before.
Lu Yifang genuinely wanted to thank Cheng Yunxiu and his wife. She was somewhat disappointed that the house hadn't been given away. She said, "Then you can keep this house for Zhu'er. It will still be yours in the future."
If Jiang Yu refused again this time, it would be too distant. She smiled, while Zhang Xiangling tightened her grip on the handkerchief, but Jiang Yu pretended not to notice.
To be honest, Lu Yifang's dowry might be substantial, but even if Jiang Yu were penniless right now, let alone with her thriving business, she wouldn't care about it. It's more accurate to say her ambitions lie elsewhere. But if some people want to overthink things, there's nothing she can do.
After chatting for a while, Lu Yifang and Zhang Xiangling were about to leave, and Jiang Yu saw them to the door. She had just returned to her study to read for a bit when the butler, Li Zhong, came over, saying that Qi Yuanhong had arrived and was standing at the gate insisting on seeing her; he wouldn't leave unless she saw him.
Jiang Yu stared at the book for a moment, then said, "Take him to the front hall."
Li Zhong acknowledged and left. Jiang Yu was stunned for a moment before leading Xia He towards the front yard. Xia He looked triumphant and said as they walked:
"Let him be blind. You are so kind, Miss, yet he did something worse than a pig or a dog. He deserves this fate."
Jiang Yu smiled; in fact, she had some of those thoughts herself.
Soon they arrived at the front hall, where Li Zhong was waiting at the door. Inside, Qi Yuanhong sat with his head down, looking utterly dejected, like a stray dog.
She stepped inside, and Qi Yuanhong's eyes lit up when he saw her, then slowly dimmed. He opened his mouth several times before finally uttering the name "Yu Niang".
Jiang Yu walked to the main seat and sat down. As the maid brought her a cup of tea, she said, "I told you, you are no longer qualified to call me Yu Niang."
Qi Yuanhong looked at her, and she was as confident and radiant as before, but there was something different. In addition to her confidence and radiance, Jiang Yu now had a more composed and assertive composure.
"Why...why didn't you tell me your true identity?" Qi Yuanhong asked Jiang Yu.
If he had known earlier that Jiang Yu was the granddaughter of the Duke of Chu, he would never have made that stupid choice.
Jiang Yu looked at him and said, "If I had told you earlier, how could you have exposed your ugliness?"
Qi Yuanhong laughed self-deprecatingly, "I've always known that I'm no match for you in scheming."
"Just say what you want to say. You know I don't like beating around the bush." Jiang Yu's tone was a little impatient.
Qi Yuanhong clenched his fist and said, "I understand that you want revenge because I wronged you, but why are you so cruel to me? You've banned my family from holding office for three generations. You want me and my descendants to be stuck at the bottom of society for generations to come!"
Jiang Yu looked at him mockingly and asked, "Do you remember the vow you made when you proposed to me?"
Qi Yuanhong was taken aback when he heard this, and then looked guilty.
"So, when you swore that oath, you were just saying it offhand, weren't you?" Jiang Yu asked.
Qi Yuanhong remained silent with a stern face, when Jiang Yu said, "You told me back then that if you betrayed me, you and your family would be slaves for generations to come. I only prevented your family from holding official positions for three generations, not from being slaves for generations to come."
Hearing the words he had once said, Qi Yuanhong was utterly dejected. What could he possibly say now?
"Do you regret making that vow back then?" Jiang Yu asked.
She is somewhat angry now because she believed in Qi Yuanhong's sincerity at the time, and she is angry at her own foolishness.
A moment of silence fell over the room. After a while, Qi Yuanhong knelt down in front of Jiang Yu with a thud, his voice choked with emotion, and said, "Yu Niang, please forgive me for the sake of our childhood friendship."
Jiang Yu looked down at him and said, "When you schemed against me back then, did you ever think about what would happen if I found out one day that you weren't sincere towards me? When you agreed to the marriage with the Marquis of Qingshan, did you ever think about how I would react? When you brought Su Yuezhen to my house, forcing me to divorce you and demanding that you write me a letter of divorce, did you ever think about sparing me even a little bit?"
One question after another rained down on him. Qi Yuanhong lowered his head and remained silent, then choked up, "Yu Niang..."
Jiang Yu: "I told you, you have no right to call me Yu Niang."
“Miss Jiang…” Qi Yuanhong choked up as he said, “Whether you believe it or not, I was sincere to you back then. I really wanted to spend my whole life with you and live a good life together. But… but it’s hard to make a living from humble beginnings. I studied hard for many years, wanting to rise above others and become a high-ranking official. I… had no choice but to make this choice.”
Jiang Yu sneered. With his temperament, wanting to rise to the highest position in the court was just a pipe dream!
"I know I was wrong now. I beg you, Miss Jiang, please let me go. I'm already in this state," Qi Yuanhong said, choking back tears.
Jiang Yu picked up her teacup and took a sip. So she was afraid that she would retaliate further! She really wasn't in the mood for that.
Just as he was about to speak, Cheng Yunxiu and Jiang Mingchang rushed in. Jiang Mingchang kicked Qi Yuanhong, who was kneeling on the ground, to the ground. Cheng Yunxiu took off her shoe and used it to slap Qi Yuanhong across the face, all the while cursing:
"You bastard, I've been feeding you, dressing you, and sending you to school since you were eight or nine years old, and this is how you treat my daughter! I'll beat you to death, you heartless, inhuman creature, you ungrateful bastard..."
Cheng Yunxiu hit and cursed him, and Qi Yuanhong dared not resist, so he could only lie on the ground and cover his face. But Jiang Mingchang would not let him have his way, so he pulled away Qi Yuanhong's hands that were covering his face and let Cheng Yunxiu hit him. In no time, Qi Yuanhong's face was like a pig's head.
Jiang Yu didn't stop her; she knew her parents had been holding it in for days because of her, and this venting would help. But Cheng Yunxiu's tears fell as she hit Qi Yuanhong. She cried as she hit him, saying:
"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have been so soft-hearted as to take you in, or to support your education. Otherwise, how could you have harmed my Yu'er? How could my Yu'er have suffered so much?"
Seeing her like this, Jiang Mingchang also shed tears.
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