In fact, there are many things that even Grandma Hong and Doctor Gu don't know the inside story about.
Grandma Jiang sighed, "This is all old news, so why even begin to talk about it?"
Li Xiangdong stopped her, "Some things are best left in the past. If thinking about them makes you uncomfortable, let's not mention them."
Facing her thoughtful little apprentice, Grandma Jiang smiled wistfully, waved her hand, and said, "I'm not feeling unwell, it's just that some things make me feel nauseous when I think about them."
Li Xiangdong got off the kang (heated brick bed) and quickly brewed a cup of chrysanthemum and jujube seed tea for Grandma Jiang.
In the rising steam, he heard a story that was both bizarre and common in that era.
In 1916, Jiang Ying, the matriarch of the Jiang family, was born into a wealthy family in Yanjing City. She was the first child of the Jiang family patriarch.
However, her birth brought no joy, but rather Master Jiang's fury.
Upon hearing the midwife congratulate him on the birth of his daughter, Master Jiang lost his temper and smashed a Ru ware teacup. "Didn't they say it was a son?!"
The midwife had hoped to get some lucky money, but seeing his expression, she knew she wouldn't get anything and left sheepishly.
Mr. Jiang didn't even enter the room where the woman in labor was staying; he simply turned around and left the house.
“These things were told to me by my mother’s wet nurse. She said that my father’s reaction at the time made her furious.”
Jiang Ying said calmly, "Actually, not to mention in that era, even now, the idea that having a daughter is a money-losing proposition is still deeply rooted."
"But why is my mother so angry?"
"Yes, why?"
Jiang Ying rubbed her pillow. "Because my father's sister became a warlord's concubine, he, a widower in his forties who had lost his wife, suddenly became rich."
Jiang Ying's father was originally a farmer in the countryside. One day, when his younger sister, who was more than 20 years younger than him, went to the fields to deliver food to him, she was kidnapped by a group of defeated soldiers.
Wow, this girl is only sixteen years old and has just gotten engaged!
Jiang Ying's father was just a peasant, and when his sister cried her heart out after being taken away, he didn't dare to raise his hoe.
What can we do?
What could he do?
Misfortune seemed to descend upon the Jiang family from that moment on.
Not long after, his two sons were beaten to death while they were in town to buy things, and his wife contracted tuberculosis and quickly became skin and bones. Then one night, she died silently.
"Later, my father would cry about his two sons who were already adults but were beaten to death after drinking!"
Jiang Ying gave a bitter smile.
Jiang Ying's father, who became a widower, lost all hope of living overnight. He just drifted through each day, farming, eating, and sleeping in a daze.
Who would have thought that a year later, his fortunes would take a turn for the better!
It was a summer evening when Jiang Ying's father, who had just returned from the fields, suddenly noticed a group of soldiers with long braids standing neatly in front of his yard!
Jiang Ying's father was so frightened that his legs went weak. He wanted to turn around and run away, but he couldn't move his body at all.
Just then, the door opened, and a familiar figure suddenly appeared inside.
"Little, Little Cui'er?"
Jiang Ying's father asked tentatively.
Jiang Xiaocui was dressed in the most gorgeous clothes at the moment. She wiped away her tears and said, "Big brother, it's me!"
The brother and sister talked for a long time. It turned out that after Jiang Xiaocui was kidnapped that day, she was quickly handed over to a junior officer.
When the young officer saw Jiang Xiaocui's appearance clearly, he was shocked. He quickly asked his wife to come and comfort her, and dressed her in fine clothes, saying that he wanted to recognize her as his god-sister.
Later, in a daze, Xiao Cui'er was carried into the Marshal's Mansion.
It turns out that Xiao Cui'er looks very much like one of the recently deceased concubines of Marshal Xun.
As a result, Xiao Cui'er gained the favor of Marshal Xun and became the most popular person in the Marshal's mansion. Even her godbrother-in-law benefited a lot from her popularity.
"Brother, I'm going to Yanjing with the General in a couple of days. Come with me! You'll enjoy endless riches and honors there!"
This was something that Marshal Xun only agreed to after Jiang Xiaocui had begged him for a year or two.
Why would Jiang Ying's father disagree? He was overjoyed and went with his sister.
At that time, Jiang Ying's maternal grandfather's family had been running a pawnshop for generations and was one of the most prominent in Yanjing City. However, his family's backer died suddenly, and before he could find another backer, he was targeted by Marshal Xun.
He sent his adjutant to his brother-in-law's house to ask him to marry the only daughter of the Jiang family, an eighteen-year-old girl in the prime of her youth who was studying at a Western-style school.
As it turns out, no amount of money is of any use in the face of power and guns.
Jiang Ying's maternal grandfather soon passed away, and Jiang Ying's father successfully married his young wife, and from then on, he moved into the Jiang family home openly.
"Later on, all the servants in the Jiang family left, leaving only my mother's wet nurse."
Jiang Ying spoke calmly, as if she were talking about someone else's affairs, "In that turbulent era, it was very common for many families to rise and fall suddenly."
"But there are countless ways for them to seize my maternal grandfather's property. Why did they have to force my mother to marry him? They ruined my mother's life and made her a victim of a little bit of power's willfulness."
Jiang Ying's mother was a beautiful and very talented woman.
In fact, many of Jiang Ying's current hobbies and books are inherited from her mother.
Jiang Ying's father kept finding women outside to have sons, while Jiang Ying's mother was happy to raise her daughter alone.
For some reason, his father just couldn't have a child, and even after working for over fifty years, not a single egg had hatched.
“My mother later told me that she gave my father sterilization drugs after I was born.”
Li Xiangdong gave a thumbs up, "Our grandmaster is indeed a decisive and ruthless female lead!"
Only in this way, even though the Jiang family, which had lost most of its wealth to Marshal Xun, was still a much larger family than a starved camel, could it possibly fall into Jiang Ying's hands.
However, at that time, Jiang Ying's father thought he was too old to have children, so he set his sights on his sixteen-year-old daughter.
That's right, it's the same idea as Liu Gaifeng's parents: to have Jiang Ying find a son-in-law to live with them and carry on the Jiang family line.
The choice of this son-in-law was carefully selected by Jiang Ying's father.
Hancheng.
Han Cheng was Jiang Ying's deskmate. His family was poor, and his father supported his schooling by working for others.
"At the time, Han Cheng was good-looking, had a clean background, and his grades were decent, so I agreed."
Jiang Ying picked up her jujube seed tea and took a sip. "People's hearts are fickle! I married him, but we didn't have any children for two or three years. Later, the situation in Yanjing changed several times a day, and the Marshal's power was no longer in Yanjing. My father ended up in the same situation as my maternal grandfather."
"Later, Han Cheng somehow got involved with the Japanese, and from then on, he became the master of the Jiang family."
“He had a son and a daughter with someone else, and he brought them to my house without any ceremony. My father insisted that I acknowledge them.”
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