She was the only daughter in the Jiang family. Jiang Mingyi was the second son, while the eldest son, Jiang Mingli, and the other two half-brothers all had sons. Therefore, she was the eldest daughter of the Jiang family and also the eldest daughter of Jiang Mingyi.
Then, pointing to the baby in swaddling clothes, she said, "She is my father's third child. Whether it's the Jiang family or the second branch of the Jiang family, she can't be the eldest. My mother is my father's lawfully wedded wife, so there's no such thing as the eldest legitimate daughter."
These words caused an uproar among the ladies present.
Most of them only knew that the princess had traveled to Dingzhou last year and then married the second son of the Earl of Yong'an, who was known as the most talented man in Dingzhou. Shortly afterward, the eldest son of the Earl of Yong'an, Jiang Mingli, was transferred to the position of Minister of Revenue, and after the New Year, the whole family moved back to the capital.
They would never believe it if you told them that Jiang Mingli's promotion had nothing to do with Princess Qingping.
However, since the Jiang family of Yong'an Marquis was located far away in Dingzhou, the people in the capital city knew very little about the Jiang family.
Moreover, Princess Qingping heard on her way back to the capital in early March that she had suffered a miscarriage due to the bumpy journey, and gave birth to this eldest daughter prematurely a few days after arriving in the capital.
So we've been cherishing her all this time, and we didn't even hold a baby shower or a full moon celebration. Instead, we had her 100-day banquet today.
Did Jiang Mingyi have a wife before? What happened to her? Was she divorced or abandoned? Did the princess have anything to do with the divorced wife?
Everyone was immediately lost in their own thoughts.
The wife of Minister Guo quickly apologized, "It was my mistake, my mistake!"
Jiang Mingyi's eyes widened as if he'd seen a ghost. "What nonsense are you spouting?! You Ran, stop fooling around here."
He took two steps to reach out and pull Xiao Youran away, but Xiao Youran dodged him with two light steps.
Princess Qingping shouted angrily, "Where did you come from, you wild girl?! How dare you cause trouble in my residence?! Guards! Throw her out of here!"
As long as she doesn't admit it, this wild girl can't be Jiang Youran!
The stewardess following behind was sweating profusely. "Princess, this is...is...is Princess Fengle."
Although she was just a minor county magistrate, the old woman didn't dare to kick her out so easily.
Otherwise, how did she get in?
Everyone was shocked again. This Princess Fengle, who had become famous in the capital for nearly half a month, was actually a five-year-old girl.
Moreover, she is the daughter of Princess Qingping's newlywed husband.
Hehehe, this is some pretty big gossip to watch today!
Princess Rong naturally knew that her son-in-law had a son and a daughter from a previous marriage, and she had also heard from her daughter about the Jiang family's handling of the situation. Although she did not agree with destroying someone's marriage and taking a life, her own daughter was ultimately more important. Besides, by the time she found out, they had already acted first and informed her later, making it a done deal. She had no choice but to acquiesce, which was why she disliked her son-in-law so much.
Furthermore, since her son-in-law's elder brother was promoted to Minister of Revenue, a position she had secured only through her daughter's persistent petition to her father, she looked down on this in-law even more.
On such an important day, let's see how the son-in-law handles it.
So she raised her hand to suppress her daughter, who was trembling with anger. "Wait a minute, it's Princess Fengle. Since you're here, please take a seat."
Princess Qingping looked at her mother in astonishment, but she couldn't swallow her anger. "You're just a county princess. Most of the women here are ladies of noble birth, and none of them are of higher rank than you. The elders are all standing, so if you have something to say, just stand there and say it."
Xiao Youran curtsied to Princess Rong, "This must be the stepmother's mother of the princess, and thus my step-grandmother. Youran greets you here."
He kept referring to her as his stepmother and step-grandmother, which made Princess Qingping want to vomit blood. She glared fiercely at Jiang Mingyi.
Jiang Mingyi went up to Xiao Youran, grabbed her sleeve, and was about to walk out when he said, "Youran, let's talk outside."
Little Youran remained unmoved, easily shaking off her scumbag father's hand. She asked innocently, "Father, although Mother and I are divorced, my brother and I still share the surname Jiang. How could you move your entire family from Dingzhou to the capital without telling us? If we had known sooner, we wouldn't have had to spend so much money to buy that old royal residence..."
Seeing that she was starting to speak irrationally, Jiang Mingyi turned back to pull her away. This time, Xiao Youran took light steps, dodging as she continued her tirade, "Besides, now that my stepmother has entered the family, my brother and I should at least offer her a cup of tea. Although you and stepmother got married last July, and we've already arrived in the capital, Father, you should have told us beforehand so we could have waited until she entered the family and offered her tea before heading to the capital. Or you could have told us your plans beforehand, and we could have waited until March of this year to come here with you. How did things come to this point, with stepmother not even knowing if this younger sister is the eldest daughter? Isn't this just making us a laughingstock?"
After saying this, Jiang Mingyi had already circled around the crowd several times, but still couldn't catch her.
Little Youran kept chattering, "Or are you saying that you actually considered my brother and sister dead a long time ago, and that's why you only treated my sister as the eldest daughter? You have no idea how much we've suffered these past six months..."
These words revealed a great deal of information, leaving the ladies stunned as they tried to process it.
Lady Yong'an, seeing this, flew into a rage and grabbed at him, yelling, "You little wild girl, what nonsense are you spouting?! Get out of here right now..."
Little Youran circled the pillar with a grin, "Grandmother, what brings you here? It would be even better if you were here. Tell me, are my brother's and my names still on the Jiang family genealogy? You want to make this hundred-day-old baby the eldest daughter of the princess, have you asked our Jiang family ancestors if they agree?"
Lady Yong'an cursed, "When we go back to pay respects to our ancestors during Qingming Festival, I will have the clan elders remove you from the family register."
Xiao Youran suddenly froze, her eyes reddening, tears streaming down her face. Her expression was one of shock and sorrow. "What?! Why? Grandmother, what did my brother and I do wrong? Why are you going to expel us?"
The ladies and young women were also shocked. In this era, clan consciousness was deeply ingrained. Only those who committed heinous crimes would be expelled from their clan. Men without a clan could not enter officialdom and would be looked down upon; for women, being expelled from the clan was tantamount to ruining their marriage and their future.
Faced with Xiao Youran's questioning, Lady Yong'an grabbed the little girl and said fiercely, "Your very existence is a sin!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she herself was stunned, not to mention others.
This isn't Dingzhou; it's not a place where she can talk nonsense!
In Dingzhou, the Yong'an Earl's Mansion was the local tyrant, capable of handling any situation.
This is Kyoto, a city where a single tile falling from the roof could potentially hit a member of the imperial family.
She can no longer speak so recklessly as she did in Dingzhou.
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