"You haven't even married your bride yet, but you already have a concubine. How are you going to tell this to the Duke of Dongping's family?" Duke Anguo looked unhappy.
Wei sneered: "After the generation of the Duke of Dongping, the title of the Duke of Dongping will be gone, and then they will be no different from ordinary people. His daughter lost her mother when she was young. Does she need to take advantage of Qiao to marry into our Duke's Mansion?"
After hearing this, Duke Anguo became even more dissatisfied: "That's not what you said—"
"Master, can't you see that Sanlang has grown up and has his own ideas. He can't be controlled by sticks. If we don't allow him to be with Qiaoniang, he might really do something stupid again." Wei raised her hand to wipe away her tears. "If anything happens to Sanlang, I can't live anymore--"
Seeing that the Duke of Anguo was still hesitant, Wei said angrily, "My Lord, she is just a concubine. What's the big deal? Don't worry about the affairs of the inner house. Leave it to me."
Duke Anguo sighed and said, "Well, go to the Duke of Dongping's mansion tomorrow morning and have a good talk with him."
"Don't worry, sir. I will take care of this matter. Let's go in and see Sanlang first."
At night, Ji Chongyi had a fever, and Wei was so worried that she could not sleep well all night. The next morning, when Guo, the wife of the prince of Anguo, came to pay her respects, she said to her, "I think you have heard about what happened last night. Please go to the Dongping Marquis's mansion on my behalf."
After hearing what Wei said, Guo felt a little embarrassed but did not dare to refuse and hurried to make arrangements.
Wei leaned against the ink-painting pillow and closed her eyes.
Dalang's wife was the wife of the prince of the Duke's Mansion, and letting her go through this process was already giving enough face to the Dongping Marquis' Mansion. As long as they could marry the fourth girl Jiang quickly, this storm would be over.
The breakfast stall at the entrance of Yuqian Hutong has been set up, and there are many people gathered in front of the stall. The new day starts with a bowl of tofu pudding with shredded black fungus and tender pork.
A scream broke the early morning tranquility of the Dongping Marquis's Mansion.
Ah Man hurried into the room and said, "Girl, the master is beating the second young master."
Jiang Si stood up from the dressing table and walked out.
"Girl, this is not the way to Ci Xin Hall—" Aqiao reminded.
Ci Xin Hall was the residence of the old lady of the Earl of Dongping. Normally, the girls should go to their mothers every morning and then go to Ci Xin Hall with their mothers to pay their respects to the old lady. However, Jiang Si lost her mother at a young age, and her eldest sister, who was born to the same mother, had already left the palace, so she went there alone every day.
"Let's go check on the Second Young Master first." Jiang Si quickened his pace.
Ah Qiao became more and more puzzled and couldn't help but glance at Ah Man.
Ah Man was also confused and shook his head gently.
When the girl was less than ten years old, she was the best friend of the Second Young Master and they often played together. But as she grew older, she became estranged from the Second Young Master, especially in the past two years, she barely spoke to the Second Young Master when she saw him.
The girl was a little abnormal today.
It is said that a person's temperament may change drastically when he is stimulated. The girl was quite stimulated last night.
The two maids thought of this at the same time, and became more and more resentful towards Ji Chongyi, the third son of the Duke of Anguo's Mansion.
There are four young masters in the Dongping Marquis's Mansion. Except for the fourth young master who is still young and still lives in the backyard, the other three young masters are all arranged with separate courtyards in the front yard. Jiang Zhan lives in Tingzhuju.
Jiang Sicai walked to the gate of the courtyard when he heard a strong scolding voice: "Little beast, I was wondering why you were quiet recently, but it turns out that you sneaked out of the dog hole and did evil things. Don't you like crawling through dog holes? Today I will beat you worse than the stray dogs on the street!"
"Stray dogs are not terrible." A weak voice followed closely, and then the voice turned into a scream, "Father, please be gentle, don't hit my face, don't hit my face - Hey, my fourth sister is here."
The man who was chasing Jiang Zhan and beating him up had a tall figure. He kicked him when he heard this and said, "Why is your fourth sister here? You little bastard, you still want to fool me!"
Jiang Si saw this and said, "Father——"
The tall figure stiffened and slowly turned around.
The moment Dongping Earl Jiang Ancheng saw his little daughter, his expression softened, even a little flattering: "Why are you here, Si'er?"
"I heard that father was educating my second brother, so I came to see what's going on." Jiang Si replied to Jiang Ancheng and looked at Jiang Zhan.
The boy, who was about sixteen or seventeen years old, had reached the stage of growing taller, and was as tall and straight as a bamboo pole. Even though he looked a little wolfish due to being chased, he was still handsome and striking.
Jiang Zhan is like Jiang Si, and looks like his mother.
Jiang Si knelt slightly towards Jiang Zhan, "Second brother, are you okay?"
Jiang Zhan suddenly widened his eyes, and his ears turned red when he met Jiang's gaze. He waved his hands and said, "Don't worry, sister. I can run fast."
"You little beast, are you proud of your fast running speed?" Jiang Ancheng's anger, which had finally subsided, was ignited again because of Jiang Zhan's words.
Jiang Zhan subconsciously wanted to run, but he couldn't lose his spirit when he thought of his sister watching him. He held back and said, "Father, please calm down. I have a thick skin. Even if you don't feel any pain when you hit me, be careful not to scare my sister."
His sister actually smiled at him today. It was worth it even if he got beaten worse than a dog by his father.
Thinking of this, Jiang Zhan felt a little sour in the tip of his nose and quickly looked away, fearing that Jiang Si would notice.
Jiang Si also felt very sad at this time.
Within a few months, her brother fell into the water and died while boating with his friends. At that time, the government closed the case as an accident, but later she found out that there was another hidden story behind her brother's death.
Now she not only has to save her brother's life, but also make sure those who killed her brother receive the punishment they deserve.
"You little bastard, it's fine if you're happy to crawl through the dog hole, but have you ever thought about what to do if a thief comes in through the dog hole?"
Jiang Zhan raised his hand and touched his forehead.
My father's worries are justified. He was attacked by thieves with bricks last night. However, this must not be told!
"The dog hole has been blocked. My son will never go through that again."
Jiang Ancheng snorted through his nose.
If his daughter hadn't been here, he wouldn't have been able to use his divine power. He would have definitely broken the brat's legs.
"Has Si'er had breakfast yet?"
"Not yet. I'm going to pay my respects to my grandmother before I go back. Father, do you want to go to Cixin Hall with your daughter to pay your respects?"
Seeing Jiang Si looking at him expectantly, Jiang Ancheng said without hesitation: "Let's go together."
His little daughter had never been very close to him since she was little, and this was the first time that his daughter looked at him with such expectant eyes.
Jiang Si smiled.
She was so ignorant at first, and she despised her father for being incompetent, unlike her next-door neighbor, Earl Yongchang, who had made great contributions to continue the family's title, which caused her to be looked down upon. However, she forgot that her father's love for her was priceless.
"Si'er, why don't you leave?"
"Let's go." Jiang Si followed, holding up the hem of her skirt.
On this day in the previous life, the Anguo Mansion sent the Crown Prince's wife, Guo, to discuss the advancement of the two families' marriage. At that time, the incident of my brother being discovered crawling through a dog hole had not been reported. My father had gone out early in the morning, and my grandmother agreed without waiting for my father to come back to discuss it.
She still remembered that when her father came back and heard about this, he was furious and even had a quarrel with his grandmother, and then came to ask her what she thought.
At that time, she said naively: "Is it possible that my daughter is no better than a dead person? A good marriage has been called off. Can my father find a better marriage for my daughter?"
My father was silent, and his back seemed to have aged several years as he left.
It's a pity that she was born with a pair of beautiful eyes at that time, but she couldn't see what was most important.
"Father, Fourth Sister, wait for me, I want to go too."