"I'll just say it. Actually, it's nothing serious. At first, I really couldn't stop thinking about her, like I was addicted. I couldn't help but think about her, and I even thought about not caring about anything else and just going to find her. But every time I met my third sister-in-law and heard her and Shenqi making fun of me and mentioning Xing Xiaoya's strangeness, I felt all my passion was extinguished."
Jiang Chengxiao coughed lightly. Since the topic had already come to this point, he no longer hid anything and spoke the truth.
"After that, I gradually stopped thinking that way. You were all there at the time, so you should know how awful my third sister-in-law's words were."
He couldn't help but shrink back when he mentioned this.
Xu Wanying has a truly sharp tongue; she can make people blush without using a single swear word. Even someone with a thick skin can't withstand it.
Even many of the things she says are not fully understandable; just grasping half of them is already quite torturous.
"Ah, so that's how it is. I was wondering why my second brother had stopped coming to dinner after being teased by my third sister-in-law so much. I thought you were just trying to pick a fight because you were still angry about being scolded. But every time my third sister-in-law was secretly laughing at you, you didn't say a word and never made things difficult for her in private." Li Chunlan clapped her hands, a look of sudden realization on her face.
Clearly, she had already harbored doubts and thought that Jiang Chengxiao simply enjoyed hearing others criticize him.
"Sister-in-law, I'm not stupid, how could I possibly like being scolded!" Jiang Chengxiao was quite speechless.
"Was it Wanying's effect that made him sober?" Lu Ling frowned slightly and couldn't help but ask.
“Unfortunately, there’s only one example with my second brother, so we can’t confirm it,” Jiang Jinyu replied.
A hush fell over the front hall; there was indeed no way to verify it.
“Not just one, there’s another one here. Let’s hear from the Marquis.” Cen Ying spoke coldly.
All eyes immediately turned to Marquis Zhongyi. Marquis Zhongyi was watching his second son's misfortune with a sly smile on his face when he heard these words and was immediately stunned.
"Me? What does that have to do with me? I've never even seen Xing Xiaoya's face."
“Although you haven’t seen her face, you’ve seen her back. Judging by the artifact’s assessment of Xing Xiaoya, any man in your Jiang family who has had contact with Xing Xiaoya, even just seeing half of her back, will become curious and attentive to her, unable to stop thinking about her day and night, and willingly fall for her.” Cen Ying didn’t believe him at all, and instead refuted him with reason and evidence.
However, Marquis Zhongyi still waved his hand and said firmly, "That's what they say, but I didn't see her either. I was interrupted by the third brother before I even saw her."
"What the artifact said is quite right. The third brother is like a mad dog to Xing Xiaoya, especially protective of his food."
To increase the credibility of his words, he steered the conversation toward Jiang Chengli.
Cen Ying immediately cast a cold glance at him, "My lord, you should know very well how wicked Xing Xiaoya is. After she got the second prince to have contact with her once, he could only treat her—"
At this point, she immediately stopped, swallowing back the words "had a reaction," and changed her words to: "If you develop feelings for her and then have contact with her, you will probably show other signs as well. Besides, there are the eldest and fourth sons. None of the men in your Jiang family can escape. If you don't tell the truth now and something happens, you probably won't be able to face your ancestors later."
Cen Ying raised the issue to a much higher level, fully demonstrating the seriousness of the matter.
Marquis Zhongyi also put away his impatient expression and said with a helpless look, "Madam, can't you wait a little longer? I will tell you the truth in private, why do you have to do it in front of the children?"
He wasn't planning to lie all the way through; he just wanted to confess in private. But Cen Ying had already made things so clear, so there was no need to hide it any longer.
“Father, what are you saying? With the divine artifact and your third sister-in-law around, haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough in front of us? I regret returning to the capital so late; I must have missed many of your wonderful experiences,” Jiang Chengxiao immediately said.
His father's mocking attitude earlier was too obvious. Now that he had finally found a weakness, he naturally couldn't let it go easily and had to make a good laugh at him.
"You damned bastard!" Marquis Zhongyi was so angry that he jumped up and down.
"Second brother, say less. We need to focus on important matters." Jiang Chengzong, who had been silent until now, couldn't help but come over to advise him.
Of the four brothers in the family, Jiang Chengxiao was the most like the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness. They were very similar in both their romantic nature and their personalities and temperaments.
Therefore, these two are most likely to start arguing, and if the situation is allowed to continue, it will probably never end.
"My lord, please speak," Cen Ying urged from the side.
"My feelings weren't as clear as the second brother's, perhaps because I had only seen Xing Xiaoya from afar and didn't have a strong desire to see her. But in the days after I returned from Wutong Street, I did often recall her back view, and even felt like a young boy, wondering what she looked like. I even thought about going to see her, but then I gave up on that idea."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Cen Ying eagerly asked, "Is it because of Wan Ying and the divine artifact?"
Marquis Zhongyi frowned, looking troubled, clearly deep in thought.
"I didn't take it to heart at the time, after all, I could suppress those thoughts. Besides, my third daughter-in-law and Shenqi kept bringing up my old stories every now and then, so I couldn't be sure." In the end, he still didn't give a definite answer.
The other members of the Jiang family, who had been eagerly anticipating this, immediately became somewhat dejected upon hearing this.
"Father, please think about it again. This is a very important matter," Jiang Jinyu couldn't help but urge.
“Your father is old, how could he remember clearly? You have a good memory, so think about it for me. When have your third sister-in-law and Shenqi not made fun of me?” Marquis Zhongyi said irritably.
Jiang Jinyu shut her mouth. Third Sister-in-law really loved watching the excitement, and recently, the artifact was more obedient to Third Sister-in-law than before. The two of them would always get together to chat about these little secrets.
"Father, it's because you have so many romantic escapades, I can never finish telling them, and you always come up with new ones. Last time, Lord Li wanted to curry favor with you and arranged for you to be with a Yangzhou courtesan. How exactly did you arrange it? My third sister-in-law and Shenqi left halfway through their conversation, and I didn't hear the rest. I've been curious about it these past few days!"
Jiang Chengxiao took the opportunity to come out and gather information, his face full of anticipation as he asked questions.
This time, the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness could no longer hold back and jumped up to slap him on the back.
"You scoundrel, it's all because of you. Your third sister-in-law hadn't asked about me for a long time, but because you came back and brought up a series of romantic affairs, you've drawn her and Shenqi's attention back, and they've been chatting about it all day long!"
"Father, you're not clean yourself, so why are you blaming me? Look at my elder brother, he's clean and tidy, and Shenqi never mentions him!" Jiang Chengxiao said, feeling very wronged.
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