Cen was always a sensible person, but at this moment she seemed somewhat disinterested.
The Jiang family has produced military generals for generations, and their education system is unique. In contrast, the Cen family comes from a scholarly family and has no understanding of the discipline of a military family. Moreover, there is a saying in the Jiang family's ancestral motto: "A doting mother spoils her son."
Therefore, she rarely had the opportunity to interfere in her sons' education. However, since these two were twins and her three sons had all become successful, she was able to take these two children into her life and raise them herself.
The Jiang family has four sons and one daughter. Except for the second son, Jiang Chengxiao, who is an illegitimate son and not her biological child.
She had three other sons, but their fingers were of different lengths, just like their feelings for each other.
She gave the most to Jiang Chengyi and spent the most time with him. She hired all the teachers and took care of all his food, clothing and daily necessities.
But she never expected that the youngest son she had raised with such care would be such a person in private, completely different from the mischievous and filial person he usually appeared to her.
"Mother, perhaps my brother just lost his mind for a moment," Jiang Jinyu instinctively tried to persuade him.
Cen waved her hand: "No need to say more. You find it even harder to accept what he did than I do, so there's no need to plead for him."
She sighed, composed herself, and then called Liu Mama in.
"Go and dismiss the young lady and the servants in Fourth Master's courtyard. Tell them I'm happy and will give them some reward money so they can go home and rest. They can come back to serve me in three days. Be quick. Once they're all gone, have someone seal off Fourth Master's courtyard and go to his bedside to get something for me."
Granny Liu was puzzled as to why the madam was making such a big move, but at this moment the madam's face was cold and stern, clearly not the time to explain, she only needed to follow orders.
After Granny Liu left, only the mother and daughter remained in the room once again.
Madam Cen sighed softly: "Yu'er, look at this world. It's clearly your brother who did something wrong, but in order to keep the news from leaking out, I have to act indirectly. I have to have you with him to cover for him, but I can't directly seal off the courtyard, otherwise it will arouse countless suspicions. If some busybodies gossip, they might actually find out some news, and the Marquis's reputation will be ruined as well."
She was clearly teaching her daughter whenever she had a spare moment, and Jiang Jinyu immediately nodded, listening very carefully.
Jiang Chengyi, who was drinking tea in the east room, couldn't sit still at all; the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
It was Jiang Jinyu who suggested going to Qingxi Pavilion to investigate Xu Wanying, but when she actually went there, it didn't come in very useful.
It should be noted that Jiang Jinyu has a sharp tongue. She was trained by the Cen family to always persuade people with reason, and even if her reasoning is flawed, she will cite classical texts to make it difficult for people to refute her.
Previously, when the two of them teamed up to deal with others, he was responsible for acting as the vanguard, while she provided theoretical support from the rear. They were always successful and rarely failed.
He thought that this time his attempt to deal with Xu Wanying would be the same, but the effect was minimal, and he even left with a belly full of anger.
Jiang Jinyu was acting very strangely, and Cen Shi's repeated questioning and fierce protection of Xu Wanying were even more abnormal.
After all, when the two of them went to their maternal grandmother's house, their mother did not like this third sister-in-law. She even thought that Xu Wan had used tricks to marry into the Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion and was a despicable person who was not worthy of her promising third brother.
Upon further reflection, Jiang Chengyi realized that his younger sister wouldn't let him return to his own courtyard. Although he still didn't know what had happened, he felt truly uneasy.
"Zhu Zi, come in." Jiang Chengyi quickly called his personal servant over and whispered a few words of advice in his ear.
"Go, and once you get the item, don't open it; burn it immediately."
"Yes." Zhu Zi accepted the order and hurriedly left.
After two cups of tea, Granny Liu came to report back.
She was holding several bolts of cloth in her arms, which looked quite heavy.
As she walked along the road, a servant offered to deliver the goods, but she politely declined, saying that the materials were quite valuable and could not withstand any bumps or knocks, and no one suspected anything.
Once inside the main courtyard, Granny Liu carefully placed the cloth on the table, tidied it up, and revealed two wooden boxes inside.
"Was it successful?" Cen asked.
"This old servant was just having the courtyard sealed off when Bai Zhi came over. She said that Fourth Master's personal servant, Zhu Zi, had slipped out of Shou Kang Yuan. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to complete the task you assigned, so she hurried over to inform this old servant, fearing that the servant might have taken advantage of the situation."
"The old servant immediately ordered someone to guard the door, and finally caught him through the dog hole in the corner of the wall."
Hearing what Granny Liu said, Madam Cen closed her eyes. Clearly, Jiang Chengyi was feeling guilty and had sensed that something was wrong, so she wanted to destroy these things in advance.
"Go ahead," she waved her hand, dismissing Granny Liu.
Once the room was quiet again, Madam Cen opened the two wooden boxes one by one. Inside, as expected, were a pile of round fans, handkerchiefs, and sachets.
"Look, is this your stuff?" She pushed the box over.
Jiang Jinyu immediately examined it carefully, and a chill instantly ran through her.
It was obvious that all these things belonged to her. Several of the sachets and pouches were from her previous embroidery work, which wasn't very good back then, and the patterns looked somewhat stiff.
She wanted to keep it because it was so meaningful, so that she could compare it with her embroidery skills later and see how much she had improved.
When she tried to look for it, it was gone. At the time, she assumed that her maid had been careless and hadn't put it away properly.
It turns out they were stolen; these two boxes are full of memories.
“It’s mine.” She nodded.
The mother and daughter exchanged a glance, both showing signs of dejection and disappointment on their faces.
Although Cen knew the system never made mistakes, she still clung to a sliver of hope until she saw the evidence.
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