After the system finished speaking, Xu Wanying remained silent for a long time until she suddenly uttered a sound.
Wait a minute, what do you mean? This young master of the Wei family is the real Jiang Chengyi?
The other women in the Jiang family had different expressions on their faces. Cen held Jiang Jinyu's hand tightly, her knuckles turning white. Both mother and daughter were very nervous.
The system confirmed: [Yes, Wei Sheng and Jiang Chengyi were switched at birth, and their fates were completely altered.]
Upon hearing this answer, Cen couldn't help but sway her body twice, almost losing her balance, feeling as if her heart was about to jump out of her chest.
Jiang Jinyu, who was standing next to her, helped her up, though her eyes were also a little red.
The mother and daughter were in a state of confusion, unable to understand why the two cousins had been switched.
"Stop it! Stop hitting me!"
Before Cen could figure things out, she heard Cen Jie's heart-wrenching roar again, and saw Cen Jie suddenly rush over and shield Jiang Chengyi with her body.
Before Wei Sheng could react, the stick had already fallen. By the time he tried to pull back, it was too late. It struck Cen Jie squarely in the back, and she screamed in pain.
Wei Sheng hit hard; the blow made Cen Jie see stars. She gritted her teeth and lay motionless on Jiang Chengyi.
"Auntie, are you alright?"
Jiang Chengyi waited for a moment, and seeing that Wei Sheng was wary and finally stopped fighting, she immediately pretended to be concerned and asked.
Sure enough, his words instantly jolted Cen Jie awake. With her hands supporting her on the ground and the help of her maids, she finally managed to get up, albeit shakily.
Before she could even stand up straight, her hand was already raised, and she slapped him hard across the face.
"You beast, how dare you hit your own mother! I'll beat you to death, you unfilial and disobedient brat!" Cen Jie slapped him twice across the face.
She clenched her teeth, and the veins on her forehead bulged out, clearly showing that she was using all her strength.
Wei Sheng was dazed from the beating and staggered backward, covering his face as he stared blankly at the crazed woman in front of him.
Cen Jie was rather cold towards him, but after all, he often heard the saying "a doting mother spoils her son," so Wei Sheng could understand his mother's coldness, perhaps because she was afraid of fostering his spoiled nature.
In his memory, Cen Jie was always calm and restrained. Even though she was born into a family of illegitimate children, she was still a well-bred lady from a scholarly family. She acted appropriately and was aloof and noble.
But now, this calm and composed woman has completely turned into a madwoman for the sake of someone else's son, even slapping him hard across the face twice and cursing him as a beast.
"Mother, you hit me for him? Does our Wei family have to beg the Marquis of Zhongyi's family for our status? That you have to protect us personally? If I hadn't held back at the last moment, you might have already vomited blood." He asked in grief and indignation.
Even now, he had never doubted Cen Jie's identity, only believing that the Wei family wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion, which was why they were protecting Jiang Chengyi so much.
Cen Jie felt guilty, but as his mother, she stood on the moral high ground, and a single word of "filial impiety" could crush him.
"You're still blaming me? How many times have I told you to stop, but you've been deaf. If I hadn't stopped you, Yi-ge'er would probably be dead by now, right? Do you want to kill someone in public? I'm doing this for your own good!" She straightened her back, took two steps forward, and spoke aggressively, forcing Wei Sheng to retreat repeatedly.
"That's because he deserved it. Do you know what he said? He insulted my little sister—"
Before Wei Sheng could finish his explanation, Cen Jie rudely interrupted him: "Enough! Stop making excuses. Yi-ge'er is a good boy. You're just jealous that he comes from a better family than you and is better than you in every way. You even dare to call him a rat. I think you're the one who's more like it—"
Looking at the two clear handprints on Wei Sheng's face, Cen felt a surge of anger rising in her chest, and all the blood in her body rushing to her head.
She strode forward, grabbed Cen Jie, and slapped her twice across the face.
Cen Jie was at her most excited, but before she could even utter the last two words, her head was buzzing and her vision went black.
Cen Jie swayed twice, and before she could react, her collar was grabbed.
Cen tried to slap her again, but before she could land two slaps, her wrists were grabbed.
"Aunt, you, you—" Wei Sheng was completely stunned. He was the one who was slapped by his own mother, but then Cheng Yaojin appeared out of nowhere and now it was Cen Jie who was slapped by Cen Ying.
He stammered for a long time without uttering a complete sentence, mainly because he was completely bewildered and had no idea why things were going so strangely.
"The first thing I'll teach you is this: if anyone ever wrongs you or even hits you, no matter how right they are, you must hit them back." Cen Ying's eyes were bloodshot, and she was trembling all over.
She spoke these words almost slowly, one word at a time. It was a very short sentence, but she spoke it very slowly, and her voice was even trembling. When she finished the last few words, tears welled up in her eyes.
Looking at the tall but thin boy in front of her, she wanted to rush up and hug him, and ask him how he had been all these years.
But she didn't dare ask, because she already knew the answer.
How could they possibly live well?
Cen Ying knew some of the messy things that had happened in the Wei family.
Wei Sheng, as the only legitimate son of the Wei family, was quite unpopular.
Cen Ying had attended several banquets at the Wei family's home, and each time she could see the Wei couple disliking Wei Sheng. They would say that Wei Sheng was dull-witted, stubborn, and had a terrible temper, and then use him as a negative example to praise Jiang Chengyi.
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