Chapter 376 I Hate You All
As soon as Magistrate Jiang finished speaking, he realized what he had said and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
Shen Chu chuckled lightly, "It seems that Lord Jiang acknowledges everything I just said."
Prefect Jiang's cheek muscles twitched a few times, and he pursed his lips without saying a word.
Shen Chu continued, "It's alright if Lord Jiang doesn't want to talk about it. Let's continue with your son's matter."
After you passed the imperial examination, you happened to encounter a man in the capital who was looking for a son-in-law, so you married the wife of a wealthy man in the capital.
Later, with the help of your wife's family, you were assigned a very good official position.
Logically, once you've reached this point, your life should be smooth sailing, and you should be living a happy and fulfilling life.
But soon after the marriage you discover that your wife has been having an affair with someone else behind your back, and that she has ruined her health and is unable to have children.
You were filled with resentment. Your wife knew she was in the wrong, so she took in several concubines for you, but none of them could bear you a child.
Later, you secretly went to see a doctor and found out that your... penis was short and small, and you also had some deficiencies in that area, meaning you'll never be able to have children, right?
This is a sore point for any man.
Prefect Jiang clenched his fists, unable to contain his anger, and slammed his fist on the table.
"Shut up!"
His eyes were wide open, and his teeth were grinding together in anger.
"This world is so unfair. I lost both my parents when I was young and was bullied by others. Later, my aunt took me in."
After finally enjoying two years of good life, they encountered bandits while traveling.
It's my brother....."
Prefect Jiang's eyes turned bloodshot, as if memories of his childhood's horrors were resurfacing. He murmured:
"How could I not be able to do it? It's because one of the thieves kicked me in a vital spot and then tried to cut me with a knife."
It was my brother who risked his life, lying on top of me and taking two knife wounds for me, which is how I survived.
My brother and I were lucky to survive. My brother said I was smart and that I must study so that I could make something of myself in the future.
Do you know how difficult it is for one child to support another?
Prefect Jiang seemed to have given up resisting, tears streaming down his face.
"My brother was willing to do any kind of work to support my education, as long as he was paid."
Later, as I needed more and more money for my studies, he became a monk for me, simply because temples were popular with worshippers and he could earn more money there.
I gritted my teeth and passed the imperial examination, thinking that my brother and I had finally overcome our hardships. However, my brother left the temple without leaving any news, simply because I was going to marry a woman from a wealthy family and he didn't want anyone to know that I had a brother who was a monk.
But how pathetic are these noble families? They think that it's a blessing for a poor boy like me to marry a woman who had eloped with someone.
Bah! How dare they insult me like that? I endured it all for the sake of this marriage, and I didn't even go to see my brother.
How could they insult me like that?
Madam Jiang appeared at the doorway at some point, her face pale as she looked at Prefect Jiang. Her lips trembled, and it took her a long time to utter a single sentence.
"Since you know all about my past, why won't you divorce me?"
Prefect Jiang's expression changed several times, but he remained silent.
Shen Chu sneered, "That's because he still needs your family's money to pave the way for his future."
Prefect Jiang's face turned a deep purplish-red as he glared hatefully at Shen Chu.
Madame Chiang stared at him blankly, as if she were seeing the man before her for the first time.
"I always thought that after being married for so many years, we had some kind of mutual support, but I never expected that you only had the intention to take advantage of me and my family."
I never imagined that in your eyes, I was just a lowly woman.
Prefect Jiang's expression was somewhat ferocious. "Ha, how could your family ever respect me?"
Back then, when they were choosing a son-in-law after the imperial examinations, so many people ranked higher than me, why did they pick me? Wasn't it because they saw through me as a powerless nobody, someone your family could easily manipulate?
Madame Chiang wiped away her tears, her eyebrows furrowing in anger.
"Pah! My family clearly asked for your opinion before the marriage, and you personally agreed."
"That's because I don't dare to resist. Your family is so powerful and wealthy. If I resist, your family might ruin my future."
"You're talking nonsense. My family doesn't have that kind of people at all."
"Pshaw, that's just your opinion. Your father and brother only want to find a son-in-law who is a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) to cover up the shameful things you did in the past."
How could they possibly let me leave? They even think that by marrying you to me, I'm getting a good deal.
"If it weren't for the fact that you can't have children, they wouldn't feel guilty enough to willingly pay money to help me out."
Madame Chiang was so angry that her face turned ashen, her whole body trembled, and she almost collapsed.
Shen Chu continued, "Because your wife couldn't have children, Jue Ming happened to have a child with someone else."
It's inconvenient for a monk to raise a child unless the child grows up in the temple from a young age, and you happen to need a child to carry on the family line.
So Jueming gave the child to you, and you named him Jiang Xun, and naturally raised Jiang Xun as your legitimate son.
Later, you came to Yangzhou to serve as the prefect, and together with Jueming, you began to make huge profits by using human skin.
But deep down, you all knew that the truth would eventually come out, so you kept everything from Chiang Hsun.
Even for Chiang Hsun's future, she went to great lengths to help him marry Commander He's daughter.
The idea was that he could have a powerful in-law family, so that if their affair came to light in the future, the in-law family could protect Chiang Hsun.
But you didn't know that Chiang Hsun actually knew about this a long time ago, did you?
Prefect Jiang looked up and saw Jiang Xun being led in by the Flying Eagle Guards, his eyes red as he looked at him.
At just one glance, Prefect Jiang knew that Jiang Xun truly knew the truth about the son he had raised with his own hands.
His beard twitched, and his face turned ashen.
"Xun'er, when did you find out?"
Jiang Xun's eyes flickered, and he dared not look directly into his eyes.
“I once went to Qingshan Temple and overheard your conversation with Jueming.”
"That happened more than a month ago." Prefect Jiang looked shocked; he hadn't noticed anything at all.
Chiang Hsun's face was gloomy, tinged with resentment.
"From childhood to adulthood, I have always been proud of being the son of the prefect, but in reality, I am an illegitimate child born from an adulterous affair between a monk and another man."
When I heard the news, I felt like the sky had fallen, and I didn't even dare to let He Wei go out.
I was afraid that she would find out from outside that I was a bastard and would look down on me.
I hate the unfairness of the world. Why did I have to be born a bastard?
I hate you even more. Why did you do so many heinous things? If you did them, why couldn't you have done them more discreetly?
You have committed countless evil deeds, why must you implicate me as well? I hate you all.
Prefect Jiang looked at Jiang Xun in disbelief, his face flashing with a mixture of emotions including astonishment, shock, regret, and anger.
He simply couldn't believe these words came from the mouth of his son, whom he had doted on for over a decade.
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