Get beaten
In the main hall of the Jiang family, everyone heard that the second young lady who had married into the general's mansion had returned. A lot of maids and servants gathered at the door, peeking and hoping to get some of the second young lady's attention and see the legendary Young Master Lin.
Unfortunately, He Lin did not travel with Jiang Yi this time.
Master Jiang was originally swaggering around the shop checking the account books when his servant told him that Jiang Yi had returned. He hurried home in a sedan chair, swaying all the way.
"Oh, Master, you're finally back! Look at our Second Miss! Does she think she's become a phoenix on a branch just because she married into the General's Mansion? She really doesn't respect me, her stepmother, at all! Master, you must stand up for me!"
Madam Meng Jin, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Jiang family, was enjoying her tea when she saw Jiang Musong enter the house from afar. She glanced at Jiang Yi, hurriedly put down her cup, and ran out to complain.
"What decisions are you making? Yi'er is back, but has her mother arrived yet?"
Meng Jin rolled her eyes, wiped her nose with a handkerchief as if to cover up, and said, "What right does Song Xuqiu, a mere concubine, have to enter the main hall?"
"What kind of time is this to be talking about these things? Quickly send someone to the backyard to inform her, so that people don't laugh at our Jiang family."
Meng Jin gave a soft snort and winked at her personal maid.
When Jiang Musong walked in, Jiang Yi was still sitting calmly drinking tea, as if she hadn't seen him. This directly confirmed Meng Jin's accusation of disrespecting elders.
Jiang Yi came to the Jiang residence today not only to see the original owner's mother, but also mainly to help the original owner vent her anger.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Musong felt uncomfortable, but his face was still full of smiles: "Yi'er, you're back. Are you tired from the journey? Dad will have someone make you something delicious..."
Jiang Yi remained unmoved, letting out a cold snort: "Delicious? Does Father still remember what his daughter likes and dislikes to eat?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Musong froze on the spot. Meng Jin's eyes widened, and she exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Oh my!" She said, "Master, look at this! This is how our second young lady talks to her own father! It's outrageous!"
Jiang Yi glanced at her and said coldly, "Madam, I'm talking to my father. Why are you interrupting? Even if you don't speak, no one will think you're mute."
"Hey, what's wrong with you, child..."
Meng Jin, used to this, was about to step forward and teach Jiang Yi a lesson, but Jiang Musong stopped her in time.
He was certainly angry, but due to the power of the General's Mansion, he still had to appease Jiang Yi. You see, since Jiang Yi got married, their Jiang family's business was no longer what it used to be. Relying on the General's Mansion as their backer, people would rush to give them bargains wherever they went. Although they were just merchants, they had finally gained a foothold in the capital...
Although it was Jiang Yi's first time meeting the Jiang family, the system had already given her the information, so she showed them the appropriate expression without any politeness.
"Yier, what are you saying? How could your father not know what you like to eat? Hahaha..."
Feeling guilty, Jiang Musong simply used laughter to cover it up.
Jiang Yi asked with a smile, "Really? Father, then tell me what I like to eat?"
This topic is unavoidable today; Jiang Yi is determined to confront the original owner's opportunistic father.
She looked relaxed, casually leaning back in her chair. Eventually, she even stopped wearing makeup, crossed her legs, and looked like a big shot, watching the two people in front of her act with amusement.
The atmosphere became extremely awkward. Just as Jiang Yi was about to mercifully ask someone else to answer the question, a soft voice suddenly came from the courtyard. It was easy to tell that although the voice was gentle, it was full of vitality.
"Jiang Yi, how dare you speak to your father like that? Don't you have any sense of propriety or respect for hierarchy?"
Jiang Yi didn't even look at him, and was about to retort "Who are you?" as a conditioned reflex, but fortunately the system gave her the answer in time. This was the original owner's biological mother, so Jiang Yi swallowed back the words that were about to come out.
If no one in the world could notice that Jiang Yi was acting strangely, then she certainly couldn't escape the discerning eyes of one person—the original owner's mother. After all, who wouldn't recognize their own child?!
Although this face hasn't changed at all compared to before...
Jiang Yi quickly stood up from her seat, abandoning her arrogant and domineering demeanor, and ran to the woman's side to help her up. With a smile, she affectionately called out to her, "Mother, your daughter missed you so much."
Unexpectedly, Song Xuqiu frowned and pulled her hand away, looking straight ahead and coldly saying, "If you still acknowledge me as your mother, apologize to your father and the First Madam immediately."
Jiang Yi gasped. Seriously? Are you kidding me?! She came here to vent her anger, not to be bullied!
"Mother, I don't think I did anything wrong."
Jiang Yi tried to persuade her, bowing her head, clasping her hands, and quietly refuting her.
Jiang Musong couldn't even name a single food that the original owner liked, let alone make up a dish. Yet he simply remained silent and tacitly agreed, which showed that he hadn't cared about the mother and daughter at all before, and he himself felt guilty.
Meng Jin said sarcastically from the side, "Song Xuqiu, your daughter is really something."
Jiang Musong's expression was rather unpleasant. He stood with his hands behind his back, observing coldly. He clearly agreed with Meng Jin's statement, and the two of them waited for Jiang Yi to apologize.
As soon as Meng Jin spoke, Song Xuqiu became anxious. She crossed her hands tightly in front of her and whispered sharply, "Hurry up!"
"I did nothing wrong." Jiang Yi refused to admit her mistake, her gaze sweeping coldly over the two women. "Mother, you've endured so much hardship in the Jiang family all these years, have they ever treated you kindly? No, they only took advantage of you, thinking you were easy to bully. If that's the case, why keep giving in? You're also a member of this family, why are you afraid of them..."
"Shut up!" Song Xuqiu turned to look at her with red eyes, gritting her teeth as she said, "Mother, I'll say it again, apologize!"
Jiang Yi remained silent, and Xia Zhi and Gu Ziyu, who knew her temperament well, both felt a chill.
However, the two had different perspectives. Xia Zhi was worried that her relationship with Song Xuqiu would sour, while Gu Ziyu believed that the Jiang family would definitely be in chaos today.
Meng Jin looked on with amusement, and Jiang Musong, seeing that there were people from the General's Mansion present, had no choice but to pretend to smooth things over, awkwardly laughing and saying, "It's alright, Yi'er has finally come back for a visit, what's wrong with you as her mother..."
Jiang Yi felt like vomiting when she saw Lao Deng's pretentious act.
Enough is enough! Shut up! Don't think I don't know what you're up to. You've taken so many benefits from others outside because of your connection with the General's Mansion, and now you have the nerve to talk back—
"Smack—"
A crisp sound interrupted Jiang Yi's words.
Everyone present was stunned; no one expected Song Xuqiu to hit someone in public.
"Who gave you the audacity to talk about your father like that! Jiang Yi, have you forgotten who you are just because you married into the General's Mansion? You are utterly rebellious!"
Jiang Yi covered half of her face, remaining motionless in the position of being hit.
Xia Zhi rushed over to support Jiang Yi, her eyes red as she explained, "No, Madam, Miss didn't mean that, she just..."
Jiang Yi reached out and took Xia Zhi's hand, signaling her not to continue.
You can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep; there's no point in trying.
It turns out that all these years, the original owner and her daughter had been numbing themselves to their suffering.
Jiang Yi calmly said, "Mother, I am the one in this family who loves you the most, but you think I should be like you, letting others bully and mistreat me, not daring to or able to speak up and fight back, and that protesting is wrong! If you think that way, then you are wrong. I am not you, and I will not become you. No one can ride on my head and act arrogantly, not even His Majesty. Even if I lose my life for this, I will not wrong myself in the slightest. I am just me, not anyone's appendage."
"As for you, you'd better take care of yourselves."
After saying that, Jiang Yi pulled Xia Zhi and turned to leave, with Gu Ziyu quickly following behind.
The faint sounds of Meng Jin's curses and Song Xuqiu's murmured apologies behind her no longer mattered. Jiang Yi let out a soft breath and quickened her pace.
Along the way, Xia Zhi and Gu Ziyu called her name from time to time, but Jiang Yi seemed not to hear them and walked silently toward the east of the city. The two of them thought she was sad and dared not say a word.
In reality, Jiang Yi was simply lost. She randomly picked a direction and wandered around to relieve her depressed mood.
She wasn't angry at the original owner's mother for getting slapped; she just felt quite pathetic.
It's not her fault; it's just the fault of this era. Under the constraints of feudal ideology, women in the inner quarters all regarded their husbands as gods, as appendages of men. Song Xuqiu was just a small microcosm of this.
Jiang Yi felt powerless. Apart from a barrage of words, she really couldn't change anything, and she might even be seen as rebellious and heretical.
History is history, and no one can change it in the slightest. As the wheels of history turn, people's thoughts will gradually change, but this takes too long—hundreds of years, thousands of years—no one can say for sure...
Jiang Yi was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't even realize she had left the city gates until she reached the outskirts of the capital and wandered into a grove of trees.
Turning around, Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief to see Xia Zhi and Gu Ziyu following not far behind her.
Xia Zhi hesitated for a moment, then finally mustered up her courage and asked, "Miss, are you alright?"
"Haha, it's nothing, it's just that my face hurts a little."
The two exchanged a glance. Having just been slapped by their own mother, they could still laugh at this moment, which meant they were both a little dazed. Gu Ziyu immediately apologized: "I'm sorry, young mistress, this is all my dereliction of duty."
Jiang Yi waved her hand dismissively and said, "Hey, it's not your fault. We were so far away back then, who knew it would suddenly... Never mind, let's not talk about it. Xia Zhi, could you do me a favor?"
"Of course, please tell me, Miss."
"..."
Time passed little by little, and the sunlight filtered through the branches, turning into golden beams of light that streamed down.
Jiang Yi squatted by the river, rolled up her sleeves, and washed her hands. Ripples spread outwards across the river, and the greenish-blue water obscured the slap mark on her face; she could only feel the burning pain.
Jiang Yi sighed softly, realizing that Song Xuqiu must have used all her strength in that slap and was quite angry. She then pulled up the system.
[001, I've transmigrated, so where did the original owner of this body go?]
The real Jiang Yi is dead.
Jiang Yi was startled and asked again, "What about me? Will I die in a car accident too?"
[Deep in thought... Hello host, the system indicates no.]
Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn't know how to feel.
[However, the host's body has suffered severe damage. If you do not return to the real world in time, your bodily functions will be greatly impaired. 001 kindly reminds you, hoping that the host will persevere and complete the mission as soon as possible.]
Jiang Yi: "..."
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