Chapter 12 Chapter 12

She didn't like people calling her a child, especially when that person was Gu Huaisheng. It seemed that no matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried to make herself look more mature, in his eyes, she hadn't made any progress or changed at all.

And she was in so much pain, couldn't he say something nice?

She was a little angry, but Gu Huaisheng's emotions remained unchanged, like a flower without emotions on a ridge. No matter how the wind and rain blew, he remained emotionless.

He said, “That’s different.”

If you don’t cry out in pain, you’re not a child anymore.

"Also, don't sneak out with other men anymore. Gu Huailang will never sneak out of the house."

Jiang Jingchun compared himself with Gu Huailang, so he also used him to make trouble.

She said she was not a child, but she did things that even children would not do.

But when Jiang Jingchun heard this, her eyes lit up, "Cousin, don't you like me playing with other men? If you don't like it, I will definitely..."

I definitely won't go.

Li had already rushed over from outside, and Gu Huaisheng could vaguely hear her footsteps.

With someone coming, he shouldn't continue talking to her about this. He interrupted Jiang Jingchun and said, "No, it's just because it's impolite. If it happens again, your uncle will beat you."

After saying this, Gu Huaisheng went outside and passed by Li who was rushing over.

His words were just the simplest reminder, without any other meaning or even any other emotions mixed in. It was ridiculous that she was thinking about something else.

Jiang Jingchun stood there in a daze. She couldn't help pinching her palms, and some blood seeped out of the clean white gauze again.

When he came to his senses, he could only hear Li's voice, and Gu Huaisheng's figure had disappeared.

Jiang Jingchun did not sleep well that night, perhaps because Jiang Nan's punishment left a lot of shadows on her, so that she was haunted by nightmares, and she kept mumbling in her sleep and did not sleep well.

When she woke up the next day, she had a fever and her head was dizzy. She didn't even have the strength to get up. But after what happened yesterday, she was afraid of upsetting the adults, so she didn't dare to ask for leave again. She could only bite the bullet and go to Madam Liu's class.

Unfortunately, she couldn't hold on any longer and passed out in class.

It scared everyone around.

The person was carried to the old lady's room and laid down. The court doctor had just examined her hand injury yesterday and came again today.

Fortunately, after a checkup, it turned out that it was not serious. It was probably because of the shock, and the wounds were prone to inflammation in spring. A series of reactions led to a fever. It was not a serious illness, and I would be fine after resting for two days.

Yesterday, the old lady went into the house and went to bed. What happened outside did not disturb her, and Jiang Nan asked people to shut up and keep the matter secret.

So it was not until Jiang Jingchun fainted that she learned what had happened last night from the servants.

After the court doctor left, the old lady said to the servants with a sullen face, "Wait until that idiot is off duty, call him over."

This was the first time the old lady was so angry, and it looked like she was really angry. It seemed that she still loved Jiang Jingchun, otherwise she wouldn't be so angry just because someone was hurt.

What happened here was not spread out, and Li Shi didn't know about it yet. The servants were burning medicine and fetching water. The only sound here was their busy pace. The old lady sat beside the bed, watching over Jiang Jingchun who was still in a coma.

From the Boshan Hall, bursts of fragrant mist emanated, lingering around.

I don’t know how long it was, but the person lying on the bed finally woke up.

When Jiang Jingchun opened his eyes, he realized that this was not his room. He turned around and saw his grandmother sitting beside him. The old lady had limited energy and was resting with her eyes half closed.

Jiang Jingchun called her in a hoarse voice, "Grandma."

His voice was dry and hoarse, as if it had been rubbed by gravel.

The old lady saw that she was awake and closed her eyes. She asked, "Are you awake? Is your mouth dry?"

I was unconscious for almost a day, and when I woke up, my mouth was very dry.

Jiang Jingchun nodded, and then the old lady got up and went to the table to fetch some water, helped her up from the bed, and fed her some.

Sure enough, after drinking some water, my dry throat felt much better. Otherwise, even breathing would be a bit painful.

Jiang Jingchun glanced outside the house. The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the window lattice and landed on the door panel of the house.

I didn't expect it was already evening.

Jiang Jingchun lowered her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Grandma, for causing you trouble."

When she said this, there was a hint of caution in her tone. Seeing her like this, the old lady frowned, knowing that it must be Jiang Nan's words "inhumane" yesterday that left a shadow on Jiang Jingchun.

I'm afraid she is still feeling uneasy about what happened yesterday.

Fever is an external disease, but there is also a heart disease inside.

The old lady asked her directly: "Are you still thinking about what happened yesterday?"

Jiang Jingchun was silent for a while, and then she spoke up after a long while: "I shouldn't have run around. Yesterday was my grandmother's birthday, but I was still thinking about going out to play. I am an unfilial granddaughter."

It turns out that he is still concerned about this matter.

The old lady sighed and reached out to tidy up her messy hair. As she played with her hair, she said, "Didn't grandma tell you a long time ago that things are done for others to see. Who doesn't know how to save face? He made a big fuss on his birthday and looked at me a few more times. Does that mean he is the most filial? Your father said that you have no moral principles, but he does? It's you who stays by my side every day, not him. He can say anything about anyone, but he can't say anything about you."

"Don't listen to your father's words and scare yourself. He is just bullying you because you are young and can't stand the scare. As long as your grandmother doesn't blame you, who will blame you?"

She spoke with sincerity and her tone was rarely as harsh as usual, but rather gentle.

This dynasty places great importance on filial piety and respect for elders, and advocates Confucianism, benevolence, justice, propriety, and wisdom. There is a clear distinction between the superior and the inferior. Even the emperor must respect the heavens and follow the ancestors. From the emperor to the common people, no one can break this set of standards.

Especially Jiang Nan, who is an official in the court, cares about these things. And officials in the court always speak better than they sing. Rao is indeed six points filial to the old lady, but he can only do it for others to see.

Jiang Jingchun was different. Even though she was very filial in her heart, she was labeled as inhumane because she went out to play on her father's birthday.

Conscience is just a sense of right and wrong. She is not confused, nor is she a person without conscience. She also knows who is sincere and who is fake.

She didn't care whether Jiang Jingchun was there that day or not. Wasn't it enough that she was there on weekdays?

Jiang Jingchun remained silent for a long time after listening to the old lady's words. She clearly said that she didn't blame her, but her eyes were still red. She sniffed and wanted to say something, but at this time a maid came in from outside the door and whispered something in her ear.

The old lady asked Jiang Jingchun to lie down and rest, and then she got up and went out.

The person who came was Jiang Nan who had just finished his shift.

The people in the room had been cleared out, and only the mother and son were left.

Jiang Nan was sitting aside. He knew why the old lady called him by looking at her expression, but he did not speak first.

"Even if she is not your biological daughter, why do you treat her like this? Do you think that treating Jingchun better means treating Jinghui worse?" said the old lady.

Jiang Nan was stunned for a moment, as if his thoughts had been spoken of, but soon he sneered, as if he had heard a joke. He looked up at the old lady with a questioning look in his eyes.

He said, "How have I treated her? Can I not beat her if she does something wrong? I don't think I have done anything cruel to her since she was little. Even when I tied her feet, she cried and jumped up and down and cried in pain, but I didn't force her to do it. Which family doesn't tie the feet of their daughter? If it gets out, people will just say that the family members are uneducated. I have done this, what else do you want from me?"

When Jiang Jingchun reached a certain age, she had to start binding her feet, but she really couldn't stand the pain. She banged her head against the wall everywhere and even wanted to jump into the river to commit suicide. She knew that Li loved her, so she tried to commit suicide in front of her. There was no other way. As long as Jiang Jingchun was awake, she would keep making noises. What to do?

Fortunately, Jiang Jingchun's feet could not grow any bigger. Although there was a gap between them and the three-inch golden lotus, there was nothing that could be done about it. Later, the matter of the entangled feet was quietly covered up and no one mentioned it again.

"Don't bring that up again. If knocking her unconscious would solve the problem, you should have hit her on the head."

Foot binding takes at least a month, but you can’t really knock someone unconscious.

Jiang Nan was exposed, but he still insisted, "But if what happened yesterday gets out, how are people outside going to make up a story..."

"If no one tells you, who will spread it?"

What he said was obviously unreasonable.

Jiang Nan didn't dare to argue with the old lady anymore. The old lady's temper was even more stubborn than his. If he continued to argue, it would not be good for anyone.

He stopped talking about it and changed the subject, "But she is now old enough to get married. How can she afford to be so involved with the young master of the Song family?"

Jiang Nan said: "She is over sixteen, it's time for her to get married."

The marriage arrangement should have been handled by Li, but she never paid much attention to it. If Jiang Nan brought it up, she would always bring up the fact that Jiang Jingchun still liked Gu Huaisheng. Could it be that Jiang Jingchun could not marry Gu Huaisheng and planned to remain single forever?

The old lady said calmly, "Don't try to change the subject."

Jiang Nan pursed his lips and said nothing more.

He was here, and was scolded obediently for about half an hour. When he came out of Rongde Hall, his face was almost pale.

After coming out, he went back to the study, where a guard was waiting outside the room.

Seeing Jiang Nan coming back, he saluted him with a fist. Jiang Nan looked at him, nodded as a response, and then let someone follow him into the house.

The two walked to the desk. Jiang Nan sat down, looked up at him, and asked, "Have you found out where the person is?"

He asked this question in a flat tone, he had asked it almost a hundred times, but every time the guards' answer was just "still looking", this time he no longer had any hope.

However, his answer this time was somewhat different from usual.

"The lady has been found."

Jiang Nan's eyebrows jumped, and he was unable to react for a moment, and even suspected that he had heard it wrongly.

"Found it?"

His voice was trembling uncontrollably, showing his nervousness.

The guard replied, and he said, "Not yet, but I have found some clues."

After Jiang Nan came out of the study, he returned to the main house.

Because he slapped Jiang Jingchun on the hand, Li has been brooding over this matter. Whenever she saw him in public, she pretended not to see him and refused to pay any attention to him. She even moved to another side room to sleep and rest.

Jiang Nanhe had no idea what she was angry about. After returning to the main house, he saw that the person was not in the house, so he went to the side room to look for her, and sure enough, he found her.

Lin heard the noise outside and looked up. When she saw that it was Jiang Nan, her face turned pale. She asked, "What are you doing here?"

It's so annoying to see it.

Jiang Nan ignored her groan, he walked over to sit beside her, his attitude was calm and peaceful, his eyes seemed to be brighter when he looked at Li.

He said, "Wan Ning, Xiao Hui's whereabouts have been found."

Xiao Hui... This name had not appeared in Li's ears for a long time. She was caught off guard by the sudden mention of it. She was stunned for a moment, and then said, "What Xiao Hui?"

She searched for the name in her memory, but perhaps that memory was sealed in the dust deep in her memory, and she couldn't remember who that person was. She couldn't even remember that Jiang Jingchun was Jiang Jinghui before she changed her name.

Li's brows were tightly furrowed, and she didn't even have the time to be angry with Jiang Nan.

Who is Xiaohui?

"Xiaohui is our daughter." Jiang Nan said.

Xiaohui is her daughter?

But Mrs. Jiang remembered that her only daughter was Jiang Jingchun.

"Don't try to claim a kinship with me. I only have one daughter, Jiang Jingchun."

She thought that Jiang Nan must have thought Jiang Jingchun was disobedient, so he said these things on purpose. She said, "Aren't people learning rules from their mothers now? You are almost there too."

She no longer wanted to talk to Jiang Nan, so she got up and left.

Jiang Nan looked at Li Wanning's leaving back and let out a deep breath.

Well, it's normal for her to not be able to accept it when I suddenly tell her about this. When she finds the person, will she still not recognize him?