After dinner, Jiang Ling sent all the children out and took Shen Congxin into the bedroom. Shen Congxin was now a little less wary of Jiang Ling's family. In fact, when Jiang Suihe told her that Shen Congxin wanted to work in the fields with her, she was surprised.
"Can I call you Congxin? If you feel that's too intimate, I can call you Miss Chen!" Jiang Ling said, pulling Shen Congxin to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Auntie, you can call me whatever you want!” Shen Congxin said.
"We saw your stepmother when we went to Pingxi County today!"
Jiang Ling's words startled Shen Congxin so much that she sat bolt upright in bed. Her watery eyes widened in disbelief, and she covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head and whispering, "Impossible...impossible...impossible..."
"Congxin, don't rush. Let me finish what I have to say, okay?" Jiang Ling comforted Chen Congxin, pulling her already cold little hand.
"Here's what happened. Yaojie saw a woman at the money exchange. That woman gave the money exchange manager a missing person notice with your portrait on it, and even explained why you disappeared..." Jiang Ling said, while observing Shen Congxin's expression.
"Ha, she really wasn't that kind-hearted. I knew it was all her doing! She wanted to scheme against me from the very beginning! She just wanted to kick me out of the Shen family!" Shen Congxin said, his face ashen and filled with despair.
"Congxin, what do you plan to do next? You can't just stand by and watch your stepmother kick you out, can you?" Although Jiang Ling didn't want to get involved in this struggle, she looked at Shen Congxin, who was about the same age as her daughter, and felt a little sorry for her. In the end, she asked what was on her mind.
"I...I want to wait for my father to come back, and then I'll think of a way to deal with her!" Shen Congxin said after hesitating for a long time.
“This…” Jiang Ling frowned slightly upon hearing this. She was never a foolish believer; she always held the belief that it was necessary to settle scores.
If we really have to wait for Shen Congxin's father to come back, the fake will probably become real, and then it will be impossible to control the situation. Thinking of this, Jiang Ling coughed lightly and said to Shen Congxin, "Congxin, have you thought about where your father will go first when he comes back?"
"My dad? He'd definitely go straight home!" Shen Congxin frowned as he answered, not understanding why Jiang Ling was asking that.
“He’ll definitely see your stepmother when he gets home, right?” Jiang Ling continued to remind him.
"Aunt...Aunt, you...you mean..." Shen Congxin covered her mouth again, her eyes already filled with tears.
“Yes, Congxin, you’re a smart girl. There are some things your aunt doesn’t need to spell out so clearly, right?” Looking at Shen Congxin’s expression, Jiang Ling knew that this girl must have figured out what she was going to say.
Shen Congxin suddenly stood up and knelt down in front of Jiang Ling. With tears in her eyes and hatred in her gaze, she said to Jiang Ling, "Auntie, please help me!"
Jiang Ling quickly helped Shen Congxin up and said to her, "I can help you, but you'll have to rely on yourself most of the time. Congxin, do you have any evidence to prove that your stepmother wants to marry you off to Wang Xiu?"
Chen Congxin wept uncontrollably, sitting on the edge of the bed for a long while before nodding and choking out, "Yes, it was Matchmaker Ren who came to propose marriage. She even gave us a list of betrothal gifts, and I remember it had Wang Xiu's seal on it!"
Hearing this, Jiang Ling breathed a sigh of relief. Now that they had evidence, the matter had not reached a stalemate.
"From the heart, your aunt is asking you, how did you escape?" Jiang Ling continued to press.
“This…” Shen Congxin gritted her teeth. In her heart, she still couldn’t completely trust Jiang Ling.
After all, her stepmother was trying to poison her, and this woman in front of her had no blood relation to her at all.
Jiang Ling saw through Shen Congxin's thoughts and said gently, "Congxin, I won't force you, but you should know how terrifying rumors can be to a girl, let alone an unmarried young lady from a wealthy family like you!"
Jiang Ling's words were like a fatal blow to Shen Congxin. She stood there stunned for a long time before saying with some regret, "Auntie, I'm sorry, it was my fault..."
“From the heart, now is not the time to talk about this. What you need to do is tell me everything about yourself, and then we’ll figure out a solution!” Jiang Ling interrupted.
Shen Congxin nodded heavily and said to Jiang Ling with a determined look, "At first, I didn't know that my stepmother had sold me to Wang Xiu. Mo Xue came and told me that my stepmother was going to marry me off to an old man!"
"Mo Xue? Who is she?" Jiang Ling quickly found the key words in Shen Congxin's mouth and asked.
“She…she is my maid. We grew up together and are like sisters!” Shen Congxin explained.
"Hmm? Is that so? Then there must be something wrong with this maid." Jiang Ling thought to herself, but she didn't tell Shen Congxin about it. Jiang Ling was worried that Shen Congxin wouldn't be able to accept such a big blow.
"Oh? What else did Mo Xue say to you?" Jiang Ling continued to press on calmly.
“I remember that day I was practicing the piano in my room when Mo Xue rushed in. I was a little angry when I saw her like that. This girl is usually very careful in her dealings with people. But seeing her rushing around like that, I was about to scold her. But before I could say anything, Mo Xue came over with red eyes and said to me that the madam was going to marry me off to a man named Wang Xiu. This man is a salt merchant in Guangping County and has a son who is already sixteen years old!”
"I was immediately shocked when I heard that, and I was at a loss. I'm only fourteen years old this year, and his son is two years older than me. Moreover, I... I also heard that this man named Wang Xiu seems to have some strange quirks. At this moment, Mo Xue suddenly told me to escape in the middle of the night. She had already made a special observation and found that a hole had recently been made in the back garden. I was sure I could squeeze through that hole!"
"When it's the dead of night and everyone's asleep, I'll leave without anyone noticing. Then I'll find a place to stay until the master returns, and that'll solve the problem..."
"Hehe, Mo Xue is indeed not a simple person." Hearing this, Jiang Ling had roughly figured out the problem with Shen Congxin's matter, but she still did not make a sound to signal Shen Congxin to continue.
“I was so nervous that day. Even after the lights were turned off, I didn’t dare to go to sleep. Around midnight, Mo Xue quietly pushed open my door and led me to escape through the hole in the back garden. As soon as I crawled out, someone covered my mouth with something. I struggled for a while and then lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was already in Yihong Tower. You should know what happened next, Aunt!” After saying this, Shen Congxin clutched the hem of her clothes in great distress.
Jiang Ling nodded, touched her chin, and asked, "So, do you have any plans, Congxin?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
