NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 74
...
As night fell,
Ming County also began its curfew.
Without the bustling sounds of peddlers,
the entire county felt desolate and cold.
The City God Temple closed its doors for the night,
not even harboring the frozen bones of the dead.
Across the street from the yamen, the Jiang Manor was brightly lit.
Not because there was anything special happening at home,
but because of Jiang Rong.
Recently, Jiang Rong had stopped attending the county school,
claiming suspicious individuals were following him.
His family thought it was just an excuse to skip school.
Even Jiang Wan thought her older brother was just lazy,
casually dismissing his claims.
Although Jiang Lady ordered guards to accompany her daughter,
who was the Seventh Prince Consort, over,
it was more of a precaution than anything else.
But they hadn't expected Jiang Rong to almost be abducted by bandits.
Fortunately, the guards arrived in time to rescue him.
Jiang Rong wasn't seriously injured,
and he didn't face the harsh punishment his father had threatened,
but he was genuinely shaken.
Because those bandits had actually killed someone,
right in front of him, as casually as slaughtering a chicken or sheep.
Since then, Jiang Rong had been prone to night terrors.
So, the Jiang Manor remained brightly lit at night.
As an elderly lady, Jiang Lady already felt her years catching up to her,
and now she had to worry about her grandson.
As soon as Jiang Rong fell asleep, he would startle awake with fearful cries of "Don't kill me, don't kill me!"
He hadn't been to the county school in a while,
but that was partly because things outside were too chaotic,
and the county school had suspended classes for a while.
During this time, Jiang Wan stayed with her grandmother,
copying scriptures daily in her grandmother's room,
praying for her brother's swift recovery.
Although her brother wasn't particularly successful,
he was always kind to her.
Jiang Wan used to be frightened by her dreams,
but now she wanted to dream again, to see the scenes more clearly.
However, every time she woke up,
she couldn't recall the details,
only a vague sense of the overall direction or encountering certain people.
She felt it was a warning from the heavens.
In fact, since she was young,
she felt somewhat different from others.
She seemed to easily make others like her,
but only if she genuinely treated them well;
if she didn't like them, their affection wouldn't last.
So, she constantly reminded herself to be sincere and kind.
Night fell.
Jiang Huaisheng and his wife suddenly came to Jiang Lady's room.
Jiang Lady frowned and asked, "Is something wrong with Rong'er again?"
Jiang Huaisheng shook his head, while Wu bowed her head.
Jiang Lady looked at her son and daughter-in-law;
her son resembled his father,
handsome and upright, which she liked,
but her daughter-in-law was too enchanting in appearance
and too free-spirited in nature, which she had always looked down upon.
"Mother, Fei'er has good news; I came to tell you."
Jiang Lady forced a somewhat stiff smile and nodded, "Good, Wu, take care of yourself, don't worry about household matters."
"Mother understands, thank you for your hard work," Wu obediently replied.
She had always wanted to have another child,
but her husband said the times were tough,
and being pregnant meant suffering in this world.
After each childbirth, she would drink contraceptive soup.
But this time, with Jiang Rong's brush with danger,
her mother-in-law mentioned the lack of heirs in the family,
so she stopped drinking the contraceptive soup,
and finally became pregnant again.
She didn't necessarily want to replace Rong'er, but she felt that having more offspring in the family would bring greater prosperity.
As she watched her son and daughter-in-law leave, the old lady unconsciously furrowed her brows. She felt that Wu was heartless; Rong'er struggled to sleep at night, yet she could still conceive. However, she also acknowledged that having more descendants would indeed be beneficial.
Jiang Wan furrowed her brows lightly. In her dream, she saw their family would soon be heading to the capital. If her mother conceived at this time, when would they be able to leave?
Moreover, she probably didn't have any siblings.
These changes left her somewhat flustered.
For example, their two elder brothers unexpectedly sent many gifts to Uncle Er's family before leaving.
She hadn't expected them to know each other.
Jiang Wan let out a soft sigh.
Hearing her granddaughter sigh, Jiang Wan patted her back. She knew that only Wan'er was most considerate, understanding her. Wan'er must also be worrying about her elder brother.
"Grandmother, those mountain bandits are despicable. They said they kidnapped the wrong person; they meant to kidnap a libertine surnamed Jiang, referring to Jiang Feng. He causes trouble, so why should my brother bear the consequences for him? My brother is such a good person, never having done anything wrong, yet he suffers such a great injustice. I'm truly heartbroken," Jiang Wan said sorrowfully, leaning against her grandmother's arm.
Jiang's grandmother twirled her prayer beads in her hand, much faster than usual.
"Good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be punished. Those who do wrong will meet their demise. Wan'er, don't worry. You're still young, you don't need to stay with me. Rest early," she said.
"Yes, then I'll go check on my brother again. Grandmother, you don't need to worry too much; everything will be fine."
Night fell, and bright red lanterns hung high. A young girl dressed in a white ruqun walked in the courtyard, politely greeting the guards as she passed by.
Like a fleeting flower, pure and beautiful.
...
Night fell.
Silent.
Jiang Mianmian couldn't finish her dinner; she just couldn't eat. At this moment, she was nestled in her mother's arms, nursing.
Actually, she was already quite big, feeling that she could wean off milk. But she was greedy for her mother's embrace.
Drinking milk gave her a sense of security. No matter what happened, she felt fearless while nursing.
Jiang Mianmian had just felt that their family life was going well, but she didn't expect such a thing to happen.
In fact, their so-called well-being was just being able to eat a meal of plain rice every three days.
But even so, their whole family was content.
But even so, it couldn't last.
Even the milk Jiang Mianmian was drinking tasted bitter, really.
With no appetite, she sat on the bed, unable to resist putting her fingers in her mouth—she really couldn't resist it, like a baby unable to control their hands, they easily put them in their mouth, especially since she still had her milk teeth.
She sat there earnestly sucking her fingers, participating in this major event in the family.
What to do? What to do?
Seeing the whole family's serious expressions, even her little sister was sucking her fingers with her round face furrowed, Jiang Yu spoke up, "Otherwise, let me go. I'll find some poisonous mushrooms and make them for the whole family to eat, so we'll all die together."
Jiang Mianmian stared wide-eyed at her sister, feeling an itchiness in her gums, as if a tooth was hardening and about to erupt.
These words were once spoken by Jiang Feng, but in the past six months, as he practiced swordsmanship, his swordsmanship improved, and his heart became even more tranquil. It was because he also studied books, which were not easy to come by these days. Previously, he had no books and relied solely on verbal teachings from his father.
The only book he had was the "Materia Medica," which his father had organized for him, copied on paper available from the yamen.
But the books sent by Master He were excellent. He flipped through them every day, and in fact, had already memorized them backward. Touching the words on the paper still made him feel precious.
One of the books was the "Book of Penal Law," which described the corresponding punishments for various wrongdoings.
If one were to murder an entire family, they would undoubtedly be sentenced to death.
He deeply believed that now, wielding his sword, he could slaughter twenty-three people from Master Liu's household in one night. But if he did so, he would have to flee to the ends of the earth, and it would also bring trouble to his family.
Qin Luoxia gritted her teeth. Who would go to Master Liu and speak ill of her daughter? Why did so many people target her daughter?
Let her know, she would stab him with a spear.
Jiang Changtian's slender fingers lightly tapped his knee. After a long time, he spoke, "Go to sleep. Your father has a way. Don't talk about living or dying. It hasn't come to that point. As long as your father is here, he won't let you become someone's concubine."