20demayo Chapter 351
Chapter 351
chapter 351
“what?”
jiang yankun dramatically threw down the wine cup in his hand, and the sound of shattered porcelain marked the beginning of chaos in the jiang household. however, amidst the chaos, things were surprisingly well-organized.
jiang xinyue remained relatively restrained; she only tightened her grip on the xuanwu emperor's finger slightly, then relaxed it after the servant reported that the person had been rescued.
by the artificial lake of the jiang residence—
jiang yunxia, having poured several basins of cold water over herself, was shivering uncontrollably, her lips turning purple.
jiang yuncai felt heartbroken as she tried to wipe the icy water off jiang yunxia's face with a cloth towel, but jiang yunxia dodged her: "no, wiping it off would make it look too fake."
in the middle of winter, it was bitterly cold outside. jiang yunxia had pushed herself to the limit, her hair freezing and stiffening, hanging limply behind her.
hearing the commotion of approaching footsteps, she trembled, her lips quivering, her red eyes and nose making it look as though she had already cried her heart out.
“they all say i’m a shameless whore, comparing me to a prostitute from a brothel. i... i’m a disgrace to the jiang family. let me die, let me die!”
“sister, don’t do anything rash! it’s all my fault. if it weren’t for me being kidnapped, the su family wouldn’t have used our family’s tainted reputation as an excuse to break the engagement. i’m the one who should die! it’s my fault for dragging you down, sister! i’m the one who should die!”
although the sisters were acting, their words were filled with genuine emotion. jiang xinyue was even afraid they might end up jumping into the lake together, hand in hand, such was the intensity of their performance.
“what fault do you have?”
lady ruan was so furious her hands were trembling: “our yunxia was perfectly fine, yet these vicious rumors are spreading about her. how is it that su erlang is portrayed as flawless, while our yunxia is labeled as heartless and immoral? this obvious bias against yunxia and favoritism toward su erlang—the su family really opened my eyes today.”
lady sun sobbed, appearing as a weak and ignorant woman.
“alright, alright...”
jiang yankun quickly instructed the maids to wrap jiang yunxia in a cloak: “get yunxia to warm up and tidy herself. a breach of etiquette in front of the emperor could lead to more trouble.”
the jiang family, deeply favored by the emperor, also faced envy and malice from all sides. everyone wanted to take their place.
after the sisters were escorted away, jiang yanxi sighed: “ever since bringing them from yizhou, there’s been no peace. i’ve always prided myself on being fair and just, so why won’t they leave me alone? if we stay here, it might cause trouble for the emperor and the empress. if it comes to it, i’ll take them away.”
it was common for officials on foreign assignments to bring their families along.
there were pros and cons to this.
“with that kind of reputation, she’d be lucky to be a concubine. otherwise, she’ll have to hang herself with a white silk.”
“bang!”
a loud crash came from the front gate, and the red lacquered door swayed precariously.
since it was the first day of the new year, many of the guards had taken leave to return home, leaving only two gatekeepers on duty.
they stumbled into the hall, falling to the ground, their eyes swollen from being beaten. lady su was startled and frowned, rising to her feet: “why are you in such a panic? what happened?”
one of the gatekeepers, covering his swollen eye, stammered: “there... there’s a group of people outside, saying they’re here to... to...”
lady su was shocked: “to see second master su?”
could it be that the jiang family was so furious they had come to their door?
merchants were indeed crude and shameless, willing to throw away all face to cause a scene.
well, she’d make sure jiang yunxia would never marry, not even as a concubine to her son. let’s see who could outlast whom.
“no!”
the gatekeeper shook his head: “they said they’re here to see the eldest miss su.”
and they looked like they were here to pick a fight.
“why would they come to see yue’er?”
lady su looked puzzled as she turned to su ruyue: “yue’er, have you offended anyone recently?”
recently?
that would be the jiang family.
it was she who had used a’da’s affection for her to trick him into persuading second brother to elope with jiang yunxia, and even to deflower her.
but a’da was dead, with no evidence left behind. how could the jiang family come to cause trouble for her?
second brother hadn’t even noticed, had he?