Chapter 74: Jiang Rong is Terrified
It was dark.
The curfew had begun in Ming County.
Without the hawking of wares, the entire county town seemed desolate and quiet.
The City God Temple was closed for the night as well.
Even the City God would not shelter the frozen corpses of the night.
Jiang Mansion, separated by only one street from the yamen, was brightly lit.
It was not because of any event in the household, but because of Jiang Rong.
Some time ago, Jiang Rong stopped attending the County School, claiming that suspicious people were watching him.
Everyone in the family thought it was just an excuse to skip school.
Even Jiang Wan thought it was just something her Elder Brother said offhandedly because he was lazy.
Although Old Madam Jiang had her daughter, the Seventh Princes Consort, send guards over as a precaution, she hadn’t expected Jiang Rong to actually almost be kidnapped by bandits.
Fortunately, the guards arrived in time and rescued him.
Jiang Rong didn’t suffer any injuries—not even as severe as the punishments his Father had meted out before—but he was truly terrified.
Because those bandits were real killers; they had killed someone right in front of him, just like slaughtering a chicken or a sheep, with the white blade going in and the red blade coming out.
Since then, Jiang Rong was prone to night terrors when sleeping.
That was why Jiang Mansion was brightly lit at night.
Old Madam was already at an age where her sleep was light, and now she had to worry about her grandson on top of that.
As soon as Jiang Rong fell asleep, he would have recurring nightmares, terrified and babbling, “Don’t kill me, don’t kill me!”
This time, he really hadn’t gone to the County School for a long time, but because things were too chaotic outside, the County School had suspended classes for a while anyway.
During this time, Jiang Wan accompanied her grandmother, copying scriptures in her grandmother’s room every day and praying for her Elder Brother to get better soon.
Although her Elder Brother wasn’t highly accomplished, he didn’t cause much trouble and was very good to her.
Jiang Wan had been terrified by dreams before, and now she wanted to dream again, wanting to see the specific scenes.
However, every time she woke up, she couldn’t remember the details.
She only had a rough idea of the trajectory, or a slight impression when encountering certain events or people.
She felt this was a warning from the heavens.
In fact, since she was little, she felt she was somewhat different from others.
She seemed to be able to make others like her very easily, but the prerequisite was that she also had to treat the other person sincerely; if she didn’t like them in her heart, this affection would be hard to sustain.
Therefore, she always admonished herself to be a person of utmost sincerity and kindness.
Night fell.
Jiang Huaisheng and his wife suddenly came to Old Madam’s room.
Old Madam Jiang asked with a frown, “Is Ronger unwell again?”
Jiang Huaisheng shook his head, while Madam Wu kept her head lowered.
Old Madam looked at her son and daughter-in-law. Her son looked just like his Father, with a handsome, open, and upright appearance, which she liked very much. However, her daughter-in-law’s appearance was too seductive, and her personality was flighty, so she had always looked down on her somewhat.
“Mother, Feier has good news, and I have come specifically to inform you.”
Old Madam Jiang wore a somewhat stiff smile on her face and nodded, “Good. Madam Wu, you should take good care of your body and not worry about household matters.”
“This daughter-in-law understands. Thank you for your hard work, Mother,” Madam Wu said, bowing obediently.
She had actually always wanted to have another child, but her husband said that times were bad and they were away from home, so bringing a child into the world would only mean suffering. Every time after intimacy, she would drink a contraceptive decoction.
As a result, after Ronger almost met with disaster this time, her Mother-in-law remarked that the family’s descendants were too thin. She stopped taking the contraceptive decoction and finally conceived.
It wasn’t that she wanted to replace Ronger in any way; she just felt that having more descendants would make the family more prosperous.
Old Madam watched her son and daughter-in-law leave, her brows knitting together instinctively. Inside, she felt Madam Wu was heartless; Ronger could barely sleep all day, yet she had managed to conceive. Still, she also felt that having more descendants was indeed better.
Jiang Wan’s brows knit together slightly. In her dreams, she saw that their family would soon go to the capital. If Mother were pregnant now, when would they be able to leave?
Moreover, she shouldn’t have any younger brothers or sisters.
These changes made her feel somewhat panicked.
For example, the two young masters had actually given many gifts to her Second Uncle’s family before leaving.
She hadn’t expected that they would know each other.
Jiang Wan sighed softly.
Hearing her granddaughter’s sigh, Old Madam Jiang patted her back, thinking to herself that only Wan’er was the most considerate and understood her; Wan’er must be worrying about her Elder Brother.
“Grandmother, those mountain bandits are too hateful. They actually said they kidnapped the wrong person, that they were supposed to kidnap a profligate with the surname Jiang—they must have meant Jiang Feng. He causes trouble, so why should Elder Brother suffer for him? Elder Brother is such a good person; he has never done anything evil, yet he suffered such a great calamity. My heart truly aches,” Jiang Wan said sadly, leaning against her grandmother’s arm.
Old Madam Jiang rubbed the prayer beads in her hands, the speed much faster than usual.
“Good and evil have their rewards; those who commit many injustices are doomed to self-destruct. Wan’er, don’t worry. You are still young; you don’t need to stay with me. Go and rest early.”
“Yes. Then I will go see Elder Brother again. Grandmother, you don’t need to worry too much; it will get better.”
In the night, large red lanterns hung high. The young girl, wearing a white ru skirt, walked through the courtyard. Passing by the guards, she greeted them very politely.
Like an epiphyllum, white and beautiful.
The night was deep and heavy.
Jiang Mianmian had not finished her dinner; she really couldn’t eat.
At this moment, she was snuggled in Mother’s arms, drinking milk.
Actually, she was already quite big, and she felt she could be weaned, but she craved Mother’s embrace.
Drinking milk gave her a sense of security; no matter what happened, when she was drinking milk, she felt she wasn’t afraid of anything.
Jiang Mianmian had just felt that life in the family was going well, but she hadn’t expected that such a thing would happen.
In fact, what was called “going well” was just being able to eat a meal of dry rice every three days.
But even so, her whole family was very satisfied.
Yet even this could not be sustained.
Even Jiang Mianmian, while drinking milk, felt the milk tasted a bit bitter, really.
With no appetite, she sat on the bed and couldn’t help but put her finger in her mouth~~ She really couldn’t help it; it seemed like a baby couldn’t control their little hands and it was easy to stuff them into their mouth, especially since she still had the spiritual spring.
She sat there, earnestly sucking her finger, participating in this major family event.
What to do? What to do?
Seeing that the whole family had solemn expressions, and even her little sister was sucking her finger with her chubby little face all scrunched up, Jiang Yu said, “Otherwise, I’ll go. I’ll go find some poisonous mushrooms, cook them for their whole family to eat, and they can all die.”
Jiang Mianmian widened her eyes, looking at her Elder Sister. She felt her gums were very itchy; it seemed like a spot had hardened, and she was about to grow teeth.
Jiang Feng would have said such words in the past, but in the last six months, he had been practicing swordplay, and his swordsmanship had become better and better, but his heart had become more peaceful. This was because he was also studying. In this day and age, books were not easy to obtain. He hadn’t had books before and had relied on Father teaching him orally.
Only the “Medicine Classic” was something he had been able to copy because the yamen had paper, and Father had compiled it for him.
However, the books that Young Master He gave him were excellent. He flipped through them every day, and in fact, he had long since memorized them by heart. Touching the characters on the paper, he still felt very cherished.
One of the books was the “Penal Code,” which described the corresponding punishments for committing various wrongdoings.
If one were to poison the other family to death, one would certainly be sentenced to death.
He firmly believed that now, with his sword, he could slaughter all twenty-three members of Landlord Liu’s family in one night, but that would force him to live as a fugitive and would also implicate his family.
Qin Luoxia gritted her teeth. Which murderous bastard had gone to Landlord Liu and talked about Sister Yu? With so many people, why did they have to set their sights on her daughter?
If she found out, she would skewer him to death with a spear.
Jiang Changtian tapped his knees lightly with his slender fingers. After a long while, he said, “Go to sleep. Father has a way. Don’t talk about dying; it hasn’t reached that point yet. As long as Father is here, I won’t let you become a concubine.”
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