Chapter 100: You Are Merely Unable to Serve as an Official at Court
The twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Heavy snow.
Auspicious for coming-of-age ceremonies, sacrifices, encoffining, and travel.
Inauspicious for opening businesses, weddings, and erecting monuments.
Another killing.
At the same time, a guard behind Old Madam moved.
At the same time, Qin Luoxia’s hand moved.
The small bamboo chopsticks prepared for Mianmian were thrown out by her, landing precisely on the guard’s neck.
The guard had only taken one step forward when a pair of chopsticks appeared on his neck.
He looked down in horror, confused as to why.
The others had not yet reacted.
They only saw a guard from the Jiang Mansion unexpectedly collapse backward.
Young Master Zi’s expression shifted slightly, and he glanced at the woman holding Little Turtle.
Then, with a look of disdain, he turned to look at Heita.
Heita’s eyes, round like copper bells, were wide open, filled with a somewhat cute sense of confusion.
Jiang Changtian’s sword was embedded in Aunt Yao’s body. He let out a sigh of relief; so she was not some monster or demon, she could apparently be killed as well.
The corners of his eyes were even redder, his appearance even more bewitching, because blood had just splattered onto his face.
“I am speaking with Old Madam Jiang; is it your place, a lowly servant, to speak? What fault do you want me to admit? Has Old Madam Jiang remembered how to speak to someone as unfilial and unbrotherly as me? You call me unfilial and unbrotherly, and I have been terrified day and night, because I do not know what constitutes being unfilial or unbrotherly, and I worry about failing to meet your expectations. Does killing your favorite lowly servant today count?”
Old Madam Jiang’s face turned deathly pale, and she extended a snow-white finger, “You, you, you…”
“A-Yao, A-Yao!”
Old Madam Jiang was truly panicked.
She reached out to support A-Yao, but fearing to touch the blood, she pulled her hand back.
She and A-Yao had been together for decades; she had never been apart from A-Yao.
Old Madam Jiang truly shed tears.
She cursed nervously, “Beast, beast, I should have killed you back then.”
Jiang Huaisheng also did not know how things had turned out this way; his brother, who had always been cowardly, actually dared to raise a sword.
He killed Aunt Yao?
Aunt Yao had watched him grow up since he was a child, and he had treated Aunt Yao like an elder.
Jiang Huaisheng dared not move at this moment, fearing he would provoke his brother.
Jiang Changtian held the sword steadily and said, “Old Madam Jiang, didn’t you hold this lowly servant’s hand every day saying you were like sisters? She isn’t dead yet; you can still save her. Now tell me, who am I?”
Aunt Yao looked at the sword in her chest in disbelief. It hurt a lot; she didn’t know it would hurt this much.
She could not move, she dared not struggle, she just looked at the sword in her chest with a sense of disbelief.
She knew she was going to die.
She spoke, “Madam, do not say anymore. A-Yao will accompany you in the next life.”
Aunt Yao’s body lurched forward.
Jiang Changtian was slightly stunned.
He actually saw mockery and relief in this lowly servant’s eyes.
Old Madam Jiang had gone mad.
“A-Yao, A-Yao, don’t die, you will be fine. Beast, you beast, I tell you, I do not owe you, I do not owe you! Your mother did not want you, she wanted to kill you, I saved you, I saved you, you beast.”
The crowd was in an uproar.
As expected, he was not her biological son; there were other hidden circumstances. No wonder, how could a biological mother bear to treat him so poorly?
Jiang Changtian did not smile this time.
With an expressionless face, he pulled the sword out of Aunt Yao’s body; it was very smooth.
The long sword dripped blood, and Aunt Yao collapsed backward with a thud.
Her eyes were open, blood was gushing from her body, and she was convulsing.
Yet he did not stop.
Jiang Changtian pointed the sword at Old Madam Jiang’s fair, delicate neck.
“Then can Old Madam Jiang tell me, who is my mother?”
Old Madam Jiang was trembling, but at this moment, she closed her eyes: “Kill me then.”
Aunt Yao’s fresh blood dripped onto Old Madam Jiang’s neck, somewhat moist and even warm, but the tip of the sword was ice-cold.
Old Madam kept her eyes closed in terror, tears streaming down, but even so, she would not speak.
Jiang Changtian’s heart ached terribly.
He had always thought she was his mother; he had always thought he just wasn’t good enough.
“Husband.” Qin Luoxia’s voice rang out.
Although she hated this old hag, she couldn’t let her husband do it. Her husband was soft-hearted. Her husband was an extremely good person who was willing to lend a hand whenever he saw someone struggling, a person who would always help out warmly. If her husband did it, he would surely not have a moment of peace day or night afterward.
She could do it; she wasn’t afraid. Her heart was hard. Any night, she could sneak in and slaughter this old hag with a single blade.
“Father.” Jiang Mianmian’s sweet, childish voice also rang out.
“Father.” Jiang Feng and Jiang Yu both called out.
Killing a servant at this time, while still killing, might not count for much.
But if he really slaughtered Old Madam Jiang, the Rebels would not be able to overlook it; after all, the Rebels had to prioritize filial piety.
This was the rule of the world.
Jiang Changtian’s reason returned slightly.
He did not retract the sword, however. He spoke, “Mother, I have called you Mother my entire life. Yet you say you are not my mother. You are not my mother, so why take me in? Why trample on me? Mother, do you have no heart? I called you that every day; when you answered, did your heart not ache?”
Old Madam Jiang did not respond, only keeping her eyes closed.
“I will not kill you. Killing you would be too much in line with what you want. I want you to live, to live longer than your descendants. I want you to watch them kneel, begging for mercy, watch them fall into the mud, watch them sink into the abyss, watch them die miserably one by one. Old Madam Jiang, you must live, you must live, live for a long, long time. You are so knowledgeable about preserving health, you are extremely particular about your three meals a day, you have a body built for longevity, you will surely live for a very, very long time! You must live.”
Hearing this, Old Madam Jiang felt the sword leave her neck and felt relieved instead. He was just bluffing; she knew, she understood him. The child she raised, how could she not understand him?
Then, a “puchi” sound was heard.
Jiang Changtian’s sword sliced across Jiang Huaisheng’s face: “Brother, you always say I am merely unable to take the imperial examinations. With a scar on your face, you are also merely unable to serve as an official at court. Why don’t we rebel together?”
Aunt Yao, lying on the ground, stared with wide eyes, and passed away.
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