Chapter 166: A Family
Waking up.
Jiang Mianmian opened her eyes and saw Mother’s face.
The soles of her feet felt warm.
She took a look.
Her head was resting on Mother, and her feet were stepping on Father’s face.
It felt as if she had slept beyond the bounds of the Five Elements.
Jiang Mianmian felt Father’s hand still gently tugging at her little feet.
Her head was held in place by Mother’s head.
She had no idea that sleeping with her parents made her so wild.
Not at all like a young lady of noble birth.
But waking up to find her parents right next to her felt wonderful.
Jiang Mianmian withdrew her feet, and Father woke up.
He opened his eyes, looked at her, and immediately broke into a smile.
It made Jiang Mianmian dizzy.
No wonder Mother often looked lovesick; who could resist Father looking like this?
Especially that smile when he opened his eyes upon waking, so sweet and sleepy.
Jiang Mianmian obediently slept between the two of them.
Qin Luoxia also woke up.
She gently patted Jiang Mianmian’s little feet.
“Last night you kicked your Father’s nose several times; you almost kicked a nosebleed out of him. And you too, I told you to turn your face away, but you insisted on sleeping facing them. Doesn’t it hurt?”
Qin Luoxia complained to the Father and daughter.
Jiang Changtian smiled and nodded, “It hurts a little; this little one has quite a bit of strength. But I thought, if she woke up and saw only the back of my head, she definitely wouldn’t be happy.”
Jiang Mianmian felt a warm glow inside; indeed, waking up to see her feet on Father’s face was inexplicably happy.
Stepping on a peerless beauty—ask anyone in this world who else has this treatment!!
Qin Luoxia couldn’t help but laugh too.
Jiang Mianmian rolled into Mother’s arms, resting her head obediently on Mother’s arm.
Father, no longer being stepped on, moved closer as well.
The family of three snuggled together.
Listening to Father and Mother chatting.
“Husband, now that Sister Yu is married, shouldn’t we start looking for a match for Fenger? There was no one suitable in Ming County, but there must be in the Prefecture City.”
Qin Luoxia had always been worried about Fenger, always feeling that since he woke from his coma, his temperament had been a bit strange.
The beautiful girl they saw yesterday—although her attitude was annoying—could not be denied that she was beautiful, with fine brows, large eyes, fair skin, a well-endowed chest, and an impossibly slim waist.
Even Qin Luoxia, a woman, felt ashamed of her own appearance when looking at her.
Yet Fenger didn’t say a word. Hearing the girl’s delicate voice, he thrust his sword out and ran her through.
Although Husband explained to her afterward that they had researched the Prefecture City beforehand and Mr. Gang had talked with him late into the night, explaining everything in detail.
But Fenger is a young man. A young man of this age, like young Meng, admiring girls, marrying, and living life—that is normal.
Every day, Fenger does nothing but practice swordplay, or leads soldiers in training, or rubs Mianmian’s head, messing up her hair so much that Mianmian hides whenever she sees her Elder Brother.
She never saw him like any girl or even take a second glance at one.
She remembered that Fenger wasn’t like this before.
Back in the brothel district of Ming County, there were a bunch of courtesans who used to tease him, and they seemed to have a good relationship.
She even worried that one day Fenger would bring home a girl from a brothel.
At that time, conditions were poor, and she was conflicted.
On one hand, she thought it would be good enough if any girl was willing to be with him; on the other, she felt such a girl really wouldn’t do.
Though she pitied them, thinking of having one as a daughter-in-law was terrifying.
But later, Fenger stopped hanging out there, but he wouldn’t even look at other girls.
As soon as they arrived in the Prefecture City, there was such a beautiful girl. He did take a look, and then stabbed her through with his sword.
This, as parents, if the child looks at girls, you think it’s not good, and if the child doesn’t look at girls, it’s also not good.
Qin Luoxia was a bit worried about Fenger’s marriage.
Jiang Changtian snuggled against his little daughter and wife. It was late autumn and slightly chilly, but the temperature of the family leaning against each other was just right.
He rubbed his head slightly against Sister Xia’s arm, and they rested together.
“Mm, I will keep an eye out. Sister Xia doesn’t need to worry. When he meets a suitable girl, Fenger will go after her himself. By then, you’ll be jealous that your son has a wife and forgets his Mother, but it’s fine; I also have a wife and forgot my Mother, so it’s very fair.”
Jiang Mianmian tugged at Father’s long hair to play with it, listening to Father’s sweet talk… cheesy.
Ancient people’s hair is hard to deal with. There are no hair dryers, and the shampoo isn’t smooth enough. It’s purely natural, yes, but it feels rough after washing.
However, Father’s hair is black and straight, very good-looking.
Jiang Mianmian thought that since she grew up looking like Father, her hair should be like his too.
She hoped Elder Brother would find a partner soon and stop messing with his little sister’s hair.
Jiang Mianmian snuggled against her parents, listening to them chat.
The sky wasn’t bright yet, so she wanted to go back to sleep.
She slept with her parents last night because Aunt Yin was organizing the household affairs, and the bedding and such at home hadn’t been fully sorted out.
Qin Luoxia and Jiang Changtian were chatting.
Suddenly, they heard the little one between them breathing evenly, even snoring a little. She had fallen asleep again, very soundly.
The two exchanged a glance and watched the little one for a while.
Jiang Changtian got up gently.
“Sister Xia, I’m going to exercise. You and Mianmian sleep a little longer.”
Qin Luoxia nodded.
Jiang Changtian got up and gently kissed the child’s soft cheek.
He got out of bed.
He put on his clothes, leaned back over, and kissed Sister Xia on the forehead.
He tiptoed out, carrying his shoes.
Outside, the dawn was just breaking.
Jiang Changtian wanted to go call his son to get up and exercise.
When he got to the courtyard, he saw that Fenger and Shaoxia were already practicing swordplay.
Meng Shaoxia didn’t know why, but he felt his Father-in-law glare at him.
He didn’t know what he had done wrong; he had gotten up early to work hard, as he had agreed with Brother Feng.
Jiang Feng didn’t know why, but he felt his Father glare at him.
He didn’t know what he had done wrong; he had gotten up early to work hard, as he had agreed with Shaoxia.
The Father, son, and son-in-law practiced swordplay together to exercise.
Jiang Changtian was actually still brooding over the incident where he was shot at with a cold arrow to his face.
Fortunately, Fenger and Shaoxia were quite capable, and he had barely managed to cope.
He always felt he was too weak and needed to strengthen himself; even if he couldn’t be an asset, he couldn’t be a weakness.
He clearly saw that the guard who called himself Lin Yang had been called to the sedan chair to speak a few words to Jiang Wan before giving the order to shoot.
Jiang Changtian felt that the person who wanted to kill him seemed to be Jiang Wan.
If Old Madam Jiang or his Elder Brother had given the order, he wouldn’t be surprised, but coming from Jiang Wan, Jiang Changtian found it a bit strange.
He wasn’t close to this niece, nor had he even interacted with her; where did such great hatred come from?
Recalling past events, the few times he had seen Jiang Wan, and reflecting on her actions, behavior, and gaze, Jiang Changtian had an absurd guess.
Fenger said he had died and climbed back up from underground. He was buried underground for several years, only able to hear crying and perceive the movements around him, and then he came back to life.
Could Jiang Wan be the same? Did Jiang Wan also have some strange encounter? She should be stronger than Fenger.
Following a normal trajectory, she might have gone to the capital. Given Old Madam Jiang’s ability, she would have no problem becoming a talented woman or something in the capital.
Fenger said that in what he saw, his whole family was dead. Old Madam Jiang took everyone back to the capital without any worries. Jiang Wan must have secured a good marriage.
Thinking back, Jiang Wan’s manner as a young girl was a hundred times better than their own Sister Yu, like someone of noble and prominent status.
Their own roots were just here; it was impossible for them to be noble and prominent.
Jiang Changtian guessed that Jiang Wan must have had a strange encounter, or was living very well, and she had hostility toward him.
Combining this with what Fenger said, Jiang Changtian thought, if his whole family had died and only he was left, his only goal in life would be to take revenge and have others accompany him in death.
Perhaps he had succeeded in the end.
So that could explain why Jiang Wan wanted him dead, and the somewhat unreasonable noble and outstanding appearance she had.
Of course, all of this was Jiang Changtian’s own guess based on clues.
He might also have guessed wrong.
But he would rather kill the wrong person than let one go.
Whenever he thought of the scene where his whole family had died, he felt that whatever he did was not excessive.
He had brought his family to the Prefecture City, and he believed Old Madam Jiang’s family must be unable to sit still. The clever Jiang Wan should do something.
The sun jumped up from the horizon.
In the training ground, Jiang Changtian was sparring with Meng Shaoxia.
Meng Shaoxia thought that he couldn’t beat his Elder Brother, but beating his Father-in-law should be enough.
His Father-in-law’s swordsmanship was very rusty, but the killing intent was inexplicably strong…
Meng Shaoxia didn’t know why, but he didn’t dare to use force. Mainly, his Father-in-law’s face was somewhat bewitching; as they sparred, his face would face him, and he would often get distracted.
As a result, he accidentally felt like he had almost been slashed across the throat by his Father-in-law.
Fortunately, at the last moment, he came to his senses and knocked the sword from his Father-in-law’s hand to the ground, breathing a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, he felt the training ground was a bit quiet.
He turned his head and saw his wife, Sister Yu, charging at him in a rage, holding a rolling pin.
“Meng Shaoxia, I misjudged you! You actually bullied my Father!”
The rolling pin flew up, and Meng Shaoxia took off running…
In the sunlight, his Father-in-law revealed a weak smile…
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