Chapter 146: Impossible
The ninth day of the month.
Suitable for: Building a stove, promotion, traveling, moving house.
Avoid: Everything is suitable.
The sun was bright today.
Early in the morning, warm sunlight shone into Old Madam Jiang’s bedroom.
Her bedroom was well-situated, with bright light and an excellent view.
She wasn’t awakened by the sunlight; she was awakened by pain.
Old Madam Jiang, who had never truly suffered in her life, was now truly tasting bitterness.
The area of her chest hurt at the slightest touch.
She wheezed with every breath.
She felt as if she couldn’t catch her breath.
It hurt more when she sat up, and it hurt when she lay down.
She called for Jiang Wan.
But it was a maid who came.
“The Eldest Miss has gone out. Whatever you need, Old Madam, this servant will fetch it for you.”
The little maid said, trembling.
Old Madam Jiang had been in a foul temper these past few days; Green Mark’s head had been smashed by the Old Madam’s medicine bowl, and she might be disfigured.
The little maid knelt very far away.
Old Madam Jiang wondered what could be more important than her injury, for Jiang Wan to have gone out.
“What is happening outside?”
The little maid lowered her head and said, “Everyone has gone to see Lord Jiang receive his reward and the imperial court’s offer of amnesty.”
Old Madam Jiang suddenly thought of Jiang Changtian’s face and Heir Han, and felt as if the wound on her chest were splitting open.
It should not be like this, it should not be like this.
Yet that little beast’s life was truly too tenacious.
She had let Aunt Yao take action many times, but every single time he had managed to escape.
Later, Aunt Yao said to let him get married and have children; once he had someone he valued, he would have a weakness, and it would be easier to manipulate him then.
One wrong step led to every step being wrong; she should have killed that beast early on.
Old Madam Jiang wanted to discuss it with her eldest son, but as she opened her mouth, she remembered that Huaisheng had actually moved out.
…
The sun was bright.
The crowd was surging.
Colors were vibrant.
There were many women.
Jiang Wan did not go to squeeze into the crowd but had booked a private room instead.
She was a little afraid of Jiang Changtian, but she felt that to know oneself and the enemy is to be invincible, and hiding all day was not the solution; she had to see him eventually.
It was inappropriate for The Eldest Miss to come out alone to book a private room, so she used the excuse of taking Mother out to relax.
Madam Wu actually rarely came out.
After moving to the separate courtyard, she had not gone out to show her face.
This was one of the few times she had come out, and everything seemed somewhat fresh to her.
She saw the young ladies below and could even hear the chattering and bold teasing of the young ladies in the neighboring private room.
She did not expect that the young man who had looked at her with stubborn eyes that year, calling her sister-in-law, was now the dream lover of so many young ladies.
Ming County was remote, the local customs were open, and the young ladies were quite bold in their speech.
Hearing this, even Madam Wu, a married woman with children, felt a bit flushed.
Jiang Wan, however, was calm, seemingly lost in thought; she had even brought a chess manual when she went out and was reading it whenever she could.
Madam Wu actually wanted to share her life at the separate courtyard with her daughter and ask if her daughter was adapting well, or perhaps she also wanted Jiang Wan to ask her if she was adapting well to her life.
But looking at Jiang Wan, who was only focused on the chess manual, with an indifferent attitude, neither humble nor pushy, she remained composed wherever she went.
Madam Wu was too embarrassed to speak; she was getting on in years, couldn’t take care of her daughter, and yet wanted to complain to her daughter about her own troubles.
She looked out the window helplessly.
Outside the window was a tree, and there were a few birds chirping on it.
She saw Heir Han sitting on the high platform not far away.
Her expression became awkward.
Jiang Wan had said nothing and asked nothing, but she always felt that her daughter was clever enough to know everything.
Jiang Wan’s attention seemed to be on the chess manual, but in reality, it was on another person on the high platform.
The young man in armor was more mature than when she had last met him, but he was still not the person from her dreams; in her dreams, he was more steady and dignified, while now he still seemed a bit like a brash youth.
He wasn’t fierce at all.
He had actually come.
Then had he seen Jiang Yu?
The Jiang Yu who had not lost her memory.
She would also not become his maid.
Then would they still be involved?
Although Jiang Wan had never liked Meng Shaoxia.
But in the dream, the two of them had been betrothed after all, and she had lived as Meng Shaoxia’s fiancée for a long time.
That feeling was very profound, and she felt very unwilling.
She didn’t understand why, when she was better than Jiang Yu in every way, Meng Shaoxia had had absolutely no room for her in his heart back then.
She was unwilling to accept it.
That emotion made her feel a bit restless, and Jiang Wan looked at the chessboard, thinking intently.
The chessboard was a complex web, a tangled mess.
A violent roar of cheers suddenly erupted from the crowd.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“Jiang the Second, Jiang the Second.”
“Mr. Jiang, Mr. Jiang.”
…
Madam Wu looked down and saw a long-haired man in a crimson robe jump off his horse, but he did not stride forward; instead, he walked to the carriage and lifted the curtain.
Then he reached out to help a woman get off the carriage.
His movements would make people think that the woman getting off the carriage must be incredibly delicate.
Yet the one who stepped off the carriage was a tall woman who was almost as tall as him.
That was his wife, Qin Luoxia.
Wearing a dark red robe, she looked even more valiant and heroic than him; there was a handsome beauty about this woman.
It inexplicably made people feel excited and moved.
Madam Wu suddenly remembered how she used to hear Aunt Yao and the Old Madam describe Lady Qin: as a country woman who couldn’t be presented in public, who didn’t dare to look people in the eye when speaking, who cowered and was very petty, with a large frame, big hands and feet, even less presentable than a menial maid; such a woman couldn’t enter the main hall and could only do chores outside the courtyard, for fear that she would soil the eyes of the nobles if she came in.
But before her eyes, where was there any sign of restraint?
With a simple flying cloud bun, a single silver hairpin on her head, greeting people, smiling, her gaze was bright and open.
Madam Wu even felt that she herself had been swept by that woman’s gaze, feeling as if she had been caught peeping.
Next to get off the carriage was Sister Yu.
Madam Wu still remembered when Sister Yu was caught by Aunt Yao at their home; she was like a wild beast, kicking and hitting, and would even bite people, using foul language and cursing very vulgarly.
But before her eyes, Sister Yu jumped off the carriage and was not at all inferior to her own Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan thought too much, unlike a girl of this age.
Sister Yu was much livelier, smiling brightly and simply, making people feel at ease because they could see right through her; her eyes were lively, and she stared straight at the man on the platform, then actually waved to greet him.
It was still the same Sister Yu.
Jiang Wan’s gaze had left the chess manual without her realizing it. She saw the girl waving, which was incredibly glaring, especially when she saw the man on the platform nodding in response with a smile on his face; she felt even more bitter in her heart.
Madam Wu saw an old woman carrying a little girl off the carriage; the little girl held her head high, looking at everything as if it were fresh, and was giggling.
Heir Han had originally been posing generously on the platform.
He had no idol baggage; he had the highest status on the scene, unmatched by anyone, and these country girls had not seen much of the world, so it was understandable for them to be a bit enthusiastic.
He sat upright on the high platform, looking down at the masses.
Then he saw Jiang the Second, who had come on horseback.
That person was Jiang the Second?
Heir Han’s pupils constricted slightly, and his whole body began to tremble slightly.
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
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