Chapter 21: The Inside Story
The stars twinkled in the summer sky. They flickered like glowing furnaces, casting a sweltering heat upon the earth.
Night had fallen, but the air remained stifling. The crying of children gradually faded. The barking of dogs grew quieter, likely from exhaustion.
Yet, the croaking of frogs and the chirping of cicadas grew more fervent with each passing moment. There was no air conditioning, nor were there any fans. The room was incredibly stuffy. Poor families generally cooled themselves by going shirtless under the trees, waiting for a breeze.
Jiang Mianmian’s family sat under a newly planted tree. Their clothes were still neatly arranged; no one was shirtless.
The area under the tree was more open, and occasionally, a wisp of a breeze—gentle and faint—would drift by, barely enough to lift a few strands of Father’s hair.
Father’s robe was made of linen, a bit stiff, and wouldn’t flutter. It was so hot that Jiang Mianmian had to lie by herself in a wooden basin.
The basin was placed on a stone stool, and Mother held a cattail fan, waving it diligently, trying to ensure everyone could catch a little breeze.
Jiang Mianmian could also feel a tiny bit of coolness, but she was curious about where her little ant had gone.
When Mother moved the wooden basin out, had she seen the little ant? It wouldn’t have been crushed to death, would it… Or maybe it was in the dry straw mat? Sob. She felt a bit anxious, wriggling her body in the wooden basin, making squeaky noises. In the end, Father picked her up.
Father’s body was relatively cool; even in the middle of summer, he felt icy.
To put it nicely, he was like a gentleman as refined as jade; to put it bluntly, he likely suffered from poor circulation and was too weak—even in the sweltering heat, his constitution remained frail. Jiang Mianmian leaned into Father’s embrace, looking at the sky in comfort. Occasionally, she heard Father cough to the side.
Then, the wounded older brother, Jiang Feng, also coughed twice. “Cough, cough.” “Cough, cough, cough.” The years were long.
The stars twinkled in the sky. The plaque on the gate of the Jiang Mansion had been weathered by the long passage of time and had faded.
Jiang Rong, accompanied by his servant and guards, quietly pushed the door open to return home. To his surprise, the house was ablaze with light upon entering. As soon as Jiang Rong entered, he was brought into the main hall.
The Old Madam, Mother, and Father were all present in the hall, and his younger sister, Jiang Wan, stood beside the Old Madam, winking at him. Jiang Rong thought to himself, “It’s over. Father is here; I’m definitely going to get a beating today.”
“Kneel!” the dignified man in the hall scolded. Jiang Rong knelt swiftly, and the servant and guards behind him had knelt a step earlier. “I sent you to study, yet you spend your days not learning anything good. Fighting is one thing, but you actually dared to withdraw one hundred taels of silver to go to such a filthy place. Looking at you, you’ll cause a huge disaster sooner or later. It would be better to beat you to death now.” The man was truly furious. Looking at his own son kneeling in the hall, his eyes were filled with impatience. He held a long whip, intending to do it himself.
Seated in the center, the Old Madam wore a Buddhist robe, her features looking otherworldly. She gently flicked the eighteen-bead strand of hibiscus stone, paired with a solid gold-inlaid jade pendant, that she held in her hand. Hearing her son’s words, she frowned slightly and said, “What kind of talk is this? The child is still young; if he doesn’t understand, teach him. How can you just keep saying ‘die’ and ‘die’? Amitabha, may the Bodhisattva forgive this sin.”
Hearing his Mother’s words, Jiang Huaiyuan frowned even more deeply. When his younger brother had made a mistake in the past, Mother had been extremely strict. Could it be that she was strict because she loved him deeply?
But when it came to his own son, she wouldn’t let him discipline him for any mistake. This would surely lead to trouble in the future.
Seeing her husband holding the whip, a woman with a graceful figure and beautiful appearance was so worried she wished she could throw herself over her son. “Husband, please listen to Ronger’s explanation before deciding on any punishment. Ronger has always been obedient; there must be a reason for this uncharacteristic behavior today.” Madam Wu tugged on her husband’s sleeve, pleading coquettishly.
The Old Madam watched Madam Wu’s actions, her brows furrowing slightly, and the movement of the eighteen-bead strand in her hand quickened. “Yes, yes, Father, Mother, Grandmother, please listen to my explanation.”
Jiang Rong immediately stood up, ran to kneel before the Old Madam, and hugged her legs, crying, “Grandmother, I didn’t fight on purpose. It was Jiang Feng who wanted to extort money. He deliberately provoked me, then pretended to be injured in front of the Yamen Runner, and extorted twenty-two taels of silver from me. Furthermore, I went to the accounting office to withdraw one hundred taels of silver, not because I wanted to go to that filthy place, but truly for the sake of my younger sister’s reputation. That scoundrel Jiang Feng hadn’t had enough after extorting my money; he actually stole younger sister’s clothes and embroidered shoes and took them to that filthy place, selling them for twenty taels of silver. For the sake of younger sister’s reputation, I was anxious to redeem the clothes and shoes, which is why I spent the one hundred taels of silver.”
Jiang Wan also knelt beside her brother. She wept with an expression of disbelief. She truly couldn’t imagine that Jiang Feng would actually do such a thing; it was truly… She originally had no impression of this older brother because he soon…
Now, hearing about such a thing, she couldn’t help but feel nauseated.
Thinking of her own clothes and shoes being worn by such filthy people, she couldn’t help but shudder. Tears quickly welled up in her eyes, streaming down her face. Even before she spoke, she made people feel incredibly heartbroken, wishing they could do anything for her.
Jiang Huaiyuan had originally intended to beat his unfilial son, but he hadn’t expected that tonight’s affair would actually involve the usually obedient Jiang Wan.
Holding the whip, he didn’t know whether to drop it or not. Jiang Wan was extremely beautiful; her figure and appearance had traces of her Mother, with beauty just beginning to bloom, yet her forehead was like Father’s—smooth, round, and generous.
Her eyes resembled the Old Madam’s more, watery and filled with emotion. She had almost inherited the best features of the entire family: bright eyes, white teeth, peerless beauty, and a dignified and elegant air.
Jiang Rong, on the other hand, looked like his Father, having a rather upright appearance. His eyes were a bit like his Mother’s, darting around actively, giving an impression of being somewhat dishonest.
Jiang Wan knelt and began to admit her fault: “Wan’er was thinking that when Sister Yu came last time, her clothes were torn, so I gifted her a set of clothes and shoes that I liked very much. I didn’t expect that they would… Wan’er knows she was wrong.”
The Old Madam was so angry her hands trembled, and she slapped the chair heavily. The hibiscus stone and solid gold-inlaid jade eighteen-bead strand rattled loudly. “That family is rotten to the core. When I drove him out of the house, you all pleaded for him. Look at them now. Amitabha, Amitabha.”
Madam Wu also couldn’t help but mutter angrily, “They were given one hundred taels of silver at the time, and now they first extorted twenty-two taels of silver from Ronger, and then went to that filthy place and swindled another twenty taels of silver. So much silver would be enough for common folk to spend for several years. I heard they even want to sell their daughter as a servant. This family is truly insatiable.”
Aunt Yao, the sturdy servant beside the Old Madam, kept her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart. Back then, with the Old Madam’s tacit approval, she had kept that silver.
Jiang Rong also lowered his head, feeling somewhat guilty, and didn’t mention that he had seen Jiang Feng give the twenty taels of silver to the Yamen Runner, while the clothes had only sold for five taels.
He had spent twenty taels of silver to redeem the clothes, and the remaining eighty taels had been spent; money certainly disappeared quickly in such places.
In the end, Jiang Huaiyuan still whipped his son twice because, at such a young age, he had actually gone to such a place. Jiang Wan was also punished with confinement. Having been whipped twice, Jiang Rong wailed to the heavens and the earth. The Old Madam couldn’t help but scold her son, “You are committing a sin!” Jiang Huaiyuan left in a huff.
Jiang Rong was sent back to his room, lying prone. His Father had struck hard this time, and his clothes were torn. Jiang Rong had been pampered since childhood, with delicate skin that would leave a mark even from a pinch; now, his back was crisscrossed with bruises, looking quite terrifying.
Seeing this, the Old Madam was heartbroken and bestowed upon him a jade pillow, telling him to lie on it so he could be a bit cooler.
She also had servants bring two ice basins, placing them near the door, and had a maid fan the air towards the ice basins so that the breeze would be cooler.
Seeing Madam Wu wiping her tears, the Old Madam found her an eyesore and left. Seeing her son’s back, Madam Wu couldn’t help but cry and say, “How could your Father be so heartless? It’s all the fault of that black-hearted family. Remember to stay far away from them in the future; encountering them is bad luck and nothing good ever comes of it.” Seeing her daughter still standing there, she was even more furious: “You blockhead, you idiot! If it weren’t for you, your older brother wouldn’t have been beaten. Go back to your room.”
Jiang Wan looked at her older brother’s back; the injuries weren’t serious, and she was truly heartbroken because her older brother had been injured because of her.
She couldn’t help but say, “Brother, don’t worry, good and evil will eventually be rewarded.” Jiang Rong groaned in pain, though in reality, it didn’t hurt that much, and the room was cool and comfortable. He waved his hand to tell his younger sister to go back, not wanting her to see him in such a disheveled state. “I’m fine, don’t you worry.”
Once Jiang Wan had returned and only Mother remained in the room, Jiang Rong didn’t want to pretend anymore.
He wanted to get up, but the moment he turned over, he felt a pain in his waist. It was from being kicked by Jiang Feng.
It throbbed with pain. That guy Jiang Feng was like a wild dog; even though the servants and guards were blocking him, he had actually still come to kick him. Jiang Rong suddenly asked curiously, “Mother, why was Second Uncle driven out of the house by Grandmother in the first place? What mistake did he commit?”
When asked this question, Madam Wu’s expression became a bit uncomfortable.
Actually, at first, she hadn’t known either, and it had actually involved her. Aunt Yao had said that Second Uncle had actually spied on her while she was bathing and that they had searched his room and found her clothes that he had hidden.
Fortunately, the Old Madam believed her, that she was innocent. Otherwise, she really would have been unable to clear her name even if she jumped into the Yellow River.
Madam Wu was originally a daughter of a great family and had always complained that she was dragged down by her husband’s family, ending up holed up in this rural area.
After this incident, she never complained again; instead, she felt very grateful to her Mother-in-law.
Previously, she had thought her Mother-in-law was delicate and fussy, but after this, she felt that her Mother-in-law was truly profound, righteous, and capable of distinguishing right from wrong.
She truly treated her, this daughter-in-law, well, even going so far as to protect her face—an outsider’s face—by driving her own son out of the house.
However, thinking of that man who had been driven out of the house—the young man with the splendid cap, clear eyes, and a dashing air—she hadn’t expected that he would actually harbor such filthy thoughts about her. It was against human ethics.
Yet, deep down, she felt a trace of pride, thinking that it must be because she was as beautiful as a celestial being, with peerless looks, that she had caused the young man to commit such a mistake.
Seeing his Mother dazed and not answering his question, Jiang Rong turned around and said he was going to sleep.
Madam Wu gave several more instructions before leaving. Seeing that his Mother had left, Jiang Rong lay prone for a while but couldn’t stay still.
He kept feeling a dull pain in his waist, still from Jiang Feng’s kick. He was very angry and couldn’t help but take his anger out on his guard, casually picking up something from the bedside and throwing it at him.
“Didn’t you say that Jiang Feng was injured in the head by your weapon and didn’t escape unscathed? How could he still go to the Lichun Brothel today?”
The guard wasn’t angry at being hit; instead, he comforted him, saying, “Young Master, just wait and see tomorrow. The money they obtained is just enough for a coffin.”
