Chapter 247: The Enemy is in the Light, I am in the Dark
The Meng Family had been full of joy during this period. Regardless of whether they were familiar with someone or not, they would pull them aside to chat for a while.
Meng Qingshe, who usually disliked attending morning court sessions, now made sure to be there on time. With his large, dark, square face, he smiled at everyone he saw.
Madam Meng, on the other hand, made it a point to attend every banquet. No matter what the topic of conversation was, she would always manage to steer it toward the children.
When a minister said, “The weather has been cold these past two days,” Meng Qingshe would reply, “Indeed, it has been cold. When my two grandsons return, I must make sure they wear extra layers.”
When a minister said, “The Emperor wants to build another Buddhist temple,” Meng Qingshe would say, “A Buddhist temple? Oh my, I must go and pray as well. The Buddha has truly blessed my family with two grandsons all at once…”
Everyone in the capital, from the people to the dogs, must have known by now that the Meng Family had broken the curse of having only one heir per generation; this generation had gained two grandsons.
Others were fine with it, but Fairy Liu felt a bit awkward.
With Meng Qingshe babbling on about it every day, even the Emperor, who only attended court once every ten days, had heard that the Meng Family had gained two grandsons. He felt an inexplicable sense of envy.
He should have had many grandsons and granddaughters, but none of them seemed particularly close to him. The Emperor would blame others without reason, feeling that his children weren’t close to him, not even as much as his nephew, Heir Han.
However, whenever any prince tried to get close to him, he would immediately suspect the brat of having ulterior motives. “Your Crown Prince brother isn’t dead yet, and you already want to replace him?” or “Your Crown Prince brother has just died, and you already want to take his place? You unfilial son!”
The Imperial heart was difficult to fathom, but the Meng Family didn’t bother trying to figure it out. They were happily waiting to hold their grandsons. The nursery and the rooms for their son and daughter-in-law were all ready.
They had ordered many sets of clothes for their daughter-in-law for all four seasons.
The Meng Family was wealthy; after all, the old man had fought in battles for many years, and even if the Emperor only bestowed rewards for show, the amount was still substantial. Plus, when they fought and happened to kill a noble or prince from another country, it was only reasonable to confiscate some money.
The Old Master Meng himself had neither the time nor the place to spend money, so he naturally had to send it home. His whole family wasn’t the type to indulge in luxury, and they appeared quite low-key. But now, with a new generation, if they didn’t spend it now, when would they?
The Old Meng Family spent money very ostentatiously. They ordered so many clothes and jewelry for their daughter-in-law that they filled up the schedules of all the shops in the capital, even causing ministers to submit memorials accusing the Meng Family of extravagance.
“All the slots are taken by you, so my Mother and wife can’t get anything. When I get home, they’ll give me trouble, so who else would I report if not you?”
Facing such memorials, the Emperor had an extremely high tolerance and actually thought it was quite good. If they were truly loyal, righteous, and frugal, he would have suspected the Meng Family of having other motives. Spending a little money—what a trivial matter.
The people of the capital were truly looking forward to seeing the Meng Family’s daughter-in-law, that legendary figure of fairy-like beauty who would put even Daji to shame.
A woman so enchanting and beautiful that the second-generation Meng was instantly captivated, willing to become a live-in son-in-law and inseparable from her for even a day—what level was this? Even more impressive was that she had single-handedly changed the Meng Family’s tradition of having only one heir by giving birth to two sons at once. This was a woman who possessed both beauty and capability.
Many Mothers in the capital with daughters of marriageable age secretly wanted their daughters to pay respects to the young Madam Meng; such status was truly impressive.
It was rumored that when she was in confinement, she made the entire town join her in confinement. The rumors were becoming increasingly exaggerated. However, entertainment in the capital was often repetitive, and this was the first time they had heard of someone making others join in on confinement, which only deepened everyone’s impression.
Regardless, compared to Fairy Liu, who was sometimes effective and sometimes not, the matriarchs of various noble families were actually more eager to see the legendary young Madam Meng. After all, this was a true comeback—marrying openly and giving birth with grace.
As for the likes of Fairy Liu, only some young men would discuss her being as beautiful as a fairy; the true matriarchs of the households actually looked down on her. It was just like how people might ask a fortune teller for information, but they wouldn’t want to marry a fortune teller into their family. Hadn’t the Liu Family agreed to accept her as a foster daughter but refused to let her marry into the family?
Those who wanted to hear gossip, those who wanted to see Fairy Liu make a fool of herself, and those who wanted to marry off their daughters were even more eager than the Meng Family for the young Madam Meng to return with the two babies. Of course, there were also those with dark thoughts: “Could it be that Young General Meng, like Heir Han, is becoming a father without any effort?”
Finally. On this day, the evening glow filled the sky. Although it was winter, there was no wind, and it wasn’t actually cold. The Meng Family’s carriages had been waiting at the city gate for a long time to pick them up.
Having just arrived in the capital, it had been agreed that they would go to her brother-in-law’s house. Jiang Mianmian, in any case, had no say in the matter and just followed along.
Many of the Meng Family’s servants were veterans who had retired from the battlefield, so they looked different from the servants of other families. They possessed an air of fierce courage and moved in unison, never looking around aimlessly.
When this group saw the approaching procession wearing furs, their gazes met, and they felt a sense of familiarity. The old servants’ hearts trembled, almost fearing that the enemy had disguised themselves as civilians to enter the city. This group had cold eyes; they didn’t know what kind of training they had received, but they looked uniform and appeared to be people who had taken lives.
When they noticed the slightly chubby, square-faced man leading them, the servants finally recognized him. “Wow, that’s our young master.”
Meng Qingshe had come to welcome them personally to show respect to the in-laws. Good heavens, he didn’t even recognize his own son. “This… the food at the Jiang Family is too good. My son seems to have gained a whole circle of weight.”
Meng Shaoxia recognized his father at a glance and instantly felt that his father had aged. Having not seen him for over three years, his father had aged, with more wrinkles and looking much more weathered.
Meng Shaoxia was both excited and sad. He silently reflected, feeling that he was truly an unfilial son who had forgotten his parents after getting a wife. His parents must have missed him terribly, so much so that they had become haggard.
“Father!” Meng Shaoxia shouted.
Meng Qingshe’s horse even took a step back; he didn’t really want to acknowledge him—his son looked so stupidly chubby.
After some recognition, the whole family headed toward the Meng Mansion in a grand procession.
There were rows of restaurants and inns by the city gate. Many people were sitting in the private rooms. The Imperial grandson, Chu Xi, had reserved one of the private boxes.
He had originally sent people to intercept and kill the Jiang Family, but he never expected that his entire force would be wiped out; the failure made no sense. He had originally thought that even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. Yet, the lion had actually been bitten to death by the rabbit? This caused the Seventh Prince to slow down his actions in the capital.
Of course, the Seventh Prince still had the most advantage; he was like a venomous snake that had been coiled for many years, having long since laid out his plans in the imperial court. At the same time, he had long been eyeing Great Marshal Zi’s forces.
After Great Marshal Zi died, more than half of them had defected to him. The capital was now like a great whirlpool, perilous and ready to explode at any moment.
Watching the procession slowly move away, Chu Xi sighed. Deep down, he sometimes even felt grateful to Jiang the Second because his father loved his second younger brother very much.
His second younger brother was sincere and brave, and his father praised him often. His third younger brother had a spoiled personality, and his father loved him very much too. As the eldest son, he could only be obedient.
Perhaps it was because he was too much like his father, and looking at him was like looking in a mirror; in daily life, his father actually didn’t like him very much. Even when he praised him, it was that kind of distant praise, never intimate, like between a superior and a subordinate.
Chu Xi was secretly observing the enemy. How was Jiang the Second able to kill his men? He discovered that Jiang the Second’s horses were excellent; every horse was a choice steed, a treasure worth a thousand pieces of gold.
This person was very ruthless. He hadn’t received any news because Jiang the Second had truly killed everyone, leaving no survivors. According to the reports from his spies, Jiang the Second had set fire to the mountain.
It was possible he had burned everyone to death, but if it were just fire, it was impossible that no one had escaped; to leave no survivors—Chu Xi suspected that Jiang the Second had also used poison. This was a madman who disregarded the consequences, killing, burning, and poisoning—using any means necessary, with no bottom line.
Damn it, the enemy was much worse than he had thought. This person would be a formidable rival. Fortunately, Chu Xi had confidence in his own subordinates; Jiang the Second definitely didn’t know that he was the one who had sent them. The enemy was in the light, and he was in the dark.
As the sunset faded, that long line of people disappeared at the end of the long street. Jiang Mianmian, whose bottom was sore from sitting in the carriage all day, leaned out to get some air for a moment.
As the carriage started moving, she sat back. Jiang Mianmian said to Mother, “Mother, someone was watching us from the restaurant just now. It seemed to be that Jiang Wan’s cousin, the Seventh Prince’s eldest son.”
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