The Jiang residence also had its share of sleepless souls.
After Chun Xing delivered the message to Chu Shi, Jiang Lingyuan had been sobbing face down on her bed.
Between sniffles and tears, Jiang Lingyuan wailed, “Mother, what are we to do? Now that Jiang Lingzhi has taken back her dowry, Madam Xiao won’t let me enter their household. I might as well die.”
Chu Shi’s face darkened. “Don’t talk nonsense. You’re carrying Xiao Yan’s child. How long has the main branch been hoping for an heir? Do you think they’d reject you? Let me tell you, Madam Xiao’s intention is simply for us to retrieve the dowry from Jiang Lingzhi.”
“But she’s already moved the dowry into her own courtyard. How can we get it back?” Jiang Lingyuan looked utterly hopeless.
“Just make her leave the Guogong Fu. Ling Yuan, that wretched girl exchanged marriages to marry a comatose cripple. Who knows how much she regrets it now! Can’t our Jiang family step in as mediators and persuade her to seek a divorce?” Chu Shi comforted her. “Don’t worry, once she’s divorced, she’ll have to bring the dowry back with her!”
Jiang Lingyuan’s eyes lit up. “Then when she returns tomorrow for the bridal visit, Mother, you must persuade her thoroughly to divorce General Xiao immediately!”
“It’s nothing major.” Chu Shi smiled helplessly. “Alright, stop crying. You’re still with child and need to take better care of yourself.”
Jiang Lingyuan nodded obediently. “Mother, I knew you’d have a solution!”
“Silly child, who else would I dote on if not you?” Chu Shi smiled, her eyes filled with maternal affection. “I won’t let her outshine you.”
The hardships she had endured to become the legitimate wife—she would never let Ling Yuan suffer the same fate today!
A troublemaker like Jiang Lingzhi, born from lowly stock, deserved to wallow in the mud with maggots for the rest of her life!
…
Early the next morning, Jiang Lingzhi was awakened by her maids to prepare for the day.
Xue Ying went to select her attire, while Yun Rou sat her before the dressing table with ambitious determination. “Today is your bridal return visit. I’ll dress you elegantly so your family knows you’re living well at the Guogong Fu.”
Jiang Lingzhi hesitated but held her tongue, not wanting to dampen her maid’s good intentions, and allowed them to proceed.
Years ago, Lord Jiang’s first wife had given birth to two sons but remained frail and ill. Determined to fulfill the marriage arrangement set by the elders, she insisted on bearing a daughter.
After ten months of pregnancy, she finally delivered a girl but succumbed to postpartum hemorrhage and passed away.
Grieving the loss of his beloved wife, Lord Jiang developed an intense dislike for this daughter. Without even a glance, he had the wet nurse take her to the countryside to be raised.
Later, for the sake of his two young sons, he remarried, taking Chu Shi, the niece of Old Madam Jiang, as his second wife. Chu Shi bore no children, so they adopted Jiang Lingyuan from the clan.
All for the sake of the marriage alliance with the Xiao family.
Jiang Lingyuan, talented, beautiful, clever, and obedient, was the cherished young lady doted on by the entire Jiang family.
If Duke Xiao hadn’t insisted on Jiang Lingzhi, the legitimate eldest daughter from the first wife, the Jiang family would likely have long forgotten her in the countryside.
In the year since Jiang Lingzhi returned to the Minister’s residence, her own father had not spared her a single extra glance.
Her two elder brothers hadn’t even returned home. To this day, she didn’t know what they looked like.
Meanwhile, Jiang Lingyuan, feeling robbed of her marriage arrangement, had secretly set many obstacles for her. Stepmother Chu Shi, her hopes dashed, constantly devised various punishments. Old Madam Jiang disdained her as a crude country girl and never showed her a kind expression.
In fact, Jiang Lingzhi felt that her fondest memory of the Jiang family was being punished to kneel in the Ancestral Hall, where she could face her mother Wei Lan’s spirit tablet day and night.
Thus, she felt utterly indifferent about returning to her maiden home.
If not for wanting to pay respects at her mother’s spirit tablet, she wouldn’t have even considered returning.
After dressing properly, Jiang Lingzhi simply instructed the servants to take good care of the General before leaving with her two maids.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the Jiang residence.
To her great surprise, Jiang Lingzhi found her stepmother Chu Shi standing at the door with a smiling face to welcome her.
Chu Shi, in her thirties, was well-maintained and dressed in bright, flashy attire, though her brows always carried a trace of resentment, forming a crease like the character “川.””
As Jiang Lingzhi stepped down from the carriage, Chu Shi couldn’t help but glance over her body and face, a flicker of hatred flashing in her eyes.
Jiang Lingzhi was wearing a Cloud Brocade Full Embroidery Overlap Collar Wide Sleeve Shirt, paired with a Moon White Pomegranate Skirt. Her festive Peach Heart Bun was adorned with a Diancui Buyao, giving her an elegant and noble appearance.
Her eyes and brows bore a striking resemblance to Wei Lan’s.
Chu Shi quickly composed herself and approached with a smile, saying, “Lingzhi, you’ve finally returned. Why are you alone?”
Her eyes held a hint of schadenfreude, but she feigned a pitiful expression, taking Jiang Lingzhi’s hand and leading her inside. “You silly child, if you have any grievances, you should come home and talk about them. Why insist on switching marriages? Now that General Xiao is bedridden and unconscious, how will you manage in the future? As your mother, I…”
Jiang Lingzhi coldly withdrew her hand. “You are not my mother.”
Chu Shi’s expression instantly darkened, her smile freezing on her face. What she detested most was Jiang Lingzhi’s haughty demeanor, which was exactly the same as when Wei Lan had refused to take her as a concubine!
“You have your own ideas; I can’t say anything to you,” Chu Shi forced herself to adopt a submissive, worried expression. “Wait in the front hall for a while. I’ll call your second brother to see you.”
With that, she summoned the house steward to escort Jiang Lingzhi to the front hall.
Since returning to the capital, Jiang Lingzhi had not yet seen her two brothers. She couldn’t help but feel some anticipation to meet this second brother, who was said to have been traveling abroad for his studies, so she sat down.
A maid from the residence brought tea and then retreated to the doorway, chatting and laughing just loud enough for Jiang Lingzhi to hear.
“Ah, our eldest young lady is truly something, isn’t she? Giving up the chance to be the eldest grandson’s wife to switch marriages in the ancestral hall and marry the younger uncle.”
“She’s utterly shameless! Haven’t you heard what the second young lady said? As soon as the eldest young lady stepped out of the bridal sedan, she rushed straight to the ancestral hall, clung to General Xiao’s spirit tablet, and cried and begged to marry him. When the second young lady tried to stop her, she even slapped her twice!”
The news of Jiang Lingzhi switching marriages to marry Xiao Jingyi had already spread throughout the city.
Madam Xiao, with her extensive influence, had released word to save face for the Guogong Fu, claiming that on the day Jiang Lingzhi entered the household, Xiao Jingyi had returned from the dead, and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had decreed their union as predestined.
This had somewhat reduced the gossip about Jiang Lingyuan and Xiao Yan.
Originally, the matter could have been left at that.
But now, Chu Shi intended to pressure Jiang Lingzhi into divorcing the Guogong Fu, so she deliberately arranged for these two maids to speak such harsh words.
Her plan was to thoroughly humiliate Jiang Lingzhi before stepping in as the benevolent figure to persuade her to divorce.
“Fourth Madam, they…”
Xueying couldn’t bear to listen any longer. How could servants be so insolent as to insult their mistress like this?
“Just say the word, Madam, and I’ll go tear their mouths shut right now!”
“I heard.” Jiang Lingzhi set down her teacup and stood up, walking outside.
The maid outside grew even louder:
“I also heard that to secure this marriage, the young lady took the initiative to consummate it that very night. General Xiao was still unconscious, yet she behaved like some brothel prostitute… Ah!”
Jiang Lingzhi kicked the maid out, sending her tumbling down the steps with a series of miserable cries.