Another maid instantly paled with fear, then reacted with indignation: “This is Shangshu Manor… How dare you strike at will?”
Jiang Lingzhi smiled sweetly. “What of Shangshu Manor? For vile, gossiping servants like you, does one need to choose where to administer punishment?”
“Do not be insolent toward Eldest Sister!”
Suddenly a woman’s voice rang out. Jiang Lingzhi turned to see Jiang Lingyuan approaching from a distance.
She wore a delicate pink gauze dress. Though not exceptionally beautiful, she appeared pure and pitiable, like a lotus blossom newly unfurled in a pond.
Behind Jiang Lingyuan stood a tall, handsome man.
Draped in flowing white robes with his hair tied in a jade crown, his amorous peach-blossom eyes sparkled with laughter. A few stray locks fell across his forehead, lending him a rakish air.
The two maids at the entrance hastily knelt, calling out: “Second Young Miss, Second Young Master.”
Jiang Lingzhi suddenly understood—this must be the Jiang family’s Second Young Master, Jiang Xun.
As she moved forward to greet him as “Second Brother,” the maid who had been struck hurriedly cried out: “Second Young Miss, please grant us justice!” We were merely speaking when Eldest Sister struck us without cause or inquiry.”
Jiang Lingyuan frowned. “If you spoke words Eldest Sister did not wish to hear, and she chooses to discipline you, what can I do? You must simply endure it.”
Jiang Xun scoffed, casting a mocking glance at Jiang Lingzhi. “What, having committed such acts, you cannot bear to hear them spoken of?”
He looked down at Jiang Lingzhi with a cold gaze. “If it was General Xiao you desired, why not say so earlier? Why must you seize Ling Yuan’s betrothal?”
Jiang Lingzhi felt as if a basin of ice water had been dumped over her head. The secret longing for familial affection in her heart was silently extinguished.
How could she have been so foolish.
She had always believed her elder brothers seldom returned home—one guarding the frontier, the other burdened with studies. It never occurred to her that they simply did not welcome her as a sister.
Fortunately, Jiang Lingzhi was accustomed to disappointment in this Jiang family. She quickly composed herself, regarding Jiang Xun indifferently. “Have your studies addled your wits?”
Jiang Xun was taken aback. “What?”
Jiang Lingzhi stated earnestly:
“It was your dear sister who, on my wedding day, engaged in illicit relations with Xiao Yan in my bridal chamber in broad daylight. I was forced to marry Fourth Master instead, and it was only Madam Xiao’s intervention that suppressed the scandal. Otherwise, the one facing public scorn today would be your precious sister.”
Jiang Lingyuan’s face instantly drained of color. She looked pitifully at Jiang Xun, tears immediately welling in her eyes. “Second Brother, I didn’t…”
She was utterly confident Jiang Xun would believe her.
Sure enough, seeing her weep so bitterly, Jiang Xun immediately assumed Jiang Lingzhi was slandering her and raised his hand to strike. “How dare you spread such lies?Jiang Lingzhi let out a cold laugh and provocatively leaned in, saying: “I am now the Fourth Madam of Guogong Fu.” What, do you truly dare strike me?”
Jiang Xun trembled with rage, but ultimately lowered his hand powerless.
Indeed, he had to consider the dignity of Guogong Fu.
But more than that, he could not bring himself to strike a face that bore fifty percent resemblance to their mother.
“Second Brother, please don’t,” Jiang Lingyuan said, emboldened by Jiang Xun’s consistent defense.
So what if Jiang Lingzhi spoke the truth? In this Jiang family, no one would ever believe her!
She looked at Jiang Xun with aggrieved sorrow: “Sister has never liked me, that’s why… but none of that matters. After all, she’s your full-blooded sister. Second Brother, you don’t need to side with me like this…”
Jiang Xun grew increasingly irritated.
He had grown up with Ling Yuan, and in his heart, she was the only one he considered his sister. Yet now she was being bullied into swallowing her grievances!
Before he could say anything, Jiang Lingzhi stood up to leave.
Jiang Lingyuan immediately put on an apologetic expression: “Sister, where are you going? You just returned and haven’t even seen Father yet… Ah, knowing how miserable you’ve been living in the Guogong Fu, everyone at home feels so sorry for you…”
Jiang Xun was so angry his head buzzed. Instinctively, he reached out to stop Jiang Lingzhi: “Ling Yuan is speaking to you! How can you be so ill-mannered?!”
After all Ling Yuan’s consideration for her, she had the nerve to show such impatience—truly like the dog that bit Lü Dongbin!
Having endured sarcasm all this time for no reason, Jiang Lingzhi naturally had little patience left: “If I’m ill-raised, blame the father. So please, Second Young Master Jiang, go question your father about why he raised me this way.”
Jiang Xun grew angrier: “What ‘Second Young Master Jiang’? Can’t you even call me Second Brother?”
He was her own brother—how could she speak to him like this?
Jiang Lingzhi replied expressionlessly: “You’re Jiang Lingyuan’s second brother, not mine. My second brother in the countryside taught me how to slaughter pigs—can you do that?”
“You!” Jiang Xun was a scholar—what did he know about slaughtering pigs?
Furious, he demanded: “You refuse to acknowledge me as your second brother? Is it because you’ve climbed into Xiao Jingyi’s favor and now look down on the Jiang family? Do you want to sever ties with us?”
He knew his words were harsh.
In his view, what woman would switch grooms at an ancestral hall on her wedding day and marry a dead man? Clearly, she was restless and power-hungry!
Added to that, Chu Shi and Jiang Lingyuan had shed tears in front of him this morning, saying they pitied Lingzhi and wanted him to persuade her to seek a divorce and return to the Jiang family.
And now, upon her return, Jiang Lingzhi had acted so arrogantly—beating maids and slandering Ling Yuan—making him even more agitated.
So he spoke without thinking: “Mother shouldn’t have given birth to a troublemaker like you in the first place!”
Only then did Jiang Lingyuan sense something amiss.
Jiang Xun was actually this angry just because Jiang Lingzhi refused to call him Second Brother.
This unsettled her.
Because anger meant he cared.
“Sister,” she quickly pretended to advise Jiang Lingzhi, “don’t be angry. Second Brother cares about you—he’s just upset and spoke hastily…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Lingzhi turned, picked up the cup of cold tea, and dumped it over Jiang Xun’s head: “Then cool off properly!”
Jiang Xun was stunned for a moment—no one had ever dared treat him like this since childhood!
With tea leaves plastered on his face, he grew even more furious: “Jiang Lingzhi! Have you lost your mind?”
But Jiang Lingyuan smiled imperceptibly.
Yes, just like this—get provoked, and let Jiang Xun completely believe Jiang Lingzhi was an unreasonable madwoman!
She loathed Jiang Lingzhi intensely.
She herself was the Jiang family’s most beautiful and talented daughter, yet the Duke Xiao’s residence insisted on having that country bumpkin Jiang Lingzhi.
How could she tolerate that?
So she not only wanted to win Xiao Yan back, but also firmly grasp her father’s concern and her brothers’ affection in her hands!
She tugged at Jiang Xun’s sleeve and said softly, “Second Brother, don’t speak like that. Sister is truly pitiful. She must have suffered tremendous grievances at Guogong Fu to act this way. You should comfort her…”
Jiang Lingzhi couldn’t bear to stay there another moment. She strode directly out of the main hall.
“Stop!” Jiang Xun grew anxious again, ignoring the tea stains on his face as he hurried after her and grabbed her wrist.
Jiang Lingzhi frowned: “What do you want now?”
Looking at her face, Jiang Xun pressed his lips together to suppress his anger. After a moment’s hesitation, his threatening tone softened slightly:
“Jiang Lingzhi, this marriage exchange is utterly absurd. You should return and divorce General Xiao immediately. Don’t make the Jiang family lose face because of you!”