No matter how intelligent and composed Fu Xuanming usually appeared, he was ultimately just a fourteen-year-old boy who still held great hope for familial affection.
He even harbored particularly high admiration for this elder brother who had always existed only in their father’s and others’ accounts.
Jiang Wanwen sighed inwardly, placing the bowl of soup she was holding directly on the ground. She then picked up an empty bowl and served half a portion for her son.
Placing it in Fu Xuanming’s hands, she said, “Drink! Since your elder brother didn’t choose you, you simply don’t choose him in the future either.”
Fu Xuanming looked up at his still-smiling mother, feeling she deserved better than this.
Over the years, their father had been either at his fiefdom or the border, rarely in Shengyang. It had always been their mother alone who raised them siblings in Shengyang.
Even their elder brother had been raised by their mother until he was ten before following their father to the fiefdom.
Their mother must have lived in constant fear all these years. Whenever news of war came, she would abstain from meat and pray to Buddha, seeking blessings for their father and elder brother.
How could their elder brother reject him and his younger siblings, even going so far as to say their mother was dead too!
Their mother must be heartbroken as well!
As Fu Xuanming thought about these things, his resentment grew more apparent. For the first time, he felt the desire to compete with his elder brother.
Since his elder brother didn’t care about them, Fu Xuanming decided he needn’t care about him either.
Though countless thoughts raced through Fu Xuanming’s mind, he struggled to hold back the tears in his eyes and said in as lighthearted a tone as possible:
“Mother, your luck is truly unfortunate. Among your three sons, two are unfilial. That leaves only me as your dutiful son.”
Hearing his second brother say this, Fu Xuanchen immediately protested, “Second Brother, what are you saying? How is it only you? What about me?”
Fu Xuanming simply pointed at the scar on their mother’s forehead, and Fu Xuanchen could only slump back into his seat dejectedly.
Fu Xuanchen muttered in his own defense, “I really didn’t think that much about it at the time.”
Fu Xuanming had no interest in hearing his third brother’s excuses. “Just admit it—was it you who did it or not?”
Seeing his second brother remain stubborn and unyielding, Fu Xuanchen grew furious.
He glanced around and saw that no one else intended to speak up for him. Though Fu Xuanchen wanted to apologize to his mother, his pride wouldn’t allow it.
In a fit of pique, he stood up and went to sit beside Zhong Yuancheng, who was seated in the windy spot.
Zhong Yuancheng had chosen this spot because the terrain was relatively higher, offering a better view to see if anyone was entering the mountains below.
Noticing Fu Xuanchen sitting beside him, Zhong Yuancheng kindly advised, “Third Young Master, you should move further in! This is a windy spot—the gusts are strong.”
Not only did Fu Xuanchen refuse to leave, he picked a quarrel: “Brother Yuancheng, do you dislike me too? You call Second Brother ‘Ming-di,’ but you call me ‘Third Young Master.'”
Zhong Yuancheng indeed didn’t care much for Fu Xuanchen, but as an adopted son, it wasn’t his place to comment on his adoptive parents’ family matters.
“Third Young Master, have you forgotten? You were the one who told me not to call you ‘Chen-di’ and insisted I address you as ‘Third Young Master,'” Zhong Yuancheng replied before taking a sip of the soup in his hand.
He couldn’t help but reflect inwardly how comforting it was to drink a bowl of hot soup after walking all day.
Fu Xuanchen’s previously soaring arrogance instantly deflated. After remaining quiet for a long time, he asked somewhat incredulously, “Did I really say such things before?”
Zhong Yuancheng looked at Fu Xuanchen at this moment and inexplicably found him much more agreeable than before.
So although Zhong Yuancheng nodded with a smile, he still comforted him: “Third Young Master needn’t feel burdened. There was always a significant status difference between us anyway.”
Zhong Yuancheng had always remembered the kindness and protection his adoptive mother had shown him, but he also remembered his own status.
Fu Xuanchen couldn’t perceive Zhong Yuancheng’s comforting intention and muttered quietly, “I suspect you’re being sarcastic.”
Seeing such childish behavior from Fu Xuanchen, Zhong Yuancheng just smiled and didn’t say anything more.
Since that day when Fu Xuanchen sat with Zhong Yuancheng for two hours, he suddenly began treating Zhong Yuancheng as one of his own people.
Every day he would follow around calling “sworn brother, sworn brother,” and even when riding horses, he was willing to follow behind Zhong Yuancheng.
For the sake of his adoptive mother, his deceased adoptive father, and General Jiang, Zhong Yuancheng was willing to share some of his adoptive mother’s worries.
Guiding Fu Xuanchen onto the right path would provide his adoptive mother with another source of support in the future.
Although currently, the Second Young Master and the Eldest Young Miss both appeared filial, when it came to filial sons, the more the better.
Zhong Yuancheng believed Fu Xuanchen’s past mistakes were because the boy had been spoiled in Shengyang and never experienced hardship, inevitably leading to unruly behavior and some lack of judgment.
But after suffering enough during their escape, he had improved significantly.
It was precisely because of these thoughts that Zhong Yuancheng didn’t reject Fu Xuanchen constantly hovering around him.
Instead, he intentionally or unintentionally taught Fu Xuanchen some principles. By the time their group reached Hanzhou half a month later, Fu Xuanchen seemed completely transformed compared to his days in Shengyang.
He had become much more composed, with hardly any trace of the lawless demeanor he had in Shengyang. Now he just appeared somewhat tsundere.
Jiang Wanwen and her group arrived in Hanzhou along with other refugees. After Fu Xuanrui captured Yuanzhou and Hanzhou, both regions began accepting large numbers of refugees.
Jiang Wanwen’s group of over twenty people blended in with more than two hundred refugees and directly entered Hanzhou.
After entering Hanzhou, Jiang Wanwen’s group properly registered their household registration according to Hanzhou’s policies, then headed straight for Chengshui Xian with their new registration documents.
Jiang Wanwen showed no intention of informing her eldest son who was stationed in neighboring Yuanzhou, though she did send someone ahead to notify Magistrate Yu in Chengshui.
After all, Jiang Wanwen had no immediate plans to go to Pingwu Wangfu and play the role of a supposedly deceased Wangfei, only to be restricted everywhere under her daughter-in-law’s management.
Even if she were to go eventually, it wouldn’t be in such a wretched state. She would only return after her ambitious eldest son repeatedly and earnestly invited her.
While in Hanzhou, Jiang Wanwen encountered several of Prince Pingwu’s former subordinates whom the original host had met before in her memories. Some came quite close to her.
Jiang Wanwen wasn’t afraid of being recognized at all. After traveling all the way from Shengyang, she had transformed from a pampered Wangfei into a dark-skinned middle-aged woman.
Who could possibly recognize her?
By the time Jiang Wanwen’s group reached the farmstead in Chengshui, nearly four months had passed since their departure from Shengyang.
Upon receiving the message, Magistrate Yu had long been waiting at Jiang Wanwen’s farmstead.
Seeing Jiang Wanwen enter with several companions, Magistrate Yu hurried forward to pay his respects. His eyes immediately welled up at the sight of the young mistress who had clearly endured hardships:
“This humble official pays respects to Wangfei of Prince Pingwu!”
Jiang Wanwen observed the elderly man who had passed sixty years of age. Memories of the original host’s encounters with this elder came flooding back. She reached out to steady Magistrate Yu and inquired, “Uncle Yu, how fares your health?”