Real Empress from a Noble Family

Chapter 363 It Was My Incompetence That Made You and Daughter Live in Aggrieved Life.

Jiang Family had so many descendants. It was inevitable that some kids relied on their parents to start up their businesses.

As the most valuable grandson, Jiang Yashuang’s first kid had won so much attention, especially that the biological mother was Jiang Yashuang’s legal wife. The good news came out around the festival. Marquess Qin and his wife were so happy that they could not stop rewarding treasures. Marquess Qin told Madame Tao by himself, “Qiu Yelan does not have reliable parents to help her. The wife of our fourth son is far away in Beijiang. She is having her first kid. You should pay much more attention!”

Madame Tao smiled, “I don’t need you to tell me. I have asked Mom Hu to go there every day. It was lucky that Mrs. Zhou who served Madame accompanied her to Jiang Family when she got married. I have observed Mrs. Zhou on my own. She is meticulous.”

Madame was clear. The reason why she did not ask Mom Hu to take care of Qiu Yelan as she did when Madame Tao Junior was pregnant was that she knew Qiu Yelan would be uncomfortable if she went there. Besides, there was Mom Zhou to look after her. If Mom Hu came, she would suppress Mom Zhou, who was the wet nurse of Qiu Yelan’s mother and accompanied her when she was in trouble. Qiu Yelan would not be happy to see Mom Zhou was suppressed.

So, she would like to ask Mom Hu to go there every day instead of letting her live there to bother them.

Everyone knew Madame’s considerations. They were more jealous of her.

No matter how jealous they were, the attitudes of Marquess Qin and his wife were firm. So, they had to prepare lavish gifts for them.

“I remember this is your dowry. Why do you take out that?” Jiang Yazhu was playing with his daughter under the west window. Jiang Huihuan could not speak fluently because she was just two years old. She seized his sleeves and kept calling. Jiang Yazhu pinched her face and her fingers as he looked at the delicate box on the table, asking, “Do you plan to send it to Jiang Yashuang’s kid?”

Sisters-in-law like Sheng Shishui came to visit Qiu Yelan immediately when the news that she was pregnant came out. However, they were just so hasty as to carry common gifts. These days Marquess Qin and Madame Tao showed their attitudes. Those who wanted to kiss up to them prepared another princely gift.

Jiang Yazhu and his wife were from the fourth branch, which meant they should be more serious.

Sheng Shishui made an agile hair style. She was sitting around the table, checking the list of presents. Hearing the words, she answered, “Of course. These days, proper presents in shops have been sold out. Those that we cannot afford are left. My dowry is useless. If we give it to them, we won’t be under so much pressure.”

Jiang Yazhu’s face changed as his hand on his daughter’s face paused for a while. It was not until Jiang Huihuan bit him curiously that he stopped puzzling. He took out a handkerchief to wipe her saliva and then his hand. He said coolly, “I heard about that when Emperor Gaozong wanted to select wives for the feudal princes and the news was just given away, the price of treasures all rose high and supply could not meet demand. Though I did not see the view in the previous dynasty, now I have experienced it because of Jiang Yashuang’s wife’s pregnancy.”

“We have no loss if we send these gifts.” Sheng Shishui turned her back to him and sighed. She said in a soft voice, “Qiu Yelan knows this is my dowry. She will pay back.”

“I am the brother of Jiang Yashuang. When you were pregnant, they did not act like that!” Jiang Yazhu looked at her innocent daughter. He looked complicated, “Though I know there is difference between the son of the legal wife and that of a concubine, but the difference…”

He hung his eyes and sighed, “I am so incompetent. It is because of me that you do not live a happier life.”

“Why do you say that?” Sheng Shishui turned to him and frowned, “Though our situation is not good, will we be poorer than our grandpa when he is young? I have told you that if you work hard, even if our officialmother does not look up upon us, grandfather will help us because you are his grandson. Besides, Jiang Yashuang and Qiu Yelan had no plan to suppress us.”

“Do we have something worthy of being suppressed?” Jiang Yazhu sneered. “I may not gain stuff which Jiang Yashuang throws away. Even our fourth aunt Empress Jiang’s trousseau cannot compare to Qiu Yelan’s. They should have mercy on us!”

Sheng Shishui felt terrible at this moment. As her husband said, she was also the daughter-in-law who married into the Jiang Family and carried a baby before Qiu Yelan. She was more well-behaved and considerate than Qiu Yelan. What did it matter? Wives relied on their husbands to be noble, not to mention the difference of treatment they got when they were pregnant. Qiu Yelan got pregnant after she married Jiang Yashuang for two years and Jiang Yashuang had no mistress. However, Sheng Shishui was so shrewd to live a life while her husband got two mistresses who were beautiful and young.

What made her more helpless was that in such a situation she had to be strong enough to inspire her husband instead of receiving comfort from her husband.

“According to what you have said, it seems that Jiang Yashuang and Qiu Yelan do not respect us!” Sheng Shishui actually wanted to let off her anger by crying and yelling. But when she turned to her young daughter, she took a deep breath and refrained. She persuaded him calmly, “Jiang Yashuang respects you all the time. He is also polite to me as well as Qiu Yelan. Why do you think so much? Though they show partiality to him, they give us a way to make a living. Now since our official mother is not here, you should try your best to pursue your future. Otherwise, if our official mother comes back, will she give us a chance to expand ourselves? If you are talking about unfairness, try to think about the eldest uncle and the third uncle!”

The humblest guy in the Jiang Family was Jiang Tianqi. As the first son of Marquess Qin’s legal wife, he should have enjoyed all the respect. However, Jiang Tianao suppressed him from childhood to adult period by virtue of their father’s affection.

Thinking about that Jiang Yazhu felt inspired, “If tomorrow grandfather is free to see me, I will ask him whether I can get a position or not.”

He wasted too much time when he was young. He was bad at both learning and military. Though he did not go out to be mischievous after he got married with Sheng Shishui, who could persuade him, he did not have any fame or competence. Besides, he was the one to be cracked down as the official mother made it clear. Who would trust him and give him a serious business? So, when he checked out the accounts in Qingfeng Ji, he gained leisure again.

“There will be a higher possibility to get a position of real power if you invite Jiang Yashuang to visit our grandfather together. You may take this chance to get along well with the official mother again. If you become reconciled with her, she will not aim at you like that.” Though Sheng Shishui wanted to say the words, she was silent after a thought. “My husband feels so pity. I may mess it up if I still mention Jiang Yashuang.”

However, she asked her maid to mention it to Su He when she gave the present.

“Jiang Yazhu has been at home without a career for so long indeed. It is said that he has stopped being mischievous since Sheng Shishui married him. Though he may not be able to take on a crucial position, he is young and perhaps can learn something from someone.” Qiu Yelan did not mind satisfying Sheng Shishui. At that night she told her husband, “After all Huan has been born while Jiang Yazhu does not have a serious business. It is unreasonable.”

Jiang Yashuang did not take Jiang Yazhu as an outsider at all. Hearing her words, he agreed, “I will tell grandfather tomorrow to give Jiang Yazhu a good position. I will try my best to make Sheng Shishui and Huan a noble life.”

It was no wonder that Jiang Yazhu was jealous of his brother. If he wanted a business, he could only ask Marquess Qin for help, which depended on whether Marquess Qin was free. Besides, Jiang Yashuang’s young servant may gain a position for his relatives easier than him. Jiang Yashuang could enter into Marquee Qin’s schoolroom whenever he wanted. If he didn’t want to go there, once there was a sign of disturbance or trouble, Marquess Qin would positively ask him to discuss. Marquess Qin was afraid that his cultivation of Jiang Yashuang was not enough.

They were all grandsons of Marquess Qin. The gap was so huge. A normal people would be jealous.

In fact, Jiang Yashuang knew his brother’s grievance. He did not have hatred and estrangement to him, though he knew his origin as he was not brought up by Madame Zhuang, “Though Jiang Yazhu does not be mischievous as he used to be, he also does nothing respectable. It is hard for him to make elders impressive. Though my wife and I respect him, we cannot erase his jealousy. What kind of a position should we get for him to give him space to show his capabilities?”

There were three kids in the fourth branch. Obviously, they could not count on Jiang Yadan. Jiang Yashuang definitely hoped Jiang Yazhu could be competent so that he could help him when needed.

So, he spent a lot of his energy on thinking about Jiang Yazhu’s future.

However, the next day when he went to talk with Marquess Qin, Marquess Qin said, “I already have a plan for his future. Today if you do not come to me, I will ask you to make it clear.”

Jiang Yashuang was surprised, “What a plan?”

“I will let him go to the Northern Army.”

“The Northern Army?” Jiang Yashuang was shocked. “Though Jiang Yazhu does not want to attend the imperial competitive examination, he grew up in a prosperous place in Jing City. Won’t the life in the Northern Army be too ascetic?”

He was covering up for Jiang Yazhu. The reason why he did not want to take the imperial examinations was that he did not have the ability. Not every reformed person had the talent to pass the examination after learning hard for several years. Jiang Yazhu was not firmed at reforming. If Sheng Shishui did not persuade him, he would give himself up as well.

How could such kind of person bear the hardship in the Northern Army? The most important thing was that if he went to Beijiang, he would live right under Madame Zhuang’s nose.

Jiang Yashuang was sent to Jing City when he was a baby. His impression about mother was from what others said. But he knew Madame Zhuang would not give Jiang Yazhu an easy life to live. She might even kill him.

At this moment he heard that Marquess Qin planned to send him to the Northern Army. He had to oppose him.

Marquess Qin shook his head, “Will Jiang Yazhu keep away from your mother in his whole life?”

Jiang Yashuang smiled bitterly, “If you must send him to the Northern Army, could he come with me later?” If he went to Beijiang with him, when Madame Zhuang became mad, he could try to persuade her as her natural son.

“Hey! You only have two brothers in the fourth branch. Now your father and your uncles were in high intensity of competition. If you have another choice, you cannot use your brothers at all!” Marquess Qin sneered, “If you don’t send him to Beijiang to temper him, two years later what can he do? Do you think you could handle so many things in army?”

He paused, “If your mother considers for you sincerely, she should give up her jealousy. If she can’t, I am tired of bearing her. Ask her to come back in case that she breaks the relationship between you and your brother!”

Seeing his grandfather was decisive, Jiang Yashuang had no choice but asked for leave.

He went back to his yard and told Qiu Yelan this thing. He said, “I want to go to the schoolroom to write a letter to persuade my mother. Otherwise, she will be unhappy if Jiang Yazhu goes there.”

Qiu Yelan agreed with him, “Go ahead!”

Su He went in ironically after he left, “Something happened in Sir Jibei’s mansion.”

“What happened?”

“Mi Yinyin went back to her maiden family with tears. Madame Mi started to pretend to be ill.”

Qiu Yelan was shocked, “What happened to Madame Mi and her nephew?” Though she did not have conflicts with Mi Yinyin, she got along well with Xin Fubing. Naturally she could not take a shine to them. Hearing this news, she had nothing to worry about, but she was interested.

“Madame Tianhe tells Madame Ou that you entered into the Jiang Family later than Jiang Yalan’s wife but you have been pregnant now. Though the fourteenth madame does not have a kid, she was pregnant before. For the sake of Jiang Yalan’s descendants, they have to find other wives for him.” Su He chuckled, “They said that such things should be raised by Jiang Yalan’s wife by herself. She had not said a word. She was not so virtuous and generous!”

“And then?” Qiu Yelan left out of consideration that the revenge of Jiang Tianhe to the sixth branch did not finish yet. They messed up on the excuse of her pregnancy. She was curious how they would finish such things when she felt herself innocent.

Su He said, “You know Jiang Yalan’s wife. She was spoiled when she was in her maiden family. After she got married, her mother-in-law pampered her. How could she bear it? Hearing these words, she cried and went back to her room. But she still felt wronged and so returned her maiden family. It was a pity that the sixth madame said something for her in front of Madame Ou. But she was chocked by Madame Ou’s words. Madame Ou said that she was not virtuous as she could not give birth to a baby and why she did not find a person who could give a child for her husband since she just stayed at home. She was also blamed by Madame Ou as she spoiled Mi Yinyin too much. So, she went back to her yard and said she was ill.”

“The aunt and the nephew are so amazing. “Qiu Yelan shook her head. She suddenly remembered He Shuijin. She curled her lips, “Though Madame Mi treats my cousin badly, she treats Mi Yinyin very well. She is a good example of being a good aunt. She is not like Madame He’s attitude to He Shuijin, which is really disgusting!”