Chapter 36: The Wolves of the Second Branch Are All Ruthless (Bonus Chapter)

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When the Heir Apparent left the Jiang household with his younger brother, Jiang Shijin used the excuse that she had not been home in a long while and wished to keep her mother company, and so she remained behind.

Inside Fragrant Orchid Pavilion.

The mother and daughter looked down at the trembling Hai Concubine kneeling before them with undisguised malice. Jiang Shijin still had to put on an act for appearances, but Second Madam Zhang showed not the slightest mercy. She glanced at Qi Mama beside her, and the old servant immediately twisted a handful of flesh on Hai Concubine’s body with all her strength.

Pain brought sweat to Hai Concubine’s brow, yet she did not dare make a sound.

“The little strumpet you raised certainly has some nerve. She dared to humiliate me in front of so many people, then ran off after I paved the way for her. I noticed the Third Young Master seemed rather taken with you, this aging beauty. It seems your daughter may be hopeless, but you, her mother, still have quite a bit of your old charm left!”

Second Madam Zhang’s words were vicious enough to make Hai Concubine wish she could dash her head against the wall and die.

She had become the Second Lord’s concubine only because he had forced himself on her while drunk. She had never sought to climb into his bed of her own accord. For that reason, Second Madam had always targeted her, while she could only endure her grievances in silence.

Now that the Second Lord was dead, she had already found life in the rear courtyard difficult enough while raising the children. To be cursed and insulted by Second Madam on top of that was more than even a clay figure could bear. Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded in wounded innocence.

“Second Madam, please see the truth! How could this servant dare? The Third Young Master is around the same age as Second Young Master and Fourth Miss. How could this servant possibly—”

She had not even finished speaking when Jiang Shijin, seated nearby, remarked in an airy tone, “How strange, Hai Concubine. Even if the Third Young Master were the same age as you, he would still be far beyond anything you could presume to dream of.”

“Second Young Miss—no, Heir’s Consort, you are condemning this servant unjustly! How could I ever dare do such a thing?”

She wept and begged desperately, while Qi Mama’s fingers dug in even harder. The pain could not be seen through her clothing, but her hands were already aching from the effort. One could easily imagine the bruises covering the flesh beneath her garments.

“Since you would never dare, then go back and properly advise Fourth Sister. A marriage to the Third Young Master is already a match your family would be fortunate to obtain. If you have any sense, go before Grandmother yourselves and beg her to restore the proposal. But if you refuse, then Mother and I need not waste our efforts. I hear that Master Wang, the wealthy gentleman from the eastern part of the city, has only recently lost his wife and is in need of a new mistress for his household. If you think that would be a suitable marriage, I could send someone to propose it to Fourth Sister. The only drawback is that he may be a little old. I believe he celebrated his seventieth birthday just a few days ago. Still, older men know how to cherish a woman. If Fourth Sister truly married him, she would soon have a household full of children and grandchildren.”

As Jiang Shijin spoke, she smiled with gentle, captivating warmth. Anyone unaware of the circumstances might have taken her for a kind elder sister earnestly seeking a fine match for her younger sister. But Hai Concubine looked utterly bereft of hope.

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A seventy-year-old Master Wang—and Fourth Miss was supposed to marry him?

Was that not tantamount to sending her off to live as a widow while suffering everyone’s scorn?

Hai Concubine had no idea how much longer she would have to endure such a miserable existence before her children could finally escape their hardships. She only wished she could take their place and spare them from further suffering.

In a corner outside the room, Jiang Shiyue heard every word. So terrified that she did not dare make a sound, she seized her younger brother Jiang Shilin and immediately turned away, careful not to disturb even the other maids in the courtyard.

Only after returning to Moonshadow Pavilion did she finally breathe freely again. Her eyes were filled with fear as she looked at her brother and anxiously said, “What are we going to do? If I truly have to marry that Master Wang, I would rather die. Come to think of it, perhaps I really was too ungrateful to reject the Third Young Master’s proposal…”

“Fourth Sister, but Elder Sister said the Third Young Master is moody and unpredictable. Today… I did not think he seemed like a very respectable man either. Can you truly accept such a marriage?”

Jiang Shiyue burst into tears.

“Do you think I am not afraid? But tell me, if there are only two roads before me, which one should I choose? When I went to Elder Sister’s room today, I tried again and again to ask her to look after me, but she did not respond at all. Her heart holds only Third Sister. Hmph, I suppose being separated by one branch of the family really does make a difference. At the end of the day, I am nothing more than an insignificant cousin to her. Someone who has always lived like a celestial being—how could she possibly care about people like us, struggling through the mud?”

Jiang Shilin let out a long sigh. He did not know much about their elder sister. In ordinary times, they had exchanged only a few words. She appeared to be kindhearted, but when a person lived outside the family home, could not any sort of virtue be feigned?

Thus, he did not dare be certain either.

He clasped Fourth Sister’s hand. Thinking of the concubine still being tormented in Second Madam’s room, his thoughts became a tangled mess.

He wished he could grow up quickly and protect them, but he was skilled neither in martial arts, nor in letters, nor in managing money. He was utterly useless in every respect. His eyes reddened with sorrow, and when Jiang Shiyue saw this, her anger and frustration eventually dissolved into tears. She pitied both herself and the younger brother before her.

“Enough. We can only blame our bad fortune. Even when we were being born, fate had no eyes and sent us into a concubine’s womb. She was incapable of standing up for herself, and as a result, we have endured this bitter life since childhood. From now on, I refuse to keep listening to her. What is the use of endless forbearance? I will make my own way. I will fight and seize what I need. Otherwise, the days awaiting me will only continue to be like today, one after another without end…”

These words happened to be overheard by Hai Concubine, who had just returned from her punishment. Covering her mouth, she did not dare sob aloud, afraid that the children would hear her. How could those words fail to break her heart? Yet sorrow changed nothing. In the end, she silently left the courtyard and went away alone to tend her wounds.

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The small disturbance at the family banquet soon faded away.

The sun continued to rise, and the moon continued to set. Few people noticed that the ordinarily inconspicuous Jiang Shiyue of the Second Branch had quietly changed. For the most part, everyone simply shut their doors and carried on with their own lives.

Before long, June arrived. Banquets began to follow one another throughout the Western Capital, and of all of them, the liveliest was certain to be the birthday celebration that the wife of the Marquis of Wenyuan was hosting half a month later.

The invitations had been sent to the residences of the capital’s nobles well in advance.

The woman overseeing the arrangements was Xiang, Jiang Shijin’s cousin by marriage. Though she was pregnant, her condition had stabilized, so she did not find the work particularly tiring. Her pregnancy had been exceptionally easy: no morning sickness, no excessive sleepiness, and an abundance of energy.

Seeing this, Jiang Shiyuan, who had come especially to help her arrange the birthday banquet, could not resist teasing her.

“When I see other women become pregnant, they seem ready to lie at home all day and be nursed like invalids. Even when they go outside, they travel in groups of three or five to wait on one another, terrified of exposing themselves to the slightest bit of sunlight. But look at you, Cousin-in-law. Anyone who did not know better might think you had taken some miraculous elixir. Just look—your complexion is positively glowing.”

Cousin-in-law Xiang covered her lips and gave a soft laugh. Her eyes flickering with amusement, she set down the ledger in her hands, glanced at Third Miss Jiang Shishu, and said, “Just listen to this eldest aunt of the Jiang family. She certainly knows how to speak. I cannot tell whether she is praising me openly or insulting me in secret.”

Jiang Shishu had spent the past two days accompanying Jiang Shiyuan at the marquis’s residence. She had seen few of the other members of the household, but she had already grown rather familiar with the marquis’s eldest daughter-in-law.

Knowing that Xiang meant her no harm, Jiang Shishu was no longer as constrained as she had been when she first arrived.

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