Chapter 5

Everyone said so; they all believed there was no chance between her and Gu Huaisheng.

In Jiang Jingchun’s heart, her grandmother was different from others, yet even she now spoke the same way.

Jiang Jingchun was unwilling to accept it, unwilling to admit defeat.

Perhaps there truly was no possibility between her and her Gu family cousin.

The matriarch did not continue to answer her, but the look in her eyes clearly conveyed the answer.

It was late at night; Jiang Jingchun had knelt there for an hour, and the matriarch had sat beside her the entire time. In the end, due to her age and frailty, she could not endure much longer.

She rubbed her brow, then said to Jiang Jingchun, “There’s nothing much to say about this. Whether Fu Yan likes you or not isn’t something I can decide. Your mother has spoiled you without limits, and now that you are of marrying age, you show no discipline whatsoever. From now on, come stay by my side. I will teach you some manners.”

Jiang Jingchun was momentarily stunned. They had been talking about other matters just moments ago—why was she suddenly brought up now?

But after gathering her wits, she felt the matriarch’s words were indeed reasonable.

She couldn’t stay with her mother forever. With her mother, she was always treated like a child who never grew up.

Though strict, she quite liked her grandmother.

Just as she said earlier, if someone bullied her, she was actually capable of fighting back.

Moreover... her cousin liked someone with discipline.

There was nothing wrong with learning manners from the matriarch.

Seeing her silence, the matriarch frowned and asked, “You don’t want to?”

Jiang Jingchun lowered her head and said, “Mother will...”

Her mother would definitely be unhappy; she certainly would not agree.

“You don’t need to worry about your mother. I have my ways. Besides, this is just having you come to the Rongde Hall, not sending you to some faraway place. What is there to fear?”

The matriarch’s expression showed signs of fatigue. She did not continue and said, “It’s too late now. You should go back for today.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jingchun no longer lingered and respectfully withdrew.

After she left, though the matriarch appeared tired, she immediately summoned Jiang Jingchun’s father, Jiang Nan.

Because Jiang Jingchun had been at Rongde Hall for so long without returning, Lady Jiang had thrown a fit in their courtyard. Jiang Nan had just calmed her down and was about to rest when he heard someone from Rongde Hall had come, so he immediately got up to come here.

He sat in the lower seat, not showing impatience at the disturbance but lowered his brows obediently and asked, “Mother, why did you call me?”

Among the three siblings, Jiang Nan was the eldest and the most composed. When the Jiang family fell into trouble, he was already in his twenties. He had lived the longest in good times, read the most books, and was the cleverest among them.

After winning the top scholar title, he was noticed by Li Wanning—now Lady Jiang—and Li Wanning’s father was then the chief examiner of the Imperial Academy. Later, their youngest sister Jiang Ruo married into the Marquis’s mansion, and the Jiang family regained its standing, reclaiming a place in the capital.

Jiang Nan’s ascent from the son of a disgraced minister to the position of Minister was not without hardship. Now in his forties, his temples were already streaked with white.

The matriarch asked him, “Have you found where she is?”

The dim light inside cast shadows on the matriarch’s face, making her expression hard to read. Jiang Nan raised his eyes lightly and met her weary gaze.

They both understood what was implied.

After a long pause, Jiang Nan finally spoke with a hoarse voice, “She is my child; of course I will search for her.”

“Have I ever stopped you from searching?”

His tone made it seem as if she was obstructing him.

She quickly added, “You search as you will, but from now on, have Jingchun stay by my side. I want to look after her a little. Otherwise, if left to herself, she might end up utterly alone.”

She spoke as if it were the most commonplace matter.

Yet, somehow, her words struck a nerve with Jiang Nan. He furrowed his brows, clearly baffled. “She is, after all, an outsider. She has not a drop of our blood. When Jinghui had her accident, Wanning treated her as a substitute, hoping to find some solace through her. I can understand that.”

“But why does Mother care for her so much? Even if I find my own child, I wouldn’t abandon her. Why do you speak so harshly?”

He usually obeyed the matriarch’s words, but now he truly could not understand her—why she valued someone unrelated by blood more than her own biological granddaughter.

She said Jiang Jingchun would be left with no one to turn to? He would never do something so cruel as to cast her out onto the streets.

The matriarch snorted coldly, “Because she resembles Jinghui in some ways. It was you and your wife who insisted on bringing her back.”

Jiang Nan’s face instantly darkened.

The matriarch did not want to dwell on old grievances. “I called you here today not to discuss, but to tell you: you must speak to your wife. From now on, I will personally teach her.”

Jiang Nan wanted to argue, “That won’t work. Wanning won’t agree.”

But the matriarch replied, “A child is not her possession. Spoiling a child is like killing one. From the start, she was treated like a pet bird. Now she’s been so pampered, how will she survive when you find Jinghui? The real daughter returns, what fate awaits the false one?”

They all wanted to leave her no way out. The matriarch could not bear it and wanted to stop things before the real daughter was found.

Her mind was made up; she would not say more and rose to go to the inner room.

“Let it be settled this way.”

Seeing her determination, Jiang Nan knew he could not resist and remained silent.

He returned and told his wife Li about the matter.

Upon hearing this, Li immediately erupted in anger. If Jiang Nan had not held her back, she would have gone straight to Rongde Hall as if the matriarch were a villain trying to steal her child.

Later, seeing Li’s fury would not subside, Jiang Nan had no choice but to send for Jiang Jingchun.

In front of Li, he asked Jiang Jingchun, “Do you want to go to grandmother’s place yourself?”

In Jiang Nan’s eyes, Jiang Jingchun had been spoiled rotten by Li. If she were unwilling, she would have caused a fuss first. Since she did not, it meant she was willing to go.

He did not like his daughter much; in fact, he was somewhat disgusted.

Perhaps because he always knew she was not truly his child. Unlike Li Wanning, who was deluded and treated a counterfeit as a treasure, or perhaps because the girl’s character was genuinely irritating.

In any case, he did not like her.

Jiang Jingchun had long guessed her mother would be angry, but she did not expect it to be this bad.

Afraid her mother would take it out on her grandmother, she hurriedly said, “Grandmother only said it once, but I want to go myself.”

But Li immediately pointed at her and scolded, “Am I not good to you? Why do you want to leave me...!”

Li had never raised her voice at her before. No matter what mistakes she made, she mostly indulged her, like the time she pushed Lou Yanyan.

Yet Jiang Jingchun just wanted to be by her grandmother’s side and be taught some discipline, and it enraged her so.

Perhaps in her eyes, Jiang Jingchun was like an ungrateful white-eyed wolf. She had given her all, yet she wanted to be with someone else.

Jiang Jingchun was frightened, her face pale. She wanted to say, “I won’t go, Mother, I won’t go, okay...”

Fortunately, before she spoke, Jiang Nan had already escorted her out.

He stayed behind to soothe Li.

“Alright, you heard it yourself, she wants to go...”

Their voices gradually faded away, and Jiang Jingchun fled from the room as if escaping in panic.

Hua Yun waited at the door but heard the quarrel inside. Seeing Jiang Jingchun’s pale face, she asked, “Miss, what happened?”

Jiang Jingchun stared blankly at Hua Yun, then finally regained some composure.

She swallowed and shook her head belatedly. “Nothing.”

Her mother seemed to love her dearly, but that love was possessive to the point of obsession, as if she could never leave her sight or her mother would break down.

She thought to herself, she was grown up now and couldn’t always stay by her mother’s side, always under her protection.

It felt a little off, though she could not say where exactly.

*

From then on, Jiang Jingchun went to live by the matriarch’s side.

At first, she was somewhat unaccustomed, but gradually, she adapted.

Though the matriarch was strict, she was not harsh. To teach her better, she even arranged for a governess from the palace—called “Nanny Liu”—to instruct her.

Nanny Liu was a stern, cold-hearted woman, unlike the matriarch.

Jiang Jingchun was somewhat afraid of her and behaved meticulously in her presence, afraid to make even the slightest mistake.

Her days at Rongde Hall were obedient; no matter how tired, she never complained.

Of course, part of her cooperation was driven by selfish hopes.

She thought, since her cousin did not like her for being undisciplined and childish, if she were well-behaved, perhaps he would look at her more kindly.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

She looked forward to seeing him again, promising herself to behave well and not cause trouble.

Meanwhile, Li continued to be angry with her, even refusing to see her, seemingly deliberately sulking.

She wanted to use this method to force Jiang Jingchun back to her side.

Yet the child was more resolute than she expected, staying at Rongde Hall for ten whole days without returning.

Naturally, Li vented her anger on Jiang Runchu.

One day, after his shift, he was suddenly scolded for no reason. “Your sister hasn’t come back for days; don’t you care at all?”

Rongde Hall and Chongming Hall were just different parts of the same household; it was no longer than a short walk. When he went out to study, his mother had not acted like this. Now, just ten days without seeing her, and he was the one taking the blame.

He quickly begged for mercy, “Mother, if you miss her, go look for her yourself at grandmother’s place. Why pressure me?”

It was just a few steps, not even the time for a single incense stick to burn.

Li refused, “Why should I see her? That ungrateful girl doesn’t even want to come see me!”

Refusing this and that, Jiang Runchu was at his wit’s end.

He helplessly rubbed his forehead. “Then what exactly do you want?”

It seemed Jiang Jingchun was busy learning manners these days, but not returning.

He advised, “Isn’t it good that Jiang Jingchun is like this? You always spoil her; what do you expect?”

At Rongde Hall, she was indeed much better behaved than before—no trouble, quietly learning embroidery and reading. Even Jiang Runchu was a bit surprised.

But Li became angry at this, “I give her whatever she wants. Am I not good to her? I just want her to listen, to stay with me. What’s wrong with that?!”

Jiang Runchu knew it was pointless to argue and fell silent.

The two had nothing more to say; he planned to leave.

Then Li suddenly asked, “Did your aunt send an invitation? She set up a stage at the Gu family and invited us.”

Upon this reminder, Jiang Runchu remembered.

He asked curiously, “Why ask?”

Li said, “Go tell your sister that I will be going to the Gu family in a few days.”

She liked Gu Huaisheng, so if she heard this, she would surely come to pester her again.