When Mrs. He saw Jiang Lan siding with outsiders, she was so angry that her chest felt stuffy.
Among her three sons, the second one annoyed her the most. Although he was born from her own womb, he was raised by her natal family and was not close to her at all.
He always looked polite, but there was an indescribable sense of alienation from everyone.
Relying on having read a few more books, he always had a set of reasons and was always against her.
Thinking of this, Mrs. He's eyes turned red. It was not only from anger but also from genuine feelings of grievance.
Her youngest daughter was innocent and naive. Her eldest son was obedient but too reckless. Her third son had been sickly all the time.
Not to mention her eldest daughter. Raised by that old man in the morgue, she became even more strange.
Only this second son was intelligent and promising, but he was not on her side.
Seeing that Mrs. He was really angry, Jiang Zhong quickly winked at Jiang Lan and comforted her, "Second brother, mother is right. We should listen to mother. Mother won't harm us."
Jiang Yuzhu also nestled in Mrs. He's arms and coquettishly declared, "Mother, don't be angry. Yu'er won't go."
Jiang Lan remained calm. He was a bit stubborn by nature. Although he softened his tone, he still insisted, "Son understands mother's good intentions."
"But precisely because of this, mother should teach Yu'er to understand principles, cherish family affection, and distinguish right from wrong."
"As for younger sister Zhao'er, if there is really something wrong with her, as elder brothers, eldest brother and I will surely teach her."
"Rather than simply excluding her. In this matter, son believes he is not wrong."
Jiang Lan's attitude was respectful, but his words showed no sign of compromise.
Mrs. He gritted her teeth and turned her face away, not looking at him, "If you want to go, then go! If something really goes wrong in the future, don't blame me, your mother, for not warning you!"
Jiang Lan still looked unyielding. He bowed and said, "If there is nothing else, son will go back first."
"You! You unfilial wretch!" Mrs. He's words got stuck in her throat.
She was both angry and resentful. She resented that her natal family had insisted on taking Jiang Lan away for upbringing in order to boost the family's prestige.
But she also had to admit that under the guidance of her natal family, Jiang Lan was indeed more promising than the two sons raised by her and was more favored by her husband.
Because of being contradicted by Jiang Lan, Mrs. He was even more convinced that Jiang Zhao was her bane.
...
On this side, Jiang Zhao followed Yicui through many twists and turns before reaching the courtyard arranged for her by Mrs. He.
It was very desolate around. There was only a lonely small courtyard. If no one told, who would have thought that there was such a dilapidated place in the Rong'an Marquis Mansion.
Jiang Zhao looked up. The plaque hanging above the courtyard had faded. One could barely make out the two characters "East Courtyard".
Yicui glanced at Jiang Zhao and lifted her chin, "This is it, Eldest Miss."
"Madam said that you like quietness and don't want to be disturbed by others. This place is the quietest." Since it was daytime, the fear she had felt when she first saw Jiang Zhao had disappeared. "Please wait a moment. The servant has gone to get the key."
This courtyard used to be for servants. Later, someone died in it, so it was left unused.
Now that the eldest miss was back, it could be used just right.
Jiang Zhao glanced at the rusty lock and said indifferently, "What do we need a key for?"
Yicui frowned, "Without a key, how will you get in? Are you going to climb over the wall?" As she said this, she covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Of course..." Jiang Zhao walked towards the courtyard gate. Suddenly, she lifted her foot and kicked the gate hard.
With a loud bang, the wooden gate was directly kicked to the ground, stirring up clouds of muddy water.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Yicui was caught off guard and got some water in her mouth. "You!"
Jiang Zhao ignored Yicui and stepped into the courtyard on her own.
Since no one had lived there for a long time and the courtyard had not been taken care of, a lot of weeds had grown.
Jiang Zhao stood in front of the door and surveyed the courtyard. The feng shui of this courtyard was extremely poor.
The terrain was low-lying and it was very easy to accumulate water, which caused the water vapor to stagnate and not disperse for a long time.
In the long run, it might affect the health and fortune of the residents. Moreover, there was a small path directly facing the door, forming an "evil rush" in feng shui.
An "evil rush" would lead to disasters involving bloodshed.
The turbid air caused by the weeds in the courtyard was the least of the problems. They could just be cut down later.
Walking further in, there was a thick locust tree in the corner of the courtyard, but it had withered. Its dead branches were stretching out wildly towards the sky.
Jiang Zhao tilted her head. There was an undeniable aura of resentment lingering around the old locust tree.
It should be that someone had died there, and it had been some years.
Outside, seeing that the two old women she had arranged had also come, Yicui twitched her mouth at them and winked before leaving.
These two old women were in charge of miscellaneous affairs in the mansion. They were good at currying favor with the powerful and had bullied the young maids a lot.
Jiang Zhao was bound to suffer a lot in their hands.
Yicui was a senior maid beside Mrs. He. The two old women respected her very much. They bowed and scraped to see her off. "Miss Yicui, please rest assured. We will surely teach the eldest miss a good lesson."
After seeing Yicui off, the two old women immediately put away their flattering smiles.
Then they walked into the courtyard haughtily and perfunctorily saluted Jiang Zhao. "Greetings, Eldest Miss."
Hearing the sound, Jiang Zhao turned around, twirled the jade finger ring in her hand, and sat down on the chair in front of the door.
Seeing that she didn't move, the old woman surnamed Wang said in a shrill voice, "Oh dear, Eldest Miss, why are you sitting down?"
"Don't you see that there is no place to step in this courtyard? Hurry up and start cleaning it up."
Jiang Zhao stroked the jade finger ring in her hand and said indifferently, "I'm supposed to clean it? What are you two here for?"
The other old woman surnamed Li chimed in, "Humph, Madam sent us here to teach you the rules, not to be your servants."
"Finished?" Jiang Zhao carelessly blew on the finger ring in her hand and squinted at it.
It was indeed a good thing.
Seeing her nonchalant attitude, Old Woman Wang got angry. "What kind of attitude is this, Eldest Miss?"
"We are kind enough to come and teach you, but you don't seem to care at all. Sure enough, those who have a mother but no one to raise them are just ungrateful!"
Jiang Zhao's hand paused. She put away the finger ring and stared fixedly at Old Woman Wang with her black pupils. "Who did you just say has a mother but no one to raise them?"
Old Woman Wang felt a tingling sensation on her scalp when she was stared at by those lifeless eyes. Relying on Mrs. He's backing, she still insisted stubbornly, "You know who I'm talking about, Eldest Miss."
"Moreover, I'm not wrong."
Jiang Zhao hooked her lips. "My birth mother is Mrs. He, the wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan."
"What you mean, madam, is that the marquis's wife only indulged in a moment of pleasure and gave birth to me. But then she didn't raise me, deliberately mistreated me, and left me to fend for myself in the morgue. You're blaming the mistress of the house."
As soon as she finished speaking, the faces of the two old women instantly turned pale.
They naturally couldn't admit this. If they did, it would be criticizing the mistress, and it would also confirm that Mrs. He had treated her legitimate daughter harshly.
No matter how much Mrs. He disliked Jiang Zhao, this was a family matter. If it got out, it would mean that the family had bad morals.