Hearing this, Jiang Mian was extremely indignant. "How could they treat Mother like this!"
Li Zhao said, "This is quite common among ordinary families. Maybe that place wasn't a lucky one for her. When she was sold to the tooth shop, Granny Qian, who served my grandmother, was selecting maids for her. Granny Qian saw that she was dexterous, cute, and quick-handed, so she took her back. From then on, she served as a maid beside my grandmother. Isn't this a stroke of luck?"
"My grandmother was a kind Buddhist. As long as she did her duties well, her life was no worse than that of the children from small official families." Li Zhao sighed.
"Your mother was kind-hearted. Even though the Jiang family treated her badly, she would send back the monthly allowance from the Li Mansion and the rewards from my grandmother every year. She thought her family would appreciate her kindness, but unexpectedly..."
Li Zhao gave a bitter smile. He never thought he couldn't warm up the cold hearts of his in - laws.
Jiang Mian rested her chin on her knees and listened intently, blinking her eyes.
"My parents passed away when I was very young. After their death, my second uncle took care of many family affairs on my behalf. My second uncle and aunt often looked after and helped our eldest branch. But I saw through their hidden ambitions behind their kind - looking faces at a young age."
"Once, at a family banquet, I drank too much and went to a side hall to rest. My aunt deliberately sent two maids into the room, intending to set me up to indulge in debauchery at the banquet and make me addicted to women, but she failed."
"Do you know it was all thanks to your mother?" Li Zhao tapped her nose and said with a smile.
Jiang Mian couldn't help urging, "Dad, stop being so mysterious. What did Mother do?"
"Your mother accidentally heard the conspiracy of my second uncle and aunt. She quietly wrote an anonymous letter to tell me about it, so I was able to avoid the trap set for me in advance."
Li Zhao gently stroked Jiang Mian's hair. "I didn't know who wrote the letter at first, but I was very happy to see my second uncle and aunt's plan fail. Actually, it wasn't difficult to find out the identity of the writer. Soon I was sure it was your mother."
"She was smart, cute, and kind - hearted, and was highly regarded by my grandmother. At a young age, she was already a first - class maid. Even I had to get her permission to see my grandmother."
As Li Zhao spoke, Jiang Mian pictured Jiang Zhiqing standing beside the old Lady Li, well - dressed, with bright eyes and white teeth, calm, steady, and neither overbearing nor humble.
If what Li Zhao said was true, the note was written by Mother, which meant Mother could read.
It seemed that the old Lady Li was really kind to Mother.
"My second uncle and aunt saw that their plan against me failed, so they proposed to send me maids and promote them to concubine - in - waiting. They hinted that I was old enough and betrothal was imminent. If I was inexperienced after marriage, it would be a laughingstock. And my grandmother was indeed tempted."
Recalling that memory, Li Zhao couldn't help laughing. "Mujin, don't blame me. I took a fancy to your mother at that time. I thought, rather than being schemed against, I might as well take the initiative."
"So at a banquet, when she was being harassed by a guest, I stepped in to save her. Then I proposed to my grandmother that she be taken into my room and promoted to concubine - in - waiting."
Jiang Mian was shocked, and so was Xiao Jingcheng in her arms.
So, so Jiang Zhiqing had once been his concubine - in - waiting?!
Meeting Jiang Mian's shocked eyes, Li Zhao couldn't help touching his chin. Thinking from another perspective, he did seem a bit like a bully at that time.
Feeling a bit guilty, he lowered his head and coughed a few times, and deliberately said, "Although she was nominally my concubine - in - waiting, I never treated her badly. She was the only woman I ever touched, and I was loyal to her."
"She was kind - hearted and pure - natured. What's more, even when she was wronged, she always looked on the bright side. The more I got to know her, the more I liked her. I thought her name Zhaodi was too ugly, so I gave her the name Zhiqing. In my heart, she was already my wife. There would be no one else for me in this life."
Jiang Mian's eyes were slightly moist.
Although Mother's background was far inferior to Dad's, their love and Dad's affection for Mother were really enviable. Just imagine, who in this world could spend more than a decade walking alone in the world just to find the one they loved?
"However, concubine - in - waiting were not allowed to get pregnant. As the eldest grandson of the Li family in Luozhou, I shouldered the responsibility of leading the entire Li family. In the future, I would surely have to marry and have children according to the family's wishes. The family had arranged for me to marry the daughter of the Zhang family."
"This marriage was not my will, but I couldn't refuse at that time." Li Zhao's expression gradually turned cold. "I knew that only when I stood higher and held more power could I protect the people I wanted to protect."
Xiao Jingcheng was shocked. He opened his eyes wide and looked at Li Zhao.
"I had thought of a way to marry your mother as my wife. But as my power grew, my second uncle became more and more jealous of me. And my special treatment of your mother gave him an opportunity."
"On my grandmother's birthday, my second uncle told your mother that I was going to get married and had already chosen a bride. That day, he also designed to let the daughter of the Zhang family know your mother's identity. The daughter of the Zhang family insulted your mother in various ways. She endured the grievance but never told me because she believed I would surely marry the daughter of the Zhang family, who would be the future mistress of the Li Mansion, and she didn't dare to offend her."
"I felt sorry for her forbearance and promised her that I wouldn't let her down. But when I came back from a mission out of the capital, all I got was the news that she had been forced into the river by the daughter of the Zhang family. There was no sign of her, neither alive nor dead."
"Of course, this marriage fell through in the end. I swore never to marry again and secretly sent people to look for your mother. But before I got any news, the Li family was massacred by the King of Chu."
After these words, the hall fell into silence.
Li Zhao was trapped in the past, while Jiang Mian felt sad for them. She even couldn't help thinking, even if the Li family hadn't been massacred that year, would Mother really have waited until Dad married her as his wife?
Would a prestigious family like the Li family tolerate a rural maid as the wife of the family head?
She had lived in the Ye family and was most familiar with these so - called noble families. They cared so much about face that they couldn't even tolerate a fake young lady like her. How could they tolerate Mother, who had sold herself into slavery?
So, even without the massacre of the Li family, Mother and Dad would still have faced many hardships.
The best outcome would be that the mistress was kind - hearted and allowed Mother to be promoted to a concubine, but she could never surpass the mistress.
But in reality, there were no ifs. The King of Chu massacred the Li family, and the once - great family was completely destroyed. Dad fell from the clouds, but instead... there was no longer a gap between him and Mother.
"Ah!" Suddenly, a scream came from behind. Jiang Mian and Li Zhao were both startled and turned their heads to look behind.
Jiang Zhiqing had woken up at some point. She stared at the statues in the hall in horror, let out a heart - rending scream, and looked crazy.