According to the descriptions of the residents of Yong'an Alley, that night they heard all kinds of shrieks, roars, bellows, as well as women's sobbing, as if two shrews from someone's family were pulling each other's hair out.
Only the siblings in the small second courtyard knew that they weren't pulling hair out, but [Concubine] was being unilaterally beaten by [Jiang Sheng].
The one doing the beating was of course not a young lady from a prestigious family, but the maidservants that followed the young lady everywhere.
Even the one who jumped off the carriage and erupted in anger was just a senior maidservant.
The real young lady from a prestigious family had been sitting gracefully in the carriage the whole time, without making a sound.
At the end of Yong'an Alley, five heads stretched over the high wall, staring fixedly at the hubbub happening at the mouth of the alley.
It was said that [Fengjing] was prosperous, and the natives were noble, but who would have thought that when it came to fighting, they would be just as vicious as the village women from Shili Pu, without much difference.
After a long time, [Jiang Sheng] strangely twisted her head and said, “Fifth brother said that the most enjoyed thing for prestigious families in [Fengjing] was to scheme against each other, but it looks like we didn’t spend much effort to get things done.”
[Zheng Ruqian] and [Wen Zhiyun] next to her also nodded their heads.
They had already prepared themselves for an intense battle, but everything was resolved by [Gao Yan] alone. Before their eyes, [Zhu Zhi] and the [Concubine] were beaten until they curled up and scurried around like mice. The marriage was sure to be called off.
Where did the promised scheming against each other go, the complex machinations, the arduous obstacles?
Things were accomplished so easily that it left the siblings feeling unreal and dazed.
[Chang Yan] laughed lightly as she jumped down from the rock, a trace of contempt flashing through her eyes, “From beginning to end, the only one I feared was the Zhu family, not [Zhu Zhi].”
A person who concealed his past in order to marry a young lady from a prestigious family, yet still kept a [Concubine] and even gave birth to a illegitimate eldest son, in [Chang Yan]'s eyes he posed no threat at all.
It wasn't difficult to arrange a servant to do the job. What was difficult was the Zhu family investigating afterwards, insisting on finding that servant, then following the vine to get the melon and discover the few siblings.
“The power of prestigious families is beyond your imagination,” [Chang Yan] sighed lightly.
When the commotion at the mouth of the alley was nearing its end, [Zhu Zhi] and the [Concubine] were beaten until they couldn't move, lying in humiliation.
[Chang Yan] jumped down from the rock and looked up at [Jiang Sheng], “Are the things for third brother prepared? [Gao Yan] can leave now.”
The Zhu family was very powerful, but [Gao Yan] had a generic face that no one could remember, greatly increasing the difficulty of finding him afterwards.
To be safe, [Chang Yan] also arranged for him to go to the northern border, giving some gifts to [Fang Heng], while avoiding the Zhu family's searches in [Fengjing].
When this was brought up, [Jiang Sheng]'s eyes lit up.
She imitated [Chang Yan]'s posture and jumped down from the rock, but lost her balance and landed sitting on her butt.
Her elder brothers who were still on the rock were badly frightened, but the little girl was unconcerned. She was still excited as she said, “The northern border is far away. I prepared dry cakes for third brother that can be kept for a long time, cured meats, fish, the new wadded jackets Auntie made, and the new cloth shoes bought when we passed through [Huzhou], as well as little knickknacks from there, and and...what else was there?”
Sitting on the ground, she racked her brains trying hard to remember, afraid she would leave something out.
[Xu Mo]'s face darkened as he jumped down from the rock. He held up his little sister with both hands, brushing the dust off her bottom, then looked towards [Chang Yan], “Don't make such dangerous moves from now on.”
[Chang Yan], “...”
You guys jumped down like this too!
But thinking that she had set the example, and [Jiang Sheng] loved to imitate her, he chose to tactfully keep his head lowered.
[Wen Zhiyun] squeezed over, wanting to comfort his only younger brother like his elder brother did, but his mouth was clumsy. After struggling for a long time, all he could squeeze out was, “In the future, let fourth brother jump for you.”
......
The road to the northern border was long and arduous, the journey bitter and cold, taking at least two months round trip.
Considering [Gao Yan] didn't know [Fang Heng], [Chang Yan] also arranged for [Jiang San] to go along.
Regarding this, [Jiang San] was excited, shouting and jumping about, even showing off to the bitter-faced [Jiang Si], “I get to see the young master.”
On the other hand, [Gao Yan]'s face was full of confusion, apparently fearing the unknown journey ahead.
[Gao Dawan] was calm, pinching two taels of broken silver as he said, “Little brother, you did this all by yourself, so these two taels of silver are all yours. Big brother won't be greedy for your money, but you must come back safely. If anything happens, listen to this brother beside you, understand?”
[Gao Yan] timidly nodded, putting away the money.
Soon the carriage was led to the door. [Jiang Sheng] exerted all her strength to load things in. If she didn't have to leave room for people to lie down, she could have filled up the entire carriage.
“New clothes, new shoes, food, drinks, supplies, little knickknacks...” She counted off on her fingers, then suddenly popped out, “Can you also bring [Jiang Sheng] along?”
She desperately wanted to know how third brother was doing after being apart for over half a year. Had he grown taller, were there any new scars on his body, was he still practicing martial arts relentlessly, was he eating well?
It was only a two month trip, right? [Jiang San] could go, [Gao Yan] could go, she could go too!
The little girl's eyes were full of expectation, and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to go.
[Xu Mo] beside her sighed, pondering for a bit before saying, “Are you willing to separate from us?”
Of course she could go to the northern border, but what about the four elder brothers still in [Fengjing]?
[Jiang Sheng]'s expectations came to an abrupt stop.
Not only did she have her brothers, she also had the workshop, the business, she had to be vigilant against the Zhu family, and accompany Eldest Brother in the imperial examinations.
She missed third brother dearly, but she couldn't let her other brothers be sad, and she couldn't let them worry.
The little girl looked up, smiling as she exhorted, “When you see third brother, you must tell him that we all miss him very much.”
[Jiang San] nodded solemnly.
Only those who came from [Xieyang] knew how good the siblings' relationship was, and how they supported each other all the way until now.
“Alright, you should go now.” [Jiang Sheng] let go of her grip on the carriage shaft.
[Gao Yan] and [Jiang San] tightened the reins and whipped the horses towards the north.
The carriage grew smaller and smaller in her vision until it became a black dot, then disappeared from view completely.
[Jiang Sheng] still had a smile on her face as she looked towards the north with wide open eyes.
It was only when [Xu Mo] gently hugged her that the little girl hugged her eldest brother's slender waist tightly, her nose turning sour and her throat choking up.
“Does third brother know that we're thinking of him?”
“He does.”
The next day.
The incident of [Zhu Zhi] and the [Concubine] being violently beaten spread through [Fengjing]. The young lady's family directly took back the wedding gifts and announced the cancellation of the marriage.
The Zhu family was furious. While desperately suppressing the rumors, they also began investigating who was behind it all.
Soon the investigation led to a Zhu family servant. In order to find this servant, all the Zhu family's males were brought out for identification by the young lady's family's gatekeepers.
As long as they found that person, they could pull out the radish and get to the dirt, capturing the real culprit.
But that person was not among the servants.
The Zhu family was not discouraged. They expanded the scope of their search, starting with the east side of the city, then the west side, even the rural outskirts were searched, leaving no stone unturned.
Even [Xu Mo] in the small second courtyard, who was around the same age as the servants, had his door knocked on for identification.
