The sudden form of address made Jiang Sheng stunned for a moment.
She scratched her head, only then remembering that this brother with a bit of a foul mouth, to be precise the owner of Leisurely Residence, was also a young master of a wealthy family.
Out of respect for money, Jiang Sheng politely responded, "It's me, Master Jiang."
"It really is you. How did you all come to Fengjing? I thought it was strange when I saw Lao Wei last time, turns out I didn't recognize wrongly." Jiang Chengyuan bared his teeth in a grin.
Even though Jiang Sheng didn't have much of a relationship with him, seeing this round-faced little girl made him feel happy for some reason, certainly because he also had a similarly aged younger sister at home.
"My brother is taking an exam." Jiang Sheng didn't say much more.
Jiang Chengyuan was still eager, wanting to chat with her a bit more.
The person in the carriage couldn't sit still, lifting up half the curtain, calling out with some coquettish reproach, "Brother!"
Only then did Jiang Chengyuan come to his senses, hurriedly turning back and returning, gently saying, "Chenghua is here too, didn't you say you wanted to cheer your brother on? Why did you stop here?"
Jiang Chenghua pursed her lips without speaking.
The maid at her side seemed to have found something to rely on, chattering away, giving Jiang Sheng and her brothers a fierce glare in the end.
"Brother, Chenghua didn't cause trouble, she just didn't want to delay cheering you on. But she didn't expect to be late anyway," said the girlish voice from the carriage, carrying a sob. "She didn't intend to upset you."
Jiang Chengyuan's heart was about to break.
His tone became even gentler, comforting, "Chenghua, don't be afraid, your brother is here."
Immediately, he stood up straight, carrying the inherent nobility and arrogance of young masters of prestigious families, coldly saying, "Whoever hurt my sister Jiang Chenghua, whoever was being unreasonable here at Wenchang Pavilion, I, Jiang Chengyuan, will call them to account."
The maid pointed at Jiang Sheng and her brothers.
Jiang Chengyuan almost couldn't maintain his poise.
How could it be so coincidental that conflict occurred with these two people?
On one side was his beloved sister he had pampered since she was young, on the other side was this round-faced little Jiang Sheng. Any discerning person would know who was closer and more distant, who he should stand up for, but Jiang Chengyuan's first instinct was actually—mediate the situation.
He lightly coughed twice, persuading, "Chenghua, there are many people with prying eyes here at the door of Wenchang Pavilion. Bumping into others is normal, don't be angry. Girls of our Jiang family have always been magnanimous, why bother quibbling over trivial matters?"
Silence from the carriage.
Jiang Chengyuan looked at Jiang Sheng again, "If Chenghua was in the wrong, I as her brother apologize on her behalf. Let's not magnify small issues. Can we put this past us and not hold it against each other?"
Jiang Sheng blinked.
Her eldest and fifth brothers were still furious, clearly not wanting to let this go. But her second brother still had business with Leisurely Residence, and Master Jiang hadn't actually done anything wrong either. Anyone with eyes could see they should be more understanding of his wish to protect his sister.
She lightly pulled on her eldest brother's sleeve, no response.
She shook her fifth brother's arm again, still no response.
Her two brothers had many good qualities, but bad tempers was one, fortunately Third Brother wasn't here, otherwise a brawl would surely break out.
Jiang Sheng had no choice but to grab an arm in each hand, coquettishly calling nonstop in a deliberately childish voice, "Eldest brother, fifth brother, Jiang Sheng is hungry, I want to eat Auntie's cooking."
Xu Mo lowered his eyelashes, his heart shrouded in gloom.
Jiang Chengyuan could still angrily rebuke and demand accountability for his sister.
As the eldest brother, he could only reluctantly accept shaking hands and letting bygones be bygones, even though it was his younger siblings who had suffered. He truly felt useless to the extreme.
Chang Yan's expression was similarly complicated, with only more confusion and struggle compared to Xu Mo's powerlessness.
He looked in the direction of the imperial palace, then turned his head as if burnt.
"Eldest brother, fifth brother, eldest brother, fifth brother," Jiang Sheng called out loudly, deliberately using a childish voice endlessly, "Can we go home, can we can we?"
The scholars around were practically drooling, resenting that she wasn't calling their names.
Even Zhu Sihuan stared at Jiang Sheng, eyeballs rolling wildly, seeming to be pondering if he could secretly bring her home.
Xu Mo and Chang Yan finally sensed the crisis, hurriedly pulling their sister away.
Jiang Chengyuan still wanted to say something more, but the silhouettes of the three siblings had already gone far. He could only sigh regretfully, turning back to the carriage and resuming his gentle demeanor.
"Brother," the young girl in the carriage softly said, "Chenghua doesn't mean to be unruly. She's just so afraid of losing you and father and mother's favor because grandmother cares about Chenghua's status..."
As she spoke, she began sobbing again.
Jiang Chengyuan's heart melted again. He simply sat in the carriage, racking his brains to coax his sister until her tears turned to laughter before taking her home.
At the same time.
Jiang Sheng had walked two steps with her brothers before starting to spin in place.
Not because she had turned into a spinning top demon, but because she was looking for their little carriage, and the 500 pounds of Lao Wei inside, all that silver!
Jiang Si was also looking, repeatedly whistling, trying to call the old horse back.
But there was no trace no matter how they tried.
Could the 300 taels of silver really have just disappeared?
Not just Jiang Sheng, even Xu Mo and Chang Yan were distressed. Having come from hard times, they now knew to cherish every penny.
The street where Wenchang Pavilion was located was quite prosperous, with surging crowds coming and going. Anyone clever could have seized the horse's reins and taken the carriage and goods away without anyone stopping them.
Jiang Si's face was full of regret. "It's all my fault, I was the one who let go of the reins."
But in that earlier situation, he could either protect the reins or protect the young miss, he couldn't do both. In reason and principle, Jiang Si did nothing wrong. People would always be more important than goods.
Xu Mo patted him on the shoulder, saying deeply, "Don't worry, we'll find it."
The ancients said, old horses know the way home.
They had never seen an old horse return home, but they had seen an old donkey do so.
Although their donkey companion who had struggled through difficult years with them passed away from illness in Anshui county last year, the scene of the old donkey finding its way imprinted itself in the siblings' minds, impossible to forget.
"Eldest brother means the horse likely went to Leisurely Residence by itself, or back to our cottage?" The spinning top stopped and spun, full of puzzlement and shock.
Chang Yan beside her coughed twice, suppressing his own imagination.
"Let's go check Leisurely Residence nearby first," Xu Mo said calmly and gracefully.
The three siblings and Jiang Si moved off in unison, already planning that if it wasn't at Leisurely Residence they would hurry back and search their cottage.
Fortunately, at the door of Leisurely Residence they saw the familiar small carriage, and the buddy unloading the goods.
Seeing Jiang Sheng, the second brother joked, "Today there were only goods delivered, I almost suspected something happened to the person making the delivery."
Something did happen, it just got resolved afterward.
Jiang Sheng stuck out her tongue, going over to watch the goods being weighed and account settled.
Xu Mo didn't go in.
The tall and graceful youth clasped his hands behind his back, head tilted up looking at this opulent restaurant that overwhelmed people, also surveying the streets of carved beams and painted rafters, finally sizing up every passerby dressed in finery.
Money, power, the abyss of desire was difficult to fill, because he wanted too much.
He wanted to protect his younger siblings, wanted to become a pillar of support for his family, wanted his enemies to die miserable deaths, wanted prestigious families to also fear him.
How difficult would that be?
Xu Mo didn't know.
Sensing the slow hesitating steps behind him, he lightly sighed, retracting his thoughts. "Aren't you afraid of the Jiang family causing trouble for the Zhu family after being so selflessly chivalrous at Wenchang Pavilion just now?"
