The speed at which the rumors spread exceeded everyone's expectations.
In just half a day, the entire Fengjing city came to know that the legitimate daughter being raised in the Jiang Family was fake, and the real young miss was someone else.
The secret that the Jiang Family had desperately concealed for almost four years was flipped open under broad daylight, and one could well imagine Lady Jiang's fury.
"Who was it, who did this without sparing the Jiang Family's face!" She grabbed the last cup.
The Jiang Family's servants shrunk like cicadas in winter, only Jiang Chengyuan hardened his scalp and said, "It was Grandmother who said she found that lost child."
With a loud clang, the cup fell not because she threw it but because it slipped from her slackened grip, shattering the very instant it touched the ground. Pieces splattered onto Lady Jiang’s feet but she seemed oblivious, stunned and wooden.
The past events flashed across her mind, along with that plump baby wrapped in swaddling cloth. The unpleasant memories came roaring back, weaving everything into an inescapable net that bound her tightly, leaving her unable to even breathe.
"Mother,” Jiang Chengyuan’s voice faded in and out. "Mother, are you alright? Mother, Mother!"
Lady Jiang emerged from her daze and looked at her legitimate son’s outstanding features, as if wanting to say something.
“Mother, Chenghua is fine now. Should we bring her back?" Jiang Chengyuan was too eager to wait. "Should you go, or should we go together?"
Though unspoken, it was clear who ‘she’ referred to.
Lady Jiang tightened her grip on the handkerchief, her gaze fluctuating as her body trembled slightly.
"Mother, we finally found my sister. Shouldn't we bring her home?" Jiang Chengyuan grew increasingly astonished. "She is the Jiang Family’s legitimate daughter."
He had previously been unwilling to search, partly to rebel against Grandmother’s ruthlessness, partly to console himself about his missing sister, and partly from the despair and helplessness of finding a loved one amidst the vast seas of people.
Looking back in history, there was almost no precedent of finding a lost child successfully even when they knew the blood test was unreliable.
Now that the Jiang Family’s daughter had appeared, bringing her back home was set in stone.
No prominent family could tolerate their own flesh and blood lost outside.
Lady Jiang also knew that after the initial disbelief faded, she would calm down. "We should bring her back, but how can we confirm she is the one?"
There were no birthmarks, no moles, not even a scar left from birth.
With such a flawless doll baby, who could recognize which family she belonged to? Who would dare confirm this wasn’t just another fake?
Jiang Chengyuan was at a loss for words.
Today, his mood had undergone too many ups and downs―from the pleasant surprise of Little Jiang possibly being his sister, to the fright of Jiang Chenghua nearly dying, to having no face to see Little Jiang yet still fervently hoping he could bring her back and openly make amends.
Even when his mother raised reasonable doubts, he was unwilling to consider them.
Fortunately, a maid came to announce Grandmother’s arrival.
The elderly lady with a full head of silver hair strode in briskly from outside in the blink of an eye. "I can confirm she is the one."
Jiang Chengyuan's eyes instantly brightened.
"From the timing to the age, from the personality to the behavior," Grandmother Jiang's tone was sonorous. "Jiang Sheng is the Jiang Family’s child."
"As for other evidence... I suppose there is no need to bring them out now."
Was it unnecessary or was there none?
Lady Jiang's hand shook violently, as if secretly guessing something.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Jiang Chenghua's unconscious, pale appearance. Resentment arose again in her heart. "Since she's been found, bring her back to raise alongside Chenghua. Mother, why did you have to reveal Chenghua’s identity in front of everyone when she is also your precious granddaughter?"
Giving birth to twin girls could satisfy both children and preserve the Jiang Family’s reputation. Wasn’t that good?
Grandmother Jiang did not answer the question.
She merely glanced at Jiang Chengyuan and said indifferently, "The child does not wish to return for now. No one from the Jiang Family will disturb her solitude, or else..."
With just those simple words, the Jiang Family matriarch’s might was evident.
Without looking at the Jiang mother and son’s stunned expressions, she calmly turned and returned to her own courtyard.
On the way there, Tan Yue couldn’t help but grumble, "Grandmother, please clarify―you’re worried the young miss will suffer bullying, which is why you’re acting this way, right?"
Grandmother Jiang harrumphed. "There is no need to explain. Just let me be the villain."
There were no perfect solutions in this world. Resources and affection had limits, and prominent households were no exception.
It was like a person having a hundred taels of silver in hand. That would be divided by the number of children instead of each receiving the total sum.
When the number of children increased, what each person actually obtained would naturally decrease.
What’s more, this was built on a foundation of fairness.
If not fair...?
"The Lady is the young miss’ birth mother after all. How could she possibly be unfair? It’s just that over a decade has passed without seeing each other, so estrangement is inevitable," said the still naive Tan Yue.
The corners of Grandmother Jiang's mouth curved up slightly, seeming to mock yet also coldly ridicule.
Some matters, she would not speak of.
That didn’t mean they hadn’t happened before.
The next day...
The news about the Jiang Family’s real and fake young misses was forcibly suppressed. Everyone involved wore unspoken expressions, which only made Fengjing's common folk increasingly curious.
Jiang Chengyuan remembered Grandmother’s order and didn’t dare get close to Jiang Sheng. He could only watch her from afar, going to Jiuzhen Store to buy pastries over and over, carrying them back by the bundle.
Jiang Chengfeng and Jiang Chengyu also followed along a few times but were forcefully driven away because their heavy footsteps almost disturbed Jiang Sheng.
The only one showing no movement was Lady Jiang, wholeheartedly caring for Jiang Chenghua.
Towards that daughter who was found but did not return home, Lady Jiang did not speak of her. She showed neither deranged resistance nor thoughtful longing, but was as calm as if nothing had happened.
When the news reached Grandmother Jiang’s residence, it only brought back a cold laugh.
Fortunately, none of this impacted Jiang Sheng’s life.
After sending Big Brother to the academy for the second time, she hid in her small courtyard to plan a new workshop.
She had originally assumed that with the surname pastries, she could recruit several aunties who had suffered torment in matrimony to work at Jiuzhen Store.
Unexpectedly, with just word of mouth, over a dozen aunties tried to divorce their husbands and wanted to come to Jiuzhen Store to make a living.
Jiang Sheng guiltily slapped her forehead.
She felt like she had wrecked other people’s families, yet also felt that families that could be wrecked were not worth continuing anyway.
But Jiuzhen Store had limited space and could not accommodate over ten aunties.
After racking her brains, she recalled the white boiled noodles the aunties made, the abandoned red braised pork ribs, and the countless ancient delicacies recorded in books.
In the past, Jiang Sheng would have rushed excitedly to You Ran House to discuss cooperation.
Now, even when she walked to the bustling street and stood in front of You Ran House frowning, glancing at several other large restaurants lined up next door, she hesitated, not knowing what was best.
Until a cheerful voice sounded from behind her― "Little Jiang Sheng, what are you doing here?"
