...
That night.
Old Lady Jiang's chest pain flared up.
It was particularly severe.
She grabbed Jiang Wan and asked, "Where has Heir Apparent Han gone?"
Jiang Wan looked utterly perplexed.
Although her grandmother was on good terms with Eldest Princess Huiyun, it was strange to ask about Heir Apparent Han at this hour of the night.
"He should have gone to visit Commander Jiang."
Although there weren't many people in the household, Jiang Wan's sources of information were quite reliable.
She was very attentive to gathering news, especially keeping an eye on Jiang Changtian's side.
She seemed to have a premonition of danger.
In fact, the most sensible thing to do right now would be to leave Ming County.
But her grandmother was injured, and her parents had moved out, everything was in chaos.
That Heir Apparent Han had been disrespectful to her mother, which deeply troubled her. She didn't know before, but now that she had inquired, she learned that Heir Apparent Han had a penchant for married women. Her grandmother must have known this all along, yet she hadn't said a word.
She also felt somewhat guilty. In her dreams, she only remembered how well Heir Apparent Han had treated her, forgetting his improprieties. Because he was good to her, she had subconsciously overlooked his faults.
Instead, she had let her mother dress up beautifully to welcome Heir Apparent Han.
Jiang Wan felt a bit nauseated thinking about it.
Naturally, she hoped for her parents to be well, as their well-being also affected her marriage prospects.
When Old Lady Jiang heard "Commander Jiang," it took her a moment to realize who it referred to.
Then she began forcefully hitting the edge of the bed.
"That beast, now that he's grown his wings, he's capable of anything when he goes mad. He shouldn't have gone there. Wan'er, go and call Heir Apparent Han back."
Jiang Wan: ...
Grandmother must be delirious from her injury. How could she possibly control Heir Apparent Han?
...
Heir Apparent Han, after being slapped by Commander Jiang, burst into tears of joy.
Mother had hit him, Mother was willing to look at him, Mother was willing to raise a hand against him, Mother wasn't ignoring him anymore.
He hugged Commander Jiang and wailed loudly.
He was pulled away by the guards.
Then he went to harass Mrs. Jiang.
Before he could get close, Mrs. Jiang demonstrated a feat of crushing a rolling pin in her hand.
"How dare you! You actually dare to take liberties with my husband! Don't hold me back, I'm going to beat him to death today." Mrs. Jiang brandished the rolling pin.
Everyone watched as the rolling pin in her hand crumbled to dust, scattering in the wind.
Meng Shaoxia looked at that rolling pin, feeling like he might pass away at any moment.
The guards hurriedly restrained Heir Apparent Han.
Earlier in the afternoon, they had thought Mrs. Jiang's hand was heavy.
Now, seeing her effortlessly crush that rolling pin, they realized Mrs. Jiang had actually been holding back.
Otherwise, with that slap, the Heir Apparent's head wouldn't still be sitting properly on his neck.
The guards dragged Heir Apparent Han back to Ming County that very night.
Staying alive was the priority.
Eunuch Duan obediently stayed behind to help clean up.
Meng Shaoxia also learned to do housework.
Qin Luoxia said in surprise, "There's no need, no need. You're guests here, please have some tea. I'll clean up."
Seeing that the two still wanted to help,
Qin Luoxia said, "Why don't you keep my husband company and have some tea?"
Her voice was a bit louder this time.
Eunuch Duan and Meng Shaoxia immediately stopped what they were doing.
They looked towards Commander Jiang.
Jiang Changtian flexed his wrist and said to Qin, "Xia mei, my hand hurts a bit."
Qin immediately put down what she was holding and took his hand to examine it. "It's just a bit red, it's fine, it's fine."
She carefully blew on it.
"Don't use this hand too much, don't pick up anything. It'll be better tomorrow."
Jiang Changtian nodded obediently, then led Eunuch Duan and Meng Shaoxia to have tea.
Earlier, when Heir Apparent Han had his outburst, Jiang Mianmian had already been carried away by Elder Sister.
Jiang Mianmian only heard some of what happened, without seeing the scene.
What a pity.
However, she also became more cautious, deciding that in the future, she shouldn't casually drink the mushroom soup made by Elder Sister.
Aunt Yin had the same thought, reminding herself never to drink the young miss's mushroom soup carelessly.
Otherwise, who knows what words might slip out, and how one might end up dead without even knowing why.
Evening breeze.
Clear tea.
Eunuch Duan said he had learned a new way of brewing tea and asked for a chance to demonstrate.
He first put the tea leaves in the pot, being very careful to pour water along the edge of the pot, watching the tea leaves float up, then carefully poured the tea into a large cup.
A couple of tea leaves accidentally made it through.
He thought he would need a strainer next time.
The large cup was filled with jade-green tea.
The color was beautiful.
He then divided the tea from the large cup into smaller cups.
One cup for each person.
This way, the tea leaves weren't steeping in the tea, so it wouldn't become more bitter as they drank.
The only drawback was gone, leaving only the fragrance and the sweet aftertaste.
Tea that loses its flavor with each brew, Eunuch Duan brewed with utmost care.
This tea was worlds apart from the kind that's boiled and mixed with various condiments.
Eunuch Duan was good at eating, good at appreciating, and while he might not know how to cook, he was a natural at brewing tea and serving people.
He was very skilled.
He noticed that Commander Jiang had also tapped two of his fingers.
Eunuch Duan didn't find Commander Jiang disrespectful at all, but rather thought he was particularly polite and well-mannered.
Jiang Changtian sipped his tea and casually asked, "Is the Heir Apparent always this unrestrained, randomly claiming mothers?"
Eunuch Duan hurriedly explained, "The Heir Apparent is usually quite lively and often mistakes other women for his mother, but this is the first time he's mistaken someone for his birth mother."
Meng Shaoxia looked at his future father-in-law's extremely beautiful face, thinking of how he had extended his slender hand and slapped Heir Apparent Han, causing the Heir Apparent's face to swell symmetrically. He had always thought it was Madam Qin who had great strength and was a bit fierce, because his own mother was quite fierce too, so he didn't find it strange.
But now he realized that Mr. Jiang was also quite strong.
He couldn't tell before at all.
As a martial arts practitioner, he had always thought Mr. Jiang was delicate and frail, looking somewhat sickly and not in good health.
Yet he hadn't expected that when hitting Heir Apparent Han, that casual slap was also immensely powerful.
Meng Shaoxia made a comparison: if he were to strike, he would at least need to gather his strength, and it certainly wouldn't be easy, but he probably couldn't achieve that swelling effect.
He had originally thought that Mr. Jiang was the weakest in the family, a scholar with no strength to tie a chicken.
Now he felt a bit nervous, wondering if he and the youngest child, Mianmian, might actually be the weakest in the family.
Suddenly, he had a realization: no wonder little Yu'er treated him like her younger sister.
Could it be that in her eyes, he was as delicate as her sister?
However, watching how his future father-in-law and Madam Qin interacted, he felt he had learned a thing or two.
Hearing his future father-in-law's question,
Meng Shaoxia also hurried to answer.
"Eldest Princess Huiyun rarely appears in public. She used to be a prominent figure in the capital, with unparalleled beauty. Now, it's said she's devoted herself to Buddhism and doesn't see anyone. The Emperor specially built a royal Buddhist temple for Princess Huiyun. Heir Apparent Han and the prince consort probably see Eldest Princess Huiyun very rarely. Legend has it that due to a fire, Princess Huiyun's face was disfigured."
Meng Shaoxia was recounting what was common knowledge in the capital.
As he spoke, he suddenly looked at his future father-in-law.
Although he had never seen Eldest Princess Huiyun, he had heard that she was exceptionally beautiful.
To describe his future father-in-law's face as exceptionally beautiful wouldn't be an exaggeration.
On their way back, He Chen had kept talking about it.
After seeing Mr. Jiang, no other beauty could catch his eye.
Eunuch Duan clearly thought of something too, but he kept his eyes down and started diligently making tea without a word, his attitude becoming even more respectful.
Meng Shaoxia's maternal grandfather's family all worked in the Ministry of Justice. Although he had never worked there himself, he had grown up surrounded by it.
Even playing house at his grandfather's home involved solving real cases.
Meng Shaoxia pondered for a moment. Though he felt it was impossible and absurd, and couldn't quite make sense of it, once the thought occurred to him, he couldn't shake it off.
Looking at Mr. Jiang again, his facial features indeed bore some resemblance to the current Emperor.
Meng Shaoxia had never seen Princess Huiyun, but he had seen the Emperor many times.
Eunuch Duan lowered his head even more.
Meng Shaoxia then thought about Heir Apparent Han. He used to think Heir Apparent Han's broad brows and big eyes resembled the prince consort, but now he realized Heir Apparent Han looked more like Mr. Jiang.
The last time he came here with He Chen, they first visited the Jiang residence, and he had a deep impression of Mr. Jiang.
He was an elder with broad brows and big eyes, and seemed to have a good temperament.
However, this time, before they could visit, Mr. Jiang had been expelled for matricide, which made things awkward.
Meng Shaoxia said directly, "None of us have seen Princess Huiyun, but Old Lady Jiang and Princess Huiyun were once close friends. The older generation in the capital should have seen her. Mr. Jiang might look somewhat like Princess Huiyun, which is why Heir Apparent Han mistook him."
Jiang Changtian silently drank his tea.
It was very sweet and fragrant, with only a hint of bitterness masked by the sweetness.
...
Heir Apparent Han was dragged and carried back to the rear courtyard of the County Government Office by the guards, but he still wouldn't settle down.
One moment he was calling for his mother, the next for his wife.
He even hugged a guard and tried to kiss him.
If the guard weren't working for his salary, he would have wanted to slap Heir Apparent Han's swollen face again.
But Heir Apparent Han still wouldn't calm down.
He wanted to go to the Jiang residence.
The guard thought, last time you went there, it almost led to Mr. Jiang committing matricide, and he's already been expelled.
Now there's only Old Lady Jiang and her granddaughter left, what do you want to do there?
However, the guards couldn't stop the Heir Apparent.
The Heir Apparent seemed to be in a frenzy, one moment lucid, the next insane.
Now that he said he wanted to go to the Jiang residence, he looked serious and clear-headed.
The guards didn't dare to stop him.
So they followed the Heir Apparent with his face swollen like a pig's head to the Jiang residence.
Old Lady Jiang was lying in bed muttering about Heir Apparent Han when, unexpectedly, he arrived.
Old Lady Jiang felt a warmth in her chest, and it didn't hurt as much anymore.
Jiang Wan was puzzled. Why would the Heir Apparent come so late at night without even sending a visiting card?
In her memory, although Heir Apparent Han was somewhat unruly, he wasn't this outrageous.
Heir Apparent Han really came.
He said he was there to visit Old Lady Jiang.
Old Lady Jiang was lying on her sickbed. When she heard Heir Apparent Han had come, half her illness seemed to have been cured, and she didn't feel as much pain.
She didn't expect Heir Apparent Han to enter with his face swollen like a pig's head.
Old Lady Jiang was stunned for a moment before recognizing him.
"What happened to your face?"
At this moment, Heir Apparent Han couldn't feel any pain at all.
He was alternating between lucidity and euphoria.
Seeing Old Lady Jiang, he rushed over, hugged her tightly and wailed, "Mother, mother, don't leave, mother stay with me, mother I'm scared."
The guards: ...
Jiang Wan: ...
Jiang Wan was dumbfounded, wondering what kind of bizarre turn of events this was.
Yet she saw Old Lady Jiang, tears streaming down her face, hugging the wailing Heir Apparent Han and saying, "Mother won't leave, mother is always here, mother will stay with you."
The guards: ........
Jiang Wan: ........
Heir Apparent Han, either lucid or confused, paused for a moment.
He raised his head and looked at Old Lady Jiang in astonishment, suddenly pushed her away, and slapped her, saying, "Who do you think you are, trying to be my mother?"
Just as Old Lady Jiang was almost knocked unconscious by the slap, Heir Apparent Han was about to leave again.
The guards were horrified yet numb.
They took the half-crazed Heir Apparent out of the Jiang residence.
They wondered if the Heir Apparent had been poisoned, but didn't know what kind of poison could be so vicious. They had eaten the same food as the Heir Apparent but were fine.
The Heir Apparent drank soup, and the Jiang family's daughter drank it too, but she was fine.
Could it be that the Heir Apparent was pretending to be crazy?
After leaving the Jiang residence, the Heir Apparent finally calmed down and returned to the rear courtyard of the County Government Office.
The guards were exhausted, worried that the Heir Apparent might cause more trouble.
In such a small place, if he were to do something fatal, and if he really died, these guards wouldn't survive either.
Unexpectedly, the Heir Apparent stopped his antics and finally settled down.
In the middle of the night, a woman carrying a baby came looking for him.
It was Mrs. Jiang from the Jiang residence.
When Heir Apparent Han saw Wu holding the baby, he smiled with his pig-like swollen face and said, "Sister-in-law, this child is beautiful, looks like you."
He hugged Wu and the child at once.
They slept well that night.
The next day, before dawn.
Heir Apparent Han woke up.
His face hurt.
His head hurt even more.
Especially when he saw Wu and the baby on the bed.
Wu was lying down fully clothed, with tear stains on her face, looking quite disheveled yet somewhat alluring.
She was holding a baby who was staring at him with big, dark eyes, which startled him.
He tried to recall what he had done yesterday, and how Wu ended up lying on his bed, even with a child.
He remembered hugging Commander Jiang and calling him mother, hugging Old Lady Jiang and calling her mother, and later hugging Wu and calling her mother too.
Heir Apparent Han realized this was not good.
Early in the morning, he put on his clothes and was about to flee with his guards.
Seeing Wu still in yesterday's clothes and the baby in her arms, he gritted his teeth and took them along.
In a grand procession, they fled as fast as dogs.
As they were leaving the city, they encountered a group of well-armed men bearing the Seventh Prince's insignia.
It was his cousin's men.
Heir Apparent Han didn't have time to greet them. As if chased by vicious dogs, he left Ming County and ran all the way towards the capital.
...
