The sun shone brightly today.
The weather was fine.
Jiang Wan had tended to her grandmother for most of the night, finally managing to soothe her.
Old Lady Jiang was truly stunned by that slap from Heir Apparent Han.
Her heart ached, her wound hurt, everything hurt.
She felt a mixture of regret and anguish.
Yet she couldn't bring herself to say anything.
Early in the morning, unexpectedly, people from the Seventh Prince arrived.
The Seventh Prince's people were reliable, coming prepared to take them away without delay.
Jiang Wan was ecstatic.
She could finally leave this dreadful place.
However, before leaving, she was determined to bring her parents along.
While comforting her grandmother, she sent someone to fetch her parents.
But when the servant arrived at the guest house, they found Old Master Jiang passed out drunk in the room, with Jiang Rong hiding inside.
Mrs. Jiang and the children were nowhere to be found.
Even the wet nurse had run away...
The previous night, the couple had a massive argument.
Somehow, they had started talking about Jiang Changtian.
Jiang Huaisheng said that he had made everyone enter the meditation room, even his mother, but she hadn't gone in.
Wu was absolutely stunned by this reasoning.
Did being spared by the villains once mean she had become one of them?
If that were the case, enemies wouldn't need to do anything; they could kill half a family, leave the other half, and the remaining half would just destroy each other.
Wu was too angry. She couldn't help but complain: "The worst person is your mother. If it weren't for your mother's meddling, if it weren't for your mother falsely accusing me and Changtian, how could we have ended up in this situation?"
And Jiang Huaisheng, used to defending his mother, actually raised his hand against Wu.
This time, he was sober.
He shoved his wife.
She crashed to the ground.
Then she cried, holding the child.
Hearing both the child and Jing'er crying, Jiang Huaisheng felt irritated. He didn't know what to do. He had apologized, but what had happened had happened. What more could he do?
He could only drown his sorrows in alcohol.
He loved Jing'er, and he also respected and loved his mother. He still remembered how on the road to exile, his mother would share half of whatever food she had with him.
His mother might have wronged his brother, but she had never wronged him.
It was he who hadn't done well enough.
He was worried about his mother's injury and didn't dare to see her.
He was also concerned about Rong'er's condition. Now, Rong'er, traumatized, didn't leave his room every day, didn't want to see anyone, just hugging his books and reading in his room.
He was also irritated by the crying of children.
He didn't know how life had become like this.
Countless troubles weighed on his mind.
When the servant came to find him, asking him to return to the manor, he excitedly went to look for Jing'er, only to find that she was gone. Not only was Jing'er gone, but his newborn daughter Shu Shu was also missing.
Had Jing'er disappeared with the child?
Could they have already returned to the manor?
Jiang Huaisheng took Rong'er back to the manor.
Although they had only lived in the guest house for a short time, Jiang Huaisheng found everything inconvenient and uncomfortable there.
There was no dedicated large study room, no dedicated martial arts training ground, the bed wasn't as big as the one there, there was no incense burning in the room, and he couldn't sleep well.
He thought about how a real man should earn money to support his family.
But despite being well-educated and skilled in both civil and military arts, he couldn't find any work when he went out.
He couldn't possibly work at a tavern keeping accounts for people, or copy books, that would be utterly ridiculous, how could he do such things?
But if he were to work at the County Government Office, it would mean having to ask his brother Changtian for help.
Changtian had already gone mad, he was no longer his brother, he would only face humiliation, and he wouldn't go to bring shame upon himself.
After much consideration, he found he had nothing to do.
He had nothing to do before, but he didn't have to worry about food and drink, and was quite comfortable at home.
Now he had nothing to do, had to worry about food and drink, and couldn't sit still at home.
Now he increasingly dared not think about why his brother had tried to drown himself back then.
When his brother had said such things, he only thought his brother was weak, had an extreme personality, a grown man always thinking about death, beyond help.
But now, he didn't know what to do either.
He thought Jing'er might have returned to the manor with the child.
When the servant came to fetch him, he quickly returned with Rong'er.
However, Jing'er hadn't come back, nor had she brought the child back.
Where could a woman go in the middle of the night carrying a child?
He had only pushed her, he hadn't actually hit her.
Jiang Huaisheng frantically searched everywhere.
But he heard that Heir Apparent Han had left early in the morning, taking a woman carrying a child with him.
Jiang Huaisheng felt as if he had been struck by lightning. It was impossible.
Jing'er also came from a noble family, and although the Wu family had fallen on hard times due to guilt by association, she wouldn't elope with Heir Apparent Han just because of a few days of hardship with him. No matter what, she was still his legitimate wife, the mother of his children. What was she doing with Heir Apparent Han, degrading herself, lowering herself to be a concubine? Could she really have had something going on with Heir Apparent Han behind his back?
On the road.
Heir Apparent Han gradually sobered up.
His face was still swollen like a pig's head.
He looked at Wu and the child in the carriage and felt a massive headache coming on.
If his father knew what he had done, would he beat him to death?
"How about I have someone send you back?" Heir Apparent Han tentatively suggested.
"Although Old Jiang isn't a good person, he should be more reliable than me. I have many women in my household, you won't have to worry about food and drink there, but I'm very fickle."
Wu sat in the carriage, her eyes lifeless. Last night, when her husband had shoved her to the ground, her back had hit the corner of the table hard, but her husband hadn't even come to check on her once, just turning and running away.
Her sorrow was greater than her despair.
They had grown up together as childhood sweethearts, married, and had children.
After all these years, he actually doubted her.
In a fit of anger, she had taken the child and run out, but once outside, she didn't know where to go. As a woman who had never wandered outside before, she was very afraid and could only walk towards the County Government Office.
Unexpectedly, she was encountered by Heir Apparent Han and taken away.
Heir Apparent Han had held her and called her "mother" all night.
Wu felt utterly hopeless.
If it wasn't her husband, it didn't matter who it was.
She loved Jiang Huaisheng, loved that knowledgeable, honest, and faithful Jiang Huaisheng, loved that Jiang Huaisheng who always considered her feelings, loved that Jiang Huaisheng who was attentive to her needs.
But he was gone now.
Wu had never managed household affairs. In the Jiang family, she had basically lived on her husband's love. Once that love was gone, she was at a loss, not knowing what to do.
"I won't get off. If you make me leave, I'll smash my head against something and die right in front of you with the child," Wu said.
Heir Apparent Han: ...
She spoke with tears in her eyes, her gaze lifeless. The carriage wasn't moving fast. She had been out for a day and a night now, but her husband still hadn't come to find her.
...
When Jiang Huaisheng learned that Jing'er had been taken away by Heir Apparent Han, he felt utterly hopeless and wanted to go after them.
But he was stopped by his mother.
"That fickle woman, what use is there in chasing after her? How will you arrange marriages for Rong'er and Wan'er in the future? You might as well consider her dead."
Old Lady Jiang, upon hearing that Heir Apparent Han had taken Wu away, was also furious.
She was even more angry at Wu.
Heir Apparent Han had taken no one else but Wu, and with the child too. This must have been Wu offering herself to him.
She had been through enough torment these past few days.
Finally, someone had come to take them away.
Even though she was injured, she wanted to leave this place.
She had been terrified by that mad son of hers.
The family was extremely efficient.
Also because Jiang Wan had always kept important belongings packed, ready to leave at any time.
When the Seventh Prince's people came, they packed up and set out that very day.
Jiang Huaisheng wailed about wanting to find Jing'er and Shu Shu, but was tied up and put in the carriage by Jiang Wan's guards.
Although she had feelings for this place where she had lived for many years,
There was a voice in her heart constantly telling her to leave, to leave quickly.
As for her mother, if she had really gone with Heir Apparent Han, it wasn't appropriate to make a big fuss about finding her now. They could only wait until they were settled.
On this day, dust rose on the official road as carriages came and went.
On this day, Commander Jiang had just taken office and was preparing to conduct a military exercise.
After all, a new official must make a strong start.
Everyone said Commander Jiang's troops were only old, weak, sick, and disabled.
He led thousands of old, weak, sick, and disabled to the official road.
The crowd was a sea of black.
Jiang Changtian earnestly consulted with Meng Shaoxia: "Little Meng, you're the expert in leading troops. Please give us more guidance later."
Meng Shaoxia looked at the scene before him. Although the numbers were large and they didn't look like strong soldiers and sturdy horses, the neat and orderly formation was impressive. When Brother Feng raised his left hand, the whole group turned left; when he raised his right hand, they turned right. The troops followed orders strictly, it was simply invincible.
At this time, few people could read, and it was difficult to distinguish left from right, let alone follow commands.
If the army he led could do this, they would have been invincible and unstoppable long ago.
Was there some secret to this?
Jiang Feng smiled innocently, saying there was no secret, he had just learned from watching Mianmian play with and command ants.
Mianmian could even make ants form ranks, so of course it was possible with people.
...
