"Jiang Yu, come with me." Jiang Zhiping stared coldly at Jiang Yu, flicked his sleeves, and headed straight into the courtyard.
Madam Zhao, who had recently begun currying favor with Jiang Yu, let out a soft sigh. She stepped forward, took Jiang Yu’s hand, and asked with great concern, "My child, you must have suffered out there, haven't you? Rest assured, now that you are back at the Marquis Manor, everything will be better. I will personally see to everything for you."
Madam Zhao was always like this; in front of Jiang Zhiping, she never failed to display the virtues and thoughtfulness of a mistress of the house. Because of this, Jiang Yu's own mother, Lady Li, appeared all the more disagreeable in Jiang Zhiping's eyes by comparison, to the point where all real power in the Marquis Manor was now firmly in Madam Zhao's hands.
Upon hearing Madam Zhao's words, Jiang Yu did not answer; instead, she offered her a mocking smile. Madam Zhao had never been ridiculed by a younger member of the family before. She was about to erupt in anger but had to suppress it to maintain her carefully crafted image. She gave Jiang Zhiping a wronged look and said, "Yuer, why are you looking at me like that? Did Mother say something wrong?" Her manner was truly that of someone who cared for Jiang Yu deeply.
Jiang Yu stared at Madam Zhao’s face for a long moment. Remembering everything from her previous life, she said coldly, "You are not my mother."
Jiang Zhiping, having walked some distance into the courtyard, noticed no one was following and turned back just in time to hear this. "You rebellious girl, how dare you speak to your mother like that?"
Jiang Yu lifted her eyes and met Jiang Zhiping’s cold gaze. "Father, since I arrived here, you haven't uttered a single word of concern. Your daughter has just survived a robbery by bandits, and the guards who protected me on the journey to the Capital all met tragic ends. Yet you show no concern at all. Am I truly your daughter?"
The question left Jiang Zhiping speechless, caught off guard. His reputation as a doting father was well-known, and he used it to brag about his well-bred daughters, hoping they would marry into high society and pave the way for his own advancement. If word got out that he mistreated his children—at this thought, his expression softened slightly. He said to Jiang Yu, "Still, you cannot be so defiant toward your parents."
"But I have not said anything wrong, Father," Jiang Yu stated bluntly. "My mother is Lady Li alone. And you, Father, have only one wife whom you married with the proper formalities."
Madam Zhao wanted her to be a crude, unrefined country girl? Very well, she would give her exactly what she wanted.
Jiang Zhiping’s face flushed with rage at her words. Although what she said was true, no one had ever dared to say it to his face before. He pointed at Jiang Yu, fuming, unable to come up with a retort.
Suddenly, a soft, urgent voice called out, "Yuer—is that you, Yuer?"
Hearing this voice, Jiang Yu felt a lump form in her throat. For the first time, she truly wanted to cry. Her biological mother, Lady Li, must have heard the news and rushed over.
"Mother," Jiang Yu said, looking at Lady Li.
Lady Li appeared as she always did—a delicate, petite woman exuding a sense of fragility. Beside her was Jiang Yu's older sister, Jiang Wanqian.
Lady Li pulled Jiang Yu into her arms and wept, "You’ve finally come home."
Jiang Yu was not used to being held like this, but the woman before her was her birth mother, who had worried over her from start to finish and ultimately died because of her in her previous life. All the regrets of that past existence were centered on this person. Now, in this life, she could finally embrace her mother back.
"Crying and wailing at the main gate, what does this look like! Go back to your own courtyard if you must cry!" Jiang Zhiping’s temper flared the moment he saw Lady Li weeping. All she ever did was cry; she was of no help to him at all.
Terrified by Jiang Zhiping, Lady Li froze. Jiang Yu patted her back comfortingly and replied, "We will do as you say, Father."
She gave Jiang Wanqian a look, and together they led Lady Li away. Jiang Zhiping, who still wanted to ask how close Jiang Yu was with Lord Zhou, was so angry he couldn't speak.
"Well, it’s true what they say: children raised in the countryside are just different," Madam Zhao remarked, fanning the flames.
Jiang Zhiping, who had originally intended to find a good marriage match for Jiang Yu, immediately abandoned the idea. He feared that marrying such an unrefined girl into a prominent family would ruin the Jiang family's reputation. If word spread that he failed to educate his daughters properly, it would be troublesome; after all, his reputation was what Jiang Zhiping cared about most.
Jiang Yu followed Lady Li to her courtyard. Once inside, Lady Li signaled for the servants to close the door. After everyone else left, only the three women and Lady Li's personal maids remained.
Looking at Jiang Yu’s frail frame and her face, which had tanned significantly, Lady Li said worriedly, "You’ve grown thin."
Jiang Yu took Lady Li’s hand and smiled. "Not at all, I’m just still in my growth phase."
"You must have suffered so much these past few years. My poor Yuer. It is all Mother's fault; I lacked the power to protect you." Lady Li began to tear up again.
Seeing this, Jiang Yu quickly said, "Mother, I have not suffered, truly. Although the countryside is not as prosperous as the Capital, it was very free. I spent every day—every day quite happily."
Lady Li stared at Jiang Yu’s face and suddenly said, "Qing'er, Wan'er, you tell me."
Qing'er and Wan'er had been the personal maids Lady Li had carefully selected and sent to be by Jiang Yu’s side. Hearing their mistress's command, the two maids immediately lowered their heads and knelt on the ground.
Qing'er spoke first, "Mistress, I have something to report." While the young lady might tell her mother she was fine, she felt heartbroken over what she had witnessed at the estate.
"Good, speak," Lady Li said, pulling Jiang Yu to sit on the daybed, with her eldest daughter, Jiang Wanqian, sitting on the other side.
"The young lady suffered terribly these past years," Qing'er began. "At the estate, those crude servants never respected the young lady. The first year was fine; everyone put on a show of civility. But from the second year on, it seemed as if the young lady had been completely forgotten. The servants treated her as if she were no one. The food they brought was inedible. In winter, they sent no charcoal, and the young lady had to huddle with us for warmth. Even the relatives of the estate manager would bully the young lady, saying... saying..."
Qing'er couldn't continue. Lady Li frowned. "Saying what?"
"They said... they said the young lady was a child born to parents who didn't want her, otherwise she wouldn't have been sent away to that estate..." Qing'er burst into tears at the memory of the insults they endured. She had been the most loyal to Jiang Yu; in her previous life, she had volunteered to lead the bandits away and met a tragic end.
"How insolent!" Lady Li finally erupted in fury.
Seeing the moment was right, Jiang Wanqian reminded her, "Mother, I told you before. No matter how much of your dowry you use to subsidize the Marquis Manor, hoping to have Madam Zhao treat Jiang Yu well at the estate, it is useless against those who ignore your wishes behind your back."
Hearing this, Lady Li felt a deep tremor in her heart. Madam Zhao always acted like a dear sister to her, all while secretly abusing her daughter. The estate was chosen by Madam Zhao, though the authority had been granted by Jiang Zhiping. Because her own daughter was in Madam Zhao's hands and was closer to her, Lady Li had spent years swallowing her pride, handing over the power that should have belonged to her as the mistress of the house.
She had never imagined that even then, Madam Zhao would not let Jiang Yu go, forcing her to suffer so much. Everything the Marquis Manor consumed, from food to clothing, was supported by her own generous dowry. This was simply—too much to bear!