Jiang Si was very familiar with Yu Jin’s hand gestures. It was precisely because of this familiarity that she now felt deeply hurt by Er Niu.
In Er Niu’s heart, she didn’t even compare to three bowls of meat and bones.
No, this wasn’t Er Niu’s fault. It was all because Yu Qi had forced Er Niu to make a difficult choice between his nature and her.
Thinking of this, Jiang Si felt much better.
With such an incident occurring at the Marquis’s mansion, the earlier festive atmosphere had completely dissipated. Despite the bright day, the entire estate seemed shrouded in gloom.
The remaining guests began to disperse.
Jiang Ancheng led Jiang Si and her sister to bid farewell to the Marquis and Marchioness of Yining before leaving the mansion.
The carriages of the Earl of Dongping’s household and the Zhu family were parked together. Many carriages that had been there earlier had departed with the guests, leaving a large space.
Old Qin leaned expressionlessly against the wall, giving off an unapproachable air. The Zhu family’s coachman had tried to strike up a conversation several times without success.
Seeing Jiang Si and the others approaching Old Qin silently straightened up and walked over to stand by the Earl’s carriage.
Jiang Ancheng looked around, puzzled, “Where’s the horse?”
Old Qin replied, “Second Young Master let his friend ride your horse.”
“That naughty boy!” Jiang Ancheng glared.
Jiang Si quickly said, “Father, it’s perfect. I wanted to ride in the same carriage with Big Sister. You can take my carriage back to the mansion.”
Jiang Ancheng nodded, instructing his eldest daughter to take good care of herself at her in-laws’ home. He watched the two sisters board the Zhu family’s carriage together as it slowly drove off, feeling an inexplicable sadness in his heart.
Old Qin followed with long strides.
He had long since secretly sworn that whenever he accompanied the young miss out, her safety was his responsibility.
Other people’s food wasn’t as tasty, and Old Qin was a man of principle.
Watching Old Qin run after someone else’s carriage, Jiang Ancheng was dumbfounded.
What was going on? The coachman had run off too. Was he supposed to drive the carriage back himself?
Inside the Zhu family’s carriage, Jiang Si was unaware that her father had been left behind with the carriage. After sitting down, she took a sip of the tea Jiang Yi handed her.
“Were you scared today?” Jiang Yi asked gently.
Jiang Si put the teacup down on the small table and shook her head.
Jiang Yi hadn’t recovered from the day’s dramatic events. Her lips pale, she said, “It’s good you weren’t scared. When I saw them implicating you, my heart was pounding terribly.”
“Don’t worry, Big Sister. I can protect myself now,” Jiang Si said with a slight smile, reaching out to hold Jiang Yi’s hand.
Jiang Yi sighed softly, “It’s just a pity about Second Cousin. Although he harmed others, he didn’t know any better.”
“Not all people who don’t know better harm others,” Jiang Si murmured.
Having witnessed the ugly faces of the Marquis of Changxing’s heir and the Jiang Qian couple, some of Jiang Si’s thoughts were already different from her previous life.
In her view, there were very few people in this world whose nature was inherently ugly and beyond redemption.
Jiang Si knew this view was somewhat stubborn, but she was like white paper stained with ink. She was no longer truly a fifteen-year-old girl, and the imprints from her previous life couldn’t simply vanish just because she wanted to let go.
“What did you say?” Jiang Yi hadn’t heard Jiang Si’s mumbling clearly and asked.
Jiang Si smiled, “I was just reflecting on the unpredictability of life. By the way, Big Sister, what did Grandmother call you back for?”
“Nothing much. Grandmother heard that Yan’er wasn’t feeling well and called me over to ask about it.”
“Who told Grandmother about this?”
Jiang Yi looked at Jiang Si, puzzled, “Fourth Sister, what’s wrong?”
Jiang Si thought for a moment and decided to reveal the truth to Jiang Yi, “Big Sister, first tell me who told Grandmother, then I’ll tell you what’s wrong.”
“She heard it from Aunt.”
Jiang Si showed a cold smile as if she had expected this.
“Fourth Sister, what’s going on?” Although Jiang Yi had a gentle nature, she wasn’t slow-witted. She had already sensed something was amiss from Jiang Si’s attitude.
At this moment, she felt an inexplicable panic, sensing that what she was about to hear would change some of her perceptions dramatically.
Jiang Si was silent for a moment. The atmosphere in the carriage grew increasingly tense, giving Jiang Yi enough time to mentally prepare herself. Finally, Jiang Si spoke, “Second Cousin blocking me by Juxia Lake wasn’t as simple as it seemed. There’s an eight or nine out of ten chance that Aunt was behind it.”
She started with the green-clothed maid passing the message about Jiang Yi fainting to the maid’s quiet disappearance, and then to the news of Su Qingyi’s tragic death.
Jiang Yi listened silently, her expression growing increasingly troubled. By the end, her hand holding Jiang Si’s was trembling uncontrollably. In disbelief, she said, “How could this be? She’s our aunt. How could she scheme against you like this without feeling guilty?”
Jiang Si said frankly, “Big Sister, there are quite a few people in this world without a conscience.”
She didn’t intend to hide these troubling matters from her elder sister. Although her sister was gentle-natured and hearing these things would likely upset her for some time, Jiang Yi would soon face a calamity. If she didn’t let her sister see how even relatives could have treacherous hearts now, it would truly be harming her.
Sometimes, no amount of protection from others was as effective as standing up for oneself.
Jiang Yi slowly calmed her emotions and squeezed Jiang Si’s hand hard. Ashamed, she said, “It’s all my fault. If I had taken you with me then, none of this would have happened.”
Jiang Si smiled, “Don’t think like that, Big Sister. When someone harbors harmful intentions, they’ll always find what they consider to be an opportunity. If not this time, there would be a next time. So this has nothing to do with you. If you blame yourself and feel bad about this, it would be my fault instead.”
Jiang Yi stared at Jiang Si for a long while before sighing softly, “You’ve grown up, little sister.”
Jiang Si took the opportunity to advise, “Big Sister, you need to be more careful in the future too. You can’t always judge a book by its cover. Those who are nice to you might not always be sincere; they might have some harmful intentions…”
Jiang Yi was stunned for a moment before becoming nervous, “Fourth Sister, although there are bad people in the world, the vast majority are good. Don’t let today’s events skew your perception. Don’t let one bad experience make you overly cautious for years to come.”
Jiang Si was taken aback.
It seemed she hadn’t succeeded in advising her sister and instead had been lectured herself.
Jiang Yi was indeed very worried that Jiang Si might become pessimistic due to this trauma. She hugged her and continued to offer words of comfort and advice.
Jiang Si sighed, “Don’t worry, Big Sister. I won’t overthink it. But you must promise me too: while you shouldn’t harbor intentions to harm others, you also shouldn’t be without caution.”
Only after Jiang Yi nodded did Jiang Si feel slightly relieved.
The Zhu family’s carriage took Jiang Si directly to the gates of the Earl of Dongping’s mansion. It was only then that Jiang Si parted ways with Jiang Yi. As she entered, she casually asked, “Has Second Young Master returned?”
The gatekeeper replied, “No.”
“What about my father?”
“The Earl hasn’t returned either.”
Jiang Si frowned, “That’s strange. Old Qin’s carriage should be faster than the Zhu family’s.”
Old Qin, who had been quietly following behind, stepped forward and said, “Young Miss, the Earl probably doesn’t have a coachman.”
Jiang Si stared at Old Qin, who had suddenly appeared before her, dumbfounded.
Old Qin said righteously, “I’m only the Young Miss’s coachman.”
When necessary, he could also be a lethal weapon in the Young Miss’s hands, but he wouldn’t be responsible for others. They didn’t feed him, after all.
Jiang Si was silent for a moment, then nodded, “You’re right about everything.”
At least she wasn’t her second brother; otherwise, she might have gotten a beating.