Jiang Yanzhen stormed out of Duke Chu’s residence, furious and puffed up like a pufferfish.
As soon as he stepped through the doors of the Jiang family estate, he cursed all the way from the front gate to the back courtyard.
Madam Jiang was in her room, overseeing the servants as they packed things.
When she saw Jiang Yanzhen enter, she coldly snorted and complained in a roundabout way, “Anyone who doesn’t know would think we’re some ordinary family. Everyone comes to demand this and that as if we’ve ascended to the heavens!”
Jiang Yanzhen was already in a foul mood. Seeing her like this made him even angrier. He suddenly kicked one of the boxes on the ground. “If someone’s making your life miserable, go find them! Don’t you dare show me that dead face all day long!”
In the past, Jiang Yanzhen and Madam Jiang were like a loving couple, supporting each other. Even though Madam Jiang had a terrible temper and always wore a long face whenever she was displeased, Jiang Yanzhen always tolerated her.
Not only that, but he would often lower himself to coax her.
But today was the first time he had ever spoken to her so harshly.
Madam Jiang immediately exploded. Seeing that a maid was still squatting nearby, picking up the scattered items from the ground, she kicked the maid hard in the chest. “Are you dead? Can’t you see your master is angry? Are you trying to seduce him? Get out!”
The maid was kicked so hard she was completely stunned, but knowing Madam Jiang’s temper, she dared not stay a second longer. Clutching her painful chest, she scrambled away in a panic.
Madam Jiang’s face darkened, her expression sharp and vicious. Once the maid was gone, she immediately began cursing, “Did you eat sh*t before you came home? Your mouth is so foul! Did I provoke you? Why are you venting your anger on me?”
When it came to cursing and making a scene, Madam Jiang had never lost to anyone.
Back when she lived in the Min region, she was known as the ‘Tofu Beauty’ who sold tofu in the market.
Jiang Yanzhen had gone to Min to take up a post and fell in love with her at first sight.
Despite his family’s opposition, he forced them to accept the marriage by going on a hunger strike.
Over the years, Madam Jiang had always been this overbearing—hitting when she wanted to hit, cursing when she wanted to curse.
Rules? Decorum? She didn’t care about any of that.
Jiang Yanzhen had long grown used to her ways, but now, seeing her again made his scalp tingle with pain. He roared, “What do you know? This is all because of you! If you hadn’t angered my parents to death back then, if you hadn’t insisted on siding with Duke Chu and helping them cover up the truth, stepping forward to claim my sister died of illness, we wouldn’t be living in constant fear now!”
So it was this matter again.
Madam Jiang stood up, her plump body moving with surprising speed, and sneered viciously, “That younger sister of yours may have been the mother of a Wangfei, but so what? She pretended to be so virtuous all day long! She stopped you from getting promoted, stopped you from making money! Whenever you seized some spoils of war, she made you return them!”
She felt no guilt at all. “And that useless niece of yours—what about her? She’s a Wangfei, so what? Has she ever supported you?”
They had argued about this countless times over the years.
Jiang Yanzhen no longer wanted to argue.
He had zero patience left. The more he thought about those people being captured and possibly confessing to implicate him while Duke Chu stood by watching, the more he wanted to kill someone.
Madam Jiang casually cracked a melon seed and snorted disdainfully, “Your relatives are all useless leeches, coming to us for handouts all day long. This can’t go on. I don’t have the time to keep supporting them. Bring out more silver!”
Jiang Yanzhen immediately snapped, “Where do I still have any silver? Didn’t I hand over all my money to you?”
“Don’t play dumb with me! Back then, Duke Chu’s household returned your sister’s entire dowry. I know exactly how much that was. Your back courtyard is filled to the brim with treasures! What, you can’t bear to part with it now?”
Duke Chu’s mansion again!
Madam Jiang again!
Jiang Yanzhen suddenly snapped. His heart felt like it was sinking, while his rage surged uncontrollably.
As Madam Jiang kept rambling about going to the back courtyard to get the silver, something in Jiang Yanzhen’s mind snapped. In a burst of madness, he lunged forward and grabbed her by the neck.
So what if she was the ‘Tofu Beauty’?
Men are like this—even if they marry a fairy from heaven, the novelty wears off eventually.
And Madam Jiang was no fairy—she was just a shrewish, poor woman.
At first, Jiang Yanzhen found her bluntness and directness charming.
But over time, he grew increasingly tired of her.
Madam Jiang had always acted differently from other people.
When the family told her to maintain household order, she called them wicked old in-laws.
When they sent her out to entertain guests, she insisted they were just there to beg for favors because her family had given them gifts.
No matter what anyone said, she refused to listen.
Now, all these things flooded his mind.
Jiang Yanzhen clenched his teeth in hatred.
It was Madam Jiang’s greed, their refusal to be content, their desire for Duke Chu’s wealth, that killed his mother from anger after they took the silver and pearls.
And because of that, he had always been treated as a dog of Duke Chu’s house.
What else could he be?
Even the gatekeepers of the Duke’s mansion dared to bark at him.
The more he thought about it, the more he trembled with rage.
Madam Jiang, large and strong, managed to pry his hands off her neck and angrily shouted, “What are you doing? Are you trying to kill me?!”
Kill?
Jiang Yanzhen’s head spun, and he gasped for breath. Just as he was about to speak, the steward came in to announce that Lord Xing from the Shuntian Prefecture was requesting an audience.
It’s over.
Jiang Yanzhen’s mind went completely blank.
He wasn’t Duke Chu—he couldn’t just tell the Shuntian officials to get lost.
Madam Jiang, still oblivious, sneered, “With Duke Chu backing us, how dare they come here?”
Jiang Yanzhen, remembering the Duke’s attitude, grew even angrier. He gritted his teeth and snapped, “Duke Chu? He can’t wait for me to die right now, and you’re still counting on him?!”
His chest ached from rage.
When he finally saw Xing Min, he pretended to be calm and asked, “What brings Lord Xing here at this hour…”
Xing Min smiled. “Master Jiang, tonight in the West City shantytown, there was a murder. Three of the killers died, and two survived. The survivors claim they were your men.”
Jiang Yanzhen’s head buzzed. He felt like the ground was collapsing beneath him.
He had known this wouldn’t end well, but he didn’t expect the fallout to come so quickly.
Duke Chu had really abandoned him!
He wanted to ask more, but Xing Min smiled and shook his head, refusing to say another word.
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