Chapter IBMLS Ch.14 Qiyang (1)
Qiyang
Unclean? Madam Jiang became strangely silent when she heard this.
Ever since her daughter returned, Madam Jiang had been deliberately avoiding this topic. After all, which mother would doubt her daughter’s purity? Moreover, Jiang Mingwei had always been a strong and high-spirited girl. Her development should have been the best among her peers.
That is, until she eloped with a barbarian man. Beirong and the Ye Empire were mortal enemies. If it weren’t for the fact that she was just a frail girl, Jiang Mingwei would have been executed for treason.
Moreover, her disappearance had persisted not for a mere one or two months, but for over a year. A beautiful young miss from an eminent family had wandered alone in the chaotic world for a year and four months. Even Madam Jiang had felt a thump in her heart when she heard this. However, since her daughter had returned unscathed and hinted that she was still pure, Madam Jiang decided to not overthink or pursue it.
For her, it was already enough that her daughter had come back alive.
Now that Jiang Mingwei was criticizing Mu Mingtang for being unclean, Madam Jiang didn’t know how to respond. Both girls had wandered alone in the outside world for over a year, but no one had doubted the latter’s innocence.
Mu Mingtang had followed the refugees north and fled to Yingtian. One could sigh at the girl’s hard life, but no one would question whether or not had she been taken advantage of on the road. After all, every one of the survivors had to be competent, iron-willed, and quick-witted if they wanted to keep their life during such troubled times.
On the other hand, Jiang Mingwei was a sheltered girl who ran away from home. How could her situation compare to one of a desperate escape from a war-ridden city? Even her own family was skeptical about her purity.
When Jiang Mingwei noticed that her mother had fallen silent, she looked at her strangely before realizing what she was thinking. Jiang Mingwei’s face suddenly turned red and then white with anger: “Mother, are you doubting my purity?”
“I’m not…”
“You think I’m no longer pure?” Jiang Mingwei immediately erupted, wide-eyed and furious as she yelled, “I risked my life to escape from Beirong, to return to my family, only to learn that you and father had adopted another girl to replace me. You gave her my room, my identity, and even my engagement! Now, you think I’m too dirty to be the Jiang family’s daughter, right? Mother?”
“No!” Madam Jiang shook her head as she began to sob. “After you left, I couldn’t find any news about you. I scoured Chenliu to no avail, and I thought I would never see you again. When you came back unharmed, I immediately thanked the Heaven for its benevolence! How could I doubt my own daughter?”
Jiang Mingwei realized that there were tears streaming down her own face. She had yelled at Madam Jiang just now, but it was unreasonable, as none of those grievances had happened to her in this current life.
She recalled all the hardships she had gone through in Beirong, and the result that came out of it. In the end, she was killed in secret by a drugged handkerchief. The more she thought about the discrimination and abuse she had suffered, and the position of empress she had passed by, the more she aggrieved she felt. Finally, she covered her face and began to sob.
Madam Jiang didn’t expect her words to trigger such a strong reaction. Seeing her daughter crying so bitterly, she felt as though several knives were stabbing into her heart. What kind of unimaginable things did Jiang Mingwei suffer outside for her to cry like this?
At this point, even if she had come back with a barbarian’s offspring, Madam Jiang would have accepted it.
She used her handkerchief to wipe Jiang Mingwei’s tears before enveloping her tightly in her arms. ”It’s okay, Mingwei. Don’t cry. You’re home now. It’s all over.”
Jiang Mingwei’s tears slowly stopped. Yes, it was all over now. Xie Xuanji chose to believe her and did not pursue her elopement. She would become his princess. Looking at the contrast between the past and the present, she was once again reminded of how blind she had been in her previous life for giving up such a good fiance.
Fortunately, she woke up in time. The first young miss of the Jiang family was still her, and the Princess of Jin was also her. Xie Xuanji had already discussed with Jiang Honghao about telling the public that she had merely been recuperating from an illness somewhere during the time she was missing.
Now, she possessed a fiance who regarded her as his first love, a noble and distinguished family, and her youth and beauty. The only thing Jiang Mingwei disliked was Mu Mingtang.