The Young Marquis Regrets Too Late - Chapter 5

Everyone said it was impossible for her and Gu Huaisheng to be together.

Jiang Jingchun felt that her grandmother must be different from other people, but now even her grandmother was saying the same thing.

Jiang Jingchun was unwilling to accept it and refused to admit it.

She didn’t want to admit that there really was no possibility between her and her cousin.

Old Madame Jiang didn’t reply to her. However, the look in her eyes clearly showed what she thought.

It was deep into the night now. Jiang Jingchun had been kneeling here for an hour, and the old madame had been sitting beside her for an hour as well. In the end, her ageing and frail body couldn’t endure anymore.

Old Madame Jiang rubbed her temples and then said to Jiang Jingchun, “There’s nothing more to say about this matter. Whether Fuyan likes you or not is not something I can decide. You’ve been spoiled by your mother beyond reason. You’re of age to marry, yet you have no sense of propriety. From now on, come stay with me. I’ll educate you on your mother’s behalf.”

Jiang Jingchun was momentarily stunned. They had just been discussing something else—how had the conversation turned to this?

However, once she recovered from her surprise, she realised that the old madame’s words made sense.

She couldn’t spend her entire life by her mother’s side. Her mother always treated her as though she were a child who would never grow up.

Moreover, although her grandmother was strict, Jiang Jingchun actually quite liked her.

Just like earlier—when others bullied her, her grandmother told her that she could fight back.

Besides… Her cousin must like girls with proper conduct.

Following her grandmother to learn proper conduct didn’t seem like a bad idea.

The old madame saw her silence and assumed she was unwilling. She frowned and asked, “Are you refusing?”

Jiang Jingchun lowered her head and said, “Mother will…”

Her mother wouldn’t agree, and she would definitely be upset.

“You don’t need to worry about your mother; I have my ways. Besides, I’m only asking you to come to Rongde Hall, not sending you thousands of miles away. What are you afraid of?”

The old madame looked visibly tired and didn’t continue. She simply said, “It’s too late now. Go back for today.”

Hearing this, Jiang Jingchun didn’t linger any longer and respectfully left.

But after she left, the supposedly weary old madame called for her father, Jiang Nan.

Because Jiang Jingchun had been at Rongde Hall for so long and hadn’t returned, Madame Jiang had thrown quite the tantrum in their own place. Jiang Nan had only just calmed her down and was planning to rest when someone from Rongde Hall arrived, so he got up immediately and rushed over there.

He sat on the seat below while showing no impatience at his rest being disturbed. With his head lowered, he obediently asked, “Mother, why have you summoned me?”

Jiang Nan was the oldest among Old Madame Jiang’s three children. He was also the one with the most stable and steady footing in life. When the Jiang family fell into trouble back then, he was already in his early twenties. He had enjoyed the good days the longest, studied the most, and was the smartest.

After earning first place in the imperial examination, he caught the eye of Li Wanning—now Madame Jiang—whose father was the head of the Imperial Academy.

Later, his younger sister Jiang Ruo married into the Marquis Heyang’s household through a childhood engagement. Since then, the Jiang family had regained its footing and secured a place in the capital once more.

The old madame asked, “Are you still looking for her?”

The dim light in the room cast shadows across the old madame’s face and made her expression unreadable. Jiang Nan raised his eyes slightly and met her weary gaze.

Both of them knew exactly what she meant.

After a long pause, Jiang Nan finally spoke in a somewhat hoarse voice. He said, “She is my child—I will, of course, always look for her.”

“When have I ever stopped you from looking for her?”

He acted as though she had been preventing him.

She quickly added, “Do what you must. But from now on, leave Jingchun in my care. I’ll look after her so that she doesn’t end up utterly alone and helpless in the end.”

She spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Yet, somehow, her words struck a nerve with Jiang Nan. He furrowed his eyebrows deeply and seemed utterly puzzled. “She’s still an outsider—she does not share a drop of our bl00d. After Jinghui went missing, Wanning treated her as a substitute and sought comfort in seeing her. That I can understand.

“But why, Mother, do you care for her so deeply? Even if I’ve found my true child, I wouldn’t abandon her. Why must you say such hurtful words?”

Jiang Nan had always listened to his mother, but now he truly couldn’t understand her. Why did she treat someone unrelated to them as though she were more important than her own true granddaughter?

She said Jiang Jingchun would end up alone and helpless? But it wasn’t as if he would ever leave her to fend for herself on the streets.

Old Madame Jiang snorted coldly. “Because she looks a bit like Jinghui back then, you and your wife insisted on bringing her back.”

Jiang Nan’s expression darkened instantly.

The old madame didn’t want to harp on the past either. She said, “I didn’t summon you here to discuss this. Go and tell your wife that I’ll personally teach Jingchun from now on.”

Jiang Nan still wanted to argue. He said, “No, Wanning won’t agree to this.”

The old madame coldly replied, “That child isn’t her possession. Indulging a child the way that she does is no different than harming her. You’ve raised her like a pampered bird. If you continue like this, what future will she have when you finally find Jinghui? How would she survive?”

When the true daughter returned, what good outcome would there be for the fake one?

None of them were leaving Jiang Jingchun a path of retreat, and the old madame could no longer bear to watch it. She wanted to rein things in before it was too late.

Her mind was made up. She rose and began walking towards the inner chamberss of Rongde Hall.

She said, “This matter is settled. There’s nothing more to discuss.”

Jiang Nan could see that the old madame’s mind was made up. He knew that he couldn’t persuade her otherwise, so he said no more.

He went home and informed his wife, Lady Li, about this matter.

When Lady Li heard about it, she immediately caused a commotion. If not for Jiang Nan stopping her, she would have stormed off to Rongde Hall. She was treating it as if the old madame were some villainous evildoer trying to steal her child away.

Jiang Nan saw that Lady Li was determined to continue her tantrum, so he had no choice but to summon Jiang Jingchun.

In front of Lady Li, he asked Jiang Jingchun, “Is it your wish to go to your grandmother’s place?”

In Jiang Nan’s eyes, Jiang Jingchun had been spoiled by Lady Li. If something displeased her, she would surely throw a fit first. Since she hadn’t, it must mean she was willing to go to her grandmother’s.

He didn’t like this daughter of his, and one could even say he felt some loathing for her.

Perhaps because he had known from the start that she was not his biological child, he was not as muddled as Lady Li, who doted on an impostor like she was a treasure. It could also be because he found the child’s character genuinely unpleasant.

In any case, he simply did not like her.

Jiang Jingchun had already anticipated her mother’s anger, but she hadn’t expected her to be this furious.

She feared that her mother might take it out on her grandmother, so she hurriedly said, “Grandmother only mentioned it in passing, but it was I who chose to go.”

She couldn’t have expected that Lady Li would immediately point at her and scold her, saying, “Have I not treated you well? Why are you thinking of leaving me…!?”

Lady Li had never spoken harshly to her before. No matter what mistakes she made—like last time when she pushed Lou Yanyan—Lady Li always indulged her.

But now, merely going to her grandmother’s for some time to be taught had caused such a reaction.

Perhaps in her eyes, Jiang Jingchun was like an ingrate. She had treated her with all her heart and soul, yet Jiang Jingchun still wanted to go to live with someone else.

Jiang Jingchun was somewhat frightened, and her face paled. She wanted to say, ‘I won’t go, Mother. I won’t go, all right…?’

Fortunately, before she could speak, Jiang Nan sent her out.

He stayed behind to pacify Lady Li.

“Enough, you heard her yourself—it was her own choice…”

Their voices gradually faded as Jiang Jingchun fled the place in a hurry.

Huayun was waiting outside the door. She had heard the arguing inside and, seeing Jiang Jingchun’s pale face, asked, “Miss, what happened?”

Jiang Jingchun stared blankly at Huayun before finally regaining her composure.

She swallowed and shook her head belatedly, saying, “It’s nothing.”

It seemed her mother truly loved her, but that love came with a near-obsessive possessiveness. It was almost as if she could never leave her mother’s sight. Otherwise, her mother would collapse and lose control.

However, she thought, she had grown up now. She couldn’t stay by her mother’s side forever—protected by her like this forever…

It felt a little strange, though she couldn’t quite say why.

From then on, Jiang Jingchun went to live with the old madame.

She wasn’t used to it at first, but she slowly adjusted to life in Rongde Hall.

The old madame was strict, but she wasn’t excessively harsh. To better educate Jiang Jingchun, she even pulled some strings and brought a governess from the palace. 

Everyone called this governess ‘Governess Liu.’ 

Unlike the old madame, Governess Liu was a truly iron-faced, cold-hearted person.

Jiang Jingchun was somewhat afraid of her and behaved impeccably in her presence. She feared making even the slightest mistake.

During her days at Rongde Hall, Jiang Jingchun was very obedient. No matter how tired she was, she never complained.

Of course, she had her own motives for being so cooperative.

Her cousin didn’t like her unruly and childish ways, so if she became more proper and well-behaved, perhaps he would look at her differently.

After all, if one hadn’t seen someone in some time, they should look at that person in a different light once they meet again.

She looked forward to the next time she would see him. By then, she would surely behave well and not cause trouble for him.

Meanwhile, Lady Li was still angry and even refused to see her, as if deliberately giving her the cold shoulder to force her back.

However, Jiang Jingchun was even more determined than her mother had expected. She stayed at Rongde Hall for a full ten days without returning.

Naturally, Lady Li took out her anger on Jiang Runchu.

That day, after he returned from work, she inexplicably scolded him, “Your sister hasn’t come home for days, and you don’t even care?”

The old madame lived in Rongde Hall, while the Jiang family’s first branch lived in Chongming Hall. At most, it was just a matter of moving from one area of the residence to another. Back when Jiang Runchu went away for his studies, his mother hadn’t acted like this. Yet now, after just ten days of not seeing Jiang Jingchun, she was using him as a target to vent her frustrations.

Jiang Runchu quickly begged for mercy but said, “If you miss her, you can go see her yourself. Why must you make it my problem?”

The short walk from Chongming Hall to Rongde Hall wasn’t even the time it took for an incense stick to burn. 

Lady Li immediately refused. “Why should I go see her? Does that heartless child not know how to come see her mother!?”

No matter what he said, Lady Li wouldn’t budge. Jiang Runchu was at his wit’s end.

While holding his head in frustration, he asked, “What exactly do you want?”

It seemed Jiang Jingchun was busy learning proper conduct and couldn’t come back for now, anyhow.

He tried to reason with her. “Isn’t it good that Jiang Jingchun is the way she is now? Why do you keep spoiling her?”

At Rongde Hall, Jiang Jingchun had indeed become much more obedient than before. She was no longer causing trouble, and she was quietly learning embroidery and reading. Even Jiang Runchu found it surprising.

However, Lady Li grew even angrier at his words. “Haven’t I given her everything she wanted? Haven’t I treated her well? I just want her to be obedient and stay by my side—is that so wrong?!”

Jiang Runchu knew he couldn’t reason with his mother, so he simply stopped talking. He knew that they would never end up agreeing on anything, so he prepared to leave.

However, Lady Li suddenly asked, “Didn’t your aunt send an invitation? She’s hosting an opera performance at the Gu family estate and invited us to attend, right?”

This reminder jogged Jiang Runchu’s memory.

He was puzzled, though, and asked, “Why do you ask?”

Lady Li replied, “Go and tell your sister that I’ll be going to the Gu family residence in a few days.”

She knew Jiang Jingchun liked Gu Huaisheng. If Jiang Jingchun found out about this, she would surely come running back to her.