Chapter 3: Bargaining

Jiang Li didn’t care what the people in the room thought or how they looked at her.

She hated all the pretense of those who knew the truth but pretended to be ignorant.

They wanted to maintain their dignity, but she insisted on making them lose face.

She followed the maid out, winding around the familiar Duke’s Mansion, and finally saw her birth mother, Yu Shi, and her maid, Zhi Zi, in the woodshed.

Yu Shi’s hair was disheveled, and there were still bluish-purple palm prints on her face.

Seeing Jiang Li come in, she rushed over and groped her body from top to bottom, “Tangtang, are you okay?”

Tangtang was Jiang Li’s childhood name.

The Duke’s Mansion was actually the Jiang family, and Jiang Li should have been Jiang Li originally.

Yu Shi didn’t like the word “Li,” always feeling that it reminded her of bad things.

But she was of humble status and didn’t dare to be presumptuous, so she secretly gave her daughter a childhood name and called her that in private.

Feeling her mother’s concern, Jiang Li felt a warmth in her heart.

She smiled and said, “I’m fine, I’m fine. But who ate the heart of a leopard and dared to lay a hand on you? Tell me, and I’ll get revenge for you.”

“I’m fine.” Yu Shi confirmed that her daughter hadn’t suffered, and while relieved, she began to worry about her husband and young son, “I don’t know where your Uncle Yuan and younger brother have been taken.”

“No matter where they have been taken, rest assured, they are safe.”

She had already said the harsh words, and she could really do it.

So Old Madam Wan must have some scruples now.

Although she might be beaten, being able to save her life in this situation was the only way to plan for the future.

Yu Shi had always been a daughter slave, and only listened to her daughter’s words, so after hearing Jiang Li’s comfort, she felt like she had grasped a life-saving straw, and finally had something to rely on in her heart.

However, she still wanted to ask what had happened.

How did the people from the Duke’s Mansion find them?

So many years had passed, and she originally thought she could sit back and relax.

“Who it is doesn’t matter, the result is already like this.” A flash of sharpness flashed in Jiang Li’s eyes.

In fact, she had guesses in her heart, but she had no evidence and didn’t want to increase Yu Shi’s burden.

“What will they do to you? Will they, will they kill you…” Yu Shi said, trembling with worry.

She wouldn’t be able to live either, but she was even more worried about her daughter’s ending.

She knew how much the Duke’s Mansion valued its reputation.

“No.” Jiang Li said nonchalantly, “They are just too poor. I heard that I made some money, and they want me to use the money to buy my life. In addition, they also made a condition…”

“What condition?”

“Isn’t the deposed crown prince paralyzed in bed? They want me to go and treat him.” Jiang Li lied, “But, the emperor won’t let anyone in, so they said they want me to marry him and send me in to treat him.”

“Marry him?”

“Pretend. He’s paralyzed, he can’t be a man anymore, he can’t do anything to me. It’s just that the Duke’s Mansion wants to hold on to his thigh. I heard that my medical skills are good, so they want me to go in and treat him. Once he’s cured, they’ll let me go home.” Jiang Li said casually.

Half truth and half lie, that’s how it can be more real.

Her marriage into the royal mansion would be a big deal and couldn’t be concealed.

Any mother who loves her daughter would feel heartbroken at the thought of her daughter being ruined, let alone Yu Shi, who was already a more sensitive person.

Jiang Li knew that this was not a problem that could be solved in a short time, so she had to give her mother a hope.

How will your reputation be?” Yu Shi asked worriedly.

Jiang Li gave Zhi Zi a look, and the latter understood, knowing that Jiang Li was thinking about things at this moment, so she helped Yu Shi to the side to comfort her.

“Madam, the young lady knows what she’s doing!”

Jiang Li rested in the woodshed for a while, and her somewhat chaotic mind gradually cleared up.

Speaking of which, she was just a tragedy.

In her previous life, with her superb medical skills, she became the pillar of a top private hospital at a young age, a shareholder with technology shares. Although she was busy as hell, she never had to worry about money.

As a result, she woke up and became a silly girl, facing a consort mother who loved her but was weak and easily bullied, and so poor that she couldn’t even afford charcoal.

From the age of eight to thirteen, she was busy supporting this consort mother who couldn’t be helped, busy making money, and finally, when she left the Duke’s Mansion, she took a considerable fortune and quietly and smoothly shed her skin.

After leaving the Duke’s Mansion, she brought together her birth mother and an honest stepfather, and also funded several poor scholars who caught her eye. After her younger brother was born, she helped take care of him, and she also had to earn money to support the family… She was always busy.

Now she was caught by the Duke’s Mansion again and sent to the sealed royal mansion to marry.

Did God see that she was jumping up and down and couldn’t stay idle, so he deliberately found her a place to lie flat?

But lying flat is not as important as freedom!

Moreover, she had clearly funded several scholars, and one of them would always be promising in the future and let her reap the rewards, but as a result, she was going to be arranged to marry a paralyzed and stupid man?

And most likely, he was the kind who was both stupid and bad.

This life was impossible!

But it didn’t matter, if that man really deserved to die, she would send him on his way.

Before that, she had to find out the other party’s details first.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

The militant cells in Jiang Li’s body began to boil again.

“By the way, what about Douchou? Will she also be caught?” Yu Shi suddenly said.

Douchou was Jiang Li’s younger sister, and she was also the one she had quietly taken out of the Duke’s Mansion three years ago.

These days, Douchou was removing her mourning clothes and going to live in a nunnery for a few days to burn incense and pray for her birth mother, so she became a fish that slipped through the net.

“She was originally going home the day after tomorrow, so she shouldn’t have been affected. Mother, don’t worry, I’ll find a way.”

Douchou was also a concubine’s daughter, and her birth mother was another consort who was no longer alive.

She had the best relationship with Jiang Li and was one of the few people in the mansion who knew Jiang Li’s details.

When Jiang Li wanted to take her away at first, she didn’t go.

But she regretted it a few years later and begged Jiang Li to take her away.

And in order for her to send the message to Jiang Li, her birth mother paid the price of her life.

This was the Duke’s Mansion that ate people without spitting out bones.

If the Duke’s Mansion caught her, her ending would be even worse.

Yu Shi was kind and had a close relationship with Douchou’s birth mother—in fact, she had good relationships with everyone, and she had no scheming. She believed in “suffering losses is a blessing” and felt that there were no bad people in the world, so she also sympathized with Douchou’s situation and was very good to her.

Douchou only called Jiang Li her master to outsiders, and she was a maid, and she would never admit their sister relationship again, for fear of being found out.

She didn’t want to step into this Duke’s Mansion for the rest of her life.

So, Jiang Li’s current task was to protect her family, find out the details of the deposed crown prince, and then find Douchou and let her hide.

Good fellow, she was really busy.