Chapter 19: Old Madam Jiang Returns to Back Up Jiang Yan

“Second Miss, is what you said true?”

As soon as Jiang Dahai left, the Fourth Concubine—who had been loitering nearby watching the drama—suddenly grabbed Jiang Wei.

Jiang Wei looked at her pitifully. “Yes, it’s true. If you don’t believe me, you can go outside and ask for yourself.”

“But for thousands of years, men have always had three wives and four concubines. How could it suddenly change?”
The Fourth Concubine, who had hoped to rise in rank and enjoy luxury, was devastated.

Outdated customs should go extinct.
Jiang Wei had no sympathy for concubines seeking status.
“The new society promotes democracy, freedom, and harmony. True democracy means equality for everyone.
We can’t have both men and women keeping harems—that kind of thinking hinders social progress.”

“But I haven’t even enjoyed a single day of being a proper concubine! I’m not willing to accept this!”
The Fourth Concubine roared, unwilling to give up the old man she’d worked so hard to cling to.

“What do you plan to do, then?”

The Fourth Concubine was full of confidence.
“The policy may say monogamy is the law now, but it doesn’t specify who gets to be the wife.
As long as I take down the Second Concubine and drive away the Third, then I will be the only wife in this Jiang family.”

“You could ask my dad to give you a sum of money and go marry a young, hardworking man instead.”
Jiang Wei didn’t look down on women who relied on men—just surviving in this era was hard enough.

“I don’t want to live some miserable, lowly life as a poor woman. You country bumpkin, Second Miss, don’t understand me at all.”
It seemed the Fourth Concubine had made up her mind and sashayed away to join the power struggle.

Jiang Wei silently wished her good luck.

The Third Concubine, on the other hand, gratefully grabbed Jiang Wei’s hand.
“Second Miss, thank you for telling me this. If the master lets me go of his own accord, that would be ideal.”

“You would’ve found out eventually even if I didn’t say anything,” Jiang Wei said indifferently.
“But my dad definitely won’t let go of Jiang Tian.”

The Third Concubine forced a bitter smile.
“I’ll tell the master the truth about Xiao Tian’s identity and beg him to let us go.”

“You’re thinking too kindly of him. If he finds out Jiang Tian is another man’s child, he won’t hesitate to sell him off.
Then he’ll toss you and your lover into a pig cage and drown you both.”

In this era, it wasn’t uncommon for prominent households to have a few deaths.

Jiang Wei wasn’t trying to scare her.
In the original novel, once Jiang Dahai learned of Jiang Tian’s parentage, he sold him to work at the docks,
where Jiang Tian was later hacked to death after causing trouble.

“What should I do then?”
The Third Concubine fell to her knees.
“Second Miss, I beg you, please save me and my son! I’ll never forget your kindness!”

“I don’t have that kind of ability.”
Jiang Wei gently touched her hand, then strode away quickly.

The Third Concubine looked down at the small medicine bottle Jiang Wei had slipped into her palm—and an idea took shape.

---

Study Room.

Jiang Dahai said, “Last night, Shen Zhennan came to me in a dream.
He said he left a stash of wealth buried in the Huo family’s backyard and told me to dig it up for Jiang Wei’s dowry.”

“Xiao Yan, I need you to go first and confirm whether that stash really exists.”

Jiang Yan’s eyes lit up.
“The Huo family? As in the one friendly with the Gu family?”

She’d heard Gu Ting’s father mention the Huo family when she was visiting. The two families were indeed close.

But the Gu family had now fallen into decline, while the Huo family was currently riding high.

Jiang Dahai nodded reluctantly.
“Yes, that Huo family. If it were an ordinary household, I’d just buy the house outright.
But the Huo family has powerful connections—I can’t touch them.”

“Master, aren’t you forgetting something important?” Second Concubine suddenly interrupted.

Jiang Dahai frowned. “Spit it out. Don’t try to sound all educated.”

Second Concubine’s face stiffened.
“I remember that old coot from the Shen family once said he arranged a childhood engagement between the Huo family and one of our daughters.”

“Oh right! How did I forget that?”
Jiang Dahai lit up with excitement and ran barefoot outside.

Jiang Yan was confused. “Mother, what engagement?”

Second Concubine grinned.
“Back then, your father arranged a childhood betrothal between you and Gu Ting.
That old Shen bastard got angry and set up an engagement between Jiang Wei and the Huo family’s son instead.
But after he died, no one ever brought it up again. I would’ve forgotten too if your dad hadn’t mentioned it just now.”

“That really happened?”
Jiang Yan was both thrilled and slightly anxious.
“But will the Huo family actually acknowledge it? And what if they want Jiang Wei?”

She definitely didn’t want Jiang Wei marrying into the Huo family.
She wanted her stuck with the declining Gu family, suffering in the countryside.

“I saw the engagement document before. It only mentions ‘Miss Jiang’ and ‘Young Master Huo’—no specific names.
So who’s to say you aren’t the one it refers to?”

While the two were talking, Jiang Dahai had already retrieved the marriage document from Shen Peirong’s room, where it was buried in a corner.
As expected, it didn’t specify which daughter of the Jiang family.

—

That evening, two of the Jiang family’s most powerful figures returned home:

Jiang Dahai’s mother, Liu Chunhua, and his younger sister, Jiang Cuilan.

As soon as Liu Chunhua arrived, she pulled out her matriarchal authority and gathered everyone to scold them.

“Dahai, I hear your youngest daughter just returned, and you’re already neglecting my precious little Yan?”

Shen Peirong was a little afraid of Liu Chunhua.
“Mother, that’s not true. It was the Master and Second Concubine who swapped my son years ago.”

No one knew more about that baby-swap than Liu Chunhua.

After all, she was the one who hired the midwife.
To cover it up, she’d told the midwife to trick Shen Peirong into thinking her difficult labor and unconsciousness were caused by the baby’s large size.
In reality, the midwife had drugged her with a strong sedative beforehand.

As for why Shen Peirong never got pregnant again—Liu Chunhua had laced her postpartum chicken soup with harsh cold-natured herbs to ruin her fertility.

So she ignored Shen Peirong’s grievances and instead rebuked her:
“As the main wife, you need to act like it. No matter who raised which child, they are all Jiang family’s children. They are all your children.”

“Yes.”
Shen Peirong swallowed her sorrow. She could only hope the one-wife policy Jiang Wei spoke of would come true soon—
then she could raise her three children in peace with her husband.

“Don’t take it to heart. Yunhe damaged his brain by hitting it himself—it’s not entirely your son’s fault.
To fix it, your sister and I found the best doctor we could. I believe a few doses of medicine will help Yunhe regain his intelligence.”

Although Liu Chunhua didn’t like Shen Peirong, Jiang Yunhe was her eldest grandson.
Seeing her once-promising grandson turned into a fool made her feel uneasy.

“Thank you, Mother.”
Shen Peirong was genuinely happy at the news that Yunhe might be cured.

Second Concubine remained expressionless. All she wanted was to finalize the Jiang–Huo marriage.

After lecturing Shen Peirong, Liu Chunhua turned her sights on Jiang Wei—who had caused nonstop chaos since her return.

She had a perfectly proper face that reminded her too much of that woman, the scandalous grandmother who had shaken the entire city.
Dislike. Deep dislike.

Liu Chunhua couldn’t even be bothered to look her in the eye.
“You disgraceful thing. You’re the little gutter rat my son raised in the countryside with no manners?”

Even just hearing her voice made Liu Chunhua feel irritated.

Staring at the sharp-featured old crone, Jiang Wei held back a laugh.
“You must be that old hag from the Jiang family who simply refuses to die, huh?”

“Wretched girl! Shen Peirong, is this the kind of daughter you’ve raised?!”

What a joke—good children always took after their fathers; bad ones were always blamed on their mothers.

Jiang Wei rolled her eyes.
“Grandmother, I was complimenting you. Wishing you a long and healthy life, and you’re still upset?
Fine, then I’ll change it: may you soon reach nirvana and reincarnate quickly.”