Chapter 14
Concubine

After Jiang Xingjian left, Song Wan washed up and changed clothes before continuing to look at the account books. However, the cat woke up and kept meowing.

“Missing your mother?”

She gently comforted the cat in her palm, and whether it was tired or felt safe, it fell asleep again in her hand.

Song Wan placed it on a soft cushion and picked up a needle and thread. In a few stitches, she sewed a cloth bell and tied it around the cat’s neck.

The cloth bell contained some calming silver dan grass, and the cat became much quieter after wearing it.

Song Wan called Heng Zhi and gently stroked the furry little creature, saying, “Send it back to Qing Zhai of the second household tomorrow and tell them I don’t have time to take care of it now.”

Although she said she didn’t have time to take care of it, her actions were very gentle. Heng Zhi felt heartbroken and said, “If Miss likes it, why not keep it? I will take good care of it this time and ensure no accidents happen again.”

“It’s not about careful care.” Song Wan looked at the sleeping cat and felt a pang of sadness.

In recent days, she seemed to still see the figure of Jin Si Hu. When she slept at night, she felt as if Jin Si Hu was still by her side. She truly missed Jin Si Hu but didn’t want to find another cat to replace it.

Six years of companionship couldn’t be replaced just like that.

“You know Jin Si Hu was very petty. If it knew I had a new cat, it would be angry.” Song Wan fiddled with the cloth bell on the kitten, suppressing her sorrow.

Jin Si Hu had died unexpectedly, and the culprit had only apologized for two days before never mentioning it again. Jiang Xingjian didn’t care at all. In the large Marquis’s residence, who besides her and Heng Zhi would care about the life and death of a cat?

If they hurriedly found a new cat, it would be too disrespectful to Jin Si Hu.

“Take good care of it and don’t let it catch a cold.” After giving her instructions, Song Wan continued with the accounts.

The next day, Heng Zhi took the kitten to the second house but ran into Jiang Yan, who was returning from paying respects at Fuhe Hall.

Jiang Yan saw her holding the bamboo basket and frowned.

“Greetings, Second Master Yan.”

“Why are you carrying it here?”

Heng Zhi replied, “My mistress said she doesn’t have time to take care of it now and asked me to thank you for your kindness.”

The cat shouldn’t have been returned by Song Wan’s personal maid, but Jiang Yan understood that Song Wan didn’t trust Jiang Xingjian and feared he might harm another innocent life. Thinking that Song Wan trusted him more than her own husband, Jiang Yan felt a pang in his heart, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

In a hoarse voice, he asked, “Does sister-in-law not like it?”

Heng Zhi shook her head, her tone tinged with sadness: “My mistress misses Jin Si Hu. Seeing this cat makes her heart ache, so she asked me to return it to you, Second Master. She knows the cat will be well taken care of in the second house.”

Jiang Yan’s cheeks flushed slightly with excitement, but his voice remained steady: “Tell my sister-in-law not to worry. There will be no mishaps here.”

“Heng Zhi thanks Second Master on behalf of my mistress.”

Heng Zhi handed the bamboo basket to the maid behind Jiang Yan, then bowed and left Yuling Studio.

Jiang Yan took the basket back to his room. He lifted the cat out of the basket and smiled at its amber eyes: “You are quite lucky.”

He removed the small, simple cloth bell from the cat’s neck and stared at the neat, tight stitches in a daze. The cloth bell emitted a faint herbal fragrance and was made quite casually, clearly not by a maid.

Jiang Yan carefully held it in his palm, feeling quite pleased, and said to the cat, “She is mine now.”

After playing with the cloth bell for a while, he reluctantly placed it in a white jade box. Inside were an old book and a plain handkerchief, and Jiang Yan’s eyes softened.

When Qing Zhai entered the room, he saw Jiang Yan leaning back in a pearwood chair, his expression unusually content.

“Second Master, Madam Liu requests to see you.”

“Not seeing her.”

At the mention of Madam Liu, Jiang Yan’s face turned cold. Before he could say another word, a shrill female voice came from outside.

A middle-aged woman with a beautiful face and a seductive figure walked in. With just a few steps, her waist seemed ready to break, and the seven or eight hairpins on her head jingled noisily, making Jiang Yan squint.

“You heartless scoundrel, how dare you keep your own mother outside? Even if you’ve grown wings and gained some skills, you still crawled out of my womb! These past few years, you’ve increasingly disregarded me, and now even the worthless maids in this courtyard dare to defy me?”

As soon as Madam Liu entered the room, she started berating everyone with foul language, causing Jiang Yan and the maids to frown.

She had thought that Jiang Yan inheriting the title was a sure thing, but unexpectedly, someone who should have been long dead suddenly came back to life. The wealth and glory she had in her grasp vanished, leaving her sleepless and unable to eat. What made it worse was that she wanted to discuss countermeasures with her son but was blocked for three days. If she hadn’t scratched the face of the gatekeeping maid today, she wouldn’t have been able to get in.

“You coward, you have plenty of ways to deal with me, but why don’t you…”

Qing Zhai coughed lightly, “Madam Liu, watch your words.”

Madam Liu glared at her and sneered, “Little slut, who are you to criticize me?”

“Why are you causing trouble in my courtyard?” Jiang Yan motioned for Qing Zhai and the maids to leave, then pressed his temples, his earlier good mood completely gone.

“Why send them out? Is there something they shouldn’t hear? You don’t even know what you’re busy with all day. Do you want Jiang Xingjian, that dead man, to inherit the Marquis’s title smoothly?”

Jiang Yan sneered, “He is the legitimate eldest son of the Marquis’s residence. Inheriting the title is rightfully his. Even if I had no interest in the Marquis’s title, what would matter to you if I inherited it in the future?”

“You heartless little bastard, you crawled out of my womb, and as your mother, I can’t benefit from my child’s success?” As Madam Liu spoke, she reached out her bright red nails to scratch Jiang Yan’s face.

Since the Marquis’s death, she had been causing trouble in the courtyard, knowing that Jiang Yan didn’t like her but relying on her status as his birth mother to make excessive demands. In the past, she had restrained herself, thinking that Jiang Yan would inherit the title in the future, but today she was more frenzied. She thought she could still control her son as she did when he was young, but as soon as she reached out, Jiang Yan firmly grasped her wrist.

“What kind of mother are you? Since ancient times, which concubine has dared to call herself the mother of her child?”

Jiang Yan’s hand gripped Madam Liu’s wrist like an iron clamp, and she was frightened by the fierceness in his eyes, stammering and unable to speak.

“Don’t appear in front of me without reason in the future. Stay in the residence and be a proper concubine. If you provoke me again, don’t blame me for taking action against Liu Chengxiang.”

“You dare! What do you plan to do to your uncle? Ah…”

Jiang Yan grabbed Madam Liu’s long red nails and snapped them off, causing her to howl in pain. He then stuffed a white porcelain teacup into her mouth to stop her from screaming.

“Uncle? He may not even acknowledge me as his nephew.” Jiang Yan snorted coldly and pushed Madam Liu out the door.

Soon after, Su Mian came in, “Second Master, there’s trouble in the main house.”