The calamity that befell the Chu family was self-inflicted.

The eldest daughter of his aunt lost her engagement because of it, and the second aunt chose to divorce out of fear of being implicated.

Jiang Yangui knew that both uncles hated them and didn’t want to be burdened by him.

He had no right to hate them.

But thinking of his mother’s death made his heart ache, feeling as if it were being squeezed repeatedly.

He wished he could take her place; why was it that such a useless person like him still lived on?

Living on meant continuing to be despised and dragging down his sister!

Jiang Yanyi understood that Jiang Yangui could say such things, and connecting it with the attitudes of the Chu family’s two uncles, she guessed that he and Madam Jiang had endured a lot of grievances while in the capital.

Looking at the young man on the bed who was gritting his teeth and shedding silent tears, her heart ached. “You know that our mother is gone. Yangui, you are the only family I have left in this world. If anything were to happen to you, what would I do?”

“Sister…” Jiang Yangui’s shoulders trembled as he cried silently.

Jiang Yan Yi held his hand and said, “You should think of it as doing it for me, for our deceased mother. You must live well, understand? Nothing is more important than being alive. If you don’t want to stay in the Chu family any longer, I have rented a house on Duhufu Street, and there is an empty room. Once your injury is better, we can move there. I’ve opened an antique soup shop, and it will cover our daily expenses.”

She remembered Jiang Yan Gui’s leg injury and called for a servant to come in and change his herbal dressing.

With Chu Changping not at home, she had to personally visit the Feng residence.

Feng Shuo had returned to the military camp in Xizhou, but the steward, Fu Xi, heard that she wanted to invite a military doctor and hurriedly sent someone to ride to the military camp to send word.

Fearing she would be anxious, he also lent her the physician from the Feng residence, allowing her to bring him to examine Jiang Yan Gui’s injury first.

The physician from the Feng residence was more skilled in internal medicine.

After all, Feng Shuo rarely sustained injuries; even when he did receive cuts or sword wounds, he usually handled them himself.

He had almost never needed the physician for external injuries.

After examining Jiang Yan Gui’s wound and taking his pulse, the physician frowned upon reviewing the medicine Jiang Yan Gui was currently taking. “For such an injury, with this prescription, he needs to take Huangqin Pain Relief Pills to see any effect. Otherwise, if the wound keeps inflaming, how can it heal?”

Jiang Yanyi hurriedly asked, “Where can I buy Huangqin Pain Relief Pills? I’ll have someone go get them right now.”

When Jiang Yan Gui heard the words “Huangqin Pain Relief Pills,” his dark eyes briefly froze, but Jiang Yanyi was too busy asking the physician and didn’t notice the change in his expression.

The physician shook his head. “Those pills can only be found at the Xinglin Medical Hall in the capital. Where can you find them in Xizhou? However, I can make the pills, but it will take some time, as some of the ingredients are hard to find.”

“Thank you, doctor!” Jiang Yanyi quickly expressed her gratitude.

The physician glanced at Jiang Yan Gui’s festering leg and said, “For now, I’ll prescribe a different remedy for your brother to take. Once the Huangqin Pain Relief Pills are ready, we can switch back to this prescription.”

He was not skilled in treating external injuries.

Ultimately, the necrotic tissue on Jiang Yan Gui’s leg was removed by the military doctor who had come from the camp.

The military doctor was adept at handling such external injuries and only used a small amount of anesthesia, so Jiang Yangui hardly felt any pain as the necrotic tissue and pus were cleaned away.

The military doctor re-dressed Jiang Yan Gui’s wound and gave some dietary advice.

As for Jiang Yanyi, who had transformed from a camp prostitute to a small lady of the Chu family, he had initially been surprised but showed no curiosity afterward.

At their age, they had seen all kinds of storms and tribulations; they knew what to say, what not to say, what to be curious about, and what not to be curious about.

After sending off the two doctors, Jiang Yanyi comforted Jiang Yangui a few more times before heading to the kitchen to prepare medicine for him.

Jiang Yangui lay in bed, his expression seemingly calm, but the hand hidden under the blanket was tightly clenched into a fist, his dark eyes deep and unfathomable.

**

Madam Liu, the wife of Old Master Chu, heard that Jiang Yanyi had invited three doctors to examine Jiang Yan Gui and was so angry she slammed the table. “She really doesn’t know how expensive it is to run a household! She invited three doctors all at once—does she think she’s still in the capital? Where does she get the money to waste? Is it that our Chu family owes her the Jiang family?”

Liu’s eldest daughter, Chu Shubao, was embroidering nearby when she heard her mother say, “You should say less, Mother. Yesterday, I went to visit my cousin Yangui and noticed he didn’t look well; his leg injury might have worsened. Yan Yi, my cousin, is also worried. They barely escaped with their lives to Xizhou and should be supporting each other now, and yet you say these things.”

Liu was infuriated by her eldest daughter’s response: “She ruined your good marriage, and you still defend her?”

Chu Shubao threw down her embroidery and said, “What was so good about that marriage? That Kang Erlang has no official rank and no character, and he has five or six concubines and maids at home! And you still tell me this match is good? Are you really my mother?”

Liu Shi shouted angrily, “You think you’re so special? Her uncle is a Minister of the Ministry of Revenue; do you know how lucrative that position is? Your father is just a commoner. Do you really think you can marry into a noble family?”

Chu Shubao muttered, “It’s her uncle working in the Ministry, not her. My third uncle was the general of Yunzhou a few years ago! His rank is much higher than that!”

“You know that was a few years ago!” Liu lamented.

Whenever she thought of this, her heart ached.

Back when Chu Changping was the general of Yunzhou, the officials’ wives she befriended were all influential.

If she had secured a marriage at that time, would she have to settle for a lesser match later?

Speaking of Chu Changping, Liu was filled with resentment: “You keep saying ‘third uncle’ all the time. Do you know this family nearly lost their lives because of his meddling?”

Chu Shubao was displeased and replied, “Third uncle said that showing off in front of siblings is called being domineering; being fierce to outsiders is real authority! If any sibling from the Chu family is bullied, we must stand together against them!”

The more Liu talked to her daughter, the more frustrated she became.

If this silly girl continued to be influenced by Chu Changping, she would probably end up being sold and would help count the money.

Enraged, she poked Chu Shubao’s forehead with her finger, saying, “Do you believe everything your third uncle says? Why can’t you listen to what I teach you? How could I give birth to such a foolish child?”

Her heart was heavy, and she called the housekeeper to leave: “Qin Mama, come with me to check on things. If that Jiang girl buys a pile of ginseng, deer antler, or other supplements, I won’t acknowledge the silver coming from the public account!”

The housekeeper awkwardly replied, “The silver was given to her by the cousin; it wasn’t taken from the public account.”

Only then did Liu feel a little better.

But thinking about how Jiang Yanyi had so readily given the money to Jiang Yanguo to hire a doctor, she felt annoyed again: “I heard that the third brother bought this house and gave her ten thousand taels of silver to decorate it.”

She glanced around the room, pursing her lips: “Look how shabby this place is; there’s not a single thing worth looking at. How much of that ten thousand taels has she kept for herself?”

Chu Shubao rolled her eyes: “Mother, the remaining eight thousand taels, cousin Yanyi gave to grandmother last night. You always say Auntie doesn’t know how to manage things; I see you’re just as bad as her!”

Just as Liu was about to get angry, Chu Shubao stood up and headed for the door: “I’m going to see cousin Yanguo.”

Liu trembled with anger, pointing at Chu Shubao’s back and telling the housekeeper, “Is she really my biological daughter?”

The housekeeper replied, “How could the eldest lady not be your daughter, Madam? I was there when you gave birth; no one touched her at all!”

Liu shot the housekeeper a glare, feeling that she might die from anger today.

Today, the doctors who came to the residence to treat Jiang Yangui included a physician from the Feng family and a military doctor, and this news reached Liu Shi’s ears.

She whispered to the housekeeper in her courtyard, “It seems that Third Master is quite favored by the Prince of Liaonan in Xizhou; otherwise, how could a dignified royal residence accommodate a Chu family’s distant niece?”

The housekeeper naturally played up Liu Shi’s mood, saying, “Absolutely, it all depends on Third Master.”

Liu Shi, recalling that she would still have to take care of this burden of a brother and sister, felt upset. “It’s also because Third Sister-in-law left early. If she were still here, Third Master wouldn’t be bothered with such trivial matters.

Those siblings now feel they have Old Madam as their backing and don’t see themselves as outsiders at all. They don’t realize that by borrowing Third Master’s name to seek help from the royal residence, they’ve already exhausted their goodwill. What will they do if something happens in the future?”

“Goodwill and face are used up once they’re spent; they must be used wisely. I really don’t know how to talk to her! She’s truly just like her mother—only seeking her own comfort, not caring about others’ lives or deaths.”

“What kind of sin have I committed? After marrying into the Chu family for so many years, serving my in-laws and husband is one thing, but in the early years, I had to flatter my sister-in-law everywhere.

Now my sister-in-law has sent her pair of children over, and she hasn’t taken care of them at all. I’m afraid my in-laws will think I’m being harsh to them.

If I were a bit harsher, I might as well follow Second Sister-in-law’s example and ask for a divorce to return to my family!”

The housekeeper hurriedly advised her, “Madam, please don’t think like that. Second Madam left without a child at her side, and she had no hope. You have not only two young ladies; the eldest young master is also training with Young Master Cheng Mao in Yongzhou.

Third Master is capable, and no matter what happens in the future, his prospects won’t be poor. The eldest young master is close to Young Master Cheng Mao, and you’re not like Second Madam; you have hope.

If you leave, with Old Madam’s favoritism, those two young ladies wouldn’t know how much suffering they’d endure!”

Liu Shi fell silent, tears secretly falling.

In the face of this calamity, the main and secondary branches of the Chu family had always blamed Madam Jiang for the incident, yet they dared not speak a word of harshness in front of Chu Changping.

They did not dare to offend him at all, as he was the only one from the Chu family with an official position in the court.

They relied on him to connect them with better families for their children’s marriages.

No matter how much Liu Shi complained in private, with the Chu family’s Second Elder standing above her, she still had to maintain the facade of a respectful elder sister-in-law.

She ordered the housekeeper to pick some tonics and send them to Jiang Yan Gui’s courtyard.

---

Through these past two days of interaction, Jiang Yan Yi had figured out Liu Shi’s temperament.

This aunt was superficial and had many hidden thoughts, often putting on a front in public while acting differently in private.

However, it couldn’t be said that she was particularly malicious.

Every family has its own troubles; since she had her children to care for, she naturally had to plan for their futures.

From the very beginning, Jiang Yan Yi hadn’t expected everyone in the Chu family to treat them as kindly as Chu Changping did, nor had she put her trust in Liu Shi’s hidden motives.

Right now, she only hoped that Jiang Yan Gui’s leg injury would heal quickly.

He had injured his kneecap, and with the limited medical knowledge of the time, surgery wasn’t an option.

The doctors all said that even if his leg healed, he might not walk well in the future.

Perhaps due to lying in bed for too long, Jiang Yan Yi noticed that her younger brother had a small appetite.

Compared to his peers, he was excessively thin.

Having prepared nourishing medicinal meals for Feng Shuo for a long time, she generally knew which ingredients were beneficial.

Since Jiang Yan Gui had injured his leg, he needed to drink more bone broth.

When preparing medicine for Jiang Yan Gui, Jiang Yan Yi instructed a servant to go buy fresh pork bones.

Currently, the Chu family was still managed by Liu Shi, but the household staff was only those brought from the capital, and every courtyard lacked manpower, making the kitchen a mess.

When she finished boiling the medicine and asked about the bones, she learned that no one had gone to buy them; everyone in the kitchen had excuses and reasons.

Jiang Yan Yi knew Liu Shi’s temperament well.

If she reprimanded the kitchen staff now, Liu Shi would probably think she was overstepping her boundaries.

If this reached Old Madam’s ears, she would feel that Liu Shi was not managing properly and that the staff were neglecting her brother and sister.

This would create a rift between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Jiang Yan Yi didn’t care about Liu Shi’s feelings, but Old Madam was quite old, and she couldn’t bear to see her troubled by these trivial matters.

If this escalated, Chu Dajie would end up arguing with Old Madam, and the one who would feel hurt would be her.

After weighing her options, Jiang Yanyi told Jiang Yangui that she was going back to the shop to check things and would buy the pork bones on the way to make soup.

The business at the shop was basically stable now, and when she returned, it was packed with customers.

The old scholar was telling a story, and the two of them didn’t have time to greet anyone.

However, when Qiu Kui saw Jiang Yan Yi return, she cried for a while, fearing that if she returned to the Chu family, she wouldn’t come back to the shop again.

Jiang Yanyi comforted her with a few words, saying she was just temporarily staying at the Chu family.