Quick Transmigration: The Mad Beauty Refuses to Be the Scapegoat!-Chapter 396 - 18: The General Mansion’s Cast-Off Cannon Fodder Wife

Chapter 396: Chapter 18: The General Mansion’s Cast-Off Cannon Fodder Wife

Madam Zhao, having recovered somewhat, came again to the General Mansion.

Jiang Lai was eating, and Chun Yue brought Madam Zhao in.

"Eating, huh? Let me see what you’re eating."

Madam Zhao glanced at the exquisite meal on Jiang Lai’s table. Even the plates were gold-plated, with a dozen dishes placed in front of Jiang Lai, a special maid quietly attending to serve.

Resentment flickered in Madam Zhao’s eyes.

The Marquis Mansion’s days were barely getting by, while Jiang Lai comfortably enjoyed fine food and drinks at the General Mansion, never thinking to honor her as his mother.

"Luckily, I haven’t eaten yet either. Pass me those chopsticks."

The maid handed over a pair of chopsticks, and Madam Zhao sat down to eat.

Jiang Lai understood her situation well enough; the Marquis Mansion likely was just an empty shell now. Though her aunt from the Marquis Mansion seemed a wealthy lady from a noble house, even daily meals were a problem.

To maintain the appearance of prosperity, those from the Marquis Mansion still stepped out in luxurious clothes. Yet from the few highly noticeable hairpins on Madam Zhao’s head, it was clear they were likely her entire fortune.

"Good child, since the General treats you so well, why not speak more with him and help clear your father’s charges? I’ve heard that the Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Iron General are close friends; the Iron General even saved his life! If he steps in, surely the Minister of the Ministry of Justice would spare the Marquis Mansion."

Jiang Lai drank some floral tea, sighing.

"Mother, you may not know, but the General hasn’t returned to the mansion for nearly a month. I’d love to speak on behalf of the Marquis Mansion, but I simply haven’t had the chance."

"The General hasn’t returned? Where has he gone? How can you, as his wife, be sitting calmly when your husband hasn’t come home for a month?"

A truly useless thing.

Madam Zhao put down her chopsticks in anger, urging Jiang Lai.

"Go and ask the General to return quickly!"

"Mother, how dare I delve into the General’s affairs? Are you done eating?"

Madam Zhao looked at Jiang Lai with disdain and dissatisfaction.

"You married to speak well for the Marquis Mansion before the General. Your sister directly gave you the First-Grade Lady’s position! Without her, would you be living well now?

One must have a conscience. Your sister has sacrificed so much, yet why are you so unaware? Everyone in the Marquis Mansion is struggling, yet you alone feast on so many dishes!"

"Mother, didn’t you just eat happily too? Besides, there are so many suitors for Jiang Yu in the Capital City, I heard one is even an Imperial Merchant, the city’s richest man. If Jiang Yu is willing to sacrifice, let her marry there; with such a family connection, wouldn’t the Marquis Mansion enjoy better days?"

Madam Zhao was so furious upon hearing Jiang Lai, she nearly exploded. Were it not for being in the General Mansion, she would surely have slapped Jiang Lai hard.

"Nonsense! Your sister is a legitimate daughter of the Marquis Mansion! With Imperial Family blood! How can she marry a merchant! If she’s to marry, it must be to a Prince; do you think you can compare her to yourself?"

In matters of protecting Jiang Yu, Madam Zhao did not relent an inch.

Indeed, it was truly a mother’s love.

Jiang Lai nodded.

"True, indeed she can’t be compared. Jiang Yu’s mother is Madam of the Marquis Mansion, her blood is imperial, unlike you, mother, a mere merchant’s daughter. I am inferior to Jiang Yu, surely it’s all your fault, right?

Your blood is low and humble, and thus the daughter born from you bears the same humble blood.

Mother, you constantly remind me to recognize my identity, and I do understand. Mother’s low, and they say it’s inherited."

Madam Zhao was speechless.

Seeing her face red with anger, lips trembling, Jiang Lai couldn’t help but want to laugh.

"Mother, am I not making sense?"

"You, you, you dare insult me?!"

Madam Zhao’s voice was sharp with near loss of control, Jiang Lai calmly put down her teacup, lifting her eyes to look at her.

"Mother, it’s you who’s been insulting yourself. I am your real daughter; if you curse me as lowly, aren’t you also cursing yourself as lowly? Even if spoken before the Emperor, this would go over fine; stop insulting yourself so much, doesn’t it tire you?"

With that, Jiang Lai stood and yawned.

"No need to stay long, daughter is leaving. Go home."

Having been injured, Madam Zhao, now aggravated by Jiang Lai, returned only to be bedridden once more.

The slow decline of the Marquis Mansion was evident; with two needing medication every day, Madam of the Marquis Mansion and Jiang Yu, they already resorted to pawning jewelry for medicine. Madam Zhao’s illness left her without medicine too, and her maid had long been dismissed, leaving her without even a tea server all day, full of remorse.

In hindsight, Jiang Lai shouldn’t have been married to the General Mansion. Otherwise, even if she’d married her off to any wealthy merchant, she wouldn’t have ended up without money for medicine now.

Adding to the misery, the Marquis’s meager salary was cut, and the family treasury was sealed; plans to pawn ancestral antiques to last a while were foiled, with everything locked away, no one allowed near.

According to the original story, Huangfu Family visited seeking marriage just at this moment; Jiang Lai, recently divorced, became the perfect pawn, married off by the Marquis Mansion to Huangfu Family’s son.

In exchange, Huangfu Family gave the Marquis Mansion a considerable sum.

"For the upcoming Spring Hunt, Jiang Yu used that money to create a refined outfit to perform for the Emperor, making quite an impression."

Jiang Lai was eating grapes, listening to Little Buding narrate, while observing the maid kneeling by her feet, one hand resting on the table, another carefully painting her nails. As Little Buding asked.

"You say Jiang Yu also needs medicine; what illness does she have?"

The illness of Madam of the Marquis Mansion couldn’t have passed to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Lai raised her hand to admire her beautiful nails, leisurely speaking.

"Does taking medicine daily necessarily mean being sick?"

Jiang Lai’s words confused Little Buding.

"Why take medicine without being sick? She’s not stupid."

"It’s precisely because she’s not stupid she keeps taking medicine. Otherwise, Madam Zhao’s incident early on would have made Madam of the Marquis Mansion suspicious of Jiang Yu’s identity. Now, as long as Jiang Yu falls ill, Madam of the Marquis Mansion surely won’t question anything further; this isn’t illness, it’s an amulet of peace, understand?"

Little Buding grew increasingly confused.

"Jiang Yu doesn’t know she’s not the biological daughter of Madam of the Marquis Mansion. Why fake illness to deceive Madam of the Marquis Mansion? So you mean she actually has long known her true identity?"

Thinking about it, it made sense.

Indeed, why hadn’t he thought of it before? Perhaps Jiang Yu had known she wasn’t the biological daughter of Madam of the Marquis Mansion all along!

"You aren’t completely without hope of understanding. With Madam Zhao treating her well, Jiang Yu surely figured it out early on; as a child, her illness might have been Madam Zhao’s doing, but as she grew up, she likely cooperated willingly."