Chapter 97
Snow was falling outside the window.
But inside the room, it was quite warm.
There were too many people.
Jiang Mianmian felt a bit hot, so she took out little Jiang Xiaoshu from her pocket and let it wander around, being careful not to get stepped on.
Watching Jiang Xiaoshu slide along Mom's dress hem onto the floor, Jiang Mianmian's attention shifted again.
She unexpectedly spotted that family.
Basically, that family had become a taboo in her own home.
She had seen them twice before.
Once they came to her home.
To stop Elder Sister from going to the Provincial Capital.
Another time, they seemed to be leaving the city to burn incense, she heard them say something about worshipping Buddha.
That time, she almost got kidnapped.
Just thinking about it still made her feel a lingering fear.
Back then she couldn't speak yet, but she was really about to get mad enough to die.
After a long time, Jiang Mianmian felt it had been quite a while, and now she could speak in a halting manner and walk in a wobbling way.
Those two people were quite striking.
All the people sitting here seemed to be quite wealthy, dressed very nicely.
With silks, satins, furs, and whatnot, even crammed together they were still quite colorful.
But it couldn't conceal the appearance of those two.
Jiang Mianmian thought that they were probably not unworthy of being related to her father, truly quite striking.
Sitting there, they were better-looking than everyone else.
Old Lady Jiang looked at first glance like one of those dignified ladies of good pedigree, born into an esteemed family, with excellent conditions at home. Her sitting posture was graceful, and her bearing was refined.
And the young lady next to Old Lady Jiang, although her face seemed a little darker than before, those features were still the best-looking present, looking at her gave an inexplicable feeling that she was somehow special, the more you looked the more you couldn't help but look again.
Jiang Mianmian found it so strange, how could someone possess such a quality, it was simply too amazing.
Would one's values follow one's features?
No, this person seemed to be at odds with her own family, Jiang Mianmian hurriedly closed her eyes, while extending her chubby little hands to rub them.
She opened her eyes and quickly turned her head away.
Turning her head, she saw not far away the young boy, that rebel young master, sitting there expressionless.
Jiang Mianmian looked over at him, the young boy was still expressionless, looking dazed and stupid, she thought to herself, the son of a rebel really has it hard, having to put on a front at such a young age.
Her attention then turned to the dishes on the table.
Looking at them, they didn't seem like things she could eat.
Her teeth weren't good.
She was a bit thirsty, really wanting to drink some water.
But she was a bit reluctant to use the cups outside, they might not be clean.
But if she licked her fingers, it might be seen by others, which would be a bit embarrassing.
Jiang Mianmian looked around, everything seemed so new.
She saw the rebel leader, that little bearded uncle, and obediently gave a smile, life is hard, even a county magistrate has to sell smiles, so she had to sell smiles too.
She didn't know how adorable her smile looked with just those two little teeth.
Zi Ganjiang's expressionless face almost broke at that moment.
Gong Qichi announced the start of the banquet and ate earnestly.
He didn't care whether others could eat or not, he would eat his fill first.
The others really couldn't eat well, trembling nervously, not knowing the purpose of this banquet.
It couldn't be that the rebels had come and invited everyone to a meal, even calling their wives and daughters.
Those with a bad temper were already scowling, unable to take it anymore.
But seeing the County Magistrate carefully playing along with a smile, and looking at the dense soldiers stationed upstairs and downstairs, everyone could only force a smile with difficulty.
Old Lady Jiang was trembling nervously at first, but quickly recovered her composure.
Everyone else was tense and fearful, so no one felt that Old Lady Jiang had done anything wrong.
Jiang Huaisheng didn't expect that his younger brother Jiang Changtian would actually be an honored guest of the rebel leader, the way the two of them got along so well, his brows furrowed tightly.
Damn rebels!
If their father were still alive, seeing this scene, he would definitely be very angry.
Jiang Huaisheng had no appetite, only wearing a grim expression on his face.
Halfway through the meal.
Gong Qichi finally spoke, saying a lot of verbose things.
Everyone fell silent.
Zi Ganjiang, Gong Qichi's foster son, spoke up: "Each family must hand over two-thirds of their family fortune, leaving behind one person as a hostage. Once the full amount is handed over, you may take them back."
These words caused an uproar at the scene.
How could this be reasonable, to casually demand two-thirds of their family fortunes in a single sentence.
He was even more greedy than their County Magistrate.
The scene was immediately filled with murmurs and commotion.
Jiang Changtian didn't even furrow his brow, the rebels invited them to eat, so of course it wasn't really just to eat.
He had already prepared grain, medicinal herbs, linen, dried meat, everything that could be taken out, he had taken it all out earlier when Gong Qichi and his men came.
Of course there was no money.
All the villagers were poor, not having money was normal.
But their sincerity was complete.
Without waiting for Brother Yehang to speak, he took the initiative to offer everything up.
As for the scene, he saw his elder brother, mother, niece and Sister-in-law, guards, he regarded them as if he didn't recognize these people at all.
He didn't even give them an extra glance.
He only spoke earnestly with Brother Yehang, occasionally paying attention to his wife and children, during their conversation, he even remembered to serve food to his wife.
Sister Xia likes to eat meat, but with so many people she might not feel comfortable using her chopsticks.
While chatting with Gong Qichi, Jiang Changtian would chat while also serving food to his wife.
Without even turning his face, he could accurately serve her food.
This caused those wealthy families to look down on him, men and women shouldn't dine together, even if at the same table it would be fine, but he was personally serving her food, serving should be done by servants.
That woman, what virtue did she possess, being so tall, looking like a foreigner, not possessing a lady's beauty at all.
Jiang Mianmian was used to it.
Her father did the same at home.
Qin Luoxia's face was a bit flushed, under everyone's gaze, but she tried her best to sit up straight, not wanting to embarrass her husband.
She strived to appear gracious, yet her face was still uncontrollably red.
Seeing her appearance, Old Lady Jiang felt a lump in her throat, unable to eat a single bite.
Jiang Wan only drank a shallow sip of the water in front of her.
After all, being ladies, eating in front of so many people under everyone's gaze would be a bit unbecoming.
She looked towards Jiang Yu, who was eating without any restraint, her brows slightly lowered, this paternal aunt of hers was always so wanton and brainless, never reading the atmosphere.
As soon as Zi Ganjiang's words fell, someone who disagreed stood up in opposition.
"Opening with simply taking two-thirds of people's family fortunes, have you gone mad with greed for money? Do you know my uncle is from the Military Command?"
Gong Qichi, a scholar, stood up.
He drew the sword at his waist and stabbed it into the man, twisting it around.
"I didn't know before, but now I do, my apologies." Gong Qichi suddenly drew his sword and killed the man.
Everyone at the scene was stunned, followed by panicked screams from the women.
Jiang Wan was also startled and instinctively hid behind her grandmother, tightly gripping her grandmother's arm.
Old Lady Jiang's face turned pale, and she kept murmuring "Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha."
Jiang Huaisheng wanted to stand up, but the old lady held him back.
The panicked cries were soon muffled, turning into low gasps.
Because the girl who had screamed the loudest had a sword pointed at her.
When the sword touched her skin, she stopped screaming.
Only tears kept flowing uncontrollably.
The relative of the man who said his uncle was from the Military Command did not dare to cry out loud, only silently shedding tears while embracing the corpse.
"Is there anyone else who wants to introduce their relatives to me?" Gong Qichi wiped the bloodstained sword with a white cloth and asked. freew๐bn๐จ๐๐๐น.๐ฐ๐๐บ
Jiang Mianmian sat in her Mom's embrace, witnessing the scene firsthand.
She was stunned.
This little bearded uncle understood anatomy well, the sword was inserted precisely into the heart chamber, and with a stir, death was certain.
Thinking this way, Jiang Mianmian suddenly felt a bit uneasy. Her thoughts were not right. Shouldn't she be afraid? Shouldn't she be crying?
She turned to look at her Elder Sister, who was also terribly frightened, her eyes wide open, shoving a pastry into her mouth, chewing it quickly, then looking again at the fallen person. Her Elder Sister's expression became even more frightened, and she took another pastry.
In her frightened state, her Elder Sister ate three pastries in one go.
Only then did she cover her eyes in fear.
Jiang Mianmian also covered her eyes.
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