Heavy snowflakes fell from the sky, and big snowflakes floated down, covering eight-year-old Jiang Wanrus body. She quickly looked around in all directions, gazing at the young man standing in front of her, stepping on the bus stop, with his back to her. Taking advantage of no one noticing, she lightly shook her small body a few times, letting the snowflakes slide off her.
She glanced at the car driver sitting in the front seat and saw that he was facing forward, his large-boned hands rubbing each other vigorously to warm up. Jiang Wanru quickly withdrew her gaze, she raised her frozen red face, looking at the thirteen-year-old boy who had just stepped onto the carriage. The boys elegant demeanor left a few surprises in her eyes. The pink-clothed young man got on the carriage and looked down at the girls expression under the carriage.
His eyes suddenly gleamed with pride, and the corners of his mouth slightly curled up. The young mans face, with a pleasant smile, persuaded: "Wanmu, its cold. Go inside." Jiang Wanmu heard this and slightly lowered her head in embarrassment, softly saying: "Ill go in after Brother Lian leaves." The young man heard this and smiled as he glanced at the top of Jiang Wanmus black hair, opened the car door, sat down properly, and directly instructed: "Lets go."
The horse carriage sped up, and the snowflakes and mud splashed by the wheels directly onto a little girl standing nearby. Jiang Wanru quickly jumped back, but still couldnt avoid getting splashed. She bent down to brush off her clothes, when a short figure rushed over to help her. The person muttered in a low voice: "Miss, why didnt Master tell you to move aside first before ordering the carriage to start? Look at Misss new clothes, theyre all dirty now. If someone sees this, theyll say its your fault again."
Jiang Wanru heard the concern in Jiyus tone and looked down at her own clothes. She glanced at a clean handkerchief and tried to wipe off the mud and water on Jiyus clothes. He reached out to stop her futile efforts, speaking softly: "Jiyu, with such heavy snow today, the people in the mansion shouldnt be playing in the courtyard. Later when we go in, just avoid being seen as we walk. Dont bother wiping it clean now; when we get back, that spot will still be dirty and can be wiped clean then."
Ji Yan listened to Jiang Wans words and lowered her head, looking up to see the indifference in Jiang Wans eyes, her gaze dimming slightly. She looked down again at the gray mud stains on the pink new clothes and said softly, "Miss, Im afraid these stains wont come off clean. Ji Yan is too small, cant help Miss." Jiang Wan heard her words, a hint of emotion flickered in her eyes, but thinking that she was sent by her stepmother, her expression quickly returned to calm.
Jiang Wanmu didnt look back at Jiyuan again, she turned around and walked towards the side door. Jiyuan hurriedly ran to catch up with her. Jiang Wanmu passed by the middle-aged servant who was guarding the open side door, he heard the noise and looked out to see it was her. He gave her a cold glance before turning back into his small guardhouse. Jiyuan walked behind her, stretching out his hand to close the thick side door with force, "creak... creak... thud" The heavy side door slowly closed after taking a deep breath. Jiyuan turned around and saw that Jiang Wanmu had already walked very far away, he quickly ran to catch up with her.
Jiang Wanru heard the sound of the side door closing with difficulty and the footsteps running to catch up behind her. She heard Jiyu quickly taking two steps forward and then sliding back one step on the snowy ground. She let out a soft sigh, feeling helpless about her own careful and thorough actions. She glanced at the nearby pavilion corridor, took several quick steps forward, and entered the covered passageway. After entering, Jiang Wanru stood still, quietly gazing out at the scenery in the courtyard. Under the snow, the only things left in the courtyard were the weeping branches of the trees.
She raised her head and looked into the distance, in the snow-filled sky, a pale woman in a cotton dress was standing inside a pavilion far away, with another woman of similar age wearing coarse clothes behind her. The woman was speaking to her with her mouth open, and both of their eyes were fixed on Jiang Wanru at this moment. Even from a distance, Jiang Wanru didnt need to get closer to know that the cotton-dressed woman had tears in her eyes filled with sadness.
Ji Yan walked into the pavilion and looked at Jiang Wanru who was silent, following her gaze to the two women. She hesitated for a moment, looked around, and said in a soft voice: "Miss, do you want to go over there and take a look?" When Ji Yan spoke, Jiang Wanrus face remained expressionless, but she couldnt help but smile bitterly in her heart - that woman would never let her get close.
She slowly withdrew her gaze and turned to follow the path, moving forward slowly. She could feel the two of them staring at her, with Jiyan following behind her. After glancing back at the people in the pavilion on the other side, she didnt say much more, instead lowering her head slightly and continuing to walk forward.
Jiang Wanru walked a few steps forward, and heard the sound of women chattering coming from the front turn. She slightly lowered her eyebrows, turned her head to look at the two people in the distant pavilion, seeing that they were hastily exiting the pavilion, their footsteps slightly disordered as they walked further away. Ji Yan heard the voices speaking, his expression becoming somewhat flustered, he said in a low voice: "Miss, its Second Miss and her group coming over."
Jiang Wanru continued to walk forward, knowing that with the temperament of that woman, she couldnt avoid her. Sure enough, after walking a few more steps, Jiang Wenyin, the second miss of the Jiang family, wearing a large red flower-patterned brocade dress, accompanied by a pink-flowered brocade-dressed woman of the same age, walked hand in hand towards her. Jiang Wenyin had indeed seen Jiang Wanrus bath, and after whispering to the cotton-clad woman, she led the woman to look up and size up Jiang Wanru, with curiosity and surprise in her eyes.
Jiang Wanxiang looked at Jiang Wanyu, who was quietly paying her respects, and smiled as she said to the woman: "Miss Cui, dont mind my third sister not greeting people, shes had a problem since childhood, whenever she sees someone, she wont speak." She turned her head to glance at Jiang Wanyus clothes, with a smile all over her face, saying: "Wow, Third Miss went out to see off her lover today, how come youre back with mud and water stains? Haha, I said it before, the refined and elegant Fourth Master of the Lian family wouldnt willingly come to see you, it must be that hes following his mothers orders, forcing himself to meet you once."
If it is said that the entire Jiang family is indifferent to Jiang Wanruo, and would rather not have her in the Jiang family. Then there is only one exception in the Jiang family, which is that Jiang Wenyin likes the existence of Jiang Wanruo in the Jiang family, precisely because she can use the mediocre and foolish Jiang Wanruo to set off her own beauty. Jiang Wenyins birth mother was an actress, originally just a mans casual fling, but unexpectedly became pregnant. The Jiang family would not abandon their flesh and blood outside, so they could only allow Jiang Wenyins mother to be a concubine.
Never having been doted on by her birth mother did not affect Jiang Wans status. As the eldest daughter, her stepmother was also a renowned virtuous and wise woman of the Jiang family, and from a young age, she had grown up in luxury. The older Jiang Wan got, the more agile her hands became, and her stepmother liked her straightforwardness and lack of guile, often taking her along with her, especially allowing her to follow the legitimate daughter to attend the imperial school.
Jiang Wanxi may not have understood when she was young, but as she grew older, she came to realize that in the Jiang family, only daughters like Jiang Wanyi were considered precious. She was just a disposable tool for her stepmother. With a mother like hers, it was destined that the man she would marry in the future wouldnt be of high social status. At a young age, she had already noticed the disdain in the eyes of those below her. She tried even harder to please her stepmother and stepsister, vaguely aware of who the thorn in her stepmothers heart was.
Jiang Wanwan waited for a while and saw Jiang Wanyu approaching the pavilion, still with a wooden expression on her face. She couldnt suppress the dark fire in her heart, and when she looked at the ordinary-looking person in front of her, she thought that under her birth mothers arrangement, he was already her fiancé, famous for his talent and looks in the capital. He was only slightly better than herself, with a birth mother who was the legitimate daughter of a noble family. Yet, despite being so down on their luck, she could still rely on her past relationship as a talented lady to secure a good marriage for her daughter.
Jiang Wanxiang felt that her appearance was more beautiful than Jiang Wanyus, her talent was higher than the illiterate Jiang Wanyu, and her speech was not to be compared with the mute Jiang Wanyu, a hundred times stronger. But why, her future husbands family background would be inferior to hers. Whenever Jiang Wanxiang thought of Jiang Wanyus good marriage, she wanted to gnash several teeth.
She had initially heard that Jiang Wanru was engaged to be married and didnt think much of it. She knew that her stepmother appeared to be kind on the surface but would not let Jiang Wanru have a good life. Later, she inquired about the benefits behind the engagement and learned that her stepmother couldnt refuse, so she could only reluctantly agree. At that time, when she thought of this younger sister in private, she secretly resented it deeply.
Jiang Wanxi had been inquiring about Jiang Wanyus fiancé since the day she received the news. She knew that he was Lian Jia Si Shao Ye, the eldest illegitimate son of the Lian family, who had a reputation for being talented and refined. The Lian family was a high-ranking aristocratic family recognized by the imperial family, with deep connections to the royal family spanning generations. This branch of the Lian family was the younger brother of the current king, and since childhood, they had a deep fraternal bond, which set them apart from other branches of the family.
Jiang Wanxiang gazed at Jiang Wanyu, who looked like a wooden puppet, her eyes calm and peaceful, without the anger she had expected to see. Her hands clenched into fists, then relaxed, as if restrained by the sharp-eyed maid standing behind her, who whispered in a low voice: "Miss, you cant fall for Third Misss trap. Shes deliberately provoking you, trying to ruin your good reputation. Your reputation is worse than hers." The maids voice wasnt too soft, and Jiang Wanyu naturally heard it, raising an eyebrow to glance at the maid before looking away indifferently.
Jiang Wanxiang laughed after hearing this and looked at the small figure behind Jiang Wanyu who was still shaking, asking: "Ji Yan, how did your young mistresss clothes get dirty? Was it Fourth Young Master Lian who splashed snow on her or was it Fourth Young Master Lian who pushed her to fall to the ground?" Ji Yan raised her head and looked at Jiang Wanyu, then glanced at Jiang Wanxiang whose eyes were fixed on her. She shook her small body and lowered her head, still not speaking.
