eurekapd Chapter 187 Everyone Knows
Chapter 187 Everyone Knows
Upon hearing that her name had been called, Jiang Yue immediately stood up.
As the stool tilted, her aunt, who was sitting on the same stool next to her, lost her balance and was about to fall to the side.
In a moment of panic, Jiang Yue reacted swiftly, grabbing her mother's arm before she fell to the ground and pulling her firmly to steady her.
With a loud crash, her movement was too large, and her sleeve swept across the teacup on the table in front of her. The teacup immediately rolled to the ground, spilling soup all over the table, and the bowl shattered into several pieces on the ground.
"Ah, I didn't mean to..."
Jiang Yue anxiously squatted on the ground to pick up the broken pieces, sweat pouring down her forehead from the tension.
Gao Mengli: ……
Why is my cousin so nervous?
Jiang Shuzhi realized what was happening and quickly pulled Jiang Yue up, saying, "Yue'er, don't prick your hand, I'll take care of it."
He then squatted down to pick up the broken pieces.
Jiang Yue quickly crouched back to a distance, avoiding Jiang Shuzhi's hand that was pulling her, "Aunt... Aunt, let me do it, let me do it..."
Jiang Yue quickly picked up all the fragments, looked around, and hurriedly left the yard with them, intending to throw them outside.
"oops……"
Jiang Yue exclaimed in surprise, followed by a "plop" sound.
Everyone turned their heads and saw Jiang Yue trip over the threshold of the courtyard and fall hard at the entrance.
Gao Mengli: ……
Lin Xi: ……
Everyone in the old house: ...
…………
The silence of the crowd was deafening...
Half an hour later, Gao Mengli and Lin Xi walked out of the old house, their lips twitching.
Gao Mengli turned her head and stared at Lin Chi in the courtyard, then beckoned to him with her finger.
When Lin Chi saw his sister-in-law calling him, he came running out excitedly, "Sister-in-law, is something wrong?!"
Gao Mengli took two steps toward the gate of her own courtyard, then turned to look at Lin Chi, "Tell me, Aunt, what brings you here?"
Lin Chi cautiously glanced at the old house courtyard, then whispered, "My aunt brought my cousin here to stay temporarily."
"Temporary stay?? Why?" Gao Mengli asked, looking surprised.
Lin Chi quickly waved his hand, but didn't explain why. "Mother forbids me from saying it. She said if too many people know, it won't be good for my cousin."
Gao Mengli shrank back, even more curious.
But no matter how she tried to subtly probe, Lin Chi simply wouldn't tell her.
"Sister-in-law, please don't ask about this anymore. My cousin will just stay here for a year or two..."
Lin Chi was muttering to himself when his eyes suddenly turned cross-eyed.
Because Lin Xi took out a silver coin and shoved it in his face, making him unable to continue speaking.
Lin Chi chuckled twice and quickly pushed the silver away, saying, "Brother, what are you doing! Don't be so formal!"
"Oh."
Seeing that even the silver couldn't get him to open his mouth, Lin Xi was about to take it back when she found that her silver remained unmoved.
Looking up, I saw Lin Chi saying no, but his fingers were tightly gripping the silver.
Lin Xi frowned and pulled hard, causing Lin Chi's face to turn bright red instantly, but he still refused to let go of the silver coins.
Lin Xi pursed her lips and loosened her grip on the silver.
Lin Chi was overjoyed. He looked around and quickly stuffed the silver coin into his pocket.
He was unwilling to talk about it, but his older brother had given him too much.
He quickly led the two into the veranda of the courtyard house, and then carefully recounted the whole story.
"Brother, sister-in-law, you know this."
My eldest aunt was the sixth concubine in the Jiang family of Ping'an County. She only gave birth to my cousin and younger cousin after the death of the first wife of the Jiang family.
Later, Jiang, the scholar, remarried and became the mistress of the household. They had a second son, who is now about the same age as his second brother's son, Afu.
Jiang Juzi is now old and no longer cares about things. His stepmother holds the power of the household and sends out illegitimate sons and daughters who are treated harshly to pave the way for her legitimate son.
Jiang's cousin was sent to study in the prefectural city by her under the pretext that scholars need to travel and study, but she didn't give him a single copper coin.
My cousin was of marriageable age, and my aunt thought my stepmother would use it to her advantage. Despite all the precautions, the marriage never happened. Instead, my cousin was made to become a saintess...
"Saintess??"
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi spoke in unison, then looked at each other in bewilderment.
What saint?
Lin Chi swallowed hard, nodded, and continued, "This title of 'Holy Maiden' isn't exactly flattering. She's supposed to be serving the gods of the Lotus Sect."
However, the Lotus Sect is hardly a good sect; the entire sect consists of men.
Every year, ten saintesses are selected to serve. How is this any different from pushing my cousin into a fire pit?
My aunt said it would be better to just assign her to anyone else to marry into the family...
Despite all the precautions, the eldest aunt never imagined that her stepmother wouldn't arrange a marriage for her cousin Jiang Yue at all.
Gao Mengli was shocked. "Then why doesn't Auntie go to the stepmother... uh, I mean, rebel?"
Lin Chi looked indignant and resentful. "Sister-in-law, to put it bluntly, my aunt is just a concubine. Her status in the household is only slightly higher than that of a servant..."
Gao Mengli nodded knowingly, instantly understanding the key point.
Yes, to put it bluntly, a concubine is still a servant, and her status is not as noble as that of a son or daughter born out of wedlock.
"Then, how did Auntie get out?"
Lin Xi was curious. If that was the case, how did her aunt manage to bring her cousin back unharmed?
At this point, Lin Chi sighed, "Because my cousin's maid wanted the twenty taels of silver for joining the sect, she was willing to impersonate my cousin and become a saintess."
Using this as cover, the eldest aunt brought her cousin back under the pretext of returning to her hometown to pay respects to her ancestors.
"Oh, there's a 20 tael fee for joining?"
Gao Mengli frowned. No wonder this cult hadn't been reported to the authorities and arrested.
So it was sealed off...
Lin Chi nodded. "That's right. That's why many families go to great lengths to cultivate their daughters, hoping to be selected as saintesses. But what a wonderful place that is!"
No respectable family would want to become some kind of saintess.
Lin Chi patted his chest, touched the silver coin, and beamed with joy. "Alright, I don't know much, but elder brother and sister-in-law must not let a fourth person know!"
Gao Mengli and Lin Xi nodded. "Yes, we understand!"
"Yes, we understand!"
The sudden sound from above startled the three people below.
Looking up, they saw Fatty, Qian Yan'er, Buck-toothed Yu, and A Li squatting on the roof watching them, nodding as if they were serious.
Lin Chi was startled and jumped up, pointing at the four people, "You, what are you doing here???"
The chubby girl looked completely innocent and spread her hands, "We're staying in the side rooms of the veranda!"
A group of people were looking at the stars on the rooftop when they unexpectedly saw three people sneaking back. They just gathered around out of curiosity.
Lin Chi almost rolled his eyes, and suddenly felt the silver in his chest burning hot.
At this moment, three people dressed in black pushed and shoved their way out of the hanging flower gate, which is the second gate of the courtyard.
Du Hao raised his hand and swore to the heavens, "Yes, we won't tell anyone."
Lin Chi was startled and turned to look at the three people who had appeared out of nowhere.
I almost rolled my eyes and fainted.
His lips twitched, and he quickly turned and ran.
Oh no, it seems like everyone knows now...