The Jiang Family Mansion. West Wing!
While Li Yi and Jiang Shiying were locked in a battle of wits in the study of the main hall, Tang Xue and Ye Lingyun—mother and daughter—were flipping through old photographs in the west wing!
“Mom, this is amazing. If it weren’t for the different clothes, I’d really think these photos were of me!”
Tang Xue gazed at the photos of her mother in her youth, unable to help but marvel.
Although Li Yi had told her long ago that she looked almost exactly like her mother in her youth, hearing it from someone else was a completely different experience from seeing it with her own eyes.
Ye Lingyun smiled and said, “It really is quite amazing. People always say daughters take after their fathers and sons after their mothers, but you’ve turned out just like me!”
“It’s good to take after Mom—Mom is beautiful!”
“You’re such a sweet-talker, you little girl!”
Then Ye Lingyun suddenly asked, “By the way, Xue’er, did you bring any new clothes? If not, should I have your father go buy you some?”
“I did. What’s up, Mom?”
“Your cousin Jianhua is getting married tomorrow. I want to dress you up all nice and pretty so you can meet those high-society ladies in the capital and tell them about your return to your ancestral family!” Ye Lingyun said.
“Mother, that’s not really necessary, is it?”
Tang Xue felt somewhat resistant to this sort of thing.
After all, she considered herself a country girl and really wasn’t very good at dealing with those high-society ladies.
“Silly girl, both the Jiang and Ye families are prominent clans with countless admirers. Even if we don’t say anything, others will find out anyway! Rather than letting them speculate wildly, we might as well tell them the truth openly!”
Ye Lingyun continued, “Besides, letting the other families know that you’re a direct descendant of both the Jiang and Ye families is a good thing for Xiao Yi—it should help his business!”
After hearing her mother’s explanation, Tang Xue nodded immediately and said, “All right, I’ll do as you say, Mother!”
“By the way, Xue’er, I never asked you—how did you end up marrying Xiao Yi, a village boy?”
Perhaps fearing her daughter might take it the wrong way, Ye Lingyun quickly added, “It’s not that I look down on village boys—I’m just curious. After all, you’re from the county seat and finished high school, whereas Xiao Yi doesn’t seem to have much to his name. You two are completely mismatched!”
Tang Xue thought of the “misunderstanding” between her and Li Yi, and her face flushed instantly.
Although it was just a matter of “helping him up,” it was still too embarrassing for her to bring up; she really didn’t know how to explain it to her mother.
Seeing her daughter’s bashful expression, Ye Lingyun immediately smiled and said, “I’ve been there too, dear. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about!”
“Mom, you can’t make fun of me once I tell you!” Tang Xue said. dxmbang
“I won’t make fun of you. I’m your own mother—how could I?”
“The only reason we ended up together is because I played a little trick!”
“What kind of trick?”
“It went like this…”
Tang Xue then recounted in detail everything that had happened between her and Li Yi.
After hearing Tang Xue’s story, Ye Lingyun was a bit stunned.
The reason she had suddenly brought this up was mainly her husband, Jiang Shiying’s, idea.
After seeing the guests off earlier, her husband had quietly confided in her, asking her, as the mother, to probe the situation indirectly—to find out whether Li Yi had bullied their daughter, or if their daughter had bullied Li Yi.
To be honest, after hearing this, Ye Lingyun felt that her daughter was most likely the one being bullied.
First, as a well-bred young lady herself, she didn’t believe her daughter would be bold enough to actively bully a man.
Second, in her view, her daughter was both beautiful and well-educated, and she was an educated youth from the city.
In comparison, Li Yi was just an ordinary village boy—hardly someone her daughter would bother with.
But now, after hearing Tang Xue’s account, she was completely stunned!
It really was her daughter who made the first move!
“Sweetheart, tell your mother—what were you thinking at the time?” Ye Lingyun asked, looking puzzled.
Tang Xue thought for a moment and said, “I’ve thought about this afterward. The reason I was so bold that night was, on the one hand, because I didn’t want to marry Liu Ermaozi and wanted to find an excuse to stay in the village!”
“On the other hand, I wanted to get back at Liu Ermazi. I didn’t want to give him my virginity!”
Thinking of her daughter’s situation at the time, Ye Lingyun’s face immediately filled with heartache. “Xue’er, it’s all my fault. I’ve put you through so much suffering!”
Tang Xue immediately took her mother’s hand and said, “Mother, you don’t need to blame yourself. This isn’t your fault!”
Ye Lingyun looked at her daughter and asked again, “So, do you like Xiao Yi?”
“I do!”
“Do you truly like him, or are you just doing this out of desperation?” Ye Lingyun asked again.
“Mother, to be honest, at first I was just giving up and didn’t expect him to marry me. But I never imagined he’d actually be willing to marry me. For that alone, I’m deeply grateful to him!”
Tang Xue continued, “Later on, he worked hard to earn money and brought me into his family with the most grand ceremony. Especially after he found out I was the one who crawled into his bed, he remained as kind to me as ever. He really is a responsible, good man. Meeting him is a blessing I earned in a past life!”
“Hmm, I can see that Xiao Yi truly cares for you. That puts my mind at ease!”
At that moment, Tang Xue’s mood suddenly grew a bit somber, and she said, “Mother, to be honest, I’ve always felt a little guilty toward him!”
“Why?”
Tang Xue sighed and said, “Actually, before that incident between us happened, Li Yi had someone he liked. But because of me, he had no choice but to…”
“If that’s the case, Xiao Yi really has been through a lot!”
“Mm-hmm!”
Ye Lingyun immediately said, “Xiao Xue, don’t dwell on it. I’ve been through it all, and I can tell that Xiao Yi truly cares for you!”
“Besides, if you really feel guilty toward him, our Jiang family will make it up to him in the future!”
“Thank you, Mother!”
At that moment, Ye Lingyun spoke again: “Xue’er, now that you’ve reconnected with your ancestral family, have you considered changing your surname back to Jiang?”
Tang Xue had anticipated this and had already discussed it with Li Yi. She replied immediately, “I have. If you and Father want me to change my surname, I have no objections!”
“Really?”
“Yes. The surname Tang brings back too many painful memories for me. Changing it back would be for the best!”
“Alright then. I’ll have your father change your surname back in a few days. From now on, you’ll be Jiang Xue!” Ye Lingyun said happily.
“Okay, but my household registration is still in Yong County!”
“No problem. With your father here, he can handle it!”
“Okay!”
Just as they were talking, Tang Xue suddenly let out a pained cry of “Ouch!”
Seeing this, Ye Lingyun was startled and asked anxiously, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“It’s nothing, just got kicked by these two little rascals. It really stings!” Tang Xue said.
Ye Lingyun smiled and said, “They really are two mischievous little rascals…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Shiying’s voice suddenly rang out from outside: “Who’s being naughty?”
Immediately afterward, Jiang Shiying walked in from outside, accompanied by Li Yi.
Ye Lingyun immediately explained, “The little ones in my belly just kicked Xue’er. I was saying they’re such little rascals!”
“Hahaha, if they’re that mischievous, they must be two boys!” Jiang Shiying said with a laugh.
“I actually think having one boy and one girl would be best—that way we’d have a son and a daughter right away. What do you think, Yi?” Ye Lingyun said.
Faced with such a tricky question, Li Yi wasn’t about to give a thoughtless answer. He replied immediately, “Whether it’s a son or a daughter, I think either would be great!”
Ye Lingyun nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Jiang Shiying beside her and said, “Shiying, go into the back room and bring that trunk out!”
“Sure!”
With that, Jiang Shiying headed toward the inner room!