Chapter 53: Rebuking Aunt Xue to Her Face

Jiang Nian did not answer immediately. Instead, he leisurely picked up the celadon teacup on his desk, took a slow sip of tea, and cast a sizing-up gaze at Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai.

Aunt Xue felt as though she were sitting on pins and needles.

Xue Baochai lowered her exquisite head, her long eyelashes gently trembling.

After a short while, seeing that Jiang Nian was still drinking tea while examining them, Aunt Xue felt her cheeks burn with heat and said, "Master Jiang, I beg you to help us. Can you?"

Only then did Jiang Nian slowly set down the celadon teacup. The cup made a crisp sound as it touched the desk. His gaze was like a sharp blade, piercing straight into Aunt Xue: "You actually have the nerve to come and ask me for such a favor? Don't you find it absurd and ridiculous?"

Aunt Xue hurriedly lowered her head, her well-maintained cheeks quickly flushing crimson.

A breeze blew in through the window, fluttering the curtains, yet it failed to blow away the shame weighing upon Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai.

Aunt Xue could not help but burst into sobs. She raised her tear-filled eyes to look at Jiang Nian: "I know that coming to beg you this time is absurd and ridiculous, but... but my Xue family cannot lose the title of Imperial Merchant. If we lose this title, the future of our Xue family is truly worrisome. How could my husband... Bao-丫头's father rest in peace beneath the nine springs? I truly have failed him, and failed the ancestors of the Xue family! If you help my Xue family keep the position of Imperial Merchant, I will surely reward you handsomely. Silver... even if it means giving you thirty thousand liang, and we can add more if that's not enough!"

Jiang Nian's expression remained indifferent, his tone calm: "I am not short of silver."

Aunt Xue glanced sideways at Xue Baochai, who was standing quietly beside her with lowered eyes and a restrained demeanor. She bit her lip and added, "Then... I beg you to help us for the sake of Bao-丫头, all right?"

The corners of Jiang Nian's lips curved upward: "Miss Xue has already been promised to me as a concubine. Yet you chose to break the concubine agreement and invited Wang Ziteng to cause a great uproar here. Now you still have the face to say such words? Even if you feel no shame, Miss Xue, who is standing right beside you at this moment, must already be overwhelmed with humiliation!"

Aunt Xue turned to look at Xue Baochai and saw that the girl's eyes were already brimming with moisture.

Staring fixedly at Aunt Xue, Jiang Nian deliberately asked in a gentle voice, "You only wish to preserve the Xue family's title as Imperial Merchant, but do you not wish to preserve Wang Ziteng's position as the Commander of the Capital Garrison?"

Aunt Xue paused, and with a look of embarrassment, said, "If we can preserve our Xue family's title as Imperial Merchant, I shall already be infinitely grateful and dare not harbor extravagant hopes of keeping my elder brother's position as Commander of the Capital Garrison. If... if you can also help preserve his position as Capital Garrison Commander, I would naturally be even more grateful, and my brother will certainly reward you handsomely."

Jiang Nian could not help but sneer, saying, "I never expected your skin to be so thick!"

Subjected to such direct and biting ridicule by Jiang Nian, Aunt Xue felt her face burning and lowered her head once more.

Just at that moment, a shrill sound of mourning suddenly drifted over from the neighboring Qin residence. Because the study's windows and door were both open, the sorrowful weeping was clearly audible, and both Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai heard it distinctly.

Aunt Xue's expression changed abruptly as a sense of guilty conscience surged into her heart. Knowing full well that she could hardly shirk responsibility for Qin Ye's death, the sound of mourning ringing in her ears sent a chill down her spine.

Jiang Nian deliberately said to Aunt Xue, "Someone next door is mourning for Master Qin, the man whom you drove to his death."

Hearing this, Aunt Xue grew even more terrified, finding the mourning cries increasingly bone-chilling, as if grieving ghosts were whispering in her ear. She stammered in defense, "I... although I was in the wrong, it cannot be said that I caused his death..."

Jiang Nian's expression suddenly turned stern. Fixing his gaze directly on Aunt Xue, he rebuked, "You were born into the Wang family and married into the Xue family—both illustrious and prominent clans. How can you be so utterly foolish?"

The two words "utterly foolish" pierced into Aunt Xue's ears like sharp knives and slashed into her heart. In a daze, she recalled how many years ago, when her husband was still alive, he had also scolded her in precisely this manner. Yet that was long in the past; ever since her husband's passing, no one had ever cursed her to her face as "foolish." Even her elder brother, Wang Ziteng, had never done so.

And now, she was being thus berated by a mere fifteen-year-old youth named Jiang Nian. She could not help feeling angered, wishing she could bolt out the door right then and there; but the mere thought of the Imperial Merchant title forced her to restrain herself.

Continuing to stare down Aunt Xue with a piercing gaze, Jiang Nian said in a frigid tone, "Yesterday, I invited Prince Zhongyi to clear the siege and suppress Wang Ziteng. Prince Zhongyi even memorialized the Emperor on the matter, and the Emperor in turn reported it to the Retired Emperor. Both sovereigns were enraged and issued imperial decrees for punishment. Under such circumstances, you actually dare to come and beg me to preserve your Xue family's title as Imperial Merchant, and even harbor the delusion that I would safeguard Wang Ziteng's position as Capital Garrison Commander. Is such conduct on your part not utter foolishness? If I were to grant your request, would I not be just as foolish as you? Do you really believe I am capable of accomplishing such a feat?"

Aunt Xue's complexion shifted from red to white, and then from white to ashen.

Jiang Nian's expression gradually softened, and his tone returned to a flat level: "Wanting to preserve your family's title as Imperial Merchant is impossible. However..."

At this point, he deliberately paused, picked up his celadon teacup again to take a sip, and seeing that Aunt Xue was truly at her wits' end with anxiety, he set the cup down. With a slight shift of his gaze, he exchanged a glance with Xue Baochai before saying to Aunt Xue, "However, once Miss Xue eventually becomes my concubine, I will naturally look after the Xue family."

At first, Aunt Xue felt a wave of disappointment, thinking to herself, "So when all is said and done, the title of Imperial Merchant cannot be saved after all." But upon second thought, Jiang Nian was unfathomable, and if the Xue family could win his favor and protection, it would certainly be a good thing.

Then, Jiang Nian's tone turned chilling once more, every word biting like frost: "As for yesterday's affair, you owe me compensation!"

Aunt Xue's heart tightened violently, as if gripped by an invisible hand, and her breath stalled completely.

Her original purpose in coming today was to beg Jiang Nian to secure the Xue family's Imperial Merchant title. With that goal unachieved, she was now being demanded compensation by him instead, leaving her utterly flustered, panicked, and at a complete loss as to how to respond.

Xue Baochai's heart also constricted. Subconsciously, she feared that Jiang Nian might demand something humiliating of her. Yet upon reflection, since she had already promised to become Jiang Nian's concubine, what more could he possibly ask of her that would bring her further humiliation?

Seeing that Aunt Xue remained silent, only gazing at him with a pitiful expression filled with panic and helplessness, Jiang Nian abruptly stood up, walked calmly out of the study, and turned into the bedroom on the left side of the main hall.

Before long, Jiang Nian returned to the study holding a document.

At the sight of this, both Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai knew that what he held must be the concubine agreement.

Aunt Xue grew even more apprehensive, having no inkling of what Jiang Nian intended to do.

Xue Baochai's heart sank as well.

With the agreement in hand, Jiang Nian let his gaze wander between Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai, his expression cold and inscrutable.

Taking his seat, Jiang Nian unfolded the concubine agreement and said coldly, "This is the concubine agreement written in your own hand. Surely you haven't forgotten it already?"

Aunt Xue was so embarrassed she did not know how to answer. She clenched her hands into fists, her fingernails digging into her palms.

Jiang Nian let out a cold snort: "If you have forgotten, I shall read it aloud so you may remember!"

Aunt Xue hurriedly blurted out, "There is no need to read it... I... I remember."

Unmoved, Jiang Nian sneered, "You remember? Judging by your actions, I'd say you've mostly forgotten."

With that, he began reading the agreement word by word: "It is heard that propriety has its defined bounds, and affection its destined refuge. Now there is the younger daughter, Baochai, whose disposition is gentle and virtuous, whose deportment and appearance are dignified and decorous. She is willing to become the secondary chamber of Jiang Nian, to tend to the broom and dustpan, and assist with the household hearth... Once the two families have formed this alliance, it shall endure in harmony forever. This document is respectfully drawn up to serve as proof."

He deliberately raised his voice for the final sentence, and upon finishing, pointed to the bottom of the document, saying to Aunt Xue, "Right here, there is not only the signature of you, the drafter of this agreement, but also the signature of Miss Xue's elder brother acting as the witness!"