Chapter 470
Chapter 470
Jiang Yuanrang's mouth twitched at the words. He had met Xu Heming before, and though he had never met the man's good mother, thinking about it, she couldn't be too young.
Yet she actually had the skill to charm that so-called prince into marrying only her—which was no small feat.
But at the moment, he didn't know what to say.
After all, this woman was still his birth mother.
If anything, others might think he was the one gaining all the advantage.
"Has she never remarried?" Jiang Yuanrang asked with confusion.
Given her age, he wondered what kind of man his biological father was.
But he guessed that his birth father might have passed away; otherwise, his mother wouldn't have married a second time.
"No. Although Miss Li almost married the heir of the Ru'an Marquis, the marquis's household wanted Miss Li's dowry, but our prince brought her back to the prince's mansion. You can ask the prince and Miss Li about the details yourself." Qingsong thought Jiang Yuanrang was asking about Li Zhiwei.
He explained,
"Does your prince have children with his previous wife?" Jiang Yuanrang thought for a moment.
If that were the case, marrying an older woman as a second wife made some sense.
But being taken back by the prince's son and then marrying the father—clearly, it sounded like she was taking advantage of the situation.
Jiang Yuanrang's impression of his birth mother's character worsened a bit.
"Yes, the former princess consort died in childbirth while giving birth to the young prince." As soon as Qingsong said it, he felt a twinge of regret. Why had he brought that up?
It only dragged his prince's reputation down.
But since Young Master Jiang had asked, telling him the truth couldn't be wrong.
Once he reached the capital, a little digging would reveal these details.
Thinking this, Qingsong relaxed. He couldn't shake the feeling that the prince's future brother-in-law seemed rather dismissive of both the prince and Miss Li.
"Young Master Jiang, although my prince was previously married to a princess consort, he is the highly esteemed Prince An, favored by the emperor. After Miss Li marries him, she will manage the household directly. The old princess dowager is kind-hearted, and the young prince is very fond of Miss Li." Qingsong added this to avoid any misunderstanding.
"I'm well aware your prince is admirable!" Jiang Yuanrang added silently, but his eyesight is terrible.
But as he thought, he realized—wouldn't the prince become his stepfather?
The idea of having to call a man his own age "Father" made Jiang Yuanrang feel he could never bring himself to say it.
The more he thought, the more he wanted to go back to Lucheng.
Just imagining that scene made him unbearably awkward.
Was the prince out of his mind? Otherwise, how could he have been bewitched into falling for his birth mother?
"Hmm!" Qingsong took it that Jiang Yuanrang approved of the prince, which would make him more willing to entrust Miss Li to his care.
"Speaking of which, no one expected the Li family to have a young master like you," Qingsong remarked. Jiang Yuanrang resembled Li Tianyou far too closely.
If anyone claimed they were unrelated, no one would believe it.
"Hmph!" Jiang Yuanrang refused to acknowledge himself as a Li family member.
But from Qingsong's words, he reached one conclusion:
That wonderful mother of his had definitely not remarried.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be a young master of the Li family.
For now, he had no way to escape. He had to go to the capital and meet this "good mother" of his to see what kind of demon or deity she truly was.
Even from so far away, she had managed to summon him.
Although the Jiang family wasn't great, at least he was in charge there.
Returning to the capital probably meant no good days ahead.
He wondered what was happening with the Jiang family now.
Was that "good" second uncle of his still alive?
Lucheng, Jiang residence
"Have you found the eldest young master yet?" Madame Jiang rubbed her aching forehead and asked the elderly maid beside her.
"Madame, the eldest young master seems to have vanished into thin air. Could something have happened to him?" The maid's voice carried concern.
"How is the second branch doing?" Madame Jiang thought of the second branch's plight, feeling both satisfaction and worry.
Their misfortune looked like someone's revenge. She didn't care about those three in the second branch, but she didn't want it to affect her own family.
Yet Jiang Yuanrang's disappearance left her uneasy.
Could he have been behind it?
If so, where had he gone?
"The second master and the two young masters are badly injured, but they survived." The maid had seen their wounds; they would likely be bedridden for life.
But they belonged to the second branch, not the first.
Over the years, the second branch had been leeching off them anyway.
Now that something had happened to them, it was karma.
But the head of the first branch was missing, and that was no small matter.
"We must find Rang'er soon." Madame Jiang knew that if Jiang Yuanrang didn't return soon, the second branch might pin the blame on him.
Still, the second branch only had an illegitimate son who couldn't hold things together. He wasn't fit to take charge of the Jiang family.
"Rest assured, madame. I've already sent people to search." The maid quickly reassured her.
But inside, she wondered where her young master could have gone.
"Master, do you think Yuanrang might have learned of his true origins and gone to find his biological parents?" Madame Jiang feared this thought.
If it were true, would the Jiang family's fortune really end up in the hands of the second branch?
Yet thinking back on her distant relationship with Jiang Yuanrang, Madame Jiang felt guilty.
She had found the child and let him take her own son's place out of a sense of debt.
At that time, she had never asked for his opinion.
After he woke up, he had forgotten everything from before.
Over the years, he had never brought it up, and Madame Jiang wasn't sure if he still remembered what happened back then—or why he had appeared where she saved him.
"Madame, the young master has never spoken of his past. Perhaps those memories weren't good ones, and he doesn't want to bring them up. You've treated him like your own child all these years; I'm sure he knows your kindness. He is a filial and good child and wouldn't leave without a word." The maid tried to soothe her.
"But no matter what I do, that child always keeps his distance from me. We've never been like mother and son." Madame Jiang's heart ached at this.
Though she knew he wasn't her real son, deep down, she wished he would be close to her, just like a real child.