Chapter 473
Chapter 473
“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and bring the horse stool!” Looking at the stunned servant, Li Zhiwei urged with some displeasure.
“Yes, I’ll go right away, right away,” the servant said, still glancing back toward Jiang Yuanrang inside the carriage.
He thought to himself, This is too similar.
Jiang Yuanrang watched the young girl urging the servants on his behalf and smiled knowingly.
Blood ties were truly strange—two people who had never known each other could still sense each other’s emotions when together.
“Where is she?” Jiang Yuanrang looked outside the Li family’s gate, seeing only Qingsong and Wen Xiu.
He turned to Wen Xiu. She was about the same age as Li Zhiwei, so she couldn’t be that woman.
Jiang Yuanrang was puzzled. Wasn’t he told that woman had been longing for his return?
Then why, now that he had arrived at the mansion, had she not appeared?
“Who?” Li Zhiwei was momentarily confused.
She wondered if her elder brother meant to see their parents.
“Father has gone to the morning court session, and Mother is in the mansion. Brother, if Father and Mother knew you had returned, they would be overjoyed.” Li Zhiwei watched Jiang Yuanrang step down from the horse stool and spoke with great delight.
“Sister Li, I’ll return to my residence first,” Wen Xiu said, though full of questions in her heart. She tactfully decided to leave promptly.
“Sister Wen, let’s meet another day,” Li Zhiwei quickly replied.
As Wen Xiu departed, she turned back several times to glance at Jiang Yuanrang, deeply astonished by this man’s identity.
Jiang Yuanrang watched the graceful figure fade into the distance and said nothing more.
The noble ladies of the capital’s elite families were not something a merchant like him could aspire to.
But then, what about this so-called “younger sister” mentioning “Father” and “Mother”?
That woman—since she had already married—why had she wed that prince?
By now, Qingsong had personally handed the man over to Li Zhiwei and was already heading back to report to Xu Heming.
Inside the Li mansion, everyone was busy preparing for the eldest daughter’s wedding ceremony, which would take place in three days.
Seeing the joyful, bustling atmosphere throughout the estate, Jiang Yuanrang frowned.
He had many questions but didn’t know how to voice them.
“What’s your name?” Jiang Yuanrang looked at the young girl beside him and asked.
“Brother, I am Li Zhiwei. I am your younger sister.” Li Zhiwei’s voice could barely contain her excitement.
Although the news that the Li family had a son would certainly shake the court and society, what did that matter? For the Li family, having offspring was a blessing.
As for whether it would affect her own marriage prospects—that was the last thing on Li Zhiwei’s mind.
If Xu Heming truly minded, he wouldn’t have brought the man back.
“Mm,” Jiang Yuanrang nodded. There were things he wanted to ask this sister, but he didn’t know where to start.
“Is your father an official?” Jiang Yuanrang asked after thinking for a while, curiosity getting the better of him.
But if his younger sister’s biological father was a government official, why would he allow that woman to marry someone else?
“Father is the Vice Minister of the Revenue.” Li Zhiwei was too caught up in her joy to notice that Jiang Yuanrang had asked about “your father.”
“Brother, I’m sorry,” Li Zhiwei said, suddenly feeling guilty. She had enjoyed a lifetime of comfort in this household, while her elder brother had been left to struggle outside, enduring who knew how many hardships.
“Why are you apologizing to me?”
Jiang Yuanrang frowned at his sister, puzzled. What reason did she have to apologize?
Had she done something to hurt him?
But looking at this lovely, charming girl, Jiang Yuanrang felt that if he truly had such a sister, he could never bring himself to blame her.
Since childhood, he had known he was the legitimate eldest son of the Jiang family, tasked with bearing the family’s responsibilities.
His father was already gone, and the second branch of the family had been eyeing everything the Jiangs owned. He had always felt out of place among them.
Now, suddenly gaining a younger sister, Jiang Yuanrang was delighted yet also at a loss. He didn’t know how to interact with her.
Thinking this, he felt around his person.
There was nothing on him. He was secretly annoyed.
Back then, that man had whisked him away from Lucheng without giving him any time to prepare.
Now, he couldn’t even present a decent gift for their first meeting.
At that thought, Jiang Yuanrang’s mood darkened.
“Brother, are you unhappy?” Li Zhiwei naturally noticed his displeasure, thinking it was because she hadn’t answered his question earlier. She quickly added, “Brother, I’m sorry. Father and Mother didn’t know you were still alive. They had no idea you were suffering out there.”
Li Zhiwei assumed her brother must be angry that their parents had never searched for him—why else would he be upset?
But Jiang Yuanrang was dumbfounded.
What did she mean, “didn’t know he was still alive”?
Had they believed he was dead?
Frowning, he looked at Li Zhiwei and asked, “Who told you that?”
Jiang Yuanrang felt that Li Zhiwei probably wouldn’t lie to him, but others might.
Otherwise, why would that woman be so restless that, at her age, she still had to remarry?
“My parents told me this themselves. They said they searched for you by the river for three days and nights, and in the end, they recovered a corpse and thought it was you.” Li Zhiwei thought for a moment before speaking.
Jiang Yuanrang frowned. He couldn’t remember any of this.
He had always thought he was abandoned as a child. Could it be that he wasn’t?
“How do you know they weren’t lying to you?” At this thought, Jiang Yuanrang gave a light snort, still convinced he had been abandoned.
Yet, he also couldn’t recall how he had ended up in the Jiang family and become Jiang Yuanrang.
Thinking about his adoptive mother, Mrs. Jiang, Jiang Yuanrang felt a flicker of irritation. Over the years, she had treated him well—he couldn’t deny that. But every time she came close, he instinctively kept his distance.
Perhaps, deep down, he had always known she wasn’t his real mother?
They say the nurture of a parent outweighs the nature of birth. Regardless, Mrs. Jiang had raised him to adulthood—her efforts deserved acknowledgment, even if not praise.
He had come to the capital this time partly because he had no choice, and partly because he wanted to seek the truth.
But he was certain: Lucheng was where he truly belonged.
No matter what, he had a duty to Mrs. Jiang.
“Big brother, could there be some misunderstanding?” Li Zhiwei finally noticed that Jiang Yuanrang seemed very resistant.
“There’s no misunderstanding. This trip to the capital is solely to get to the bottom of things.” Jiang Yuanrang sighed. There was no point in taking his frustration out on a young girl.
“Big brother, don’t worry. This matter will be sorted out. If there’s anything that bothers you, just say so. But I should mention that when the Marquess of Ru’an proposed marriage to me, they had ulterior motives, and I had already donated most of our family fortune to the court.” Li Zhiwei thought about it and felt that the Li family estate should rightfully go to her big brother, given all he had suffered. But the portion she had donated couldn’t be retrieved.
She felt a bit guilty about that.
“You’re married already?” Jiang Yuanrang looked at the young woman before him. She didn’t seem old enough to be wed, did she?
The thought unsettled him.