Chapter 556
Chapter 556
“Who said anything about breaking off the engagement?”
Jiang Yuanrang had just entered when he heard Wen Xiu mention breaking off the engagement. He hurried over in alarm, afraid that she would say in the next moment that she no longer wished to marry him.
Wen Xiu had not expected Jiang Yuanrang to arrive at that moment.
But even if he had heard their conversation, she had nothing to fear.
After all, it was his good adoptive mother who refused to let her marry him.
“Shouldn’t Young Master Li ask your good mother?” Wen Xiu said.
“They came to trouble you again?” Jiang Yuanrang frowned when he heard this.
He had not expected that after he had gone out for a while that afternoon, his good mother and her good niece would come looking for trouble with Wen Xiu again.
The thought left Jiang Yuanrang extremely irritated.
He had already made it very clear to Madame Jiang that he would not marry Jiang Siyue.
“Wen Xiu, don’t worry. I will marry only you. Those are nothing more than my adoptive mother’s one-sided wishes.” Jiang Yuanrang hurriedly took Wen Xiu’s hand and explained.
“You don’t need to tell me that.” Wen Xiu pulled her hand from his grasp.
In truth, Wen Xiu still had some reservations.
After all, Madame Jiang was Jiang Yuanrang’s adoptive mother and had raised him for nineteen years.
She had raised him even longer than Li Tianyou and his wife had.
There was no guarantee that Jiang Yuanrang would not heed Madame Jiang’s wishes.
“I, Jiang Yuanrang, swear to Heaven that in this lifetime, I will marry only one wife—Wen Xiu.” Jiang Yuanrang quickly raised three fingers and swore an oath.
“Brother Tingzhou, do you think you are Jiang Yuanrang or Li Tingzhou?” Wen Xiu asked, looking at him strangely.
“What difference does it make?” Jiang Yuanrang frowned. Whether he was Jiang Yuanrang or Li Tingzhou, he was still himself, was he not?
He did not understand why Wen Xiu had suddenly asked him this.
“It makes a difference. Jiang Yuanrang is the eldest legitimate son of the Jiang family, while Li Tingzhou is the eldest legitimate son of the Li family.” Wen Xiu stared at Jiang Yuanrang as she spoke.
If he was the eldest legitimate son of the Jiang family, then he should obey the orders of his parents and the arrangements of the matchmaker. The person he ought to marry was Jiang Siyue, as Madame Jiang wished.
But if he believed himself to be the eldest legitimate son of the Li family, then the empress’s imperial betrothal had been granted to the eldest legitimate son of the Li family. The only person he ought to marry was Wen Xiu.
“Wen Xiu, I…” Jiang Yuanrang was at a loss for words.
He had wanted to say that he was Jiang Yuanrang, but he also knew that he was not.
The real Jiang Yuanrang was Madame Jiang’s biological son. He was merely a child she had picked up halfway through life.
All these years, he had lived as Jiang Yuanrang, cared for Madame Jiang in his place, and managed the entire Jiang family for him.
He was still not Jiang Yuanrang. He was merely a substitute for him.
Yet Madame Jiang had raised him, after all. He could not bring himself to say anything so heartless.
Although the Li family’s master and madam were his biological parents, he had long since lost his childhood memories.
Apart from Li Zhiwei, he felt completely unfamiliar with everyone in the Li family.
He could not bring himself to say that he was a member of the Li family.
“Then come back to me after you have figured out who you are.” Wen Xiu looked at Jiang Yuanrang with disappointment.
She had seen how much Li Tianyou, his wife, and Li Zhiwei cared about Jiang Yuanrang.
Yet had that still not given Jiang Yuanrang even the slightest sense of belonging toward the Li family?
If Li Tingzhou was only willing to be Jiang Yuanrang, then this marriage would probably have to be called off.
But when she thought of how heartbroken Li Zhiwei might be, Wen Xiu felt somewhat guilty.
Jiang Yuanrang left the courtyard in a daze. Wen Xiu’s words echoed endlessly in his mind:
Do you think you are Jiang Yuanrang or Li Tingzhou?
“Young Master, I’ve finally found you.” Changsheng had searched for a long time before spotting Jiang Yuanrang sitting dazedly in the pavilion. He hurried over.
When Changsheng saw that Jiang Yuanrang was alone, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had wondered whether the young master had gone out with Zhou Xu to handle some task.
The thought that all of the young master’s duties had been taken over by Zhou Xu made Changsheng extremely anxious.
After all, he was the young master’s personal attendant.
“Changsheng, tell me—am I Jiang Yuanrang or Li Tingzhou?” Jiang Yuanrang asked blankly without turning around.
“Young Master, you are naturally Jiang Yuanrang, Eldest Young Master Jiang.” Changsheng answered without hesitation, though he was somewhat curious. Who was Li Tingzhou?
“Young Master, you have always been Eldest Young Master Jiang.” Changsheng said so aloud.
But inwardly, he wondered whether the young master’s real name was Li Tingzhou.
That Young Master Li’s identity was probably highly distinguished in the capital as well, was it not?
The thought made Changsheng anxious. If the young master returned to the capital, would he take Changsheng with him?
“But Young Master, Madame raised you with great hardship all these years. What has the Li family ever done for you? They abandoned you.” The thought that his own young master might leave the Jiang family made Changsheng anxious, and he hurriedly spoke up for Madame Jiang.
“Indeed, she raised me with great hardship.”
Jiang Yuanrang gave a self-mocking smile.
Madame Jiang had done far more than raise him with great hardship.
Perhaps she had also planned everything with great cunning.
If she had not hidden him in the Jiang family, would his parents from the Li family ever have found him?
“So, Young Master, the Jiang family is your home.” Changsheng hurriedly continued.
“No. The Jiang family is not my home. The Jiang family belongs to Jiang Yuanrang.”
And he was not Jiang Yuanrang.
Jiang Yuanrang silently added that in his heart.
Everything in the Jiang family belonged to Jiang Yuanrang in the first place. Had it not all been left behind by Madame Jiang for her biological son?
It was only a pity that the real Jiang Yuanrang had died young.
That was how he had ended up benefiting from the situation.
“Young Master, let’s hurry back. Madame is looking for you.” Remembering why he had come to find Jiang Yuanrang, Changsheng quickly spoke.
“What does she want with me this time?” The moment Jiang Yuanrang thought of what Madame Jiang had said to him, he felt unwilling to return.
He did not want to have a child with Jiang Siyue.
But Madame Jiang had used the kindness she had shown him in raising him all these years to pressure him. Jiang Yuanrang was deeply troubled and did not know what choice to make.
“I don’t know.” Changsheng secretly groaned.
After all, he was only a servant. It was not his place to ask why Madame Jiang wanted to see Jiang Yuanrang.
Now that the young master had asked and he could not give him an answer, the young master would probably think even less of him.
At the thought, Changsheng let out a long sigh inwardly and wondered when this kind of treatment would finally come to an end.
“Have someone prepare Qiwuyuan, the courtyard beside Qiyunyuan,” Jiang Yuanrang said.
He reckoned that Li Zhiwei and the others would soon be setting out for Lucheng, so he hurriedly ordered the courtyard they would be staying in to be prepared.
“Are you planning to have the future madam stay in Qiwuyuan?” Changsheng wondered.
Qiwuyuan was the finest courtyard in the residence apart from Qiyunyuan. Since the young master had ordered it prepared, someone important was clearly about to move in.
Other than the future madam, Changsheng could think of no other possibility.
He was merely curious whether that person would be Wen Xiu or the residence’s cousin, Miss Jiang Siyue.