After Transmigration, Her Whole Family Are Villains

...

There was a pot of moth orchids in the room.

Purple-red in color.

They looked especially beautiful at night.

Jiang Changtian surveyed the room.

It was very familiar to him.

Because he remembered every corner of Old Lady Jiang's room.

There are certain places, certain memories, that no matter how hard you try to forget, when you encounter them again, your whole body trembles, your blood boils and churns, screaming to tell you that you've always remembered, you've never forgotten.

The moth orchids were new.

The porcelain vase on the antique shelf was gone.

The paintings on the wall were also gone.

They were replaced by moth orchids and the Heart Sutra.

It felt a bit more elegant now.

There was a whip on the wall, still there.

It looked familiar.

Because there were jewels on the whip handle, and the whip was rather old, something Old Lady Jiang played with in her youth.

Aunt Yao used to always scare him with this whip, leaving a deep impression on him.

Jiang Changtian looked around, surveying the room, and saw the infant in his elder brother's arms.

He smiled and said, "As an uncle, I haven't yet held my niece."

A guard snatched the baby from Jiang Huaisheng's arms and placed it in Jiang Changtian's.

This action was very villainous.

Wu couldn't bear it, tears streaming down her face, supporting her husband to barely avoid falling.

"Sister-in-law, there's no need to be nervous. I just want to take a look at her. Is it a girl? She'll surely grow up to be as beautiful as you, sister-in-law."

Hearing these words and looking at the man holding Shu Shu, Wu's mouth gaped slightly.

She had previously heard her husband say that Second Uncle had turned traitor and injured his face, and she thought it was because of her, making her feel even more guilty.

But now, seeing Second Uncle's face, how could he possibly have been infatuated with her or secretly kept her clothes? He was dozens of times more beautiful than her.

If she had a face like that, she certainly wouldn't love anyone else.

Seeing Second Uncle's behavior now, she had a realization – he must be here for revenge.

He had never been infatuated with her at all, it was all Mother-in-law's false accusations, and her husband hadn't even told her.

Instead, he let her live in fear and anxiety every day.

Jiang Wan was also terrified and incredulous.

It's impossible, she couldn't possibly die here.

But the man before her seemed to have gone mad, injuring their guards in the middle of the night, suddenly bursting in with his men.

Furious, as if he was going to kill someone.

It was too frightening, not sparing even the elderly, women, and children.

How could such a person deserve to live in this world? Grandmother was right.

Jiang Wan regretted, Grandmother had been too soft-hearted, and now they were suffering the consequences of the trouble she had left behind.

She was desperately trying to think of a way to save herself, but on the surface, she put on a terrified, pitiful expression.

Jiang Changtian held the baby in his arms, noticing her beautiful swaddling clothes. The inner lining was silk, and several pretty silver ornaments hung on the outside. When he held her, the silver ornaments clinked together, making a tinkling sound, and the little baby smiled.

Her eyes were black and bright, her mouth open in a silly grin, still toothless.

The swaddling clothes were beautiful, and the baby's features somewhat resembled his Mianmian, or perhaps all babies this small look alike, just a very pretty, pink and tender little girl.

No, Jiang Changtian remembered, when Mianmian was born, she was dark and skinny. He had been useless then, with half the family's income depending on Sister Xia. When she was pregnant and giving birth, he couldn't even provide good food for her to eat, so Mianmian was thin and small when she was born, looking like she wouldn't live long.

It was only later that she gradually filled out and became beautiful.

The baby before him was already so pretty and fair-skinned at birth, with thick hair. His sister-in-law must have eaten and drunk well during her pregnancy, and didn't have to work in the fields.

Jiang Changtian gently played with the baby, lightly touching the soft cheek of the infant in his arms, and smiled as he said:

"Jiang Shu, it's a good name.

In this world, flowers and leaves are not of the same ilk,

Flowers enter golden vases while leaves turn to dust.

Only the green lotus and red water lily,

Curl and stretch, open and close, following nature's truth.

These flowers and leaves always reflect each other,

As green fades and red withers, it kills one with sorrow." (Note 1)

Jiang Changtian was clearly reciting poetry, clearly praising the lotus, seemingly like a normal elder praising a younger generation's good name, but his voice grew heavier at the end, enunciating the words "kills one" particularly clearly.

Suddenly, a foul odor permeated the room.

Jiang Rong had been frightened into urinating, warm urine flowing down his robe, wetting his clothes, leaving a puddle of yellow water at his feet.

Jiang Rong couldn't take it anymore.

He didn't understand why, despite having read so many books, he still recalled the time he was mistakenly kidnapped and saw those kidnappers killing people. In his mind, he also saw the corpse of Aunt Yao, such a big and strong person, who went out once and came back dead.

It was said that Second Uncle had killed her with his own hands.

How could he, a frail scholar, dare to kill people?

He must be a demon.

He must be here to kill them.

Jiang Rong was seized, the room filled with a foul smell.

The yellow water flowed to the feet of a nearby man in black, who didn't move at all.

Old Lady Jiang looked at the puddle at Rong'er's feet and closed her eyes briefly.

She had changed her prayer beads, originally playing daily with rose quartz, a beautiful pink color. Later, it was black old mountain sandalwood. Now it was a string of purplish pearls, each bead large and full, with a beautiful luster. To string together such a set of prayer beads, who knows how many pearl divers' corpses had floated up on that river.

She gently fingered her prayer beads.

Rong'er was useless now. In such a situation, he had wet himself in fear. With such courage, even if he was extremely learned, he couldn't enter the examination hall. In the three days of imperial examinations, he would probably lose his life.

Wu also hadn't expected that the first to lose composure would be Rong'er.

She was even more surprised that he had such talent, composing a poem on the spot just from a name.

Jiang Wan lowered her head. She also hadn't expected him to have such literary talent, able to compose poetry with ease. She hadn't heard it before, but it felt very good, quite brilliant.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me, I haven't done anything," Jiang Rong's voice trembled.

He looked at these helmeted guards, each guard's eyes resembling Jiang Feng's.

Jiang Huaisheng was furious, but he also knew that Changtian was no longer the brother he once knew.

Even he couldn't instinctively scold him now.

He still remembered the wound on his face, which Changtian had cut open with his own sword.

The sword had been so close, he had been too surprised to dodge, and had taken the blow directly.

He suppressed the anger in his heart and spoke in a calm tone: "Mother did make a mistake. She has indeed wronged you for so many years, but she also raised you. If you had been born into a poor family, you wouldn't even have had the chance to learn how to read, let alone speak so eloquently. You're doing very well now, so why dwell on the past? Can't we just live our separate lives without interfering with each other?"

Jiang Changtian's eyes reddened again, especially at the corners. When he looked up, his face appeared even more bewitchingly beautiful, truly a pitiful sight. When he was unhappy, he wanted everyone else to feel miserable too.

Everyone present held their breath for a moment.

Only the infant in his arms continued to laugh foolishly.

"I may be doing well now, but I still have nightmares at night. I miss my mother, my older brother, my nieces and nephews. I still long for a family reunion. I couldn't wait another moment to come and see you all, to see how you're doing."

Jiang Wan inwardly scoffed. Family reunion? Listen to how ridiculous that sounds!

Who shows up in the middle of the night with a group of masked men in black, surrounds your entire family, drags everyone out, and then talks about a family reunion because they missed you?

This second uncle must be insane.

They had scared them enough during the New Year's visit.

And now he's back again.

Old Lady Jiang fingered the pearl necklace in her hand. It felt heavy; good pearls that had grown for many years each had their own weight and substance.

She maintained her composed appearance, looking at Jiang Changtian as if he were a clown.

Jiang Changtian smiled and said, "Mother, you're still reciting scriptures so late at night. You're not praying for the Seventh Prince Consort to send someone to pick you up, are you? Or are you hoping for someone from the capital to come and rescue you? A while ago, I accidentally intercepted a few letters. I'm not sure if you wrote them, the handwriting looked similar, but I thought, given your age, you probably wouldn't personally write letters asking for help. That would be too embarrassing, right?"

Only then did Old Lady Jiang's expression change.

Her whole body trembled, and she nearly collapsed. She bit down hard on the ginseng slice in her mouth to keep from falling.