At nightfall, Marquess Qin took a breath and was aware that Madame Tao was next to him. He then asked, “Did kids know about that?”

Madame Tao rose to her feet, went to the table, and poured a cup of hot ginseng tea for him. After Marquess Qin finished the tea, she replied, “Mourners have been scheduled to set off tomorrow. They are packing up now.”

Marquess Qin asked about who those mourners were and was in silence for a while. And then he said, “You also believe my eldest brother…”

“It’s always wise to play safe.” Generally speaking, Jiang Jingzhan, one of the great-grandchildren, was not worth many condolences, let alone all mourners there were his elders, Jiang Yayi in the third branch, Jiang Yadan in the fourth branch, and Jiang Tianxiao in the eighth branch. They went there for Kui Xiannan rather than Jiang Jingzhan. Madame Tao said calmly, “You can’t go!”

Feeling absent-minded, Marquess Qin sighed and said, “If my third brother had been alive, I could have stayed a couple of days with my eldest brother. But now…”

He was undermined by the sudden loss of his younger brother in November last year. And now if he went to Kui County for condolence, it was likely that he would be hit again. If so, he would be faced with death threats.

Marquess Qin was still indispensable in the Jiang Family. He had to be alive at least for now. Therefore, he couldn’t risk his life whether Kui Xiannan was seriously ill or dead.

“Probably, I’ll be like what my third brother was before. After death, I could return to my hometown.” For decades, the memory of the hometown in Kui County had been erased from his mind.

Once he was dreaming for the future with Sir Jibei. His greatest hope was to buy a big house and save Kui Xiannan. The three brothers would live together in peace and harmony with the whole family ever since.

However, the god of destiny made fool of them. The poor family in Kui County was dominating almost everything in the imperial court. That distant hometown, however, would never be within reach.

Marquess Qin well remembered the last time he returned hometown was when Empress Dowager Jiang got married. That was also Kui Xiannan’s birthday. Marquess Qin hurried there without hesitation. The two brothers shared the same bed that night, during which Kui Xiannan woke up several times, laughing.

Reflecting on the past, Marquess Qin wore unprecedented fatigue and said, “I’ve got really tired these days. Would you mind keeping an eye on what’s happening at home? I knew exactly that our eldest son and the third son have been unfriendly to you until now. Actually, I was to blame. In the early days, Madame Dou was still alive. When I was back to visit the eldest brother and his wife and found that Madame Han was so hostile to Jiang Tianyuan and our eldest son that my brother kicked her off. Finally, I managed to persuade my eldest brother to let them go. Madame Dou could live together with them.”

“I married you in the wake of Madame Dou’s death. My brother’s wife, Madame Lin, was born as a maid, but Madame Han was just a daughter from a humble family. She dared to mistreat the children of my brother’s first wife. Madame Dou, however, was a daughter of an ordinary official. Born as the descendant of an eminent family, you are quite different.”

“Sir Tao was still alive when we married. But privately, I told two brothers to talk freely in front of you… I was kind of a green and inexperienced person, but you were well-informed. Madame Han was no better than you did in terms of knowledge. Over the years, you didn’t treat anyone badly. On the contrary, you were greatly wronged by the third branch and the first branch. Even Madame Zhuang in the fourth branch put you in an awkward position now and then.”

Hearing about the heartfelt words, Madame Tao said calmly, “Though I’m not your first wife, we’ve lived together for years. It’s what we call an old married couple. You go too far on polite remarks.”

Marquess Qin said, “Not at all. From the bottom of my heart, I’ve been so sorry for two things. First, it’s about the Tao Family. They betrayed us first. If we had had a showdown with them at that time, they might not have had the courage to take the last step! I did nothing just in order to go against the Gus.”

Madame Tao said with calm, “There had been no talents in the Tao Family except for grandfather. If he were alive now, it would be unlikely for the Tao Family to prosper. Unfortunately, Qianbin gave birth to a boy before she died. Without mom’s guidance, the child An’er would not keep a close relationship with the Tao Family when he grows up. The ties between the Jiang Family and the Tao Family were cut after Tianluan’s marriage. It was a matter of time before they went to the bad. They should be to blame for their own failures. Even if you hadn’t set them up, others would have done it. Besides, I had been out for years. There was no time for me to take them into consideration due to the heavy stuff.”

“The second one is about Jiang Tianjiao.”

Hearing that, Madame Tao took a few deep breaths and said, “The poor boy. We lost him forever. Why do you want to reflect on him?”

Marquess Qin sighed and said, “Tianjiao was a good kid. Ever since he showed his talent as a child, he had been envied by his brothers.” Marquess Qin smiled bitterly, “Because of the matter of Madame Han, I was afraid you would possibly regard Madame Dou’s child as stumbling stones after having a son of your own. Tianjiao was outstanding. So, I liked him a lot. Also, I once wondered why he was not my eldest son. But I still restrained myself from spoiling him too much.”

“But it didn’t work. His filial piety, consideration, tolerance, generosity, and modesty all made him adorable. No matter how our sons and daughters play tricks on him, he didn’t even care about that. Unlike him, Jiang Tianchi kept in mind and didn’t speak out.”

Marquess Qin continued, “At that time, I had mixed feelings in my heart. I felt so proud to have such a good child. But I also hoped Tianjiao could be ordinary since he was not the eldest son. I hoped Tianqi could be more tolerant as Tianjiao could be more arrogant. Until Tianjiao died, I didn’t even…”

Madame Tao was already in tears, staring at the carved lines on the pedal. She said coldly, “Be quiet. He was dead. He was the only trueborn son of myself. You know exactly how I feel. So why do you still mention that?”

“After Tianjiao died, our sons and their wives lit up with pleasure. You, skinny and sick then, asked Mom Hu to tell me about that, hoping that I could uphold justice. But I didn’t consent. Your look at that time has been well kept in my mind.”

Choked up by his words, Madame Tao said, “What’s the point of thinking about that? Just as you said, Tianjiao was not the eldest son. If he had been Madame Dou’s child, things would have been different. There’s nothing I can do for you and I’m not reliable enough.”

Marquess Qin shook his head and said, “Absolutely not. I refused to stand out and speak for you not because I didn’t love Tianjiao, but because I was so disappointed!”

“It’s clear to you that we three brothers started from scratch. We did all that we could do to enter the imperial court. Frankly speaking, I didn’t bear much ambition. Tianluan was affianced to the former emperor and later I married you. The reason why I did this was to save ourselves.”

Marquess Qin sighed with a long voice, “The third brother and I risked our lives and fought for the country, so we were entitled ‘Defender of the State’. However, nowadays, few people know we were envied by peers just because we made several contributions. Had it not been for Madame Dou’s father, we wouldn’t have survived since then.”

“Since then, I came to know it was not what we achieved that really counted. There are far more villains in this world than gentlemen. Taking Madame Dou’s father as an example, what he did actually benefited him the most, or he would rather stay out of the business.”

“After Madame Dou’s death, I married you. In that way, Sir Tao would be our backing. Under his protection, no one could take credit from my third brother and me. On the contrary, some others would give their credit to us.”

“And then Sir Tao died. I hadn’t yet found a new alliance of courtiers. The former emperor ascended the throne at a young age. At that time, the former emperor and his mother were worried all day long due to Empress Dowager’s meddling in political affairs. Both Sir Tao and Madame Dou’s father were dead. At that time, I was so worried. For a general who had been defending the frontier for years, if there was no one to support him in the imperial court, it was easy to be set up by villains! Since ancient times, there have been few famous generals who made great contributions and had a good ending. Regrettably, most of them died even without knowing what was going on.”

“Empress Dowager Gu’s servants rushed to Beijiang secretly and asked me for permission. I agreed to marry Tianluan to the former emperor. I was not willing to see everything that my third brother and I worked so hard for come to nothing. I don’t want my children and grandchildren to live the way our three brothers lived. It was too much for us to expect enough food. If I wanted to read, my brother had to beg others with his knees down.”

Madame Tao stopped him and said, “You just came to yourself. Don’t talk too much.”

Marquess Qin said with a sigh, “Please let me finish. Both the alliance of Empress Dowager Gu through marriage and the later power struggle with her were out of self-protection. If it were known by the public, they would accuse me of having no sense of shame due to my refusal to acknowledge my ambition and power. But the truth is that from the beginning, our three brothers had always been hoping that our children would be blessed with food and happiness forever.”

“So, I was really disappointed to see our sons behave like that after Tianjiao died. I wish I could kill them by myself!”

Madame Tao was shocked and almost stood up!

Marquess Qin sighed and said, “But I didn’t speak for you in the end. That was the first time you made a complaint to me openly. You were used to suggesting me in an indirect way, and you would stop if I frowned. It was the only time that you forced me to listen to you. But I didn’t make it.”

“That was because I had changed my mind since then.”

“Why do I want the children in Jiang Family to live a better life? The reason is simple. I knew exactly my eldest brother was enslaved and called by his master like a pig or a dog. Also, in order to cover me in front of the battlefield, the third brother did not hesitate to stop me from getting wounded. I, myself, spared no efforts to make contributions in order to redeem my eldest brother. We three brothers can do whatever in need to benefit our future generations.”

“But on the other hand, how old was he when Tianjiao died? No sooner had he finished imperial examination in spring when the bad luck came. Right at the time, his brothers were delighted for Tianjiao’s death. For such descendants, how can I even have the slightest bit of impetus to struggle for them?”