Chapter 71.1 - The Spring Scenery in the Ancestral Hall (Part I) (2/2)

Inwardly, Xia Cheng felt helpless. However, His Highness, the Crown Prince was exactly this sort of master that conducted himself insolently and from the start, it was absolutely out of the question to reason with him. Thus, he simply glared at Jiang Su Su as he gave a forceful feigned smile, “Then, I’ll be showing something unseemly to His Highness.”

Being glared at by Xia Cheng, Jiang Su Su felt somewhat guilty. Still, after thinking about what would be happening soon, she could not resist feeling somewhat excited. She had initially not thought that she might bump into Xuan Li and Xiao Shao in the Xia fu today and to even have the Crown Prince present. Now that these three people had come, this was the most opportune time to witness Jiang Ruan’s wretched appearance. Once Jiang Ruan’s unsightly appearance had been seen by foreign men, based on Jiang Quan’s temper, he would definitely have Jiang Ruan drowned in a pool. In Jiang Su Su’s eyes, there was a flash of slight laughter. Jiang Ruan, you will be bringing along a slutty, wretched reputation to your death!

The ancestral hall was not far from the garden and one could see only one young manservant guarding at the door at this moment. Seeing Xia Cheng and the other people coming behind him, he had been frightened until his legs were weak. Seeing this young manservant who usually served beside Xia Jun, standing in front of the hall, Xia Cheng was at first stunned but he soon understood.

What kind of person was Xia Cheng to have obtained this position; at first, this was something that made people ponder over carefully . Becoming seasoned after many years in officialdom upon seeing Xia Jun’s young manservant, he seemed to have guessed what would be happening very soon. With another look at Jiang Su Su’s gaze, there was not anything else that he could have mistaken this situation for. For Jiang Su Su to want revenge on Jiang Ruan was fine, however, she could not drag his only grandson into this matter. If something really happened today, then Jiang Ruan would be ruined. Yet, if this matter about Xia Jun doing this sort of thing in the ancestral hall was spread outside, then would this not be a damage to her(JSS’s) own reputation too? Were it not for the presence of outsiders currently, then he truly would be itching to slap Jiang Su Su twice firmly on the face before letting the matter drop. He had at first thought that this granddaughter of his was intelligent and with just her talent and appearance alone, she would be able to help the Xia family build up a connection. Now that he was truly seeing her before him, he found that she was yet another dunce with a short-sighted vision, truly stupid beyond belief!

Xia Cheng had yet to think of a good way to lead these few people away when Jiang Su Su suddenly cried out in alarm, “Aren’t you a servant of biaoge, why are you here?”

On hearing this, Xuan Li and Xiao Shao’s eyes flashed faintly and the two people looked towards the young manservant at the same time. Seeing Xia Cheng, the young manservant had already begun to uncontrollable shake in his heart. With how long his own young master took and had yet to appear, and now that the lord had come, he unclearly stammered, “This servant… this servant…”

Jiang Su Su frowned and did not wait for him to finish his words; without consulting anyone, she stepped forward to push open the door, “You are behaving very strangely, it couldn’t be that something has happened to Da Jiejie right?”

Immediately after the doors of the ancestral hall had been opened, a burst of thought-provoking fragrance assailed everyone’s senses. The air was filled with an indescribable rare fragrance and as one inhaled it in, one felt a sort of drying sensation at the throat. Apart from this, there was a sort of fishy smell that made one feel disgusted. As Jiang Su Su stepped forward a few steps, she suddenly let out a sound of “ah!”. Alarmed and frightened, she then hurried out of the door.

She seemed to have suffered from a huge shock as her shoulders trembled at once. When she ran out, she just happened to bump into Xuan Li. He reached out to support her as Jiang Su Su lay limply against him.

Xuan Li gently called out, “Miss Jiang?”

In his arms, Jiang Su Su then raised her head as her eyes were welling up in tears. Her entire body was shivering faintly, “Da Jiejie… Da Jiejie, she…”

Xia Cheng’s heart sunk, the Crown Prince had already been stirred up entirely in curiosity by Jiang Su Su’s actions and directly strode across the ancestral hall’s door. Having opened the doors of the ancestral hall a little wider, suddenly, the scene inside the ancestral hall fell before the eyes of the people at present.

Yet, it was an extremely alluring tableau.

On the ground, there was a pair of a man and woman sentimentally intertwined and were maintaining themselves in such a becoming position. They were actually entirely naked from tip to toe. The woman’s long hair was messy and the man had drawn her into an embrace on his chest. Spots of murky dark red traces were on the female’s body and with her back facing everyone, it was very clear that the night before had been rather wild.

Jiang Su Su appeared to be extremely frightened, ashamed and embarrassed and regardless, she had hidden her head into Xuan Li’s arms. Cooly, Xuan Li’s brows slightly frowned yet he still reached out a hand to warmly pat her on the shoulders.

In front of so many people present, Xia Cheng could no longer mask this situation and at once, he yelled in anger, “Preposterous!”

To have done such a sordid and filthy thing in his own fu’s ancestral hall and to even be seen by the finest esteemed and honourable nobility in this capital, even if he did not feel any sense of embarrassment, he too could not help but feel like he had no prestige left.

“Da Jiejie, how could she have… with biaoge?” Jiang Su Su spoke in doubt and fright as she hid in Xuan Li’s arms, “This is the ancestral hall!”

Xia Cheng ruthlessly stared at Jiang Su Su now that his own plans had been entirely thrown into disorder. This granddaughter of his, she did not have the ability to do anything right and yet had more than enough faults to bring about a disaster!

“Unfilial son! Unfilial son!” Xia Cheng was infuriated as he angrily pointed at the man and woman in the ancestral hall, “To think that my Xia fu has raised you for more than ten years and for you to actually not cherish one’s good name like this! To have done such a filthy and sordid thing in the ancestral hall, where has the sense of honour, propriety, justice and integrity that I have taught you gone to? To have no one teaching and becoming this uncultured! In the days ahead, how can the Xia fu rely on you to bring honour to our family!”

Repeating himself over and over again, he seemed to be finding fault with Xia Jun, but what he had implied inwardly and outwardly with his words were all about Jiang Ruan who had no sense to cherish her own reputation and ridiculing her for having no mother to teach her and thus, had this sort of wretched moral character. He had pinned all of the wrongdoings onto Jiang Ruan as the ways of this world had always been particularly more harsh on women. Raising his head to survey the expressions of everyone present, Xia Cheng knew that Xuan Li would still aid the Xia fu. However, he was unsure about Xiao Shao and the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince was somewhat curious and rather teasingly remarked, “This is actually a first for bengong to see such a spring scenery in an ancestral hall. Old Marquis Xia’s fu has truly gone above and beyond, this is too amusing.”

While they had been speaking, the man and woman on the floor had yet to awaken. With a wholly unconcerned and careless posture whilst lying on the floor, the aforementioned gentleman who was naked from head to toe was taken into measure. Jiang Su Su could not resist but remark, “Da Jiejie appears to have lost consciousness, why hasn’t she awakened yet? Hu Die, go and find a set of clothes for Da Jiejie and have her brought back to the house.”

Accepting her orders, Hu Die left and Jiang Su Su ignored Xia Cheng’s knife-like gaze and murmured softly, “This matter, I hope that Your Highnesses will not spread this out. In any case, my elder sister is also a well-bred young lady from a prestigious family too. As for now, she has yet to marry, if this was found out, then her life would be ruined.”

These words were clearly spoken in consideration for Jiang Ruan, yet it also reminded everyone present that Jiang Ruan was a young girl that had yet to reach a marriageable age[2]. However, at such a young age, she had already done such sordid acts, it truly was something that made one extremely disgusted with her.

[2] Jí jī (及笄) – This refers to a young girl’s 15th birthday as in Ancient China’s customs, a young girl becomes a marriageable young lady at the age of 15 where they are conferred a coming-of-age ceremony where they will have someone of noble status and importance to help them put on a hairpin to signify their marriageable status. A fun fact: young ladies below the age of 15 aren’t allowed to use pins at all, they can only use ribbons or have their hair let down.