Chapter Thirty-Six

"You intend to kill her mother; what respect do you expect her to show you?!"

Jiang Ping whirled around and struck Madam Qiao across the face with his sleeve.

For a moment, Madam Qiao was stunned, as if that single blow had shattered the dignity she held as a daughter of the Qiao family. She stood motionless, staring at the man before her.

Jiang Ping’s gaze was cold, sharp as a blade. "You should have seen the methods she used against your sister-in-law. If you had, you would understand that her merely calling you 'mother' is already a concession made out of respect for me, her father!"

"Furthermore, you were outmaneuvered by a girl who has seen nothing of the world, and yet you have the gall to come to me and complain? It seems you want me, Jiang Ping, to remain forever beneath the thumb of the Qiao family, never to rise."

Recovering from her shock, Madam Qiao retorted indignantly, "How could you possibly think that was my intention?"

"Then why did you treat my words as if they were wind passing by your ears? You are Jiang’s Madam Qiao, not Qiao’s Madam Jiang!"

Jiang Yu, witnessing her father’s fury, felt her thoughts stall for a moment. She could not recall ever seeing her father truly angry throughout her childhood. Yet, when he was angry, she found him even more terrifying than her mother; there was a madness in him that unnerved her.

Madam Qiao felt the same. Seeing the wrath etched into Jiang Ping’s brow, the frantic heat in her heart rapidly cooled.

He had called her "Jiang’s Madam Qiao"...

Yes. He was angry because she had defied his decisions, not because Jiang Nian held any true importance to him. With his recent appointment to the Ministry of Personnel, Jiang Ping’s presence had undergone a qualitative shift. Madam Qiao sensed clearly that this man was slipping beyond her control and out from under the protection of the Qiao family—his own wings were finally strong.

No ambitious man would ever be content to live under the constraints of another. He might repay the past help of his wife’s family in other ways, but it would never be through subservience or blind obedience.

Born into a great clan, once Madam Qiao realized her husband’s transformation, the instincts carved into her bones immediately dictated her response.

"You are right; I was mistaken. She is the one destined to bring glory to the Jiang family. As her legal mother, how could I not be tolerant of a little bit of willfulness?"

Jiang Ping stared at her for a long time, seemingly placated by her attitude, the fury in his eyes gradually receding. "You had better truly mean that."

He had seen with his own eyes how Jiang Nian had occupied the moral high ground to ruin her second aunt, and from that moment on, he had begun to look at his eldest daughter with new eyes.

"Nian’er is a sensible child, and she has a mind of her own. She is decisive and cold-blooded—that is the only way she will make something of herself in the palace. Or do you think Yu’er is capable of such a burden?"

Madam Qiao’s pupils trembled. It was as if something icy had burrowed into her body, and a chill began to spread. She had always believed that Jiang Ping wanted to bring Jiang Nian back simply to make use of a discarded tool. But from his words just now, it seemed he only wanted to bring Jiang Nian back to test her because their daughter, Jiang Yu, was incapable of such a heavy task.

Conversely, if Yu’er possessed the same cold and ruthless nature as Jiang Nian, would he have sent their own daughter into the palace to serve as a concubine to an emperor over fifty years old?

Jiang Yu realized this as well, and cold sweat trickled down her forehead. Compared to Jiang Nian, did her father truly love her more?

Suppressing the chill in her bones, Madam Qiao spoke, "My husband is right; I understand now."

Hearing this, Jiang Ping’s demeanor softened. "Ah Rong, you really needn't concern yourself with such trivialities. We have been husband and wife for over a decade, living side by side; you should know that my feelings for you and our daughter far exceed those I have for anyone else."

Madam Qiao offered a graceful smile, as if she were not the same woman who had been furious over Jiang Nian only moments before. Her words carried a long-absent, gentle sweetness. "That goes without saying; I have never doubted it."

Jiang Ping returned a reassuring smile and turned to Jiang Yu. "And as for you, Yu’er, Father does not need you to have a deep or calculating mind. You are the daughter I love and cherish most. In the future, you will surely marry a man after your own heart. Father will never allow you to suffer the slightest grievance; you only need to be happy. There is no need to overthink."

Jiang Yu was surprised by her mother’s sudden compromise. Stunned for a moment by her father’s words, she nodded. "Father, Yu’er understands..."

Jiang Ping’s tone softened further. "Keep your mother company; I must go see your grandmother."

Jiang Yu quickly agreed. As the mother and daughter saw him out of the courtyard, their expressions darkened.

"Mother, does Father... truly not need me to do anything, or is he... disappointed that I am useless?"

Madam Qiao took a deep breath. Jiang Nian now represented much more than just an annoying daughter from a first marriage. Jiang Ping’s use of the term "Jiang’s Madam Qiao" had jolted her awake.

When it came to her husband’s future and the interests of their family, she could no longer be willful or hold him back. At the very least, on the surface, she had to offer him unconditional support.

"Yu’er, it is a blessing that Jiang Nian can serve as a tool in your father’s hands. You are his daughter, but Jiang Nian represents power. To insist on competing with power is only inviting misery upon yourself."

Jiang Yu’s expression shifted. Madam Qiao’s gaze remained cold as she looked at her.

"Chasing an illusory answer will bring us no benefit. You do not need to debate who is stronger or weaker between you and Jiang Nian. We only need to destroy her, to render her useless, and your father will naturally cease to value her."

Jiang Yu bit her lip. Her mother was right, but was she really weaker than Jiang Nian? Did her father and mother both think she was inferior?

"Father protects her at every turn. He has already warned us; if he finds we continue to defy his wishes and target Jiang Nian, he will surely be furious."

"As I said, once Jiang Nian is ruined, your father’s regard for her will vanish. Even if he is angry with you and me, it will only be temporary. We are the family that lives by his side day and night, are we not?"

Jiang Yu nodded. "Mother is right, but how can we dispose of Jiang Nian as quickly as possible?"

After today’s events, she felt a profound sense of crisis. Her mother’s reputation had nearly been ruined, and they had lost Nanny Zhao! Coupled with the incidents involving Chunfen and Dongzhi, Jiang Yu was incredibly restless.

"That girl has something sinister about her. She is nothing like the person your second aunt described. Yet, your second aunt would not dare lie to me. The only explanation is that this girl has been hiding her true self, waiting for an opportunity to turn the tables."

Thinking of the eerie demeanor Jiang Nian had displayed earlier, goosebumps rose uncontrollably on Madam Qiao’s skin. It was that same feeling she sensed in Jiang Ping and the Old Madam. The Jiang family was always prone to producing obsessive madmen.

"I underestimated her before, which is why she caught me off guard, but that ends now!" Madam Qiao gave a cold smile. "She joined forces with the third branch to target me; I will make them taste the bitterness of a backlash!"