Chapter 373 Denying it to the End

Chapter 373 Denying it to the End

Xie Wanniang never intended to talk to a feudal emperor about "equality for all" or "your son's life is life, and so is someone else's son's life." Progress in thought and changes in the times were not things she could quickly promote on her own.

All she could do was ensure that her family did not cause any trouble and give the Crown Prince's brothers no opportunity to take advantage of her.

Only by quickly completing the transfer of power can fewer people die.

With this in mind, Xie Wanniang became increasingly cautious, constantly making small moves, just waiting for them to take the bait so she could find something to hold against them or exploit their weaknesses. She tried several times but failed. She felt that she and Jiang Yuan were like two solid iron balls, impossible to manipulate no matter how hard she tried.

***

Because of Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan's warm invitation, Wang Xiaozhi and her party stayed in the capital until the sixth day of the second month of the following year.

During this period, Jiang Tong and Han not only tried to visit him in person, but also attempted to ambush him on the way after their invitations were rejected.

They wanted to meet Hao Yu and the others, hoping to find a breakthrough through them.

Hao Yu is the link between them and Jiang Yuan. As long as Hao Yu changes her story, they will have the strongest witness.

Wang Xiaozhi is Jiang Yuan's nominal older sister. If anyone in this world knows anything special about Jiang Yuan, then it is only she and Xie Wanniang who are most likely to know.

After all, she and Jiang Yuan had lived together as siblings for more than ten years. Jiang Tong and Han Shi thought that perhaps Wang Xiaozhi's parents had unintentionally mentioned something about this when they were young.

Previously, Wang Xiaozhi and Hao Yu both stayed in Baoding Prefecture, which was an important border town. Not only did the Chang family father and son keep a close watch on them, but even the emperor was very wary of his officials getting involved.

But things are different now; Wang Xiaozhi's family and Hao Yu's family have both come to Beijing.

Jiang Tong felt that even if Wang Xiaozhi and Hao Yu remained unmoved, their respective families would surely provide him with an opportunity to take advantage of them.

He didn't believe that after experiencing the prosperity and convenience of the capital, they would be willing to return to an inconspicuous little village in a remote place like Baoding Prefecture.

And whenever they ask for something, he can take the opportunity to exchange it for something he wants.

Chiang Kai-shek was full of confidence, but unfortunately, Wang Xiaozhi and others never acted alone.

Every time they went out, Xie Wanniang herself, or the guards and servants she assigned, would always be with them.

Xie Wanniang's original intention was to prevent Wang Xiaozhi and others from being targeted by the henchmen of other princes, but unexpectedly, this arrangement first took effect on Jiang Tong.

Jiang Tong's men kept watch over the Jiang residence for many days, but ultimately returned empty-handed.

Jiang Tong had no choice but to personally take action, risking his reputation to block people on the street.

What he didn't know was that Hao Yu was just waiting for him to come to her so that she could help Jiang Yuan vent his anger from back then.

He and Han sent invitations, sent people to keep watch outside the mansion, and even followed the cars leaving their mansion. Xie Wanniang did not hide any of these things from Hao Yu and the others.

Hao Yu knew these things, so he wasn't surprised that Jiang Tong ambushed him on the way.

However, he did not give others cause for criticism in public, but instead maintained a unified story with Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Tong immediately tried to get close to him, warmly calling him cousin, but Hao Yu directly replied, "Who are you? I don't know you."

He looked at Jiang Tong with a blank expression, "May I ask who you are?"

Jiang Tong had a bad feeling. "I'm your cousin-in-law, Jiang Tong. Don't you remember me? We met a few years ago."

He was referring to the time when Hao Yu came to his door, reminding him and Han to bring Jiang Yuan home.

From Hao Yu's feigned ignorance of him, Jiang Tong realized that Hao Yu had changed her mind.

In the past, Hao Yu hoped that they would acknowledge Jiang Yuan and give him the love of parents and the treatment he deserved. But now, Hao Yu, like Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang, has no desire to have anything to do with the Jiang family anymore.

This is very bad.

Given that his previous attempts with a more moderate approach had all ended in failure, Jiang Tong decided to take the opposite approach this time.

Instead of trying to express his hypocritical "fatherly love," he planned to provoke Hao Yu in public, so that Hao Yu would subconsciously choose to argue with him about who was right and who was wrong because she was angry.

Jiang Tong has now given up on concealing his profit-driven nature. Since the feigned kinship cannot deceive Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang into obediently accepting their ancestral ties, he might as well make his father-son relationship with Jiang Yuan official.

Indeed, a harmonious parent-child relationship would be more conducive to him extracting personal value from Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang. However, after repeated setbacks in his attempts to appease them, he had no choice but to settle for a less pleasant way of getting involved with Jiang Yuan.

Ultimately, the world they live in still emphasizes the hierarchical relationships between rulers and subjects, fathers and sons. So what if they, as a couple, owe Jiang Yuan something? They have a natural advantage in terms of social status.

As long as he can confirm his father-son relationship with Jiang Yuan, he can use public opinion and traditional ethics to force Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang to acknowledge their ancestors and return to their ancestral home, even if they are unwilling.

Once they are forced to acknowledge their ancestors and return to the Jiang family, they will be completely bound to the Jiang family. At that time, even if Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang are unwilling, they will have to give him benefits and be at his beck and call for the common interests of themselves and the Jiang family.

And what about his good-for-nothing sons? As the eldest brother and sister-in-law, Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang couldn't possibly enjoy wealth and luxury while watching their own brothers starve, could they?

Even if he doesn't say anything, there will be plenty of people in the court who will use this as leverage to attack Jiang Yuan.

In this way, even if Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang are considering their own reputation, they will inevitably have to shoulder all the responsibilities of the Jiang family in the future.

Jiang Tong had a grand plan in mind, but Hao Yu, who was well-prepared, didn't take the bait at all.

He really wanted to point his finger at Jiang Tong and his wife and yell at them, "If you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?" But he also knew very well that if he said that, Jiang Tong would have solid evidence that he and Jiang Yuan were father and son.

Although Hao Yu was angry, she was not so irrational as to personally dig a pit for Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang.

Besides, it's actually quite amusing and satisfying to see him stubbornly deny it, put on an innocent and confused face, and forcefully suppress a laugh while watching Jiang Tong jump up and down in a fit of rage.

With that in mind, Hao Yu became even more enthusiastic about acting.

No matter how much Jiang Tong tried to provoke him, he remained completely bewildered and innocent.

Jiang Tong's plan to provoke him ended in failure, and when he tried to lower himself and plead softly, Hao Yu wouldn't even listen.

He closed the car window and immediately told the guards to leave.

The guards then escorted the carriage away, giving Jiang Tong no further chance to approach or speak.

Jiang Tong was thrown into the street, where he, along with his guards and servants, endured the pointing fingers and whispers of the onlookers.

These onlookers, who were originally considered witnesses by Jiang Tong, did indeed become witnesses at this time, but not for the fact that "Jiang Tong and Jiang Yuan are father and son." Instead, they were witnesses for the fact that "Jiang Tong has gone mad, grabbing anyone on the street and claiming that person is his relative, and even taking away his son."

Through their conversation, the onlookers learned that Hao Yu was Jiang Yuan's master and a guest of him and Xie Wanniang.

This news reminded a small group of people of the day Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang entered the city, when someone cried out for Jiang Yuan to "go back to the mansion" with him.

With their embellished accounts, the story quickly spawned several different versions.

Some say that Jiang Tong's reason for adopting a son was that his own sons were all useless, and he was unwilling to see his vast family fortune go to waste because no one would inherit it. He also learned that Jiang Yuan was an orphan without parents, so he decided to adopt a son to support his family.

Some say that Jiang Tong did indeed have a son who had been living away from home, but that son only thought of Jiang Yuan as an ordinary person and not as promising as him. He disliked that Jiang Yuan could not bring glory and benefits to the Jiang family, so he wanted to make the best of a bad situation and have Jiang Yuan, who was also an orphan, recognized and brought back to the Jiang family.

Some people say that Jiang Tong saw the emperor's favor in Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang, which could help him go further in his official career. At the very least, it could allow him to regain real power, which is why he went to great lengths to get involved with Jiang Yuan.

In any case, no one has said that Jiang Yuan is actually Jiang Tong's biological son.

The main point is that it's simply unimaginable for ordinary people to think that there are parents in this world who are completely unaware of the physical characteristics of their own children.

If they could point out any one thing, even just that Jiang Yuan has a mole somewhere on his body, public opinion would lean more towards the direction Jiang Tong dreams of.

But every time they just talk the talk, they immediately back down when asked for evidence. This attitude makes it hard to believe that they are really Jiang Yuan's biological parents.

However, the second and third princes, having far more information than ordinary people, almost immediately concluded that Jiang Tong must be Jiang Yuan's biological father.

Not acknowledging his biological parents was a huge weakness that they could use to their advantage, but Jiang Tong and his wife were utterly useless; they managed to make even the most undeniable facts seem like they were slandering Jiang Yuan.

The second prince smashed the teacup again, yelling, "What a useless piece of trash! No wonder Father Emperor looks down on him!"

The reason why the emperor disliked Jiang Tong was well known to almost everyone of any standing in the capital—he lacked ability but had a long reach, repeatedly teetering on the edge of the emperor's tolerance.

In the past, the Second Prince would never have considered using Jiang Tong in this way.

At that time, Jiang Yuan was a military officer guarding the border, in a place where the emperor would never allow anyone else to act recklessly.

But things are different now; Jiang Yuan has been transferred back to the capital.

He is no longer a border guard, but has transformed into the prince's lackey.

Although the emperor did his best to ensure the crown prince's ascension to the throne and suppressed these illegitimate princes, the second prince believed that he could not back down on this matter.

He used to be willing to go along with the emperor's wishes because he wanted to please the emperor and thus accumulate leverage for his own ascension to the throne.

Since no matter how carefully he tried to please the emperor, the emperor was determined to pass the throne to his eldest son, why should he continue to be cautious and pretend to be a filial son?

Regardless of whether Jiang Yuan was appointed by the emperor or not, since he has sided with the crown prince, he is now the second prince's enemy.

The Second Prince would not give up if he had the chance to deal with him.

However, before he could figure out how to use Jiang Yuan's background, Jiang Tong's incompetence and stupidity had already blocked all his possibilities of using it to deal with Jiang Yuan.

The third prince was more composed than his second brother. Although he regretted that he couldn't use such a ready-made handle against Jiang Yuan, he still remained calm and collected as always.

Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan were completely unaware of the two princes' reactions. They only heard from Hao Yu that Jiang Tong had ambushed him on the way, deliberately provoking him by stepping on his sore spot.

Hao Yu even considered retiring because of this and planned to take his wife and children back to Baoding Prefecture.

Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao didn't understand any of this. All four of their eyes turned to Xie Wanniang, waiting for her to make a decision.

Xie Wanniang smiled and reassured the four of them, "Uncle Hao, Aunt Hao, Sister Hao, and Brother-in-law, don't worry about it. Don't let this little thing affect your mood."

She lowered her voice, "That man has been rejected by His Majesty and is now just a wealthy idler with a title. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so eager to have A Yuan acknowledge his ancestors."

“He has no evidence, and we vehemently deny it. No matter how much he schemes, his schemes will not fall on us.”

"As for the struggle for the throne, His Majesty is currently only laying the groundwork for abdication, and it is still a long way from the point where the struggle will reach its climax."

After being comforted by her, Hao Yu and the others finally gave up the idea of ​​going back early.

As planned, the group stayed in the capital until early February.

Although the weather had not yet fully warmed up, considering that they would be busy with spring plowing in March, Hao Yu and others chose to set off for their hometown in early February.

The group returned laden with gifts, including many from Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang, as well as from Chen Lizheng, Doctor Chen, Atai, Xiaomei, and others. They also brought back a number of valuable books that Xie Wanniang had asked others to help them find.

Just like when they came, Xie Wanniang also sent a guard team to escort them back.

Incidentally, she also had these guards deliver a lot of things to the Marquis of Dingbei's residence and the Xie clan.

Along with the items, she also sent a handwritten letter from Jiang Yuan.

Although the two were in the capital, they always missed their relatives and friends who remained in Baoding.

Although due to the special circumstances they could not have too close contact with the Marquis of Dingbei's residence, sending a letter and some gifts as an afterthought was not considered inappropriate by others.

Of course, it's not that no one is willing to forcefully label them, but these labels can't be slapped on their heads just because someone else has mouths; even the emperor has eyes.