The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort (Chapters 1- 203)

Chapter 199 : Xiao Shao Gets Angry

The crowd was silent for several seconds before someone suddenly applauded and shouted, "Good! You are truly a man!"

"Such speed! To protect his own meimei like this is worthy of Great Jin's 'God of War'!"

Jiang Xin Zhi already had an excellent reputation among the common people. Now, with these words, his candid and straightforward expression, and his action of protecting his younger sister from being wronged, he won whole-hearted praise from everyone present. One might say that Jiang Ruan's recent actions were a tad excessive, but it was totally different when Jiang Xin Zhi did it. Everyone felt that this Jiang fu could not possibly be such an innocent place if it caused the upright, noble 'God of War' to be this disgusted. One feared that there must indeed have been intolerable bullying.

Jiang Quan was almost completely crushed by Jiang Xin Zhi's behaviour. He looked at the tall, strapping young man before him; the young child in his memories who had meekly sought his favour was gone. The Jiang Xin Zhi of the present fully displayed his spirit and talent; even in his position as a court councillor, he was awed by Jiang Xin Zhi's fame and military glory. However, this brother-sister pair had joined hands to deal with him, which was an affront to Jiang Quan's scruples. With one hand on his chest, panting deeply, he pointed at Jiang Xin Zhi and said, "Unfilial[4] . . . . Disgraceful. Rebellious!"

[4] 大逆不道 (dàn bù dào) – disgraceful (of behaviour that is unfilial, rebellious or otherwise in grave breach of the norms of society).

Disdain flickered across Jiang Xin Zhi's face. With a father like this, it would be better not to have one. He had never fulfilled his responsibilities as a father for even a single day from the time Jiang Xin Zhi had been born. To the three of them– mother and children– he had only given endless humiliation and pain, and now, he even wanted to gain the upper hand over Jiang Ruan using 'filial piety'. Jiang Xin Zhi only cared about his meimei, who had been compelled to the extreme of unfaltering self-mutilation in order to sever her ties with the Jiang fu. Since Jiang Ruan wanted to do this, how could he not agree?

Jiang Ruan frowned. She never imagined that Jiang Xin Zhi would come here, but also there was nothing wrong with what he had done. However, as he was a military General, what he had done today would inevitably become the topic of debate among his colleagues in the imperial court in future. If someone deliberately began looking for situations where Jiang Xin Zhi was skating on thin ice, they might make use of this opportunity to bring him down. Pondering over this, she could not help but blame herself somewhat. She should have found some excuse to conceal this from him; she had not thought that the news of the situation would leak out so quickly.

As she was thinking, Xiao Shao gently patted her hand. Jiang Ruan lifted her head to look at him as he walked forward unhurriedly. He was entirely clad in black while she was wearing dark red clothes, but they did not seem incompatible at all. The black and red combined to give an air of beautiful grandeur which was cold and aloof at the same time. Jiang Quan did not want to confront him head-on, but he could not let such insulting behaviour pass. In an ill-mannered voice, he said, "Xiao Wangye has come to criticize this old official? This old official is merely disciplining his own children, there is no need for Xiao Wangye to trouble himself over such family affairs."

"Ah Ruan is my wife." Xiao Shao appeared not to have heard Jiang Quan as he continued dispassionately, "Husband and wife are of one body. If she wants to return Minister Jiang's blood, this person will also do so on her behalf." Having said so, he slid an exquisite dagger from his sleeve, turned it around in his hand, then drew it across the back of his hand lightly.

Jiang Ruan's words caught in her throat. While it was true that Xiao Shao did this for her, more than that, it also put a stop to any possibility that someone in future might use this situation to discredit Jiang Xin Zhi. With Jinying Wang present, Jiang Xin Zhi would not be the first person that people would attack. At the very least, people would not first think of the siblings' aggressive behaviour.