Chapter 26

Chapter 26: The Bustle of Willow Spring Lane

By the time Jiang Jiang and Jiang Chao Sheng returned to Willow Spring Lane, it was already midday. The entire lane was in an uproar, and someone had even tied bright red ribbons at the entrance.

“Our Metropolitan Graduate Jiang is back!”

Before they could step inside, cheering rolled toward them like a wave. The ward head led a crowd beating gongs and drums, turning the narrow lane into a festival.

So the Ministry of Rites had already sent people ahead. They reached Willow Spring Lane first and announced the news that Jiang Chao Sheng had passed.

What a waste. Brother had missed his once-in-a-lifetime chance to show off in front of the neighbors.

Jiang Jiang sneaked a look at him. Jiang Chao Sheng just smiled, calm and gentle, greeting the left and right neighbors as if he’d been born for this moment.

Jiang Jiang raised an eyebrow, sped up, and slipped back into their courtyard first.

It was packed. People sat everywhere, and gifts were piled high across the yard.

“Jiang Jiang is back!”

“Jiang Jiang, where’s your brother?” Familiar faces and strangers alike called out, all grinning as if they were family.

Only then did Jiang Jiang notice her mother and father being surrounded in the center like the main act. And mixed into that crowd were several matchmakers.

Tsk.

Brother had become a prized commodity overnight.

So the saying was true. Ten years of hard study and nobody asked your name. Make it big once, and the whole world suddenly remembers your door.

Jiang Ping and Mu Wan Ling were smiling so hard their faces looked tired, and Jiang Jiang’s feelings tangled into a knot. Watching her parents this happy, she couldn’t deny it—Brother becoming a metropolitan graduate was a huge blessing for the Jiang family.

As for everything else…

Well. Let it come. She’d deal with it.

A living person didn’t get cornered to death by a full bladder. She had the plot in her hands—was she really going to get killed off by the storyline?

Worst case… worst case, she’d fight for a comeback.

A background extra turning the tables?

Fine. She’d plan it slowly, inch by inch.

“Jiang Jiang.”

A hand waved in front of her face. “Jiang Jiang, Jiang Jiang—wake up! Your soul just flew out!”

That voice was familiar. Jiang Jiang blinked and focused. There stood Li Er Shan, wearing a small leather cap and grinning like he’d just won a prize.

“Brother Er Shan, you’re here too.” Jiang Jiang glanced around the crowd. “Why are you alone?”

“My dad and my brother went out escorting a caravan. My mom went back to her parents’ home and hasn’t returned yet, so…” Li Er Shan scratched his cheek, embarrassed. “I came to your place to mooch a meal.”

Honestly, he’d picked the perfect day. The neighbors had brought the Jiang family all kinds of gifts—eggs, goose eggs, sausages, cured meat, and even a plump old hen.

Jiang Jiang waved her hand grandly. “What’s that between us? My brother and I used to eat at your place all the time. Besides, today is my brother’s big day. My dad will definitely throw a feast. You’re in for a treat.”

Now that their situation had changed—and now that she had her own little stash—she needed to think bigger. Wider. Like someone destined to become an official’s relative.

…

Willow Spring Lane stayed lively all day. By evening, the Jiang family set out a full banquet to treat the neighbors who came to congratulate them. Only when night deepened did everyone finally leave, dragging their feet like they didn’t want the fun to end.

“I… the Jiang family… the Jiang family finally produced a metropolitan graduate!” After the guests dispersed, Jiang Ping was still half-drunk, clinging to his wife’s hand like he feared the moment would vanish. His cloudy eyes glistened with tears.

For three generations, the Jiang family had been scholars. He himself had spent most of his life taking exams and still ended up only a provincial graduate.

In the end, he accepted his fate. He opened a private school and taught children from Outer City to read and write, praying that one day his students would shine in the spring exam.

But the person he had pinned his greatest hopes on had always been Jiang Chao Sheng.

His only son. The Jiang family’s hope.

And now… that hope had come true.

All day, Jiang Ping felt like he’d been walking through a dream. Even now, he was terrified he would wake up tomorrow and find it was all an illusion.

“Husband,” Mu Wan Ling said gently, supporting him, “you’ve had too much. Let’s rest. Tomorrow… tomorrow Chao Sheng still has to enter the palace for the Jade Grove Banquet.”

“The Jade Grove Banquet! Right, the Jade Grove Banquet!” Jiang Ping’s eyes lit up again.

That was a banquet held inside the palace. Compared to the Deer Call Banquet after the provincial exam, it was on a completely different level. Jiang Ping would never see that in his own lifetime, but—

But his son would.

“Chao Sheng, go rest! Rest early!” Jiang Ping urged, bleary-eyed. “Jiang Jiang, you too!”

The siblings stood and left obediently, but neither returned to their rooms.

Jiang Chao Sheng had also been drinking. With a faint haze still on him, he walked into the courtyard and looked up at the sky.

It was the fourth day of the month. In the vast dark, only a thin crescent moon hung like a hook.

“Brother, look!” Jiang Jiang came up behind him, voice bright. “Even the moon is smiling.”

That slim crescent really did look like the corner of a grin.

“Silly girl.” Jiang Chao Sheng snorted a laugh and ruffled her hair. “How could the moon smile? You lost the bet. Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Not at all.” Jiang Jiang turned her head, eyes sparkling. “I only lost ten taels. I’m going to be the number one female tycoon in all of Qing Yun Kingdom someday. What’s ten taels?”

Back then she had bet her “entire fortune” with her father. Now she had 1,510 taels—except 1,500 of them were banknotes she had borrowed from Chen Jin Ting. Debt didn’t count as assets. So her real “entire fortune” really had been ten taels.

Just ten taels. Losing was losing. She wasn’t heartbroken.

“Ha.” Jiang Chao Sheng burst out laughing. “Qing Yun Kingdom… number one… female tycoon.”

As his laughter faded, he looked from the moon down to his petite, stubborn sister. His tone softened. “Our Jiang Jiang has ambition. Work hard. When you’re rich enough to rival a nation, you have to support the whole family.”

“That’s nothing!” Jiang Jiang lifted her chin, then suddenly asked, “Brother… now that you’ve become a metropolitan graduate, what are you going to do next? What’s your life dream?”

Today, she finally understood what honor and rank meant in this world. For most people, it was the only ladder out of their station.

Was that what Brother wanted too—fame and fortune?

“Life dream?” Jiang Chao Sheng paused, then his eyes cleared as if the wind had blown away his drunkenness.

“My dream,” he said, voice steady, “is to follow Chancellor Gu’s footsteps, and make Qing Yun Kingdom prosperous and strong—calm seas, clear rivers, peace in the realm.”

His words drifted into the night with the breeze and landed in Jiang Jiang’s ears.