Chapter 317

Chapter 317: What Else Does She Want to Take

“Jin’er, when did you go out?” Xiao Qing Xuan had heard her daughter came back from the foot of the mountain in the middle of the night and was instantly worried.

Jiang Yu Chuan wasn’t on the mountain tonight. With the Earthly Ranking Conference about to begin, many restless forces were hiding in the shadows, ready to make trouble. As the Martial Alliance’s Second Master, he had to uphold order, keep everyone on the mountain safe, and make sure the conference could proceed smoothly.

Lin Jing Xuan hurried in and scolded her two sons without mercy: “You two are impossible! It’s one thing to be wild on your own-your hides are thick and no one worries about you. But how could you drag Jin’er into your nonsense?”

Jiang Si Ying came with her but didn’t speak. In her mind, Chen Xin Yue’s words echoed: “Big Sister, don’t think I’m petty, but Second Sister has been back for only two days and Second Brother and Fourth Brother already switched to her side. That day I even heard Fourth Brother say she’s his only sister! If this goes on, I’m afraid Big Brother and Third Brother will stand with her too. But you are the Martial Alliance’s cherished Eldest Miss!”

Jiang Si Ying knew she shouldn’t overthink it and could hear the baiting in that talk. But knowing it was bait didn’t stop the thoughts. Before Jiang Si Jin came back, she had been the only Eldest Miss of the Martial Alliance. There was also Chen Xin Yue, but Chen Xin Yue wasn’t Jiang blood. No one called her Second Miss; everyone just said “Miss Chen.” After Jiang Si Jin returned, all the gazes that had been on Jiang Si Ying shifted to Jiang Si Jin. Even her silly brothers acted like they’d been bought, their eyes full only of Second Sister, not their real sister.

Just then, her third brother said, warm and sincere: “Mom, we owe it to Second Sister this time. Without her getting there in time, Fourth Brother and I would be gone.”

Jiang Liu Shuang, who usually only flirted and never respected women, actually smiled when he spoke. His tone was full of gratitude, and in his eyes there was admiration-and a heat hard to ignore.

Jiang Si Ying couldn’t name that heat, but it made her very uncomfortable. [Even Third Brother…]

Chen Xin Yue, arriving late, asked with innocent curiosity: “Third Brother, what happened? Weren’t you out hunting today? I remember Sister was still on the mountain at dusk, so how did she happen to come back with you from outside?”

Her gaze was clear, her face purely curious. But her words nudged the room toward an ugly guess-if Yu Zhi Yi was on the mountain at dusk, how could she know there was danger supposed to appear in another county, and just happen to show up?

Jiang Si Ying frowned, and suspicion crept into her eyes.

Xiao Qing Xuan held Yu Zhi Yi’s hand: “My Jin’er has abilities. She calculated yesterday that Third Brother would face danger today. Of course she went to help.”

Lin Jing Xuan shot her sons a look. She didn’t know the details and didn’t take Chen Xin Yue’s hint, but simply asked: “What exactly happened?”

Jiang Liu Shuang told the story of meeting a ghost in a brothel.

Jiang Liu Bin added without hesitation and cut his third brother off at the knees: “Mom, you don’t know how overboard Third Brother was-he took me to a brothel! I almost lost my good name today because of him.”

Jiang Liu Shuang stared at his foolish brother in disbelief. [Your brother carried you like treasure, and you kick him into the ditch? Was I hurting you? I was letting you see the world early!]

He didn’t get a chance to explain-his mother had already started in on him. As the wife of the Martial Alliance Leader, Lin Jing Xuan wasn’t some delicate lady of the inner court. She was a Martial World heroine who could heft an iron hammer and hammer people.

So everyone saw the once-dashing Third Young Master Jiang chased in circles by his own mother, getting a kick on the backside now and then, none of his charm left at all.

“Mom! Mom, I know I was wrong! I’ll never go to a brothel again!” he yelped.

“Sister, save me!” he cried, darting behind Yu Zhi Yi. The tall, six-foot man hunched behind the much shorter girl like a pitiful quail.

Yu Zhi Yi: “…” [No one told me Third Young Master was like this.]

With her silly son hiding behind her niece, Lin Jing Xuan felt awkward hitting him again. Hands on her hips, she snapped: “Stinky brat, come out!”

“I won’t!” said Jiang Liu Shuang.

Yu Zhi Yi stepped in to smooth things over: “Big Aunt, we can’t blame Third Brother for everything. That female ghost came from a brothel and was very good at confusing people’s hearts. She amplified Third Brother’s desire, so he lost his head and took Fourth Brother there.”

Jiang Liu Shuang brightened: “See, Mom? Under normal circumstances I’d never do something as dumb as taking Fourth Brother to a brothel!”

Lin Jing Xuan had only wanted to teach her foolish son a lesson; she truly couldn’t understand why someone would take his underage brother to that kind of place. Now that she knew he’d been bewitched, half her anger cooled. The other half came from his bad habit of lingering in red-light places. The Martial World is freer than the Imperial Court and cares less about reputation. Some even think a “romantic” name sounds good. But what good family’s daughter would like a man like that? If not for this bad habit, he wouldn’t be his age and still unmarried. The moment matchmakers brought up his name, those young ladies would run as far as they could and refuse at once.

Of course, she didn’t say any of that out loud to soil her niece’s ears.

“In any case, thank you for tonight,” Lin Jing Xuan said, handing the iron hammer to a servant and thanking Yu Zhi Yi from the heart. “If not for you, the two of them would be dead.” Even the strongest Martial World experts aren’t a match for a female ghost. She didn’t dare imagine what her sons would look like if Yu Zhi Yi hadn’t rushed over tonight. She couldn’t bear the pain of losing them.

“No need to thank me,” said Yu Zhi Yi.

She simply didn’t want her own father to feel the pain of losing kin.

“How could we not thank you?” Lin Jing Xuan clasped Yu Zhi Yi’s hand. “Child, you’re too modest.”

Chen Xin Yue leaned close to Jiang Si Ying and whispered: “Sister, Big Aunt really likes Second Sister.”

Already upset about her brothers “switching sides,” Jiang Si Ying felt that discomfort flood and multiply. [She’s already taken my two brothers-now she wants to take my mother too? What else does she want to take? My father? Will she only stop if I hand over the Eldest Miss position to her?]