120: Chapter 79: Bluffing_2 120: Chapter 79: Bluffing_2 The Jiang Family may have had vast wealth, but a young lady who was cruel and had a tarnished reputation, no one dared to marry her.
Yet to her surprise, Ji Shuran actually took the initiative to come to her.
Ji Shuran seemed to understand exactly what was on her mind, saying that she too was very reluctant to give up this marriage alliance and even more reluctant to lose such an in-law as the Marquis of Ningyuan.
After much deliberation, although Jiang Li was not suitable, the Jiang Family did not only have Jiang Li as a daughter.
The wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan was overjoyed; in her view, there was no better marital connection in Yanjing City than with the Jiang Family, and Jiang Youyao was only better and not worse than Jiang Li.
First, she was also Jiang Yuanbai’s legitimate daughter, and second, whether in terms of appearance, talent, or temperament, Jiang Youyao was satisfactory.
Later, Zhou Yanbang also came to see and had no objections to this marriage, so the wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan thought the matter was settled.
But soon after Jiang Li returned to the capital, Zhou Yanbang suddenly proposed such an absurd idea.
The wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan was startled; somehow, Ji Shuran found out that Zhou Yanbang wanted to call off the wedding.
Fearing that Ji Shuran would blame her, the wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan had no choice but to apologize in person and even had Lady Ji Chen speak on her behalf.
She reasoned with him emotionally and logically until Zhou Yanbang finally dropped this foolish idea.
The wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan, who understood her son’s character, knew all too well that Zhou Yanbang had not given up on this notion.
Both angry and anxious, the wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan feared that Zhou Yanbang would cause another disaster, so she decided to personally see what Jiang Li really looked like at today’s palace banquet.
She had not attended the previous two inspections, so she did not know how Jiang Li had made an impression.
Even though she had heard plenty of people praising Jiang Li’s performance at the Inspection Field, the wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan remained dismissive.
Now, she finally saw what this girl, who had mesmerized her son, looked like.
To be fair, Jiang Li’s eyes and eyebrows resembled Jiang Yuanbai’s, delicate and distinct, while her facial contours were more like Ye Zhenzhen’s, a kind of naive sturdiness.
However, her gaze, her smile, was neither as free-spirited as Jiang Yuanbai’s nor as simple and lively as Ye Zhenzhen.
That gentleness caught people off guard but also made it seem like she knew everything.
The wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan felt a sinking sensation in her heart; it was no surprise to her that Jiang Li could captivate Zhou Yanbang’s heart.
But she could not allow this to happen; if Zhou Yanbang could not let go, Jiang Li would eventually become an obstacle between Zhou Yanbang and Jiang Youyao.
If the marriage did not work out and they became enemies, it would be better not to have this marriage than to become true enemies with the Jiang Family.
The wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan just felt a headache coming on.
The others did not know what was on the mind of the wife of the Marquis of Ningyuan; they were just busy looking at the girls from the Jiang Family.
Jiang Youyao was charming and lovely, while Jiang Li appeared ethereal and unworldly.
The following Jiang Yue seemed too vulgar, and Jiang Yuyan was too plain, hardly attracting anyone’s attention.
Thus, the two legitimate daughters from the main branch of the Jiang Family each had their own merits; at least in appearance, they were closely matched and this became deeply rooted in people’s minds.
Once the female members of the Jiang Family arrived at the scene, due to their status, many people came over to greet them warmly.
Ji Shuran naturally sat with Lady Ji Chen.
Lady Lu sat with familiar ladies, and Lady Yang, having no close friends and no compliments to enjoy, had to sit next to Madam Jiang the Elder, together with Jiang Yue and Jiang Yuyan, looking somewhat left out.
Jiang Li went straight to Liu Xu.
She had only one friend she was familiar with; Liu Xu was already extremely bored on her own and was ecstatic when she saw her.
After Jiang Li had greeted Madam Liu, Liu Xu pulled Jiang Li aside and said, “I heard that the marriage between Zhou Yanbang and Jiang Youyao has been set?”
Jiang Li was momentarily surprised as she had not expected the news to spread so fast, but she smiled and nodded.
“It’s nothing.” Liu Xu struggled to find comforting words, and after a long while, she just patted her hand, saying, “There are countless better men than Zhou Yanbang in the capital, and the person you will find in the future will be ten thousand times better than him.
Honestly, being with Zhou Yanbang would be your loss.”
Jiang Li almost laughed out loud, sensing keenly that a gaze was assessing her.
She looked up involuntarily and was taken aback; the one staring at her was none other than her former sister-in-law, Shen Ruyun.
Shen Ruyun’s gaze was as cold and scrutinizing as ever, with a hint of disdain that left Jiang Li somewhat bewildered.
It reminded her of when she followed Shen Yurong on her first visit to the Shen family in Yanjing, Shen Ruyun had sat inside and regarded her with the same evaluative gaze as one might assess an object.
At that time, Jiang Li did not understand, but now she did; that gaze was pondering what use she could be, how much benefit she could bring to the Shen family.