Chapter 126 – Incredible, My Kid (Part 5)
System: “So, you plan to trade Meng Liang’s life for the loyalty of the Colonel? Did you even ask Meng Liang how he feels about this?”
Jiang Pengji scoffed and retorted, “Do I really need to consult a death row inmate who has been stripped of all personal rights?”
System: “…You’re aiming for the heavens, aren’t you?!”
Jiang Pengji chuckled and rolled her eyes. “I’ve never even touched the ground up there.”
System: “…”
Can you be any more shameless?
It wasn’t just the system thinking Jiang Pengji was aiming too high; even Liu Zhi thought the same.
Shouldn’t a normal person, at a time like this, be figuring out how to get rid of the hot potato that is Meng Liang or at least prepare for perfect protection to avoid retaliation that could harm their entire family because of him?
But her?
Her first reaction was to use Meng Liang to win others over!
Could this be the reason she would eventually become the founding ancestor of Jiang Zhao and all her rivals would end up dead or permanently imprisoned, with hardly anyone able to die peacefully?
Honestly, for the first time, Liu Zhi felt an enormous pressure on his shoulders.
“Does Father disapprove of what I’m doing?”
Seeing Liu Zhi silent, Jiang Pengji furrowed her brows, recalling their earlier conversation. She felt she might have overlooked something.
“Not that he’s against it—deep down, he supports it. But, Lan Ting… don’t you think you’ve become a bit too indifferent? Even if it’s just a boring hypothesis, if it were true, Meng Liang is your stepmother’s son. You say you want to kill him with your own hands—have you thought about how heartbroken your stepmother would be?”
Liu Zhi originally wanted to be a bit more tactful, but the words slipped out so straightforwardly.
“Your mother has treated you well. Can you stomach killing her ‘son’ as a return?”
Jiang Pengji lowered her gaze; Liu Zhi’s question was something she had just overlooked or perhaps never cared about.
People from ancient times valued clan lineage and cared deeply about blood relations, yet Jiang Pengji had never held such a notion in her mind.
She was an orphan from the Federation War, with her parents’ years of birth and death unknown. She had no memories of them at all.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t remember; it was that her memories had been cleansed.
This was a stage that almost every genetic warrior in the reserves had to go through.
Genetic warriors were secret combat troops cultivated by the Federation, born for the victory of war, requiring absolute loyalty—other unnecessary memories were merely burdens. Before receiving training, those memories weren’t allowed to exist, to filter out potential spies.
However, Jiang Pengji was likely an anomaly, as her memories hadn’t been entirely wiped. She vaguely recalled some old events.
Of course, those memories weren’t pleasant for a three-year-old.
“I must admit, that is something I overlooked. But even if I were to consider it, what then? Should I just turn a blind eye out of respect for Mother? Allow a disgusting worm to flaunt its power before me and continue its vile deeds against the women in the household? To me, this dilemma is entirely meaningless. If Mother were to blame me because of Meng Liang’s death…” Jiang Pengji paused and suddenly smiled. “Father reminded me, if Meng Liang must die, it should be at someone else’s hand.”
Liu Zhi: “…”
That actually sounded quite reasonable.
Regardless of the internal struggle, the result would still be to squash Meng Liang, so… what was the point of the struggle?
To express her turmoil and concern for her stepmother’s feelings only to still do what she intended afterward, leaving Meng Liang to die… With Jiang Pengji’s mindset, it was no different from pulling down her pants to fart.
After a long while, Liu Zhi let out a long sigh. “If your mother heard this, who knows how heartbroken she would be?”
Yes, heartbroken, not just sad.
Jiang Pengji did not know that when Liu Zhi referred to “mother,” he meant Gu Min, not the stepmother.
Gu Min had once told Liu Zhi that according to historical scholars, the Cheng Emperor of Jiang Zhao had a serious lack of emotional attachment, a grave mental illness that even disrupted the court’s stability… In other words, his daughter was starting to get sick, just not severely yet?
Thinking of this, all other emotions in Liu Zhi’s heart made way for “heartbreak.”
He felt a bit relieved; discovering it early was better than later. Early treatment would lead to recovery.
He raised his hand to stroke Jiang Pengji’s hair beside her ear. “It’s okay, we’ll let the doctor come by another day; we mustn’t neglect medical issues.”
What is mental illness, anyway?
Liu Zhi didn’t know, as he wasn’t a medical officer. Such problems should be handled by professionals.
Jiang Pengji: “…”
She initially thought this would create a rift between her and Liu Zhi or make him wary of her, but the developments… didn’t seem to follow the script?
Liu Zhi instructed, “That Meng Liang is truly a phony. However, your mother does have a biological child, his legitimate brother, named Meng Heng. When you meet him in the future, don’t just resort to fighting; ensure you get along. He’s quite talented.”
Was this a hint… for her to dig someone else’s grave?
Jiang Pengji thought expressionlessly, “If Meng Liang isn’t Mother’s son, then why is he acting this way?”
Even if he were pretending, he should be impersonating Meng Heng, not going by Meng Liang’s name, right?
“This matter is quite lengthy to explain; it’s merely a matter of past grudges and secrets in the inner courtyard.” Liu Zhi, referring to these incidents, wore a worried expression but didn’t keep Jiang Pengji in the dark. “You’re old enough; it’s good to hear this now instead of being deceived later.”
Jiang Pengji: “…”
Wait a minute, that sounded a bit off.
Liu Zhi talked on his own, changing the term he used to distinguish Gu Min from the stepmother.
“Your aunt, when she was still in her boudoir, was named Gu Zhen. Although she was just an unnoticed illegitimate daughter, she and A-Min were close since childhood, and with her being like a mother, she was as much valued as any legitimate child. After reaching maturity, she became engaged to Meng Clan’s Meng Zhan. However, most men in the world are fickle, preferring the new and discarding the old, few remain loyal. Meng Zhan… was misjudged by me; I never expected him to be a heartless beast.”
Jiang Pengji listened carefully, her brows furrowed. “The Meng Zhan you speak of is the current governor of Mengzhou?”
He allowed Meng Liang to twist his subordinates against him, leading to a man being burned alive in the governor’s residence?
Impressive.
When Liu Zhi mentioned this, an implicit disgust crossed his face. “Yes.”
“Meng Zhan seems like a gentleman on the surface, but his nature is utterly ridiculous… I can’t go into detail. Just know that ultimately, after your aunt bore Meng Zhan a legitimate son, she soon became pregnant again. However, Meng Zhan suspected that child wasn’t his biological son. Coincidentally, his beloved concubine also became pregnant, and under that woman’s influence, Meng Zhan actually developed a notion to confuse legitimate and illegitimate children, planning to pass off a bast*rd as his legitimate son.”
