Chapter 12 Chapter 12 "If that day really comes, my Lord..."

Jasmine, having heard all this gossip, couldn't remain silent. Since the Duke had taken the initiative to confide in her, he must have wanted someone to come up with a solution.

So Jasmine asked, "What are you going to do then?"

The Duke: "I haven't decided yet."

Jasmine said cautiously, "I'm asking something I shouldn't be asking. Why didn't you help save me? From what the eldest young lady said, I know that, aside from being a bit playful, I'm not a criminal. If you could just get him out, wouldn't that solve the problem?"

The Duke's face was solemn, and he noticed his concubine's shoulders trembling. He had no choice but to soften his expression and said, "Even if it's a small mistake, it's still a mistake. We can't let it go until the truth is revealed. Since I am the Duke of Dingguo, I must uphold the laws of Daqi. How could I break the rules myself?"

Jasmine looked at her grandfather and felt that he was glowing.

Jasmine thought of something and had an urge to speak out what was on her mind, but she managed to hold it back.

Now was definitely not the right time. Even if she wanted to speak, she would have to wait for the right opportunity.

"That's what I said."

Jasmine said this and stood up and walked away. When she came back, she was holding a wooden box with a peony pattern in her hand.

When the wooden box was opened, it turned out to be her hidden treasury. Inside was the money given to her by the Duke, and the rest were gifts from people in the palace.

She picked out the valuables and placed them in a separate box.

Jasmine pushed the wooden box over and said, "This is all I have. It's not much, but if we all pool our money together, there's still some. Master, take it and use it. Also, I don't leave the house much, so I don't need any money, so please don't give me any money in the future."

The Duke was not pretentious. He looked at the contents of the wooden box, nodded, and said, "Then I will accept it for now and return it to you double in the future."

"good."

"You reminded me. It's time to get together."

Jasmine: "Master just said that the eldest young lady's wife subsidizes the Duke's Mansion? I don't quite understand. The Duke's Mansion is the Duke's Mansion. The old Duke is gone, but there is still you. Since you have returned triumphantly this time, His Majesty will have a reward, and you will also have a salary, right? Besides you, there are also the eldest, third, and fourth uncles in the family. Or does the Duke's Mansion not have any public contributions?"

Jasmine deliberately wanted to remind him that it was possible that the Duke's Mansion was not short of money, but that some people were deliberately making money in the name of the Duke's Mansion.

"Of course there is. Since the family hasn't split up, the several branches will send money to the public treasury on time." The Duke seemed to have thought of something, and said solemnly, "The public treasury has more than just this amount paid by each branch."

The Duke's Mansion has other businesses of its own, and the Duke has never been involved in these matters in recent years, so it's natural that he wouldn't have thought of it. It only suddenly occurred to me when I was talking about it with my aunt.

The Duke's face was gloomy, and he stood up suddenly: "I'm going to find the old lady."

Jasmine watched the Duke leave, praying that he would return victorious this time.

...

It was almost evening when the Duke returned to the main courtyard.

Jasmine's heart trembled when she saw his expression.

This can't be...

The Duke didn't want to talk about these bad things, but seeing the expectant and worried look in his concubine's eyes, he still said:

"I went to ask the old lady how the mansion could be so poor that it needed the eldest young lady's wife to help it. I asked her, not only did several families, including me, send money to the public treasury, but there was also income from other businesses in the Duke's Mansion. It wouldn't be this bad. The old lady said that the masters could only pay a small amount to the public treasury, and the Duke's Mansion had been making heavy losses in recent years."

The Duke sighed, a rare omission. "I never imagined the Duke's Mansion would be in such a predicament. The old lady must have been worrying about the livelihood of the Duke's Mansion all these years. It's so hard for her. It's all because of my uselessness as a son."

The Duke looked guilty.

Jasmine really wanted to tell him straight out, but she knew that it was not her business as a concubine to meddle in other people's business.

If she said that, it would be like trying to sow discord between them. If the old lady knew about it, she would be in big trouble. The Duke might even suspect her of having ulterior motives.

Don’t mention it…

Jasmine felt uncomfortable again. After a moment's thought, she tearfully said, "I never thought the Master and the Old Madam had such a deep bond. I'm not only envious, I'm almost moved to tears."

The Duke was puzzled. He leaned back before saying, "That's about it. Over the years, I've only dined with the Old Madam in the last month. Before that, the number of times we've paid our respects was mere handfuls."

Jasmine looked puzzled. "But Master trusts the old lady so much? Why is that?"

The Duke explained, "It's not trust. It's proof. The old lady produced several account books from the Duke's Mansion, and I looked through them. Indeed, many of the land and assets were in the red. Furthermore, I was running low on military supplies while guarding the border, and the government was slow to allocate funds. So, I wrote to the old lady, and she immediately had the mansion's steward bring the troops over. It took three trips, and the sums involved were substantial. It's normal for the mansion to be short of money."

Jasmine nodded, not daring to say anything more.

But I thought to myself, this old lady is not easy to deal with.

But it's normal, otherwise how could the old lady become the most noble woman in this mansion.

Fortunately, the old lady had no conflict with her. Jasmine decided not to worry about it.

Anyway, getting a young lady's wife is definitely a piece of cake for a Duke who has fought on the battlefield.

Within two days, Jasmine heard that the Duke had repaid all the money owed by the Duke's Mansion to the eldest young lady.

Several large boxes of silver, money, and treasures were carried into the eldest young lady's courtyard. She was shocked and angry, but since the money had been returned to her, she had no reason to be angry.

The old man's case is still under investigation, and the situation is said to be not optimistic.

In prison, the old man was becoming increasingly thinner and thinner, and I heard he had fallen ill several times. Unable to visit him, the old man Yan Bo could only eat prison food that even beggars would avoid. One can imagine what his life was like.

After more than ten days, there was finally new progress in the old man's case.

The Ministry of Personnel did not find any other hidden troubles of the Duke's Mansion except that he skipped work to go to brothels.

But absenteeism and visiting prostitutes, and the key point being that he refuses to change despite repeated warnings, also makes His Majesty very angry.

His Majesty decided to give a lighter sentence for the sake of the Duke's Mansion, and only removed the fifth-rank official position of Yan Bo, the master of the Duke's Mansion.

When the old man returned home that day, although his hat was taken off, he was thankful that he was able to come out.

Even though he can't be an official, at least he is still the master of the Duke's Mansion!

In short, the old man is very open-minded.

On the first day the master returned home, he was kicked out of the corridor by the eldest young lady's wife before he could even step over the brazier.

The main room was particularly lively that day.

Naturally, everyone in the Duke's Mansion watched the excitement throughout the day.

But to everyone's disappointment, the master and the eldest young lady reconciled the next day.

Not only was the master not angry at the eldest young lady for kicking him, but after seeing the several large boxes of treasures in the house, he even took the initiative to coax the eldest young lady with sweet words.

It was because of those boxes of things that even though the eldest master was now a free man, the third and fourth masters were still very angry.

What should I do if I always feel that this is a blessing in disguise for the old man?

Jasmine was also distressed. It had nothing to do with her. Even if the master was not able to do it, it would not be her turn. But her heart was still aching.

Jasmine couldn't help but be curious, but she didn't dare to act rashly. After playing in the water with her master for a while, she asked him, "By the way, today the Third Young Master's wife and the others came to ask me, and I'm curious too. So, where did you get all those boxes of goodies?"

The Duke carried his concubine out of the tub and headed straight for the bed. After securing her beneath him, he said simply, "I borrowed it from His Majesty."

Jasmine was so frightened that her eyes almost popped out of her head.

...

On the second day, everyone in the Duke's Mansion knew about this.

The old lady had been questioned by the Duke before, and she was very unhappy. When she learned that the Duke had obtained several large boxes to return to the eldest young lady, she was curious, but she did not ask any more questions.

The old lady guessed that he might have borrowed it from someone he knew.

The other people in the Duke's Mansion also guessed that the Duke might have borrowed it, but it didn't matter who he asked.

When they suddenly heard that it was a question for His Majesty, everyone in the Duke's Mansion was in an uproar.

Jasmine specifically mentioned this when she was chatting with the Third Young Master's wife.

Who let the eldest wife get so many good things? The eldest young lady's wife also threatened her, so she was unhappy!

Jasmine waited for something interesting to happen.

And she was not disappointed.

Within two days, the eldest young lady's wife could not withstand the pressure and returned the silver and money to the Duke.

You have to know that it belongs to His Majesty. Even if His Majesty lent it to the Duke, it still belongs to His Majesty.

If the outside world knew that the Duke would rather borrow things from His Majesty than return them to his eldest brother, what would outsiders think of their eldest wife?

Isn't this telling everyone that there is discord in the Duke's Mansion, and especially that the master has offended the Duke?

If this news gets out, the master will have no chance of staying in Kyoto anymore. And it will be even more impossible for her, the eldest young lady's wife, to be invited to various flower viewing parties and garden parties for noble ladies.

She might even be ostracized. That would be the end of her.

Therefore, on the afternoon of the day the news came out, the eldest wife returned the boxes intact to the main courtyard of the Duke's Mansion.

Jasmine was afraid that the box would be stolen without the Duke's presence, or that the contents would be missing. Therefore, she sat in front of the box, trembling with fear, staring at it for the entire day.

Even when eating, we would hold the bowl and eat in front of the box.

When the Duke came back, he saw the concubine sitting in front of the box, dusting it from time to time.

In the eyes of others, the concubine must be extremely greedy and petty, but the Duke found that the concubine was quite interesting.

He had only seen her well-behaved side, and this was the first time he saw her differently. Fresh.

In order to prevent the concubine from worrying any more, the Duke decided to return the box to His Majesty immediately.

As for the eldest young lady's wife, when the Duke came in, both the master and the eldest young lady came to him, saying that if they took these boxes they would be harming them. Now that the master is back, let the matter go.

The Duke hadn't thought so much when he asked His Majesty to borrow it. After hearing his elder brother and sister-in-law's explanation, the Duke solemnly apologized to them for his negligence.

The couple knew that he really didn't mean it, and they would have to be taken care of by the Duke in the future.

The eldest young lady couldn't bow her head, so the master apologized to the Duke and the old lady on her behalf.

Of course, the family is harmonious again.

Jasmine was extremely happy when she heard the Duke say that he would send the box back to the palace immediately.

Watching people carry the box out, she stood in the courtyard, patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

The Duke walked away, looked back at her, and couldn't help laughing.

Zuo He, watching the scene before him, asked curiously, "Does the general like Aunt Moli very much?"

The Duke was taken aback by this question. He paused before saying, "Your Aunt Moli is well-behaved and doesn't cause trouble. She's quite good."

The Duke used to think that marrying a wife and taking a concubine was a hassle, after all, women were difficult to get along with. Forced to have a concubine, the Duke had planned to ignore her, but he didn't expect the outcome to be the same.

No wonder so many officials in the court like to take concubines. Now the Duke finally understands.

Zuo He: "General, I have something to say."

"you say."

"General, do you remember the scene you watched when you went to drink with me last time?"

The Duke nodded. "It seems your father's two concubines are jealous of each other? Are they fighting?"

Zuo He's face turned grim. "That's right. The old man only cares about his two precious concubines. My mother has collapsed from anger countless times, and now she needs medicine to stay alive. And because of the old man's indulgence, those two concubines are still arrogant and doing evil in the mansion."

Zuo He looked at the general seriously: "The general is going to marry his wife soon, so he must not be too indulgent to his concubine."

The Duke felt inexplicably unhappy, but he knew Zuo He meant well: "Thanks for the reminder. But your Aunt Moli is not that kind of person."

Zuo He said anxiously, "People's hearts are unpredictable. I'm afraid that the general will be too kind to my aunt and make her have improper expectations."

The Duke said solemnly, "If that day ever comes, I will be the first to deal with her."

Only then did Zuo He feel relieved.