Chapter 73 Two Big News Items

Ma wanted to intimidate Qingling again, but failed. Instead, Qingling outmaneuvered her, and Ma slunk away with her second daughter and niece.

Yao Qingling settled down at Mulan Courtyard; Ma Peizhen moved to Litai Courtyard in the west.

The news spread throughout the mortal realm, and many people said that Miss Qingling was different this time.

The servants were all opportunists, their moral compass was like a reed. Seeing that Qingling was gaining power, they all worked closely with her, and in one afternoon they helped her tidy up her things and clean the yard spotless.

As for the Pear Terrace Courtyard, only a few elderly women were helping to tidy up; that courtyard had been empty and cluttered with miscellaneous items, so cleaning it up took more effort than other courtyards.

At night, they could only tidy up one room that people could live in.

Ma Peizhen was covered in dust and sweat, which washed away the dirt on her face, leaving deep furrows. As she wiped her face, she cried and said, "Aunt, maybe I should just go back to Ningjiang."

Ma's maternal family was from Ningjiang Prefecture, and her father was a minor clerk in a county under the jurisdiction of Ningjiang Prefecture.

In her early years, Yao Ying worked at the Shanglin Garden and received several white peacocks as tribute from Ningjiang Prefecture. Madam Ma came to the capital with the tribute envoy, ostensibly to broaden her horizons, but in reality, she was gambled on her future.

She made the right gamble; she married into Shengjing from a small town in Ningjiang Prefecture, and her husband became the supervisor of the Shanglin Garden!

Later, Yao Rui died in battle, and Emperor Suwen posthumously conferred upon him the title of Marquis of Loyalty and Valor. The title was inherited by Yao Ying, the eldest son of the Yao family. Lady Ma went from being the Lady of the Imperial Garden Supervisor to the Lady of the Marquis's Mansion!

Mrs. Ma felt more than once that she was not only intelligent, but also a good wife.

She told her family, "Now you all depend on me, and the prosperity of the Ma family depends on me even more."

If we let Ma Peizhen go back to Ningjiang, wouldn't that be a slap in the face for her?

Madam Ma comforted her niece: "Silly child, is this too much to ask? What kind of man can you marry if you go back to Ningjiang? If your father didn't have the Marquis's mansion as a backer, would he be doing so well in business?"

"Bear with it, and you'll rise above others. You're so much better off than I was back then. I came to the capital all alone, without a single person to help me."

"I didn't become a marquis's wife right away; I had to wait for it to happen."

"Just because Yao Qingling has the Empress Dowager's decree, she thinks she's something special. She's in the limelight right now. If we don't go against her, once this storm passes, won't she be completely at our mercy?"

This is how she had Yao Qingling under her control when she was young. Ma thought that experience was the best teacher and that she could still keep Yao Qingling in check.

Ma Peizhen's eyes, hidden behind her sleeve as if she were pretending to cry, showed no sign of sadness.

Of course she wouldn't go back to Ningjiang; the highest-ranking official she had ever met there was the prefect, but the prefect was an old man, almost sixty, with a bunch of concubines at home.

She's so beautiful and young, how could she become someone's concubine?

Ma Peizhen was just testing her aunt to see if she would still care about her affairs.

Ma Peizhen wiped her face, nodded, and smiled with patience: "Aunt, I'll listen to you."

...

Yao Qingling used ten years' worth of old things in the Mulan Courtyard.

Before her marriage, the Marquis's mansion replaced all her belongings with new ones in order to save face for the Duke's mansion.

Now that she's back, she's changed everything again.

The dowry she brought back was still new. As soon as Madam Ma entered the house, she had it sent to the storeroom. Qingling said that her things had been used, so she had people move the storeroom's items over to use.

If she doesn't use these nice things, Ma will give them to her niece as a dowry.

Tao Ye didn't believe it. She poured hot tea and said, "The Lady of the Marquis wouldn't go to such lengths, would she? She cherishes her niece so much, would she really let her use someone else's dowry? Doesn't she think it's unlucky?"

Qingling held her teacup and chuckled, "You think too highly of our Lady of the Marquis."

She glanced at the intricately carved canopy bed, made of rosewood and lacquered with fine lacquer; the workmanship alone would have taken several years.

Although the cost was not comparable to that of items used by royalty and nobility, it still cost several thousand taels of silver.

Three years ago, if Yao Qingling hadn't married into the Duke's mansion, Madam Ma would never have been willing to give such a large dowry.

This dowry was something that the cousin from Ningjiang Prefecture could never afford in her entire life, so why would she look down on it?

Tao Ye became alert: "Miss, then your dowry shouldn't be kept in the storeroom. Those things will eventually be used by the cousin or the third young lady. Otherwise, should we secretly send them to Tongluo Lane?"

Yao Qingling drank the tea and then brought out a pear wood box inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

Inside were contracts for several shops and estates, indentures for servants, and banknotes.

She took out a stack of silver notes.

She paid for the Buddhist services at Yongning Temple herself.

She spent all three thousand taels of silver she got from selling the shop.

In order to get a divorce, this amount of money was well spent and done beautifully—she not only successfully got a divorce, but also used the Empress Dowager's decree to obtain the opportunity to return to the Marquis's mansion, as well as the fear of Madam Ma and her group.

Even a decree from the Empress Dowager alone could cost more than ten thousand pieces of gold.

When the new mansion was purchased, Qingling contributed more than five thousand taels of silver. Zhan Xingzhuo could not come up with the money, but the Grand Princess of Deyang did not want to lose face again, so when she returned the land deed of the shop to her, she also put the silver notes in it.

Yao Qingling is rich again.

Although it wasn't much, it wasn't enough for her to do what she wanted to do.

She counted the silver notes, her mind preoccupied with other calculations, and replied absentmindedly, "No rush..."

When she returned from the Duke's mansion, not only would Ma Peizhen be discussing marriage, but even Yao Qingqi's betrothed family might have to postpone the wedding date.

—Those families only tried to establish a marriage alliance with the Marquis's family because of the Duke's family. Now that the divorce has turned out so badly, they are afraid of offending the Duke's family by trying to establish a marriage alliance with the Marquis's family.

Tao Ye glanced at her, about to say something, when a maid came to call her for dinner.

Yao Qingling remembered what Ma had mentioned about a "reunion dinner".

This "reunion dinner" won't offer her a single word of comfort; Madam Ma will only lecture her in front of the whole family. Her eldest uncle sleeps in the same bed as Madam Ma, so he'll probably tell her to stay home and reflect on her mistakes.

Qingling wasn't about to invite that bad luck.

She made an excuse that she was too tired to go out for dinner, and ordered the kitchen to send over some food instead.

She was really tired. After eating, she only walked around in the yard for a short while before washing up and going to bed.

For the next few days, Yao Qingling stayed indoors and didn't go out.

Firstly, she needed to recuperate. She had been too tired lately and her body was very weak. As a pregnant woman, she needed to take care of herself quickly.

Secondly, she had just gotten divorced and needed to keep a low profile so that no one could find fault with her.

Third, calm down and listen to the sound of the wind outside.

A few days later, the Censor's wife visited and told Qingling two big pieces of news.

"Zhan Xingzhuo requested to leave the capital and take up an official post in Luozhou."

"The second piece of news is that General Ling Shiyuan has been released from the capital's prison. He has been stripped of his military command and his official position. But at least he has survived."

Yao Qingling was lost in thought for a moment over these two pieces of news.

Lin Shiyuan was released, which was within her expectations.

The common people and scholars were condemning the corruption and demanding severe punishment for the corrupt officials to quell public anger. The re-emphasis on General Mingde's past crimes was met with strong public support and leniency. Even if the court had its own grudges, it could only bring up the matter again and let it go leniently under such intense public pressure.

But Zhan Xingzhuo... he's so precious and noble, yet he's willing to humble himself and go to that poor and difficult place, Luozhou.

Five years ago, the floods turned both banks of the Yellow River into a vast expanse of water and a desolate wasteland.

Although the floodwaters have receded, the livelihoods of those areas have been destroyed, and the population has been decimated; the river channels and mountains have been altered and need to be replanned; river bandits are rampant near the Yellow River, and to restore the livelihoods of people on both banks, the bandits must be eliminated... There are many unimaginable difficulties.

By the way, I heard that the prefect who went to Luozhou a few years ago died while suppressing bandits.

In short, it's not a good job.

Yao Qingling pondered Zhan Xingzhuo's intentions, then suddenly remembered what Tao Ye had told her: Zhan Xingzhuo was waiting for her to kneel and beg.

She narrowed her eyes slightly.

As the Censor's wife listened to Yao Qingling's analysis, she picked at the melon seeds on her plate and glanced at her sideways: "You still care about him?"