Chapter 57 explains that everyone was vying for power with her at the center, but no one...
Jiang Chen carried a box of account books back home. On the way, he wondered whether to take Shen Yujiao away tonight or stay here for another night and leave tomorrow.
Fortunately, we already have the account books in hand. It's better to take the audit and reconciliation back to the capital first. Zhu Tong should have already discovered that the account books are missing. If we stay in Jiangnan any longer, there may be more complications.
"Jiaojiao." Jiang Chen pushed open the door and entered. Hearing no sound from inside, he walked into the inner room, only to find the bed empty.
"Click—"
After fumbling around for a while, she finally opened the lock based on her memory of that day. Shen Yujiao first breathed a sigh of relief, but then her heart couldn't help but tense up again. She always felt that there was a secret that was extremely important to her hidden behind this door.
The door slowly opened, and sunlight finally streamed into the long-closed study. It was a place she had never been before, but as soon as Shen Yujiao stepped into the room, she felt a sense of long-lost familiarity. She leaned against the wooden door and closed it, standing in front of the door panel, not daring to go in. An unprecedented and intense sadness almost overwhelmed her. She didn't understand, and she didn't comprehend, but when she raised her hand, she felt her face was covered in tears.
Suppressing the turbulent emotions in her heart, Shen Yujiao walked slowly towards the study. Unlike other places in the Chengguo Duke's mansion, every object and scene in the study seemed to have profound meaning for her. She could feel Miss Shen's attachment to this place. It seemed that this study must have been the place Miss Shen spent the most time in before her marriage.
So, where would she put the most important things?
Shen Yujiao walked straight to the desk. Logically speaking, whether it was letters or objects, Miss Shen should have spent the most time sitting at the desk. However, after searching through the items, she only found writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, military books, and ancient texts. Although the items were expensive, they might not be Miss Shen's true favorites.
Where's the bookshelf? Shen Yujiao turned around and looked at the books that covered the entire wall. Her outstretched hand suddenly trembled, and her original intention to open and read every single one of them vanished instantly. She picked out a few books that seemed to be frequently read, but when she opened them, she only saw neat handwriting annotations.
It wasn't a desk or a bookcase. She walked around the room and then stopped in front of a large screen in the center, which depicted a landscape of mountains and flowing water with exquisite embroidery. Shen Yujiao leaned closer to examine it closely for a long time and finally felt that Miss Shen's embroidery skills were astonishing.
She walked around from behind the screen and searched the area again, but found nothing unusual. Somewhat discouraged, she sat back down in her chair. Looking out the window, she saw that it was already broad daylight. She didn't have much time left; if she didn't go out soon, she feared she would be discovered.
Just as Shen Yujiao was about to get up and search again, her gaze was involuntarily drawn to a flowerpot on a high shelf by the window. It was a pot of blue-purple flowers, a color not commonly seen in gardens. It was clear at a glance that it was a precious variety cultivated by a noble family. She walked over and examined the flower closely.
"This is... a violet?"
Shen Yujiao opened her eyes wide in surprise. If she remembered correctly, violets were introduced to China very late. Logically speaking, violets should never appear in the Great Xia in this era. She reached out and gently touched the petals, wondering if someone had gone to the trouble of bringing them back from overseas, or if the Great Xia was a fictional dynasty that differed from history.
Whatever the reason, this flowerpot was too conspicuous. She hesitated for only a moment before reaching into the soil inside the pot. Because it hadn't been watered in a long time, the soil was dry and hard. It took her a lot of effort to reach in most of it. Ignoring the cuts on her fingers from the branches, she carefully searched the pot...
Found it!
Shen Yujiao pulled a cool, smooth object out of the flowerpot. She wiped it with her sleeve, and a flawless white mutton fat jade bracelet appeared before her eyes. She slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, and it fit perfectly.
They did find the hidden item, but Shen Yujiao felt something was strange. Was there really only this one bracelet?
"Young Master Jiang...Young Master Jiang...Are you inside?"
Suddenly, the maid's voice came from outside. Shen Yujiao knew that the maid had discovered her disappearance and started looking for her. She could no longer continue searching. She tried her best to put everything back in its place, quickly walked out of the study, and neatly locked the door.
"Ah Zhu, this side gate won't open for some reason. Something might be stuck. Go to the front yard and ask Butler Chen for the key to the main gate."
Hearing the maidservant send someone to fetch the key, Shen Yujiao slowed her steps, her mind racing as she considered whether to remove the wooden plank blocking the side door, when she heard a familiar voice outside the door—
"No need to look anymore, Young Master Jiang has already returned to his courtyard, you may go."
"yes."
A moment later, silence returned outside the door. Jiang Chen pressed his ear against the side door and asked, "Jiaojiao, are you in there?"
"Yes, I'll be right out."
"No rush. I guessed you were probably here. I've already got the ledgers. We're heading back in the next couple of days. If you haven't finished looking, go inside and stay a while. I'll keep watch for you."
“No need,” Shen Yujiao said as she came out through the side gate. “We’ve searched everywhere we could. Staying any longer would just be a waste of time.”
Jiang Chen reached out and tugged at Shen Yujiao, his gaze naturally falling on the jade bracelet on her wrist: "What's this?"
Shen Yujiao looked around, then covered the jade bracelet with her sleeve and whispered, "I found it in Miss Shen's study. This is the only thing I found."
“It’s better than nothing,” Jiang Chen said, then added, “The account books have been at the Duke of Cheng’s residence for several days now. I was worried that if Zhu Tong found them, it might cause further trouble.”
Shen Yujiao nodded in agreement: "It's good to go back sooner. I couldn't find anything else here with Miss Shen. If I can return to the capital sooner, I can meet with General He. Perhaps he will know something."
Leading her to a secluded spot, Jiang Chen said solemnly, "Jiaojiao, I have something extremely important to tell you about Miss Shen."
Jiang Chen's expression was unusually serious, and Shen Yujiao couldn't help but perk up and listen attentively to what he was about to say.
"So that's how it is..."
After listening to Jiang Chen's story, Shen Yujiao remained silent. She raised her hand to touch the jade bracelet on her wrist, feeling a mix of emotions. Like Jiang Chen, she was first shocked and then admired the truth. However, since she was now continuing Miss Shen's life, she couldn't help but think of the protagonist of the whole incident.
To outsiders, Miss Shen's marriage to the Crown Prince was a noble act, and a source of honor and hope for the Shen family. But what about Miss Shen herself? Did she really know the ins and outs of these events?
If the clan told her these things directly, Shen Yujiao felt that Miss Shen might not refuse. She had studied under a great Confucian scholar since childhood and read history and classics with famous teachers. She had read Miss Shen's annotations and knew that she was a girl with a strong sense of righteousness. Moreover, she had a brother-sister relationship with He Zhiju. If she had known these things earlier, could many tragedies have been avoided?
During her trip to Jiangnan, she witnessed the other side of almost everything. Prince Huan, the Shen family, and Shen Yujiao—almost no one had done anything wrong, yet they ended up in this predicament. Everyone was still fighting and struggling around Shen Yujiao, but no one knew that Shen Yujiao was already dead.
"Let's go, we won't stay any longer."
The person Shen Yujiao most urgently wants to see right now is He Zhiju. Since the He family's past was the source of everything, only by overturning the case for the He family as soon as possible can all this be resolved. She also wants to give Miss Shen an explanation. Since she is destined not to be able to change Miss Shen's fate, then she must live up to her identity as Crown Princess Shen.
She wanted Miss Shen to know that she was not just a tool for a marriage alliance or a pawn in a power struggle.
As soon as the two returned to the courtyard, they encountered Steward Shen, who was waiting there. After learning that Steward Shen had come on the orders of the Duke of Cheng to hold a farewell banquet for them, Jiang Chen said frankly, "There is no need to trouble you, sir. My cousin and I are about to set off immediately. We will naturally have another chance to meet again when the Crown Princess visits her family in the future."
Upon hearing this, Steward Shen nodded and withdrew. Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao were busy sending people back to the villa to pack their luggage. The account books in the study were the most important, and Shen Yujiao was unwilling to entrust them to others. By the time the Duke and Duchess of Cheng heard Steward Shen's report, the two had already left the mansion.
"My lord, this..."
"It's alright, let them go." Shen Boyi patted Cui's hand to reassure her, then said to Steward Shen, "Send a guard team north to secretly protect the Crown Prince's carriage along the way."
Once you enter the palace, it's like entering a deep sea. The Duke of Cheng was already content that the Crown Prince's incognito visit to Jiangnan allowed them to see their daughter again. He believed that the Crown Prince was capable of great things and that they would meet again someday.
Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao returned to the villa and went straight to the study. The two worked together to repack the account books. Mu Jin was also quick. In less than an hour, the caravan was back on the road, following the Crown Prince's orders to travel without stopping all the way to the capital.
When the two left the capital, it was early summer. Now, when they returned to the capital, it was already autumn. When the Empress learned that the Crown Prince had returned, she breathed a sigh of relief and then quickly sent a message to the Duke of Xiangguo's mansion. After studying in seclusion for a summer, the sixth young master Jiang was finally able to return to the capital.
After returning to the Eastern Palace, Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao did not rest. They wrote down the discrepancies in the account books they had compiled along the way and submitted them to the emperor. The loopholes in the tax system of Jiangnan were presented to the emperor without any errors. The emperor was furious after reading them and immediately dismissed Zhu Tong, the governor of Jiangnan, and dispatched the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice to conduct a thorough investigation of the account books and tax records of Jiangnan.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Tai and the Prince of Huan, who were secretly investigating Sichuan and the two Guangzhou prefectures, returned to the capital one after another. The reports on the two places were also submitted to the court one after another. In a short time, the major cases of corruption in the officialdom were merged and thoroughly investigated, and the local corruption was severely damaged. More than a hundred officials were investigated. The imperial edict ordered all the officials involved to be imprisoned and investigated. The officialdom then ushered in a major reshuffle.
"I heard that the emperor is going to hold a special imperial examination this year to fill the vacancies in the officialdom. If you hear any news about it during court today, remember to come back and tell me."
Jiang Chen straightened his court robes as he replied, "I know. I also sent a message to He Zhiju for you. He will come to the East Palace after the military exercises are over in two days."
Since returning from Jiangnan, Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao have barely had a day off. After finally submitting the account books, they discovered that there was still a ton of work waiting for them to do.
After seeing Jiang Chen off to court, Shen Yujiao couldn't fall asleep again. She simply changed her clothes and started to wash up, thinking that she should go to the palace to pay her respects to the Empress today. Just as she was doing her makeup, she heard a little palace maid's voice from outside: "Your Highness, Consort Chu has come to pay her respects."
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