Chapter 715: Leverage (Part 2)

"There are so many eyes watching us inside and outside the court!" Xu Lingyi pulled Shiyi Niang's hand, "We must not panic when we hear the slightest sign of trouble. If we panic, we will easily make mistakes. If we make mistakes, it will be easy for others to find fault with us. Once we find fault with us, even if we didn't do it, it will be considered as ours." He said, laughing, "We should control our actions with stillness. No matter which direction the wind blows, we can stand firm."

Eleventh Lady had been married to the Yongping Marquis's Mansion for so many years, and had encountered one thing after another, each of which seemed insignificant, but eventually became a major disturbance. As for the matter of Jian'er, she naturally regarded it as a political matter. After hearing what Xu Lingyi said, she focused on the temple matter.

"Let it blow from the southeast, northwest, or north," she couldn't help but tease Xu Lingyi with a smile, "Does the Marquis really not do anything?" Her eyes flickered as she looked around, looking very lively. Xu Lingyi laughed: "Anyway, people just look at me and I don't do anything!" This is Xu Lingyi!

Eleven pursed his lips and smiled.

Xu Lingyi told her: "You should take good care of Jian'er these few days and don't let him go out. Since this is said by Jian'er, I'm afraid someone will have ideas about him." Shiyi Niang nodded and took Jian'er with her on the pretext of visiting Madam Gan. Jian'er was fine at first, he just stood quietly aside when his mother and her sisters talked, but everyone smiled and pulled his hand to ask his mother if he was engaged, and most people looked at him like a hungry person looking at a plate of snacks, so he couldn't bear it no matter what.

"I want to play Cuju at home." When Eleventh Lady wanted to take him to Twelfth Aunt's place, he couldn't help it any longer. "The eldest princess said that if we lose, I have to run around the West Garden. I don't want to run!"

"Twelfth Aunt saw you last year during the Chinese New Year," Eleventh Lady advised him, "and she asked about you every time she saw you. When you were appointed as the commander of the Xiaoling Guard, your Twelfth Uncle even sent a gift. We just took this opportunity to thank your Twelfth Aunt. How can you not go?"

"We can meet her on the third day of the Lunar New Year anyway, why should we go before the New Year?" Jian Ge'er said nonchalantly, "It won't be too late for me to thank Aunt Twelve then!" Xu Lingyi's cold eyes looked over at him, and Jian Ge'er's heart sank. His voice gradually lowered, and finally turned into a whisper, "We'll go if you want to, but we'll be back after greeting Aunt Twelve. Don't always chat with her about family matters, and you never stop talking..."

"How can you talk to your mother like that?" Xu Lingyi frowned. "You are impatient even when you are with your relatives. So tell me, what are you impatient for?"

Jiange'er felt that his father was wrong, but he also felt that he couldn't explain it to his father. He might even remind his father and arrange a marriage for him... "I was wrong!" He gave Shiyi Niang a gift, but his tone was a little aggrieved, "I will never do this again!"

"Okay, okay." Eleventh Lady smiled and walked forward to put her arm around her son's shoulders, saying to Xu Lingyi, "It's not that he doesn't want to accompany me to visit relatives, he's just afraid that others will see him and ask him if he's engaged!" She helped Jiang'er out of the predicament.

Jiange'er's face flushed suddenly.

Xu Lingyi raised his eyebrows in surprise, then smiled and said, "Our brother Jian has grown up too!"

Jiang'er's face turned even redder, and he said hesitantly, "I'll go see if the things for Aunt Twelve are ready," and ran away.

Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang burst into laughter.

The door curtain suddenly opened, and Jiange'er stuck his head out: "Dad, Mom, I don't want a wife. I want to be the general of Jiayuguan!" As he said that, the door curtain swayed, and Jiange'er ran away again. Shiyi Niang couldn't help laughing.

Xu Lingyi also said, "This bastard, can't he be the general of Jiayuguan just because he gets married?" Before Eleventh Lady and Jiang'er returned from Twelfth Lady, the news had spread everywhere.

The old lady laughed when she heard this, "Our Jin'er is not young anymore, it's time to talk about marriage." Then she thought with the second lady, "...She must have a good temper...She must not be too bad looking, otherwise, our Jin'er will be wronged...Marry a wife of virtue, dowry and so on, but her family background must be clean...It's best if she's one or two years older, so that she knows how to care for people..." The old lady became more and more excited as she spoke, and she wished she could find a good match for Jin'er right away. She hurriedly called Madam Du, "As soon as Eleventh Lady comes back, let her come to my place. I want to discuss this matter with her."

The second wife laughed and said, "The New Year is coming soon, and she has a lot of things to do. Let's wait until after the tenth day! By then, every family will have a lantern festival, and we can take a look at what it looks like first." "We have to wait until after the tenth day!" The old wife was very disappointed, "There are still more than twenty days!"

"You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry!" The second wife laughed, "If you find someone with a bad temper, it will be too late to regret. A daughter takes after her mother. If the mother is virtuous, the daughter can't be much worse! There are still more than 20 days, right? Let's take a look at all the ladies who are virtuous and have daughters of the right age. Then we can focus on them and not be dazzled!"

"That's a good idea!" The old lady was immediately excited when she heard it. She excitedly asked the red-haired lady to grind the ink and said to the second lady, "Let's work it out together!"

How could it be so easy for Jiange'er to get married?

The Second Lady was just accompanying the Dowager Lady to have fun.

She smiled and agreed, sitting at the table with a pen in hand, and following the tone of the lady, she talked to the lady about the background of each family...

The emperor kept all the memorials impeaching Xu Lingyi in his palace, and the people in the Censorate also saw some clues. Some people thought that this was just a case of laughing at one person while taking 50 steps, and it was not worth mentioning in the temple. At this time, they were very disdainful, and even the bystanders found it boring; some people thought that the Yongping Marquis's mansion was disdainful of the impeachment of the historian, and now they felt that it could not be let off easily, and the wording of the memorials became more and more intense; some people thought that in terms of arrogance and domineering, the Governor of the Grand Canal was even worse than the Yongping Marquis. Chen Bozhi simply wanted to use the merit of dredging the river and the title of Marquis of Yongping as a stepping stone to establish his tough style of doing things, intimidate his subordinates, and consolidate his position of having the final say in the grain transport. Some people observed the emperor's expressions, tried to guess his intentions, and began to play deaf and dumb; some people who were originally the ones who disturbed the water became nervous and lost their voice.

No matter what the situation was, the 20th year of Yonghe arrived as scheduled amid the sound of firecrackers.

Fang Yi withdrew his gaze from the snow outside the window, picked up the sweet white porcelain crabapple wine cup filled with Nühehong and took a sip. The rich and mellow taste made him sigh with satisfaction: "Wenming, I have to say that your old man is really good at this."

Wenming is the name given to Xu Siyu by Mr. Jiang.

Xu Siyu was not as optimistic as Fang Yi: "I'm afraid things will gather in mid-February - if I'm not mistaken, Chen Bo's people will come to Yanjing to report on their work!"

Fang Yi laughed loudly: "So I say, your old man - instead of wasting time arguing with the Censorate now, it is better to wait until Chen Bozhi comes to Yanjing to appeal for justice!"

Xu Siyu couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "From your tone, it seems like this has nothing to do with the Metropolitan Procuratorate?"

Fang Yi just smiled and said nothing.

Xu Siyu's heart moved: "Are you going to change places?"

Fang Yi nodded and smiled: "Guess where I'm going?"

Xu Siyu thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Huguang!"

Fang Yi couldn't help but clap his hands: "Nothing has been left out of civilization!"

"Don't play tricks on me!" Xu Siyu asked with a smile, "Where are we going?"

"Tongzhi of Wuchang Prefecture."

"Congratulations," Xu Siyu said, holding up his glass, "You have entered the sixth rank in one step."

"After all, I'm not the chief official who dominates a region." Although Fang Yi was happy, he was not complacent. "If I want to move up further, it will be difficult without the experience of being an official in a prefecture or county. You have to lend me a helping hand at the critical moment!" He treated Xu Siyu as a friend and was not polite to him.

"Of course." Xu Siyu also hoped that Fang Yi would have a smooth career. "I will write a letter to my father-in-law now."

"It's not the right time." Fang Yi said with a smile, "Let's wait until there is a vacancy there."

"Alright!" Since Fang Yi has his own plan, he just needs to cooperate. Xu Siyu smiled and said, "Just let me know when the time comes."

Fang Yi nodded and whispered a name: "Stubborn and self-willed, a good chess piece." Then he said another name, "Hateful and wicked, can also be used."

Xu Siyu bowed and said, "Thank you, Brother Fang."

"You're welcome, you're welcome!" Fang Yi raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp. He talked about poetry and lyrics until it got dark, and then he went home.

Xu Siyu swallowed and went to Xu Lingyi immediately.

Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang had just returned from Prince Shun. Xu Lingyi looked normal, but Shiyi Niang, who had drunk some wine, looked as beautiful as a peach.

The father and son went to the east corner to talk.

Xu Siyu relayed Fang Yi's words, and Xu Lingyi just nodded and said "I know", with a calm expression. Xu Siyu was inevitably a little disappointed, and saluted to leave. When he walked to the door, he heard his father calling him: "Wenming, you know how to take care of your brother, very good!"

His father called him by his given name...

Xu Siyu was stunned, and felt a pain in the corner of his eyes. His vision suddenly became a little blurry. He lowered his head quickly and said, "I am your elder brother, it is my duty." He bowed and hurried away.

Xu Lingyi sat behind the large desk in silence for a long while.

When I returned to the inner room, my youngest son had already returned from the palace. He was leaning against his wife and whispering, "He kicked me there several times. Fortunately, I was smart and didn't take the ball head-on, so the ball hit the guy on the head. But the eighth prince was unlucky. The eldest princess' eyes were wide open, and she wanted to eat him up in one bite. The guy has a good temper and didn't get angry even when he was hit. He is also handsome. I saw the eldest princess hiding behind me with a blushing face, and her voice suddenly became soft. She must have taken a fancy to him!"

Eleventh Lady hugged her son and asked: "You still know this?"

"I'm not stupid!" Jian'er muttered. Seeing his father coming in, he stood up quickly and said, "Dad, when did you come in? You didn't even make a sound and scared us!"

Xu Lingyi nodded slightly: "Have you seen the Empress?"

"I saw it!" Jian Ge'er sat down next to Shiyi Niang. Seeing his father's eyes on his shoulder, he quickly moved his body and put a boxer's distance between him and Shiyi Niang. "He also rewarded me with four gold ingots of the first place in the imperial examination. He asked me to go to the palace again on the sixth day of the first lunar month."

Debt-free

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