Chapter 48 Killing One Thousand Enemies and Losing Eight Hundred of Our Own
The next day, Zhang took Tanxiang and two maids and took a carriage to Sanqing Temple to pray for blessings.
After returning from Zhang's house yesterday, Zhang called Tanxiang to ask what happened and why he suddenly felt unwell.
Tan Xiang didn't dare to say that it was her own negligence that caused the whole plan to fail, so she said that she might have caught a cold last night and felt a little uncomfortable when she woke up in the morning. She also told him about Jiang Lan spraining her ankle.
After she carried the man over, she felt even worse and put all the blame on the servant, saying that the man did not show up yesterday and must have been scared and deserted. She went back because she could not bear it anymore. After resting for a while in the mansion, she felt better. She asked someone to find the servant, but they couldn't find him. He must have run away and hidden.
Zhang asked people to look for the servant again, but they couldn't find him. Tan Xiang became more convinced that he had hidden himself. Zhang taught Tan Xiang to tell her subordinates to be careful and not to let him run around if he came back, but to bring him to see her first.
After returning from Sanqing Temple, Zhang and her men hurried back to their residence and asked Tanxiang to invite Jiang Cheng over, as if she had some great news to tell Jiang Cheng.
After Tan Xiang invited the people over, Zhang gave a wink, and Tan Xiang asked the two maids to leave together. Zhang couldn't wait to tell Jiang Cheng everything she heard from Madam Zheng.
It just so happened that Mrs. Zheng also came to burn incense and pray today, and she happened to meet Zhang. The two of them didn't have much interaction on weekdays. After burning incense and praying today, Mrs. Zheng took the initiative to invite Zhang to have a cup of tea together and talked about a strange thing that happened on the day of Mrs. Cui's birthday.
This strange thing was that Cui Jingshu instructed several other girls to push Jiang Lan into the water.
When Madam Zheng was talking about this, she mentioned Zheng Qian'er and did not mention that she was one of them. She only said that among those girls there seemed to be Gu Xuan'er, the third girl from the Changxing Marquis's Mansion, the fourth girl from Lord Zhao's family, and the sixth girl from Lord Zhou's family.
Zhang had suspected that the reason why Jiang Lan came back early that day was not that simple. It turned out that she was pushed into the water. This was really a great thing that fell from the sky.
After Zhang finished speaking excitedly, she saw Jiang Cheng frowning and not saying anything, and looking worried. She guessed that Jiang Lan must have offended Cui Jingshu and Gu Xuaner.
One is the legitimate daughter of a general, whose father is a famous general and whose mother is the extremely honorable Princess Pingyang; the other is the legitimate daughter of a marquis, whose Changxing Marquis is a century-old aristocratic family and one of the most prestigious families in the capital. If one offends these two families, there will be endless troubles in the future.
Zhang thought it would be better to marry Jiang Lan off as soon as possible.
After all, a daughter who is married off is like water spilled. Even if Jiang Lan really offended these two powerful families, any troubles she encountered in the future would be her own fate and would have little to do with her parents' family.
Jiang Ben originally planned to choose a suitable husband for Jiang Lan from among the candidates who came to Beijing to take the exam. The close friend Jiang Shen mentioned when he returned home, Mr. Lin, was a good candidate.
Jiang Shen praised the other party for being humble and modest, and said that his talent was superior to his, and gave him a very high evaluation.
Ever since Jiang Lan and Pei Qian broke off their engagement, Jiang Cheng began to consider the candidate of Master Lin. Before Jiang Lan went to Sangcheng, he asked the housekeeper to secretly inquire about Master Lin's family background. He learned that he was an orphan, without a father or a mother, and was admitted to the academy at the age of six. The old tutor who was the headmaster and the teachers in the academy all took good care of him, but he was a little weak and unfortunately caught an epidemic. Although he was rescued, it was not known whether he had any underlying illness.
After the other party came to Beijing, Jiang Cheng planned to let Master Lin live in his house and prepare for the exam with Jiang Shen, and then ask Doctor Liu to take a look at him, and take this opportunity to carefully examine the other party's knowledge and character. If the person is really as Jiang Shen said, and there is no major health problem, they can prepare for the marriage after the results of the spring exam are announced.
When Zhang mentioned the marriage of Jiang Lan and Zhang Hua again, Jiang Cheng said he would wait and see.
Zhang told him another thing, which was also told by Mrs. Zheng.
In order to stand up for Jiang Lan, Marquis Jin'an ordered the Black Armor Guards to stop Lord Zhao and Lord Zhou on their way home from court, and then invited them to the Marquis' Mansion. After they returned home, they scolded the Fourth and Sixth Young Miss and locked them up for reflection.
"Master, you also know what kind of person the Marquis of Jin'an is. He is a playboy who loves women. There are so many girls in the capital who have been deceived by his sweet words. If Lan'er also falls for him and does something shameless, our house will be laughed at again. It is better to marry Lan'er off as soon as possible." Zhang said worriedly.
Jiang Cheng told her not to exaggerate and warned her not to tell anyone about it, then went back to the study.
Afterwards, the housekeeper brought Jiang Lan to the study. Jiang Cheng first asked her about the last incident of falling into the water and asked her if she was hiding anything.
Jiang Lan immediately thought that her father must have heard something and probably knew the inside story, otherwise he wouldn't have called her to ask about it today after so many days. So she told the truth, but did not mention the incident of Cui Jingshu shooting her with an arrow. Even if she did, it would only cause trouble for her father, not to mention that he would come to her house to make the decision for her.
"Then why is Miss Cui targeting you? Did you offend her before?" Jiang Cheng asked.
Jiang Lan paused and said hesitantly, "It must be because of what happened before. Miss Cui has some misunderstandings about my daughter..."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng's expression darkened. He naturally knew what the matter was, and frowned, "I advised you not to take those rumors seriously, but you didn't listen and insisted on causing trouble at your sister's wedding. Besides, it was you who took the initiative to cancel the engagement, and those rumors didn't necessarily come from the Duke's Mansion. Do you really have to make such a scene that it would bring shame to both families?"
Jiang Lan clenched her fists. At that time, she knew that doing so would undoubtedly kill a thousand enemies and lose eight hundred of her own, and she would also get herself into trouble. But it was impossible for her to swallow this anger!
In her previous life, the two wanted to kill her, causing her to be almost raped and die in a mass grave by those two villains. She must avenge this!
Seeing her lower her head and remain silent, Jiang Cheng slowed down his tone and said, "Father knows that you have been wronged, but if you encounter any problems in the future, remember to think twice before acting."
Jiang Lan nodded and replied, "My daughter will remember your father's teachings and will never act impulsively in the future."
Jiang Cheng nodded with satisfaction, and then asked indirectly, "Did Marquis Jin'an tell you anything in Sangcheng before?"
After Qi Wuhan sent Jiang Lan back to Beijing, Jiang Cheng asked her about this matter that day.
Jiang Lan explained that it was on her way, and he happened to be returning to Beijing that day. He said that there might be thieves blocking the road, and it would not be safe for a girl like her to travel, so he gave her a ride back.
Jiang Cheng was also worried about this at the time. He was afraid that he would encounter those rebels on the way back to Beijing, so he asked Cui Hai to escort Jiang Lan and Jiang Shen back.
Later, when Qi Wuhan came to the morning court for the first time, Jiang Cheng thanked him in person. At that time, he said it was just a small matter and not to take it to heart.
After that, Jiang Cheng really didn't take it to heart. But today, when he heard Zhang talking about the matter of standing up for herself, he remembered Jiang Lan's trip to Sangcheng and asked about it again.
"Don't worry, Daddy. I won't embarrass you." Jiang Lan promised.
Jiang Cheng didn't ask any more questions, but asked about her recent physical condition and then let her go.
In the evening, Zhang mentioned the marriage of Jiang Lan and Zhang Hua to Jiang Cheng again. Jiang Cheng said that he had already found a candidate. Zhang hurriedly asked who it was and what his family background was. Jiang Cheng kept it a secret and said that the candidate was among the candidates who came to Beijing to take the exam.
Zhang thought secretly that most of the candidates who came to Beijing to take the imperial examinations came from poor families, and it would take at least ten to eight years for them to succeed. So she let Jiang Lan marry him and endure the hardships slowly.
Thinking of this, Zhang stopped mentioning the marriage.
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