Chapter 366 Relatives (Two Chapters Combined)
Having failed in his previous attempt to reunite with his relatives, Jiang Tong had considered learning from the experience and plugging the loopholes that would make him appear to be a loving father.
He tried to find witnesses and evidence, but apart from Hao Yu, who refused to cooperate no matter what, the only witnesses were his own two or three long-time servants.
These people will indeed testify for him as he says, but precisely because they listen to everything he says, their testimonies lack credibility.
The only evidence they could find was the obvious markings on Jiang Yuan's body. Unfortunately, he and his wife were so focused on their rebellion that they didn't pay much attention to the newborn Jiang Yuan.
He also tried to find the wet nurse and servants who had taken care of Jiang Yuan, but the two had long since died in the war, and even their families were mostly gone.
It was even more impossible to bribe or coerce Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan's servants. It wasn't that these people were surrounded by impenetrable defenses that prevented him from getting close. The reason this approach was not feasible was that Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang never allowed servants to serve them closely.
As the old saying goes, there are no secrets that stay hidden forever. Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan's unconventional behavior in this matter was already common knowledge back when they were still living in Baoding Prefecture.
Firstly, Xie Wanniang didn't think it was anything shameful, so she didn't deliberately hide it. Secondly, even if Xie Wanniang wanted to hide it, there were many people who came and went to her house and had social interactions with her family, including a large number of masters and servants. It was impossible to guarantee that one of them would tell the truth.
Of course, not everyone can accept this kind of thing, especially the masters, ladies, young masters and young ladies of wealthy families who like or are used to being surrounded by servants at all times. They often ridiculed Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan behind their backs, saying that "even if they got lucky and became upper-class people, they still can't change their lower-class behavior."
Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan never bothered to pay attention to people who talked about them behind their backs. As long as the other party didn't mention it to them, they would pretend that the other party had never said anything.
Conversely, if someone is verbally abusive in front of them, they will never be polite to them either.
Jiang Tong could easily find out about such common knowledge.
However, this also meant that he could no longer find out from Jiang Yuan's trusted subordinates whether he had any special marks on his body.
As for other people who might know, Xie Wanniang, Jiang Yuan's wife, is a tough nut to crack, Jiang Yuan's adoptive parents are already dead, and Jiang Tong would never dare to send anyone to contact those soldiers in the military camp who might have seen Jiang Yuan shirtless.
After considering all this, Jiang Tong felt like he was trying to eat the sky, with nowhere to start.
But he was unwilling to give up Jiang Yuan, his most promising bloodline descendant. Even though he didn't have real power, it didn't stop him from living a life of luxury, surrounded by servants. But he was still unwilling to just drift along and wait to die.
He desperately wanted to regain power, and even if he couldn't, he wanted to regain the ability to influence the court through Jiang Yuan.
The emperor is not young anymore, and he has accumulated a lot of ailments from his early years of conquering the country. It is estimated that he will choose to abdicate soon.
This made Jiang Tong's mind wander again. He thought that as long as someone put a few good words for him in front of the new emperor, he would be able to regain his original position and regain some power.
The person he chose, the one who could speak on his behalf to the new emperor, was clearly Jiang Yuan, whom he had been persistently harassing.
It wasn't that he insisted on holding a grudge against Jiang Yuan; it was simply that he couldn't find anyone else willing to lend him a hand.
Those shrewd people in the court all knew that he had offended the emperor, and the emperor and the crown prince were always in cahoots.
In this situation, even if the crown prince becomes the new emperor, he will certainly not easily appoint people who have been sidelined by his father.
Given the monarch's power and the ministers' weakness, no minister would be willing to offend the crown prince and the emperor for Jiang Tong's sake.
With nowhere else to turn for help, Jiang Tong regarded Jiang Yuan as his last straw.
As for his spoiled second son, and his illegitimate sons who were presented as intelligent and sensible but were actually either dull and mediocre or equally spoiled, he had long since given up on them.
Finding wives for them and dividing up their property was the last bit of fatherly love he could show them.
Of course, although the property was divided, they continued to live in the Earl's mansion.
Firstly, their birth mothers were still alive. If Jiang Tong even considered kicking them out, their mothers would cry and threaten suicide, causing him a huge headache. Secondly, Jiang Tong had indeed been persuaded by their mothers—if the sons were no good, who knew if one or two of the grandsons might be capable? If they were kicked out of the Earl's mansion now, it was hard to say what kind of life they would lead. He didn't want to ruin the promising future of the third generation.
With this in mind, Jiang Tong finally agreed to let his sons live in the Earl's Mansion until after his death.
As for the position of heir apparent, Jiang Tong did not explicitly state who he intended to give it to. He was considering using the position to make a deal with Jiang Yuan, but he was worried that Jiang Yuan would disagree, so he kept delaying it in a vague manner.
However, because he had divided the family property among his illegitimate sons and had even considered having them move out, everyone assumed that his illegitimate sons had no chance of becoming the heir apparent.
The illegitimate sons and their birth mothers were naturally very unwilling, so some people openly and secretly sowed discord between Han and Jiang Tong's second legitimate son, saying with great detail that Jiang Tong intended to leave the position of heir to Jiang Yuan.
Madam Han and her most beloved second son actually thought the same thing, and they didn't think it was just wishful thinking, because Jiang Tong had actually given his second son a share of the family business.
The combined inheritance they all received was only about 30% to 40% of the Earl's estate.
As for the remaining 60-70%, Jiang Tong said that since he was still alive, the inheritance would not be divided for the time being, and whoever inherited the title would inherit the family business. However, the illegitimate sons all knew very well that they were unlikely to get their hands on the inheritance.
As for Han's second son, he does have a chance to get him, but only if his brother, whom he has never met, can maintain his integrity and resolutely refuse to return to the Earl's Mansion with his wife and children.
What the concubines and the illegitimate sons knew, Han Shi and her second legitimate son naturally knew as well, which made them even more wary of and disgusted with Jiang Yuan's family.
Jiang Tong, who strongly advocated for Jiang Yuan's reinstatement, suddenly became the person the mother and son hated the most, without exception.
Jiang Tong, however, did not care at all about the feelings and opinions of his wife and son. To him, his wife, children and concubines were far less important than his own future and power.
Jiang Yuan was the last straw he had placed his hopes on, and he was determined to find a way to get him back.
With this in mind, upon learning that Jiang Yuan was about to be promoted and go to the capital, he immediately sent his trusted servants to wait for him at the city gate.
As his staunch confidant, Fang Youcai was well aware that his master didn't have any such thing as evidence.
After a brief moment of guilt, Fang Youcai continued his sob story, "Oh, my young master, please don't hold a grudge against the master and mistress. Can we talk about it when we get back? As the old saying goes, don't wash your dirty linen in public. It's rare that you're back, so let's not let others see the Earl's mansion in such a mess."
Jiang Yuan ignored him, but Granny Lu rolled her eyes at him without any politeness. "My master grew up in Mingfu Village, which is under the jurisdiction of Baoding Prefecture. My parents passed away one after another a few years ago. The village head and villagers of Mingfu Village can testify to this. If you can't produce any evidence, then don't continue to make trouble here. Otherwise, we will take you to the Jingzhao Prefecture to file a complaint with the authorities."
Fang Youcai was stunned for a moment. How did things suddenly escalate to the point of taking the matter to court? His master had never intended for things to escalate to this extent.
He panicked for a moment, his face turning red and then white.
He hadn't expected that even if he suddenly appeared, Xie Wanniang would be able to quickly prepare a statement and even bring out the villagers of Mingfu Village as witnesses. For a moment, he didn't know how to refute her.
Looking at the disdainful gazes of the crowd around him and listening to their unanimous comments, he knew that the show was over and could not continue. He could only slink to his feet, cover his face, and hurriedly retreat with the other servants of the Earl's mansion.
Seeing that the farce was over, Jiang Yuan instructed Wu Qing, "Let's go into the city."
Just then, everyone in front of them had finished their checks, and it was their turn to be checked.
He reached out and took his daughter's hand, and the family walked towards the city gate.
The guards and convoy followed closely behind, leaving behind a group of onlookers still discussing the matter.
"Are you Princess Huian and Lord Jiang Yuan?" During the inspection, two young men and a middle-aged man dressed as servants, who had been sitting at a tea stall inside the city gate, approached from a distance.
Xie Wanniang, who was about to get into the carriage, stopped when she heard the voice. "Who are you?"
The three men quickly clasped their hands in greeting, and the middle-aged man at the head of the group replied on their behalf, "We are servants of Lord Xie, the Director of the Examination and Merit Department of the Ministry of Personnel. We have come to greet you on the orders of our master."
Xie Wanniang raised an eyebrow. Xie, the Director of the Personnel Department, was actually her maternal uncle, but in name only.
Her adoptive father was determined to be a teacher for life, and among the Xie family members who are now officials in the court, her uncle is the most successful.
Although the Xie family were high-ranking officials and nobles in the previous dynasty, they were always popular among scholars because of their widely known reputation for integrity and loyalty.
The Great Wei royal family raised an army under the banner of avenging the last emperor of the previous dynasty. Secondly, they are now the rightful heirs of the Xie family's "loyalty to the emperor." The royal family has always maintained a positive attitude towards families of loyalty and righteousness like the Xie family.
Xie Wanniang's uncle was therefore highly regarded in the court.
Of course, this is also largely due to his own exceptional abilities.
With impeccable family background and talent, who else but him should be promoted?
Even so, his promotion speed could not compare to Jiang Yuan's.
After all, civil officials need to accumulate seniority and it is difficult for them to make any significant achievements in political affairs, while military generals can be promoted rapidly based on their military exploits.
The Xie family was not short of money or property. As early as when the first batch of Xie family members went to the capital to take the imperial examination, Xie Daoheng took out a small portion of the house deeds and land deeds that his family had stored and asked Xie Wanniang's uncle to take them to the capital.
The house where his family now lives was acquired by the Xie family during the previous dynasty.
When the Wei royal family took control of the capital, they also seized some of the property and wealth for the royal family or the national treasury. However, those properties were either ownerless or, although they originally had owners, those owners had committed crimes and had been eliminated.
Families like the Xie family, who possessed ample evidence (the red contract) and had no weaknesses that could be used as pretexts for attack, were not targeted by either members of the royal family or nobles who had contributed to the rise of the new emperor.
It's not that all these people were honest and upright; they were simply trying to please the emperor.
After all, it was almost time to divide the spoils, and none of them wanted to lose more than they gained by being short-sighted, giving others a handle to use against them at this crucial moment.
Thanks to the emperor, many families, including the Xie family, were able to reclaim their various properties left in the capital after the establishment of the Great Wei Dynasty.
Therefore, people generally have a good impression of the emperor.
Let's get back to the present.
After figuring out the identities of the three men, Xie Wanniang immediately decided to take her husband and child to seek refuge with her uncle.
It wasn't that she didn't want to stay at the inn, but out of politeness, she had to give her uncle and aunt face.
However, she did not take all her servants and guards with her; instead, she arranged for most of them to stay temporarily at a nearby inn.
The inn was booked by one of Xie's servants and his guards. It was good value for money and close to Xie's family, making it convenient for Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan to assign tasks to the servants and guards staying outside.
Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan did indeed have many things to do, such as gathering information, running errands, contacting brokers, and waiting at the city gate for Hao Yu and others... Every single thing required reliable people.
After arranging for the servants and guards who were not to be taken to the Xie family, Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, along with the child and a small number of servants and guards, followed the Xie family's second steward, the middle-aged man, to pay their respects to Xie Wanniang's uncle and aunt.
It's worth mentioning that Xie Wanniang's cousins used to live here, but after they were successively transferred to other places and left the capital, the house became empty again.
At that time, only his uncle's family lived in the house.
Her uncle was still on duty, and only her aunt, who had already received the news, was at home with her two daughters-in-law and a granddaughter to greet them.
Xie Wanniang and her family were led into the mansion. When they arrived at the second gate, Xie Wanniang saw two unfamiliar young women, surrounded by maids and servants, waving to her with smiles on their faces.
The servant who led them into the mansion introduced them in a low voice, "These two are our eldest and second young mistresses."
Xie Wanniang nodded slightly, then waved enthusiastically to the two of them.
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