Chapter 91: The Xiangfu starts talking about marriage
Gan Ning was no stranger to Ganzhou in Hexi.
Jiang Xue asked him to find someone to get information, but in fact, she also wanted him to go home for a visit.
Gan Ning was somewhat excited, nodded, and said, "I will pack my luggage and set out early tomorrow morning."
Jiang Xue gave him a few instructions, then took out her jade token and handed it to him, saying, "If anything happens on the road, take your Wu'an Lang's order and my jade token to the prefecture government office. It will always give you some support."
Gan Ning thanked him, and Jiang Xue dismissed him. She then called Xiaochun over and said, "Go withdraw some banknotes from my personal account and give them to Gan Ning tomorrow. I have something to ask him to do in Hexi. Don't let him down."
Xiaochun nodded, and suddenly said to Jiang Xue: "Your Highness, Chen Jin came to report that today the Prince Consort asked Huang Fu to go to the post station to send a letter home."
"He said it was a letter from home?" Jiang Xue asked, feeling somewhat puzzled. "Did Gu Lintan say that?"
Before entering the palace today, she specifically mentioned to Gu Lintan that she wanted to send someone to Hedong to pick up his mother to Beijing, just to see how Gu Lintan would react.
"Yes, when Huang Fu delivered the letter, he asked the concierge to prepare a carriage. That's what he said." Xiaochun replied, "Chen Xiu has already found a way to replace the letter. We should be able to get it tomorrow."
Jiang Xue nodded and said, "Let them keep an eye on Gu Lintan these few days. He must have communicated with Tong Hedong at this time. I think there must be other more secret channels."
Xiaochun said cautiously: "Yes, I will tell the two brothers right away."
Jiang Xue rubbed her temples with her hands, her face full of fatigue.
I'm afraid that in the days ahead, every day will be extremely busy.
At present, Gan Ning, Ruan Yisui and Jiang Qibin have all been sent out, leaving only the two brothers Chen Jin and Chen Xiu, and Xu Chong under his command.
She recalled what Jiang Yu had found out today, that Suxi's hometown was Suzhou.
Who should be sent to Suzhou now?
She had originally considered asking Jing Ye's people to investigate.
But firstly, she had already handed over the matter of picking up Gu's mother and the grain business to Jingye. If she told him about the Suzhou incident, it would be a bit too much of a favor. Although the two of them were an alliance of interests, it didn't make sense for Jingye to do all the work.
Secondly, Suxi's identity would directly affect her divorce from Gu Lintan. She would not mention Gu Lintan's relationship with other things for the time being, but the charge of abandoning his wife and keeping a mistress was enough to give her enough confidence to file a petition in court to divorce her husband.
But if Jing Ye gets hold of the ins and outs of this matter, it will inevitably become a bargaining chip for him to use.
And Jiang Xue cannot let the timing of exposing this matter be affected by anyone.
If Gu Lintan is indeed the orphan of the Chao family, then the events behind it involve treason.
So who is the person behind him, and who are the people involved in this matter?
Before he could find the clues to these two problems, Suxi's matter must not be exposed. Otherwise, if the enemy is alerted, someone might immediately cut off their tail to save their own life.
but--
Jiang Xue's current plan is that she must obtain the imperial edict to break off the marriage before all of Gu Lintan's activities involving the court are investigated and exposed.
Gu Lintan's acts of forging his identity, infiltrating the central government, and colluding with the enemy and committing treason will sooner or later be exposed, and the relevant authorities will thoroughly investigate all the relevant evidence.
She didn't want to have any more involvement with Gu Lintan after he was convicted, which would cause trouble for her father. Moreover, only by breaking off the engagement and making Gu Lintan lose the support of his status as a royal consort, could the various departments investigate the matter thoroughly with great force.
Therefore, Jiang Xue wants to control the rhythm herself.
If she leaves it to Jing Ye, if Jing Ye's ideas change, she will be in a passive situation.
Jiang Xue sighed helplessly. It seemed that Wu Anlang would have to send out another one in the next few days.
But using one less person like this is not a solution at the moment. She must have some manpower of her own.
Those sent out to investigate must be skilled in martial arts, thoughtful, and have flexible and agile brains.
After all, Wu Anlang is one in a million, and the guards of Changle Palace——
The guards in Changle Palace might be able to be used to guard the house, but they are not enough to be sent out to do things.
Fu Dong came in with some hot water, and seeing Jiang Xue looking worried, she asked cautiously, "Are you tired, Your Highness? Let me help you remove your makeup and wash up quickly."
Jiang Xue remained silent and nodded.
"Your Highness, will you still go to the Prime Minister's Residence tomorrow morning?" Fu Dong asked casually while twisting his handkerchief.
"Go," Jiang Xue said, "After all, there is still no good news from grandpa. As a junior, and I am outside the palace, I should visit him often."
"I don't know when the Prime Minister will recover from his illness, so that His Highness and the Queen won't have to worry about it every day," Fu Dong gently wiped Jiang Xue's hands and sighed, "And my cousin, she has such a lively personality, I'm afraid she will feel uncomfortable being restrained in the Prime Minister's Mansion every day."
"Qiong Shuang has been in the martial arts world for a long time after all, and it will take time for her to change her bad habits," Jiang Xue said with a chuckle, "When grandpa gets better, I'll find a reason to bring her out."
Fu Dong nodded, put down the handkerchief, and reached out to help Jiang Xue take off the hairpins.
Jiang Xue suddenly had an idea.
Qiong Shuang, how could she forget Qiong Shuang.
She raised her eyes and looked at Fu Dong with a lively look, and said, "There is a way."
Fu Dong asked, "What method? What difficulties have you encountered, Your Highness?"
Jiang Xue smiled and said, "Nothing, you reminded me that with Qiong Shuang's personality, she must have many friends in the martial arts world."
"Your Highness," Fu Dong hesitated, "The reason why I said this is because I heard some maids talking in the courtyard just now."
"What are you talking about?"
"It is said that the wife of the emperor's uncle seems to be interested in arranging a marriage for my cousin," Fu Dong whispered. "I don't know which family started the rumor, but it seems that they have already started to look for young masters from aristocratic families among the various families in the court."
"Nonsense," Jiang Xue frowned and said, "Grandfather is still ill, how can we discuss marriage at this time? Such words must not be spread out of the Gu Mansion. You should be alert and tell the servants in the mansion not to discuss it anymore."
Fu Dong lowered his eyebrows and said, "Yes, I have already scolded and punished those who gossiped about it. But I heard that it was because the Prime Minister fell ill suddenly that he told the Madam of the Imperial Uncle that he wanted Miss Cousin to have a home as soon as possible, and the Madam of the Imperial Uncle rushed to do it, so this matter has only spread in the past two days."
Jiang Xue frowned and suddenly asked, "Do you know which families the Xiangfu has set his eyes on?"
"It seems to be the eldest son of the Minister of War, and the second son of Duke Xu, the young general Zheng who inherited the title of Marquis of Zhenyuan from his maternal grandfather's family."
Jiang Xue had some impression of Duke Xu's second son.
Duke Xu's wife was the only daughter of Marquis Zhenyuan. The old Marquis Zhenyuan had served the emperor's grandfather in his early years. The emperor's grandfather sent him to lead an army to attack the State of Gan. Although he won many battles, he was seriously injured in the last battle. After returning to the court victoriously, the time for treatment had been missed, and he eventually succumbed to his injuries and passed away.
Since the marquis had only one daughter, in order to ensure that the meritorious official would not be without an heir, the royal grandfather issued an imperial decree that the offspring born to the marquis's only daughter would be inherited by the eldest son from the Duke's Mansion, while the second son would take his mother's surname and be included in the Zheng family tree of Marquis Zhenyuan and inherit the title of Marquis.
Duke Xu's second son was named Zheng Mian. His father had conferred upon him the title of General Tahong in recognition of the old marquis's loyalty and bravery. He also separated a branch of the Zheng family's Zhenyuan Army, which had been taken over by the royal family, and placed Zheng Mian under his command when he came of age.
There had been no war in Daji for many years. Although the name of this army was recorded in his honor, it had never been actually used.
Therefore, Zheng Mian has no military merits at the moment, and only has an empty title.
But after all, he had such an army under his name, and Zheng Mian himself was not a weak scholar. He liked to go to the parade ground to train soldiers when he had nothing to do. It was said that he had a good way of managing the army.
And the Minister of War seems to be an old stubborn man, but he is also a breath of fresh air.
Jiang Xue had seen the emperor so angry with him many times. This man never formed cliques for personal gain and was upright. But because of this, whenever he disagreed with his grandfather on political views, he would not give any face to the emperor or to Prime Minister Lu, who was already in his seventies. Both of them were loyal ministers to the emperor. Every time the emperor tried to comfort and mediate, he would be choked back by his righteous words, which made him very tired.
As for his eldest son, Jiang Xue didn't know much about him. She only knew that among the children of these noble families, this man's martial arts skills were the best. His father had even given him a precious sword at a palace banquet a few years ago.
As for his temperament - as the saying goes, like father like son, he probably has the same upright temperament as his father, the Shangshu.
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