Chapter 141 Meeting You
Jiang Yu was destined not to get a good night's rest, but since the next day was a day off, she could sleep in a little later. However, to her surprise, before dawn, Xia He called out to her in a low voice, "Miss, Miss."
Jiang Yu frowned, without even opening her eyes, and said, "I remember today is a day off."
Xia He had been waiting outside last night, so she knew that she hadn't slept well. But fearing that not reporting would cause a major blunder, she bent down and whispered, "Steward Li said that Prince An sent a message to request a meeting with you."
Jiang Yu opened his eyes and asked, "Prince An?"
"Yes, Prince An. Steward Li is waiting outside," Xia He said.
Jiang Yu's mind cleared. Knowing Prince An as she did, she wouldn't arrange a meeting unless it was something very important. Thinking of her guesses from last night, she threw back the covers and got out of bed.
After a quick wash, she went to the study. Butler Li presented her with a letter. She took it and opened it; the first thing she saw was a line of sharp handwriting—"Meet me at Shili Slope outside the city." Signed Qin Jingwei.
Jiang Yu pondered for a moment and asked, "Was it delivered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"
“Yes, the person hasn’t left yet,” Li Zhong said.
Jiang Yu thought for a moment, picked up a pen and wrote the character "好" (good) on a piece of paper, then signed her name and handed it to Li Zhong, saying, "Let the Embroidered Uniform Guard take it back."
Li Zhong: "......"
Is it really necessary to write a whole letter for just one word?
Holding the letter with only one word, Li Zhong left. Jiang Yu returned to her dormitory and asked Xia He to comb her hair, asking, "What kind of place is Shili Slope?"
After arriving in the capital, she was constantly embroiled in intrigue and power struggles, and hardly ever left her home. If the scenery at Shili Slope was pleasant, she might consider taking a stroll there.
Xia He, unfamiliar with the capital, looked towards Chunxue, who was tidying clothes nearby. Chunxue took out the clothes Jiang Yu was to wear that day from the closet and said:
"Shili Slope is located ten miles west of the capital, hence the name Shili Slope. The terrain there is flat, and wild animals often roam, so many people like to go there to hunt. However, the snow has not yet melted, so there shouldn't be many people going hunting."
Jiang Yu glanced at the clothes she had prepared for her and said, "I'll be riding a horse today, so I'll change into men's clothes."
Upon hearing this, Chunxue immediately found a royal blue dress. "This one was just made a few days ago. The style was personally chosen by the Crown Prince's wife."
Jiang Yu glanced at it and said okay, then saw Xia He's eager expression; she wanted to go along. But Jiang Yu said coldly, "Practice your horsemanship well, and I'll take you with me when you're good at it."
Xia He pouted, "Miss, aren't you making things difficult for me? I've practiced so many times, but I still can't get it right."
Jiang Yu couldn't help but laugh out loud. Perhaps some people are just born unable to learn certain things. Just like Xia He, no matter how hard she tried to learn to ride a horse, she just couldn't.
"I'll find you a husband who's good at riding horses later," Jiang Yu said with a smile.
Xia He blushed instantly. "Miss, you just know how to tease me."
Jiang Yu laughed heartily.
......
The Imperial Guard returned to Prince An's residence, presented the letter to Prince An, and said, "When I arrived, Lord Jiang should not have gotten up yet. I waited for a long time before Steward Li gave me the letter."
Finally, he added, "Your Highness, today is a day of rest."
On days off, who wouldn't sleep in a little longer? But you went out to deliver mail before dawn. Of course, he only dared to think this to himself.
Prince An was taken aback upon hearing this, then glared at the Imperial Guard, who immediately lowered his head. Prince An waved for him to leave, then opened the letter and was stunned again. On the paper was only one lonely character—no, it should be three characters.
He pursed his lips, then smiled again. The three characters, though strong and forceful, revealed a certain casualness in the writing; the writer must have been a little annoyed at being woken up in his sleep. Prince An couldn't help but smile again, his mood inexplicably improving.
.........
After getting ready, Jiang Yu went to the Duke of Chu's residence to have breakfast with him, and shared her guesses:
“Last night I couldn’t help but think of the time when Tang Boyang called me to his study for a talk at the Ministry of Revenue. At the time I wondered why he was trying to be friendly to us, but now I think he was being a bit deliberate.”
The Duke of Chu stopped picking up food and looked at her, waiting for her to continue. Jiang Yu put down her chopsticks and continued, "Based on my observations over the past six months, Tang Boyang is a serious person. I haven't seen him smile at anyone in the past six months. But that day, his attitude was very kind, and he even smiled twice."
The Duke of Chu also put down his chopsticks and listened attentively to her. Then Jiang Yu continued:
“Our relationship with him has always been neither too close nor too distant. We have no conflict of interest, so why did he change his personality and talk to me like that? When he gave me the invitation, he asked if I was in the men's or women's section. I said either was fine, but he decided to put me in the men's section. This wasn't a last-minute decision; it was something he had planned beforehand. Why?”
The Duke of Chu kept his eyelids drooping and didn't speak. Jiang Yu continued, "I'm thinking that Tang Boyang is an outstanding person in terms of ability and skill to become the Minister of Revenue. He shouldn't have been so careless as to not discover the embezzlement of military supplies."
In that case, there are two possibilities. First, he was involved. Second, he knew, but couldn't bring himself to say anything. Alternatively, he was involved before, but regretted it for some reason.
The Duke of Chu lifted his eyelids and said, "If he were involved, he wouldn't have let you go to the cabinet storeroom to organize official documents."
“Yes,” Jiang Yu said, “So the current possibility is that he knows about the embezzlement of military supplies, but he can’t or doesn’t want to investigate it himself. So, he sent me to sort through the archives documents, to find out, to investigate, and to expose the matter. I’m being used as a tool by him.”
The Duke of Chu clenched his aged hand into a fist. "I think the most likely scenario is that he was involved before, but later regretted it."
Jiang Yu nodded, "In that case, who is the mastermind behind this? Is it Prince Kang? If it is Prince Kang, then Tang Boyang's eldest daughter is Princess Kang. Their interests are too intertwined, and it won't be easy for them to extricate themselves."
The room remained silent for a long time. After a while, the Duke of Chu said, "He wants to use us as a weapon, but we'll see if he has the ability to control us."
He looked at Jiang Yu and said, "Don't be afraid. Go all out and expose the truth. What we want is for the Emperor to see your abilities and for you to gain a foothold in the court. As for the rest, even if the mastermind is the eldest prince, as long as we have solid evidence, he can't do anything to us."
Jiang Yu picked up her chopsticks and served food to the Duke of Chu, saying, "The Prince of An invited me to meet; perhaps he guessed it too."
The Duke of Chu lowered his eyes and pondered for a while, "Cooperating with Prince An is not a bad thing, but we need to be careful about our whereabouts."
“I know.” Jiang Yu understood that the Emperor did not want to see Prince An befriend any power in the capital.
“Prince An has had a tough time too,” Jiang Yu said.
The Duke of Chu laughed, “It’s not necessarily a bad thing for a prince to have a difficult start; no one can predict the future.”
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