Chapter 25 The Imperial Concubine Must Not Be Allowed to See the Emperor
Chu State Duke's Mansion
Jiang Yu was playing chess with the Duke of Chu in the study. The Duke of Chu placed a black piece on the chessboard, bringing the game to a stalemate, and asked Jiang Yu, "You've already posted the notice, what's next?"
Jiang Yu held the white chess piece, pondered the game for a while, and then asked, "What grudges do the Marquis of Anling's mansion and the Earl of Qingshan's mansion have?"
The Duke of Chu glanced at her and said, "Why did you ask about the Marquis of Anling?"
Jiang Yu placed the chess piece down and said, "I heard from Steward Li that the bookstore that prints notices is owned by the Marquis of Anling."
The Duke of Chu looked up at her, waiting for her to continue. Then Jiang Yu spoke again:
“In the capital, the powerful and wealthy have a complex network of relationships, and their servants and stewards should be very vigilant. In my notice, the name of the Qingshan Earl’s Mansion was clearly written. The manager of the bookstore couldn’t possibly not know that, but the bookstore still printed it. This shows that the Anling Marquis’s Mansion and the Qingshan Earl’s Mansion have a grudge.”
The Duke of Chu nodded approvingly, then said, "The Marquis of Anling had a younger sister who was selected to enter the palace. She later died along with her unborn child. At the time, the investigation pointed to a newly favored concubine, but the Marquis of Anling insisted that it was Consort Su who did it, though he had no evidence. From then on, the Marquis of Anling and the Earl of Qingshan were at odds."
Jiang Yu nodded knowingly, then said, "The Marquis of Anling's family must have connections in the inner palace."
The Duke of Chu, holding a chess piece, looked at her in silence for a moment before saying, "The Marquis of Anling has a close relationship with the Empress's maternal family, the Marquis of Chengen. What do you intend to do?"
Jiang Yu: "The matter of today's notice has caused such a big commotion. The Earl of Qingshan will probably pass the news to the Imperial Concubine. What will the Imperial Concubine do after she finds out?"
Duke of Chu: "Go see the Emperor and smooth things over."
“Yes,” Jiang Yu said, “What we need to do now is to prevent the Consort from seeing the Emperor before you do. The influence of the Consort is very powerful.”
The Duke of Chu tapped the table a few times with his index finger, then said, "Help me write a letter."
Jiang Yu got up and walked over, helping the Duke of Chu to his desk and preparing his writing materials. She said, "You can tell everyone my identity; it will be revealed to the world soon anyway."
The Duke of Chu nodded, took the brush from Jiang Yu, pondered for a moment, and then wrote on the letter: Marquis of Cheng'en...
After writing the letter, he handed it to his steward, Li Zhong, and instructed him, "You must personally deliver it to the Marquis of Chengen."
"Yes." Li Zhong took the letter and left. Jiang Yu helped the Duke of Chu to sit down at the chessboard, and the two continued playing chess.
The Duke of Chu asked, "When will you deliver Yang Tianfu to the Earl of Qingshan's residence?"
Jiang Yu: "Let things fester overnight, then send it over tomorrow."
"Yes, let it ferment overnight. Tomorrow someone should impeach the Earl of Qingshan, and then the Imperial Concubine will have no way to downplay the matter," said the Duke of Chu.
Jiang Yu nodded. "When are you going to see the Emperor?"
The Duke of Chu thought for a moment, then said, "Tomorrow."
"Thank you for your hard work, Grandfather," Jiang Yu said earnestly.
The Duke of Chu waved his hand, "I'm not doing this just for you. After I retired due to illness, your father and your brother became incompetent. Many people think that our Duke of Chu's mansion is going to decline. I have to show them that even so, the Duke of Chu's mansion is not something that can be trampled on at will."
His voice was aged, yet carried a murderous aura. Jiang Yu could imagine the former prestige of the Duke of Chu in the court.
........
Li Zhong arrived at the Marquis of Chengen's residence in a carriage and greeted the gatekeeper at the entrance. Upon seeing him, the gatekeeper quickly smiled and said, "Steward Li, is there something you need?"
One of the essential skills for servants of the powerful and wealthy families in the capital was recognizing people. They not only had to know the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital, but also the main stewards of those families.
The Duke of Chu's mansion was a long-established powerful family in the capital, and Li Zhong had served the Duke of Chu for many years. Almost all the servants in the capital knew him.
"My lord, the Duke, has a letter that he wants me to deliver to your lord personally," Li Zhong said to the servant with a smile.
Upon hearing this, the servant quickly said, "The Marquis is in the manor. Please wait here while I go in and inform him."
The servant boy trotted inside, and another servant boy led Li Zhong to a room, served him tea, and stayed to talk with him. They soon got to the biggest news in the capital that day—the notices posted everywhere.
"Steward Li, who do you think did this? It happened so secretly." The servant asked Li Zhong.
Li Zhong smiled and said, "They must have a grudge against the Marquis of Qingshan."
The servant smacked his lips. "That's true, but I don't know if what's written on that notice is true. If it is, then neither the top scholar nor Miss Su are good people."
Li Zhong replied with a smile, "Indeed."
The servant said, "I don't know what wrong Miss Su has done, that Lord Qingshan wants to marry her off to a poor man of bad character."
Li Zhong glanced at him, so it can be said that as long as one is not too stupid, one can basically guess the intricacies of the situation.
Just then, the servant who had gone to deliver the message came running over, smiling as he said to Li Zhong, "Our lord wishes to see you."
Li Zhong rose, straightened his clothes, and followed the servant into the main hall of the Marquis of Chengen's residence. The Marquis of Chengen was seated in the main seat, and Li Zhong quickly bowed. The Marquis of Chengen then asked, "How has the Duke of Chu been feeling lately?"
Li Zhong bowed and replied, "The Duke's health has improved considerably in the past two days."
Marquis Chengen nodded, "That's good. Go back and tell the Duke of Chu that I'll invite him to play chess when I have time."
"Yes." Li Zhong took out the letter and handed it to Marquis Chengen with both hands.
Marquis Chengen opened it right then and there, and read it quickly. He said, “No wonder your Duke’s health has improved a lot. He’s happy that his granddaughter has been found.”
Li Zhong replied with a smile, "Yes, my young lady is very much liked by the Duke."
Marquis Chengen glanced at him with a slightly darkened look. It was quite interesting that a divorced woman was still favored by the Duke of Chu.
“Go back and tell your Duke that I will do as he says,” said Marquis Chengen.
Li Zhong bowed and took his leave. Marquis Chengen took the letter again and read it once more. Then he sneered and called out to the door, "Someone come here."
His attendant entered, and he beckoned. The attendant approached him, and the Marquis of Chengen whispered, "Have someone send a message to the Empress..."
......
Qingshan Bofu
When Uncle Qingshan heard from the stewardess that Su Yuezhen had been taken into the ancestral hall, he said, "Keep a close eye on her and don't let her slack off even a little. No one is allowed to send her anything."
"Yes." The old woman ran out. Uncle Qingshan stood in front of the window, thinking for a long time, and then called out, "Someone come here."
His attendant, who had been waiting outside, came in. Uncle Qingshan looked at him and said, "Tell the Imperial Concubine about the notice and tell her that this matter probably won't be so easy to get over."
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