Chapter 42 Duke of Chu, This Time I'll Make You Suffer a Big Tumble
Jiang Yu carefully reviewed the list of 40,000 taels prepared by Dong Shuang and was very satisfied. Then she sent a maid to the front yard to see if the Duke of Chu was free. Knowing that he had just woken up from his afternoon nap, she took Xia He to the Duke of Chu's courtyard.
Chu Guogong was reading in his study when he saw Jiang Yu come over, so he asked her to play chess with him. Jiang Yu sat down with him at the chessboard by the window and first took out the list of 40,000 taels of silver and handed it to him, saying, "Grandfather, this is the loss my family suffered in the fire."
The Duke of Chu took it and glanced at it, then smiled and said, "The Earl of Qingshan's mansion can afford 40,000 taels, but it will hurt them a lot."
“That’s what my mother said too,” Jiang Yu said with a smile.
The Duke of Chu summoned his steward, Li Zhong, and gave him all the bills, saying, "Give them to the Earl of Qingshan."
Li Zhong took the bill and left. The Duke of Chu placed a chess piece on the chessboard and said, "His Majesty is in good health. This time, by humiliating the Earl of Qingshan and Consort Su, he wants to make the ladies of the harem and the maternal families of the former imperial concubines behave themselves."
“I know,” Jiang Yu said.
“However,” the Duke of Chu said, holding a chess piece and looking at Jiang Yu, “His Majesty is very fond of the Eighth Prince.”
Jiang Yu: "After this matter is over, our grudges with the Qingshan Marquis's Mansion will be cleared up. If I encounter people from the Qingshan Marquis's Mansion in the future, and if they are polite, I might be able to exchange a few jokes with them."
"Hahaha..." Duke Chu laughed, then said, "Yes, this is what the Emperor wants to see. The court and the harem need to be balanced. Even if the Emperor dislikes the Eighth Prince, he wouldn't want the Qingshan Earl's Mansion and Consort Su to fall now."
Jiang Yu nodded to indicate that she understood.
........
Li Zhong arrived at the Qingshan Earl's residence with the bill in hand. The gatekeeper at the Qingshan Earl's residence was now somewhat flustered upon seeing him, but he couldn't refuse him entry. Upon hearing that he had a letter to deliver to the Qingshan Earl, he immediately ran off.
He returned shortly after, bringing Li Zhong before Lord Qingshan. Lord Qingshan, naturally, did not give him a friendly look, and Li Zhong respectfully handed him the letter.
Uncle Qingshan took the letter, and his expression darkened further as he glanced down at it. When he saw the final 40,000 taels, he roared, "Extortion! She's just a commoner..."
Considering Jiang Yu's current status, he swallowed the rest of his words, silently suppressing his anger, and said, "Tell the Duke of Chu that I will send the silver notes over as soon as possible."
Even though he knew Jiang Yu was extorting him, he had no choice but to accept. Firstly, this matter needed to be resolved quickly to reduce the attention from the Emperor and the powerful figures in the capital.
Secondly, even if he reported this matter to the Emperor, the Emperor wouldn't say anything about the Duke of Chu's mansion. After all, 40,000 taels of silver isn't a lot, but it's not insignificant either.
Li Zhong bowed and took his leave. Lord Qingshan sulked in his study for a while before going to Lord Qingshan's wife's place. He took out a list and said, "Prepare accordingly, and send the silver notes over in the next couple of days."
When Lady Qingshan saw it, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She said in a shrill voice, "My lord, where am I supposed to get so much money?"
"Such a large Earl's mansion, can't it even come up with 40,000 taels of silver?" Earl Qingshan asked with a dark face.
Lady Qingshan: "Lord, you don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. Putting aside everything else, do you know how much silver we've been sending to the palace every year over the years?"
The Earl of Qingshan remained silent, while his wife extended a hand and said, "Fifty thousand taels, fifty thousand taels every year. The Imperial Concubine has been in the palace for eighteen years, and we have sent nearly one million taels of silver to the palace."
"Aren't there still rewards in the palace?" said Uncle Qingshan.
Lady Qingshan snorted, "Can you exchange the rewards from the palace for money? You know that our emperor only rewards generals who have won military merits with gold, silver and land. The other rewards are things that look valuable but can't be exchanged for silver."
Uncle Qingshan remained silent with a stern face, then said, "You decide what to do. Get the money together within three days."
After he finished speaking, he got up to leave, but Lady Qingshan stopped him and said, "I plan to hold Yuezhen and Qi Yuanhong's wedding on the sixth day of next month. What do you think?"
Uncle Qingshan felt a lump in his throat whenever he heard Su Yuezhen's name. He casually said, "You decide what to do. Make sure they leave the capital immediately after the wedding."
"I'm afraid not," said Lady Qingshan. "Firstly, the fact that Yuezhen carries auspicious omens was verified back then. This time, it might be due to evil spirits. I have a feeling..."
She leaned closer to Uncle Qingshan and whispered, "I always felt that her loss of virginity had affected the auspiciousness; maybe things will get better in the future."
After listening, Lord Qingshan pondered for a moment. Lady Qingshan then said, "You know her temperament. If she leaves the capital and has no one to keep an eye on her, she might cause a lot of trouble. It's better to keep an eye on her under our noses."
After listening, Uncle Qingshan remained silent for a while before saying, "You decide what to do."
He got up and left. Lady Qingshan looked at the bill of 40,000 taels of silver with worry, and of course, she cursed the Duke of Chu's mansion and Jiang Yu in her heart.
Just as Uncle Qingshan sat down in his study, his servant brought him a letter, saying in a low voice, "It's from Lingnan."
The Earl of Qingshan took the letter, opened it, and burst into laughter after reading it, feeling immense satisfaction. Then, gritting his teeth, he said, "Duke of Chu, this time I'll make you suffer a great defeat."
......
Jiang Yu played chess with the Duke of Chu for a while, but then the Duke had other matters to attend to, so she took her leave. On her way back to the backyard, Jiang Yu suddenly felt like taking a stroll in the back garden, so she turned a corner and led Xia He there.
Just as they approached, a thin little boy suddenly ran out from the flower bushes beside them. He was Jiang Yunkang, the only grandson of the Duke of Chu's mansion.
The little guy recognized Jiang Yu because he had seen her on her first day back at the Duke's mansion. He bowed to her like a little adult, saying, "Greetings, Aunt."
The little guy's voice was so sweet and innocent, it instantly brightened anyone's mood. Jiang Yu squatted down, looked at him, and asked, "Are you playing here by yourself?"
“No,” Jiang Yunkang looked around and said, “Suyun came out to play with me, but I don’t know where she went.”
Jiang Yu's smile faded slightly. A maidservant who accompanied her young master out to play had actually run off and disappeared without a trace. It was obvious how careless she was.
"Shall I take you home?" Jiang Yu asked.
Jiang Yunkang's expression was somewhat conflicted; he seemed to still want to play, but also felt that having Jiang Yu take him home was the right thing to do. He frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Then thank you, Auntie."
It's so cute when a child imitates an adult's speech. Jiang Yu picked him up and said with a smile, "Then you can show me the way."
Jiang Yunkang nodded his little head, stretched out his arm and pointed in a direction, and Jiang Yu carried him in that direction. Xia He liked children very much, and her eyes hardly left Jiang Yunkang the whole way.
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