Chapter 70 We need to speed things up.
Jiang Jiamu and Wu Zhengyan arrived at their courtyard. The couple sat in silence for a while. Wu Zhengyan said:
"Husband, what do you think the Duke means? Jiang Jiarong is dead, and his status as an illegitimate son has been exposed. Why does the Duke want us to move to the right side of the main courtyard? Since he has acknowledged your identity, shouldn't we move to the left side of the main courtyard?"
After a moment of silence, Jiang Jiamu said, "The courtyard where Jiang Jiarong lives should be reserved for the younger sister."
Wu Zhengyan looked shocked.
Because of his chronic illness, Jiang Jiamu rarely left the courtyard. In order to keep himself occupied and to make life easier in this secluded mansion, he often pondered the lives of everyone in the Duke of Chu's mansion.
Therefore, although he didn't often appear in public, he knew quite a bit about the people in the mansion. In particular, he had analyzed the Duke of Chu, the head of the Chu family, over and over again. So, he now had a pretty good idea of what the Duke of Chu was thinking.
He looked at Wu Zhengyan and said, "Although my identity has changed, my body is still like this, and the Duke is also in poor health. He needs a capable successor now."
"You mean...the younger sister?" Wu Zhengyan was shocked again.
Jiang Jiamu nodded, "From everything my younger sister has done since she entered the manor, we can see her talent. The Duke made the right choice."
Wu Zhengyan looked somewhat unwilling, but seeing Jiang Jiamu's emaciated figure, she slumped her shoulders and said, "I hope we can find an antidote to the poison in your body."
Jiang Jiamu patted her hand, "Don't think too much. At least our future will be better than before."
Wu Zhengyan smiled and said, "You're right. At the very least, the manor will hire a good tutor for Yun Kang."
Jiang Jiamu nodded, "Things will be alright from now on."
......
In the front hall, the Duke of Chu sat in the main seat, the Marquis of Jiangling sat in the guest seat, and Jiang Yu sat opposite the Marquis of Jiangling. The whole scene was very solemn.
Marquis Jiangling glanced at Jiang Yu opposite him, then turned to Duke of Chu and said, "Xiangling just went back and told me what happened in your manor. I've come to ask what exactly happened."
The Duke of Chu remained silent, glancing at Jiang Yu. Jiang Yu rose, handed the prepared evidence to the Marquis of Jiangling, and then said:
"Jiang Jiarong instigated my father to steal my mother's dowry. When this was discovered, my grandfather was furious and ordered an investigation into what the two of them had been doing outside. The investigation revealed that Jiang Jiarong had a close relationship with the madam of Qimenglou, and the two of them would go there to buy medicine every month."
Just then, my father's concubine, Aunt Zhao, made a mistake that nearly endangered the only great-grandson of our Duke of Chu's mansion. My mother then ordered an investigation into Aunt Zhao, and that's how she learned about the process of replacing the illegitimate son with the legitimate son years ago.
Although the Marquis of Jiangling knew that the Duke of Chu's mansion couldn't possibly be wrong about such a matter, he still carefully examined each page of evidence. Finally, he placed the evidence on the table, looked at the Duke of Chu, and said:
"Duke of Chu, our two families were clearly alleging a marriage between my family's eldest daughter and your family's eldest son. Now that things have turned out this way, what are you going to say about it?"
The Duke of Chu looked at the Marquis of Jiangling with drooping, aged eyelids. He was no longer young, over forty, but he lacked the composure of someone in their forties; instead, he was quite restless. Perhaps this was why he had turned to the path of smuggling salt.
If it weren't for his smuggling of salt, the Duke of Chu would definitely have apologized to him, offered kind words of reassurance, and ultimately provided benefits to resolve the matter. This was something he and Jiang Yu had agreed upon.
However, since he was smuggling salt, the marriage alliance between the two families could no longer be maintained, and it had to be severed as soon as possible. Therefore, the Duke of Chu spoke in a very firm tone.
“We are indeed in the wrong, but what’s done is done. Your daughter from the Marquis of Jiangling’s mansion has already married into the family and is having children. What do you think I should do?”
"You..." Marquis Jiangling had not expected the Duke of Chu to say such unreasonable things, and for a moment he did not know how to respond.
He stood up abruptly, glaring at the Duke of Chu and saying, "Duke of Chu, is this your attitude and way of handling things?"
The Duke of Chu looked at him calmly, "I've already said, what's done is done, we can only accept it, what else can we do?"
"In any case, the legitimate daughter of our Marquis of Jiangling cannot become the wife of an illegitimate son," the Marquis of Jiangling said angrily.
Duke of Chu: "Jiang Jiarong has committed suicide out of fear of punishment."
"You..." Marquis Jiangling was once again at a loss for words. If the Duke of Chu were reasonable, he could naturally make his demands. But now it was clear the Duke of Chu was being unreasonable; what could he do? Did he really want his daughter to return home?
"Duke of Chu, every household has a few things that can't be brought to light, but who would talk about them?" Marquis Jiangling's tone softened considerably as he continued:
"Why don't we just leave this matter as it is, and let things remain the way they were? Of course, if you want to compensate Jiang Jiamu, since Jiang Jiarong is already gone, you can simply register him under the name of the Crown Prince's wife! Why do you have to make things so complicated?"
Negotiations are often like this: if one side is assertive, the other side may soften. This is exactly what happened to the Marquis of Jiangling. Before coming to the Duke's mansion, he thought that the Duke of Chu was old and in poor health, and in order to appease him, he would likely apologize and perhaps even offer him benefits.
Therefore, he had to appear angry and assertive to gain an advantage in negotiations and perhaps secure more benefits. However, he never expected the Duke of Chu to be so stubborn and aggressive. And in this matter, he didn't have much leverage.
Therefore, he had to soften his stance.
The Duke of Chu initially shared similar thoughts, but Jiang Yu's words changed his mind. Moreover, given his intention to sever ties with the Marquis of Jiangling's household, this idea was no longer even on his mind.
He brought up Jiang Yu's words from that day, saying, "The law of propriety is paramount. The distinction between ruler and subject, father and son, and legitimate and illegitimate children is a fundamental principle that cannot be disrupted. Once it is disrupted, it will be impossible to stop. Therefore, this matter must be severely punished, and everyone must know that my Duke of Chu's legitimate grandson is Jiang Jiamu, not Jiang Jiarong."
The Marquis of Jiangling was so angry that his face turned red. He flung his sleeves and walked out, shouting, "Anyway, I don't agree to this. Your Chu State Duke's Mansion must give me an explanation. If not, we'll sever ties."
The Duke of Chu and Jiang Yu sat there without moving; what they wanted was to sever ties.
"I wonder when we'll get a result from the Sixth Prince," said the Duke of Chu.
Jiang Yu thought for a moment and said, "With such clear clues, even if we can't find the biggest boss of the salt smuggling operation, we should be able to find the Marquis of Jiangling very quickly."
The Duke of Chu nodded. "Therefore, we need to speed things up."
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