Chapter 95: Leave Yourself a Way Out
After Prince Rui left, the Emperor waved for Prince An to sit down, saying, "Your uncle is pure of heart; do not bring any corrupt matters to his doorstep."
Prince An, who was halfway down, immediately stood up again. "Your subject understands."
"Yes, I didn't mean anything by it." The emperor waved for Prince An to sit down, then asked, "How did it go?"
Prince An lowered his eyes slightly. The Emperor was warning him not to get too close to Prince Rui. He knew very well that his father had never treated him, the son of a palace maid, as his own son.
If it weren't for his uncle, Prince Rui, meeting him in the garden when he was a child, and the two of them having fun playing together because they were the same age, and him becoming his uncle's playmate from then on, he wouldn't even have been qualified to be a cruel official.
Thinking about his childhood, Prince An answered the emperor's question, "The entire Jiangling Marquis family has been imprisoned and awaits your judgment."
The emperor hummed in agreement, then pondered for a moment before saying, "The Marquis of Jiangling and his three clans will be exiled to the northern frontier. You will take the imperial edict there in a moment."
“Yes,” Prince An stood up, took out the memorial Xie Zizhang had given him, walked to the emperor’s desk and handed it to him, “This is what Xie Zizhang gave to me. He also said he was willing to contribute 300,000 taels of silver for river management.”
The emperor paused, holding the memorial, then chuckled twice. "The Xie family is truly remarkable."
Prince An didn't know what the emperor meant by "the Xie family is truly extraordinary." Did he mean the Xie family could come up with 300,000 taels of silver at once, or that someone in the Xie family had taken such action? Perhaps both.
He returned to his seat and sat down. The emperor began to look down at the memorials, while Prince An sat upright, his mind elsewhere. In fact, for a moment just now, he wanted to tell the emperor that the Duke of Chu might have known all along that the Marquis of Jiangling was smuggling salt, and even more so, that the secret guard might have been from the Duke of Chu's mansion.
But after a fleeting thought, he suppressed it. If the Duke of Chu already knew that the Marquis of Jiangling was smuggling salt, and if the secret guards were indeed from the Duke of Chu's mansion, then the Duke of Chu certainly wouldn't be afraid of being suspected by him or the Emperor. He had a way to deal with it.
In that case, if he were to inform the Emperor of his suspicions, it would be redundant and might offend the Duke of Chu, or even the Duke of Wei and the Marquis of Anyuan. As an unfavored prince and a cruel official, he naturally needed to leave himself a way out.
His mind was racing. The emperor had finished reading the memorial and said, "The Xie family is quite sensible. I am not a heartless person. They are all old ministers. I will not kill them all."
Prince An did not respond to his words; it was not something he could answer. The emperor glanced at him, picked up his pen to write an imperial edict, and then said, "Kill Xie Zihui, release Xie Yun."
He picked up the imperial edict, and Prince An walked over and took it from him. Then he heard the emperor say, "Take a few of the things confiscated from the Marquis of Jiangling’s residence if you like them, and put the rest into the national treasury."
He wasn't particularly stingy; if his son did a good job, he naturally wanted to reward him. But then he heard Prince An say, "The Marquis of Jiangling's residence... is very poor..."
He recounted to the emperor what had been found in the Marquis of Jiangling's residence. The emperor was first surprised, then regretful, and finally sighed, "A tree that lives too long is prone to root rot."
He waved for Prince An to leave, and sighed again. Prince An stepped out of the imperial study, and the eunuch beside Prince Rui came forward, smiling, and said, "Your Highness, my master said he would like to invite you to Prince Rui's residence for dinner."
Prince An was about to agree, but remembering the emperor's warning, he said, "Tell my uncle that I have official business to attend to and will not go today. I will go when I have time."
The young eunuch was stunned for a moment. His master had been talking about this Prince An for the past few days, but since Prince An had said so, he, a mere eunuch, could not say anything. So he smiled and said, "This servant will go and report to my master right away."
Prince An nodded, and the young eunuch trotted away. Prince An then strode towards the palace gates. Only when he was far from the imperial study did he clench his fists tightly. However, his expression remained calm, and no one could discern his inner emotions.
After leaving the palace, Prince An went to the prison to read out the imperial edict...
Within a single day, the Jiangling Marquis's residence was raided and the Xie family was besieged; the entire capital seemed to be in a state of tension. By evening, all the powerful and influential families knew the Emperor's punishment of the Jiangling Marquis's residence and the Xie family.
Many people said that the emperor was merciful, only killing Xie Zihui and not even the Marquis of Jiangling. At this moment, Jiang Yu was in the Duke of Chu's study, looking at the Duke and saying:
“When Zhang Xiangling was about to return home, I had someone send her large, worthless dowry items back to the Jiangling Marquis’s residence, but I kept the valuables. My idea was to exchange those items for silver, deposit them in a money exchange, and give the token to Zhang Xiangling, which might solve her predicament.”
The Duke of Chu nodded after hearing this, "We will do as you say. In the end, we are the ones who have wronged her."
If it weren't for the incident of a son being replaced by a legitimate son in their family, Zhang Xiangling wouldn't have returned home, nor would she have been exiled. Although they repeatedly tried to persuade her to stay, she chose to return home herself, but ultimately, they bear some responsibility for her current predicament.
Besides, she is Jiang Yuan's mother after all. For Jiang Yuan's sake, we should help her if we can at this time.
"I heard they're leaving for Northern Xinjiang in five days. I've asked someone to prepare some cotton-padded clothes, in case it gets cold before they even reach Northern Xinjiang," Jiang Yu added.
"You decide what to do," the Duke of Chu thought for a moment and then said, "Don't tell Jiang Yuan yet."
"Yes." Jiang Yu naturally wouldn't let a four-year-old girl suddenly face the prospect of her mother's exile. This matter should be kept secret for as long as possible.
The grandmother and granddaughter chatted for a while, then Jiang Yu got up and left. Instead of returning to her own Yunfeng Courtyard, she went to Lu Yifang's place. Jiang Yuan was already asleep, and Lu Yifang was keeping watch by her bedside. Seeing Jiang Yu arrive, she went to the small flower hall, and the mother and daughter sat down to talk.
Jiang Yu explained her plan to exchange Zhang Xiangling's remaining dowry for money. Lu Yifang lowered her voice and said, "You did the right thing. It's always more reassuring to have money in hand. However, you have to tell her not to tell anyone else. Having money in times of hardship isn't necessarily a good thing."
“I know, but she’s not stupid,” Jiang Yu said.
Lu Yifang shook her head, "She's just clever in a petty way. She's calculating and calculative with others, but she has no sense of caution towards her own family."
Jiang Yu thought to herself, "You seem to know her quite well," but said aloud, "Keep a close eye on Yuanyuan's people. We'll keep her secret for as long as possible."
Lu Yifang nodded quickly, "I know, I know, don't worry."
“I told Jiamu and Zhengyan that I wanted to raise Yuanyuan with them,” Lu Yifang added. “They both said it was the right thing to do, and that it would be best for Yuanyuan to stay with me since she doesn’t have parents around.”
“My brother and sister-in-law are both kind-hearted people,” Jiang Yu said. “Now you can rest assured. When we have time, we’ll carefully select a teacher. Yuanyuan and Yunkang should be starting school.”
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