After Jiang Zhixu returned, she told her daughter about it.
Jiang Shumiao said, "It's a good thing that he got rid of the Yao family, otherwise he wouldn't have lived to be fifty."
And the retribution she spoke of came soon.
First, there was Old Master Yao.
The day after Yao Cong was kicked out of his home, he suddenly fell and suffered a stroke, becoming paralyzed.
The Yao family consulted many doctors, even imperial physicians from the palace, but all of them shook their heads.
Yao Cong's father even came to see Jiang Shumiao.
Jiang Shumiao stated, "I only save good people."
Old Master Yao is very wicked; he won't save me.
Master Yao was so angry that he cursed loudly. His son's personality had changed drastically after hearing that he was crippled. He not only threw tantrums every day, smashing pots and pans, but also beat and verbally abused the people who served him. One of the maids, whom he had been harassing, could no longer bear it and stuffed a large bone into his mouth while feeding him.
Unable to move or call for help, Yao Chen choked to death.
The Yao family was naturally embarrassed to spread the word about this undignified death, but Yao Chen's reputation was so bad that it quickly became common knowledge.
After losing his beloved son, Yao Erye was convinced that Jiang Shumiao had used sorcery to harm people. For some inexplicable reason, he actually complained to Emperor Hongde.
Emperor Hongde was speechless.
Why should he punish his precious niece, who is the reincarnation of a goddess, for the sake of a morally corrupt and disrespectful dissolute man?
Are you kidding me?
Could it be that this man surnamed Yao went mad after his son's death? He really has some wild imagination.
Finally, Emperor Hongde severely reprimanded him, gave him twenty strokes of the cane, and stripped him of his official hat.
This is truly a case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead.
Jiang Zhixu could see that Emperor Hongde wanted to take the opportunity to wipe out the Yao family in one fell swoop.
In terms of power, the Yao family may not be as powerful as those established aristocratic families, but the Yao family has money and land.
If the Yao family falls, the money can fill the national treasury, and the land can be distributed to small farmers.
Wouldn't that have allowed the equal-field system to be implemented?
The powerful clans naturally saw through the emperor's intentions and started chatting with Jiang Zhixu again. With the Yao family as a living example, no one dared to have any ulterior motives or try to steer Jiang Shumiao toward the image of a 'vixen'.
Chen Xunzhi once revealed that on Jiang Shumiao's first day of school, when he performed the apprenticeship ceremony, he was almost struck by lightning.
How can mortals possibly contend with the will of Heaven?
That little girl could easily crush even an immortal.
Therefore, they could only persuade Jiang Zhixu with benefits. Jiang Zhixu was very annoyed and voluntarily handed over half of the Jiang family's fertile land to the imperial court.
Emperor Hongde was overjoyed and immediately promoted Jiang Yiqing and Jiang Shuman, who was far away in the Northwest.
Jiang Zhixu already holds a high position and wields great power; if he were to be promoted further, he would be granted the title of king. However, he is still young, so there is no need to rush.
He found a pretext to dismiss Xu Jun, the censor-in-chief who had previously impeached Jiang Qi, and replaced him with Jiang Yiqing.
He was promoted six ranks directly from the sixth rank to the third rank.
Even a rocket wouldn't be this fast.
There were many opponents in the court, including Jiang Zhixu's brother-in-law, Lu Sui, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
But when he got home, his wife grabbed his ear and scolded him, "Have you lost your mind? Your son started a relationship and then abandoned her, ruining Manman's reputation. She didn't hold a grudge and even sent a wedding gift when your son got married. Huyang is magnanimous and didn't blame me for not raising my son well. And you, you turn around and stab her son in the back. Are you jealous that my sister and I have a good relationship? Do you have to stir up trouble? Or have you been corrupted by high-ranking positions and riches, and become blind, unable to distinguish right from wrong?"
Lu Yan knew that Lu Yan and Lu Yanru were kneeling outside, not daring to utter a sound.
Lu Sui repeatedly begged for mercy.
"Your Highness, please show mercy! I have my reasons..."
Xiao Yiqiong glared at her angrily, "Don't give me that crap. Do you think I'm stupid? Xu Jun is your mother's nephew, your own cousin. His Majesty dismissed him from his post and made room for A Qing. Your mother is unhappy. She called you back yesterday and probably talked to you a lot about family righteousness. She might even be cursing your brother behind your back for being muddle-headed and believing in treacherous people. Loyalty and filial piety are hard to reconcile, so you've abandoned your loyalty to His Majesty and are now focused on being a filial son, right?"
Hearing this, Lu Yanzhi finally gritted his teeth and went inside.
"Mother, please calm down. I have heard about what happened at the morning court session. Father just echoed a few words and did not target Uncle. Grandmother is pressuring me with filial piety, and Father is in a difficult position. He can only put on a show to give Grandmother an explanation."
Lu Yan and Lu Yanru also came in and joined in pleading for their father.
Lu Sui, disregarding the loss of face in front of his sons, said slowly, "Mother is getting old, and her health has not been very good in recent years. I cannot disobey her. Besides, Aqing is still young. If she is promoted to a high position so easily, it will be difficult to win over the public. She will inevitably be harassed and made difficult in the Censorate in the future."
Princess Huaiyang scoffed, "Do you take me for a three-year-old? The Gu family openly supports His Majesty's equal-field decree, which has already offended all those powerful clans. No matter how high or low Aqing's official rank is, he will be targeted and made to suffer."
Lu Sui dared not respond.
Xiao Yiqiong glanced at him and said, "You make it sound so high-sounding, but you just don't want to be enemies with the powerful families."
Lu Sui remained silent.
The Lu family and the Jiang family are still different.
Jiang Zhixu was, after all, a cousin of Emperor Hongde, who had half of the Jiang family blood flowing through his veins.
As long as Jiang Zhixu doesn't have the brain fart to rebel, the Jiang family will never lack wealth and honor.
Lu Sui didn't want to go against the emperor, but his father was still alive and his mother was putting pressure on him.
He can only remain neutral.
Knowing his father's predicament, Lu Yan said gently, "Mother, although Father is the head of the family, he cannot disobey his elders. Uncle handed over his land, and His Majesty immediately promoted his two children to official positions. Isn't this tantamount to selling official posts in disguise? If wealthy merchants in the countryside were to follow suit, wouldn't the buying and selling of official positions become rampant? If officials have neither talent nor virtue, how can they possibly bring benefits to the people?"
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