Chapter 98 Concern Leads to Confusion (Part 1)
He was planning to go to the palace in a couple of days, but unexpectedly his old tricks were exposed, and he was suddenly summoned to the palace and given a thorough scolding for half a day.
"It was Ji Jinghe who brought the booklet back then, saying that you changed your birth date, and that he heard it from Chu Xingjian. He said that even you yourself didn't know. You need to explain to me clearly whether you knew or not?"
Yu An remained silent, struggling with what to say.
"At first, I really didn't know, including the day the Empress Dowager celebrated my birthday on my behalf, I was completely confused..."
The Empress Dowager scoffed, "Still speaking up for Ji Jinghe now?"
Yu An lay prostrate on the ground, saying, "Your Majesty, I truly knew nothing."
The Empress Dowager said "good" several times, "Then it has nothing to do with you. I will not ask you about this matter again. I want to find Ji Jinghe and ask him to explain it to me properly. He is so dishonest and still wants to be the Grand Secretary. He is dreaming!"
"Empress Dowager..."
Seeing that Yu'an still wanted to plead for mercy, the Empress Dowager could no longer contain her anger and spoke in a very harsh tone: "You, Chu Yu'an, are you sure that I will forgive you? You still have hope that I will forgive you? You are wrong. I will not allow anyone to challenge my authority, not even the Emperor!"
The Empress Dowager pointed to the door and said, "Get out. I don't want to see you."
Yu An kowtowed and apologized, but his knees buckled as he walked out of the palace gate.
This is the first time in so long that I've seen the Empress Dowager so angry.
Leaving aside what will happen to Ji Jinghe, even she is a problem.
Not only has the calligraphy project fallen through, but her life is also in danger.
"Granny, could you tell me who said that?"
She was close to the Empress Dowager and also had a good relationship with the nanny beside her. The nanny had received favors from Yu'an, so she spoke frankly about it.
"Miss Wang."
I walked unsteadily out of the palace, and even after getting into the carriage, I still didn't feel safe.
Those little devils are really troublesome.
Just when things seemed to have calmed down, they had to stir up this whole mess.
As usual, he could see Ji Jinghe every day and couldn't detect anything amiss. It was probably because the Empress Dowager hadn't bothered him yet. But just two days later, the news that the Yu'an Yellow Register had been altered spread like wildfire throughout the entire capital.
It is said that Ji Jinghe used every means to curry favor with the emperor, even bringing up the long-deceased eldest princess.
For someone like him who had just entered the cabinet as the chief minister, once the news of his deceiving the emperor spread, he would be in deep trouble. Even the emperor, sitting high in the temple, would have no choice but to keep him there for a thorough interrogation.
"I underestimated you again. It's been almost three years, and you've only kept this one big secret from me."
"It was done in a moment of urgency; I never intended to use this matter for any purpose."
The emperor casually tossed aside the memorial he was holding. "If you say you have no ulterior motives, how did you learn about the Princess's affairs? Inquiring about the Emperor's family matters in private, isn't that insubordination?"
Ji Jinghe knelt on the ground, saying, "I learned everything from His Majesty's words; I did not inquire further."
Hearing him completely absolve himself of blame, the emperor couldn't help but snort.
"You certainly know how to find excuses. According to you, I was also at fault in this matter?"
Ji Jinghe: "Your subject dares not."
After returning from the southwest, not only did others feel that Ji Jinghe had changed a lot, but even the emperor thought so.
Having worked together for so long, it's rare to see him so meek and submissive.
The minister he had personally promoted has now caused trouble, and he has no choice but to protect him.
"Don't just kneel there, come and take a look. This whole stack of petitions is here to impeach you, Ji Jinghe."
The emperor pointed, then sighed, exasperated: "How could I have fallen for such a troublemaker as you? Even I couldn't protect you."
Ji Jinghe bowed his head again, "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong, please punish me."
"It's good that you know you're wrong. If you dare to do this again, I'll be the first to punish you."
Who could blame him for handling the affairs of the southwest so well, and for the emperor's favor towards him?
With 30,000 troops under his command, he defeated 100,000 rebels and even recovered the lost territory left by the late emperor. Looking at the entire court, how many people could do such a thing and have such ability?
If we don't protect him, who will assist him?
However, this matter is difficult to resolve. The eldest princess is an old story in the Empress Dowager's heart, and ordinary people cannot easily bring it up. As the emperor, it is ultimately inconvenient for him to go against his mother's wishes in order to protect his ministers.
He needed to find out what the Empress Dowager wanted, and he also needed to quell the outside noise.
Thinking about it carefully, a feeling of irritation welled up inside her, and she immediately threw a pear at Ji Jinghe, saying, "You really have a lot of trouble!"
Before the eunuchs guarding the door could react, they suddenly heard the sound of teacups shattering one after another coming from inside the hall.
"Get out of here! Get far away from me!"
The two eunuchs lowered their heads in fright, not hearing a sound of the emperor calming down.
...
There were too many whispers, and Yu'an couldn't hear them all.
Upon hearing the Emperor summon Ji Jinghe to the palace and give him a severe scolding, Li Ji'an was already extremely worried before Yu'an could even say anything.
"His Majesty is furious. Is he going to behead us?"
Ma Yuwei frowned and said disdainfully, "It's not that serious. Can't you hope for something better?"
Li Ji'an: "Didn't the history books say that when the emperor is angry, a million corpses will fall..."
Ma Yuwei: "Jinghe is a meritorious official, after all. Even if he is severely punished, he shouldn't lose his life."
"That's true." Li Ji'an breathed a sigh of relief.
Yu An had considered the worst-case scenario: at worst, he would fall out of favor, the shop would go out of business, and Ji Jinghe would be demoted.
She is easy to talk about, but it's a pity that Ji Jinghe has only been reinstated to his original position for two months and has already run into trouble again.
Unfortunately, Ji Jinghe didn't come either, and she couldn't find him to ask if it was true or not.
Xu Jingshu brought her child over for a visit, and that's when I finally understood the whole story.
Before she arrived, she only knew that Ji Jinghe had deceived the Empress Dowager, but she was not clear about the specific details.
"This could be a big or small matter, depending on how His Majesty views it. After all, Jinghe may not have explicitly stated it at the time; it was just that the Empress Dowager was overthinking it."
Yu-an: "It was precisely the most sensitive matter that he had to bring it up."
"If he hadn't changed the Yellow Register, the Empress Dowager wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to get me involved, allowing me to benefit from her favor for so long for nothing."
Xu Jingshu laughed, teasing the child in her arms, "Wasn't it all for you back then?"
“I never intended to ask him for help, but I did, and who knew that two years later, this would happen.”
“Wang Wan’er has always been petty. She probably sees your current glory and the Empress Dowager’s favor, so she’s resentful. That’s understandable, but I didn’t expect her to be so resourceful as to be able to find your imperial edict in Jiangling.”
This is thanks to a huge connection.
Yu An: "We don't need to get involved. Once things get out of hand, Wang Jie will definitely find out and tell him to keep a close eye on his sister."
Xu Jingshu looked at her mischievously and couldn't help but laugh, "We didn't need to get involved in the first place, what are you saying..."
Yu An then realized what was happening.
I misspoke.
After marrying Cui Hu, Xu Jingshu's personality became very cheerful, just like a peasant woman. The elegant and aloof demeanor she used to have was completely gone.
Yu An likes her the way she is now. Even if she makes fun of herself, she feels it's just a joke between friends and doesn't feel uncomfortable at all.
"Tiger, look at you, your godmother is so worried about your godfather."
Yu An clicked her tongue, "What nonsense are you spouting to the child all day long..."
Lu Yunshu was demoted to a commoner and exiled three thousand miles away. The entire Lu family was implicated and could no longer be found in the capital. The child then remarried along with Xu Jingshu and was registered under Cui Hu's name.
Cui Hu was wealthy; a single painting could easily fetch a hundred taels of silver, so he had no trouble supporting his wife and daughter. Yu An felt that life was much better than when she was with the Lu family.
Xu Jingshu: "The house in Jiuwanshan has been expanded a bit more. When you're not busy, come to my place to escape the summer heat. You can even catch fish in the back mountain."
“Okay, I’ll go in a while,” Yu’an said without hesitation.
Xu Jingshu scoffed, "Who knows how long 'a while' will be? Right now, Ji Jinghe is embroiled in trouble, and you probably won't have the time or inclination to have fun. But as I see it, you don't need to worry, since you can't help him anyway."
"Zhang Yanche came to see us in the mountains yesterday. He said that the Emperor was furious and severely reprimanded Ji Jinghe. I guess things are going to be tough."
The hand winding the thread paused almost imperceptibly. Yu An said softly, "So His Majesty's reprimand is true. I thought it was just a rumor."
"How could such a thing be spread as a lie? Of course it's true."
Xu Jingshu secretly observed her expression and added fuel to the fire, saying, "Who knows? Ji Jinghe's official position is in jeopardy again... What a miserable life."
The child's babbling filled the air, and Xu Jingshu, preoccupied with entertaining the child, stopped paying attention to Yu An.
Yu An took a deep breath, and from that moment on, her mind never settled down again.
Xu Jingshu was so craving Ma Yuwei's cooking that she didn't leave until after dinner, and it was Cui Hu who came to pick her up.
Watching the carriage slowly depart, a sense of loneliness crept into my heart.
The evening breeze caressed my cheeks, and the darkening sky descended, a scene of serene beauty, yet it evoked a sense of melancholy.
A chill ran down her spine, and Yu'an turned and went back.
People who had been waiting at the shop for several days still hadn't seen him, and even Ji Shu, upon arriving, didn't know where Ji Jinghe had gone.
"I thought my brother would still come to your place every day," Ji Shu said, puzzled.
Baozhu quickly replied, "No, Miss has been waiting for so many days, but she hasn't seen anyone."
"Looking forward to seeing you?" Ji Shu suddenly became interested and even smiled.
Yu An sighed helplessly, "Your brother is in grave danger, and you can still laugh?"
"Of course I can laugh. Don't you think my brother got a good scolding this time?"
Isn't it wonderful to have someone care? It's much better than him having to go to great lengths to beg for help.
Guilt is a wonderful thing.
Yu An retorted stubbornly, "Alright, what about you? You threw away the food I made and fed it to the dogs. How are you going to make it up to me? Will you also get the Emperor to reprimand you?"
When the old story was brought up again, Ji Shu acted like a cat with its fur standing on end. She immediately hugged her neck and said coquettishly, "Sister-in-law, dear sister-in-law, didn't we agree not to talk about this? I really know I was wrong."
"I won't tease you anymore..."
Ji Shu tried to lean in and kiss her, but Yu An quickly dodged.
As soon as the two sat down, a carriage stopped outside the door, and Xu Jingshu got out.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Yu'an got up to greet him.
"I just received news that Ji Jinghe is kneeling in front of the Shou Kang Palace, and has been kneeling for two days."
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