Chapter 3 The Only Way
Song Zhimian knew that her biggest crisis right now was that Song Kaishan would marry her off to an old man.
At that time, not only was the dowry left to her by her mother in jeopardy, but her own life was also in danger.
Although this dynasty is much more tolerant of women now, and women can do many things, marriage is still arranged by parents and matchmakers...
Song Kaishan arranged a marriage for her, and Song Zhimian had almost no way to resist.
Unless she's dead...
But if she dies, wouldn't that be letting those people off easy?
Song Zhimian refused to accept her fate.
In her previous life, Song Zhimian was a strategic consultant who conducted industry research and analysis, provided competitive strategies for companies, formulated competitive plans, and helped them expand their businesses.
Her strength lies in integrating all the information she knows to formulate the most suitable plan for the present moment.
She is quite capable and knows how to make the most of the information she has.
From the current perspective, Song Zhimian has obtained at least two useful pieces of information.
The palace is recruiting female officials and female physicians, and the Censorate is in charge of all matters related to this fundraising effort in the capital for the northern regions.
The profession of female doctor is too demanding, and Song Zhimin definitely can't do it. Although she has a friend who is a forensic doctor, which is a similar profession, Song Zhimin is very self-aware and knows that she is not cut out for it.
Becoming a female doctor? Haha, that's a no-brainer.
Therefore, Song Zhimian set her sights on female officials.
Only by being recruited as a female official could she escape the fate of being married off to an old man by Song Kaishan.
No matter how powerful your parents' orders are, they can't supersede the power of the emperor! If the royal family sets their sights on someone, even your own father can't take them away.
This is the only way Song Zhimin can think of to protect herself at the moment...
However, if you apply to be a lady-in-waiting in the inner palace... there will be many uncertainties involved.
First of all, daughters of noble families rarely apply to become female officials. Although the title sounds nice, the actual work they do is still serving others.
Most of the women who applied to become female officials were girls from ordinary families.
Secondly, even if Song Zhimian applied for the position of female official, she might not necessarily be hired.
Her identity was rather conspicuous, and it's estimated that the moment she applied to become a female official, the authorities would have notified her father, Song Kaishan.
Song Kaishan is the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery; he can certainly find a way to make Song Zhimin fail the selection.
Even if he can't do it himself, he can ask the influential person behind him for help, and it's just a matter of the influential person saying a word.
Therefore, Song Zhimin had almost no chance of succeeding in taking the exam for female officials through normal channels.
The only solution now is...
...
After finishing her tea, Song Zhimian took Cuiguo and headed towards the Censorate.
The Censorate was an extraordinary entity in the capital.
The Supervisory Commission, established during the reign of Emperor Wu, became increasingly sophisticated after operating for over a century.
Everyone in the court knew that the Censorate not only supervised the accounts of the Six Ministries, but also the accounts of all merchants in Dayu.
The Censorate is only responsible to the Emperor's family, and the accounts that the Censorate wants to investigate are often the same accounts that the Emperor's family wants to investigate.
Although the highest-ranking official in the Censorate, the Censorate Minister, only held the rank of fourth grade, he was the person that officials in the court dared not offend the most.
What's even stranger is that the position of Inspector General has been held by women since the reign of Emperor Wu.
A century later, the current Inspector General is still a descendant of the first Inspector General.
There are even rumors that every Inspector General has a brain that is almost superhuman. Not only can they find out the details of the ledgers that are handed to them, but each of them also has the same skill: photographic memory!
They could remember every detail of the ledgers they had seen, even ten years later.
Song Zhimian knew that the Minister of the Censorate must be a confidant of the imperial family, and perhaps her only chance of turning things around lay with this man.
The people of the capital were very concerned about raising funds for the northern regions.
Whether they were from noble families or ordinary people, everyone took out their purses or wallets.
Song Zhimian's appearance among the crowd queuing to donate money was not at all out of place.
After waiting in line for quite a while, it was finally Song Zhimian's turn.
Cui Guo felt a pang of heartache as she watched Song Zhimian take out the remaining twenty taels of silver from her purse.
The young lady's monthly salary was low, and the servants in the mansion were all opportunistic and snobbish, making life even more difficult for the two of them.
Twenty taels of silver... that's enough for them to live on for several months!
Even if Miss only leaves two taels of silver behind, she can give it to the kitchen maid when she gets home today. That would at least ensure that they have hot water readily available in their courtyard for a month!
Should I try to persuade the young lady? What if she won't listen after I do?
Cuiguo watched longingly as Song Zhimian placed the silver in her hand onto the table.
"Sorry, I didn't bring enough with me today! This is all I have," Song Zhimian said softly.
A female junior official in charge of registration, while taking notes, said with a smile, "There's not much difference; even a penny is support for the soldiers in the north."
"May I ask which household you belong to, miss? We need to register you here, and we'll post a notice announcing it after this matter is settled."
Song Zhimin immediately introduced herself, "Song Zhimin of the Marquis of Zhongyong's Mansion."
The young female envoy immediately looked up at Song Zhimian.
She was a member of the Censorate and knew everything that happened in the imperial court.
Song Zhimian from the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion? Is that the family of the Marquis of Pingbei's elder brother, who fought to the death to protect the grain supplies and the enemy?
The young female envoy immediately became respectful.
"You are the Marquis of Zhongyong..."
“Eldest daughter!” Song Zhimian said softly.
The young maid nodded and respectfully wrote it down in the book in front of her: "Song Zhimian, eldest daughter of the Marquis of Zhongyong, twenty taels of silver."
Seeing that the young lady had finished writing, Song Zhimian glanced at the book of records again and suddenly took off a white jade hairpin from her hair.
"The soldiers in the north have worked hard, and they brought less money with them today. May I donate this hairpin as well?"
Although it's not a rare item, it's still worth about thirty or fifty taels of silver.
"I just don't know... how should this be calculated?" Song Zhimian suddenly said.
The young female envoy was stunned for a moment, then quickly took the hairpin and examined it.
The white jade hairpin was exquisitely carved and the jade was of fine quality; she could tell at a glance that it was a fine piece.
"Miss Song, do you really want to donate this hairpin?" the young maid asked earnestly.
Song Zhimian nodded.
"To me, this is just a piece of jewelry, but if it can be exchanged for silver to bring more food and supplies to the soldiers in the north, that is its greatest value."
The young maid nodded and then placed the hairpin in Song Zhimin's hand.
“Miss Song, please go that way. If you want to donate hairpins, go over there. Since hairpins are valuable items, I can’t easily appraise them here.”
The room was where a senior official from the Merchant Guild was invited to appraise the value of the donated goods.
"They'll definitely give us a good price," the young envoy said with a smile.
Song Zhimian nodded and immediately took the hairpin and walked to the next room.
Cui Guo wanted to follow, but Song Zhimian gestured for her to wait there.
And so, Song Zhimin went into the next room alone.
There were hardly any people in the room, except for a woman in charge who was examining a jade incense burner in her hand.
"A jade incense burner, a fine item, worth five hundred taels..."
"My lord, I would like to donate this hairpin." Song Zhimian carefully stepped forward and handed over the hairpin in her hand.
The female steward immediately put down the incense burner in her hand, took Song Zhimin's hairpin, and examined it carefully before speaking.
"This hairpin is exquisite, and the jade is of good quality. If it were the stock price of the merchant guild, it would be worth eighty taels."
Is this price acceptable? If so, I'll register it for eighty taels.
Song Zhimian nodded immediately.
The original owner once asked Cuiguo to secretly take this hairpin to a pawnshop, but the pawnshop was only willing to give her ten taels of silver. Cuiguo took it back in a fit of anger, and the two of them ate leftovers for almost a month.
Now……
"Sure! Thank you!" Song Zhimian said hurriedly.
The female clerk immediately wrote it down.
After the female lead finished writing, Song Zhimian continued to speak.
"I have some jewelry and accessories at home that I don't wear anymore, I can bring them over tomorrow."
"Also, can you donate anything here?" Song Zhimian asked in a low voice.
"Of course, anything valuable that can be exchanged for silver is fine!"
"Oh, people won't do! This isn't a brokerage firm! Sending people over here is definitely not an option." The female manager smiled at Song Zhimin.
After Song Zhimian hummed in agreement, she suddenly asked a question.
"I have something I'd like to donate, but... only your Inspector General can handle it. Is that... alright?"
The female manager...
"You want our lord to come forward? Well... to be honest with this young lady, if our lord personally comes forward, it will definitely be a donation of more than ten thousand taels of silver."
"Even if it were a noble family from an ordinary background who came to donate silver, we adults wouldn't easily step forward," the woman in charge explained with a smile.
Song Zhimian nodded immediately.
“I know the Minister of the Censorate is very busy, but what I want to donate… is definitely more than ten thousand taels of silver.”
"Why don't you talk to the master about it? He certainly won't be disappointed." Song Zhimian said earnestly.
"This..." The female head of the household was a little embarrassed.
Her husband has been busy reviewing the accounts of the three garrisons lately, and has been working late for three days straight...
"You should be happy for your master that someone is sending you so much money!"
Alright, miss, you should go back now! The Chief Inspector will definitely be here at this time tomorrow.
You were bringing over what you wanted to donate at that time.
With a hearty voice, a man in brocade robes walked out from the side room next to the main house.
Song Zhimian glanced at it only once before quickly looking down.
This man exuded an air of nobility, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes; he was clearly of royal lineage…
The female manager immediately stood up. Just as she was about to speak, she saw the person who came in gently shake his head at her.
"Alright! Miss, you should go back now! There will be people waiting for your donation here tomorrow," the man said with a smile.
Song Zhimian quickly gave a slight curtsy, then turned and left.
But after taking two steps, she turned back.
"The matter is not yet settled, so please keep it a secret for now, sirs. Thank you both!" Song Zhimian said earnestly to the female steward.
The female manager immediately agreed.
Yes, the money hasn't been donated yet! We don't need to let outsiders know.
Her master was always meticulous in his work; if the silver wasn't put into the treasury or recorded in the books, then it didn't exist!
So there's no need to make a fuss about it...
Song Zhimian left in a hurry again.
"Miss, which family are you from?" the man who suddenly appeared asked in a low voice.
The woman in charge finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your Highness, please don't come out and scare us all the time! What we fear most when we're out on official business is being startled unintentionally."
That young lady is the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion.
"Just look at her clothes... she doesn't have the airs of a legitimate young lady at all. The only valuable jewelry she has is this hairpin that she just donated..." the mistress sighed.
The man addressed as "Your Highness" by the female head of the household was none other than the seventh son of the current emperor, Prince Qi, and the only prince born of the same mother as the crown prince.
When Prince Qi heard that Song Zhimian was the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Zhongyong, he was clearly taken aback.
"Is she the niece of Marquis Pingbei, Song Kaiyuan?"
"She is also the biological daughter of Marquis Zhongyong, Song Kaishan," the female steward said bluntly.
King Qi frowned slightly.
So she's a girl from the Song family! No wonder I haven't seen her much before!
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