Emperor Yuanhe couldn't possibly be that idle.
Besides, he's already given her a salary of 30,000 taels of silver over three years, why would he haggle with her over the silver she earned from trading?
She felt that if it were Emperor Yuanhe, he would have used a more sophisticated method instead of ordering people to rob the Shang.
Could it be the eldest princess?
Is she envious of the little bit of silver that Prince Gong's mansion has?
Su Wanyan felt that what the eldest princess most wanted to deal with right now was her and Yu Nanqing. As for other matters of the Prince Gong's Mansion, if they could not affect Yu Nanqing, she would be too proud to do them.
"Master Wang, please remind Wei Xiang that next spring, if necessary, he can hire a caravan to escort the merchants." Su Wanyan couldn't be of much help with this matter.
Swords have no eyes; I just hope nothing bad happens to those who go out to trade.
"Okay, sure," Wang Zhang replied.
Besides the caravan matter, there was also Su Muqing's marriage. Wang Zhang sent people to inquire around and found some leads.
The Marquis of Yuanning originally wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Xia family, which was the Empress's maternal family.
Empress Xia Yunshang of the Great Jin Dynasty. The Xia family has produced military generals for generations. When Yu Nanyi ascended the throne, the Xia family contributed a lot to the cause. Xia Yunshang's father was even appointed as the Kaiyuan General.
After Yu Nanyi successfully seized the throne, the Xia family withdrew from the political arena and voluntarily handed over their military power. This move further increased Yu Nanyi's appreciation for the Xia family, and all the men in the family were given official positions in the capital.
The person Marquis Yuanning wanted to marry was the son of the Empress's brother-in-law, who was also the Empress's nephew.
Originally, Yu Nanyi trusted the Xia family because they had handed over their military power. However, Marquis Yuanning still held military power, and the Empress had given birth to a legitimate prince four years ago. If nothing unexpected happened, her son would become the Crown Prince.
The Marquis of Yuanning's desire to form a marriage alliance with the Xia family made Emperor Yuanhe suspect that they harbored ulterior motives. He, the emperor, was still alive, yet they were already thinking about helping the princes. Did they even respect him as the emperor?
Furthermore, he remembered that he had seized the throne from his father, and he feared that his son would one day use the same methods to force him to abdicate.
Therefore, he had to prevent this from happening. In a fit of anger, he bestowed Su Muqing upon Yu Nanqing, hoping to teach Marquis Yuanning a lesson while also using Marquis Yuanning to get rid of Yu Nanqing.
That led to what happened next.
The current situation is that Su Muqing seems to be having some kind of relationship with Cao Qianhan, the grandson of Grand Tutor Cao in the capital.
This trend was started at the banquet hosted by the eldest princess, meaning that the eldest princess was the one who played matchmaker.
Even though so much time has passed, the two of them have remained lukewarm towards each other, with no further progress whatsoever.
Of course, there was no progress. After listening, Su Wanyan understood. The Marquis was not stupid. If he could form a marriage alliance with the Xia family, then no other aristocratic family in the capital would be worth considering.
From now on, the legitimate prince will be the crown prince and the rightful emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty. Who wouldn't be envious of such glory?
Marquis Yuanning would never allow Su Muqing to marry down, as he would have been willing to marry someone of higher status.
However, since he holds military power, he dares not act rashly now.
Su Wanyan couldn't help but wonder, when the Xia family voluntarily relinquished military power, were they truly satisfied with power?
If he were truly satisfied, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to arrange a marriage with the Marquis's family.
As for the idea of mutual affection between men and women, Su Wanyan believed it in modern times, but in this era of arranged marriages, she absolutely did not believe in the idea of mutual affection.
To confirm, Su Wanyan asked, "How old is the young master of the Xia family this year? Is he currently engaged?"
"Young Master Xia is exactly eighteen this year. This old servant sent people to inquire, but I have not heard of any young master Xia being engaged to any girl."
The threshold of the Imperial Brother-in-law's residence must have been worn down by the crowds, but not a single word was uttered.
After saying that, he added, "I have taken several concubines."
After all, it was the residence of the emperor's brother-in-law, and countless people wanted to climb up to him; even becoming a concubine was something many would flock to do.
The Imperial Brother-in-Law's family refused to arrange a marriage, and the Marquis of Yuanning's family also refused to arrange a marriage.
Su Wanyan asked, "Su Muqing and Cao Qianhan must not have met many times on the surface, right?"
"They would bump into each other and exchange a few words on their way to the banquet."
The Great Jin Dynasty also respected the strict separation of men and women, but the regulations were still quite lenient. Although men and women were not allowed to sit together, they did not need to be too coy if they met by chance at a banquet or made an appointment to go sightseeing in the capital.
However, such cases are rare.
Su Wanyan nodded: "Okay, I'll remember this."
Wang Zhang lowered his eyes: "Yes, if Your Majesty has no further instructions, this old servant will take his leave."
"Go."
Su Wanyan picked up her teacup and took a small sip. Since she wasn't in contact with these powerful families right now, there wasn't much she could do for the time being.
However, information must be up-to-date, lest she be out of touch when she needs to do something, resulting in wasted effort.
Just then, Qiuye entered and reported, "Your Majesty."
Su Wanyan looked up: "What's wrong?"
"Young Master requests an audience."
"Su Chien?" Su Wanyan jumped off the daybed in one gulp: "Let him in quickly."
As they spoke, they went out to greet them.
At the doorway, Su Chien stood upright, dressed in a light blue, narrow-sleeved robe. Despite the winter weather, he was dressed in thin clothes and looked expectantly into the house through the doorway.
Upon seeing Su Wanyan rushing out, his eyes lit up: "Sister!"
"What happened to you? Don't you have martial arts practice today?" Su Wanyan looked at his forehead: "Why is there a bruise here? Did you fall? By the way, have you grown taller?"
Previously, Su Chien was half a head shorter than Su Wanyan, but now he seems to have grown quite a bit taller.
Su Chien was twelve years old, the perfect age for children to get married.
Her previously bright and sparkling eyes were now clear, and not only clear, but also faintly gleaming with a sharp edge.
Before Su Chien could speak, Su Wanyan grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the room: "Come in quickly, it's cold outside."
"Qiuye, go to the kitchen and bring some hot soup." Su Wanyan instructed, then scolded, "It's already cold, why are you dressed so lightly? Didn't the tailor make you some winter clothes before? Why aren't you wearing them?"
Su Chien let Su Wanyan pull him along, his eyes filled with joy.
"Come on, sit down." Su Wanyan pressed him down on the couch and took out some medicine for sprains and bruises.
Su Chien hurriedly said, "Sister, I've already applied the medicine."
“Your medicine is no good, mine is good, I made it myself.”
"But... the medicine I'm using is the one my sister sent over." Ever since the Mid-Autumn Festival, Su Wanyan had sent him a lot of medicine after seeing him injured while practicing martial arts.
"Those are expired, mine are fresh and have better efficacy."
"Oh, okay." Su Chien believed him and sat obediently as Su Wanyan applied the medicine to his forehead.
Su Wanyan hadn't seen Su Chien for a long time; it had been almost two months.
Firstly, she didn't dare disturb his martial arts practice, and secondly, she felt that seeing it would surely break her heart, so she refrained from looking.
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