Chapter 357 Collapse
Mrs. Jiang knew very well that Ziwei Star represented the Emperor Star.
She asked, "Are you sure?"
Jiang Jianzheng nodded slightly: "Nothing will go wrong."
Mrs. Jiang figured it out.
No wonder that starting a few months ago, the master would observe the celestial phenomena every night, and after returning from the office during the day, he would lock himself in the study to study the "Tui Bei Tu".
Until these few days, he proposed to break off the engagement with the Lin family.
Mrs. Jiang did not ask about this kind of secret that could not be revealed, for fear that it would bring about a fatal disaster.
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Shen Qingtan took Tingxue to buy New Year's goods. Seeing that the Zhengdan paper sprinkled with gold foil was particularly exquisite and beautiful, he planned to buy some and write couplets with Zhao Yi.
She handed the sample paper to the shopkeeper: "I want to buy a piece of Zhengdan paper."
At this moment, a voice came from the doorway: "Do you have any gold leaf-sprinkled Zhengdan paper?"
Shen Qingtan looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yan Yi, who was beside the Imperial Teacher, walk in. She looked a little surprised, as if she didn't expect Yan Yi to come and buy Zhengdan paper to write couplets.
She had seen a piece of information about the Imperial Tutor in the booklet. All the couplets in the Imperial Tutor's Mansion were written by the Emperor of Northern Qi himself and bestowed upon the Imperial Tutor.
Yan Yi was also stunned when he saw Shen Qingtan, and quickly saluted: "Princess."
"No need to be so polite." Shen Qingtan subconsciously glanced towards the door.
Yan Yi caught Shen Qingtan's gaze, pretended not to see it, and waited for the shopkeeper to bring the Zhengdan paper.
The shopkeeper recognized Yan Yi. When he heard Yan Yi addressing Shen Qingtan, he looked terrified and said tremblingly, "This... this is the new Zhengdan paper that was released this year. It's not only sprinkled with gold foil, but also printed with dark patterns. It's very popular among the nobles in the capital. There are only the last twenty or thirty sheets left."
He was just an ordinary commoner, and he could not afford to offend either the Imperial Master or Shen Qingtan.
Shen Qingtan didn't make things difficult for the shopkeeper: "Give him the Zhengdan paper."
In addition, it is considered a favor to the imperial teacher. After all, the imperial teacher has helped Zhao Yi a lot.
The shopkeeper was as if pardoned and quickly took out the remaining Zhengdan paper and gave it to Yan Yi.
"Thank you, Princess, for your kindness." Yan Yi accepted the Zhengdan paper without hesitation and took out a silver ingot to place on the counter. Before leaving, he said to Shen Qingtan, "I heard that Lin Qinian brought gifts to the Guangling Palace and blocked the prince at the gate, causing quite a commotion."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingtan brought Tingxue out of the shop. When they passed a carriage, the driver saluted her and said, "Hail, Princess."
The Imperial Tutor, sitting in the carriage, heard the noise outside and opened the curtains. The jade pendant worn by Shen Qingtan suddenly caught his eye.
His gaze lingered on the jade pendant for a few moments.
Oh, it’s Yizhen’s relic.
Shen Qingtan's mind was completely on Zhao Yi. She didn't pay any attention to who the owner of the carriage was. She didn't even look at the coachman. She just hurriedly said "No need for formalities" and got into her own carriage to return home.
The Imperial Master lowered the curtains of the carriage window and saw Yan Yi coming back with the Zhengdan paper.
Yan Yi said, "Master, the princess was buying red paper at the shop, but unfortunately there were only twenty or thirty sheets left, so she gave them to me."
The Imperial Master glanced at the Zhengdan paper calmly and said, "Let's go."
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Shen Qingtan returned to the Prince of Guangling's Mansion and went straight to the study in the front yard to look for Zhao Yi.
Jiang Mu, who was guarding the door, saw Shen Qingtan coming back, and hurriedly opened the door of the study and invited her in.
Shen Qingtan hurried into the study and saw Zhao Yi bent over the desk handling official business.
Zhao Yi heard the noise, looked up, and asked softly, "Did you gain anything outside today?"
"I bought some New Year's goods and was planning to buy some Zhengdan paper to write couplets with you. I happened to meet one of the Imperial Master's subordinates. He was also here to buy Zhengdan paper, but there were only 20 or 30 sheets left, so I gave them to him."
Shen Qingtan was still thinking about what Yan Yi said, so he asked softly, "Did the young master of the Lin family come to our house to cause trouble?"
"Mr. Lin came to give me a gift." Zhao Yi said succinctly, "I also returned the gift."
Shen Qingtan waited for a moment, and seeing that Zhao Yi didn't want to say more, he felt that the gift might not be a good thing.
"Liu Yue told me today that Ah Rong bought a lot of tea at the Lin family's tea shop. I told her to check. If there is no problem with the tea, I will have Vice General Sun arrange for someone to buy tea."
Shen Qingtan stood beside him, his hand on his shoulder. "The Lin family's tea comes from legitimate sources, so they definitely can't supply the amount we want. If it comes from illicit sources, they'll definitely be using smuggled tea to sell to us. If we follow this line of inquiry, we'll be able to find evidence of them selling smuggled tea."
Zhao Yi held her hand and said, "This is not something we should handle personally. We just need to confirm that they are selling illegal tea. The rest can be left to the other enemy of the Lin family."
He explained, "We've just arrived in Northern Qi and have just established ourselves. The Lin family is an in-law, so if we interfere, we'll inevitably be feared."
Shen Qingtan understood what Zhao Yi meant. He wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife.
That's exactly what she meant.
The two people hit it off immediately.
At this time, Jiang Chao's voice rang out: "Master, the Jiang family has broken off the engagement with the Lin family."
Zhao Yi looked calm when he heard this.
This was within his expectations.
The Jiang family recently intended to break off the engagement with the Lin family, but they were troubled by the lack of a legitimate reason.
Lin Qinian gave him a secret recipe for kidney nourishment and fertility, and he retaliated.
Every family places great emphasis on offspring, and Old Lady Lin loves Lin Qinian the most, so she won't be careless about his affairs. To reassure her, she will definitely ask the court physician to check Lin Qinian's pulse.
With the power of the Jiang family, they will definitely find out the news about the Lin family.
The news that Lin Qinian was infertile gave the Jiang family a reason to cancel the engagement.
Losing the Jiang family, a powerful backer, is equivalent to cutting off a powerful arm of the Lin family.
Shen Qingtan asked, "If the Jiang and Lin families break off their engagement, will the King of Qi try to win over the Jiang family?"
Zhao Yi shook his head slightly. "Jiang Jianzheng chose to marry into the Lin family, and thus stood in opposition to the King of Qi. Now that the engagement with the Lin family has been broken off, if the Jiang family is wise, they will not join the King of Qi's camp."
Because Jiang Jianzheng was in the camp of King Xian at the beginning, and did not follow King Qi from the beginning.
Now that Jiang Jianzheng and the Lin family have broken off their engagement, they have withdrawn from the virtuous king's camp.
If he accepts the King of Qi's recruitment and wants to gain the King of Qi's attention, he must provide the King of Qi with effective information in order to gain the King of Qi's attention.
The reason why the King of Qi recruited Jiang Jianzheng was, firstly, because of Jiang Jianzheng's status and position, and secondly, because Jiang Jianzheng had evidence of the Lin family's crimes.
If Jiang Jianzheng betrayed the Lin family and the virtuous king, in a sense, he would be violating a taboo.
No matter how foolish the King of Qi is, he would not reuse someone who would betray his previous master.
Shen Qingtan felt that the Jiang family's cancellation of the engagement would undoubtedly make the Lin family's situation worse.
Those who are associated with the Lin family might wonder if there is some other inside story behind the Jiang family's cancellation of the engagement.
Then I began to waver and wait and see.
If one more straw were to break the camel's back, the Lin family's power would probably collapse completely.
“Knock knock—”
There was a knock on the door, and Liu Yue said from outside, "Princess, I have something important to report."
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