Chapter 369 Jealousy
Meng Lingge understood the Empress Dowager's meaning. She had wanted to greet her cousin for a long time, but her mother was the elder, and there was an order of seniority. She had to neglect her cousin. Now that her mother had brought it up, she immediately turned to look at Du Yuanhua.
"Elder cousin, His Majesty and I have been waiting for you for over half a month. Everyone else is just adding flowers to brocade, receiving rewards without doing anything, but only you, elder cousin, provided charcoal in the snow, yet you did not claim credit for it. Elder cousin, you came from Jiangnan this time, right? How are Grandmother and Uncle and Aunt?"
When the Tiger Flying Army occupied the capital, Du Yuanhua was still raising enough silver for the army camp. After Wen Zhiming ascended the throne, he waited for Du Yuanhua to come and fulfill the promise he had made to him.
After waiting for many days without any news from Du Yuanhua, Meng Lingge and Wen Zhiming were about to send someone to look for him when they received a message from Du Yuanhua's messenger.
He simply said that there was an urgent matter to attend to in his hometown in Jiangnan, and that he would go to the capital to meet the emperor after it was resolved.
Meng Lingge was unaware of what had happened at her maternal grandmother's house, so after exchanging greetings, she hurriedly asked about the important matter.
Du Yuanhua had already stood up. Watching Meng Lingge and Wen Zhiming being a loving couple, and even the Empress Dowager getting along with Meng Lingge like a mother and daughter, he felt happy for Meng Lingge, but also a little bittersweet.
It was not Du Yuanhua's original intention to arrive in the capital only now.
When Wen Zhiming stormed the capital, he was indeed still raising money from various shops. The large amount of money he had been raising for a long time, coupled with the fact that he had not been seen for several months, finally aroused his parents' suspicion.
When they learned that Du Yuanhua had used all of the Du family's savings to support the Tiger Soaring Army, Du Yuanhua's parents were almost driven mad with anger. They knew that Du Yuanhua was extremely bold and insightful in business, but they never expected that Du Yuanhua could be so daring.
If Wen Zhiming's rebellion succeeds, the Du family's business will naturally rise accordingly. However, if Wen Zhiming is defeated, not only will the Du family's century-old foundation be destroyed, but the lives of the entire family will also be in danger.
While regretting handing over the entire Du family business to Du Yuanhua, Du's parents also complained that Meng Lingge had done a terrible job, even scheming against their own relatives in order to help her husband.
After discussing it, the couple decided to take remedial action before things got too bad. They gathered the servants in the mansion and brought Du Yuanhua back before things got to their worst.
Du Yuanhua was protected by a small squad of elite soldiers sent by Wen Zhiming, but in order to prevent this squad from clashing with the servants of the Du family and causing unnecessary casualties, Du Yuanhua decided to take the squad to Jiangnan first, intending to explain things to his parents before returning.
As soon as he returned to Jiangnan, he was locked up by his parents.
Given Meng Lingge and Wen Zhiming's identities, Mr. and Mrs. Du decided to forgo the money they had already spent. However, in order to preserve the remaining assets of the Du family and the lives of their entire family, they were determined not to let Du Yuanhua leave.
Fearing that Meng Lingge and Wen Zhiming would worry, Du Yuanhua had no choice but to send a message through someone, saying that there was something to take care of back in his hometown in Jiangnan.
These days, besides advising him not to get involved in the royal power struggles, Du's parents have been urging him to get married as soon as possible.
He also kept Qiaoling locked up with him every day, supposedly to take care of his daily needs.
Du Yuanhua was worried that if he didn't deliver the silver in time, the Tiger Flying Army would lack supplies and its fighting strength would decline. At the same time, he had to find a way to persuade his ignorant parents to let him leave, so as not to lose all his previous efforts and miss the good opportunity for the Du family's business to flourish.
Despite his efforts over several days, he still couldn't change Mr. and Mrs. Du's mind.
Du Yuanhua's parents kept his imprisonment a secret from Old Madam Du. Du Yuanhua didn't want his grandmother to worry, but as the days went by, he couldn't get away. Just as he was about to ask someone to inform his grandmother to rescue him, news of Wen Zhiming's ascension to the throne reached Jiangnan.
Now it was Du's parents who were anxious. They immediately released him and told him to go to the capital to collect the benefits that Wen Zhiming had promised.
Although Du Yuanhua still harbored some resentment towards his parents, they almost ruined his plan to expand the Du family's cloth shop.
But he was a businessman after all, and he wouldn't go against his own business. In addition, he still couldn't let go of Meng Lingge, so after gaining his freedom, he rushed to the capital.
In the teahouses and restaurants of the capital, he could hear how the current emperor and empress were deeply in love and their music was harmonious. But when he arrived at the palace, he learned that Wen Zhiming's six palaces were empty and that he favored the empress alone. He couldn't describe the feeling in his heart; he was both happy and empty.
Du Yuanhua and the Empress Dowager arrived at the Hall of Diligent Governance one after the other.
The Empress Dowager arrived a while earlier. Upon returning to the palace, she immediately went to find Meng Lingge, but finding no one there, she had to come over to see her son first. The mother and son had only exchanged a few words when a young eunuch came to report that Young Master Du was requesting an audience.
Wen Zhiming knew why Du Yuanhua had come, so he summoned him in and handed him an account book, which detailed every donation Du Yuanhua had given to the Huxiang Army, and asked him to check it first.
Du Yuanhua dared not disobey and examined the account books in front of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.
It was windy today, so the eunuch closed the palace doors a little. The Empress Dowager continued to admire the clothes she had brought, Wen Zhiming flipped through the memorials, and Du Yuanhua checked the bills.
As fate would have it, in that quiet moment in the hall, Meng Lingge pushed open the door and entered, engaging in a unique interaction between husband and wife with Wen Zhiming in front of Du Yuanhua and the Empress Dowager.
The result of this interaction was that Meng Lingge was overwhelmed with shame, Wen Zhiming was secretly pleased, the Empress Dowager was gratified and satisfied, and Du Yuanhua was filled with mixed feelings of sorrow and joy.
He had never seen his cousin so charming.
Her cheeks were flushed redder than the sunset, and her voice was softer than the spring breeze.
Du Yuanhua was filled with mixed emotions, but he forced himself to remain calm on the surface.
"Your Majesty, it's just a business matter, and it's already been taken care of. I'm not one to be complacent with my achievements; rather, I'm an extremely profit-driven businessman. As soon as the matter was settled, I immediately went to the palace to ask the Emperor and Empress for credit and rewards."
My cousin has found someone she loves and has married well.
My cousin's husband, Wen Zhiming, is great in every way, except he's too jealous. If his gaze is even slightly intense, Wen Zhiming will pull my cousin to his side and assert his ownership.
In order to prevent Wen Zhiming from seeing anything further, Du Yuanhua could only use the excuse of being a businessman to add another layer of disguise to himself. Unlucky in love, he could only be proud of his wealth and power.
Knowing that Du Yuanhua had helped Wen Zhiming, the Empress Dowager smiled and said, "A merchant who doesn't value profit is not a qualified merchant. Your business with the Emperor was agreed upon beforehand. Now that it's done, it's just fulfilling a promise, not seeking credit or reward."
The Empress Dowager was already quite satisfied with Meng Lingge and wanted to take good care of and promote her family.
However, Meng Lingge's father had already risen to the position of prime minister, and her younger brother was too young, so there was nothing to arrange for him. Now, seeing that Du Yuanhua, though a businessman, was bold, shrewd, and decisive, she couldn't help but feel a bit more appreciative of him.
"Didn't His Majesty say earlier that there are still many vacant official positions in the court? Young Master Du has made great contributions this time, so why not give him a sinecure? When the Du family moves to the capital, the Empress and Grandmother can see each other more often."
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