Liu Yunyan's admirer is Ye Yifeng, the eldest son of the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
He was a very handsome young man. Jiang Shuwan had seen him once before when she was arranging a marriage for Liu Yunyan.
She met him again at Li Yuyan's Plum Blossom Banquet. At that time, Jiang Shuwan discovered that he was a very upright person who was deeply in love with Liu Yunyan and was also a candidate for the imperial examination this year.
So many students were making a scene at the palace gates demanding severe punishment for Pei Yanzhi, yet he was running around for Pei Yanzhi. It's clear that the person you love can't be wrong.
He's truly an extraordinary person!
Moreover, the Ye family is a family of mathematicians, with generations of ancestors studying mathematics. In the past, the family's children all followed the Ming Suan Ke (明算科).
In the current era, the prospects of the Ming Suan Ke (a type of mathematics) are limited. By the time of Ye Yifeng's generation, the elders of the family were no longer "stubborn" and switched to the Chengshi Ke (another type of mathematics) examination. Ye Yifeng also performed well in this spring examination, ranking tenth in the first class.
But Jiang Shuwan was greedy; she desperately needed talented people, especially those skilled in arithmetic.
Flipping through her mental notebook, Jiang Shuwan made a deep note of Ye Yifeng, determined to recruit him to work for her when she had the chance.
"Miss, all the servants who have recently been transferred have been temporarily sent to the estate."
Hearing what Granny Tao said, Jiang Shuwan nodded.
During the days since the Marquis's mansion suffered its misfortune, she had not left the mansion. Especially since the old Marquis went to the palace to plead guilty, she had been staying at the mansion, especially with the old lady, fearing that the old lady might not be able to bear it.
However, the old lady was much stronger than she had imagined. On the other hand, the Jiang family recently encountered another incident that almost ruined them.
This story begins with the ceremony of personally plowing the fields. Now that spring has arrived, the Great Jing Kingdom holds a grand ceremony of personally plowing the fields every year at this time.
All the civil and military officials and imperial relatives were present. At the time, Jiang Shuwan thought she couldn't go because of the imperial examination, but the old emperor's decree was still issued to the Marquis's residence. When she arrived, the important officials and imperial relatives looked at her with strange eyes.
After all, the Marquis's mansion was on the verge of collapse, so who would have thought that Jiang Shuwan would be able to attend such a grand event at this critical juncture?
The key point is that the old emperor treated her quite well, and it seemed that the imperial examination incident had not affected her at all.
"How could a concubine's adopted daughter receive such favor?"
"Who knows?"
The uninformed officials discussed the matter amongst themselves, while those who knew remained silent, since only a very few people knew that the old emperor had accepted Jiang Shuwan's tribute.
Those who know, dare not speak of, dare not mention.
Those who didn't know were making wild guesses. One minute they were saying the old emperor still cared about the Gu family, the next they were saying the old emperor was doing it for Consort Rong's sake. In the end, somehow the rumor spread that Jiang Shuwan was the emperor's illegitimate daughter.
The Li family was fundamentally different from others. One was a farmer, but who would have thought that he could overthrow the previous dynasty and become emperor himself?
Jiang Shuwan also came from a humble background, and her ancestors were farmers. How could she have the ability to make Donglai Street so big and manage so many merchants who came and went so well? This is clearly a product of the Li family's genes.
Otherwise, why would the old emperor treat her so well?
It's just a pity for Lord Jiang; he was being cuckolded without even realizing it.
As the ministers sighed, their eyes gleamed with greed. Their gossipy expressions were simply irresistible; they were just short of grabbing a small stool, cracking melon seeds, and sitting together to have a good chat about this "spectacular drama."
As one of the parties involved, Jiang Shuwan almost burst out laughing when she heard their well-reasoned analysis.
The Li family ancestors were indeed farmers, but they were big landlords and tycoons, far beyond the reach of the small Jiang family. Even if these officials were just bored out of their minds, they could still make connections like this.
But this is for the best, as it will only bring her a lot of trouble.
Shaking her head, Jiang Shuwan stood in the queue, holding her breath.
Just then, the ceremony reached the stage where the old emperor was whipping the oxen. Suddenly, the oxen went berserk and began charging wildly across the field, causing chaos and disarray.
After things finally calmed down, the ceremony was almost ruined. The officials who organized the ceremony were punished one by one, with Jiang's father leading the charge.
Jiang's father held the position of Assistant Minister of Rites, and it was not originally his place to preside over a large-scale event like the "Personal Plowing Ceremony".
Because many officials from the Ministry of Rites were imprisoned and tried in the Ministry of Justice during the imperial examinations, the "personal plowing ceremony" fell to Jiang's father.
Now that the "Personal Plowing Ceremony" has gone wrong, Jiang's father is the first to be affected and was almost dismissed by the old emperor.
On the way back to the Jiang residence, Jiang's father was still not recovered from the old emperor's fury.
Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; he would think long and hard about even a single glance from the old emperor, let alone being reprimanded in public.
"Thank goodness, if it weren't for you, Wan'er, His Majesty would have stripped me of my official position on the spot."
Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Mr. Jiang said with lingering fear and confusion.
"That ox is the most docile of all, how could it suddenly go crazy..."
This is also something that Jiang Shuwan can't understand.
The Emperor's agricultural exhortation is an annual event. Although her father had never presided over it before, he was already familiar with all the procedures.
Her father was a cautious man who did everything himself in order to achieve the best results.
Not to mention that this is a time of misfortune for the Marquis's family, so her father will only be more cautious, especially with procedures like the old emperor whipping the ox, which could easily harm the emperor's health if not handled carefully.
Given her father's actions, he shouldn't have made such a mistake. Besides, the ox was just plowing the field obediently, and it suddenly went berserk without any warning.
With doubts in her heart, Jiang Shuwan kept a watchful eye on things. Instead of returning to the mansion with her father, she took a detour to see the guards dealing with the dead cow.
"Greetings, County Princess."
The guards were surprised to see Jiang Shuwan and greeted her respectfully. The one leading them was the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, a subordinate of the old Marquis.
It's easy to get things done when you know someone. With just a word from Jiang Shuwan, a veterinarian came to examine the old cow's carcass and found a poisonous herb in the cow's mouth, nose, and stomach that could drive it mad.
They rushed to interrogate the servant who fed the cattle, only to find that he had already committed suicide out of fear of punishment.
This has now become an unsolved mystery, but the image of Jiang's father as incompetent cannot be erased anytime soon.
"I'm so sorry, Father..."
On the way back to her residence, Jiang Shuwan was in a daze.
This didn't happen in the previous life. Jiang's father was just a minor official of the fifth rank, and it was a lowly department like the Ministry of Rites. He didn't get in anyone's way, so no one framed the Jiang family.
The only possibility now that this has happened is that the Marquis's mansion has suffered an undeserved disaster.
The Yun family, the Jiang family—anyone connected to the Jiang family was targeted without exception.
"..."
After hearing Jiang Shuwan's words, Jiang's father fell silent.
The father and daughter returned to the Jiang residence. Jiang Shuwan then went to visit Madam Song, and coincidentally, Jiang Yao was also there.
Jiang Yao was so proud of herself. When she saw Jiang Shuwan, her eyebrows practically flew to the sky. She had never been so proud in her life.
Just like Wang Baochuan, who waited bitterly in the cold cave, she waited for ten years before finally meeting Xue Pinggui.
She finally met the down-on-his-luck Jiang Shuwan.
...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com