In order to balance the power in the court, Guo Yaqin was even married off to the eldest prince.
Pei Yanzhi fought his way up from the court, only to become a loyal minister of the old emperor. Could he really reach that position?
What if he had chosen someone earlier...?
The eldest prince?
Impossible. He's almost wiped out the First Prince's influence. It's impossible for him to be the First Prince.
Crown Prince?
It's even more impossible. The Crown Prince, who wears his heart on his sleeve, wouldn't even look down on her, let alone Pei Yanzhi.
That leaves only one person...
One gained the world, and the other wielded immense power. If they hadn't ultimately become enemies, they would have complemented each other perfectly and left a significant mark on history.
But.
If everything is as she thinks, then the current situation is quite delicate...
"So early?"
At the entrance of the Marquis's residence, a man's cold, deep voice interrupted Jiang Shuwan's thoughts.
He looked up and saw the girl's star-like gaze fall upon him.
Pei Yanzhi, dressed in the official robes of the Ministry of Justice, stood under a green tree in front of the gate. The tree was so tall and dense that it blocked out the sun. Since it was still early and the sun had not yet risen, the temperature was not hot.
But for Jiang Shuwan, getting up this early was quite rare.
"But what's wrong?" Pei Yanzhi asked her, standing under the tree.
The sky-blue official robes draped over him made him appear even more upright and handsome, like a pine tree. Coupled with his young age and high position as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, it was no wonder that his superiors wanted to send women to the Marquis's residence.
"I'm fine, it's just that my father asked me to go back. By the way, I heard from Yao Zhijie that several officials wanted to send people to the manor, but you sent them away halfway. Now that Aunt Liu is not here, it wouldn't hurt to keep one or two to serve her." Jiang Shuwan said with a smile, waving her round fan.
"You want to ask about Pei Lingyu's two newly acquired concubines, right? The person behind them is indeed up to no good, but there's nothing urgent going on at the Earl's residence. Whether you get rid of them or keep them is entirely up to you."
Jiang Shuwan: "..."
With a slight raise of her eyebrows, Jiang Shuwan gazed intently at Pei Yanzhi.
Talking to smart people can be convenient at times, but also frustrating at others.
For example, right now, as soon as she opened her mouth, Pei Yanzhi guessed her intention, and to be honest, this feeling wasn't very good.
Staring at Pei Yanzhi, Jiang Shuwan suddenly felt a strong urge to probe about the oil lamp.
After thinking about it, I decided to give up.
"Qingxing, let's go home."
The carriage arrived at the Jiang residence quickly, and a summer breeze brought waves of heat and the fragrance of lotus flowers.
The Jiang family mansion was far smaller than the Marquis's mansion, but Madam Song still had a pond dug.
It is the season when lotus flowers are in full bloom. Various pink and white flowers are blooming gracefully. The lotus leaves are like jade plates covering the water surface. The morning dew is drying, and a gentle breeze blows, causing the lotus flowers to sway and drop a string of dewdrops.
Jiang Shuwan stood there gazing at the lotus flower for a long time before walking away, and on her way, she asked Qingxing to pick the same lotus flower.
Today is the day of the grand court assembly. Her father went to court, and Madam Song and Jiang Yao were still asleep. Jiang Shuwan found a teahouse to pick lotus flowers to play with while listening to the maids in the mansion talk about the grand occasion of Jiang Yao's return to the mansion yesterday.
"Replying to the eldest young lady, when the second young lady first returned, she was completely devastated, constantly muttering about the two new concubines that the young master had taken in, saying that she wanted to beat them to death."
"Not long after, the young master arrived. The second young lady ordered the servants to throw the young master out. The madam said that our Jiang family is now considered half a royal relative and we can't make such a scene, so she let the young master stay in the back room."
Jiang Shuwan paused, startled by her action of folding lotus flowers. "Sitting backwards in the room?"
"Yes, it's the back-sitting room." The maid said decisively. "The back-sitting room is usually where servants or concubines live. Madam must be very disappointed that she arranged for the young master to live in the back-sitting room."
"..."
Jiang Shuwan frowned.
Song Shi had been disappointed in Pei Lingyu for quite some time, and had even previously urged Jiang Yao to divorce him.
Later, Jiang Yao stayed by Pei Lingyu's side and went to great lengths to help him with his future.
After her initial setback, she somehow managed to get a sixth-rank official position for Pei Lingyu through some connections.
Now, Pei Lingyu has been working in the officialdom for almost half a year. I heard that he has grown up and no longer talks about traitors and parasites. He is now focused on his career and has become very reliable.
For this reason, Song specially chose a day to visit Pei Lingyu, and in her words she was showing off Pei Lingyu and complaining that she hadn't helped her back then.
Unexpectedly, their good days didn't last long before the couple started arguing again, and the reason was still the woman.
"Young Miss, Second Miss and Madam are both up and are currently in the main room."
Just then, the little girl came up to reply, clapped her hands, and Jiang Shuwan stood up, casually putting the folded lotus flowers into the vase.
When they arrived at the main room with Qingxing, they saw Jiang Yao and Pei Lingyu arguing.
"Can you stop being unreasonable? I've already said those two women belong to Shangguan Ci. Shangguan Ci can't resign. You're the one who gave me the position, and you're also the one who wants me to resign. I've finally started to make some progress in my official career, can you please stop causing me trouble?"
"I'm causing you trouble? Pei Lingyu, do you have no heart? If it weren't for my mother, where would you get this sixth-rank official position? You even said you couldn't refuse Shangguan Ci's offer. How could you say such a heartless thing? Do you think I don't know that Pei Yanzhi also has women sent to him by Shangguan Ci? Why can he refuse them, but you can't? I think you're just lustful and incorrigible!"
"Fine, fine, so Pei Yanzhi is the best in your heart, right? Before I entered officialdom, you and Mother liked to compare me to him. Now that I've entered officialdom, you still compare us. Yes! I can't compare to him. He is the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, a third-rank official, second only to the Minister of Justice. What am I? A mere sixth-rank official, not even as good as his toes. If you look down on me so much, why didn't you marry him in the first place!"
"You...you...what did you say?" Jiang Yao didn't expect him to say that, and stared at him in disbelief.
"I said, why don't you marry him? Why do you have to marry a good-for-nothing like me!" Pei Lingyu shouted resolutely.
"I'll teach you to talk nonsense! I'll kill you!"
Jiang Yao's eyes instantly reddened, and she grabbed a vase next to her, intending to smash it at him, but was stopped by people sent by the Song family.
Glancing at Pei Lingyu, Madam Song, though her eyes held contempt, still advised, "Yao'er, Lingyu is right. You can't refuse a gift from your superior. Look at that concubine Hua in our household, the one who lives in the back room. Isn't she your father Shangguan Ci's concubine?"
"But how come it's the same—"
Jiang Yao looked as if the sky had fallen.
“How is it different? My father-in-law accepted it, so I can’t? It’s just two pieces of clothing. You are the young mistress of the Earl’s mansion. They can’t shake your position,” Pei Lingyu said.
"No, it's not the same..."
Covering her face, Jiang Yao screamed in pain.
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