Chapter 49 Selling Grain
Eunuch Tian was once the most trusted eunuch of the late emperor, and now he is the Grand Eunuch in charge of the seal of office for His Majesty.
"Greetings to Lord Zhou."
Eunuch Tian greeted Zhou Congxian with a smile.
Zhou Congxian helped him up with both hands, saying, "You're too kind, Father-in-law."
Eunuch Tian pulled a memorial from his sleeve and handed it to him. “Sir, you are young and promising with a bright future. This is His Majesty’s appointment and dismissal order for you.”
Zhou Congxian opened the folded document.
With just one glance, it snapped shut again.
The smile in Eunuch Tian's eyes deepened, and he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect. "Lord Zhou has accepted it. This old servant will now go to the palace to report back."
What kind of imperial edict is not read aloud on the spot, but given in this way?
It's naturally a hot potato.
Most importantly, His Majesty has no real power, and some orders are intercepted before they even leave the palace.
Zhou Congxian stared coldly at the carriage that had already driven away by Eunuch Tian, before turning his gaze back to the memorial in his hand.
Now they even dare to forge His Majesty's decrees.
Is the Empress Dowager already impatient?
When he returned to the study, he happened to run into Wei Xun.
Wei Xun clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your Highness, everything has been taken care of."
Zhou Congxian tossed him the folded document in his hand, saying, "Take a look."
Wei Xun was shocked when he saw the contents of the memorial. "They've confiscated the Prince Cheng's residence?"
"Why did His Majesty confiscate the Prince Cheng's residence?"
Zhou Congxian sat down at the desk. “King Cheng was raised by the Empress Dowager. In recent years, he has not participated in court affairs, but in fact, he has been helping the Empress Dowager win over the court officials.”
"The Huaiyue Tower is a place of extravagance and debauchery, where official positions are sold. I stole something, and Prince Cheng had already suspected me. He remained inactive, just wanting to be the one who caught the cicada."
Wei Xun, "King Cheng wants to..."
Zhou Congxian smiled and said, "During the late emperor's serious illness, the Empress Dowager killed and beheaded people in order to eliminate dissent for the Seventh Prince. Now that things have come to this, how could Prince Cheng not have any disloyal thoughts?"
Wei Xun said, "Issuing this decree at this time eliminating future troubles for the Empress Dowager..."
He suddenly widened his eyes, "This is a fake imperial edict!"
Zhou Congxian said, "The Empress Dowager is very suspicious. This plan kills two birds with one stone. It can both eliminate Prince Cheng and test whether I have truly surrendered."
Wei Xun hesitated for a moment, "Your Highness, then you..."
Zhou Congxian said, "Of course I'll go. Besides, with King Cheng's cunning, how could he not have thought of that?"
"If His Majesty can split the power of the Empress Dowager's faction at this time, it will be of great benefit."
His gaze fell on the neatly written letter from Jiang Shiyao on the table.
I simply put her things back exactly as they were, and crumpled up my own writing into a ball.
"Go to the post station."
"yes."
Wei Xun looked at the letter in his hand, thinking about what he had just seen. He wondered what expression Jiang Niangzi's brother would have when he saw the letter.
The post stations along the route not only provided accommodation and rest, but also facilitated the exchange of information, with messages being relayed from one station to the next.
Its drawback is that letters are easily lost.
While sorting and registering the mail, the official at the post station looked at one of the letters and asked, "Sir, is this from Dahe Town or Taihe Town in Chuzhou?"
The post station chief looked at the blurry dot below the large characters, hesitated for a long time, and said, "Too much."
The subordinate picked up a pen and wrote down the three characters "Taihe Town".
Big, too.
It's just a slight difference.
This letter really can't be delivered.
*
Jiang Shiyao wondered if the child who never had a chance to be born had come back to find her, because she slept very soundly that night.
When I woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
Shuangjiang brought in a basin of warm water. "My lady, the young lady was very unhappy when she left because she didn't wait for you to wake up."
Jiang Shiyao smiled and said, "I slept quite soundly yesterday."
Is Lady Jiang here?
When I turned around on the day of Frost's Descent, I saw the little maidservant at the courtyard gate.
“My lady, it seems to be Ping’er from the Third Miss’s courtyard.”
Jiang Shiyao frowned slightly. "Why is she here?"
Whether in her past life or this one, she and Zhou Wanqing had no connection whatsoever.
If she wanted to find out about Liu Minghan, wouldn't it be more direct to ask Zhou Congxian directly?
Before Jiang Shiyao could speak, Zhou Wanqing had already pulled Zhou Wanhui inside.
Unlike Zhou Wanqing, Zhou Wanhui was much quieter and didn't seem to get close to Song Jiyun because of Zhou Wanqing.
If Jiang Shiyao is an invisible person in the Duke's mansion, then Zhou Wanhui is another invisible person.
Later, it seems that Zhou Wanhui married the newly appointed second-place scholar in the imperial examination, who was also the son of the Duke's former classmate.
Although he wasn't born into a wealthy family, he still treated Zhou Wanhui with great care and affection.
The reason she remembered it so clearly was because she heard it from Zhao.
"Besides Xian'er, there is another person with such deep affection, Wan Hui's husband."
"Jiang Niangzi!"
Zhou Wanqing is now willing to abandon all her prejudices against Jiang Shiyao for Liu Minghan!
If Jiang Shiyao could tell her more information, that would be even better. She would be willing to put in a good word for her with Sister Jiyun later!
When Zhou Wanqing walked in, she saw that she looked like she had just woken up, and was stunned for a moment.
"Jiang Shiyao, the sun is already high in the sky!"
Zhou Wanhui tugged at her third sister, who still remembered the slap her eldest brother had given her.
Third Sister is too impulsive; she doesn't think things through.
She nodded and greeted Jiang Shiyao, "Madam Jiang."
Jiang Shiyao smoothed her long hair and said, "Greetings, Third Miss. Greetings, Fourth Miss."
"I was frightened by the mad horse yesterday and didn't sleep well last night. I'm still sleepy. You two ladies, please go back first. I'll sleep a little longer."
As she spoke, she lay down to sleep again.
"Hey!" Zhou Wanqing exclaimed in surprise. "Chestnut Ball" not only chokes people, but also acts like a scoundrel!
She grabbed Jiang Shiyao's arm. "No! You can't sleep now."
Jiang Shiyao withdrew her hand. "Third Miss, what are you trying to do? I already said yesterday that Lord Liu is a good person, and that is the only truth."
She paused, then added, "Now there's one more thing."
Zhou Wanqing's eyes lit up with anticipation.
"I don't know him."
Zhou Wanqing's smile froze instantly; she shouldn't have expected anything.
She was initially a little shy and embarrassed to speak, but after being interrupted like this, all her awkwardness vanished.
She pulled Jiang Shiyao up, "Anyway, you can't sleep anymore!"
"Get up and teach me how to embroider a purse... Hmm, teach both of us how to embroider a purse!"
Jiang Shiyao's embroidery skills were the best in the entire mansion; the wedding dresses for her eldest and second eldest sisters were both made by her.
Therefore, she wanted to embroider a purse to give to Lord Liu to thank him for saving her life yesterday.
Last night, she stayed up half the night but still couldn't embroider a presentable purse.
Jiang Shiyao was pushed into the embroidery room.
We rushed to make the Empress Dowager's birthday gifts last time, and now we have plenty of fine silk thread left, more than enough to embroider a few purses.
Jiang Shiyao remembered that the young ladies of the Duke's mansion had all learned needlework from their nannies.
He quickly prepared two answers for Zhou Wanqing and Zhou Wanhui.
"Plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, you can choose any one to embroider, it's the simplest one."
Zhou Wanqing blinked. "I don't know how."
Jiang Shiyao, “??”
Zhou Wanqing put the embroidery hoop back into her hands, "Let's teach you from the beginning. It was too fast just now, I didn't see it clearly."
Jiang Shiyao, “…”
"Jiang Niangzi!"
Mrs. He rushed in, looking anxious.
When she saw that Zhou Wanqing and Zhou Wanhui were also there, her throat felt like it was being choked, her face turned red, but she couldn't make a sound.
Judging from her expression, Jiang Shiyao knew that something must have gone wrong at the granary.
"Is Fu'er causing trouble?" She put down the embroidery frame and stood up.
What's going on?
Mrs. He immediately realized, "Yes! It's quite a commotion!"
Jiang Shiyao turned to the two women and said, "Next time, I will definitely teach you two young ladies!"
After saying that, she turned around and went back into the house to change her clothes.
Seeing this, Mrs. He followed, and only after carefully closing the door did tears fall from her eyes.
"My lady, what should we do! Someone has obtained official documents from the government, claiming that the grain in our granary is illegally hoarded!"
Jiang Shiyao gestured for her to shut up.
"Let's talk outside."
Only then did Mrs. He wipe away her tears.
When the two came out, Zhou Wanqing and Zhou Wanhui had already left.
Without lingering, they went straight out through the side door.
Once inside the carriage, Jiang Shiyao asked her in a low voice what had happened.
Mrs. He shook her head. "I heard from the head of the household a few days ago that someone came to check on us, saying they were looking for spies."
"The head of the household said he didn't know if the two things were related, but he felt something was off because he hadn't heard that the other granaries had been searched."
The carriage headed straight for the southern part of the city.
Jiang Shiyao still kept the carriage at a distance; she couldn't let the Zhou family discover the slightest clue about this granary.
The wonton stall remains the same, with the husband and wife owners busy at work.
Walk straight for two intersections from the wonton stall and then turn, and you'll reach the granary. But if you turn into Yutan Lane at the next intersection from the wonton stall, you'll reach the Song residence.
Jiang Shiyao paused in her steps.
She looked in the direction of the intersection, then turned around and went straight back to the carriage.
"My wife, what's wrong?"
Mrs. He looked out the window but saw nothing.
Jiang Shiyao shook her head. "I think there's something fishy going on."
"Have the driver go around in a circle, passing by the granary entrance, and pay attention to both sides of the intersection."
The driver simply drove around in the opposite direction.
When they passed by the granary, they found that there were several soldiers guarding it. They neither arrested He Dayou nor drove away the two martial arts masters that He Dayou had invited.
They didn't seem to want to question me; they were more like they were waiting for someone.
Once they were back to square one, Mrs. He finally understood that someone was just waiting for Madam Jiang to catch them in the act!
Jiang Shiyao deliberately avoided using her own name to prevent the granary from being associated with her.
How did those people find out...?
She recalled the people she had seen as she passed by.
Suddenly, a figure flashed by.
A maidservant, wearing the clothes of a servant of the Song family.
Jiang Shiyao's voice was somewhat low, "Since they dared to have He Dayou deliver the message, they must be certain that this granary is related to me."
Mrs. He's face turned pale. "Wife, what should we do..."
Jiang Shiyao made a quick decision: "Sell."
"Sell?"
"Grain prices are still rising. If we sell this warehouse of grain now, someone will want it immediately."
"The boss said that this isn't the best price yet..."
Mrs. He was a little reluctant to part with it. Even though she didn't know how to do business, she knew that it was a profitable business now, just by looking at the grain prices that were changing day by day.
Jiang Shiyao frowned slightly, "Are you reluctant to sell now because you're waiting to be swallowed up entirely?"
"Can you win against officials, or against businessmen?"
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