Lin sent someone to the Hu family overnight, using both threats and promises of benefits to finally settle the matter.
The Hu family wasn't going to take this lying down; the promised legal wife became a concubine.
But Jiang Yanwan brought this upon herself, so Madam Lin had no choice but to grit her teeth and accept it.
Jiang Su had not returned for two days and two nights. Although Lin Shi was in charge of the Prime Minister's residence, the people below were in a panic. Some servants were already crying and begging Lin Shi to release them. They would rather work as laborers on the estate than be implicated by the Prime Minister's residence.
Madam Lin's headache flared up again, and there was no one to manage the affairs of the household for her.
Jiang Zhenlin wore out the soles of his shoes and asked his uncles, who had been on good terms with his father, for help, but none of them would let him in.
For fourteen years, the son of the prime minister, who had been swaggering around the capital, had become a new topic of conversation among the aristocratic families, begging for help like a stray dog.
Jiang Zhenlin surprisingly didn't get angry, as if his bad temper had been cured overnight.
He hated himself for finally understanding the rules of survival in the capital, for finally understanding those people's sycophancy and hypocrisy.
Jiang Zhenlin found nothing and, not wanting his mother to know, lingered in front of his father's study.
Feeling extremely distressed, and thinking about his own incompetence over the years, his eyes welled up with tears, and he covered his cheeks with his hands.
When he was a child, he would come to his father's door and cry when he lost a fight. No matter how busy his father was, he would always come out to comfort him.
The door behind him opened.
Jiang Zhenlin trembled, almost instinctively turning around, "Father..."
Lin Qingwan was startled by him, a flash of panic crossing her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. "What are you doing here?"
After saying that, she subconsciously straightened her clothes.
Jiang Zhenlin couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes; it couldn't be his father.
"What were you doing in your father's room?" he asked casually, turning his face away and sniffing, trying to hide his emotions.
Lin Qingwan paused for a moment, then said, "Find a book."
What book are you looking for?
“Records of Southern Xinjiang.” She touched the tip of her nose, her eyelashes drooping.
If Jiang Zhenlin had any sense, he would have discovered that she was lying.
But he's naive, what can you do?
"I've never heard my father mention this book." He actually thought about it carefully. "You found it?"
Lin Qingwan shook her head. "No."
Jiang Zhenlin pressed further, "Why are you looking at this?"
Lin Qingwan glared at him. "It's none of your business."
Jiang Zhenlin's face turned cold. As she brushed past him, he couldn't help but say, "Could you please not let my sister marry into the Hu family?"
"The Hu family will not treat her well."
Lin Qingwan had her back to him. "She brought this on herself. She can't blame anyone else."
Jiang Zhenlin chased after him, mustering his courage, "Could you...could you ask the Crown Prince for help?"
Lin Qingwan sneered, "Did Mother send you?"
"No!" Jiang Zhenlin grabbed her sleeve. "You're supposed to help the Crown Prince devise a treatment for the plague..."
He was at a loss for words. This shouldn't have been Lin Qingwan's doing, but the Prime Minister's residence really had no other choice.
Lin Qingwan understood the complexity and embarrassment in his expression, and found it laughable. "His Majesty loves the Prince. Even if Consort Ning makes a grave mistake, His Majesty will still protect the Prince."
"The Crown Prince and the Prince have never been comparable in His Majesty's eyes."
"You want the Crown Prince to plead with the Jiang family and ask His Majesty to spare Jiang Yanwan, who almost killed the Prince?"
"Young Master Jiang, even if you're stupid, you shouldn't have come up with such an idea."
Jiang Zhenlin clenched his fist but didn't say anything.
Lin Qingwan was a little angry and said, "If you really want His Majesty to calm down, you should send Jiang Yanwan's head to Nuanxin Pavilion."
Jiang Zhenlin's pupils dilated in shock. "How could you say such a thing!"
Did I say something wrong?
Her nonchalant question left Jiang Zhenlin speechless.
Lin Qingwan felt that his kindness was just like his temper—unconcerned about consequences and reasons, coming and going quickly, and ultimately meaningless.
As she walked out of her father's courtyard, Jiang Zhenlin suddenly said, "I'll see you off from the Prime Minister's residence."
"When your elder sister gets married, you should be in the wedding procession. Once you leave the capital, don't come back."
Lin Qingwan paused, her eyelids trembling slightly.
Jiang Zhenlin once said that if anything happened to the Prime Minister's residence, he would definitely send her away.
Lin Qingwan's heart was racing, and her fingers were trembling slightly. "No need."
Jiang Zhenlin frowned. "I was wrong before. Mother and Father were not good to you. You were right that day. There was no need for you to die with us."
Lin Qingwan seemed to chuckle softly, but he couldn't see her expression.
She said, "Young Master Jiang, you just need to mind your own business."
"I will find a clean place to die, so I won't get in your way."
"That's not what I meant!" Jiang Zhenlin snapped, "Didn't you understand what I said...?"
Lin Qingwan replied decisively, "It's none of your business."
She hurried back to Ningsi Garden, where Shen Xu had been waiting for a long time.
Lin Qingwan took out two yellowed letters from her clothes and handed them to him. "That's all. I've looked everywhere, but there's nothing left."
"However, this is enough to prove that Jiang Su forged the letter between the Crown Prince and the foreign enemy, and there is also a letter in which Jiang Su and Consort Ning conspired to frame the Crown Prince."
"It's not easy for Jiang Su's letter to survive; it even has the red mark left by Consort Ning's hairpin."
Shen Xu's face lit up, and he solemnly bowed to Lin Qingwan, "This subordinate thanks Miss Qingwan on behalf of the Crown Prince and the late Empress."
*
Jiang Yanwan's wedding date was set in a hurry; it's tomorrow.
It was all for the emperor and others to see, and now nobody takes her seriously.
Jiang Yanwan cried and made a scene several times before being locked up with her hands tied behind her back. The next morning at court, the censor impeached Jiang Su for colluding with the Ning family to frame the crown prince, causing an uproar throughout the court.
Everyone thought His Majesty would punish Jiang Su because of Prince Jing's matter, but no one expected it to turn out this way.
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