Jiang Linyuan suddenly raised his head, his eyes slightly trembling.
Jiang Wan spoke in a calm tone, her face expressionless, not at all like she was joking.
Jiang Linyuan remained silent.
Back then, Jiang Wan resolutely married into the general's mansion. Although he strongly opposed it and pleaded with the emperor many times, the late emperor granted the marriage, and his daughter, as the person involved, also agreed to the marriage. No matter how much he said, it was all in vain.
The emperor's court is not a place to settle family matters. He cannot keep bothering the emperor. When the time comes, he can only watch as Jiang Wan gets married.
Later, he heard that Jiang Wan was managing the household affairs of the Song family and was well-liked by her mother-in-law and aunts. He gradually felt that perhaps marrying into the general's mansion was not so bad.
I never expected to hear Jiang Wan say these words today.
Jiang Linyuan's expression was grim: "Did someone from the Song family bully you?"
You know without even asking.
Before their daughter got married, she was well-behaved and adorable. If she hadn't been bullied to the point of having nowhere else to turn, why would she have thought of getting a divorce?
Thinking of this, Jiang Linyuan's anger intensified. He called out to have his carriage ready, determined to go to the General's Mansion to get to the bottom of things.
"Now the Song family only has one matriarch left, who is seriously ill and bedridden. Will Father bear the reputation of taking advantage of others in their distress and bullying the old and weak?"
Jiang Wan reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
"Besides, I am standing right in front of you now."
Looking at his daughter's beautiful face, which seemed no different from before her marriage, Jiang Linyuan's anger subsided somewhat.
Jiang Wan continued, "Besides, I need your help with something."
"Although there is a precedent of a first-rank lady divorcing, the process is not easy. If I can find the faults of the Song family, then I can propose a divorce in a legitimate way."
"Does Father also suspect that the Song family had ulterior motives in arranging this marriage back then?"
Meeting Jiang Linyuan's slightly surprised gaze, Jiang Wan thought to herself that she had guessed correctly.
"I hope my father can tell me the details of what happened back then."
Jiang Linyuan looked at her and nodded solemnly.
In the General's Mansion, in the Deer and Crane Hall.
"Madam, the imperial physician has already left."
As soon as Granny Wu finished speaking, the old lady on the bed slowly opened her eyes.
Granny Wu quickly helped her up and fed her a spoonful of ginseng soup: "You must hold on, the general and the princess are counting on you."
The matriarch, with no appetite for her soup and a deathly pale face, said, "These two troublemakers have the audacity to deceive even the Emperor! How can I possibly save them?"
She pounded her chest in frustration.
"Even if I were to shamelessly beg before the Emperor, how much leniency would I expect..."
The window was half open, and two maids were whispering in the corner, their voices faintly reaching the inner room.
Granny Wu walked to the door with a stern face and scolded them repeatedly before they left.
The matriarch asked weakly, "What are they talking about?"
"It's about that tiger tally." Granny Wu's voice gradually lowered. "It's said that the news came from the palace that the tiger tally was stained with blood because... it was General Song's spirit appearing. General Song was indignant that his descendants used the tiger tally to kill friendly troops, which is why the red jade was stained with blood, as a warning to His Majesty."
The matriarch of the Elder House roared, "Nonsense! The tiger tally is suspicious; someone must have tampered with it! His Majesty will not believe such superstitious nonsense!"
She threw back the covers and got out of bed.
"Yes, I must report to His Majesty and ask the skilled craftsmen in the palace to examine that tiger tally. If they find any problems, it will prove that someone is trying to frame the Song family!"
Granny Wu stopped her.
"Madam, it's too late! Although we don't know where this saying came from, His Majesty has already believed it. He even praised General Song's loyalty and bravery and ordered His Highness the Crown Prince to send the tiger tally to Hanshan Temple to ask the high monks to appease the spirit of the deceased general."
The matriarch was stunned for a moment, then slumped back onto the bed, saying dejectedly, "It's too late...it's already too late."
The tiger tally was taken away, and even if it had been tampered with, it would be impossible to find out.
Granny Wu said urgently, "Please don't say that! You are the pillar of the Song family. Since you married into the capital from Youzhou, what storms haven't you weathered over the years? Back then, that wretched woman from the Ji family was so troublesome, but you still managed to subdue her completely..."
Noticing the cold gaze of the matriarch, Wu Mama suddenly covered her mouth, realizing that she had mentioned a taboo of the Song family, and hurriedly said...
"What I mean is that you will definitely be able to get through this difficult time. Besides, the General and the Princess are not foolish people. They must have been framed!"
"If someone sets a trap for him, and he walks right into it, what else is that but stupidity!"
The matriarch sighed, feeling disappointed in her son.
"Alright, how is Lin'er?"
Granny Wu said, "Young Master Lin has also been locked up for embezzling government funds. Fortunately, it hasn't caused any serious consequences. If you plead for him, you might be able to get him released on bail and bring him back to the manor."
Seeing the matriarch deep in thought, she couldn't help but ask, "Does the matriarch intend to groom Young Master Lin? But he..."
“How could I not know that Song Lin is mediocre?” The matriarch gritted her teeth. “But look at how people outside are calling Song Yu! They all call him General Song! If this continues, before I can even devise a plan to rescue Ziyu, the Song family army will probably have changed hands!”
Before Song Ziyu returns, the power of the Song family cannot fall entirely into Song Yu's hands.
Song Yu and the others were never of one mind.
Even knowing that Song Lin was incompetent, they could only hope that he would hold them up.
"I will try to get Song Lin out, but for other matters, I need to ask Ziyu's opinion first," said the matriarch.
Although she couldn't guess the reason, she felt that Song Ziyu had become much more distant from Song Lin recently.
"Go to the Ministry of Justice and make some arrangements. I need to visit Ziyu," the matriarch instructed.
Granny Wu responded, but seeing her tired expression, she swallowed the words she was about to say and left the room.
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