It was just a little bickering, nothing serious.
But while Steward Zhao appeared to be trying to mediate, his words inadvertently struck at their sore spots, enraging them so much that they ended up fighting. The servants sided with their respective masters, creating chaos and disorder.
Zhu Qing wiped away her tears: "The general is biased. He gave all the good things to Lan You. Doesn't this make me a laughing stock!"
Song Ziyu frowned: "When did I ever bestow gifts upon Lan You?"
He didn't care about matters in the inner quarters. After asking Steward Zhao, he immediately became suspicious and went directly to Xingzhi Courtyard to question him.
Jiang Wan explained calmly, "The General has been favoring Zhu Qing these past few days. To balance the jealousy in the backyard, I rewarded Lan You with several batches of fabric. Next time there are good things, I'll give them to Zhu Qing."
"Didn't you deliberately provoke trouble?" Song Ziyu asked.
Jiang Wan looked at him strangely: "That's Yu'er's celebration banquet, why should I cause trouble?"
Song Ziyu was speechless, unable to understand why Jiang Wan had deliberately provoked him. He could only leave with a sullen face after uttering a single sentence.
"From now on, stay out of Zhu Qing and Lan You's business!"
After he left, Biluo came in to report.
"Madam, as you instructed, the brothers in the pavilion have been disguised as bandits and are active in the outskirts of the capital."
Jiang Wan nodded: "Tell them to just go through the motions and not to harm the people."
Biluo noted it down and then said, "After Song Lin talked to you that day, his face was very unpleasant. He has been quiet these past two days, except for going to his study once a day. However, Gu Shi did go to the palace under the pretext of paying her respects to the Empress."
Jiang Wan nodded.
Thinking of the plate of roses on Pei Xi's table, she figured that Gu Yurong probably wanted to see Consort Yun, not the Empress.
Song Lin had just extorted money from Song Ziyu, but he didn't rush to act, which shows that he has indeed become much more composed.
Her dark eyes flickered slightly as she looked at Biluo and asked, "If you were to obtain ten thousand taels of silver, how would you make it reach its full potential?"
"Political maneuvering, promotion and rank?" Biluo replied without hesitation: "But Song Lin currently holds no official position. His ex-wife used her dowry to provide disaster relief and help the people, which earned her the Emperor's favor. But now there are no natural disasters or man-made calamities, so even if Song Lin wanted to do it, he wouldn't have the opportunity."
Jiang Wan was slightly taken aback when she heard this.
Biluo was wrong; it's not that there's no chance.
With the attack on the capital by the Donglai people imminent, if Song Lin were to take out silver at that time to replenish the national treasury and relieve the people, he would surely earn Emperor Jingyuan's praise and make a great contribution.
We can't let him keep his money until then.
Before that, she needed to create a better opportunity, one that would be enough to entice Song Lin.
Jiang Wan pondered for a moment: "I remember that Madam Shang and the wife of the Minister of Personnel were very close friends."
“Pan Shangshu’s wife, Sun Nanxi?” Biluo said, “I heard that Pan Shangshu dotes on Sun, but heaven is not on their side. They have been married for three years and still have no child. It has become a heartache for Sun.”
Jiang Wan nodded.
“I remember there was a purple jade Guanyin statue in the Linglong Pavilion, which was consecrated by Shi Yin himself.”
"Tell Shixu to offer it to Hanshan Temple in the name of Linglong Pavilion."
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