Jiang Wan frowned: "Did you lose anything?"
Cai Die shook her head: "Yesterday's undergarments weren't dry yet, so they weren't inside. But if that person makes another move, things might change."
"An undergarment is a woman's most private item; who would steal that?"
Jiang Wan pondered for a moment and then gave the instructions.
"Just pretend you didn't notice. Keep a close watch on the inner room today, and don't let anyone in."
She got up and walked to the dressing case, took out the token Pei Xuan had left behind that day, and said to Biluo, "Come with me to the East Palace."
"Does Madam wish to see Crown Prince Yongning?"
Biluo was puzzled.
"The floods are severe. I heard that the Crown Prince has been busy dealing with this matter and has not returned to his residence for many days."
"I'm not looking for him."
Jiang Wan said calmly.
"I want to see his younger sister, Princess Zhaohua."
Side hall of the East Palace.
Princess Zhaohua, Pei Tang, was playing with the hidden sword when she heard the servant's report and immediately shook her head.
"Jiang Wan? I won't see her."
"I've never heard of this name before. They must be trying to curry favor! My brother has been troubled by the floods for days, but these people only know how to curry favor with the powerful. How utterly boring!"
The servant added.
“Princess, you have misunderstood. Lady Jiang came because of the flood. She said she was willing to offer her entire dowry to settle the disaster victims in the name of the Crown Prince.”
Pei Tang's eyes lit up, and he ordered someone to lead Jiang Wan into the hall.
She was even more surprised when she saw Jiang Wan hand over a full twenty-page form.
I never imagined that a general's wife's dowry would be so generous.
Pei Tang looked her over suspiciously.
"Even if you want to donate to disaster victims, you can go to the Emperor yourself. Why do you need to see me, the princess?"
Jiang Wan replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "To be honest, Your Highness, I do indeed have a request to make."
Seeing her honesty, Pei Tang felt a bit more favorably disposed towards her: "Go ahead and speak."
"I have heard that Your Highness is skilled in martial arts and is a disciple of Master Chenyi. I have a son who also wishes to become his disciple. I hope Your Highness can introduce him to me."
"You have good insight. My master is not only a master of martial arts, but also an expert in military strategy and tactics. No one in the capital can match him."
Pei Tang pondered for a moment.
“But my master has his own requirements for accepting disciples. I can only act as a matchmaker. Whether it works out or not depends on his talent.”
Jiang Wan bowed and thanked her.
The matter was settled, and Pei Tang chatted with her for a few minutes, even offering her tea.
While drinking tea, Jiang Wan accidentally knocked over the teacup, soaking her clothes.
Jiang Wan stood up: "This humble woman has lost her composure and must take her leave now."
"It's still raining outside. If you go back like this, you'll catch a cold."
Pei Tang was a generous and forthright person. Seeing that the two were similar in build, he ordered someone to bring him a set of his own casual clothes and gave them to Jiang Wan.
After thanking her, Jiang Wan returned to the general's mansion wearing her new clothes.
The flooding lasted for three more days before Song Ziyu finally had time to return home.
On the day he returned home, he was beaming with joy and summoned everyone to the Green Bamboo Hall, saying that he had good news to announce.
"Today in court, His Majesty praised the women of the General's Mansion for their concern for the people, and said that this year, the royal family has been granted special permission to go on the spring hunt with them!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Yurong and Zhou were overjoyed.
Spring hunts were grand court events and excellent opportunities to network with powerful figures.
According to regulations, only officials of the third rank or above are eligible to participate. Song Ziyu is a fourth-rank official and was not eligible to participate in previous years.
"Very good!"
Zhou was overjoyed.
"We still have over a month left, we need to prepare well and not waste this opportunity..."
She paused, then asked in confusion.
"Wait, what did you just say about the women of our household?"
Song Ziyu smiled and said, "What, wasn't this donation to disaster victims arranged by Mother?"
Zhou was stunned and looked at Gu Yurong, both of them looking confused.
"Mother, it's me."
Jiang Wan, who had been listening for a long time, suddenly spoke up, smiling.
“Hearing that the people of Hexi were suffering, I decided to donate my dowry and private property to the flood victims.”
"…What?!"
Zhou's face immediately turned pale.
Is there something wrong with it?
Jiang Wan blinked.
“The account book my mother sent a few days ago shows all my dowry, which amounts to ten thousand taels. I have already reported this amount to the Crown Prince.”
"The relief supplies sent by the imperial court to Hexi will depart in ten days. Mother, please remember to prepare the money and send it to the Eastern Palace before then."
"Now that His Majesty knows about this, we can't afford any mistakes."
Upon hearing this, Gu Yurong took a deep breath, her face as if struck by lightning.
Jiang Wan's private property had long been squandered by the Song family.
Ten thousand taels of silver... Even if the Song family were to be completely emptied of their possessions, they still wouldn't be able to come up with that amount of money in a short time!
Zhou could no longer laugh.
After the others left, she kept Gu Yurong behind to talk.
Song Ziyu neglected his duties and only cared about enjoying himself, so he was unaware of the details of Jiang Wan's dowry.
This money wasn't just used for the general's mansion's expenses; a large portion of it was used by the two women to support their maternal families.
They felt guilty and dared not mention it to Song Ziyu.
Gu Yurong twisted the handkerchief.
"Mother, what do we do now? His Majesty has spoken; if we can't pay this money, it's a crime of deceiving the emperor!"
"It's all Jiang's fault for being such a bad omen."
Zhou was annoyed.
"Since she returned to the manor, nothing good has happened!"
Gu Yurong gritted her teeth and said, "If my husband can divorce Jiang Wan, then even if it is a crime of deceiving the emperor, it will be her fault alone and will not involve us."
Zhou glared at her.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Wasn't what happened a few days ago embarrassing enough? She's now a titled lady, how can you easily divorce her?"
"Mother!"
Gu Yurong said fiercely.
"Now we only have my method left! If it works, we can escape this calamity!"
Zhou hesitated: "But what if it doesn't work out..."
“There’s no chance of anything going wrong.” Gu Yurong’s eyes flashed with ruthlessness. “This time I’m confident I can do it.”
...
That day, the continuous rain finally stopped.
Jiang Wan was teaching Song Yu to read in the room.
Song Yu wanted to become an apprentice to learn martial arts, so he needed to understand some basic skills. She found some rare martial arts manuals from Linglong Pavilion and had been studying them with him for several days.
"lady."
Biluo suddenly entered the room and whispered in her ear.
“These past few days, I have been keeping an eye on the main courtyard, following your instructions. Just now, I saw Gu Yurong’s trusted maid secretly leave the mansion.”
Jiang Wan put down her pen and looked outside through the carved window.
"There are still five days until the pension is handed over. Today is a rare sunny day, and they should be getting impatient."
“Write a letter to the princess, inviting her to bring Master Chenyi as a guest.”
Half an hour later.
Jiang Wan timed it perfectly and went to greet him personally, only to find Pei Tang already skipping and hopping into the courtyard.
"Our master is a man of low profile, so we traveled light and entered through a side entrance."
Pei Tang, without any hesitation, looked at the half-white-haired old man beside her and introduced him with a smile: "This is my master, Master Chen Yi."
Jiang Wan curtsied and said, "Master, please come in."
Looking up, he saw another man in purple robes emerge from behind him; it was Pei Xuan.
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