Chapter 486

Chapter 492: Unease (Part 2)

The intention is not in the wine itself!

Lady Eleven immediately understood Lady Huang's purpose. Given the relationship between the Huang and Xu families, no matter what Lady Huang sought, Lord Xu would hardly refuse to see her.

"New Year has just passed, and His Excellency has been busy with some external affairs these days," she said with a smile, taking the initiative to ask, "Sister, if you're asking about His Excellency, is there something you need from him?"

This matter might require Lady Eleven to intercede on her behalf with Lord Xu...

A thought flashed through Lady Huang's mind, and she glanced around at the maidservants and young wives in the room.

Lady Eleven understood and dismissed those attending her.

"It's all because of that good-for-nothing of ours!" Lady Huang, seeing no one else in the room, her eyes welled up with tears, which began to fall, "He was too eager for quick success and didn't consult anyone,

and now he's gotten into serious trouble..."

The Yongchang Marquis was not adept at managing daily affairs and often felt overwhelmed, so he simply handed them over to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince, having just taken over, wanted to establish his authority and set his sights on the waterways in Jiangnan. The Jianning Marquis, possibly hearing about it from officials in the Ministry of Works, sent a steward to approach the chief steward of the Yongchang Marquis's household, hoping to purchase stone materials from their quarry. The Crown Prince was pleased with this arrangement. Thus, the two families began doing business in a somewhat vague manner. Over time, they inevitably had some social interactions and gradually became more familiar with each other.

In the twelfth month of the previous year, someone approached the Crown Prince through the Yongchang Marquis's advisor, offering three hundred taels of gold to secure the position of Deputy Minister in charge of the Fujian Department of the Ministry of Revenue. The Crown Prince wrote a note to the Jianning Marquis to try to help. Unexpectedly, after the New Year, this person indeed obtained the position of Deputy Minister in charge of the Fujian Department of the Ministry of Revenue, and the Crown Prince sent one hundred taels of gold to the Yang family...

"... On New Year's Day, the Grand Dowager sent the Second Lady to report the news. After listening to the Second Lady, the Crown Prince realized the severity of the situation," Lady Huang wiped her eyes, "That note...

Son, he is still in the hands of the Marquis of Jianning. Who knows if he has kept it or just placed it somewhere carelessly.” Lowering her voice, she continued, “If, as the Second Lady said, the Yang family was indeed searched... If they found the note written by the Young Lord, or if there were private accounts recording that the Young Lord once gave gold to the Marquis of Jianning... Even if His Majesty, considering the great contributions of the Huang family’s ancestors, wanted to spare the Marquis’s life, I fear the censors would not let him off. The Young Lord sighs and tosses and turns every night, unable to sleep. Yet he dares not speak to the Marquis... After much deliberation, the Young Lord decided to seek help from the Marquis. But thinking of what he has done, he feels too ashamed to face the Marquis. I told him, ‘Our families have always been close, and you and the Marquis grew up together like brothers. No matter how shameful the matter, shouldn’t you be able to talk about it with your brother?’ The Young Lord’s face turned red, but he remained silent. I thought this matter should not be delayed, and just then, the Grand Dowager sent a matron to arrange a marriage for the Eldest Master. Considering how kindly the Grand Dowager treats me, I couldn’t hesitate, so I came straight here to you.” She took Eleventh Lady’s hand, “Dear sister, you must save your uncle. If anything happens to him, I won’t want to live either!” She covered her face and wept.

The Ministry of Personnel falls under the authority of Minister Chen. How could a mere letter from the Young Lord of Yongchang prompt the Marquis of Jianning to secure a position as the Deputy Director of the Fujian Bureau within the Ministry of Revenue for him?

Suppressing her doubts, Eleventh Lady comforted Third Lady Huang, “Sister, don’t cry. I’ll send someone to invite the Marquis to come in.”

Third Lady Huang nodded, sobbing.

Eleventh Lady asked Qiuyu to bring water to help Third Lady Huang freshen up, and sent Xiulian to invite Lord Xu. When Lord Xu arrived, she excused herself from the hall.

The two spoke in the eastern side chamber for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn down before Third Lady Huang emerged, looking dispirited.

Eleventh Lady hurriedly went to greet her.

“Sister, rest in my room for a while!” she hinted, “Since you’ve come, you should visit Third Sister-in-Law—so no one suspects anything.”

Grandma Huang San nodded gratefully to Lady Eleven and followed her to the western secondary chamber. After drinking the hot tea served by a young maid, she felt much more spirited.

"His Excellency said he would see who the Emperor sends," she whispered to Lady Eleven. "It would be better if it’s someone from the Five City Military and Police Office or the Western Mountain Garrison. What I fear is that it will be someone from the Grand Court of Justice—His Excellency has no close associates there."

"At least there's a glimmer of hope," Lady Eleven comforted her. "Sister, don't worry too much. Perhaps the Young Lord will have good fortune and turn this crisis into safety!"

Grandma Huang San sighed softly, "I hope so!" After a moment of reflection, she forced a smile, "But whatever happens, please tell His Excellency on my behalf that the Young Lord will never forget his great kindness."

Lady Eleven hurriedly replied, "Our families have been friends since the days of the Grand Matron. Sister, you're making it sound too formal."

Grandma Huang San didn’t say more but got up to take her leave. "I came today for the sake of the Eldest Master. I also need to go and gauge the mood with Madam Third, so I can discuss things with Madam Liu later."

Lady Eleven escorted Grandma Huang San to Madam Third. "We entrust our son Qinqin to your care, Sister!"

"Since we’ve had a friendship spanning generations, don’t speak like that!"

The two arrived at Madam Third’s residence.

Madam Third had already heard that Grandma Huang San was visiting. She first went to see the Grand Matron and then visited Lady Eleven. Feeling somewhat displeased, her expression brightened when she saw Lady Eleven personally bringing Grandma Huang San. Lady Eleven, concerned about Lord Xu in the room, exchanged a few pleasantries with Madam Third before returning inside.

Lord Xu’s face was dark, and he paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back.

**********

Seeing Lady Eleventh enter, he halted his steps.

His expression must be quite grim right now!

Lord Xu mused, wanting to ease the tension and greeted Lady Eleventh: "Have you sent the person to Third Sister?" But the voice that came out was even colder than usual.

He couldn't help but frown slightly.

This matter must be troubling him greatly?

Lady Eleventh thought as she walked over quietly: "My Lord, man proposes, God disposes. If His Majesty really sends people from the Board of Punishments to raid the Jianning Marquis's residence, it can only mean that the Young Marquis lacks the fortune!"

Though she said this, she was still genuinely worried, fearing that Lord Xu would find himself in a difficult position trying to save the Yongchang Marquis's heir!

Seeing Lady Eleventh's heavy expression, Lord Xu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

He had promised not to let her worry, yet the burden always fell on her shoulders.

Lord Xu embraced Lady Eleventh.

"Nothing to worry about! I just wanted to scare him a bit," he murmured, his face close to hers, "Even if the Board of Punishments does raid the place, those few officials won't amount to much. It's not impossible to find a few letters or ledgers amidst the mountains of items. But Ziqi's boldness needs to be checked; if we don't teach him a lesson this time, he'll only grow more reckless."

Ziqi? That must be the courtesy name of the Marquis of Yongchang's heir!

"Be cautious in all your affairs, my lord." Lady Shier trusted his abilities but couldn't help but caution him: "If it truly cannot be done, there’s no need to force it. Didn’t you say that this time the Emperor is ‘seeking a pretext for punishment’? Who will be implicated and who will be spared, surely the Emperor has it all figured out. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken the opportunity on New Year’s Day to warn you—likely because he doesn’t want the matter to escalate."

"The Ministry of Personnel is under Minister Chen’s jurisdiction; how could placing someone be as simple as a note from Lady Huang San?" Lord Xu, embracing Lady Shier’s shoulders, sat down on the large kang by the window: "There’s more to this than meets the eye." At this point, he fell into deep thought, "I fear that even Minister Chen might not know everything... This time, the Emperor has dug up the radish and brought up the mud, implicating Minister Chen as well!"

"But as you said, since Minister Chen oversees the Ministry of Personnel, if the officials there really did such things, Minister Chen would also be at fault!" Lady Shier whispered softly, "Even if the Emperor relies on Minister Chen to achieve his goals of governance and military prowess, becoming a wise ruler for the ages, he cannot simply ignore or condone such actions! In the long run, it would only harm Minister Chen. It might even tarnish the Emperor’s reputation and undermine his great legacy!"

"There are things you don’t know," Lord Xu mused after hearing her words, "Among the seven Grand Secretaries, Minister Chen supports the Emperor’s policies, including the lifting of the maritime ban, while Grand Secretary Liang’s stance is unclear. The other five are all opposed to lifting the ban..."

He hesitated, unsure whether to continue.

The world assumes that imperial power is supreme, but in reality, the Emperor’s authority isn’t always effective.

He found it difficult to explain this situation to Lady Shier.

Eleven understood why there were officials in the Ministry of Personnel who dared to sell offices—someone wanted Minister Chen to fall from power. If something went wrong in the Ministry of Personnel, Minister Chen would have no choice but to resign for his mistakes. The only supporter of the Emperor would be gone, and the maritime ban would naturally come to an end. She also understood why the Emperor had warned Lord Xu—his target was these few Grand Secretaries in the Cabinet. As long as two or three of them were involved, he could replace them with people who supported him, breaking the current deadlock.

Whether Minister Chen fell or the Emperor achieved his goal, the court of Da Zhou would be in turmoil... If Minister Chen fell, the Emperor's new policies would fail, would the Emperor accept this? If the Emperor succeeded, the vacant positions of Grand Secretary would be coveted by many!

"Marquis, what should we do?" she asked solemnly.

In such a climate, no one could remain unscathed, not even the Yongping Marquis’s family, who were related to the imperial family by marriage.

Lord Xu was a bit surprised by Eleven's reaction, but he was feeling somewhat disoriented at the moment and had more important matters to attend to. He suppressed his confusion and said with a serious expression, "I’m thinking about how to inform the Emperor about this matter without implicating the Huang family!"

There was nothing Eleven could do about such matters.

She got up to brew a cup of hot tea for Lord Xu and sat quietly beside him.

Lord Xu slowly finished his tea and stood up with a calm expression: "Don’t wait for me for dinner; I’m going to the palace."

His words were calm, yet they concealed danger.

"Marquis!" Eleven exclaimed in surprise, "Are you going to offer your life in protest?"

The serious atmosphere was momentarily disrupted by her words. Lord Xu laughed heartily, "I’m not a censor!"

Eleven Niang smiled mischievously: "Well, as long as you're aware of it, Marquis!"

Xu Lingyi was momentarily stunned.

Eleven Niang must be trying to liven up the atmosphere!

Such a dignified person, yet so childishly playful when mischievous.

He chuckled and ruffled her hair: "Go quickly and have the maid come help me change!"