Chapter 428: Planning to Induce an Imperial Marriage

Jin Ling, Dazai Gate, Xinchun Hao Jiangnan General Store.

Just past noon, the scorching sun was like fire. Jia Cong came out of Apricot Blossom Lane and rushed to the general store under the scorching heat.

And not long after he entered the store, Jiang Liu left the shop alone and went to the branch of Xinchun Hao on Chengxian Street.

Not long after, in the backyard of the Chengxian Street branch, several gray pigeons flew into the sky, circled the roof for a week, and then spread their wings and flew eastward.

And at sunset that day, people left the farmstead in the eastern suburbs of the city in twos and threes, following the official road to the east.

……

Jia Cong was busy until sunset before returning to the residence in Mingze Lane.

As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, he saw Lingguan greet him, saying, "Cong Sanye, I've been waiting for you for a long time. You're finally back. I have urgent business to find you for."

Jia Cong saw her strange expression and was about to ask her what had happened, but he was pulled by Lingguan into Zou Min'er's room.

Lingguan picked up the portrait on the table and said, "Cong Sanye, I just wanted to tell you this. I've seen this person in Su Zhou."

Jia Cong's heart jumped violently when he heard this, because what Lingguan was holding was indeed Zhou Zheng-yang's portrait.

Zou Min'er, who was leaning on the bed, said, "Do you still remember when we first saw Lingguan at the Jin Bi Garden in Su Zhou? She was punished by the troupe leader to wash clothes.

Because that time, Luo Xiong, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Su Zhou Guard, had booked the Jin Bi Garden, and that was Lingguan's first time performing on stage.

After Lingguan finished her song, Luo Xiong's friend took a fancy to Lingguan and even asked Lingguan to sing the brothel ditty 'Sprinkling Gold Fan'.

As a result, Lingguan was unwilling to sing and had a conflict with Luo Xiong's subordinates, breaking a valuable headpiece in the opera troupe, which was why she was punished by the troupe leader."

Lingguan said from the side, "Cong Sanye, that friend of Luo Xiong, the villain who asked me to sing 'Sprinkling Gold Fan', was the person in this portrait."

Jia Cong's face changed, and he asked, "Lingguan, can you remember clearly? Is that person really the person in the portrait?"

Lingguan said very seriously, "Cong Sanye, although quite some time has passed, that person was so shameless, actually asking me to sing a ditty from a brothel. Even if he turned to ashes, I would remember him.

He looks too much like the person in this portrait, almost exactly the same. I won't remember it wrong."

Jia Cong took out the letter from Su Zhou from his bosom and browsed through it quickly.

On it, it was written that Zhou Zheng-yang had visited the Red Fragrance Tower in Su Zhou several times to patronize prostitutes, and each time he would ask the flower girl in the building who was good at singing to stay the night.

And every time he asked the flower girl to sing a brothel ditty, it was indeed that song, "Sprinkling Gold Fan."

Without a doubt, the friend who came with Luo Xiong when he booked the Jin Bi Garden to listen to the opera was Zhou Zheng-yang, who was in hiding.

Jia Cong's heart was filled with shock, and he and Zou Min'er looked at each other involuntarily.

They both read the meaning in each other's eyes.

The dignified Regional Military Commissioner of the Su Zhou Guard had actually been colluding with Zhou Zheng-yang all along.

The reason why Zhou Zheng-yang had always been hard to find and could not be brought to justice was clearly because of the concealment and protection of Luo Xiong, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Su Zhou Guard.

Then another question became obvious: Luo Xiong, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Su Zhou Guard, must also be involved in the major Water Surveillance Office case; otherwise, he wouldn't have protected a court-wanted criminal.

Jia Cong said to Zou Min'er, "The major Water Surveillance Office case from years ago seems to be getting bigger and bigger. At first, it was the Water Surveillance Office, then the Jin Ling Guard, and now even the Su Zhou Guard cannot escape involvement!"

The Jin Ling Regional Command oversees the Water Surveillance Office, the Jin Ling Guard, the Zhenjiang Guard, the Changzhou Guard, the Su Zhou Guard, and the Songjiang Guard, commanding a total of over ten thousand garrison troops in various places.

Now, half of the garrisons are actually tainted by the poison of the major Water Surveillance Office case, which is too shocking.

Jia Cong had made full preparations before going south this time, and even secretly mobilized a not-so-small force that could deal with the crisis.

But now that Zhou Zheng-yang has Luo Xiong's protection, the force Jia Cong has mastered, wanting to confront the 1,500 elite garrison troops under the Su Zhou Guard, would be an extremely dangerous move.

Jia Cong was leading a secret decree to Jin Ling, but the imperial decree only asked him to cooperate with the Court of Judicial Review to capture Zhou Zheng-yang and clear up the aftermath of the major Water Surveillance Office case.

The imperial decree did not grant him the power to deal with a Grade 3 military official, not to mention a Guard Commander who commanded over a thousand troops.

If he acted without a name, once the response and handling were improper, it could trigger a mutiny in the army, or even stir up a military disaster in Jiangnan, shaking the six prefectures and one province of Jiangnan.

Jia Cong himself had been a general commanding troops, so he naturally understood what it meant to have troops connected and disasters linked; the risks involved were extremely great.

Jia Cong remembered that before leaving the capital, he had gone to bid farewell to his teacher, Master Liu Yanxiu.

Master Liu Yanxiu had warned him: If you find something, keep it secret and do not alarm anyone. Report urgently to the Palace, wait for the Emperor's decision, and avoid acting rashly for merit, lest you get too deeply involved and suffer harm instead.

……

Jin Ling, Xinglong Fang, Jia Family Old Residence.

Jia Cong was writing furiously, drafting a memorial to the Love Shenjing. The Zhou Zheng-yang affair was complex, and the depth of its involvement had already exceeded the scope of the secret decree's authorization.

Jia Cong remembered his teacher Liu Jing-an's reminder that reporting the details of the matter to the Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao was a necessary step.

The memorial reported in detail the discovery of Zhou Zheng-yang's tracks in Su Zhou and the fact that Luo Xiong, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Su Zhou Guard, was concealing and protecting Zhou Zheng-yang.

It also attached the investigation and speculation regarding Zhang Kang-nian and Du Heng-xin, as well as the role played by Zhen Ying-quan of the Zhen family back then.

He wrote these pieces of information into the memorial because they had vague connections with the Zhou Zheng-yang incident and even the major Water Surveillance Office case from years ago.

It could allow the Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao to have a complete understanding and judgment of the Jin Ling affair.

Moreover, even if he didn't report these investigation details, Xu Xu Qiniang would surely report them to the palace through the Zhongche Office channel.

Jia Cong considered the suspicious nature of this Son of Heaven, so he didn't save this bit of ink on the memorial.

After the memorial was written, he carefully read it again, made revisions and polish, and then recopied it, putting the memorial into a secret box and sealing it with fire lacquer.

Then he wrote a letter to the Minister of War, Gu Yan-kui. The content of the letter was basically the same as the content of the memorial.

He walked out of the study, left the inner courtyard, entered the Xuanhe Hall outside the second gate, and handed the secret box to Jiang Liu, who was waiting there early.

He instructed Jiang Liu: "You take five firearm soldiers as guards, you must travel day and night, and speed up at full strength. You must deliver the memorial to the Love Shenjing within four days."

Sending a letter from Jin Ling to the Love Shenjing normally requires changing fast horses at post stations, taking five days to reach the Love Shenjing. Jia Cong compressed the time to four days, which was also a requirement for fast speed.

Jia Cong also said, "This letter must also be delivered to the residence of Minister Gu of the Ministry of War as soon as possible, and please ask him to reply, and you must send it back to Jin Ling as soon as possible.

The imperial decree in the palace will only be delivered by the imperial guards, but Minister Gu's reply will be delivered by you. After you get the reply, ask Ai Li to send it to me using 'Flying Feather'. Do not delay for a moment, remember!"

The reason why Jia Cong specifically wrote a letter to Gu Yan-kui in addition to the report and instructed Jiang Liu to get the reply as soon as possible was to make the information reach Jin Ling faster than the normal imperial decree delivery.

As long as his report reached the Love Shenjing, the Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao would surely call Gu Yan-kui into the palace to discuss the matter, and Gu Yan-kui would surely be the first person to know the content of the reply.

And the imperial decree issued in the palace would be delivered to Jin Ling by palace eunuchs and imperial guards.

Therefore, the imperial decree was something Jiang Liu could not touch, and Jiang Liu could not know the content of the imperial decree the fastest.

And the letter to Gu Yan-kui, the content of which was almost the same as the report, would inevitably contain the content of the reply.

Jia Cong could only use this tortuous method to let Jiang Liu know the content of the reply.

Through Ai Li's "Flying Feather" transmission, Jia Cong would receive the information in less than two days from the Love Shenjing to Jin Ling.

And the imperial decree normally takes five days to be delivered from the Love Shenjing to Jin Ling.

Jia Cong could know the Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's will three days in advance, which could provide him with sufficient time buffer to act in Jin Ling.

He did this also based on another concern.

Back then, the confession of Zhou Su-qing from the Court of Judicial Review was leaked, causing Zhou Zheng-yang to know the information in advance and escape.

Although the Love Shenjing Court of Judicial Review carried out a bloody purge and cleared the source of the leak,

the officials in the Love Shenjing were as numerous as hair, and their relationships were intertwined. There were many people who could access information in the palace.

No one could guarantee whether the leak would happen again.

If he could know the latest news a few days before the imperial decree was delivered to Jin Ling, he could make arrangements in advance to prevent possible leaks and the bad consequences caused by them.

……

Jin Ling, Zhen Mansion, Yuhe Hall.

Old Madam Zhen's mood today was sorrowful and hard to calm, because today, five years ago, was the day her second son, Zhen Ying-quan, went to sea, never to return.

Time had passed for five full years. Saying that life or death was unknown was just a powerless self-deception.

Not only had Old Madam Zhen completely given up hope, but even the Second Madam Zhen, who had been deeply in love with her husband, had been unable to accept her husband's departure for a long time.

Two years ago, she also helplessly gave up and set today as Zhen Ying-quan's death anniversary. Every year on this day, she would hold a memorial in her own courtyard and stop the smoke and fire for a day.

Since Zhen Ying-quan's accident, Second Madam Zhen's health had always been poor. Some time ago, her old illness recurred, and the family had gone to Chen Fushou Lane to invite Zhang You-peng to diagnose and treat her.

But they happened to encounter Zhang You-peng going out for an emergency visit, and after that, they didn't see the shadow of this divine physician for more than ten days, and they didn't know what he was busy with outside.

Since the incident with Zhen Zheng Yingquan, Madam Zhen Er's health had been poor; some time ago, her old illness recurred, and the household had gone to Chen Fushou Lane to invite Zhang Zhang Youshi over for treatment.

The Zhen family hurriedly invited a famous physician in the city for emergency treatment.

Zhen Qing-fang sent someone to Chen Fushou Lane again and finally met Zhang You-peng at home, and hurriedly invited this divine physician to the Zhen mansion to diagnose her mother.

After Zhang You-peng arrived at the Zhen family, he took Second Madam Zhen's pulse and wrote a prescription, and also gave her a few needles, which stabilized Second Madam Zhen's condition, making the Zhen family breathe a sigh of relief.

Old Madam Zhen went to see her daughter-in-law and returned to Yuhe Hall with a depressed mood, thinking of her second son, and sighed again.

At this time, she saw her eldest son, Zhen Ying-jia, come in and say, "Old Madam, I just received a reply to the letter I wrote to the Lady Rongguo Jia family."

Old Madam Zhen's spirit lifted slightly when she heard this. She knew her eldest son's intention in writing to the Jia family, which was to communicate with the Lady Rongguo Jia family and arrange a marriage for the family's Third Miss.

She hurriedly asked, "What did the Jia family say in the reply?"

Zhen Ying-jia replied, "Jia Cun-zhou's reply was very respectful and polite. He had already mentioned Jia Cong's marriage to Old Madam Jia.

But the Old Madam over there said that Jia Cong would only reach the age of fifteen next year, and he is still too young, so they want to wait a year or two to discuss the marriage."

Old Madam Zhen felt disappointed when she heard this and said, "What they said is also reasonable. It is indeed a bit early before the age of fifteen.

But the Third Miss is a few years older than Cong-ge'er. In these years, she has been busy with the family business, and her vision is high. None of the young masters of the Jin Ling noble families could catch her eye.

So she has grown older. Cong-ge'er can afford to wait, but the Third Miss cannot.

Moreover, there is another thing. Old Madam Jia and I can be considered friends, but she was born in a Duke's family and married into a Duke's family, so there are many twists and turns in her heart.

Although saying Cong-ge'er is young is a reason, I fear that this grandmother has some thoughts of waiting for a better price.

Outside, it is now said that Cong-ge'er is the youngest among the nobles in the Imperial Clan's records, and he is very eye-catching and also very favored by the current Emperor.

For such a young Count, when he comes of age, the Emperor will likely bestow a marriage to show favor. This is a precedent in the dynasty.

Old Madam Jia was born in a Duke's family and knows this rule better than I do. Saying Cong-ge'er is young and not in a hurry to discuss marriage is just a polite excuse.

How could she easily decide on her grandson's marriage and lose the glory of the imperial bestowal in the future?"

Zhen Ying-jia smiled and said, "Old Madam is still insightful. As soon as you knew the content of the letter, you could judge the reason inside.

Actually, I had thought of this layer long ago. When I wrote to Jia Cun-zhou, I never thought that I could decide on the marriage between the two families with just one letter, but just to communicate in advance.

Marriage between men and women requires both fate and status. The Lady Rongguo Jia family has the glory of imperial bestowal, but our Zhen family may not necessarily lack it.

Therefore, while I wrote to Jia Cun-zhou, I also wrote a family letter to the Old Imperial Consort in the palace and asked the Second Miss to forward it to the palace."

Old Madam Zhen understood her son's intentions when she heard this, and the sadness brought by her second son also faded by more than half.

She smiled and said, "You did this properly. Back then, the Third Miss entered the palace to accompany the Old Imperial Consort and was raised in the palace. The Old Imperial Consort has always loved the Third Miss like a treasure.

That Cong-ge'er has such a loud reputation in the Love Shenjing, the Old Imperial Consort will definitely be satisfied with this marriage. As long as she makes a request to the Retired Emperor, this matter will be done."

Zhen Ying-jia smiled and said, "Old Madam is right. Old Madam Jia wants the glory of the Emperor's bestowal, and our Zhen family just wants Qing'er to find a good husband and have a reliance for life.

The two families are actually going to the same destination, and fulfilling it is exactly the best of both worlds. The Third Miss has a place to settle, and it also fulfills a wish of Old Madam."

Old Madam Zhen sighed, "Your brother's fate is not good. He was a good person, just went on a trip to the sea, and disappeared without a trace.

He had only one daughter, the Third Miss, and he looked at his daughter like the apple of his eye. If Fang-qing and Cong-ge'er can make it, I can be considered to have treated her father well."

……

Zhen Mansion, Second Madam Zhen's residence.

Second Madam fainted this morning, which really scared Zhen Fang-qing. Fortunately, that Mr. Zhang was a divine physician, and after a few golden needles, he stabilized her mother's heart pulse.

She originally wanted to go to the shop to check the accounts, but she temporarily pushed everything aside and stayed in the mansion to accompany and take care of her mother.

Today, she changed out of the men's clothes she wore when walking outside and put on a young woman's attire,

wearing a light blue chrysanthemum-embroidered front-buttoned vest, a white cross-collared gauze inner garment, and a rice-yellow chrysanthemum-embroidered long skirt, graceful and charming.

Just after serving her mother medicine, she heard the maid pass the word that the Eldest Madam had come to visit.

Zhen Fang-qing let the Eldest Madam into the inner room and took her maid to the outer room, taking out the embroidery she had done halfway to kill time.

Since Zhen Ying-quan's accident, the Eldest Madam had developed covetous thoughts about the Second House's business.

The Eldest Master Zhen Ying-jia was just a noble official with no power. Looking at it from the outside, it was decent, but in fact, the First House was just an empty frame.

The reason why the Zhen family could stand in the Jin Ling noble families was largely due to the wealthy maritime trade business in the hands of the Second House.

This inevitably made the Eldest Madam have such thoughts….

Actually, with Zhen Fang-qing's shrewdness, she knew clearly that it wasn't just the Eldest Madam who had such thoughts; her own Eldest Uncle, who looked noble and upright, was also calculating this way.

It was just that the Eldest Uncle cared about his official career and the family head's dignity and would never easily reveal it, only letting his wife come forward to stir up trouble.

The Eldest Madam usually did many things, but she still cared about dignity and the bottom line.

Noble families have never been clear water. Such private matters in the mansion are inevitable.

As long as the Eldest Madam didn't disturb the family style, Old Madam Zhen, who was experienced and knowledgeable, and Zhen Fang-qing, who was shrewd and intelligent, would turn a blind eye.

Zhen Fang-qing sat in the outer room and heard the Eldest Madam say to her mother, "Second Sister-in-law, you should take good care of your body on a daily basis. The good days are still ahead.

Maybe it won't be long before you have to send your daughter to marry."

Zhen Fang-qing's eyes flashed when she heard this, and she paid attention to the words in the inner room.

She heard her mother say, "Fang-qing is focused on business, and her marriage doesn't even have a shadow yet.

I heard Old Madam say that the Eldest Master had written to the Second Master of Lady Rongguo to discuss the marriage. Isn't there no news yet?"

The Eldest Madam smiled and said, "The marriage of a noble family cannot be decided by a letter. It's just that the two families have communicated in advance.

The Eldest Master didn't just write to the Lady Rongguo Mansion, but also wrote to the Old Imperial Consort in the palace, talking about Fang-qing's matter. Today, he just received a reply from the Second Miss in the palace.

It said that the Old Imperial Consort in the palace is very satisfied with this marriage. When she finds a suitable opportunity, she will personally speak to the Retired Emperor, and this marriage will definitely be done…."

Zhen Fang-qing, who was embroidering in the outer room, was shocked when she heard this. Her wrist trembled, and the embroidery needle pierced her finger, and a drop of bright red blood emerged from her fingertip.

She subconsciously put her finger into her soft lips to suck it, ripples of waves rising in her heart, a burst of joy overflowing in her heart, but then there was a burst of worry. (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 429 =====

... saying that the old Imperial Consort in the palace is very satisfied with this marriage; once she finds a suitable opportunity, she will personally speak to the Retired Emperor, and this marriage will surely be successful..."

Zhen Zhen Fangqing, who was embroidering in the outer room, felt a violent shock in her heart upon hearing this; her wrist trembled, and the embroidery needle pierced her finger, causing a bead of bright red blood to emerge from the fingertip.

She subconsciously placed her finger into her soft lips to suck it, ripples of emotion rising in her heart; a surge of joy welled up, but it was immediately followed by a wave of worry. (End of chapter)