Chapter 36

◎Imperial Prince's Marriage◎

Jiang's father knew nothing about the poisoning; he only knew that Ruiming had been taken away for three days, and no news of him had come out during those three days.

Ruiming and Yangtao were both sold into the Jiang family when they were four or five years old. Over the years, he had developed deep feelings for the two children. If Yangtao hadn't done such a shameful thing behind her master's back, it would have made Jiang's father heartbroken.

Ruiming, however, was a steady and reliable person. Two years earlier, her father had arranged for her to marry a manager in the business. The manager had also started from scratch and had suffered a lot in the first half of his life, so he treated Ruiming very well.

However, his good fortune was short-lived. On one of his shopping trips, he was caught in a flash flood and perished without a burial place.

Ruiming then returned to the Jiang family to serve Jiang's father.

This wasn't the first time something had happened to the people in Jiang's father's courtyard. They also heard that Jiang He had gone to the palace to see Jiang Wanyi. They didn't know what kind of big deal it was that it would alarm the nobles in the palace.

Jiang's father couldn't eat or sleep well.

Ruiming was taken to the woodshed for interrogation. No matter what Jiang He asked, he gave the same answer and refused to admit that he had recently been in contact with Yang Tao.

“Miss, as I have already said, I grew up with Yangtao since I was a child. He helped me several times, and if it weren’t for him, I might not be alive today.” Ruiming spoke these words with great sincerity, and they were indeed true. He then emphasized, “But Yangtao betrayed the master in the end, so I have severed ties with him.”

Ruiming looked up at Jiang He and repeated, "A while ago, Yangtao came to me with a big belly, saying that she wanted me to plead with the master for her. She has nowhere to stay now, and the baby in her womb is quite far along. She is afraid that she will have a hard time surviving in the future. I agreed because I was soft-hearted. But the master did not have any pity for Yangtao. Miss, I really don't know where Yangtao is now."

He was the master's personal attendant, and having served in the Jiang family for so many years, he had a certain level of respectability. He hadn't committed any major offense, yet he had been confined to the woodshed for so many days, and his grievances were beyond words.

His words on their own seemed perfectly reasonable, but Jiang He's attitude was ambiguous. She stared at Ruiming's face and suddenly smiled, "Brother Ruiming, you've always been calm and collected, but you've suddenly become quite talkative when Yangtao is mentioned?"

Ruiming said calmly, "If Miss asks, I will certainly answer."

Jiang He seemed to believe him. "I believe everything Brother Ruiming says. I'm sorry you've been wronged these past few days. There were some unpleasant things happening in the courtyard, so I had no choice but to do this."

She suddenly moved closer to Ruiming, and a delicate fragrance wafted into his nose.

Without any context, Jiang He said, "If I remember correctly, Ruiming's wife is in the spice business."

Upon hearing this, Ruiming's pupils trembled slightly.

Having failed to obtain any useful information, Jiang He ordered Ruiming to be released.

Jiang Wanyi sent a message from the palace, saying that no trace of harboring others was found in the Fifth Prince's bedroom, but a woman named Hongyan Duan was found in his palace.

In the end, they could only convict him of possessing forbidden drugs and order him to stay in his bedchamber.

However, if the person is indeed with the Fifth Prince, according to Ruiming, Yangtao is heavily pregnant, and the longer it goes on, the harder it will be to hide, and sooner or later the truth will be revealed.

As soon as Jiang He stepped out of the woodshed, Yuan Ge reported, "Miss, Lord Su has sent someone to deliver an invitation, saying he would like to invite you to a chat at Ruyi Restaurant."

Su Yawan's career has been on a meteoric rise lately. In addition to being promoted, he has also been appointed as the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, making him a rising star among the officials.

Many matchmakers even took the initiative to visit her, wanting to arrange a marriage for her.

The former top scholar has now transformed into a rising star in the imperial court. In addition, Su Yawan is also extremely handsome, which has attracted the attention of many young men of marriageable age.

She dismissed all the matchmakers, declaring that she had no intention of getting married for the time being and would not delay the good young men in the capital.

She had already turned twenty, an age when most women could already be teaching their children, but she wasn't in a hurry at all.

Originally, she planned to remain single, but seeing that Jiang He had been longing for this for so many years and finally got her wish, she couldn't help but have a bold idea.

Once she becomes a powerful minister, will she be qualified to confide her feelings to the man she loves?

As soon as Jiang He arrived, Su Yawan snapped out of his reverie, glanced at her dark circles that she couldn't hide, straightened his posture, and got straight to the point: "The Jiang family has had a lot of trouble lately, and the Fifth Prince has been causing a ruckus. What are your plans to do with him?"

“Your Majesty’s younger brother, a member of the royal family, naturally cannot be discussed openly,” Jiang He said, frowning.

She had too many things to consider before she could take action against the Fifth Prince, the first being that she couldn't implicate her brother.

“I have a straightforward way.” Seeing that Jiang He was interested, Su Yawan said in a low voice, “Recently, envoys from the Western Regions came to pay their respects. I heard that their king wants to marry a man with royal blood.”

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, Su Yawan's every word was exceptionally clear.

“There are many precedents of princes marrying into the Western Regions in Fengman. Besides, it is difficult for this fifth prince to marry out of the capital. It would be better for him to marry far away to the Western Regions, which would be a contribution to the court.”

Arranging a marriage alliance for the Fifth Prince would be a good strategy, as it would prevent him from staying in the capital to plot against Xue Lingyu.

However, this matter needs to be considered carefully.

With a suggestive look from Jiang He, Su Yawan understood her meaning.

If the Fifth Prince is allowed to continue to be so arrogant, perhaps one day His Majesty will betroth him to her, and Su Yawan feels that she is not worthy of the royal family's favor.

"The Fifth Prince sees Xue Lingyu as a thorn in his side. Judging from your expression, he must have made another move. How is Xue Lingyu now?"

Jiang He sighed, "He was struck by the Beauty Curse."

The wine glass in Su Yawan's hand suddenly slipped and shattered on the ground.

Beauty fades...

Seeing her strong reaction, Jiang He also felt a little strange, so she asked Su Yawan:

"Have you ever heard of the saying 'beauty is the bane of life'?"

Su Yawan realized she had been a bit out of line, and said insincerely, "How would I know about this forbidden medicine in the palace? Besides, wasn't it banned by the late emperor? It's really unexpected that the Fifth Prince was able to get his hands on it."

Jiang He's eyes seemed thoughtful, but she didn't expose her words.

Everyone has secrets, and Sujavan is no exception. LJ

This morning at court, Imperial Censor Feng submitted a memorial impeaching Su Yawan, accusing her of colluding with the Jiang family to deliberately detain his daughter, Feng Meiyu, for several months, and pleading with the Emperor to release Feng Meiyu from the Jingzhao government office.

Upon Jiang He's return to the capital, she clashed with Feng Meiyu. However, because the emperor favored Jiang Wanyi and showed favoritism towards the Jiang family, the matter was dropped, and Jiang He did not receive any punishment for hitting Feng Meiyu.

Now that Feng Meiyu has been imprisoned in the Jingzhao government office for so long and has suffered enough, the emperor feels it is time to release her.

The emperor issued an oral decree to Su Yawan, but did not punish her for collusion as Imperial Censor Feng had done.

The more officials in the court who side with the Jiang family, the less resistance she will face when she appoints Jiang Wanyi as the Phoenix Queen.

Seeing that the Emperor did not intend to punish Su Yawan, Imperial Censor Feng knew that it was all because of the woman in the palace. So, he stubbornly requested His Majesty to hold a selection of noble ladies to enter the harem.

The emperor ignored her and simply used the memorial to prop up the table leg.

She will only appoint one emperor in her lifetime, and it can only be Jiang Wanyi.

Su Yawan was forced to release the person, but was then stopped by Imperial Censor Feng and given a disgusting scolding. Feeling uncomfortable all over, he suggested to Jiang He, "Feng Meiyu has been released. If you are still angry, find someone to beat her up a few more times. It will be a way to get revenge for what happened back then."

Jiang Wanyi looked down at the scar on the web of her hand.

While Xue Lingyu could be blamed for her injury, it was actually caused by Feng Meiyu.

Su Yawan and Jiang He have been friends for many years. She knew that when Jiang He expressed her admiration to Xue Lingyu at the banquet, she was rejected. Xue Lingyu even stepped on the plum blossom branch that Jiang He had picked herself, and never looked back at her once.

Falling into the mud, it all came to nothing, only to be ridiculed by everyone.

Just when Jiang He was feeling disheartened, Feng Meiyu and her group started teasing her, saying that Xue Lingyu had privately said that if someone could use the blood from a tiger's mouth to nourish ninety-nine blood plum blossoms, he would definitely be tempted.

This gave Jiang He a glimmer of hope.

Jiang He donated her blood to nourish the plum tree, but Feng Meiyu and a group of young ladies from noble families cruelly told her in the end that it was all fake.

Xue Lingyu would never fall for a businesswoman like her, not even if she gave him her heart.

A note from the author:

Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-01-19 20:41:28 and 2022-01-20 20:48:54!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Zhixin (10 bottles); 52318659; and the person who bought medicine (1 bottle).

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!

◎Latest Comments:

Is Su Jie's beloved Xue Taifu?

【Here it comes! Here it comes! Here it comes!】

Honestly, the part where the female protagonist uses her blood to nourish plum blossoms felt a bit illogical.

Can I request an earlier update? I'd like to ask for an earlier update!

I think Su Yawan likes Xue Taifu, right?

[42% all alone, but with cumin on top, it already has a certain flavor]

[Waaaaah~ He's so devoted!]

I shed tears for someone else's love today.

Oh, what a devoted lover!

-over-