Chapter 49

◎“Your name clashes with the young lady's beloved concubine.” [First update]◎

Since waking up, the first thing Jiang He did was to go to the Jingzhao government office to inquire about Xue Lingyu's whereabouts.

Su Yawan was extremely troubled by this matter for a long time. Even though His Majesty sent a team of Imperial Guards to help, Xue Lingyu seemed to have vanished into thin air and there was still no trace of her.

She knew how important Xue Lingyu was to Jiang He. Seeing her friend so downcast these days, she felt bad too. But she had done all she could do, and the rest was up to fate.

Su Yawan couldn't help but suspect that what the Fifth Prince said might be true, and Xue Lingyu might very well be dead. The mass grave was located in the desolate wilderness, often frequented by wild dogs. Their inability to find her might be due to...

Su Yawan didn't want things to end this way, but all signs indicated that Xue Lingyu was likely no longer alive. Otherwise, after all that effort, there should have been some results.

Although it was the beginning of spring, a light snow was falling outside, making the roads very slippery. Jiang He was holding an umbrella when she arrived, but snow still fell on her shoulders. She brushed the snow off before entering the inner hall, and then put away her umbrella as she went inside.

Su Yawan didn't know how to face Jiang He. There was still no news from the Jingzhao government. So much time had passed that she even wanted to advise Jiang He to give up on this idea and just forget about Xue Lingyu.

She couldn't bring herself to say it, so she stood up, smiled, and went to greet him, trying to change the subject: "It wasn't snowing when I got up, and now it's snowing in the blink of an eye. You really are..."

Jiang He interrupted her, "Still no news from him today?"

Su Yawan's smile slowly faded. She sighed, her breath turning cold, and admitted with a helpless expression, "Yes."

Jiang He remained expressionless. "I understand."

She stood there quietly, and even though she didn't say anything more, Su Yawan could feel the sorrow emanating from her.

Su Yawan pursed her lips and explained, "Imperial Physician Yang is Ji Weinian's apprentice and has a lot of influence with His Majesty. The higher-ups mean that we cannot easily torture her, so I used a psychological tactic. But no matter what, Imperial Physician Yang insisted that Xue Lingyu was already dead."

Upon hearing this, Jiang He sneered, "Dead? How did you die? Where did you die? And where is your body?"

Even though everyone thought Xue Lingyu was dead, and even she had a vague feeling that way, she was still unwilling to accept the outcome easily.

From childhood to adulthood, Jiang He has always been this stubborn, never giving up until she gets to the bottom of things, and always wanting to get to the bottom of everything.

Su Yawan felt exhausted for Jiang He and said with a complicated expression, "His Majesty has decided to send the Fifth Prince to the Western Regions for a marriage alliance. He will never be able to return to the capital in his lifetime. From now on, no one will be able to threaten you. Once Wan Yi gives birth to your child, the Jiang family will be an in-law family. One day, they may very well become extremely powerful. Jiang He, you have been hiding for a long time. Have you forgotten that the Jiang family's hopes are all on you?"

"You already became a laughing stock in the capital three years ago because of Xue Lingyu. Are you going to ruin your promising future and become the second laughing stock this time?"

Su Yawan's words came from the bottom of her heart; she truly did not want Jiang He to continue indulging in romantic love.

Jiang Shangyi handed over the business to Jiang He under the guise of retiring early, but this was all for show. After the Jiang family became imperial merchants, they inevitably attracted attention. Jiang Shangyi had been a prominent figure in the business world for many years, but as she grew older, she became increasingly unable to keep up. She could only hand over all her businesses to Jiang He in advance, hoping that while she was still alive, she could still give her some guidance and advice, so that the Jiang family would not decline in just a few years.

Su Yawan came from a poor family. If it weren't for Jiang Shangyi's kindness and generosity in supporting her education, she would never have achieved what she has today.

Jiang He was not unaware of these principles; she was simply deceiving herself.

Her mother is old, her father is constantly worried about her, and even her brother, who was pregnant, still risked leaving the palace late at night because of her. Now he has voluntarily confined himself to Chaohui Palace until he gives birth to the child.

After Su Yawan's words, Jiang He's hand gripping the umbrella handle turned even paler. Her lips trembled a few times, and her voice lacked its usual vigor. "Actually, if the person were still alive, they should have been found long ago."

Jiang He's eyes were full of fatigue, and she had a faint smile on her face. "Unless he's deliberately avoiding me and doesn't want to see me."

Su Yawan couldn't think of anything to comfort her for a moment. Jiang He seemed to have suddenly understood, and she smiled with relief, then turned and walked outside step by step.

As the legitimate daughter of the Jiang family, a royal merchant family, she is no longer the carefree playboy she was three years ago. She has a lot to bear.

Su Yawan felt sorry for Jiang He, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel envious.

Even if Xue Lingyu really died, Jiang He at least had some time spent with him, which she could still remember from time to time even when she was old.

But she had nothing.

Suyawan couldn't help but shake her head, laughing at herself for indulging in wishful thinking.

In her view, only by holding power firmly in one's own hands and standing at the pinnacle of power can one be qualified to covet certain things.

This was also a lesson that person taught her.

Yuange was prepared to wait for Jiang He for a long time.

After all, Jiang He would often spend the whole morning at the Jingzhao government office if she couldn't get any news about Xue Lingyu, sometimes even forgetting to eat lunch.

But this time, Jiang He came out in less than half an hour.

Jiang He's brow was still cold, and her hands holding the umbrella were white with cold, yet she seemed oblivious to the temperature of the snowy day.

She handed the umbrella to Yuange and instructed the coachman, "Go to the trading company."

The business was piled up with affairs, and everyone was eagerly waiting for the young master to take charge. However, Jiang He hadn't been in the mood for the past few days, and sometimes he couldn't even be found. The managers could only worry anxiously.

Upon hearing this, Yuange immediately became happy.

The hopes of the Jiang family business rest on Jiang He. If she can revitalize the business, there is no need to worry about any difficulties.

When Uncle Ying escorted the five people, including Xue Lingyu, to the back gate of the Jiang residence, they waited for quite a while before a man dressed as a steward arrived.

The Jiang family are imperial merchants with a high status and generous spending. No matter how long it takes, Uncle Ying is willing to wait. Not to mention that he just hitched a ride on the Jiang family's young lady's carriage and is now worried that she will come after him. He doesn't dare to put on airs.

The man dressed as a steward was surnamed Qiao. He was a minor steward in the main courtyard. Although he did not have much power, the Jiang family always treated their servants well, so he dressed more respectably than the servants of ordinary families.

Since the young lady's concubine was murdered, she cleaned up the backyard and drove away many people. There were already not enough people, but then the young lady's concubine disappeared for no reason. In a fit of anger, the young lady felt that the servants in the mansion were unclean and sold off many of them.

First, second, and third-class servants would naturally not be bought from brokers like Uncle Ying. As for lowly maids, there were not so many requirements. Since they couldn't serve in the courtyard, as long as they had hands and feet and could work, that was enough.

We need to at least get through this period of manpower shortage; we can deal with the rest later.

Manager Qiao examined the appearances of the first four men one by one. He only agreed to take them in after Uncle Ying told him that they were all decent men who had voluntarily sold themselves into servitude. They were decent-looking and acceptable, so he was quite satisfied.

But when it came to Xue Lingyu, Manager Qiao couldn't help but feel a little disgusted, "Why is her face so dirty?"

Uncle Ying glared at Xue Lingyu, then quickly bowed and said, "Please don't be angry, sir. This child was disfigured in an accident, so we used some ash to cover it up so as not to frighten the distinguished guests. Please be magnanimous and don't look down on this child."

Uncle Ying cursed Xue Lingyu several times in private, and then made up a reason to cover it up for him.

Uncle Ying was also a little anxious, worried that if it dragged on too long, Manager Qiao might discover that Xue Lingyu was stupid and unwilling to accept the money, which would be troublesome.

Manager Qiao glanced at Xue Lingyu a few more times and saw that he kept his head down, as if he was a quiet person. Right now, they were short-handed, so as long as they had all four limbs intact, that would be fine. Anyway, the rough and strong servants would not show their faces in front of their masters.

Manager Qiao was also in a hurry, so he took out a silver ingot from his money bag and tossed it to Uncle Ying, saying, "Alright, alright, I'll take these people."

Uncle Ying received the silver and smiled like a chrysanthemum.

Xue Lingyu looked up at the silver in Uncle Ying's hand and couldn't help but compare it with her own.

His silver coins were large and heavy, while Uncle Ying's were small and light. It seems that his silver coins are better.

Manager Qiao took the indentures of the five people and led them back to the Jiang residence.

Manager Qiao looked at their names one by one. They were all just humble names given by ordinary people, extremely unremarkable. But when he got to Xue Lingyu's name, Manager Qiao couldn't help but frown.

“The character ‘jade’ in your name clashes with the name of Miss’s beloved concubine,” Steward Qiao said firmly. “The character ‘jade’ is not something a servant can suppress. From now on, you will be called Chunxiao.”

Xue Lingyu nodded obediently.

He didn't care what name he was called, because he always felt that none of them were his real names.

Seeing that he was somewhat obedient, Manager Qiao's expression softened. It didn't matter if he was ugly; the most important thing was that he knew how to behave and obey.

He led the five people to the outer courtyard and spoke beforehand about some taboo matters.

"Now that you've come to the Jiang family, you'll be servants of the Jiang family from now on. You should know that my young lady is the younger sister of His Majesty's favorite concubine and the young master of the capital's number one merchant house. The Jiang family has no shortage of money, and their rules are not as strict as those of other wealthy families. However, there is one very important point." Manager Qiao's tone was very solemn. He swept his stern gaze over the five people, and some of the timid ones lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.

Xue Lingyu stared intently at Manager Qiao, waiting for him to continue.

When Manager Qiao saw how bold he was and how unafraid of him, he became amused. After all, this kind of demeanor of his had frightened several timid servants in the main courtyard to tears.

“Our Jiang family despises servants who try to climb the social ladder just because they have a bit of beauty, and those who are disloyal to their masters and even plot to harm them. Their bodies have long been eaten by dogs in the mass grave. Although you don’t have much of a chance to see your master, you must remember this. If I find out that you have any disloyal intentions, you will be beaten to death with sticks no matter what the reason!”

The four women quickly replied, "Yes, we will remember."

After realizing what was happening, Xue Lingyu followed suit and bowed to Steward Qiao, saying, "This servant will remember."

When Manager Qiao saw him bow, he felt awkward but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He simply told him, "You, wash your face later. If you think you're unsightly, wear a veil."

A note from the author:

There will be another update before midnight if nothing unexpected happens.

Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 19:58:42 on February 1, 2022 and 20:03:12 on February 2, 2022!

Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: Tea Nest 1;

Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: gg 2 bottles;

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

◎Latest Comments:

Ah...this is so outdated (laughs and cries at the same time)

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

[Waiting for the next update from the author!]

I always felt that Jiang He didn't really like the male lead that much.

The manager should be able to recognize me.

【Ahhh, do you want to see me?! Do you want to see me?!】

【Madam, I'd like to make a deal with you for thirty coins so the young couple can meet soon!!!】

[Okay! I'll wait for the second update, the third update, and daily updates (doge.jpg)]

Are we meeting up?!

When are we going to meet?

[They've gone back to the Jiang residence! Yay!!]

【Ahhhhh!】

-over-