novelraw Chapter 133
Chapter 133
The Emperor is selecting beauties?
Ye Jiao thought briefly, then said: "You mean selecting imperial consorts? Like in those story books."
Dong Shi was also just an ordinary commoner. Forget about the Emperor, even when it came to meeting officials, the highest she'd spoken to was the county magistrate. What she knew about emperors and consorts came from story books, so she replied: "Yes, probably like that."
It wasn't that Ye Jiao didn't understand these things. On the contrary, Little Ginseng had seen in those novels how emperors always had three thousand women in their harems, wishing to bring all the world's beauties into the palace. Now it was just selecting consorts, nothing strange about that.
But when it came to Emperor Chu Chengyun, Ye Jiao couldn't help remembering that stubborn Third Prince who had wanted to win something at the gambling stall, and recalled how Emperor Chu Chengyun and the Meng family got along. Imagining a group of beautiful women suddenly appearing behind them...
She suddenly couldn't picture it.
Dong Shi didn't notice Ye Jiao's thoughts and continued: "That Miss Shen is arrogant and domineering, but their family has some ability. This time, for some reason, families with connections to official households are unwilling to send out their daughters, and are even hurriedly arranging marriages for them. The Shen family took this opportunity to push their daughter in, and apparently spent quite a lot of silver."
Ye Jiao blinked: "To enter the palace, must it be from official families?"
Dong Shi didn't know much, so she could only pick from what she knew: "Not necessarily. If they're from official families, that's naturally good, but if there aren't any of suitable age, the imperial family won't force officials to offer up their daughters. They can select those with good appearance and character from ordinary families too."
Ye Jiao nodded and picked up another snack to put in her mouth.
But Dong Shi felt quite indignant. She had originally planned to keep quiet about this matter and not speak of it, since it wasn't pleasant, but now that it had been brought up, the words were like an opened box that couldn't be closed.
Setting down her teacup, Dong Shi said through gritted teeth: "This Miss Shen is also unreliable. She had already arranged a marriage with my maternal family, the wedding date was set, and she was supposed to marry my maternal brother soon. I never spoke ill of her to my family, and all those awful things she did before, I never mentioned a word. But to enter the palace, she forcibly broke the engagement, making my family lose face for nothing."
There were other rumors that Dong Shi didn't mention.
She'd heard that the new prefect couldn't bear to part with his daughter and was blocking his clan from sending people to the palace, which gave the Shen family their opportunity. She'd also heard that recently people were discussing how the Emperor and Empress were deeply in love, giving others no chance to even speak.
But these were all unconfirmed, and sounded rather unbelievable, so Dong Shi kept them to herself.
What remained for Dong Shi was only the anger from the Shen family's broken engagement.
Ye Jiao didn't know what consequences breaking an engagement would have, but Little Su on the side was somewhat surprised and covered her mouth.
Dong Shi ultimately couldn't control herself and snorted coldly: "I'd like to see what kind of success she can achieve in the capital with that awful temperament..." But she quickly fell silent.
After all, the woman was going to the capital. If she didn't gain favor, that would be fine, but if the Emperor was blind... well, if she accidentally gained favor, anything said now would be held against her.
Better to be cautious.
Dong Shi angrily drank several sips of tea, and only when she started discussing medicinal principles with Ye Jiao did she finally smile again.
Before leaving, Dong Shi reminded her: "Jiao Niang, I inquired before. Women selected from various regions will enter the palace next spring. You should be more careful then, don't let her entangle you. That person... has no shame."
Ye Jiao nodded and agreed, planning to ask Qi Yun when he returned.
At this moment in the front hall, Qi Yun was watching with an indifferent expression as Seventh Great-Uncle brought several young men to pressure and entice his father.
Just as Qi Yun had predicted, Seventh Great-Uncle from the Qi family had indeed come to freeload, but more importantly, Seventh Great-Uncle's family had a grandson who was usually a wastrel and this time had gotten into a lawsuit involving someone's death. Seventh Great-Uncle wanted to find someone to smooth things over.
Unfortunately, the younger generation in his family were all useless. When the family had split, he had actually driven Qi Yun's grandfather out of the clan. Who could have thought that the branch that was driven away would become so capable?
Now encountering trouble and hearing that Father Qi had a gentle temperament, Seventh Great-Uncle came knocking with his walking stick.
Father Qi was indeed soft-hearted, gentle, honest, and upright, but this didn't mean he was stupid.
On the contrary, that Father Qi could marry Liu Shi, who had originally been far above his station as a daughter of a distinguished family, was proof enough that Father Qi had his own calculations.
It was just that Father Qi wasn't very talented, which was a shortcoming.
But he knew his own lack of talent and frankly admitted it, which was an advantage.
When Qi Yun arrived and spoke briefly with Qi Zhao before they separated, Father Qi knew in his heart that his two sons had made their plans.
So he just listened to Seventh Great-Uncle's complaints, maintaining a gentle smile on his face while occasionally glancing at Qi Zhao and Qi Yun.
Seeing him like this, Seventh Great-Uncle thought he was just like his father, someone honest and easily bullied, so he put on an even more pitiful appearance, sighing while saying: "My foolish grandson was just deceived by others, suffering losses and being cheated, getting into trouble for no reason. Nephew, you must help them. After all, you share blood relations. If even you don't care, he truly has no way to live."
Father Qi said nothing, just sighed.
But Qi Zhao on the side frowned.
As a grandson, he actually shouldn't comment on his elders' affairs. Even though this was Father Qi's family, Seventh Great-Uncle was of Father Qi's uncle generation, so he couldn't really say it wasn't proper.
But these words were clearly unreasonable.
They had split the family and normally had no contact, yet now they shamelessly came to claim kinship, asking their family to help settle matters. Where was the logic in that?
Qi Zhao wasn't like his second and third brothers who could articulate grand principles. Qi Zhao's greatest skill was farming, but this farmer had his own way of dealing with people.
Seventh Great-Uncle's family were like poisonous weeds that would grow into big poisonous weeds, nothing good in any case.
Yet now they wanted to come and ruin the crops on his side. Qi Zhao naturally wasn't pleased.
Qi Yun remained expressionless, sitting quietly without saying a word.
After Seventh Great-Uncle finished selling his dignity and found that the family still wasn't moved, he couldn't help becoming anxious.
He gave a meaningful look to a young man he'd brought, who immediately knelt on the ground crying: "My brother is foolishly ignorant, Uncle, please save him! After all, we're relatives with broken bones still connected by tendons!"
Just then, Tie Zi strode in quickly.
Before Qi Yun came over, he had sent him outside to gather information.
The method was simple: go directly to the government office, inquire about case files and records, then run back.
He quickly walked to Qi Yun's side and whispered a few words. Qi Yun raised his eyebrows slightly.
Then Second Young Master Qi was no longer silent. He stood up, cupped his hands to everyone in a slight bow, coughed lightly, then said: "This junior Qi Yun greets Great-Uncle, all uncles, and cousins and younger cousins."
He spoke politely with a gentle voice, seeming quite easy to get along with.
Seventh Great-Uncle naturally knew about Qi Yun. The changes in this sickly Second Young Master had been too dramatic lately. Previously he'd been described as terrifying, now he was praised as excellent.
Now seeing him, Seventh Great-Uncle thought the outside rumors were true, only regretting he didn't have such a money god-like grandson, otherwise he wouldn't need to worry about his family now.
But on the surface, Seventh Great-Uncle smiled: "Second Son, quickly get up."
Qi Yun had only bowed slightly to begin with. Hearing this, he straightened up, then gently clasped his hands together and covered them with his sleeves. In his hands was a hand warmer that Ye Jiao had chosen for him a few days ago, which he treasured greatly.
His eyes looked toward Father Qi, saying slowly: "Father, your son has something to discuss."
Father Qi immediately said: "Go ahead and speak."
Qi Yun bowed again, then said in a calm voice: "Just now Seventh Great-Uncle said that cousin was only misled before causing trouble. Your son specifically sent someone to inquire, and it seems the matter differs somewhat from what Seventh Great-Uncle said."
At these words, Seventh Great-Uncle's face stiffened slightly.
Tie Zi, receiving Qi Yun's signal, stepped forward and announced loudly: "Replying to Master, people at the government office said that Young Master Qi first rode his horse injuring people in the street, then beat and cursed passersby. After spending several days in jail, he was soon accused of violating a woman, causing a respectable woman to bite her tongue and die from the humiliation..."
"Silence!" Seventh Great-Uncle immediately struck his walking stick and stood up. "What family's servant are you? How dare you be so ignorant of proper behavior!"
But Tie Zi wasn't afraid of him, even feeling somewhat disdainful inside.
Having followed Qi Yun for so long, he naturally knew some of the Qi family's complications.
This old man had squeezed out his master when young, forcibly splitting the family. Now in his old age he wanted to freeload. Master's whole family detested them.
Forget just telling the truth now, even if he pointed at their noses and cursed them, Master wouldn't say a word against him.
Qi Yun didn't need Tie Zi to be the bad guy. He just nodded, and Tie Zi stepped aside.
Qi Yun still looked calmly at Father Qi: "Father, in such matters, we have no way to help."
Compared to Qi Yun's composure, Qi Zhao reacted much more strongly.
He had always been straightforward and couldn't stand dirty business. Now hearing such disgusting things, his face showed righteous indignation as he said loudly to Father Qi: "Father, the law cannot tolerate such villains. Everything should be decided by the court and government offices. A life has been lost, who can intervene? Self-inflicted evil cannot be saved."
Seventh Great-Uncle had originally wanted to say something soft to fool Father Qi, then use the Qi family's reputation to intimidate the victim's family.
Even if Father Qi learned the truth later, by then the matter would be done, and presumably Father Qi could only grit his teeth and accept it.
But now having his bottom completely exposed in public, Seventh Great-Uncle was so angry his face turned red.
The man who had just been prostrating and weeping suddenly jumped up, supporting Seventh Great-Uncle while cursing the Qi family: "What are you trying to do? The old man is elderly. Can't you speak nicely instead of angering him? If something really happens to him, do you think you can escape responsibility?"
Qi Zhao glanced at him: "What, take it to court?"
The man's words caught in his throat.
He naturally didn't dare go to court. He knew well that the two families had long had no relationship. Being allowed to sit here so long was already looking at Seventh Great-Uncle's face. Going to court, his foolish brother would only die more miserably.
So he could only use filial piety to pressure them: "After all, we're family. If you act this way, aren't you afraid of what outsiders will say about your unfilial disobedience?"
These words hit Father Qi right in his soft spot.
Normally, he would have immediately refused and wouldn't even meet with them.
But now, Third Son had just passed the examinations at a crucial time when nothing could go wrong.
And Seventh Great-Uncle very conveniently clutched his chest, crying out in pain, looking like he was about to faint.
For a moment Father Qi had no words, but Qi Yun was well prepared. He called out to the door: "Bring it in."
Four servants carefully carried in a plaque covered with red cloth.
Qi Yun had them place it on the table in front, then reached out to remove the red cloth.
There, four golden characters: "Noble Aspirations, Pure Conduct."
The brushstrokes were like dancing dragons and snakes, excellent calligraphy, and most importantly, this was imperially bestowed.
Qi Yun knelt first, then Father Qi came to his senses and knelt with Qi Yun. All the servants around knelt in unison.
Seventh Great-Uncle had also heard about the Qi family having an Imperial Plaque. Though he'd never seen it before, seeing their reaction now, he knew what it was.
Not daring to pretend illness anymore, he hurriedly prostrated and knelt along with everyone else.
Qi Yun was the first to kneel and the first to stand.
He dusted off non-existent dirt from his knees while holding the Imperial Plaque, his voice low: "His Majesty calls our family one of noble aspirations and pure conduct, telling us to handle affairs justly with clear minds, never associating with unseemly matters. Now Seventh Great-Uncle insists on forcing my father to commit illegal acts, wanting us to disobey imperial orders. Please forgive us for not daring to comply."
At these words, Seventh Great-Uncle felt darkness before his eyes.
Before coming, he had thought this Imperial Plaque was a good thing. After all, with it there, any government office would show some respect, and even mentioning it could intimidate people. Surely they could save his grandson.
Who knew this Imperial Plaque would become a mountain pressing on his head, immovable and unmovable.
All his fine calculations had now come to nothing. How could he not be angry?
Qi Zhao also understood the meaning and thought his Second Brother really had methods. He said coldly: "Someone, quickly call Doctor Li. Say we have guests at home who aren't feeling well. Have him examine them carefully, and if necessary, give them some acupuncture. We can't let our guests suffer, lest people say the Qi family doesn't treat guests well."
These words clearly treated them as guests, not family.
The logic was just that simple. Even the Qi household servants inwardly mocked them: coming to cause trouble after splitting the family long ago, they deserved to be put in their place.
But Qi Yun was somewhat surprised looking at his eldest brother. He'd only known Qi Zhao was pure and kind before, not knowing eldest brother was also quite skilled at choking people with words.
Seventh Great-Uncle was getting old after all. Being humiliated to his face without being able to get angry, if he made a scene they'd say he was defying imperial will, implicating the whole clan.
Unable to explode and feeling stifled inside, he'd been pretending to faint before, but now he was really fainting.
Yet he still couldn't collapse, forcing himself to endure and leave. But as soon as he got in his carriage, he rolled his eyes and fainted from anger.
But all this had nothing to do with the Qi family, and no one cared.
Father Qi directed people to rehang the Imperial Plaque. Qi Zhao and Qi Yun acted as if nothing had happened, going to the front hall to receive guests and helping the young Qi Ming deal with others. They were quite busy.
When Qi Yun returned to his room, the sun was already setting.
Upon entering, he saw Ye Jiao sitting on the soft couch, smiling as she played with the children.
Xu Bao should be studying at this time, so he wasn't there. Only little Ning Bao and Ruyi were present.
Ruyi was lively, happy even playing by herself. The little girl's round chubby face was always smiling, her eyes darting around, never settling in one place.
Ning Bao was different. This child's eyes weren't like Ye Jiao's but like Qi Yun's, with slight curves at the corners. When not crying or laughing, he just quietly squinted, completely motionless.
But Ning Bao liked yarn balls, and using these to tease him was always very effective.
He neither looked around nor made noise, extremely quiet and focused. His little mouth closed tight, little fists clenched, head unmoving, only his eyes closely following the ball back and forth.
This was quite interesting. When Ye Jiao saw Qi Yun enter, she beckoned him over: "Look, Ning Bao is rarely awake."
But when Ye Jiao spoke, she was only holding the ball without moving it. Ning Bao looked for just two glances before losing interest, turning his head away and yawning before closing his eyes.
Seeing this, Ye Jiao felt somewhat defiant and leaned over to kiss Ning Bao's head.
Just as she was about to give him a second kiss, Ning Bao's little paw accurately pressed against Ye Jiao's lips, his brow furrowed as he strained to lift his head.
Meanwhile, Ruyi in her swaddling clothes squirmed around until Ye Jiao kissed her too, then she was satisfied.
Nanny Mo watching from the side said softly: "Second Young Mistress, Young Master and Miss are sleepy. After feeding them, I'll take them to sleep."
Qi Yun added: "Mother misses them."
"Yes, I'll take them to see Madam right away."
Ye Jiao had Little Su pull over the screen, then fed the two children milk. She and Qi Yun each held one, patting their backs until they burped before handing them to Nanny Mo to take away.
Qi Yun's eyes made a circuit around the woman's neckline, about to sit over.
The unfinished business from daytime could now find an opportunity to make up for it.
But Ye Jiao didn't notice his intention, just tying her sash while smiling: "Just now Spring Orchid came and mentioned two things I wanted to ask you about."
Hearing Ye Jiao speak of serious matters, Qi Yun's hand that had originally wanted to test whether his wife's undergarment fit properly took a detour to rest on her waist, while his face remained serious as he asked: "What matters?"
"One is that Spring Orchid said the children are small and might forget me. I was also thinking whether we could bring them when we go to the capital."
For Qi Yun, this wasn't a big matter. Bringing them or not was just a matter of words. Previously not bringing them was considering the long journey and inconvenience of caring for children, plus needing arrangements after arrival.
But now, with Ye Ping Rong and Princess Huaning helping there, even the house was arranged. There wouldn't be so many complications. If the children came along, so be it. Qi Yun nodded: "What she said makes sense. We'll just bring a few more nursemaids to care for Ning Bao and Ruyi."
Hearing this, Ye Jiao smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek.
But Qi Yun took the opportunity to turn his head, making the woman kiss his lips instead.
It carried a faint sweetness, the sweet taste of coconut. It seemed his wife hadn't finished the coconut crisps Mother had sent over.
Then Ye Jiao leaned against his shoulder and continued: "There's another matter. Spring Orchid told me to avoid Miss Shen, saying she..." Little Ginseng wasn't good at summarizing and after thinking for a long time could only come up with one sentence: "Saying she's not a good person."
At these words, Qi Yun raised his eyebrows slightly and asked for details. Ye Jiao told Qi Yun everything Dong Shi had said to her.
After listening, Qi Yun understood the intricacies involved.
But he didn't think Miss Shen was blessed. Instead, he thought she was foolishly ignorant.
Actually, Qi Yun had known Emperor Chu Chengyun's temperament before. That person's character wasn't that of a lustful man, nor was he fickle. Otherwise he wouldn't have been so stubbornly pure that he didn't know to resist even when people were trying to kill him.
Regarding the Meng family, Qi Yun also had some speculations.
Calculating, scheming, knowing when to advance and retreat as well as how to assess situations.
She could handle affairs independently outside and be gentle and virtuous inside. Even many men couldn't compare to her. Empress Meng's methods were far from ordinary.
The recent words at the storytelling stalls further confirmed Qi Yun's thoughts.
The Emperor wanted to select consorts, ministers opposed it, yet suddenly stories seemingly reflecting the Emperor and Empress's harmonious marriage began circulating outside. Only a fool would believe this was coincidence.
Moreover, even the prefect's daughter wasn't making a move, yet Miss Shen found an opening. Stringing it together, it became very clear.
As for other wealthy families, they didn't know these things, but just seeing the prefect's family not moving, they could probably figure out something.
That was because the prefect had deep roots, saw things clearly, knew he couldn't reach high positions and didn't want to scheme, guessing that the one in the palace wasn't easy to deal with, so he wouldn't let his daughter suffer.
As for whether capital officials would rush to gamble, that had nothing to do with a provincial official like him.
The Shen family happened to offer money to send someone, so the prefect went with the flow.
It seemed like a windfall from heaven, but whether this windfall was made of meat or iron lumps wasn't clear.
Whether the Shen family was bad or not, Qi Yun didn't know, but their stupidity was inescapable.
Breaking off an engagement to rush into the palace... even ordinary people knew that besides consorts, there were also palace maids in the palace. In that place surrounded by red bricks and green tiles, there were far more servants than masters.
But these inside details were too complex, and involving the imperial family was always troublesome. Qi Yun just kissed Ye Jiao's forehead gently: "It's fine. We'll just avoid her when the time comes, consider it accumulating virtue and doing good deeds."
After all, Miss Shen's hardships were yet to come. There was no need for him to concern himself with her.
Ye Jiao always listened to him and nodded.
But she heard Qi Yun continue: "However, the Shen family is connected to sister-in-law's maternal side. It's better to mention this to sister-in-law."
Little Ginseng thought about this and finally figured out the family relationships.
Fang Shi's maternal brother's wife was surnamed Shen. This Shen family had connections to the Fang family, which also had some relationship to the Qi family.
Ye Jiao also thought of the convoluted relationship between Dong Shi and the Shen family today, and couldn't help sighing: "Being human is really not easy, always having so many relatives."
Who married whom, who split from which family, all sorts of complications were quite troublesome.
But Little Ginseng still kept it in mind. Learning one thing at a time, she couldn't go wrong.
Qi Yun planned to remind Fang Shi.
Sister-in-law Fang Shi might be petty, but her heart was good. She was good to the family and never hesitated when it came to what should be done. Naturally, Qi Yun should reciprocate.
This matter did involve her maternal Fang family. Once married, it was prosperity and loss shared. Now that the Shen family was handling things stupidly, regardless of good or bad outcomes, Qi Yun should at least let Fang Shi know.
As for whether the Shen family would listen to advice, that was like drinking water: only they would know if it was cold or warm.
Qi Yun didn't want Ye Jiao to think about other things. After dinner, he pulled Ye Jiao to study the books.
Having not been intimate for so long, the slightest spark became thunderfire, unstoppable.
Qi Yun was considerate of Ye Jiao's still-weak body and didn't want to be too demanding, but Ye Jiao pulled him into a bout of wildness. In the end, no one knew who was pulling whom.
The next day, Ye Jiao slept until the sun was high. After breakfast, she thought about visiting Liu Shi.
But Little Su whispered: "Second Young Mistress, First Young Mistress just went to Madam's courtyard. Let's wait a bit before going."
Ye Jiao was startled and asked: "What happened?"
Little Su looked around, then whispered: "I heard that First Young Mistress went there in tears, and Madam couldn't console her no matter how she tried."