The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort - 69. Marriage

It rained for the first time since the beginning of spring. The rain dripped down the eaves onto the stone slabs in the courtyard, and the sky was gloomy as if it was about to collapse.

Xia Yan sat on the edge of the bed, took one side of the sugar-steamed pastry cheese, and leaned in front of the girl.

“I don’t want to eat.” Jiang Susu turned his head, his beautiful eyes were full of anger, and the jade-white cheek opened an oblique hole from the bottom of his right eye. Although the medicine was applied, the muscles turned out hideously. , Just scratched the blood-stained mole, it looked like Shura at a glance.

“Su’er behaved, the wound can heal quickly if you eat something.” Xia Yan said softly.

Jiang Susu knocked over the porcelain bowl in Xia Yan’s hand, and said in a fierce tone: “Well, how can I be better like this ghost now? It’s better to die.” She said that she was excited and couldn’t help coughing. With two beeps, the already distorted right cheek looked even more terrifying.

Xia Yan patted her back distressedly: “You say this is to make my mother feel distressed? Su’er rest assured that my mother will find the best doctor without leaving a trace.”

“Do you think I would believe what you said?” Jiang Susu looked at her with disappointment on his face: “If it weren’t for your idea and let the scholarly guide Li Yang to Su Xinyuan, how could things have developed to such a point. It’s you! It’s all you!” At the end, his eyes were crazy and his emotions were so intense that he almost lost control.

“Enough!” Xia Yan suddenly whispered, then quickly and quietly: “Do you want everyone to hear this?”

Jiang Susu dumbed his throat, still staring at her.

Xia Yan’s voice was abruptly severe: “Put away your dying and alive look. What do you think you can change like this? If Jiang Ruan sees you like this, he might be so happy. Your father sees you now. , It will only be disappointed. If you want revenge, put away your tears and listen to me.”

Her tone was stern, Jiang Susu was startled for a moment, then slowly calmed down, and said: “What should I do?”

Xia Yan saw her like this, and knew that Jiang Susu had listened to her, and he was relieved: “Your second brother has broken a finger now. This is very strange. I don’t know what happened to your second brother, but Li Yanghe Your business has nothing to do with Jiang Ruan. She actually teased you and me together.”

“I can’t wait to peel her skin and drink her blood.” Jiang Susu clenched his fists and his eyes were gloomy: “She harmed me so much, I’m not reconciled!”

“Li Dong’s family is too powerful. I will not send you to Li’s house anyway. I have already written a letter to your grandfather. If your grandfather knows how you and your second brother are now, a good day for Jiang Ruan. It’s over.”

Jiang Susu’s eyes lit up: “My grandfather will avenge me.”

“So you have to take care of your injury now,” Xia Yan looked at her and said gently: “When your injury gets better, I will arrange for you to go back to Xia Mansion.”

Xia Yan was born under Xia Cheng’s successor in Yongding. At the beginning, Xia Cheng was just an obscure county head, and as Xia Yan, he could not marry Jiang Quan as his regular wife. Unexpectedly, Xia Cheng’s brother-in-law died suddenly of an illness a few years ago, so the title fell on him as a concubine. Xia Yan has followed the tide and the boat has risen, and Zhao Mei has severed contact with General Zhao, Xia Yan’s identity seems to be more worthy of the status of Jiang Quanzheng’s wife.

Xia Cheng is the same as Xia Yan, who is also a short-term person. If you know that a pair of granddaughters have made such changes, you don’t know how to deal with Jiang Ruan.

After talking to Jiang Susu for a while, Xia Yan just got up and left. After walking to the door, Xia Yan rubbed his forehead and asked, “Is Chao Er awake?”

Lin Lang lowered her head and said: “The second young master woke up at noon, but after waking up, he lost his temper and drove all the maids in the house out of the house, and no one would see him.”

Xia Yan took a deep breath: “Let’s go, I’ll go see him.”

In the rainy weather, Ruan Ju was as laid back as ever, unaffected by the gloomy weather. Jiang Ruan stood at the table practicing calligraphy, Bai Zhi rubbed the ink for her and said: “The girl is getting better and better.”

“You don’t know how to read, what’s good to say.” Forsythia said on the side.

Bai Zhi’s face blushed, her mouth is not as powerful as Forsythia after all, so she lowered her head and said, “Just looking at it.”

Jiang Ruan put aside his pen: “Do you want to learn Chinese characters?”

When the two of Forsythia heard this, they both looked at her with surprise and joy: “Naturally I thought.”

“Then I will pick a few simple books in a few days, so you can learn to read.” It’s always better to be able to read with her. On weekdays, Luzhu is outside to deal with it, and Forsythia and Baizhi should also help her in the house.

“Thank you, maidservant.” The two maids were naturally overjoyed. For maids, literacy is something that only the best can do. Jiang Ruan is really grateful for making them literate.

“The girl asked Luzhu to go out today to pick up the banknotes placed in the Four Seas Bank. Why is this?” Forsythia asked.

Jiang Ruan glanced at her. Although the two maids were loyal, they were too right-minded. Dewdrops had traveled north and south a few years ago and had seen bad things in the market, so they didn’t have to worry about using them. But these two maids still dare not use them.

“Look at the rain.” Jiang Ruan looked out the window: “It’s falling for a while, but I don’t know when it will stop.”

“The girl is joking,” Bai Zhi said surprised: “It’s just a rain in spring, maybe it will stop tomorrow morning.”

“I think it won’t stop.” Jiang Ruan shook his head.

It was the same year in the last life. This rain began to rain for three months in a row. The spring crops could not be planted and floods raged. Many people’s houses and fields were completely submerged by heavy water and rain, and there were many refugees in the capital for a while.

She remembered this clearly because at that time Zhuangzi was also ravaged by floods, and because of the shortage of food, Zhang Lan’s family made her expense almost cruel. Although her house will not be washed out, it will always be damp. And every day I drag my hungry body to do rough work, and one day I was almost washed away by the flood. Fortunately, a rough servant who did a job saw her and rescued her. She would never forget the look in Zhang Lan’s eyes when she looked at her, full of disappointment, wishing she died in the water. At that time, Jiang Ruan thought that Zhang Lan’s family thought she had taken up the food in the family, so she wanted to die. Now think about it, if she died in that flood, Zhang Lan’s family should be able to get a large reward from Xia Yan.

At that time, there were many refugees in the middle of Beijing, and each family did not care about their fullness. The refugees ran around and robbed them everywhere if they could not get food. The poor naturally have no surplus food, so they set their sights on the rich and noble families in Beijing. At that time, Zhao Yi, who was a city guard, led troops to suppress it, but was hacked to death by the refugees. However, the Emperor of the Ninth Five Years ordered the Zhao family to fund the disaster relief. The Zhao family paid out ten thousand taels of silver, and the savings in the family were almost emptied. The Zhao family seemed to have collapsed since that time.

Jiang Ruan knew this incident after entering the palace. Zhaoyi at that time had no intention of mentioning it during a chatter. It was Xuanli who suggested to the emperor that General Zhao had a wealth of money at home and might have money to help the disaster. Jiang Ruan once asked about Xuanli, but Xuanli’s answer was above the people, but it was nothing but money, and it was a good deed to protect the lives of those refugees.

Thinking about it now, after that incident, Xuanli’s prestige in the DPRK increased, but the Zhao family was weakened. Perhaps it was also in his plan, and Zhao Yi’s death was not so easy to think of. How can the defense of the capital be hacked to death by unarmed people.

Her eyes deepened suddenly. In this life, she did not intend to be a stranger with the Zhao family. The Zhao family was her surveillance backing, so how could she insult others like this.

“Even if the rain doesn’t stop, why should the girl go out with the silver?” Bai Zhi wondered: “No matter what the girl said, she should also keep some silver by her side. What are you going to do now?”

“I asked Luzhu to buy all the grain in Beijing.” Jiang Ruan said lightly.

“Girl,” Forsythia’s eyes widened: “What does the girl do with so much food?”

It’s the beginning of the spring and the new grains are not on the market. They are all old grains from last year, so the price is not expensive, two or three thousand silver is enough to buy more than half. Those grain farmers are worried about not being able to sell their grains, and they will sell all their grains when they see this.

“I thought, if this rain keeps falling and becomes floods, the food will be valuable.” Jiang Ruan smiled.

“Girl.” Bai Zhi moved her lips. After all, she didn’t say anything. Jiang Ruan’s words never had room for refutation. She was firm and decided not to waver. So even if Bai Zhi thought Jiang Ruan’s move was incredible, he could only follow her.

At this moment, Luzhu opened the door and walked in. Seeing Jiang Ruanhou smiled and said, “Girl, the people who found it have bought all the food and piled it in a warehouse in the west of the city. The key is in the hands of the servants.”

She handed the key to Jiang Ruan and said with a smile: “Because no one has come to buy Chen Liang these days, most of the rice noodles have been bought by slaves.”

“You did a great job.” Jiang Ruan played with the delicate and small silver key in his hand.

“But girl,” Luzhu thought for a while: “The slave and maid saw Wu Yimao at the gate of the yard. She looked at the appearance that she was about to come in, and the slave asked, but she left again.”

“I know.” Jiang Ruan pondered: “In that case, let’s go to the Wuyiniang courtyard to sit for a while.”

Hong Ying was embroidering in the house. The weather was not very good, and the light was not very clear. After embroidering for a long time, I felt unsatisfied with the embroidery. I was really upset, so I saw the girl step forward and said: “Auntie, the eldest lady is here.”

“Miss?” She frowned slightly, unexpectedly Jiang Ruan would come. In this courtyard, no one else has set foot except Jiang Quan. She stood up and Jiang Ruan just walked in. Seeing her, she smiled and said, “Auntie was embroidering, and she embroidered really well.”

Hongying followed her gaze and glanced at the embroidery on the table. It was embroidered like a purse for Jiang Quan. The embroidered blue clouds and white cranes are vivid, setting the artistic conception high and the colors are also very beautiful.

“It’s just a fun embroidering,” Hong Ying said with a smile: “If the eldest lady likes it, I will embroider one for the eldest lady another day.”

“Then thank you Wu Yiniang.” Jiang Ruan accepted with a smile, glanced around the room, and said: “Originally everyone said that my father loved Wu Yiniang the most. I didn’t believe it.

The layout of the room is exquisite, but seeing that all the things placed on the shelf table are exquisite and precious, it must be that Jiang Quan has also taken a little bit of attention to Hong Ying.

Hong Ying was startled, and said with a smile: “The master is naturally the most beloved wife, the eldest made a joke.”

“I never make a joke.” Jiang Ruan said with a smile: “I came to visit Wu Yiniang today, but there is actually nothing to do.” She looked mildly: “In the past few days, the mansion is not peaceful, and the second sister and the second brother have suffered repeated misfortunes, but they seem to have been It’s like a curse. I thought, next, is it time for Ruan Niang.”

Hong Ying’s heart jumped when she heard the words, and she looked at Jiang Ruan and said, “Why did the big girl say this?”

“Intuition.” Jiang Ruan smiled: “I don’t have any close people in the mansion, and my mother passed away too early. Although my mother treated me well, she already has a second sister and a second brother…” She said in a low voice: “There are some things I can only talk to Wu Yiniang. If Wu Yiniang is the hostess of the house, that would be great. A kind person like Wu Yiniang will definitely protect Ruan Niang everywhere, and Ruan Niang will definitely do it. Repay Wu Yiniang and let Jiang Mansion and He Meimei flourish.”

Wu Yiniang pursed her lips, somehow, her heart was beating fiercely. She looked at Jiang Ruan inquiringly, and her charming bright eyes looked at her with a smile, which was clearly warm and moist, but it was like looking at flowers in a mist, and she couldn’t see the emotions clearly. She was born in a brothel, and she has seen many people of all colors, and she can understand the hearts of people, but she doesn’t understand the little girl in her early ten years in front of her.

“The eldest lady really thinks her concubine is qualified to be the mistress of Jiang’s Mansion?” She heard her voice trembling slightly.

Jiang Ruan smiled and picked up the tea cup in front of him, and took a sip: “Why not?”

Hongying looked at her and suddenly smiled: “The eldest lady lifts her concubine like this, and she doesn’t know what to do. In fact, the eldest lady does not come to look for her concubine today, and the concubine will go there for a while.”

Jiang Ruan looked at her with a smile, and Hong Ying said again: “The concubine was gossiping with the master yesterday, and the master talked about the Li family father and son. The eldest lady also knows the affairs of the young master Li and the second young lady, and the young master Li is like this now , Prime Minister Li must not be able to tolerate the second lady, but the master did not want to tear his face with Prime Minister Li, so he wanted to let the eldest lady marry the second lady into the Li family.” After saying this, she carefully observed Jiang Ruan’s expression, but saw that The expression on Zhang Mingyan’s face remained unchanged, and the smile on the corners of her lips remained as if she was wearing a perfect mask.

Jiang Ruan sighed softly: “My father loves my second sister so much, it really teaches me to be envious.”

Hongying said: “The concubine is also anxious physically and mentally. It is clearly the second lady’s cause, how can I make the eldest make amends. Moreover, the young master Li is now regarded as a useless person, and if the eldest gets married, she will definitely be in pain. ”

Jiang Ruan pondered for a moment, and smiled towards Hongying: “Thank you for the advice of Wu Yiniang, but it is difficult for me to intervene in my father’s decision. If he is really determined, Ruan Niang, as the daughter of the Jiang family, can only accept it.”

Hong Ying was taken aback for a moment: “The eldest lady agrees to marry?”

“I agree, my father agrees. I wonder if Master Li agrees?” Jiang Ruan smiled lightly and stood up: “There is a lot of time, I should go back.” After a pause, her eyes fell on the embroidery on the table. In appearance, she smiled: “Father loves Wu Yiniang, and Wu Yiniang should care about his father. But Ruan Niang still wants to remind Wu Yiniang that if there are no children, Wu Yiniang and Da Yiniang are actually the same.” She smiled. After finishing talking about the following words: “If you have an heir, you have no status, and the destiny of the children and the aunts are the same.”

After Jiang Ruan had left for a long time, Hong Ying was still sitting in a daze. The maid beside him cautiously asked, “Auntie?”

Hong Ying waved her hand, with a tired expression, and whispered: “What the hell is the eldest lady going to do.”

At the Jinying Palace in Beijing, Ye Feng stood in front of the desk and said: “General Guan has sent a message back, and the class will return to court next month.” After a pause, he said again: “The subordinates are out on a mission today, listen to the people below. Speaking of the recent scavenging of the surplus grain in the city, it might be related to the Eighth Highness. I paid attention to the work of the maid beside Miss Jiang Mansion.” He frowned, “But I don’t know the purpose.”

Xiao Shao turned around, raised his heroic eyebrows slightly, making the beautiful face a little more awe-inspiring, and said: “Continue to inquire. Pay attention to the movement of Li Dong’s house.”

“Prime Minister Li?” Ye Feng said in surprise: “The master wants to deal with him in advance?”

Xiao Shao shook his head: “The Li family’s son’s life is on the eve of the day. This matter has something to do with the Jiang family. The Jiang family doesn’t want to have a grudge with the Li family. I guess it’s right. Jiang Quan should have acted.”

Ye Feng thought for a while: “Behind the Jiang family is the Xiao family, and the Xiao family is also a faction of the eight princes. Maybe the eight princes will come forward.” After all, the Xiao family and the Li family are rare resources, and Xuanli will not let it go. . He suddenly laughed: “I really don’t know the eighth prince knows what his feelings are in his den. In short, whether the Li family’s eldest has been upset this time, Miss Jiang Er also did a good deed, so he castrated Li Yang. There was a rift between the Li family and the Jiang family anyway.”

Xiao Shao didn’t correct Ye Feng’s words, remembering that Jiang Ruan used broken tiles to cut Li Yang’s childhood neatness without hesitation in the one-day house. It was clearly a girl in the boudoir, but there was no trace of the man’s lower body. Embarrassed, only indifference in his eyes, Li Yang looked like a dead pig waiting to be slaughtered.

Since he accepted Jin Yiwei at the age of ten, he has also walked up step by step in blood. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he couldn’t believe that a deep-bowed girl would have a killer look.

How did Jiang Quan’s eldest daughter be raised?

For a moment, Xiao Shao retracted his thoughts and said, “I’ll go into the palace.”

To the north of the capital, firecrackers kept ringing at the entrance of a three-entry mansion. In front of the vermilion gate pillars were two lions with teeth and dancing claws. The top one was a golden plaque tied with safflower. The two characters mentioned above: Liu Mansion.

It is the residence of the emperor’s bestowed scholar.

When Mrs. Liu was only standing, her face was weather-beaten, and her head was already spotted on her temples, as if half a hundred. Even so, she still wore a plain green embroidered lotus gown, combed her hair untidy, and smiled and sent some rewards to everyone.

The maids bestowed by the four emperors were also on the side with a smile. Many people offered money to congratulate, and among them were former neighbors. This time Liu Min was the carp leaping over the dragon gate. From then on, the Liu family was able to bring glory to the ancestor.

After the reward was given, Madam Liu asked the maid beside her: “Why hasn’t Min’er come out yet?”

The maid smiled and said, “Xu is tidying up in the room, and the slave and maid will remind her.” After that, she turned and left.

In the study, Liu Min was staring at the paintings hanging on the wall.

The other courtyard that the emperor admired was spacious and magnificent, and the study room was more than twice as large as before. From then on, there will be enough bookshelf space to stack his books. But at this time, he was in a daze. Is all this really what he wants?

A few days ago, he encountered a theft in the school of the Imperial College, and what was lost was the letter that the mysterious man gave him. Those letters were all missing, as if they had never appeared before. Liu Min asked the book boy, who also said he didn’t know, but he didn’t lose anything else. He couldn’t help but suspect that the letters were taken away by the mysterious person himself.

If it weren’t for the moonlight and fireflies in front of him, Liu Min would almost think that this period of time was simply an illusion, and that mysterious person was a character he had imagined.

He carefully looked at the painting in front of him. The lines were beautiful and unrestrained, and Liu Min couldn’t help but wonder what kind of person he was. I got used to having one more person discussing the arguments in the book with him, but now that person suddenly disappears, but he feels a little lonely.

“Master, Madam urges you to go there quickly.” The new maid blushed slightly at the delicate and elegant young man.

Liu Min glanced at the painting in front of him: “Let’s go.”

Two flowers bloom, one on each table.

At the Eighth Prince’s Mansion in Beijing, Xuan Li put down the letter in his hand and frowned slightly.

Upon seeing this, the staff behind him asked, “Your Highness, but something happened?”

Xuanli glanced at the letter on the table: “Xiahou’s letter came up, and there was a dispute with Li Xiang.” He couldn’t hide his surprise. Xia Chengxin said that he believed that Li Yang was castrated in Jiang’s mansion, and now Li Dong If you want to avenge Li Yang, you won’t let Xia Cheng’s granddaughter Jiang Susu. Xia Cheng said in the letter that Jiang Susu was framed, but he did not say who the murderer was.

Xuan Li talked about the brief Jade aides, who frowned and thought for a while: “His Royal Highness, I am afraid that this matter was done by someone with a heart. There was something wrong with the young master Li, and there was a rift between the Prime Minister Li and Jiang Jiasheng, and he also had a rift with Xia Jiasheng. , This is to ask your Highness’s subordinates to fight back in their own nests, and their intentions are extremely sinister.”

“I naturally know.” Xuanli said: “Li Dong knows that I can’t live without him, and I don’t want to lose the Xia family. Moreover, Jiang Shangshu now has one or two points of power in the DPRK. The two sides have a dispute. It will be harmful to me.”

“Could it be the side of the Fifth Prince?” the aides asked: “The Fifth Prince has recently raised his voice in the court, and his Majesty is also quite trustworthy.”

“I know the temperament of the emperor,” Xuan Li snorted coldly. “The higher the fifth child is now, the worse he will fall in the future. I don’t think the fifth child will be smart enough to settle in Jiang’s Mansion.”

“Is that the fourth prince?” asked the staff.

“The fourth child looks like he doesn’t argue about anything, but he has to guard against it. I’m afraid it’s the prince.”

The staff was stunned: “The prince has failed in his morality, and he has not seen any merit in political affairs. It is stupid and naive. How can your Royal Highness be worried?”

“It is true that the prince alone is not enough to be afraid,” Xuan Li narrowed his eyes: “To be afraid is what the emperor meant to be afraid.”

“Your Majesty wanted to change the prince a few years ago, because I was afraid that he would have been disgusted. How could he act like this?” asked the staff.

Xuan Lidao: “I’m afraid it’s just a blindfold, otherwise you can see that for so many years, the prince has made countless enemies in the court, why he still stands tall, if it hadn’t been secretly instructed by the father, I am afraid that there will be no bones left. ”

“This…” The aides arched his hands: “The subordinates really can’t figure out what your Majesty means.”

Xuan Li glanced at the aides kneeling down in disgust, and his tone was still gentle: “Don’t blame you, even I have been with my father for so many years, and I haven’t figured out what he is thinking.”

The staff thought for a while, and then said: “In fact, if your Highness wants to consolidate the power, there is another way, it is better to marry the Jiang family.”

“Jiang Family?” Xuan Li raised an eyebrow.

The staff bowed their hands: “Now what your Highness needs most is the Xia family and the Li family forces. The friendship with the Xia family is too obvious. If you are with the Jiang family, you will be drawn to the Xia family.” He paused and continued. Said: “Besides, Ms. Jiang Jia is still young now, so she can decide to come in person first. If there are changes in the future, it won’t be too late to change her mind.”

Xuan Li frowned, thinking of the rumor that Mrs. Jiang in Beijing had bought a murderer and framed the young lady but framed the second young lady, and that Jiang Chao had spent a lot of money in Baihualou but had no money to pay the bill and was finally cut off with a little finger. , Said displeased: “Jiang’s Mansion is full of smoke, besides, the second lady of Jiang’s Mansion has a bad reputation now, how can I marry her? Don’t you want the world to make a joke?”

“His Royal Highness,” the aides said: “Isn’t there a eldest lady in Jiang’s Mansion? The biological mother of this eldest lady is from General Zhao’s mansion. The left and right sides are just a name. , Xia Mansion has a relationship, and maybe he can catch General Zhao’s mansion.”

“The husband of Zhao Guang,” Xuan Li said, “I have always been a prince, and I will not surrender easily.” As for Jiang Ruan, the indifferent smile of the girl in red in the boat boat at the Lantern Festival that night appeared in his mind. . Suddenly I was picked up in my heart, and I felt very concerned.

“Now it seems that marriage is the best way.” The aides are still suggesting: “If you book a marriage with Miss Jiang Jia, Li Xiang will not act rashly no matter how dissatisfied he is. His Royal Highness sold such a kindness to Jiang Jia. The Jiang family and Xia family will try their best to assist His Royal Highness.”

“You are right.” Xuan Li picked up the letter on the table again: “Perhaps I should seriously consider what you said.” In the letter, Xuan Li was invited to go to Xiahou Mansion for a meeting. He thought for a while and said, “Come on. People, if you go back to Lord Xia for me, I’ll say that Lord Hou’s post is accepted and I will visit you in three days.”

However, when Ye Xiahou received a message from Xuanli’s entourage, he was relieved. Madam Xia looked at him anxiously: “What’s the matter? His Royal Highness can agree?”

“Yes.” Xia Houye said to her: “You go and send a letter to Jiang’s mansion, and ask Yan’er to bring Susu and Chaoer over as soon as they are ready.” After a pause, he said again: “Tell her to take that Jiang Ruan also bring it.”

Mrs. Xia nodded: “Naturally, Susu was disfigured. This Jiang Ruan is really capable.”

Xiahouye’s eyes were full of gloom: “I didn’t tell the Eighth Highness about this matter. The Eighth Highness decided that this matter was done by the five princes. Only if he had any scruples, would he win a relationship with my Xia Mansion. Even so, Jiang Ruan couldn’t keep it. Yan’er has repeatedly miscalculated in her hands, I want to see what kind of monsters this person is, so vicious at a young age!”