allonlinenovel Chapter 507 What happened?
Chapter 507 What happened?
As soon as the sky turned light in the morning, people were already coming and going on the streets.
Outside Zheng's house, the servant had already harnessed the carriage.
Zheng Zixu was wearing court robes, followed by his third son Zheng Chengrui.
The carriage drove out of the alley and headed towards Donghuamen.
The streets were bustling with people, and the carriage stopped and started frequently. After a quarter of an hour, it had only traveled half a mile.
Zheng Zixu stood upright with his brows tightly furrowed, his forehead already wrinkled into the shape of a "川" character.
Seeing the impatience on Zheng Zixu's face, Zheng Chengrui lifted the carriage curtain and asked the coachman, "What's going on? You're going so slowly. It's already dark when we get to the palace!"
The coachman in front immediately apologized, "Forgive me, sir, there are just too many people marching on the street and the carriage can't move!"
Zheng Chengrui frowned unconsciously and lifted the curtain to see what was happening outside.
On the street, not far ahead, there was a red pear wood carriage with a flag of the Jiang family's business hanging on it.
Zheng Chengrui's heart tightened, and he asked the coachman in a cold voice, "Go and ask who is in front and why so many people are following them."
The groom received the order and went down to the hall, returning to report shortly afterwards.
"Master, the carriage in front is that of Jiang Yan, the daughter of the Jiang family. She is going to become a nun and is now circling the imperial city to pray for blessings. She will randomly spread good karma, so there are so many people following her."
"what!"
The father and son asked together, their eyes full of disbelief.
Zheng Chengrui stiffened his neck and questioned the groom, "What did you just say? Miss Jiang wants to become a nun?!"
"Yes, I heard that after Miss Jiang fell into the water yesterday, she received guidance from the Buddha while she was unconscious, and she will become a nun after she wakes up."
Zheng Zixu immediately understood what was going on.
No matter how much the emperor and the Zheng family forced him, they would never risk the world's condemnation and force a Buddhist to marry her.
Zheng Chengrui's shoulders slumped, and he looked at his father with a sad face, "Dad, what should we do now? Forget it. I can't let my son marry a nun!"
Zheng Zixu helped Su Heng do so many things, and Su Heng had all the evidence against him, so he was threatened by him all the time. If he could get in touch with the Jiang family, if something happened in the future, Jiang Fu would definitely not stand idly by and watch Jiang Yan get into trouble.
He must get the imperial decree granting marriage at all costs.
"Unload the carriage, your father wants to ride into the palace on horseback!"
Zheng Chengrui looked at his father, his expression changed from surprise to fear. His father, who was always gentle to everyone, now had a terribly gloomy expression.
This was the first time he saw this expression on his father's face.
Not having the courage to say anything else, Zheng Chengrui held his breath and walked out of the carriage, and started to dismantle it with the coachman.
The carriage was unloaded quickly. Zheng Zixu got on his horse and told his son in a deep voice, "Go to the Duke Dingguo's Mansion and tell Prime Minister Su about this. He will know what to do."
After saying that, he didn't stop and rode away into the crowd.
Zheng Chengrui did not dare to delay for a moment and ran back to the mansion to get the horse again.
*
Zheng Zixu arrived outside the Qinzheng Palace. The eunuch guarding outside saluted and said, "Master Zheng, please wait a moment. The Minister of Revenue, Master Jiang, and the Minister of Works, Master Feng, are discussing matters inside. Let me inform them."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Zixu's brows suddenly furrowed, and he asked anxiously, "When did they come?"
"About one stick of incense."
Zheng Zixu's heart tightened instantly, and he had a bad premonition, but he still held on to a glimmer of hope and said to the eunuch: "Please go and inform the eunuch as soon as possible."
The eunuch at the door did not dare to delay and went in to report immediately.
In a short while, Jiang Fu came out of the Qinzheng Hall with the Minister of Works Feng Zhinian, smiling. Seeing Zheng Zixu, Jiang Fu smiled and greeted him, "Sir Zheng is such a good official. You come so early to discuss matters with His Majesty!"
Zheng Zixu put on his usual smile and asked tentatively, "Lord Jiang and Lord Feng came earlier. I wonder what brought you to the palace so early?"
The two mustaches at the corners of his mouth trembled as he raised his mouth, and his eyes curved into a smile, giving him a kind look.
Jiang Futing smiled and said, "I'm ashamed, I'm half public and half private."
Feng Zhinian, who had gray hair, was unhappy when he heard him say that. "Master Jiang, please don't underestimate yourself. In my opinion, you are a person who cares about the people."
"Thank you for the compliment, Lord Feng." Jiang Fu bowed modestly.
Feng Zhinian was a very rigid person in his dealings with others. It could be said that he was selfless to the extreme. The number of people in the entire court who received such high praise from him could be counted on one hand.
Normally, he would offend people because of this, but he was extremely serious and efficient in his work, and no one in the court could find any mistakes in him.
Therefore, except for official business, all ministers avoided him as much as possible. He also disdained to have private dealings with court officials. Even the emperor avoided him as much as possible.
Why was he with Jiang Fu today? And why did he praise him so much? And what happened to Jiang Yan?
Zheng Zixu asked tentatively, "I wonder what Lord Jiang did to deserve such high praise from Lord Feng?"
"This matter has not been finalized yet, so it is not appropriate to make it public, but..." Jiang Fu turned around and smiled at him meaningfully, "Sir Zheng, if you have urgent matters next time, you need to come earlier, otherwise you will be like today, and can only passively wait in line."
"Master Zheng, please go in quickly, don't miss the important matter."
After saying this, he held his head high, smiled, and walked out of the palace with Feng Zhinian.
Regardless of whether today's plan can be accomplished, Zheng Zixu must meet the emperor. He wants to find out what Jiang Fu had done.
*
Zheng Zixu saluted. The emperor seemed to be in a good mood and waved his hand casually, asking him to stand up.
He pretended not to know and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I came here today to ask Your Majesty to grant me a favor."
"grace?"
Zheng Zixu bowed sincerely, "Yes. Yesterday, my son went with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to attend the coming-of-age banquet of Lord Jiang's daughter. Unexpectedly, Miss Jiang accidentally fell into the water, and my son Cheng Rui happened to save Miss Jiang. The two were so close that Miss Jiang's innocence was ruined. Although my son was trying to save people, he also has feelings for Miss Jiang and wants to marry her. In order to calm public opinion, I would like to ask Your Majesty to grant the marriage. Just tell the public that the two have already been engaged, and the rumors will automatically subside."
The emperor couldn't help but laugh, "My dear Zheng, didn't you go to the street before you came to the palace?"
Of course Zheng Zixu read it, but he looked puzzled.
The emperor continued, "The Jiang family said that Miss Jiang fell into a coma after falling into the water yesterday. During that time, she suddenly felt something and was advised by Guanyin, who said that her falling into the water was a calamity in her fate and that she needed to chant sutras for the people who died in the water in order to survive this calamity. Miss Jiang set out for Qingyun Temple outside the city today to pray for the people who died in the water in Jiangnan. In order to help her daughter survive this calamity, Mr. Jiang is also willing to donate half of his wealth to rebuild houses for the living people in Jiangnan."
"Your Majesty agrees?" Zheng Zixu looked at the emperor, with a glimmer of hope in his heart.
The emperor answered straightforwardly, "Of course. Rebuilding houses for the people is already very costly, and the treasury is tight. With half of Jiang Fu's wealth, the treasury can also be repaired. Why not do it!"
Seeing Zheng Zixu's face gradually darken, the emperor was too lazy to talk to him anymore. "You can't ask me to go to the nunnery to arrest people for you! Go back!"
The emperor would never lose the Jiang family's purse for a playboy.
Zheng Zixu understood a little, his eyes darkened, and he bowed and left the Qinzheng Hall.
*
At the city gate, Jiang Yan was sitting in a carriage wearing a dark grey nun’s robe, with her long hair hidden under a nun’s hat.
She lifted the curtain and took a last look. In another carriage not far away, Su Lingyue also lifted the curtain and looked at Jiang Yan.
Su Lingyue nodded at her with a comforting smile. Jiang Yan also held back the tears in her eyes and nodded seriously.
After Mrs. Jiang waved to Su Lingyue, she hugged Jiang Yan in her arms, lowered the curtains, and the carriage drove out of the city.
"Yan'er has never left the Jiang Mansion since she was a child. I wonder if she can get used to it this time?"
Xiao Yu raised his hand to smooth Su Lingyue's frown, and said in a gentle voice: "Everything has a first time, and this is not a bad thing. Miss Jiang's family is originally from an extraordinary family. She can't stay in the Jiang Mansion for her whole life. She has her own life. I believe that after this incident, she will be more adept at dealing with her future life."
These words successfully smoothed the frown under his fingertips.
Yes, Yan'er has to grow up. Others can't protect her forever, and she has to learn to see the world clearly.
Su Lingyue moved closer to Xiao Yu and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.
"Your Majesty, thank you for helping Yan'er avoid being tricked. Also, I seem to have become fearless next to you."
Xiao Yu pinched Su Lingyue's waist and chuckled, "Speaking of fearlessness, Yue'er doesn't need to be influenced by her husband. Yesterday, she said she wanted to kill someone with red eyes. She was very fearless."
"You're making fun of me!" Su Lingyue blocked Xiao Yu's lips in shame and anger, preventing him from making fun of others again.