After returning to Qidong Pan, Jin Chao asked the old woman to find a glass bottle. She washed the osmanthus flowers and preserved them, layering sugar frost and osmanthus flowers. She then instructed me to place it in a cool, shaded place.
This jar of osmanthus honey would be left here for her maternal grandmother, who hadn’t been feeling well lately and was coughing frequently.
She planned to return to the Gu family the day after tomorrow. The Gu household not only had Gu Lan but also a so-called Daoist master. If she didn’t go back to keep an eye on things, she feared someone might cause trouble and her father wouldn’t handle it.
Her concerns were justified. Just two days after she left, the Daoist Master Qingxu began persuading Gu Dezhao to donate silver to the Daoist temple to renovate some of Three Pure One’s Pavilion. After hesitating for several days, Gu Dezhao decided to donate four thousand taels. When this news reached Madam Xu’s ears, she was extremely anxious. Four thousand taels was no small sum—it represented thirty percent of the Gu family’s annual income! It wasn’t a big deal for the master to spend money, but donations of even a few hundred taels would be excessive, let alone such a large amount!
Unfortunately, Gu Jin Chao wasn’t at home, and as a servant, how could she interfere with the master’s affairs? The eldest young master had gone to the Yu family’s clan school, and the second young miss never concerned herself with such matters. Unable to find someone to offer advice, she could only send someone to inform Jin Chao, urging her to return quickly.
The journey from Shi’an to Tongzhou took just one day, so by the time Jin Chao received the message, it was already the evening of the following day.
After reading the letter, she was furious. She understood that her father lacked support in his heart, but this wasn’t how money should be spent! Four thousand taels were no small amount—how could he donate just because Daoist Master Qingxu asked him to? What was he thinking? Many noble families were on good terms with Daoist Master Qingxu, and none of them took on such a large burden. Her father had neither a title nor a prominent official position, so this action was far too conspicuous!
She told her grandmother about the donation and said she would return tomorrow.
Ji Wu Shi sighed when Gu Dezhao was mentioned: “…He never could handle matters properly! Don’t worry too much. I’ll arrange for someone to escort you tomorrow. If you’re short on funds, I still have money and estates in Shi’an. I’ll tell them, and you can withdraw silver as needed…”
Jin Chao held Ji Wu Shi’s hand and said, “Your silver doesn’t come without effort. Please don’t worry, I know what to do.” Her grandmother had always been strict about following procedures and making everyone abide by the rules, but never with her—she always favored her.
As Jin Chao was telling Ji Wu Shi about making osmanthus honey for her, Song Mama came in saying, “…The Second Young Master has returned and has come specifically to see you.”
Ji Wu Shi knew it was about the Lu silk shop in Xianghe and asked Ji Yao to come in.
Ji Yao was wearing a semi-new Hangzhou silk robe, looking travel-worn with traces of fatigue on his handsome face. He first paid his respects, then greeted Jin Chao before saying, “…Grandmother, the managers at the Lu silk shop cannot be kept. I’ve punished them and sent them all to Hebei.”
Ji Wu Shi frowned slightly. Ji Yao had always been gentle with people, and his showing no mercy made her wonder what those people at the Lu silk shop had done.
Seeing they were about to discuss business matters, Jin Chao felt it inappropriate to listen in and excused herself.
As she walked away, she could still faintly hear Ji Yao’s voice, cold with underlying severity: “…They colluded with bandits from Guizhou, helping a man surnamed Xiao pass messages to Prince Rui. Recently they even transported a shipment of goods—they claimed not to know what was inside, and the items have already been moved out… Someone just informed me that they were all weapons, and they were taking a thirty percent cut. I’ve always warned them not to get involved in such matters, yet they completely disregarded my instructions…”
When Jin Chao heard him mention someone surnamed Xiao, her heart skipped a beat, and her footsteps involuntarily slowed, wanting to hear more about what had happened.
Ji Wu Shi’s voice was equally cold: “We are merchants, and what we must avoid is getting entangled in such matters. Regardless, those managers can never return to Yanjing! You should step away from this situation as well. I’m concerned you won’t be able to extricate yourself, so I’ll send Manager Ge to handle it…”
They stopped discussing the weapons shipment.
Jin Chao felt somewhat disappointed but couldn’t go back in to ask questions. As she slowly walked along the stone path, she suddenly remembered something!
Prince Rui… she had met Prince Rui in her previous life! It was in Chen Yan Yun’s study when she was serving tea to Chen Yan Yun, Prince Rui was discussing court matters with him.
She remembered Prince Rui had brought an advisor… and that advisor’s surname was Xiao!
No wonder she found Mr. Xiao familiar—it was because she had seen him when he was Prince Rui’s advisor!
But that advisor whose surname was Xiao wasn’t called Xiao Qishan. She had heard Prince Rui call him “Xiao You.” Qishan must be his courtesy name, but she didn’t know if Xiao Qishan’s real name was Xiao You.
Based on what Ji Yao and her grandmother were saying, it seemed that… Xiao Qishan was now connected to Prince Rui and had begun contacting Guizhou bandits to send weapons. What were they planning to do with these items?
As Jin Chao thought about this, she felt a chill in her heart. Prince Rui and Chen Yan Yun belonged to the same faction, both under Zhang Julian. And Ye Xian’s father had been killed by Prince Rui. After Prince Rui’s death, Zhang Julian implemented many suppressive measures against the Marquis of Changxing’s family, driving Ye Xian’s grandfather, the old Marquis of Changxing, to his death.
Later, Ye Xian rose to power, though no one knew how. Three months after the Marquis of Changxing’s death, he became the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. From that point on, the Ye family gradually recovered. When Ye Xian gained military power and became the Minister of War, Zhang Julian passed away, and the Ye family formed a tripartite balance of power with the Chen family and Prince Rui.
If we say Ye Xian hated the Chen family, it was only moderate—not to the point of wanting to destroy them. His hatred for Prince Rui was genuine. He schemed to bring down Prince Rui, had his entire family executed, and personally carried out the lingchi execution of Prince Rui—reportedly, it took exactly four thousand cuts before he died…
In other words, Mr. Xiao had joined Prince Rui, betraying the Marquis of Changxing’s family. Why would Xiao Qishan betray the Ye family?
Jin Chao had a vague guess and was about sixty percent certain. No wonder Ye Xian’s personality changed drastically later—the betrayal of his own master led to the deaths of his father and grandfather. He must have harbored extreme hatred…
Qing Pu noticed that Jin Chao had been silent the whole way, seemingly lost in thought, and whispered, “Is the Young Miss worrying about the master’s matters? Please don’t be too concerned. We will always find a way…”
Jin Chao smiled and shook her head. It was already early August now. On the thirteenth of September, Emperor Muzong passed away, the court was in turmoil, and the bloody storm soon engulfed them. In comparison, what did four thousand taels matter? She didn’t know whether she should help Ye Xian—after all, what was their relationship? Xiao Qishan was his master, so why should Ye Xian listen to her?
Based on her previous life, her father didn’t socialize with high officials and had no obvious faction affiliations. This was disadvantageous, but during such turbulent times, his approach had its benefits. That’s why, although her father never received a promotion in the future, he didn’t encounter any major problems either.
If they remained stable in this life, the Gu family should be fine. She just didn’t know what to do about Ye Xian’s situation.
Jin Chao gazed at a boxwood tree in front of her, deep in thought.
…
After discussing the Lu silk shop matter with Ji Wu Shi, Ji Yao was about to take his leave. Ji Wu Shi asked him to stay a while longer, instructed Song Mama to close the door, and personally poured tea for Ji Yao.
Whenever Ji Wu Shi wanted to discuss something serious with him, this was how she behaved.
Ji Yao thought about how he had accompanied Gu Jin Chao to the Xianghe estate a few days ago and guessed that Ji Wu Shi probably wanted to discuss this, so he remained silent.
Ji Wu Shi saw him pursing his lips, appearing somewhat resistant and stubborn. She smiled and said, “…When you were young, you didn’t like sweet things. When I insisted on feeding you bird’s nest soup, you had this same expression. How is it that even at your age, you still can’t hide your emotions? Dealing with others this way will only disadvantage you.”
Ji Yao didn’t respond.
Ji Wu Shi sighed and said, “To be honest, do you truly dislike your cousin? I fear that in your heart, it’s not your cousin you dislike, but this old woman! You feel that I’ve always opposed you—whatever you don’t like to eat, I make you eat it; you don’t like business, yet I hand over all the family businesses for you to manage. When I ask you to propose to your cousin, you’re even more unwilling…”
Ji Yao said softly, “Grandmother is overthinking. That’s not the case.”
Ji Wu Shi smiled, “…I’m an old fox. How can those little thoughts of yours escape me?”
Ji Yao deeply resisted the idea of marrying Gu Jin Chao. Even when he realized that Jin Chao wasn’t bad, he still didn’t approve of this marriage. He had always thought it was because he didn’t like Jin Chao, but now that he thought about it, besides this reason, there must also be resentment and unwillingness in his heart…
Ji Wu Shi looked in the direction Jin Chao had gone, feeling a twinge of sorrow.
“I’ve failed her…” she murmured. “Your aunt grew up with your great-grandmother and turned out that way. I always thought that by spoiling Chao’er a bit more, she would become more resilient. I never expected it would harm her instead… Asking you to marry her was also my selfishness as an old woman, wanting my grandson to watch over my granddaughter, to prevent others from bullying her. I never considered your feelings…”
She was almost choked with emotion: “Chao’er’s mother is dead, killed by her concubine-aunt. You don’t know, but previously in the Gu family, no one was close to her. Her brother even viewed her as an enemy, and her father was unclear about right and wrong… She was still in mourning when she had to deal with your aunt’s dowry, and she’s still an unmarried young lady…”
Ji Yao looked at Ji Wu Shi, somewhat surprised. He had never heard Ji Wu Shi speak to him like this before. He also hadn’t realized that Gu Jin Chao had such a difficult life. He had always thought she was quite prominent in the Gu family—with her personality, who would dare bully her?
He suddenly recalled Jin Chao smiling and saying to him, “I know you don’t like me. You don’t need to force yourself to help me…” That self-deprecating yet distant manner.
Ji Yao fell silent. At that time, he hadn’t wanted to help her and didn’t realize how difficult her situation was, even harboring some desire to see her struggle. He hadn’t expected Jin Chao to have such a hard life in the Gu family, yet he had treated her this way. Thinking of the cluster of elegant white lotuses at her sleeve, Ji Yao felt an inexplicable softening in his heart.
Ji Wu Shi continued, “Your grandmother doesn’t have many years left to live and has only one wish—for you to protect Chao’er well… Today, grandmother asks you once more, are you willing?”
After a long hesitation, Ji Yao finally said, “Let me think about it…”