She should have known seven or eight parts of the Chen family’s affairs by now. Yet she felt completely uncertain.

Gu Jin Chao hesitated for a moment, then instructed Cao Zi Heng: “Investigate discreetly… see if Father and Official Chen have some connection, or if there’s a relationship between them that we don’t know about.”

Cao Zi Heng was startled: “Which Official Chen is the Young Miss referring to…”

Jin Chao softly uttered a few words: “Minister of Revenue Chen Yan Yun.”

Cao Zi Heng’s expression grew solemn, and he quickly bowed and departed.

After lunch, Second Master Gu and her father took a carriage to the capital to visit the Marquis of Chang Xing.

The sixth young lady of Duke Feng’s family, accompanied by her governess, had arrived to serve as Gu Lian’s ceremonial attendant. Madam Feng arranged for Yu Ming Ying and the sixth young lady Feng to stay in guest rooms, assigning her second-rank maid to attend to them.

The next day, people gradually arrived to congratulate Gu Lian. No one knew that the Gu family would soon face a tremendous calamity. Even Madam Feng was unaware as she discussed with the Second Madam about inviting the De Yin troupe to perform for several days. The mansion was filled with a festive atmosphere. Gu Lian was being pulled by Madam Feng to meet various madams and young ladies, so busy that her feet barely touched the ground.

Jin Chao disliked such bustling occasions and didn’t want to thrust herself before others at this time. If not for Madam Feng’s summons, she wouldn’t have wanted to step out of Yan Xiu Hall at all.

In the afternoon, Madam Yao arrived, and all the women were called to the east wing to pay their respects to her. Jin Chao, accompanied by Qing Pu and Cai Fu, headed to the east wing. Madam Yao was the principal wife of the current Grand Secretary of Wenhua Hall, Yao Ping. Yao Wen Xiu was her second son. For Gu Lian’s coming-of-age ceremony, she had to make an appearance no matter what.

Madam Feng and Madam Yao were conversing in the reception hall. Just as Jin Chao reached the outside of the hall, she saw a group of unfamiliar maids and governesses standing with their hands lowered. The maids wore either brocade winter jackets with ten-pattern prints or plain brocade jackets, with small gold and silver lilac ornaments hanging from their earlobes. The governesses wore tan-colored coats with finger-width red gold bracelets on their wrists. Their expressions were bland, seemingly indifferent to everyone around them.

These must be the servants Madam Yao had brought.

Gu Jin Chao glanced at them briefly before entering the reception hall. She first paid her respects to Madam Feng, who motioned for her to sit down. Too preoccupied to speak with Jin Chao, Feng smiled and said to the woman drinking tea: “…Speaking of tea, I prefer water infused with pine nut preserves—mild yet refreshing.”

Jin Chao then looked at the woman sitting in the honored guest position. She appeared to be in her thirties, wearing a lake-blue embroidered jacket with five bats surrounding a longevity symbol. She wore a South Sea pearl headband and golden cage earrings. She was fair and plump, with an extraordinary bearing. However, her narrow eyes and somewhat high cheekbones did not make her appear approachable.

Madam Yao smiled and said: “Too much tea can be harmful to the body. The Old Madam’s habit of drinking preserve-infused water is quite good indeed.”

Madam Feng had a maid bring Madam Yao a cup of pine nut preserve-infused tea, but Madam Yao set it aside after receiving it. She asked Madam Feng: “Old Madam, I’ve been sitting here for quite some time, yet your young lady Lian hasn’t come to pay her respects.”

Madam Feng replied: “Please don’t be offended, Madam Yao. She went to speak with the sixth young lady Feng. I’ve sent someone to call her; she’ll be here shortly.”

Madam Feng couldn’t help but think that Gu Lian lacked judgment. Couldn’t she have waited to speak with others? Madam Yao would be her mother-in-law in the future. If she left a bad impression on her mother-in-law, how could she expect to have good days after marriage? Madam Yao was no simple woman—a third-rank imperial-titled lady who carried herself with absolute dignity. Only she was qualified to converse properly with Madam Yao. The Second Madam Gu and Madam Yao were the actual in-laws, yet she could only sit on the sidelines drinking tea.

When a maid announced through the curtain that the Second Young Lady had arrived, Madam Feng finally felt relieved.

Gu Lian entered together with Gu Lan, both meticulously dressed. After they curtseyed in greeting, Madam Feng beckoned Gu Lian to come forward to speak. Madam Yao’s gaze swept over Gu Lian before she smiled and said: “Young Lady Lian looks beautiful. The last time I saw you, you were just a little sprout…”

Gu Lian smiled in response: “The last time you saw me, I was only ten years old.”

This was Yao Wen Xiu’s mother, so she needed to present her very best appearance. Gu Lian immediately curtseyed again and said, “I felt I should be properly prepared to meet you, so I specifically went back to change my clothes, which is why I was delayed. Please don’t be angry with me.”

Madam Yao smiled slightly without saying anything. After a while, accompanied by the Second Madam, she went to rest in the guest room. Madam Feng maintained her smile until Madam Yao left, then glared at Gu Lian: “…What does it matter whether you changed clothes or not? You are too inconsiderate!”

Fortunately, Madam Yao hadn’t taken offense.

Gu Lian pouted with grievance: “You don’t understand. Lan and I went to visit the sixth young lady Feng, and we happened to see Yu Ming Ying there too. She was boasting about how valuable and fine her string of rose-red tourmaline beads was, and even said that my embroidered jacket looked faded and unattractive! Thinking of meeting Madam Yao, I went back to change my clothes. If you don’t believe me, just ask Cousin Lan!”

Just as Gu Lan was about to speak, she received a cold look from Madam Feng, who continued scolding Gu Lian: “She can say such things, but you cannot. How much could a string of rose-red tourmaline beads be worth? Yet you listen to her!” Fortunately, only the young ladies and maids of the Gu family were present; if others had heard, they might have thought Gu Lian envied Yu Ming Ying’s possessions.

Madam Feng then addressed Gu Lan: “You’re supposed to be the elder cousin, but you’re just as thoughtless! If your cousin Lian doesn’t understand, you should have urged her to come immediately.”

Gu Lan bit her lip and acknowledged the rebuke, but felt very wronged inside. Madam Feng was merely displacing her anger. How could she possibly have stopped Gu Lian from doing whatever she wanted? How could this be blamed on her?

Jin Chao pondered silently. Yu Ming Ying hadn’t exaggerated that much. Her string of rose-red tourmaline beads was transparent and round, each bead as large as a fingernail, truly rare. She had a string of 108 tourmaline beads, but they were the more common yellow tourmaline, not as precious as Yu Ming Ying’s.

After scolding Gu Lian a few more times, Madam Feng said: “Enough, I won’t say more. But since Yu Ming Ying has come to be your ceremonial attendant, you must still speak with her tomorrow.” She looked at all her granddaughters present, her gaze finally settling on Gu Jin Chao. The other concubine-born daughters were of insufficient status, and Gu Jin Chao was the most sensible. She immediately instructed Jin Chao: “Zhao, tomorrow you will accompany your cousin Lian to meet the Third Young Lady Yu. You are sensible, and your grandmother trusts you. Say some pleasant words… to ease the tension between the Third Young Lady Yu and Lian.”

Jin Chao thought about how her father and the others should return tomorrow…

She stood up and acknowledged the instruction.

Second Master Gu and Gu De Zhao had sent in their name cards and waited in the hall for a while before the Marquis of Chang Xing came out. After hearing what they had to say, the Marquis frowned and thought for a long time, then sent someone to invite the Old Marquis to join their discussion.

After listening, the Old Marquis asked Gu De Zhao: “…How much grain was allocated from the public granary for disaster relief this time?”

Gu De Zhao thought and replied: “Five batches will be sent out, totaling 120,000 stones. Currently, the granaries only have 90,000 stones in total.”

The Old Marquis pondered for a long while before saying: “Our Chang Xing Marquis family is currently keeping a low profile, and I’ve been telling Ye Xian to be more forbearing and avoid confrontation. If we help you this time, our Ye family will inevitably face direct opposition from Prime Minister Zhang…”

Second Master Gu’s face paled upon hearing this. He quickly bowed and said: “Old Marquis, we understand these matters. If we weren’t truly desperate, we wouldn’t have come to seek your help. If you also refuse to intervene, our Gu family will truly have nowhere to turn…”

The Old Marquis said calmly: “I didn’t say I wouldn’t help. But we need to determine how to help, to establish a proper plan…”

In others’ eyes, the Gu family naturally belonged to the Ye family faction. If the Chang Xing Marquis family allowed the Gu family to decline, what would other forces dependent on the Ye family think? Wouldn’t they adopt a ‘when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter’ mindset?

He turned and asked the Marquis of Chang Xing: “Where is Ye Xian? Why haven’t I seen him these past few days?”

The Marquis of Chang Xing shook his head: “Please don’t ask about him. He spends entire days at the Court of Judicature. His mother wanted him to meet Official He’s daughter, but couldn’t even find him…” Ye Xian had been behaving strangely lately, obtaining lists of new Hanlin Academy and Six Ministries’ examination graduates, saying he wanted to select good candidates as advisors for the Chang Xing Marquis family. Would top graduates serve as his advisors? Moreover, these new Hanlin and ministry interns weren’t suitable to be advisors anyway. It was unclear what he was trying to accomplish.

If Ye Xian were here, he might devise a solution.

The Old Marquis sighed: “He’d better not get involved in this matter; he’s already quite busy with other affairs…”

The granary shortage couldn’t be made up. Although the Chang Xing Marquis family had good relations with the Thousand Household Guard and the Five Army Camp, they couldn’t possibly open the military granaries to supplement the public ones. Besides, such a move would create too much commotion. If they could find this Sun Shi Tao, matters would be easier to handle. But now the man was certainly being controlled by Zhang Ju Lian’s people. The Marquis of Chang Xing asked Gu De Zhao: “Are these registry documents the only copies in your possession?”

Gu De Zhao smiled bitterly: “If these were truly the only copies, it would be much easier.” He would only need to destroy the documents and placate the granary officials. But in reality, copies of these documents were kept on record and submitted to the Ministry of Revenue. This meant that once someone came to transport the grain and discovered problems with the public granary’s supply, they could immediately arrest him. The Ministry of Revenue’s records would reveal that he had issued the orders, and the Court of Judicature and Censorate could determine his crimes and report to the Cabinet. Once the matter reached the Cabinet, he would have no room for maneuver.

The Old Marquis continued: “As long as Sun Shi Tao doesn’t appear, you can shift most of the responsibility onto him. The Chang Xing Marquis family can intervene in the Court of Judicature and Censorate. The concern is that these people might neither release Sun Shi Tao nor let him truly disappear…” The Old Marquis looked gravely at Gu De Zhao. “You understand my meaning. If Sun Shi Tao eventually appears but has committed suicide, no one can save you. And such a possibility is quite high.”

Gu De Zhao’s face paled. If Sun Shi Tao died, it would be interpreted as suicide due to fear of punishment. All responsibility would fall on him. If Sun Shi Tao didn’t die, the Chang Xing Marquis family could still intervene with the Court of Judicature and Censorate… But if they could anticipate this, wouldn’t others anticipate it too?