Lu Guanyi did not hide the matter of his former fiancée’s death from falling off a horse from the Ye family. When he privately introduced his family situation to Ye Yaming, he immediately told her about this incident.
Later, when Ye Chongming went to see him, he explained this matter to Ye Chongming as well.
After hearing about the many outrageous schemes of Lu Guanyi’s stepmother Madam Shi, Old Madam Ye became increasingly worried: “You said that Young Master Lu’s deceased fiancée was from such a distinguished family, yet she was still killed by Madam Shi. Afterward, she arranged so many unsavory marriage prospects to entrap Young Master Lu. Now that Young Master Lu wants to bypass her to become engaged to our family, won’t she use some underhanded methods to deal with us?”
“I asked Young Master Lu this question too. He said that he hadn’t taken action against Madam Shi before because he was young and his wings weren’t fully grown. Now he not only can protect himself but also the ability to protect us. He told us not to worry, that he would resolve this problem.”
Seeing his wife frown, he said, “It’s not that I believe him based on these vague statements. I mainly trust Ming’er. Young Master Lu said he had discussed this issue with Ming’er, and since it involves matters of the imperial court, he couldn’t explain the details to me. I figured, since Ming’er agreed to the marriage, it must mean there’s no problem, so I didn’t pry further.”
Hearing this, Old Madam Ye was still uneasy.
She knew her husband’s character—he valued the Ye family legacy more than his own life. The benefits of Ye Yaming marrying Lu Guanyi were too great, as it could elevate the entire Ye family’s status and strength. She worried that Ye Chongming might have played on Ye Yaming’s emotions for the sake of the family, persuading her to agree to this marriage.
Although that girl Ming’er appeared cold and aloof, she valued relationships more than anyone.
Only women truly understand women—how difficult life can be when marrying into a family of unequal status is something only women know.
Old Madam Ye felt deeply obligated to protect her granddaughter and not let her sacrifice her happiness for the family’s benefit.
“Mei’er, go and call the Third Miss here. I have something to discuss with her,” she instructed her maid.
Shortly afterward, Mei’er returned with Ye Yaming and Bai Rui.
Ye Yaming explained to Old Madam Ye: “Young Master Lu did tell me about some matters concerning the imperial court. Although he was somewhat vague because it involved court affairs, I could still analyze that his methods are feasible. Once their actions begin, Madam Shi will likely have no energy left to cause trouble for me.”
Lu Guanyi spoke ambiguously, but Ye Yaming could understand.
Recently, she had sent Fang Xing to the capital not only to inquire about Meng Chengwei’s affairs but also to investigate the factions at court.
Throughout dynasties, there have always been civilian political analysts near the imperial palace. Some people who spend their days in teahouses have relatives among the nobles and high officials, or are familiar with their stewards and servants, allowing them to speak knowledgeably about the political situation.
Fang Xing verified and identified what he believed to be accurate information, summarizing and reporting it to Ye Yaming. Ye Yaming then further verified and filtered this information based on news received from Ye Hongchang’s side.
According to her knowledge, the capital was currently divided into roughly three factions. First was the royalist faction, which only supported the old Emperor, including the neutral faction that didn’t take sides. This faction had the most members.
Second was the Crown Prince’s party.
The Crown Prince was the legitimate heir, with excellent character, temperament, and abilities, thus gaining the support of many senior officials. The old Emperor had also shown no intention of replacing the Crown Prince.
Lastly was the Fourth Prince’s party.
The Fourth Prince had only recently come of age, and his abilities naturally couldn’t compare to the Crown Prince’s. However, when Empress Yuan died, the Great Jin Dynasty experienced a political crisis. To stabilize the situation, the current Emperor married the eldest daughter of Duke Wei, who controlled military power, the sister of Lu Guanyi’s stepmother, Empress Shi.
Duke Wei was now sixty-five years old. Among his sons, only his second son, Shi Kun, had military talent, but he could only command the army during peacetime. Once war broke out, he would likely fail. That’s why he had set his sights on Lu Guanyi’s father, Lu Yongzhong, and used every means to marry his fourth daughter to him.
After all, although Lu Yongzhong was his subordinate at the time, he was loyal only to the Emperor, not to the Shi family. Once there was conflict at the border, Lu Yongzhong would stand out. Then, for the sake of maintaining balance, the Emperor would surely promote him to counterbalance the Shi family’s military power.
Seeing the future crisis facing the Shi family, Duke Wei took decisive action, directly making Lu Yongzhong his son-in-law before he could rise to prominence. This way, regardless of whether Lu Yongzhong was loyal only to the Emperor, he would be labeled as part of the Shi family. No matter how brave and skilled in battle he was, he could only serve the Shi family’s interests and couldn’t be used by the Emperor to check the Shi family’s power.
This was what Ye Yaming had concluded and verified from the materials collected by Fang Xing and Ye Hongchang, as well as from Lu Guanyi’s vague words.
From Lu Guanyi’s scattered remarks, she sensed that after Lu Yongzhong discovered his first wife had died at the hands of the Shi family, he had determined to destroy the Shi family. This aligned with the wishes of both the Emperor and the Crown Prince.
She speculated that when Lu Guanyi had desperately sought the Crown Prince’s patronage, on the surface, it was because his stepmother Madam Shi was persecuting him and he needed protection, but in reality, it was a move orchestrated by Lu Yongzhong.
If the Crown Prince accepted Lu Guanyi and protected him, it meant the Crown Prince was also willing to accept Lu Yongzhong, essentially allying with them.
Over these years, Lu Yongzhong had appeared deeply in love with Madam Shi, even having a son with her, while ignoring Lu Guanyi and even allowing Madam Shi to persecute his eldest son. This might have been to lull the Shi family into complacency, making Duke Wei lower his guard, so Lu Yongzhong could undermine his brother-in-law Shi Kun’s power in the military and seize control of the army.
This time, the Crown Prince sending Lu Guanyi to the army under the Northern General served two purposes: first, to allow him to establish merit so he could follow in his father’s footsteps; second, to prevent Duke Wei’s household from taking desperate measures during Lu Yongzhong’s power grab by using Lu Guanyi as a hostage, placing Lu Yongzhong in a dilemma.
Once Lu Guanyi went to the border, and the Crown Prince and Lu Yongzhong initiated their struggle for military power, Lu Guanyi’s stepmother, Madam Shi, would be caught in a difficult position between her father, brother, and husband. With her hands full, how could she have the energy to trouble Ye Yaming?
However, Lu Guanyi had told Ye Yaming that his engagement to her would certainly anger Madam Shi. Once his father made his move and Lu Guanyi was at the border, Madam Shi would have no way to vent her anger and might take it out on Ye Yaming.
Therefore, once Lu Yongzhong took action, Lu Guanyi would send someone to notify Ye Yaming, telling her where to go to avoid the storm and prevent any leaks.
Originally, for Ye Yaming’s safety, even if they were engaged, they could keep it private to avoid unnecessary trouble from Madam Shi.
Unfortunately, at this juncture, Meng Chengwei had drawn Duke Ying’s household into the matter.
Duke Ying was old and had no successor, so he could no longer hold onto military power. But even a broken ship has three nails, and he still had some disciples and old associates, some of whom remembered the Duke’s past support and recognition. Therefore, during the struggle between the Crown Prince’s party and the Fourth Prince’s faction backed by Duke Wei, it would be unwise to involve Duke Ying’s faction as well.