Ming Tan felt something was amiss. She had initially intended to merely tarnish the Ling Guo Gong family’s reputation, yet unexpectedly, it led to the entire household’s demotion in rank and position.
Upon closer examination, it seemed extraordinary that a domestic matter could shake a centuries-old noble family. However, Bai Minmin saw nothing unusual about it. She remarked nonchalantly, “Those who commit too many wrongs will eventually destroy themselves. If we could uncover the Ling Hou couple’s misdeeds, surely others would know about the scandals of their other branches. This family disgrace led to revelations of official misconduct… It’s like a thousand-mile dyke crumbling from an ant hole. What’s so strange about that?”
Put that way, it seemed logical and made sense.
Ming Tan pondered but couldn’t pinpoint what felt off, so she decided not to dwell on it further.
Bai Minmin continued, “By the way, when do you plan to return? Now that the Ling Hou family’s reputation is in shambles, no one will blame you for breaking off the engagement. Spring is here, and all the noble houses are busy organizing flower-viewing banquets.”
Reminded of this, Ming Tan cupped her face in her hands and sighed, “I promised to pray for blessings for forty-nine days. Naturally, I must stay the full duration. How could I leave halfway through?”
Zhou Jingwan chimed in, “Atan makes a fair point. It’s only a month more. I find this place quite serene. It’s good for Atan to calm her mind and nurture her spirit. If the vegetarian fare doesn’t suit you, I can have my household staff deliver pastries daily.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Ming Tan sighed again, her small face puffed up by her palms. She sounded a bit worried, “While pastries are more palatable than vegetarian meals, by the time I return home, summer won’t be far off.”
Summer attire was light and thin. How could she achieve a graceful figure with slender shoulders and a willowy waist if she indulged in pastries daily?
In the face of maintaining her figure, pastries were inconsequential.
Zhou Jingwan, another typical noble lady of the capital, nodded in agreement.
Only Bai Minmin, upon understanding, rolled her eyes dramatically. Her face screamed, “When it comes to being pretentious, no one in the capital could surpass the Ming family’s Atan.”
However, after carefully counting the days, Bai Minmin suddenly remembered something. “Oh right, the spring imperial examinations should conclude by mid-next month. When you return home, you might catch the new Top Scholar’s victory parade through the streets.”
This year’s spring examinations should have started when Ming Tingyan returned to the capital, but due to inauspicious celestial signs observed by the Imperial Astronomers, everything had been postponed by half a month.
Ming Tan calculated the dates and realized Bai Minmin was correct.
Bai Minmin grew excited and hurriedly said, “I’ll send someone to Huichun Tower in the next couple of days to reserve a street-facing room! The victory parade will start from Zhengde Gate, so it must pass by Huichun Tower. If Second Young Master Shu passes the exam, the streets will surely be packed that day!”
Ming Tan questioned, “How can you be so sure he’ll pass?”
“Given Second Young Master Shu’s intellect, achieving the top rank shouldn’t be difficult,” Zhou Jingwan commented softly.
“Exactly!” Bai Minmin agreed.
“But come to think of it, Second Young Master Shu should be considering marriage after the examinations. I wonder what kind of wife such a refined gentleman would take.”
“Hey, do you think he might marry a princess?”
“But there are no princesses of suitable age right now…”
Bai Minmin continued her musings, finally adding with regret, “If my mother hadn’t already arranged a match for me, our Bai family wouldn’t be bad. We could have sent someone to propose, and maybe Second Young Master Shu would have agreed in a moment of confusion.”
“Though someone like Second Young Master Shu is better admired from afar. If you married him, without some literary talent to keep up with his poetry, how would you manage daily life?”
Appearance, literary talent, family background, stature…
It did align with her wishes.
Ming Tan nodded silently as she made mental comparisons.
After a while, as Bai Minmin’s chatter had shifted from Second Young Master Shu to another handsome man in the capital, Ming Tan abruptly asked, “What do you think of me?”
“What do you mean, ‘what do we think’?”
Both Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan looked puzzled.
Ming Tan cleared her throat, sat up straight, assuming her usual noble lady demeanor, and said, “How would it be if Second Young Master Shu were to take a wife like me? Wouldn’t we make a good match?”
Bai Minmin: “…”
Zhou Jingwan: “…”
Ming Tan continued seriously, “Though Second Young Master Shu has some shortcomings, such as his complex family relations, his mother being from a prestigious family and very particular about etiquette, and having many admirers, making it difficult to maintain a peaceful household. However, in terms of appearance and character, he’s quite acceptable among the young masters of the capital.”
“You even thought Liang Zixuan was decent, but now Second Young Master Shu is just ‘acceptable’? Your standards for choosing a husband are getting higher and higher,” Bai Minmin blurted out her confusion.
Ming Tan replied righteously, “Is that not allowed? It’s precisely because of the lesson learned from the Liang family that this young lady must be extra cautious in considering marriage! As for Second Young Master Shu, let’s see if he can achieve top rank in the spring examinations before we discuss further.”
“Then I must go offer three incense sticks to Buddha, asking the old man to bless Second Young Master Shu not to make it onto the list this examination, lest he fall victim to your schemes!”
“…?”
“Bai Minmin! Stop right there!”
Bai Minmin: “I won’t! Choosing a husband for yourself, have you no shame!”
Ming Tan: “Didn’t you just say you wanted to marry too? You’re the shameless one!”
…
As the three friends laughed and joked in Lingmiao Temple, far away in the Prime Minister’s mansion, Shu Jingran, who was studying, suddenly sneezed.
He raised his hand, signaling the maid to close the window. He thought to himself: I heard that today, Lu Ting specially invited Jiang Xu to observe the imperial guard’s drill at the training ground, and Zhang Huaiyu also went to join the excitement. Could it be that these three are plotting something against me behind my back?
Ever since that day, he left the Wang mansion, Shu Jingran had been worried that Jiang Xu would directly request an imperial decree for marriage, forcibly pairing him with that Fourth Young Lady from Jing’an Hou’s family.
It wasn’t that he had any prejudice against that Fourth Young Lady, but how could marriage be taken so lightly? Moreover, he had many ambitions to establish himself and currently had no intention of starting a family.
However, this time, the three were wrongly suspected.
Jiang Xu and Lu Ting were men of few words to begin with, and during training, they had no mind to discuss other matters. Zhang Huaiyu had eagerly gone to join the excitement but couldn’t get a word in edgewise. He ended up standing in the sun for two hours, parched and throat burning.
To make matters worse, when the drill ended, Lu Ting asked him why he was still there, wondering if he wanted to compete.
Zhang Huaiyu, frantically fanning himself, couldn’t understand how he had befriended such a rough brute who only knew fighting and killing. In the end, he left in a huff, silently vowing never to go out and invite trouble again before Shu’er finished his exams.
By the time Zhang Huaiyu left the training ground, it was nearly dusk. Jiang Xu also had other military matters to attend to. As Lu Ting walked him out, they discussed the redeployment of the imperial city guard during the spring examinations.
As they were discussing, suddenly a secret guard led a palace eunuch over.
“This servant pays respects to Wang Ye and the Commander,” the eunuch greeted Jiang Xu and Lu Ting in his high-pitched voice, then bowed respectfully and said, “Wang Ye, His Majesty summons you to the Imperial Study tonight.”
Jiang Xu grunted in acknowledgment.
The eunuch bowed again and retreated, hurrying back to the palace to report.
The secret guard, however, didn’t leave. He stepped forward to report another matter to Jiang Xu.
Lu Ting had no interest in listening to matters of the Wang mansion.
He deliberately walked away, instructing his subordinates on their duties.
However, Jiang Xu showed no intention of keeping things private. Even from a distance, words like “two years ago,” “Spring Outing Festival,” and “Hanyan Temple” drifted to Lu Ting’s ears.
— He wondered which unfortunate soul had offended the Prince of Beiding, for even matters from two years ago were being settled.
Lu Ting thought this way, not noticing that after hearing the secret guard’s report, Jiang Xu fell silent for a while, for reasons unknown.
—
As night fell, the palace was vast and quiet. In the deep darkness, a faint floral fragrance drifted.
A favored consort gracefully approached the Imperial Study to deliver soup.
The eunuch bowed and stopped her, saying only, “His Majesty is discussing important matters with the Prince of Beiding,” which made the woman, who had intended to act coy outside the room, retreat sullenly.
Inside the Imperial Study, candles burned brightly, and the scent of agarwood was thick.
Jiang Xu stood with his hands behind his back before the desk, getting straight to the point, “Why has Your Majesty summoned me?”
The Chengkang Emperor gestured for him to sit.
He didn’t move.
The Chengkang Emperor didn’t insist.
“Nothing in particular. I just feel that the handling of the Liang family matter was quite appropriate.”
No more inheriting titles at the same rank, no more imperial favor.
The Ling Guo Gong family would decline within two generations.
The Ling Guo Gong himself was quite mediocre, not a threat. However, the important positions in the Ministry of Personnel held by his other branches had always been coveted by the Chengkang Emperor for his preferred candidates.
Of course, more importantly, since the founding of the Da Xian dynasty, there have been many aristocratic families. Some were incompetent, holding empty titles and receiving unearned salaries, while others were overly powerful. Gradually clearing out the prominent ones served as a warning to those who followed.
In fact, in recent years, with his power consolidated, he could have done some things earlier. However, he didn’t want to act without justification and risk criticism, nor could he make too big a move and cause upheaval.
This time, the Ling Guo Gong family had brought trouble upon themselves. In the eyes of the world, he, as the ruler, appeared to want to protect them but was powerless against the verbal attacks of the officials. All the emotions seemed to be reluctant measures.
Avoiding criticism while easily dealing with the matter was exactly what he wanted.
The Chengkang Emperor was quite pleased with himself, but Jiang Xu stood silently, showing no reaction. Going along with the flow was not worth mentioning to him.
The Chengkang Emperor came to his senses, seeing that Jiang Xu was already somewhat impatient as if he might say “If there’s nothing else, this subject will take his leave” at any moment. He hurriedly picked up a booklet and stood up, getting to the main point.
“The last time at the palace banquet, you left in a hurry and didn’t get a good look at the young ladies,” he patted Jiang Xu’s shoulder with the booklet, earnestly saying, “This is a list of noble young ladies specially compiled by the Empress. It even has small portraits. Although not as detailed as those from the imperial selection, it’s enough to see their appearances. After all, they are unmarried ladies, so we can’t just summon them to the palace for portraits. When you have time, take a look. Don’t let the efforts of the Empress and me go to waste.”
“…”
Jiang Xu accepted it.
The Chengkang Emperor felt slightly relieved. However, mentioning marriage reminded him of another matter.
“By the way, recently there have been frequent summons to Shoukang Palace. It seems they’re planning the marriage for the Jing’an Hou’s family. Axu, what are your thoughts on this?”
In his view, naturally, it would be proper to arrange a marriage for Jing’an Hou’s family before Shoukang Palace could act.
However, he hadn’t yet decided on a suitable candidate.
Earlier, when Jiang Xu said he wanted to keep Jing’an Hou’s family in check, he had agreed. But how long that could last was anyone’s guess. Therefore, whoever married into that family needed to be prepared for all possibilities, including becoming a second wife.
Just as the Chengkang Emperor was mentally going through suitable candidates, Jiang Xu suddenly placed the list of noble ladies on the table and said indifferently, “I’ll marry her.”