Liang Chen Mei Jin

Chapter 160: Strategy

By all accounts, she should have known about seventy to eighty percent of the Chen family's affairs. Yet now, she felt utterly uncertain.

Gu Jinzhao hesitated for a moment before instructing Cao Ziheng, "Investigate discreetly... See if Father has any connections with Lord Chen, or if there's some relationship between them that we're unaware of."

Cao Ziheng was taken aback. "The Lord Chen you speak of, Eldest Miss, is...?"

Jinzhao softly uttered a few words, "Minister of Revenue, Chen Yanyun."

Cao Ziheng's expression turned grave. He quickly cupped his hands in salute and left.

After lunch, Second Master Gu and his father took a carriage to the capital to pay a visit to Marquis Changxing.

The sixth young miss of the Dingguo Duke's Fan family arrived, accompanied by her maids, to serve as Gu Lian's ceremonial assistant. Madam Feng arranged accommodations for both Yu Mingying and the Fan family's sixth young miss in the guest quarters, assigning her own second-rank maids to attend to them.

The next day, well-wishers for Gu Lian's hair-pinning ceremony arrived one after another. No one knew that the Gu family was about to face a tremendous calamity. Even Madam Feng remained unaware, still discussing with Second Madam about inviting the Deyin Troupe to perform for a few days. The household was filled with joyous celebrations, and Gu Lian was dragged around by Madam Feng to greet this lady and that young miss, barely able to catch her breath.

Jinzhao had no interest in joining the bustle and preferred not to thrust herself into the crowd. If not for Madam Feng's summons, she wouldn't have stepped out of the Beautiful Embroidery Hall at all.

In the afternoon, the Yao family's madam arrived, and all the female relatives were called to the eastern courtyard to pay their respects. Jinzhao, accompanied by Qingpu and Caifu, made her way there. The Yao madam was the principal wife of Yao Ping, the current Grand Secretary of the Hall of Literary Glory. Yao Wenxiu was her second son, and she had no choice but to attend Gu Lian's hair-pinning ceremony.

Madam Feng and the Yao madam were conversing in the banquet and rest area. As Jinzhao approached, she saw a group of unfamiliar maids and matrons standing outside with their hands clasped respectfully. The maids wore either patterned winter coats with floral prints or plain satin winter coats, their earlobes adorned with small gold or silver clove earrings. The matrons were dressed in sandalwood-colored sleeveless jackets, their wrists adorned with finger-width gold bracelets. Their expressions were indifferent, paying no attention to passersby.

These must be the Yao madam's attendants.

Jinzhao glanced at them before entering the banquet and rest area. She first paid her respects to Madam Feng, who gestured for her to sit down. Too preoccupied to speak with Jinzhao, Madam Feng smiled and said to the woman sipping tea, "...Speaking of tea, I actually prefer pine nut preserves steeped in water—light and refreshing."

Only then did Jinzhao turn her gaze to the woman seated in the place of honor. In her thirties, she wore a lake-blue silk jacket embroidered with five bats encircling the character for longevity, a South Sea pearl headband, and gold cage earrings. Her fair and plump complexion exuded an air of nobility, though her slender eyes and high cheekbones gave her an unapproachable demeanor.

The Yao madam smiled faintly. "Too much tea can harm the body. Preserved fruits steeped in water is indeed a fine alternative."

Madam Feng had a maid serve the Yao madam a cup of pine nut preserve tea, but the latter set it aside after accepting it and asked, "Madam Feng, we've been sitting here for quite some time. Why hasn't your Lian jie er come to pay her respects?"

Madam Feng replied, "Please don't take offense, Madam Yao. She's currently chatting with the Fan family's sixth young miss. I've sent someone to fetch her—she'll be here shortly."Madam Feng couldn't help but feel that Gu Lian lacked proper judgment. Couldn't she have waited for others more gradually? Madam Yao would be her future mother-in-law. If she left a bad impression now, how could she expect good days after marriage? Madam Yao clearly wasn't someone simple either—a third-rank titled lady who carried herself with utmost dignity. Only someone like Madam Feng could exchange a few words with her. As for Second Madam Gu, the actual in-law relation, she could only sit on the sidelines sipping tea.

When the maid announced from behind the curtain that Second Miss had arrived, Madam Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Lian entered with Gu Lan, both dressed meticulously. After curtsying, Madam Feng motioned for Gu Lian to come forward. Madam Yao's gaze swept over Gu Lian before she smiled and said, "Lian jie er looks lovely today. Last time I saw you, you were still like a little sprout..."

Gu Lian replied with a smile, "That was when I was ten years old."

This was Yao Wenxiu's mother—she needed to present her best demeanor. Gu Lian curtsied again. "Lian jie er wanted to appear proper when meeting you, so I went back to change my clothes. That's why I was delayed. Please don't be cross with me."

Madam Yao merely smiled without comment before being escorted by Second Madam to the guest quarters. Only after Madam Yao left did Madam Feng glare at Gu Lian. "What does changing clothes matter? You truly lack judgment!"

Fortunately, Madam Yao hadn't taken offense.

Gu Lian pouted indignantly. "You don't understand! Lan Er and I went to play with the sixth young miss of the Fan family and happened to see Yu Mingying there too. She kept boasting about how precious and exquisite her pink tourmaline bracelet was, even saying my embroidered jacket looked faded and shabby! That's why I changed before meeting Madam Yao. If you don't believe me, ask Lan Er!"

Just as Gu Lan was about to speak, Madam Feng shot her a cold look before continuing to scold Gu Lian. "Such words may come from her, but never from you. How valuable could a pink tourmaline bracelet possibly be? Don't listen to her nonsense!" Thankfully, only the Gu family's young ladies and maids were present—others might think Gu Lian coveted Yu Mingying's possessions.

Madam Feng then turned to Gu Lan. "You're the elder cousin here. Even if your younger cousin lacks sense, you should know better! You should have urged her to come immediately."

Gu Lan bit her lip in assent, though inwardly she felt wronged. Madam Feng was misdirecting her anger—how could she possibly stop Gu Lian from doing as she pleased? Why was this being pinned on her?

Jinchao mused silently that Yu Mingying hadn't exaggerated—her pink tourmaline bracelet was indeed remarkable, with each translucent bead the size of a fingernail, extremely rare. She herself owned a 108-bead yellow tourmaline bracelet, more common and less valuable than Yu Mingying's.Madam Feng admonished Gu Lian a few more times before saying, "Enough, I can't be bothered to lecture you further. But Yu Mingying came to be your bridesmaid, so you must go speak with her properly tomorrow." She glanced at her granddaughters present, her gaze settling on Gu Jinchao. The other granddaughters born of concubines weren't suitable—Gu Jinchao was the most sensible. She then instructed Gu Jinchao, "Chaojie, tomorrow you'll accompany your cousin Lian to meet Third Miss Yu. You're sensible, and I trust you to say the right things... to help ease the tension between Third Miss Yu and Lianjie."

Jinchao thought to herself that her father and the others should be returning tomorrow...

She stood up and acknowledged the request.

Second Master Gu and Gu Dezhao had submitted their name cards and waited in the hall for some time before Marquis Changxing finally appeared. After hearing their matter, the Marquis frowned in thought for a long while before summoning the old Marquis to discuss it together.

The old Marquis asked Gu Dezhao, "...How much grain from the Tong Granary was allocated for this disaster relief?"

Gu Dezhao thought for a moment before replying, "Five batches in total, amounting to 120,000 dan. Currently, the granaries only have 90,000 dan combined."

The old Marquis pondered for a long while before saying, "Our Changxing Marquis household has been keeping a low profile recently. I've been advising Ye Xian to exercise restraint and avoid confrontation. If we help you now, our Ye family will inevitably clash directly with Chief Minister Zhang..."

Second Master Gu paled upon hearing this and quickly clasped his hands, "Old Marquis, we understand these considerations. We wouldn't have come to you unless we were truly desperate. If even you won't intervene, our Gu family truly has nowhere left to turn..."

The old Marquis said calmly, "I didn't say we wouldn't help. But we need a proper plan for how to do so..."

To outsiders, the Gu family was clearly part of the Ye faction. If the Changxing Marquis household allowed the Gu family to collapse, what would other factions aligned with the Ye family think? Wouldn't they start abandoning ship?

He turned to Marquis Changxing and asked, "Where's Ye Xian? I haven't seen him these past few days."

Marquis Changxing shook his head, "Don't ask about him. He's been spending all his time at the Court of Judicial Review lately. His mother wanted him to meet the daughter of Minister He, but she can't even find him..." Ye Xian had been acting strangely recently, collecting lists of new Scholars of the Two Boards from the Imperial Academy and the Six Ministries, saying he wanted to select good candidates to serve as advisors to the Changxing Marquis household. As if Scholars of the Two Boards would become his advisors! Besides, these new scholars observing government affairs in the Imperial Academy and Six Ministries weren't suitable for advisory roles. It was impossible to understand what he was doing.

If Ye Xian were here, he might have been able to think of a solution.

The old Marquis sighed, "Better he doesn't get involved in this matter. He has enough on his plate already..."

The granary shortfall couldn't be covered. Although the Changxing Marquis household had good relations with the Thousand Households Camp and Five Armies Battalion, they couldn't possibly open military granaries to make up the civilian shortfall. And the scale would be too conspicuous. If they could find this Sun Shitao, then there might be a way. But he was undoubtedly being controlled by Zhang Julian's people now. Marquis Changxing asked Gu Dezhao, "Is the registration document only in your possession?"Gu Dezhao gave a bitter smile. "If it were only this one document in my hands, things would be much simpler." All he would need to do was destroy the document and bribe the warehouse officials. But in reality, these documents were all recorded in ledgers and submitted to the Ministry of Revenue. In other words, as soon as someone came to transport the grain and discovered the issues with the Tong Warehouse, he could be immediately arrested. The Ministry of Revenue's records would then reveal that it was his order, allowing the Court of Judicial Review and the Censorate to determine his guilt and report it to the Grand Secretariat. Once it reached the Grand Secretariat, there would be no room for maneuver.

The old marquis continued, "As long as Sun Shitao doesn’t appear, you can shift most of the blame onto him. The Marquis Changxing’s family has influence in both the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review. What I fear is that these people neither release Sun Shitao nor let him truly disappear..." The old marquis looked gravely at Gu Dezhao. "You understand what I mean. If Sun Shitao eventually appears but is found dead by suicide, no one can save you. And that possibility is very high."

Gu Dezhao’s face paled. If Sun Shitao died, it would be seen as suicide out of guilt, and all the blame would fall on him. If Sun Shitao didn’t die, the Marquis Changxing’s family could still intervene in the Court of Judicial Review and the Censorate... But could they really outthink their opponents?