Chapter 99 Part 1: Resolve
h.e.l.lo! It’s March already! Time flew so fast this year…
It’s always very busy for me at the beginning of the month with the closing of last month’s transaction and the planning for the next month finance, so aside from the normal schedule, I noticed there’s always no post for the first Tuesday of the month this year ^^!
Jiang Li stood calmly at Li Zheng Tang’s entrance.
When the words “Chief a.s.sistant Jiang’s di daughter” came out, the crowd suddenly fell into silence for a period of time.
After all, Xiangyang wasn’t Yanjing, the capital city. The people in the distant Xiangyang, upon hearing that there’s someone who became an official in Yanjing, were already full of admiration. Not to mention the scholarly chief a.s.sistant. At this moment, the people recalled the little daughter, Ye Zhen Zhen from the Ye family many years ago. Wasn’t she the one married to the present chief a.s.sistant, Jiang Yuan Bai? It’s just that afterwards, Ye Zhen Zhen pa.s.sed away and the Ye family and the Jiang family did not have any contact with each other for over ten years. Thus the people in Xiangyang gradually tossed this thing into the back of their heads.
Now, Jiang Li took the initiative to mention her ident.i.ty. Thinking how Ye Jia Er called Jiang Li with “younger sister”, in addition, looking at Jiang Li’s attire and manners that was not like a small family’s young lady, the common people who were causing disturbances believed seven points.
“Even if you are the young lady from the Jiang family, you must not take advantage of your position and bully people!” A male with a long, thin face said among the crowd. After saying this sentence, he immediately hid behind a robust man, seemingly wanting to conceal his face.
“Yes, how can you use your position to bully people!”
“The Jiang family wants to protect their in-laws, the Ye family. The government officials are colluding with the merchants!”
The words of the long, thin faced man immediately set the crowd on fire again. Ye Jia Er looked at Jiang Li with worry. There’s nothing they could do if something happened to the Ye family, but the people linked the Ye family and the Jiang family together, and also splashed dirty water onto the Jiang family. Jiang Yuan Bai was an important official in Yanjing, if troubles were incurred, how would this be okay.
Ye Ru Feng also knitted his brows tightly.
Jiang Li didn’t move, merely standing in her original place with a smile plastered on her face. She didn’t immediately retorted in anger, neither did she treat the words in agreement and lost her head out of fear. Her smile was as flat as water, her gaze gentle and soft, but there seemed to be an invisible dignity which made the people quieted down unconsciously when they met her eyes.
The crowd gradually calmed down.
Only then did Jiang Li open her mouth to speak. She said: “Our Jiang family, even towards our own daughter, was not lenient. My father is most clear and most just, how would he speak to cover up?”
Everyone then recalled, how many years ago, this n.o.ble daughter was sent to the nunnery for harming her mother and murdering her younger brother. So to speak, Jiang Yan Bai indeed was not a person who would shield his close relatives.
However, she just reminded others about her own misdeeds, was this really okay?
Ye Jia Er and Ye Ru Feng looked at each other, each of them was somewhat puzzled.
Jiang Li definitely did not care how other people looked at her. She merely asked: “Dare to ask everyone, how did all of you find out that there’s a problem with the ancient fragrant satin?”
“All the ready-made clothes shops say so!” A madam who was at the frontmost replied: “Now the entire Xiangyang already knows that Magistrate Tong brought the Ye family’s eldest master to the government official to try the case!”
Try the case?
Jiang Li smiled sarcastically in her mind. As it turns out, this was their intention. Her thoughts became clearer and the smile on her face became more sincere. She just said: “I am not aware, since when does the government official take care of matters involving weaving.”
These words had no rhyme nor reason. Someone asked: “What do you mean by that?”
Jiang Li smiled and said: “The highest official in Xiangyang is probably Tong Zhi Yang, this prefectural magistrate. The way I see it, Tong Zhi Yang manages his official duties too widely, even what he should and should not handle is overlooked.”
She addressed Tong Zhi Yang directly by name, frightening the surrounding people, not expecting a girl to be this bold and arrogant. But on second thought, she should dare to just call Tong Zhi Yang’s name in front of his face. After all, there’s a chief a.s.sistant’s father backing her up.
“As a matter of fact, it’s not wrong for Tong Zhi Yang to be in charge of the dead person, but I’ve never heard that the problem with weaving is still handled by this prefectural magistrate. If everything happened only in Xiangyang, then it’s fine, but the Ye family’s ancient fragrant satin is not only sold to the people in Xiangyang, there are many high officials and n.o.ble people wearing it in Yanjing. If it was as you said, the ancient fragrant satin causes death to people, it is not a random matter. I think, aside from Xiangyang, the ancient fragrant satin in other places should have problems too.”
“Then the madams and young ladies in Yanjing are also harmed because of the ancient fragrant satin, then the wave will be very big. Such a huge matter, related to the life and death of the people in the entire Northern Yan, is grasped in the hand of a minor Tong Zhi Yang. I think he had a huge amount of courage!”
The final words were said with heavy tones, extremely severe, making people’s hearts tremble with fear.
When Ah Shun heard this, he really wanted to slap the table and shout praises at this miss cousin. It’s originally the Ye family’s trouble, being discussed in a few words by Jiang second miss, a good thing seemed to have been achieved. And Jiang Li was even beating Tong Zhi Yang upside down, at this time, scolding Tong Zhi Yang like a dog, making him feel extremely refreshed.
Both Ah Shun and Ye Ming Yu were like the people of the rivers and lakes, hating to see Tong Zhi Yang’s pretentious bureaucratic way. Unfortunately, the Ye family must not offend Tong Zhi Yang. Who let the person to be Xiangyang’s highest official? But Jiang Li dared to speak, dared to scold, and dared to put pressure.
Just no idea how Tong Zhi Yang would feel when these words reached his ears.
Sure enough, the words exported by Jiang Li shook many people. One person asked cautiously and solemnly: “Second Miss Jiang, this matter should not be handled by Magistrate Tong, then who should be in charge?”
“Of course it’s the Weaving Unit Government Office in Yanjing. The entire country’s weaving problems are all taken care of by the Weaving Unit Government Office, without exception. If you really say that the Ye family’s ancient fragrant satin has problems, you should write the problem clearly, then send it to the Weaving Unit Government Office through the magistrate. The Weaving Unit Government Office would dispatch an official to go to Xiangyang and investigate this matter thoroughly.” Jiang Li said. “Tong Zhi Yang actually directly arrested people to try the case, yet didn’t report the problem to the Weaving Unit at all, what does he actually want to do? Way I see it, he just wants to cover the Ye family!”
“Not only deliberately distort the truth, you see her skill in taking advantage of her position to bully people, she used it very skillfully.” Ji Heng said.
After Jiang Li finished speaking, the crowd was at a loss and absent-minded. All of them were common people, even if there was a government official, it was just a sesame seed, mung bean official1. How would they know these official positions in Yanjing? They were even more unclear about this weaving manufacture thing. Jiang Li’s speech was organized and thorough, it didn’t seem to be made up.
Footnotes:
1: small and insignificant 1.:leftwards_arrow_with_hook: