After the latest banquet hosted in the palace by the Emperor, three stories circulated and became household topics in the capital.First, Rui w.a.n.g was gay so he annulled his engagement with the Jiang"s first miss. When the prince managed to clear his name, three days had already pa.s.sed and quite a number of ladies were already sent crying, lamenting why another handsome man fell to the dark side.
Second, the Jiang"s first miss and Chen w.a.n.g were in love with each other. This was the reason why after the Emperor approved the dissolution of the betrothal, the former immediately cried in delight and jumped into Chen w.a.n.g"s arms.
Most from the upper ranks who heard of this tale snorted and thought, "What a joke! She threw herself against a pillar, and the prince just happened to save her! Whoever spread this beautified tale is obviously just doing so to clear her bad reputation. Hah, let"s see if Chen w.a.n.g doesn"t smack her down!"
While these people brainstormed to guess what would happen to the one who courageously created this rumor, the courageous one they were talking about was busy investigating the people involved in the third news.
A day after the banquet, Hai w.a.n.g requested an audience with the emperor and asked for a decree to give the first miss of the Sheng family to him. On the same day, he proposed and sent a hundred chests full of valuables to the prime minister"s estate as betrothal gifts.
Jiang Li didn"t know if this was because it was a formal event starring the male lead, but even though Hai w.a.n.g was not as popular as him and Rui w.a.n.g, the high-profile proposal became the greatest talk of the week.
...
It was in the afternoon of the second day that Lady Lu, his mother, visited his residence to confirm the validity of the stories. Apparently, even though the middle-aged lady was anxious for the 24-years-old oddball who was sought after but had neither wife nor concubine, she didn"t consent to the idea of welcoming Jiang Ying Yue into the house.
for visiting.
"Please forgive your mother for being like this. But, believe me, I"m saying all of these with your future and reputation in mind. Rui w.a.n.g has just annulled his engagement with that young lady and all the other aristocratic families know. A prince like him would not just do things on a whim. There must be something wrong with her. My son, how about you just pick someone from the royal family or the other first-rank families?"
He placed his tea cup down the low table. "I will think about it."
The madam was not discouraged by his lackl.u.s.ter response. "My son, to be honest, I"ve brought the portraits of the fairest unmarried ladies in the empire with me. Let"s take a look at them together. Maybe one of them will capture your heart!"
Jiang Li did not reply and only rolled his eyes at her. The madam instantly froze, asking herself numerous times if she had seen wrong. She felt that her eyes were playing with her because the son she was most proud of was very filial and courteous. There was no way he would do something childish and ungentlemanly, right?
It was when she was busy gulping down her tea to calm herself down that Mao Hong entered the audience room and walked to Jiang Li"s side. The man did not forget to salute at them before speaking in a low voice. "Your Highness, two of our people had just come back and said that something went wrong in that place."
Jiang Li looked at him with a frown on his face, before raising his hand to stop Mao Hong from speaking. He realized the man was referring to the grand marshal"s residence.
"... For some reason, I feel that the plot is going against me again."
"Mother, please forgive your son"s impudence, but it seems there is an urgent military issue that I need to talk about with my deputy." He stood up while Mao Hong bowed to the madam.
Lady Lu was confused. "Didn"t His Majesty give you a month of vacation?"
Jiang Li lied with a straight face. "Indeed, but something came up in the new training camp. I can"t leave it alone since I"m registered as one of the head instructors."
Lady Lu had doubts in her heart, but after remembering his son doesn"t know how to lie, she had no choice but nod and go back to her own building.
When the woman left, Jiang Li asked what happened.
Mao Hong reported that the Jiang family cut ties with Jiang Ying Yue. She was accused of causing the miscarriage of one of the marshal"s pregnant concubine. And since conclusive pieces of evidence were presented, she was taken for a malicious woman and was immediately driven out of the house.
"I need to see her situation for myself."
With no expression on his face, he rode his horse into the bustling streets with his attendant leading the way.
"Your Highness, according to Xun He, Miss Jiang insisted on not leaving the Jiang estate"s gate and is still pleading for mercy and justice. Once we arrive, she should still be there." The Xun He he was referring to was Chen w.a.n.g"s other loyal attendant.
Jiang Li nodded. However, he had a feeling this would not be the case once he gets there. In the original plot, she also did that, and when the marshal got annoyed by her wails, he ordered one of the manservants to drag her away. She almost ended up sold to a brothel, yet even though she managed to escape, traffickers caught her not long after.
He complained in his mind, "...I feel like the marshal needs to be educated about family management and scheming. If he"s right in the head, he would have first confirmed if I really took a liking to his daughter before driving her out of his home. Why did he not do that? Why is he making my life difficult?"
Deep inside, he knew it was the plot machinating this situation. But reason rarely gets into an angry person"s head. This becomes especially true when the person was unreasonable to begin with.
"That d.a.m.n old man, if I don"t teach him a lesson after this, I"m not Jiang Li!"
He followed Mao Hong into taking another turn to the left. At this point, they were only around a kilometer away from where Jiang Ying Yue should be. However, to his annoyance, the next street turned out to be packed with a watertight crowd. It was simply impossible to go through.
The other thing that annoyed him was when they were about to take a detour, a voice rang behind, stopping them from advancing. Ling is MC"s given name