The next day, after the morning court session, in the imperial study.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant is here to see you." Prince Lian knelt down and kowtowed to Dali. The emperor had just lost his temper at the morning court today and had scolded several officials, two of whom belonged to the second prince's faction. He dared to ask for an audience at this time, and he had a certain plan in mind.
"No need to be so polite, my dear minister." The emperor said calmly, his voice was majestic without any emotion.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Prince Lian stood up and stood respectfully aside. As the emperor's close minister, he could hear that the emperor was in a bad mood at the moment.
"What is the matter that Congjia wants to see you at this time?" The emperor sat high on the throne and looked at him expressionlessly.
Prince Lian was calm and composed, his respectful voice was filled with concern: "I saw that the emperor was in a bad mood, and I was very worried, so I came to see you."
When the emperor heard what he said, he sighed softly, but his expression relaxed: "Congjia, there is no need to be polite. Please sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The eunuch quickly brought a chair, and Prince Lian bowed before sitting down.
"Why does this child become restless as he grows up?" The emperor seemed to be talking to himself, but also seemed to be talking to him.
Prince Lian's heart was like a raging storm, and he was even more certain of Lin Yixuan's words. He knelt down quickly and said, "Your humble servant is terrified."
Seeing him like this, the emperor waved his hands helplessly and said, "Forget it, I shouldn't have said this to you. Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Prince Lian then stood up and sat down again. After a moment's deliberation, he said, "Speaking of which, I have something to report to Your Majesty."
The emperor nodded slightly, indicating that he should continue.
Prince Lian showed a hesitant expression and said slowly, "In fact, I also have selfish motives. I have a little friendship with the grandson of the former Wenchang Earl. He came to me a few days ago and said that the illegitimate son of Wenchang Earl inherited the title. He wanted me to help him say a few charming words in front of the emperor. Only the legitimate son can inherit the title in a legitimate way."
When the emperor heard this, he was shocked. He believed that what Prince Lian said was true, but he did not believe his excuses. Cong Jia had always been strict and polite, so how could he come to give advice to me just because others asked him to? The emperor was moved and thought that Prince Lian was just making up an excuse to share his worries. Especially the sentence that only the legitimate son could inherit the title, which really touched his heart.
Prince Lian looked at the nose with his eyes and the heart with his nose, and he stopped talking after he finished speaking. In fact, he mentioned Lin Yixuan to get himself out of the situation. No matter what the emperor thought or what the outsiders said, he would be invincible. So, the young husband still thought too simply. How could a prince of the dynasty be so easy to use
"Wenchang Bo..." The emperor frowned and thought deeply. After a while, his face darkened slightly and he looked directly at Prince Lian: "If I remember correctly, his eldest daughter seems to have married into the Marquis of Jingyang Mansion."
Prince Lian gave a bitter smile. The emperor was indeed not easy to fool. Fortunately, he was prepared. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, you can see that Madam Lin San had a bad relationship with her half-brother when she was young. Now she has no one to support her family. She is now recuperating in the nunnery."
"Oh?" The emperor responded indifferently with a sharp gaze, without adding any other words.
Prince Lian's heart tightened, and he continued, "I dare not hide anything from Your Majesty. The floor heating I sent last year was all contributed by the grandson of the Earl of Wenchang. In addition, there is a recipe for growing vegetables in winter. I beg Your Majesty to take a look."
Therefore, the things that Lin Yixuan had just delivered yesterday were given to Prince Lian as a favor today.
The emperor was in a good mood and asked him to take a ride and have a look.
The method of growing vegetables in winter is actually very simple. It is written clearly on a piece of thin paper. The emperor was in a good mood. He was not really angry just now. He was just testing Prince Lian. Cong Jia did not disappoint him: "Okay! I will not let you get this recipe for nothing."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Prince Lian breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't wipe the cold sweat from his forehead until he walked out of the palace gate. He once again realized the truth of the famous saying that serving the emperor is like serving a tiger.
The emperor issued an edict on the same day, ordering the empress to summon the old lady of the Earl of Wenchang and his eldest daughter to an audience with him when the fifteen ladies of noble birth came to pay homage.
The emperor did not care about the title of a mere Earl of Wenchang. It didn't matter if it was changed. The Wenchang Earl's Mansion was getting weaker with each generation. So what even if it was related to the Jingyang Marquis' Mansion? In this move, he not only warned the important officials, but also appeased the prince. He achieved several goals at one stroke. The emperor was very satisfied and believed that Congjia would indeed share my worries.
But he never expected that such a big incident would happen in the capital before the fifteenth. Fortunately, this matter was harmless and had nothing to do with the overall situation, otherwise the emperor would definitely be furious and Prince Lian would definitely be gnashing his teeth.
As for Lin Yixuan, he was extremely surprised when he received the reply from Prince Lian's Mansion. He felt as if he was in a cloud of mist. He did not expect that Prince Lian could act so quickly.
In fact, he was lucky because the emperor had just lost his temper during the morning court session, which gave Prince Lian the opportunity to make suggestions.
Lin Yixuan did not dare to delay at all and wrote a letter to the wife of the Earl of Wenchang that same day.
When Zhang saw the letter, she was shocked, and then she was delighted. Even though she was a little skeptical at first, when she received the imperial edict from the palace, how could she doubt it? It was simply a blessing from heaven.
Lin Yixuan did not meet her, but only sent her a letter to tell her that everything would have to wait until the fifteenth day before a conclusion was made, and that it would depend on her sincerity.
Zhang was secretly resentful in her heart, but how could she not understand what he meant? It was just that today was already the ninth day of the lunar month, and it would not work to take it slowly. Her son's title was about to be obtained, and Zhang would never allow anything to go wrong. She simply gritted her teeth, took a group of maids and old women, and went to the Marquis Jingyang's mansion to cry.
The people in Jingyang Marquis's Mansion were horrified and didn't understand what this woman was up to. Madam Lin San was not on good terms with her family, and the whole mansion knew about it. So what was Zhang's intention in doing this today
Li Guicheng was equally puzzled as the Marquis of Jingyang. As a concubine's son, even if he inherited the title, he still had to respect his mother. However, he knew since he was a child that his mother was restless. Now that he saw Zhang betraying the alliance for Li Wandong, he was in a mess.
It's a pity that he never expected that the other person would follow the emperor's path, and despite all his precautions, he was still defeated in the end.
Zhang went to Jingyang Marquis's mansion crying, but refused to enter. She just cried and made a fuss at the door, saying that her poor daughter was abused by her in-laws and sent to the temple at will.
Jingyang Marquis's Mansion hated her very much, but they could do nothing about it. She had an imperial decree and was an elder. No one could suppress her except the old Lord of the Marquis' Mansion. But the old Lord was old and in poor health, so how could he come out to deal with this matter? Besides, the men of higher status were the ones, but could a grown man still compete with a woman
The Jingyang Marquis' Mansion was helpless. No matter how many countermeasures it had, facing an unreasonable person of equal status, nothing it said would be of any use.
So, sometimes, if you use the right tricks, it can be more effective than anything else.
Zhang was a well-known fierce woman. After marrying Li Jingyuan, she managed to control the Earl's Mansion tightly. If Li Jingyuan had not died young and Li Ziyu was still young when he died, it would be unknown who would sit on the title of Earl's Mansion now.
Finally, the wife of the Left Censor-in-Chief passed by and saw the commotion here, so she stepped out to smooth things over. Zhang finally calmed down. By this time, the entrance to the marquis's mansion was already surrounded by people.
Mrs. Lin breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly invited Mrs. Yushi and Zhang into the mansion. She acted like a hostess and apologized to Mrs. Yushi first, saying that she had made a fool of herself. Then she asked Mrs. Yushi to testify that she had to send Mrs. Lin to the temple. It was really unavoidable. Mrs. Lin was not a virtuous, unfilial, or kind woman, so the mansion decided to give her a light punishment.
The eldest lady had a good idea. She originally wanted to ask the wife of the Left Censor-in-Chief to testify to prove the innocence of the Jingyang Marquis's Mansion and to tell the grievances at the same time. The Censor-in-Chief always had direct access to the emperor's ears.
But as soon as she said this, Zhang was immediately unhappy and started to make a scene in the mansion again, crying and saying, "My daughter is still waiting to be married, and everyone should praise her. But why is she considered unvirtuous, unfilial, and unkind when she comes to your mansion of Marquis Jingyang? You, Marquis Jingyang, not only treat my daughter badly, but also throw dirty water on her head. How can this be tolerated by the mansion of the Marquis Wenchang?"
The eldest lady did not give in. Since there were no outsiders around, she naturally had nothing to worry about and immediately brought in witnesses and evidence.
Zhang sneered and allowed her to go and summon them. You have to know that Zhou Wang and Li Cai were both born in the Wenchang Marquis's family. If Madam Lin could use them, why couldn't she
Sure enough, when the two servants kept saying "framed" and "Second Madam", the Censor's wife's expression became very subtle, but the First Madam was furious and could no longer maintain her demeanor. She stared at Zhang fiercely and said, "It was you, was it you who did this? They were originally servants of your Wenchang Marquis's Mansion."
Zhang sneered and said sarcastically, "If it was a servant of the Marquis of Wenchang, how could they frame my daughter? The Marquis of Jingyang is really capable. Not only did they bribe my daughter's servant, but they also wanted to turn the tables on her."
No matter what was said at this moment, the Jingyang Marquis' Mansion was regarded as quibbling. Madam Lin Er was so angry that her eyes turned black. She had never taken those two servants seriously, and had never thought that anyone would support Lin Li, so she was caught off guard.
The censor's wife couldn't stay any longer at this time, so she hurriedly asked to leave. Madam Lin regretted her decision so much that she would not try to keep her.
Things had come to this point, and the elders had no choice but to show up, so a group of people went to the main courtyard of Jingyang Marquis' Mansion. Old Madam Lin was a super-rank imperial concubine, and according to her status, the Zhang family should perform the ceremony, but they were in-laws, so it was understandable that they did not perform the ceremony.
Zhang only bowed slightly, with no intention of giving face to the Marquis's Mansion.
Madam Lin naturally wouldn't say anything. She had been through many ups and downs and knew that this matter would not end well. It was rare for Zhang to come to her house today, so she would definitely not let it go. In fact, if the second house was not involved, this matter would be simple. They really didn't need to care about a declining baron's mansion. But this was something that she absolutely shouldn't have done. The wife of the second house actually did something bad in it and even let people know about it. Her granddaughter had just settled down in the Sixth Prince's mansion and was currently pregnant. Even for her sake, she couldn't let the second wife spread any unfavorable rumors.
When Mrs. Lin thought of this, she glared at her second daughter-in-law, then turned to look at Zhang and said calmly, "What are your conditions?" She didn't believe that Zhang would come to her house to ask for justice for her stepdaughter for no reason.
Zhang held her head high and said proudly, "Divorce."
"How can this be possible?" Madam Lin was the first to stand up and object. It would be disastrous if a family like the Marquis' Mansion were to have a divorce.
Zhang sneered and did not respond, just looked at the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion.
Madam Lin stood still and let her daughter-in-law come forward to negotiate. Zhang knew that this thief was very cunning and wanted to see if she would be swayed. She sneered and said, "It's okay if they don't want a divorce. I'll go outside and talk about it tomorrow. The Marquis's family is really well educated. The second wife framed her brother's wife. She really has the nerve to do that."
Madam Lin was so angry that she fell backwards, but no matter how much she talked or how many benefits she promised, and even though Zhang's brows were slightly moved, she still insisted on getting a divorce in the end.