Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Qiao Ruoyi replied. “I heard that the title of Duke Dingbei was reduced to Earl Dingbei and Cousin Zheng Bo has no hope of becoming an official in this life, even his title has been withdrawn.
“From now on, Uncle is Earl Dingbei, and if he dies, the Zheng Family will have no nobility title.”
Qiao Jinniang said in a low voice, “Mother must be sad. I’m sorry to make her worry about me at such a difficult time.”
Qiao Ruoyi said, “Zheng Bo should thank God for being able to survive this time.
“How many people involved in the illicit salt trafficking have already been killed this time?
“They embezzled the taxes of the imperial court and squeezed the workers in the salt wells, causing so many people to die in the salt wells.
“They killed the whole families of all the officials who refused to be complicit in the illicit salt deals.
“The involved local officials shielded one another and the Right Prime Minister and Prince Lu protected them in the imperial court. No, to be exact, it is not Prince Lu, but Prince Mediocre.”
Qiao Ruoyi talked about political affairs with great interest.
“The Right Prime Minister has long since pledged allegiance to Prince Mediocre.
“When the Crown Prince was missing, the Right Prime Minister was the one who kept demanding His Majesty to appoint a new crown prince.”
“Everyone thought he was doing this for his grandson, but Prince Lu had no hope of becoming the Crown Prince.
“At that time, the likeliest candidate for the crown prince was Prince Mediocre.
“According to the ledger for illicit salt deals found in the mansion of the Right Prime Minister, a large amount of money was transferred away, and the Right Prime Minister confessed that he gave the money to Prince Lu, but none of the money was not found in the mansion of Prince Lu…
“On the other hand, Prince Mediocre was spending money like water to recruit talents.
“It is clear who received the money, but the Right Prime Minister is still trying to cover for Prince Mediocre.
“And Prince Lu was stupid too. In order to save his grandfather, he even admitted that he was behind all these matters and helped his grandfather manipulate the Ministry of Revenue.
“But everyone knew those people in the Ministry of Revenue are inextricably linked with Prince Mediocre. ”
Qiao Jinniang smiled. “What a pity. If you’re a man, you’ll definitely be able to win first place in the Imperial Examination.”
Qiao Ruoyi lowered her head and said, “Sister, women can take it too, but I don’t dare to take it. Plus, Father will never allow me to take it.”
Jinniang asked curiously, “Why not?”
Qiao Ruoyi said, “Although there were many female officials in the Tang Dynasty, most of them have entered the harem.
“There are very few women still serving in the court, and our family is already powerful and doesn’t need me to be a female official…”
Qiao Jinniang couldn’t help sighing. “That’s true. Just look at what happened to the Right Prime Minister’s family…”
Qiao Ruoyi was afraid that Qiao Jinniang would be too worried, so she said,
“Sister, you don’t have to be afraid. We have the Absolution Token, which can save us from death penalty to some extent.
“Thanks to our ancestors, we’re safe as long as we don’t rebel. It doesn’t matter how many times you scold the Crown Prince. If he wants to punish you, show him the Absolution Token.”
Qiao Jinniang: “…”
How could such a precious Absolution Token be wasted for scolding Lu Chen? It was not worth it.
“Then if I kill the Crown Prince, can the Absolution Token save me from death?”
Qiao Ruoyi shivered. “Sister, don’t try it, OK?”
Jinniang said, “According to the novels I read, the Absolution Token is rewarded to founders of a country. It’s really not worth using it on Lu Chen.”
Qiao Ruoyi said, “Exactly, our ancestors founded this country with the founding emperor.
“And our great-grandfather and grandfather also died guarding the border. When they died, Father was only 16 years old and was bullied by others.
“Only the old Duke Dingyuan helped him with all his might, and even married his granddaughter, Mother, who was brought up by him personally to Father.”
Qiao Jinniang was angry when she heard this. “So Father failed Mother, didn’t he? Mother married him at the height of his difficulties but he indulged in his concubine and lost me!”
Qiao Ruoyi said, “It’s more than that. When Mother gave birth to Brother and Qiao Ruoshui, she was so irritated by that woman that she returned to her parents’ home.
“I heard from my mom that one of Mother’s children was almost suffocated during childbirth, and Mother almost died…”
Qiao Jinniang asked, “So Brother Lv and Qiao Ruoshui are twins? But they don’t look alike at all. I always thought Brother Lu was a year younger than Qiao Ruoshui.”
“They’re twins. When they were born, many people were envious of Mother.”
Qiao Jinniang asked, “Why did Mother forgive Father at that time?”
Qiao Ruoyi sighed. “At that time, Old Duke Zheng and his wife, who brought up Mother, had just passed away.
“And Mother’s mother never liked her, and at that time, the Zheng Family was declining and was relying on Father. Without any support, Mother dared not divorce Father.”
Qiao Jinniang sighed. “It turns out that Mother had such a hard life.”
While the two were talking, Yuyan came in and said, “Miss, Fifth Miss, Madam asks you to see Old Madam Zheng in the hall.”
Qiao Ruoyi supported Jinniang and said, “Sister, let’s go.”
In the hall.
Old Madam Zheng angrily said to the Duchess,
“Xiao’er, Cheng’er is my only grandson!
“What can he do if he loses both his nobility title and official position? Come on, beg the Duke to help him. The Duke is very trusted by His Majesty…”
The Duchess said helplessly, “Mother, the Duke has done his best on this matter.”
Old Madam Zheng said, “You refuse to help because you think the Zheng Family is useless to you, right?
“If Duke Anyuan hadn’t married you back then, how could the Qiao Family be so prosperous today?!”
Before Qiao Jinniang and Qiao Ruoyi could go inside, they heard what Old Madam Zheng said.
The Duchess’s eyes instantly turned red. “Mother, what are you talking about? How much have I done for the Zheng Family over all these years?”
Old Madam Zheng slapped the table angrily and said, “Since you don’t look down on the Zheng family, then marry Jinniang to Zheng Bo!
“And the Tasty Pavilion should be given to the Zheng family as a dowry! At that time, we will see if the Duke will help his son-in-law!”
The Duchess said, “No, Mother, Jinniang is my life. Zheng Bo has so many concubines and children…
“Jinniang doesn’t want her husband to have any concubines.”
Old Madam Zheng threatened the Duchess. “She doesn’t want to marry Zheng Bo? Does she still want to be Consort Mediocre?
“If people in Chang’an know that Qiao Jinniang had once married an ugly man in Lin’an and was abandoned by him, wouldn’t she be laughed to death?
“You should be grateful that Bo’er doesn’t despise this merchant cousin and is willing to accept her for the sake of you.”
The Duchess could scold Mrs. Zheng but not Old Madam Zheng. “Mother, we would rather raise Jinniang for her lifetime than let her marry an unsuitable man.”
Old Madam Zheng said, “What do you mean by unsuitable? Isn’t Bo’er an excellent young man?”
Qiao Ruoyi took Qiao Jinniang aside and said, “Sister, you have to be careful with Grandmother. Now that the Zheng family has declined, they will do anything to get what they want.
“They want you to marry Zheng Bo, because you are a county mistress and because of Father and the Tasty Pavilion.”
Once the illicit salt case was over, the business of Tasty Pavilion became better and better. Someone once calculated that Tasty Pavilion had nearly a thousand taels of income per day.
It was literally a cash cow, so some people coveted it.
After Qiao Jinniang and Qiao Ruoyi entered, they saluted Old Madam Zheng.
Old Madam Zheng ordered Qiao Ruoyi to serve her and looked at Qiao Jinniang arrogantly and said,
“Jinniang, I know you want to marry your Cousin Zheng. Now I give you my consent.”
Qiao Jinniang: “…”
She wanted to marry Cousin Zheng? Why didn’t she know it herself?
