The next day, when Chu Ye went to court, he received warm greetings from his colleagues.
"Lord Chu, have you had breakfast? If not, I have some here, please make do with this for now..."
"Lord Chu looks so pale, you must be malnourished. After court, we'll treat you to a feast at Fan Tower."
"Minister, please don't refuse. Eating too much pig brain is not good for your health. From now on, we'll take care of your lunches."
...
Chu Ye was utterly confused.
Although he usually had good relationships with his colleagues, today everyone seemed overly enthusiastic, and he felt overwhelmed.
Upon entering Guanghua Hall, Chu Ye sensed that even the emperor on the throne was staring at him, making him feel even more uneasy.
After they were allowed to rise, a censor presented a memorial praising the Chu family for their frugality in service of the country, even eating pig brains daily to supplement their strength.
The memorial also commended the ladies and young misses who generously donated to support the frontline troops at yesterday's birthday banquet at Marquis Wuning's Mansion.
Chu Ye secretly wiped away cold sweat.
He knew without guessing that this must be his great-niece's doing.
If you're going to cause trouble, at least give your second uncle a heads up so I can be prepared, he thought.
While Chu Ye was complaining about Chu Tianjiao, Chu Tianjiao woke up feeling regretful.
Last night was the first time she shared a bed with Chu Yun'er, but the imagined sisterly heart-to-heart talk didn't happen.
Both of them fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed.
Before falling asleep, Chu Tianjiao felt like she had forgotten something. When she woke up and remembered she should have told Chu Ye first, he had already left for court.
Feeling worried, Chu Tianjiao shook Chu Yun'er awake.
"Thirty-one thousand, thirty-two thousand, thirty-three thousand..." Chu Yun'er mumbled a string of numbers, still counting money in her dreams.
Last night when they returned home, the wife of the heir of Marquis Wuning's Mansion had sent someone to deliver the donations and list from the banquet to Chu Tianjiao.
Lady Wang's personal maid also brought Chu Tianjiao two thousand taels in banknotes, saying it was a private supplement from the heir's wife. She insisted that Chu Tianjiao shouldn't deprive herself and should use this money to buy whatever she wanted to eat.
Chu Tianjiao didn't feel guilty about accepting the donations, but she felt a bit uneasy about Lady Wang's two thousand taels.
She tried to refuse, but the maid insisted on leaving the banknotes.
The two sisters had started counting the money against the list last night, and couldn't contain their excitement.
They had actually raised about forty thousand taels worth of goods for the frontline soldiers.
Chu Yun'er was finally woken up by her elder sister pinching her nose.
After washing up, the sisters didn't have time for breakfast and brought the donations to the main courtyard.
Since Old Madam Chu was ill, the sisters had only met Nanny Li when they returned home yesterday, not wanting to disturb the old madam who had already gone to bed.
Old Madam Chu was in better spirits today and found it quite strange to see the two girls coming together.
"Xiaocui, am I seeing things? The second girl is actually arm in arm with the eldest. Did she take the wrong medicine?"
Chu Yun'er's lifelong rivalry with Chu Tianjiao, her never-give-up spirit despite constant defeats, was deeply ingrained in everyone's minds.
Even Li Wanniang, the third madam who was attending to them, marveled and teased, "Second niece, have you finally been subdued by your elder sister?"
Chu Yun'er bashfully let go of Chu Tianjiao, stomped her foot and coquettishly complained to Li Wanniang, "Third Aunt!"
Chu Tianjiao asked Qingluan to place the donations on the table in front of Old Madam Chu.
Old Madam Chu widened her eyes and asked, "Eldest girl, did you go rob the Qizhen Pavilion?"
Chu Tianjiao was startled by this and excitedly said, "Grandmother, the older ginger is indeed spicier. How come I didn't think of robbing the Qizhen Pavilion?"
After Chu Yun'er vividly described to Old Madam Chu and the third madam Li Wanniang how they collected donations yesterday, both of them turned their gazes to Chu Tianjiao.
Chu Tianjiao straightened her back, her face beaming like a flower, looking utterly pleased with herself and seeking praise.
A flash of worry crossed Old Madam Chu's eyes, but she didn't voice it. Instead, she joked along with Chu Yun'er's words:
"This old woman has been telling you to eat pig brains every day, who would have thought it could produce over forty thousand taels of military pay."
This comment elicited laughter throughout the room.
Shortly after, the housekeeper came to report that someone from the palace had arrived to deliver an imperial edict.
Old Madam Chu hurriedly led everyone to change clothes and freshen up, then went to receive the edict in the main hall of the front courtyard.
The content of the imperial edict was mainly to commend Marquis Liyang for running a frugal household, adhering to proper conduct, and praising the marquis's family members for their patriotism and dedication to the country.
The emperor rewarded the marquis's household with five thousand taels of gold, and specifically bestowed various rare jewelry to the eldest young lady of the household, Chu Tianjiao.
After the Chu family expressed their gratitude, Old Madam Chu gave a red envelope to the eunuch who came to read the edict, and respectfully saw him out of the mansion gates.
When only family members were left, looking at the imperial gifts of gold and jewelry, Chu Yun'er exclaimed, "Elder sister, your act of poverty has made our family a fortune!"
Chu Tianjiao grinned, selected a few pieces of jewelry suitable for Chu Yun'er from the imperial gifts, and handed them to her, "Here, your share of the profit!"
Chu Yun'er took the jewelry and whispered to Chu Tianjiao, "Elder sister, I won't wear these jewelry out. In the future, I'll try to dress as shabbily as possible when going out, and never show off our wealth!"
Chu Tianjiao patted Chu Yun'er's shoulder and praised, "The student shows promise!"
Back in the main courtyard, Old Madam Chu didn't seem too pleased.
After sending everyone else away, Old Madam Chu asked Chu Tianjiao, "Are you sure that the person behind Qizhen Pavilion is related to the Ye family?"
Chu Tianjiao nodded confidently.
She didn't hide anything from Old Madam Chu and explained her reasoning process in detail.
Old Madam Chu furrowed her brows and sighed, "Whether it's Minister Ye or not, the words you publicly insinuated about the Ye family's corruption at the banquet have probably reached Minister Ye's ears by now."
"Your second uncle's days ahead are going to be difficult..."
This was actually Chu Tianjiao's concern as well, but confrontation with the Ye family was unavoidable. She could only hope that the person hiding behind Qizhen Pavilion wasn't Ye Linxuan himself.
That night, in the Minister's mansion, Ye Linxuan summoned Ye Tinglan and questioned her in detail about the events at Lady Wuning's birthday banquet.
Ye Linxuan, now fifty-six years old, was lean and vigorous, with a dignified appearance. He prided himself as being part of the upright faction in the scholarly circles, and was Ye Tinglan's grandfather.
Ye Tinglan didn't dare mention her showing off at Qizhen Pavilion, but how could her little tricks escape Ye Linxuan's eyes?
Under Ye Linxuan's repeated questioning, Ye Tinglan was forced to confess everything clearly.
"Foolish girl! You're just a concubine-born daughter, who gave you the audacity to flaunt our Ye family name?"
"Who gave you that VIP card? Don't you dare hide anything!"
Ye Tinglan hadn't mentioned having a VIP card, but news of this card had already spread throughout the streets. How could it be hidden?
Ye Tinglan didn't dare tell the truth, gritting her teeth and insisting that she had found the card.
Ye Linxuan threw his teacup directly at Ye Tinglan. She couldn't dodge in time and was hit on the forehead. Fortunately, the tea in the cup wasn't hot.
"Found it? Do you think I'm as stupid as your father? Did your mother give it to you? Tell the truth!"
Ye Tinglan still wouldn't admit it, angering Ye Linxuan to the point where he was about to enforce family punishment.
At this moment, Ye Tinglan's father rushed in and knelt down, begging Ye Linxuan for mercy:
"Father, please spare Lan'er. I gave her that card."
Ye Linxuan kicked his eldest son and scolded, "Do you know how much trouble you and your daughter have caused me?"
"Today in court, His Majesty asked me if our Ye family has become as rich as the state? How can a mere concubine-born daughter spend ten thousand taels annually at Qizhen Pavilion?"
"The reputation of integrity that I've painstakingly built over many years has been ruined by this small VIP card of yours!"
"Take your daughter and kneel in the ancestral hall for seven days. No food allowed!"
After driving away his son and granddaughter, Ye Linxuan still felt unsatisfied and said hatefully:
"Marquis Liyang, Chu Ge, don't blame me for secretly dealing with you. If you must blame someone, blame your precious daughter!"
