Jiang Yankun knew that today's quickly-concluded verbal battle would eventually reach the Emperor's ears.
Two fools rushed to help him gain favor with the Emperor, and he was more than happy to oblige. The most reliable servants for the Emperor were those without options, as their only path to survival was through unwavering loyalty.
The Jiang family had previously been merely wealthy merchants, with money but no power. They had to rely on bribing local officials to keep their businesses running smoothly. Later, when Jiang Yankun became the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in the capital, it was a position that could bring in some money, but held little real power and couldn't help the family much. It just meant that the Jiang family could say they had an official among them, and were no longer just lowly merchants.
It wasn't until Jiang Xinyue entered the palace and gained the Emperor's exclusive favor that Jiang Yankun was promoted to Minister of Justice, a second-rank official. Only then did the Jiang family's fortunes truly soar.
Even relatives from their hometown frequently wrote letters to thank Jiang Yankun, or more accurately, to ask if "Miss Yue" in the palace needed anything. Whatever she wanted, they would provide - even if it meant trying to pluck stars from the sky for her.
As they were about to exit the palace, a clumsy young eunuch suddenly collided with Jiang Yankun. Just as he was about to help the boy up, the eunuch picked up something from the ground, apologized hurriedly, and ran off.
Jiang Yanxi clicked his tongue, "How can the palace have such ill-mannered servants? Bumping into someone and not even-"
Before he could finish, Jiang Yankun interrupted him: "Brother, I'm fine."
His eyes held a look of disapproval, as if he had something to say.
Jiang Yanxi might not have many talents, but he was good at reading situations. He quickly shut his mouth and hurried out of the palace with Jiang Yankun, boarding their carriage.
"Yankun, what happened? Just now you-"
Jiang Yankun lowered the carriage curtain, blocking prying eyes from outside. Only then did he take his hand out from his sleeve, revealing a letter that had slid into his palm.
The handwriting on the envelope was... very messy...
If Jiang Yankun wasn't Jiang Xinyue's father, he probably wouldn't have recognized it as his daughter's writing.
Jiang Yanxi frowned as he took the envelope from Jiang Yankun's hand, examining it from all angles. He held it up to the oil lamp in the carriage and asked in confusion: "What is this? Are these even characters? It looks like someone spilled an inkstone - just blobs everywhere. I can't make out a single word."
To be honest, even three-year-old children in the Jiang family wrote more legibly than this.
Jiang Yankun felt somewhat embarrassed but pointed at the four black ink blots and declared confidently: "It clearly says 'To Father' right here."
Jiang Yanxi's eyes widened: "This is... a letter from Miss Yue to you?"
Jiang Yankun nodded with a dark expression, reluctant to admit that while his daughter learned everything else quickly, her handwriting simply refused to improve.
Before entering the palace, her writing had already become somewhat elegant. He had thought that given time, Miss Yue would surely develop beautiful, delicate calligraphy.
How had her writing become so abstract in just two years of not seeing it?
This was far from the graceful style expected of women - it was bold and unrestrained, primarily characterized by being unrecognizable. She had truly created her own unique style!
After finally managing to read through the letter under Jiang Yanxi's speechless gaze, Jiang Yankun's entire demeanor became serious.
Jiang Yanxi had stared for a long time but only managed to recognize a few punctuation marks. He looked from the letter to Jiang Yankun's expression and asked: "What does the letter say? Why do you look like that? Did something happen to Miss Yue in the palace?"
After all, the Jiang family now had two officials. If they got themselves together, they might be able to help Miss Yue.
His own glory, and indeed that of the entire Jiang family, was tied to Miss Yue alone. They would rise or fall together!
Jiang Yankun took a deep breath: "Miss Yue says that on the night of the Sixth Prince's full moon celebration, he was nearly killed in a plot. The Zhu family sprinkled white phosphorus powder on a wet nurse's clothes. She wants us to help her with something."
"What?" Jiang Yanxi gritted his teeth. "The Zhu family is too brazen! Their daughter may be the Empress, but our Miss Yue is Senior Concubine Xian, not much inferior. How dare they harm the Sixth Prince? It's outrageous! Yankun, tell me, what does Senior Concubine Xian want us to do? Even if it takes the full strength of our clan, we must help the Sixth Prince get revenge."
"We don't need to mobilize the whole clan. I'll send an assassin to infiltrate Chang'an. You just need to arrange for our family's merchants in Chang'an to provide some assistance."
"You've started keeping assassins?"
"Miss Yue told me to. She said some things require assassins to ensure absolute safety and secrecy."
Jiang Yanxi suddenly looked enlightened: "Senior Concubine Xian truly plans ahead. Even at my age, I can't match her meticulous thinking. No wonder she alone holds the Emperor's favor."
"What makes you say that?"
"Look at her handwriting..."
Jiang Yanxi snatched the two thin sheets of paper, pointing at the writing: "Even if this letter fell into the Empress's hands, she wouldn't be able to recognize a single character. Yet you can read it perfectly. Hasn't this become your own secret code? In my opinion, she doesn't even need to have it delivered secretly. She could hand it over right in front of the Empress, and if anyone could read it, I'd offer my head for her to kick around like a ball. Isn't this foresight? Isn't this brilliant?"
Jiang Yankun was momentarily speechless...
Since Miss Yue had asked her father to keep assassins, Jiang Yanxi thought he should keep a few too. They were bound to be useful someday.
He rubbed his hands together: "Yankun... where did you... where did you buy those assassins? Could you introduce me to some?"
"You think assassins are cabbages? I-"
"Is this the carriage of Minister of Justice Jiang and Vice Minister of Rites Jiang?" A soft male voice called from outside the carriage.
Jiang Yankun quickly fell silent, coughing lightly before responding: "It is."
"This servant is from Chengqian Palace, here on the Emperor's orders to request Vice Minister Jiang's presence in the imperial study for a discussion."
They hadn't mentioned it during the morning court session, nor after it ended. Instead, they waited until everyone had left to come sneaking around.
Jiang Yankun gave Jiang Yanxi a meaningful look, gesturing for him to go quickly.
The last time the Emperor had him and Minister Jiang secretly bring down the Song family, it had been equally mysterious. This time, it was likely that his cousin would be asked to do something similar.
Which meant that some randomly chosen corrupt official was about to have very bad luck, while his cousin was due for a promotion.
The weather in May was already turning warm. Yesterday, Consort De had been granted authority to assist in managing the imperial harem. Early this morning, all the concubines in the palace had come to Yanqing Palace to pay their respects to Consort De.
Compared to the young and inexperienced Concubine Zhenxian, Consort De clearly commanded more respect and held greater sway over people's hearts.
Consort De smiled gently, saying only that she dared not be presumptuous, and that whoever held the phoenix seal was truly in charge of the harem.
And so, while Jiang Xinyue was still happily playing with her child, a voice announced from outside: "My lady, the concubines of the harem have come to pay their respects to you."
