Red Mansion: After being expelled from the family, I was granted the title of Marquis of Mobei

Chapter 89 Going South
The eldest prince pleaded for mercy in front of Emperor Yongping, hoping that Emperor Yongping would forgive Master Lou's eldest son and leave some bloodline for Master Lou in consideration of his many years of hard work for the country.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yongping was furious and ordered the eldest prince to return to his palace to reflect and not to go out without his permission.

In the end, all of Master Lou's children were captured and sentenced to immediate execution.

Because the second branch of the Lou family suffered from the oppression of Grand Tutor Lou, they did not act as arrogant and domineering as other relatives of the Lou family.

In addition, Jia Jue pleaded for mercy in front of Emperor Yongping, so the brothers Lou Ben and Lou Yao from the second branch of the Lou family were forgiven and were not implicated by the first branch of the Lou family.

In addition to the downfall of the once-powerful Lou family, another thing that people in Shendu talked about was the engagement of the new top scholar Ouyang Xu and Gao Hui, the niece of Concubine Gao in the palace.

Finding a son-in-law from the list has always been a good story, let alone the talented and handsome third place winner marrying into the prestigious Gao family, which naturally inspired many students to yearn for the imperial examination.

However, Jia Jue did not feel much about this. Jia Jue knew the reason very well. Ouyang Xu was just a copy of Chen Shimei. Jia Jue looked down on such ungrateful people.

After arranging all matters in the capital, on April 20th of the fourth year of Yongping, Jia Jue boarded an official ship and headed south, heading straight to the south of the Yangtze River.

Time flies, and seven days have passed in a blink of an eye. At the Yangzhou dock, Lin Ruhai is waiting eagerly.

About a quarter of an hour later, two official ships appeared on the surface of the canal and soon docked at the pier.

Then, surrounded by a group of personal guards, Jia Jue got off the boat wearing a moon-white brocade robe.

As soon as we arrived at the dock, Lin Ruhai came up to us, bowed respectfully and said.

"My Lord, it's been a long time."

After seeing Lin Ruhai, Jia Jue smiled slightly, then helped Lin Ruhai up and said.

"Mr. Lin, you are too polite."

Lin Ruhai said with a chuckle.

"After several months of absence, Your Majesty is still as charming as ever. I really envy you."

"Everything has been arranged at the post station. Please follow me, my lord."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Jia Jue boarded a carriage and headed for the Yangzhou post station.

After settling in, everything was ready, and Jia Jue and Lin Ruhai started chatting in the room.

Lin Ruhai looked at Jia Jue with gratitude and said.

"My Lord, it is thanks to your generosity that my daughter has been spared from such a disaster."

"My daughter has already told me everything in the letter. The Marquis's miraculous rejuvenation skills can even cure my daughter's frailty. It is truly a divine power."

Jia Jue waved his hand and said.

"I already have a grudge against the Rongguo Mansion. Helping your daughter not only preserves our friendship, regardless of age difference, but also gives the Rongguo Mansion a good slap in the face. For me, it's the best of both worlds."

"By the way, after arriving in Yangzhou, Jia Yucun should have informed Lord Lin of all that happened."

Hearing this, Lin Ruhai's expression became somewhat complicated. He sighed and said.

"My Lord, to be honest, I have tried my best to lower the standards of the Rongguo Mansion, but I didn't expect them to be so shameless."

"Jia Yucun has revealed everything. My old mother-in-law is so cruel."

Here we have to review what happened before.

After Lin Daiyu moved into the Rongguo Mansion and bribed the maid to find out the secret that Jia Baoyu had become a disabled person, Lin Daiyu took the opportunity of going out to the Yuqing Temple to pray for blessings and secretly sent a letter for help to the Guanjun Marquis Mansion.

Jia Jue then broke into the Rongguo Mansion at night, rescued Lin Daiyu and placed her in the mansion.

Seeing that the matter was exposed and their wishful thinking could not be realized, Mrs. Jia and Mrs. Wang discussed it and felt that since they had already fallen out with the Lin family, after Lin Ruhai knew these things, let alone helping the Rongguo Mansion in the court in the future, it would be considered a gesture of kindness for him not to severely punish the Rongguo Mansion.

As for the Lin family's property, the Rongguo Mansion has no chance of getting its hands on even a little bit of it.

Since he couldn't get any benefits from the Lin family now, he might as well go all out and find a way to harm Lin Ruhai.

As long as Lin Ruhai dies, Lin Daiyu will be an orphan. At that time, if Jia Jue wants to interfere in Lin Daiyu's affairs, it will be unreasonable.

So Mrs. Jia and Mrs. Wang met with Jia Yucun overnight, promised him huge profits, and asked him to find a way to return to Lin Ruhai and wait for an opportunity to poison Lin Ruhai.

Then, the Rongguo Mansion used the correspondence with Lin Ruhai over the years, cut out text from these letters, and asked a master craftsman to forge a letter of entrustment from Lin Ruhai.

In this way, the Rongguo Mansion can legitimately inherit the Lin family's property, and Lin Daiyu's fate is also in the hands of the Rongguo Mansion.

However, Jia Yucun was as slippery as a loach. After weighing the pros and cons, he made a decision in his heart.

That was what the Rongguo Mansion had instructed him to do, and he could not do it no matter what.

Jia Yucun knew very well that since Lin Ruhai could entrust Lin Daiyu to the hands of Guanjun Hou, he must have a close relationship with Guanjun Hou.

If Lin Ruhai really died in an unclear manner, Guanjun Hou would definitely investigate.

Once something strange is discovered, the Marquis of Guanjun may not have any good way to take control of the Rongguo Mansion. However, for someone like me who has been dismissed from his post, being targeted by the Marquis of Guanjun would be a disaster.

Maybe by then, the Champion Marquis would secretly send someone to capture me, torture me and force the truth out of me, and then kill me silently.

Considering the previous behavior of Marquis Guanjun, Jia Yucun knew very well that Marquis Guanjun definitely had the courage and ability to do so.

So Jia Yucun first pretended to agree to Old Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang, and took the opportunity to ask for a large sum of money as activity funds in order to paralyze the two.

After gaining the trust of the two, Jia Yucun successfully left Rongguo Mansion and was then sent to a merchant ship by the people of Rongguo Mansion. Shortly after leaving Shendu, Jia Yucun got off the ship, returned to Shendu, and quietly went to Guanjun Hou Mansion to ask for an audience with Jia Jue.

Jia Yucun told Jia Jue all the plans of Rongguo Mansion. After Jia Jue made some simple arrangements, he asked Jia Yucun to go to Yangzhou to meet Lin Ruhai.

In fact, even if Jia Yucun didn't come, Lin Ruhai would have people secretly left by Jia Jue.

If Jia Yucun had really listened to the Rongguo Mansion, he would have had no chance to harm Lin Ruhai and would only have lost his own life.

At this time, Jia Jue looked at Lin Ruhai's lonely face and felt a little emotional.

Lin Ruhai and his wife were very affectionate. His wife's body was still warm, but the Rongguo Mansion treated him and his daughter like this. How could Lin Ruhai bear this?

After thinking for a moment, Jia Jue looked at Lin Ruhai and said.

"Master Lin, what are your plans for the future?"

Lin Ruhai sighed and said.

"What can I plan? I'm in this state now, and I don't know when I'll give up."

"After I'm done with this mission, I plan to go to the Divine Capital to meet His Majesty and resign. Then, I'll live in Kyoto with my daughter and find a home for her. That will be enough for me."

"As for the Rongguo Mansion, alas, it is my wife's family after all. If they are unkind, I don't want to be unjust."

"Although my mother-in-law is cruel, my father-in-law, who has passed away for many years, was very kind to me."

"Not only did he marry his wife to me, he also took good care of me."

"For the sake of my father-in-law and my late wife, my Lin family and the Rongguo Mansion will have no further dealings with each other until we die."

Jia Jue said after hesitating for a moment.

"Master Lin, you are ill. Logically, I shouldn't provoke you any further."

"But there is something related to your Lin family's bloodline. If I don't tell you, I think you will definitely blame me when you find out in the future." Hearing this, Lin Ruhai said in confusion.

"What do you mean, Lord? Please speak frankly."

Jia Jue did not waste any time and immediately told Lin Ruhai everything about the Rongguo Mansion's murder of Lin Ruhai's young son. Then Jia Jue took out a letter and said.

"Master Lin, this is Miss Yuanchun's handwritten letter. She was the one who overheard this matter."

Lin Ruhai's eyes turned bloodshot after hearing this. He took the letter and quickly opened it to read.

After reading the letter, Lin Ruhai couldn't help but become furious and his face was distorted.

"Good, good, what a great Rongguo Mansion."

At this moment, Lin Ruhai's pupils were filled with blood and he was in a state of restlessness.

Even if the Rongguo Mansion wanted to kill him, Lin Ruhai would not be so angry.

But they actually secretly killed his son, caused his wife to die of depression, and ruined his happy family.

This made Lin Ruhai want to kill.

Looking at the extremely excited Lin Ruhai, Jia Jue hurriedly spoke.

"Master Lin, you are weak. Don't get so excited. Calm down. Calm down. Listen to what I have to say."

Lin Ruhai said after suppressing his anger.

"My Lord, it seems I have to take back what I just said. Rongguo Mansion has caused the extinction of my Lin family's incense. I will fight with her until death."

Jia Jue nodded slightly and said.

"The hatred for killing one's son and wife is naturally irreconcilable."

"But Lord Lin, with your current health, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to hold on until this time."

"I can sense that after your wife passed away, you've probably been thinking about committing suicide for love, but you're worried about your beloved having no place to go."

"Even so, you're plagued by heart problems, and coupled with the Wuxin Decoction, your body is seriously depleted."

"I want to avenge your wife and your son, but I can't do it with this body."

"If Lord Lin trusts me, I will help you recuperate and prescribe a prescription. If you take the medicine consistently, I think you will be 60% to 70% better within three months."

"Then you can return to the capital to submit your duties to His Majesty and continue to serve in the court."

"After all, if you want to avenge your family, power and health are both indispensable, what do you think?"

Lin Ruhai nodded without hesitation and said.

"Then I'll leave it to you, sir."

At this time, Lin Ruhai found a new goal in his life and had a strong desire to survive.

Before this, because of the death of his young son and wife, Lin Ruhai had long felt that life was meaningless, so he was depressed and did not care about his health.

He only wanted to settle his daughter so that he could follow his wife.

This situation is the most difficult for doctors. No matter how you treat a person who doesn't want to live, it will be of no use.

So Jia Jue chose to tell this secret to Lin Ruhai in order to inspire his determination to survive and let him cooperate with his treatment.

Jia Jue was willing to treat Lin Ruhai for many reasons.

Firstly, Jia Jue really admired Lin Ruhai and did not want this close friend of his to die early.

Secondly, if Lin Ruhai could continue to stay in officialdom, then after returning to the capital, he would definitely be reused due to his contribution to the salt administration reform, and it would not be a problem for him to enter the cabinet and become a prime minister.

This is also a great help to Jia Jue.

As for the third time, it was because of Lin Daiyu.

Men, as a rule, are attracted to beautiful women, let alone a beauty like Lin Daiyu.

I have such a deep gratitude towards my future father-in-law, so even if I take action against Lin Daiyu in the future, my future father-in-law will probably help me after some hesitation.

After reaching an agreement with Lin Ruhai, Jia Jue quickly began to treat Lin Ruhai's health.

Jia Jue stayed in Yangzhou for three days, taking care of Lin Ruhai's health and leaving a prescription for one month. Then he left the official ship in Yangzhou, disguised himself, and took a merchant ship with a dozen personal soldiers disguised as attendants to Yuhang.

Two days later, in a room of an inn in Yuhang City, Jia Jue was meeting with the commander of the Jinyiwei. No, it should be the Jinyiwei's pacification envoy Gu Qianfan.

Gu Qianfan said after bowing respectfully.

"Jinyiwei pacification envoy Gu Qianfan greets the Marquis."

Seeing this, Jia Jue smiled calmly and said.

"Sure, I've been promoted."

Gu Qianfan said gratefully.

"This is all thanks to the Marquis. After the Jiangnan Salt Administration Case, you spoke highly of me in your memorials."

"Your Majesty is pleased and has promoted me to the position of Imperial Guards Pacification Envoy. I have yet to thank you, Lord."

Jia Jue waved his hand and said.

"You, the Jinyiwei, are the eyes and ears of the emperor. Apart from official duties, it is not appropriate for you to have too much contact with this marquis, lest you cause gossip."

"As for words of gratitude, there's no need for that. I said it when I gave the order: if you perform your duties effectively, I will naturally reward and punish you accordingly."

"Okay, let's get down to business. How's your investigation going on the customs case? Do you have any leads?"

Gu Qianfan nodded slightly and said.

"Ever since the Ministry of Revenue and the Maritime Customs Service were perfunctory in handling Jiangnan's customs duties, His Majesty has sent the Imperial Guard to Jiangnan to investigate the matter."

"After I and my men patrolled Jiangnan for over half a month, I began to see some signs of things happening."

"It is not as the Ministry of Revenue reported to Your Majesty that overseas merchant ships have reduced their trade because of the high tariffs of our Great Zhou."

"The entire Jiangnan region is full of high-quality treasures from overseas."

"These overseas merchant ships bypassed the supervision of the Maritime Customs and docked in large numbers in Qiantang County, which is under the jurisdiction of Yuhang."

"It is certain that Qiantang County must have accepted bribes in order to make huge profits and secretly allowed overseas merchant ships to pass through customs."

“This caused Jiangnan’s customs duties to plummet, causing huge losses to the national treasury.”

"But Qiantang County alone certainly doesn't have the guts to do that. Besides, the people at the Maritime Customs Office are not blind. They shouldn't be unaware of such a large-scale smuggling operation."

"And there's the Ninghai Navy. They're responsible for patrolling the Jiangnan waters. These overseas merchant ships enter and leave the customs without official clearance procedures from the Great Zhou. How could it be that the Ninghai Navy, during their routine patrols, didn't discover anything suspicious even once?"

"If this case is investigated in detail, it will definitely be another major case."

(End of this chapter)