Prime Minister

Chapter 211, Section 210: [Under Control]

On the 20th day of the first lunar month, at the Royal Wharf in Tongzhou, the capital city.

Flags fluttered on the shore, and boats were lined up one after another on the river.

Today marks the start of Princess Yun'an, Jiang Li's, journey south to Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, to pray for the Empress Dowager, in accordance with the imperial decree.

Crown Prince Jiang Xuan, Second Prince Chu, Fourth Prince Wei, Fifth Prince Dai, and Eighth Prince Liang personally saw her off, a display that clearly demonstrated Jiang Li's status within the royal family.

At the second quarter of Chen Shi (7:45 AM), the Vice Minister of Rites read out the imperial edict in public. The guests of honor burned incense to worship the river god. Jiang Li then bid farewell to the Crown Prince and the princes and was helped onto the treasure ship by a female official.

The large ship has four decks. The top deck is Jiang Li's bedroom and living quarters. The second deck is the residence of the female officials and maids. The lower deck is where the eunuchs and guards of the princess's residence live. The bottom deck is the residence and cabins of the shipwrights. In addition, there are several escort ships and supply ships accompanying the ship.

The Emperor attaches great importance to Jiang Li's safety. In addition to the guards of the Princess's residence whom Jiang Li trusts the most, there are 800 Imperial Guards on the escort ship. Jing'an Division spies will patrol the banks along the way at all times. Furthermore, all units of the transport army have received military orders from General Wu Changling to provide convenience for Princess Yun'an at any time.

The fleet slowly sailed south, the capital city receding into the distance until it became just a blurry outline.

In the warm pavilion on the top floor of the treasure ship, Jiang Li changed into an elegant sky-blue palace dress. She did not wear an elaborate crown, but simply tied her hair into a flowing cloud bun and inserted a red-gold and kingfisher feather phoenix head hairpin with pearls. She sat on the soft sandalwood couch by the window.

Outside the window, the vast canal waters shimmered, turning the still chilly early spring sunlight into shimmering golden dust.

Jiang Li no longer had the gentle smile she had on the shore; a faint weariness lingered in her eyes.

This holiday season was not easy for her.

She will be eighteen after the New Year. Most princesses of the imperial family at this age are already married. Although it is not an absolute rule, Empress Wei and Consort Liu in the harem are enthusiastically helping her to make arrangements. Jiang Li has no choice but to invoke the title of Empress Dowager. Her trip to Hangzhou and back may take more than half a year. She has no time to think about marriage. At the earliest, it will be next year.

Besides the marriage, Jiang Li also had to spend a lot of energy dealing with the Crown Prince and several princes. For example, at the dock just now, the verbal exchange between the second prince, Prince Chu, and the fifth prince, Prince Dai, was almost public, and it was only by Jiang Li acting coquettishly and pretending to be angry that the conflict was calmed down.

The warm pavilion was filled with the delicate fragrance of magnolias, and the maids had already silently retreated behind the screen.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded, and Jiang Li looked up to see Su Erniang, dressed in a dark blue palace dress, walking in.

"Your Highness."

Su Erniang bowed and said, "I led my men to inspect each floor and found no oversights."

"Second Aunt, you've worked hard."

Jiang Li always respected Su Erniang, who had been with her since childhood, and said gently, "Sit down."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Su Erniang sat down as instructed, her posture respectful but not unrestrained.

Looking at Jiang Li's slightly tired face, she said with concern, "Your Highness got up early today and stood on the shore for a long time. Are you tired? Why don't you take a short rest?"

"It doesn't matter."

Jiang Li gazed at the spring scenery along the riverbank outside the window and said calmly, "I forgot to ask you earlier, have His Highness the Crown Prince and my brothers made any moves these past few days?"

Su Erniang said unhurriedly, "The day before yesterday, His Highness Prince Chu entered the palace to pay his respects. When he left the palace, he ran into Minister Zheng of the Ministry of Rites. The two talked for a while, but I don't know the specifics. Yesterday, His Highness Prince Dai hosted a banquet for the maternal relatives of Princess Dai, including Minister Ji, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. His Highness the Crown Prince and the other two princes have been acting as usual these past few days, with no special circumstances."

Zheng Yuan, Minister of Rites, and Ji Xin, Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review?

Jiang Li quickly recalled the life stories of these two people.

After a moment, she said calmly, "It seems that my brother, the Crown Prince, is having an increasingly difficult time. I hope he can endure this torment."

Su Erniang wholeheartedly agreed with this.

After the Spring Examination incident last year, the Emperor's attitude towards the Crown Prince changed significantly. On two occasions, he even reprimanded the Crown Prince in front of the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet. Although he never revealed any intention to change the heir apparent, such a matter could not withstand the scrutiny of the world.

In the past six months, the King of Chu, the King of Dai, and even the King of Liang, who had always been inconspicuous, have all begun to consciously show themselves off, while only the fourth prince, the King of Wei, remains as reserved as ever.

"Your Highness, does His Majesty truly intend to change the heir apparent?"

In private, Su Erniang didn't beat around the bush, after all, she knew most of Jiang Li's secrets.

Jiang Li curled her lips slightly and said with a sneer, "It's hard to guess what the Emperor is thinking, but he certainly doesn't want to cause trouble right now. The Crown Prince hasn't made any irreparable mistakes. He just needs to calm down and be careful. If he makes any more small moves in the future, the Emperor won't just give him a simple reprimand."

Su Erniang then said, "His Majesty's actions are always full of hidden meanings. For example, this reward for Xue Tongzhi is most likely a reminder to the Crown Prince."

Hearing her suddenly mention Xue Huai, Jiang Li couldn't help but purse her lips.

The reward Su Erniang mentioned refers to the major corruption case involving the Lianghuai salt administration that shocked the court last year, and the subsequent rewards given to meritorious officials by the imperial court.

Fan Dongyang, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, arrived in the capital in early December of last year and handed over more than eight million taels of embezzled silver to the national treasury. The emperor and the officials of the court were all delighted. Through Fan Dongyang's detailed report, the emperor confirmed the whole story of the Lianghuai salt case and ordered the cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel to discuss the matter of rewarding meritorious officials.

The rewards for Wu Changling, Shi Daoan, Huang Chong, and Tan Mingguang were quickly decided, but the process of discussing merits stalled on Xue Huai. Xue Huai's contributions were undeniable; without him, so many corrupt officials and lawless powerful figures would not have been exposed. The income of over eight million taels of silver greatly alleviated the court's predicament. Such a young official, with impeccable background, excellent family, unwavering loyalty, and outstanding abilities, should be set up as a role model by the court.

Ning Hengzhi and Ouyang Hui did not interfere. Fang Jian, the Minister of Personnel, guessed the emperor's intentions and directly petitioned the emperor to promote Xue Huai to the position of Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. This proposal was strongly opposed by Shen Wang.

Fang Jian knew how much the emperor appreciated Xue Huai, so he decided to create a beautiful story—Xue Mingzhang was promoted from the prefect of Yangzhou to the vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and now Xue Huai was promoted from the assistant prefect of Yangzhou to the vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review. This was all thanks to the emperor's discerning eye for talent.

Shen Wang, of course, would not agree and refuted Fang Jian without hesitation in the imperial study. Perhaps because the emperor wanted to give this Minister of Works, who was about to enter the cabinet, some respect, he ultimately rejected Fang Jian's proposal.

Therefore, Xue Huai's reward was not finalized until the ninth day of the first lunar month. The imperial envoy was ordered to set off south on the eleventh day of the first lunar month, and it is estimated that he has already reached Shandong by now.

Jiang Li's bad mood was not because of this matter, but because the New Year's gift Xue Huai gave her was very ordinary.

Of course, she didn't want worldly things like gold and silver treasures. All she wanted was for Xue Huai to write her a poem that was unique to her. However, the New Year's gifts that Xue Huai sent were just a few Jiangnan specialties. Although they were quite valuable, Jiang Li felt that they lacked sincerity and were not as thoughtful as the gift list sent by the Shen family through the Guangtai ship.

"Your Highness."

Su Erniang naturally knew what Jiang Li was thinking. She hesitated slightly and said, "Before boarding the ship today, I received another message."

Jiang Li asked curiously, "Is it related to Xue Huai?"

"Yes."

Su Erniang sighed silently and said slowly, "Old Madam Cui of the Xue family is going to send someone south to propose marriage to the Shen family in Yangzhou."

The warm pavilion was as cozy as spring, but Su Erniang clearly felt that the air around her seemed to have turned a third colder after she finished speaking.

Jiang Li turned her head to look out the window, her expression unchanged, but her fingertips unconsciously curled up, gripping the carved armrests of the rosewood couch tightly. The elegant magnolia scent in the room now made her feel somewhat suffocated.

"The Xue and Shen families are old friends. Although Shen Qingluan is the daughter of a merchant, Shen Bingwen has already won the title of a righteous merchant personally praised by His Majesty for his generous donation last winter. In addition, Shen Qingluan is intelligent and magnanimous, so this marriage can be considered a good match."

After a long silence, Jiang Li calmly uttered these words. The half-smile on her face was still there, but now only a distant calm remained. Even the slight weariness between her brows and eyes had been completely dispelled, leaving only her tightly pursed lips and a faint chill.

No one in the world understands Jiang Li better than Su Erniang.

The princess's expression was not one of indifference; it clearly conveyed a mixture of anger, disappointment, and a hint of sadness that she herself might not even be aware of.

At this moment, Su Erniang suddenly felt very guilty.

Jiang Li lost both her parents at a young age. Although she is talented in some things, the lack of her mother's companionship and guidance makes it difficult for her to understand the most complex emotions in the world.

If Su Erniang had spoken frankly to Jiang Li when she deliberately showed jealousy and deepened her bond with Xue Huai in this way, perhaps she wouldn't be in this predicament now. Most importantly, Jiang Li may not even know where this trouble comes from.

If this situation continues, it may seriously affect the relationship between the young man and woman.

With this in mind, Su Erniang asked carefully, "Your Highness, what is your opinion of Xue Tongzhi?"

"Second Aunt, I know what you want to say."

Jiang Li spoke calmly, as if recounting someone else's story, and then said, "It is Xue Huai's freedom to marry whomever he wants, and I will not interfere unless the Shen family does something unforgivable."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

Su Erniang shook her head and said with utmost seriousness, "Your Highness, what kind of person is Xue Tongzhi to you? If you truly consider him a reliable ally, then you must respect your ally's private affairs, so that your relationship can last. If... if Your Highness feels that Xue Tongzhi is a suitable match, you should pay even more attention to the distance between you, because a prince consort would absolutely not be able to do those things for Your Highness."

Jiang Li was stunned.

Su Erniang then stood up and said, "Your Highness, in either case, you cannot treat Xue Tongzhi as a pawn in your hand, because he is no ordinary person. If Your Highness tries to control him, you will only drift further and further apart in the end."

Jiang Li stared at her intently, a complex expression on her face.

Su Erniang bowed and said, "Now that Your Highness is traveling south to Hangzhou, you will inevitably pass through Yangzhou on the way. Your Highness's attitude toward Xue Tongzhi at that time will affect the future plans. I urge Your Highness to think carefully."

Jiang Li knew that apart from Su Erniang, no one else in the world would be so honest with her.

She sighed softly and said quietly, "Second Aunt, thank you for reminding me. I will consider it carefully."

Su Erniang finally breathed a sigh of relief and said respectfully, "I'm glad Your Highness doesn't blame me for being nosy."

"Of course not. You can go now, I want to rest for a while."

"Yes, Your Highness."

After Su Erniang left, Jiang Li slowly lowered her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest, and curled up in the warm yet cold soft couch, like a confused and fragile young animal.

(End of this chapter)