The Black Chamber Dream: Daiyu's Revenge

The emperor was intrigued upon hearing this, recalling that the late emperor had once traveled to the south of the Yangtze River but had never visited Yangzhou. So he asked, "I have heard that there are sightseeing tours in Yangzhou throughout the twelfth month. Is that true?"

"In the first month, we visit the plum blossoms in the East Garden; in the second month, we fly kites at the North Gate; in the third month, the peach blossoms bloom at the Peach Blossom Hermitage; and in the fourth month, the peonies bloom." When Daiyu mentioned peonies, she added, "Yangzhou peonies are the best in the world, with as many as thirty-nine varieties. To the west of the Three Sages Temple is the Ruishao Pavilion, where the peonies are clustered together, which is especially rare."

"Yangzhou is prosperous, hence its beautiful scenery," the Empress exclaimed. "It is also due to His Majesty's effective governance."

But then the emperor suddenly remembered the war in the southeast: "No matter how wealthy we are, we can't withstand this kind of squandering. Third son, have you calculated how much silver has been spent in the southeast since the army set out?"

Xiao Tingjun, who now works in the Ministry of Revenue, knew these things well back then. When the emperor asked, he replied, "The total amount of money, grain, military supplies, and weapons is equivalent to eight million taels of silver."

"Eight million?" The Empress seemed incredulous and couldn't help but start chanting Buddhist prayers.

"The money has been spent, so be it. If it can be accomplished in one battle, then so be it." The emperor was somewhat unsure.

"The Third Prince has been working at the Ministry of Revenue for a year, and I think he's doing well. After the New Year, when the court convenes, you will go to the Ministry of War. However, you can't be idle at the Ministry of Revenue either; you should still visit it when you have time." The Emperor said this suddenly as he was leaving after having lunch at the Prince Yi's residence.

The Empress glanced at Daiyu beside her, a subtle meaning in her eyes.

Chapter 98 Jia Zheng Makes a Mistake, Daiyu Offers Advice

After the New Year's court session, everyone saw that Prince Yi was involved in both the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, which inevitably led to some speculation. During the New Year, Prince Yi's residence even declined the banquet, but it seemed that he had benefited from the Emperor's presence. Does the Emperor now value Prince Yi even more?

As a result, some people rushed to curry favor with Prince Yi. Seeing that the Third Prince was unmoved by either soft or hard approaches, many began to encourage the ladies of the inner quarters to start by getting close to Daiyu.

So, Princess Ge Xijia, who had just been released from confinement in the Buddhist hall, saw Daiyu surrounded by admirers at several banquets.

"Heh, what's there to be proud of?" Ge Xijia had an idea—the provincial examination was just around the corner, perfect opportunity to teach Prince Yi's uncle a lesson. The Rongguo Mansion was like a sieve; it wouldn't be easy to mess with Daiyu, but causing trouble for the Rongguo Mansion would be far too simple.

Soon, the news of the Zhejiang examinees' strike became known throughout the court and the public—Jia Zheng was serving as the education commissioner there.

Upon hearing the news, Jia She was the most flustered. He overheard Madam Xing gloating beside him, saying, "Haha, the second son's family is finally in trouble! Humph, they won't let me do the housekeeping, and now Baoyu has a son. The old lady's heart is so biased, I think..."

"Shut up, you idiot!" Jia She scolded. "Don't you think about it? Now that Zhen-ge'er's place has been taken back to the Duke's mansion, if this matter of the second son blows up, aren't you afraid that we will also be implicated? In the end, we'll end up like Zhen-ge'er, moving to a small house?"

The matter concerning Jia Zhen completely terrified Jia She. Now that Jia Zhen and his family had bought a three-courtyard house, it was already quite good, but compared to the former Ningguo Mansion, it was like heaven and earth. The courtyards combined were not even as big as the former garden of the Ningguo Mansion.

Jia She was unsure of himself, and he couldn't even stand his concubine. He couldn't muster any energy to drink. After thinking it over, he finally rushed to find Grandmother Jia.

"Mother, regarding my second brother's matter, I think we should ask Prince Yi for help. I've heard that Prince Yi is currently highly regarded by His Majesty, and he oversees both the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue." Jia She thought that since Daiyu was already Prince Yi's wife, and his second brother was Daiyu's maternal uncle, they were all related. Prince Yi should surely lend a hand with this small favor.

To his surprise, Grandmother Jia immediately rejected his suggestion: "You make it sound so easy, but that's the imperial examination, not an ordinary matter."

Grandmother Jia was filled with regret. Last year, on Li Wan's birthday, Daiyu had specifically reminded her, but Grandmother Jia hadn't taken it seriously at the time. Moreover, Daiyu had said she had already reminded Yuan Chun. Therefore, Grandmother Jia couldn't bring herself to ask Daiyu for help now.

"What's the big deal? As long as Prince Yi is willing to help, the second son won't be severely punished." Jia She was afraid that if he were implicated, he might lose his title.

“Once you use up your favor, it’s gone. Let me think about this first.” Grandmother Jia sighed. She always favored her youngest son and didn’t really not want to help, but she was in the wrong in this matter.

Just as Grandmother Jia was in a dilemma, someone from Daiyu's side came to visit.

Two young maids followed behind Zijuan as she entered to pay her respects to Grandmother Jia. Grandmother Jia was momentarily stunned to see Zijuan, dressed in a honey-yellow round-necked jacket adorned with peony blossoms and a pink brocade sash and lotus-root silk skirt, entering gracefully and elegantly. This girl had changed so much since then. Previously, among the senior maids at home, Zijuan hadn't really stood out much.

This demeanor is truly a testament to the patronage of the Prince's mansion.

After bowing respectfully, Zijuan spoke frankly to Grandmother Jia: "Our Princess Consort sent me to tell you that it's almost the first day of the month, and you will be able to enter the palace. You should go and inform Her Majesty. If Her Majesty could speak to His Majesty about the Second Master's matter, things would be much easier."

Before Grandmother Jia could figure out how to handle this, Zijuan said, "Zhejiang is Lord Ge's hometown. Your Majesty only needs to grasp this point, and that will be enough."

Grandmother Jia suddenly realized—Daiyu had said before that it was the Fourth Prince who arranged for Jia Zheng to go there as the educational commissioner; it turned out that they had set a trap all along.

If Yuan Chun were to bring this up, the emperor would then associate the matter with Prince Li and his wife, or even the Ge family. Jia Zheng may have made a mistake, but that was someone else's sphere of influence.

Emperors are all people with the most suspicious nature.

By pointing this out, the emperor is not afraid not to suspect the Ge family.

If the emperor was dissatisfied with Jia Zheng, then the Ge family, and the Prince Li and his wife, would naturally be even more dissatisfied.

Grandmother Jia immediately laughed: "Your princess is so clever. I'm really getting senile. You've come all this way today, shouldn't you go home and see your parents?"

Grandmother Jia thought that since Zijuan's parents were still in the Rongguo Mansion, she wasn't worried that Zijuan wouldn't help the Rongguo Mansion.

Zijuan found it amusing—the reason why the princess was willing to help at this time was that although Jia Zheng was pedantic, he was not a bad person at heart. Moreover, by helping the Jia family, she could also plant a seed in the emperor's heart. With the Ge family so powerful, how could the emperor be satisfied?

"Killing two birds with one stone," that's exactly what the princess said.

Moreover, upon hearing Grandmother Jia's words, Zijuan discerned something: the old lady was indeed getting old. Although her parents were still in the Rongguo Mansion, the fact that her daughter had helped her parents get rid of their slave status through the Third Miss was something the old lady probably didn't even know.

However, Zijuan naturally wouldn't tell Grandmother Jia on her own initiative. Seeing that Grandmother Jia wanted to show her concern, Zijuan cooperated: "That's exactly what the Princess said. She asked me to come and report the important matter to the old lady first, and also asked me to send things to the Third Miss and the Fourth Miss."

Seeing that Daiyu treated Tanchun and Xichun very well, Grandmother Jia became even more satisfied. The Rongguo Mansion lacked capable men, but if Tanchun and Xichun were betrothed to good families, and as long as their in-laws were good, the Rongguo Mansion wouldn't collapse anytime soon.

With Daiyu's guidance, Grandmother Jia made preparations and went to the palace early on the third day—the first day of the month—to pay her respects to Yuanchun.

Yuan Chun has had a tough time these past two days. Thinking about her father's accident, Yuan Chun first went to ask Consort Wu for help, but Consort Wu couldn't do anything either. Yuan Chun also thought about asking Daiyu, but Daiyu hadn't come to the palace for the past two days, so she couldn't see her even if she wanted to.

Upon seeing Grandmother Jia, Yuan Chun burst into tears. Grandmother Jia was immediately displeased, but she didn't show it. Instead, she quickly relayed Daiyu's words to Yuan Chun.

"Lin Daiyu was truly farsighted." Yuan Chun was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then sighed as she came to her senses.

Taking the opportunity, Grandmother Jia quickly admonished Yuan Chun: "Your Highness, please don't think I'm being too blunt, but you're all alone in the deep palace, and you're out of touch with everyone. Our household has no one in the court, but the Princess Consort of Yi is different. She's in the Prince's residence and has the Prince as her backer, so she knows more about court affairs than you or I do. For example, when the Lai family got into trouble last time, if the Princess Consort of Yi hadn't told us in advance, I'm afraid our family would have been in serious trouble as well."

Yuan Chun was stunned. Grandmother Jia continued, "I heard from the Princess Consort that she had warned Your Highness about your father's matter long ago. Your Highness should have taken it to heart. If you had just informed your father and told him to be careful, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out this way."

Yuan Chun blushed. At that moment, she was so pleased with herself that she didn't take Daiyu's words to heart at all.

Seeing that things had indeed come to pass as Daiyu had said, he felt both regret and shame.

After careful consideration, when the Emperor came to her Fengzao Palace, Yuan Chun took the initiative to remove her hairpin and apologize. Her first words were: "Your Majesty, my father has always been conservative and ignorant of change. However, this time the scholars in Zhejiang caused trouble. We cannot hide it from the people below, nor can we deceive the Emperor above. Among them are students from other provinces who took the exams under false names and even led the trouble. My father was unable to suppress the disturbance in Zhejiang. I beg Your Majesty to punish them severely."

Although Yuan Chun lacked vision and foresight, having spent so many years in the palace, she knew exactly how to speak. Her words, seemingly calm and measured, subtly highlighted the key points.

A scholar caused trouble in Zhejiang.

The emperor stared at Yuan Chun for a long while before slowly uttering a few words: "Get up first, this matter cannot be rushed."

Chapter 99 Losing Official Position to Save Life, Ge Family Punished

Yuan Chun's words hit the nail on the head—that students from other provinces were using someone else's household registration to take the exam, which was a big deal.

In truth, the Emperor had a clear understanding of Jia Zheng's character. He had accomplished nothing in the Ministry of Works for many years, and even when the Third Prince was in the Ministry, he conducted an assessment, which Jia Zheng also performed only moderately. When the Fourth Prince went to the Ministry of Works, he actually spoke well of Jia Zheng, which made the Emperor suspicious.

Sending Jia Zheng to study politics was a deliberate act by the emperor; he wanted to see what the fourth prince was really up to. Unfortunately, the fourth prince disappointed the emperor once again—what can one achieve in officialdom or in life through mere intrigue?

Jiaxing Prefecture in Zhejiang Province is the ancestral home of the Ge family, and the Ge family owns hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land in Jiaxing. The emperor was well aware of this.

But now is not the time to attack the Ge family. Firstly, the southeast is still preparing for war, and secondly, the emperor still needs people from the Ge family.

That's why the emperor said to Yuan Chun, "This matter cannot be rushed."

Although Yuan-chun was not clever, upon hearing this, she knew that her father was unlikely to commit a serious crime. Sure enough, two days later, the emperor announced in court that Jia Zheng had been stripped of his official position as educational commissioner and ordered to return home to await further orders.

At the same time, the Emperor praised the virtuous Consort for her understanding and wisdom, and bestowed upon her many gifts. Yuan Chun then arranged for some of the gifts to be sent to the Rongguo Mansion.

These things may not be worth much money, but at the critical moment when Jia Zheng was stripped of his official position, the concubine of the Rongguo Mansion in the palace received a reward. Officials and noble families in the capital are very good at judging people by their status, and these things were meant to be shown off to these families.

When Xiao Tingjun returned and told Daiyu about it, Daiyu couldn't help but smile: "His Majesty always gives a slap and a treat, but now he's accumulating resentment towards the Ge family. When it comes to an end, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as just losing his official position."

Daiyu's words were spot on: after the strike by Zhejiang examinees was quelled, all the examinees were delayed by ten days in taking the exam. Shortly after the exam, Zhang Xing, the Zhejiang Provincial Governor, impeached Ge Jingshu, the Provincial Education Commissioner, for disrupting the national talent selection ceremony and engaging in favoritism and corruption.

Among them was a student from another province who took the exam under someone else's name. This person was originally a candidate from Jiangxi, but because there were too many candidates from Jiangxi, his family gave Ge Jingshu a lot of money.

This caused a huge commotion—Ge Jingshu was not from a collateral branch of the Ge family, but Ge Xijia's uncle and Ge Xijia's father's younger brother.

The Emperor handed the case over to the Ministry of Justice. Ge Xijia went back to her parents' home to discuss the matter, but seeing that there was no way to change things, she returned to the Prince's Mansion and had a big fight with Xiao Tingfeng.

"You're really being unreasonable. Wasn't this your idea in the first place?" Xiao Tingfeng felt even more wronged this time. If he had actively participated and offered suggestions in the matter of exposing his second brother, then the whole thing about Jia Zheng was proposed by Ge Xijia herself.

At the time, Ge Xijia said that the Rongguo Mansion would either support the third brother or side with the second brother, and since neither of them would support them, they might as well teach them a lesson. It was Ge Xijia who suggested that Jia Zheng go to Zhejiang.

"I'm baffled. Am I doing this for myself? Isn't it all for you? If you were as important as my second and third brothers, and you could receive praise from Father from time to time, and handle things so well, why would I need to do these things?" Ge Xijia has recently felt that everything is not to her liking because of Chunmei, who was sent by Consort Xu.

But Chunmei was gentle, generous, and virtuous, and she also had the reputation of being personally sent by Consort Xu, so Ge ​​Xijia couldn't treat her like an ordinary maid.

"Are you saying I'm incompetent? If you think I'm incompetent, why did you marry me in the first place?" Xiao Tingfeng was even angrier. Wasn't his wife implying that he was no good? He hadn't begged for this marriage.

"You think I wanted to marry you? If it weren't for His Majesty's decree, why would I..." Ge Xijia realized she shouldn't have said that halfway through her sentence, but she had always been pampered by her family and had never been in the habit of bowing her head. So she stubbornly said, "Anyway, this time it was all because of you that Uncle got into trouble."

Xiao Tingfeng sneered: "Your uncle is greedy for money, otherwise how could he have ended up like this? If you had clearly explained that your uncle was using this as an opportunity to make money, I would not have agreed to this arrangement."

"Greedy! Who do you think you spent that money on? Think about it yourself, what can your meager monthly salary possibly cover? If it weren't for my financial support, could you live such a comfortable life? How much could your mother possibly give you? You still want to win over the court officials? With the little money you and your mother have, what can you possibly accomplish?" Ge Xijia was furious when she brought it up. Consort Xu came from a humble background and her family wasn't very supportive, so of course she wouldn't be like Consort Wu, whose family was wealthy and powerful, and who could easily give her second brother and sister-in-law more than they could spend.

Although Xiao Tingfeng understood that his salary and the income from the estate were far from enough to cover the expenses, hearing Ge Xijia's words still stung him. He stood up abruptly and said to Ge Xijia, "If you despise my son and me so much, then you might as well ask for a divorce. I can't possibly be worthy of a wealthy and powerful girl like you from the Ge family, with thousands of acres of fertile land in Zhejiang and mountains of gold and silver in your home."

After saying that, he left directly, which made Ge Xijia stomp her feet in anger. Seeing that her husband really left and didn't come back, she then buried her face in her hands and cried.

Seeing Prince Li storm off to his study, Chunmei, who had been keeping a close eye on the prince and princess's every move, hurried to the kitchen. She had already bribed the kitchen staff with her own money and was now preparing peach gum and white fungus soup. Having served Consort Xu for many years, Chunmei knew very well Prince Li Xiao Tingfeng's preferences.

Chunmei carried in a tray with a small, famille rose bowl filled with peach gum and white fungus soup. Xiao Tingfeng, who was already fuming, didn't hesitate to show his bad mood when he saw Chunmei. He stared at her with an ugly expression and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Chunmei paid no attention to the prince's tone and spoke in a gentle and soft voice: "This servant noticed that Your Highness has been a little overheated due to your busy official duties these days, so I asked the kitchen to make some sweet soup that Your Highness likes to drink. Please try it and calm down. Nothing is more important than your health, is it?"

Because Chunmei was a trusted servant of Consort Xu, Xiao Tingfeng was extremely familiar with her. Hearing Chunmei's gentle tone, he couldn't help but sigh, took the sweet soup and drank it. It was the taste he liked, and even the sweetness was just right.

"Chunmei is so thoughtful," Xiao Tingfeng couldn't help but say as he sipped his sweet soup.

Chunmei didn't speak, but waited for Xiao Tingfeng to finish drinking before slowly persuading him: "Your Highness, please don't always quarrel with the Princess. Now that the Ge family has encountered trouble, it is not a good thing for Your Highness. If you have another quarrel with your spouse, wouldn't it make you a laughing stock? Besides, if His Majesty finds out, he will definitely be unhappy."

"Chunmei, whose side are you on? How dare you try to persuade me?" Xiao Tingfeng frowned.

“Your Highness is right. You and the Princess are husband and wife, and Chunmei was sent by the Empress. Naturally, she is wholeheartedly devoted to Your Highness.” Chunmei was used to being a servant, so she was naturally different from Ge Xijia, who was pampered at home. “Your Highness, please rest for a while. If you think it through, you should go and say a few kind words to the Princess. His Majesty does not yet have a grandson. If the Princess can be the first to give birth to a son for Your Highness, that would be a great thing.”

Listening to Chunmei's words, Xiao Tingfeng knew that she was right, but he just couldn't swallow his anger, even though he hadn't done anything wrong this time.

"Alright, I'll listen to you." Xiao Tingfeng compromised. "But we can't be in such a hurry. Let her wait a couple of days, or she'll just take advantage of us."

To Xiao Tingfeng and Chunmei's surprise, before Xiao Tingfeng could apologize to Ge Xijia, Ge Xijia stormed back to her parents' home the very next morning.

Chapter 100 Marital Conflict: Consort Shu's Firmness

Ge Xijia stormed off to her parents' home. Xiao Tingfeng, a prince who had also grown up in a privileged life, naturally didn't give her any face. For two consecutive days, he went to court as usual, went to the Ministry of Works as usual, and went to the palace as usual to pay his respects to his mother, Consort Xu.

Consort Xu quickly learned the truth and immediately became dissatisfied with her daughter-in-law, Ge Xijia. Especially when she saw Consort Wu's side, Song Huilan not only came to the palace to pay her respects but also hugged the county princess. As for the Empress, not to mention, her third son's wife even sent a nine-section wolf to the palace to amuse the Empress.

The more she thought about it, the more dissatisfied she became, but when she was talking to her son, Xu Shufei still tried to persuade him: "It's normal for you two to have disagreements from time to time. Although she shouldn't have gone back to her parents' home, this stalemate isn't a solution. Her uncle just had an accident, and she's feeling bad. You should be understanding of her."

Xiao Tingfeng snorted: "Mother, you have no idea how bad her temper is. It was clearly her uncle's own problem, but she still blamed me."

Consort Xu sighed: "This time, her uncle was not only stripped of his official position, but also imprisoned, and his family's property was confiscated. The punishment was so severe, it's understandable that she's unhappy. Fortunately, it's her uncle. As long as her father is still in court, it's a good thing for you. Even if you don't care about the man, you should at least go and pay a visit to the Ge family."

Two more days passed, and Xiao Tingfeng lost his temper. Besides, his second brother had already teased him about it, so Xiao Tingfeng had no choice but to back down.

"Speaking of which, Father is just biased. My second brother had such a big incident, and he was just confined to his quarters. Now he's out working in the Ministry of War, and seeing how smug he is, I'm furious." Xiao Tingfeng complained. He thought that after such a big incident, his second brother probably wouldn't even be able to keep his position as a prince.