Chapter 314
Chapter 314
The crisis was resolved, and the crowd resumed its order. The Emperor quickly scooped up the Fourth Prince, who had been hugging Qian Sheng on the ground, and held him in his arms. His sharp eyes turned to the thin, black-clad young man.
The young man hung his head, breathing heavily from exerting all his strength.
Jiang Xinyue pushed aside the guards protecting her and ran over to take the Fourth Prince. She caressed his face, "Xiaoman, are you hurt?"
The Fourth Prince wrapped his arms around her neck, clearly frightened, and pressed his head against her shoulder for comfort.
"It's okay, it's okay, don't be afraid..."
Shuang Jiang and Xiao Xiangzi hurried to help Qian Sheng up, brushing the dust off his clothes.
The black-clad man made a move to leave but was surrounded by guards. The few young men who had recklessly ridden their horses and caused harm were also captured and brought over.
Wang Dequan, full of anger, demanded, "Who are you people? How dare you ride recklessly and harm people in Qin Province during the summer retreat? Do you not value your lives?"
"Grand Eunuch Wang!"
One of the captured youths shouted, "Grand Eunuch Wang, I am the Fourth Son of the Minister of the National Academy. We met at the New Year's Banquet last year."
He desperately tried to break free from the guards' grip, "Our teacher sent us out to study. We passed through Yu Province and accidentally discovered a severe drought there. The local governor did nothing, locking the people of Yu Province inside the city, letting them die of thirst and turn on each other. When we exposed this, they even tried to kill us to silence us. Please, Grand Eunuch Wang, inform the Emperor. The governor of Yu Province is committing mass murder. The Emperor must send someone quickly to save the people of Yu Province."
"Noble Lady Jiang, Jiang Shouwei and Jiang Shoucheng of the Jiang family were with us during our study. They were separated and pursued. Have they arrived in Qin Province?"
Once someone recognized Jiang Xinyue, others recognized Emperor Xuanwu: "Your Majesty, please punish the governor of Yu Province and save the trapped county magistrate and people of Yu Province!"
Jiang Xinyue grabbed the Emperor's sleeve, "Your Majesty, I have not seen my two cousins."
This meant that the two Jiang brothers had not yet escaped.
With such an incident, no one had the mood to continue the outing. After summoning local officials to appease and compensate the merchants, the group returned to the imperial palace in a hurry.
Originally, Noble Lady Jiang had planned to find the right time to accomplish the task Jiang Xinyue had assigned her. However, the Yu Province affair interrupted her plans, but she became even more determined not to disappoint the Noble Lady Jiang.
When Jiang Yanxi heard that his son might be in danger, he couldn't care about resting and immediately prepared to head to Yu Province.
"You just returned from the Guang regions. Low Level Consort Yu's letter hasn't even reached the Guang regions yet. How would you know if he was being pursued? I'll go instead."
"No!"
Jiang Yanxi rebutted, "If it were only my son Shouwei, I could trust you to go, but this time, it's also my second brother's son, Shoucheng. You know my second brother's temper. Shoucheng is his life. When I brought Shoucheng to the capital, my second brother repeatedly asked me to take good care of him. If something happens to Shoucheng, my second brother might go mad."
Jiang Yankun had been brought to the capital by his parents after the age of ten and had rarely interacted with his relatives from the old estate, so their relationship was not deep.
Even Jiang Yanxi only sought his protection because he had reported his superior for corruption and was being pursued.
Before coming to the capital, Jiang Yanxi was very anxious, unsure if Jiang Yankun would help him.
It was only after spending time together that their relationship gradually improved.
If it were his second brother... If Jiang Yankun, who was not familiar with the situation, were to go instead of Jiang Yanxi, and something happened to Jiang Shoucheng, his second brother would likely hold a grudge against Jiang Yankun.
Then the two families would become enemies, causing a huge problem.
If a family is not united, it will quickly be exploited by enemies and defeated one by one.
"You both don't need to go."
Jiang Xinyue walked into the garden hall where the Jiang family was staying, "The Emperor has already sent Zhu Qianyi, the younger brother of the late Empress, with the Imperial Guards to investigate. He promised me that he would bring my two cousins back safely."
"Zhu family members?"
Jiang Yankun and Jiang Yanxi said simultaneously, "Didn't the Zhu family get banished to the narrow alleys by the Emperor?"
In the capital's narrow alleys, only homeless and destitute refugees live. As the name suggests, the alleys are very narrow, and people have to squeeze sideways to get out.
If the Zhu family is not pardoned, they will have to live in those narrow alleys for the rest of their lives.
For the Zhu family, who were accustomed to a life of luxury, this is worse than death.
Especially since the exiled members included Zhu Qianyi's mother and several sisters.
"Why Zhu Qianyi is here, you'll have to ask Ma Yiyang."
Jiang Xinyue looked back, and the tall Ma Yiyang, like a shy bride, slipped in through the door, "Your Excellency, it was me... When I went to the Miao Borderlands, I was ambushed and barely survived. It was he who saved me. I thought, even though the Zhu family has fallen, the Emperor did not execute the Zhu family members, which means he has other plans. Since he didn't intend to kill all the Zhu family members, they must be kept for a purpose. Among the Zhu family, the most capable man is only Zhu Qianyi. I thought the Emperor might want to use him, so I saved him in the name of Noble Lady Jiang, so he would know who his future master should be."
It turned out that the day Ma Yiyang left Zhu Qianyi, he thought of the Fifth Prince in the imperial mausoleum and felt that this man might be useful in the future. So he went back and saved him.
However, after saving him, Ma Yiyang left him in Qin Province. He couldn't bring him into the imperial palace.
Aliali: 673ec8b2c4f3f33ac4ef7aefIf the Emperor didn't have such intentions and Ma Yiyang had guessed wrong, it would implicate both him and Noble Lady Jiang, and he would be doomed.
Who knew he was lucky and saved the Fourth Prince? After the Emperor recognized him, he immediately pledged his loyalty, willing to serve the Emperor and become his sharpest sword.
And after investigations by the Ministry of Punishment, Ministry of Personnel, and Ministry of Justice, it was confirmed that Zhu Qianyi was not involved in the rebellion case. Only then did the Emperor agree to give him a chance to prove himself.
After Ma Yiyang finished speaking, everyone looked at Jiang Xinyue. She smiled at Ma Yiyang and said, "Ma Yiyang, you are very clever. I accept your token of allegiance, but I remind you, I do not like overly clever, self-serving people. If there are such matters in the future, I hope you will follow orders."
Ma Yiyang knelt down with an excited expression, "This humble official will strictly follow Noble Lady Jiang's orders from now on, serving the Lady and resolving her troubles."
Jiang Yankun opened his mouth wide, looking hurt. He had thought that Ma Yiyang was loyal to him because of his abilities, never expecting that he wanted to use him to connect with his daughter.
What does this mean?
Is he not high enough?
Jiang Xinyue nodded. Taking advantage of everyone being present, she informed them of what Noble Lady Jiang had previously mentioned—that another supervisor in the Ministry of Punishment was a spy arranged by the Duke of Cheng—and told them that the spy had been on leave for a long time, and no one knew where he had gone.
A hidden danger.