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

Chapter 99 Return
After hearing this, Shi Ding nodded slightly and said.

"In that case, I will respectfully send you off, my Lord."

After the two said goodbye, Jia Jue boarded the boat, and then the boat set off, heading north.

In the afternoon, in the cabin, Zhao Pan'er was feeling very emotional.

In just half a month, Zhao Pan'er felt that the world was turned upside down and her life was turned upside down.

The fiancé whom she had high hopes for turned out to be the ungrateful and treacherous Chen Shimei.

The matter of Song Yinzhang's removal from the national register, which had troubled him for a long time, was finally accomplished as easily as taking something out of a bag.

Before Jia Jue took Zhao Pan'er away from Yuhang, Zhao Pan'er settled Song Yinzhang down, left the house deeds and land deeds of her teahouse to Song Yinzhang, and gave Song Yinzhang half of her savings accumulated over the years.

When she was honest with herself, Zhao Pan'er felt that she had done her best to honor the spirit of her sister Song Yinzhang in heaven.

As for where Song Yinzhang will go in the future, that depends on her own fate. Zhao Pan'er really can't take care of it.

During these few days, Zhao Pan'er stayed on the official ship and became more and more curious about Jia Jue's identity.

She had a vague guess in her mind, but she didn't dare to ask or express it.

Before this, Zhao Pan'er had tried very hard to overestimate the level of involvement of the Night Banquet Picture.

However, it now seems that Zhao Pan'er found that she had underestimated this matter.

Being caught in such a whirlpool, Zhao Pan'er felt helpless.

I don’t know what is waiting for me after this is done.

Jia Jue knew very well about Zhao Pan'er's mixed feelings, but he did not go to comfort her.

After all, things have not been settled yet, and anything said now is false.

But as long as Zhao Pan'er is obedient, there will be no problem in saving her life.

In this way, the official ship went north along the canal. When passing through Yangzhou, the official ship stopped for a while. After Jia Jue examined Lin Ruhai, he adjusted the prescription and prescribed new medicine for Lin Ruhai.

It has to be said that hatred can greatly stimulate people's potential.

Ever since learning about the conspiracy of Rongguo Mansion, Lin Ruhai has been full of fighting spirit and determined to avenge his wife and children. His overall mental state has improved a lot.

After docking for a while, the official ship set sail again and headed straight for the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

A few days later, in the southern part of the Divine Capital, the Qin family was in a panic.

Just two days ago, Qin Ye, the construction official of the Ministry of Works, was summoned because someone reported that he had abused his power to enrich himself and interfered with the construction of the palace.

After Qin Ye was taken away, his two children, Qin Keqing and Qin Zhong, were panicked.

My father has always been incorruptible. Our family is extremely poor. He never fights or competes with anyone and has never offended anyone. How could he have met with such a disaster?

Qin Zhong is still a child now, and he has no idea how to deal with problems when they arise.

Although Qin Keqing had some opinions of her own, she was a girl and it was not convenient for her to show herself in public.

Just when Qin Zhong and Qin Keqing were at their wit's end, Lai Er, the steward of Ningguo Mansion, came to their door.

Lai Er and Qin Keqing had a conversation and said that Jia Zhen, the master of Ningguo Mansion, heard from his friends that Qin Ye was interrogated.

Considering the old relationship between the Qin family and the Ningguo Mansion, he made some inquiries and found out that Qin Ye had offended someone.

If you want to release Qin Ye now, you have to pay at least five thousand taels of silver.

The Qin family was extremely poor, and only Qin Ye received a reward for building an ancestral hall and tomb for the Marquis of Guanjun's Mansion.

After the completion of the project, he received another reward, which totaled to one thousand taels of silver.

Lai Eryi said it was five thousand taels, which Qin Keqing naturally could not afford.

Then Lai Er spoke very obscurely about some filial acts such as selling oneself to bury one's father and mother, and then left the Qin family.

After Lai Er left, Qin Keqing felt uncomfortable.

If it were an ordinary woman without her own opinion, she would most likely follow Lai Er's advice and sell herself to the Ningguo Mansion.

But Qin Keqing is a smart person, otherwise she would not have become good friends with Wang Xifeng in the original novel.

After Qin Keqing thought about it for a while, she felt that something was wrong.

First of all, Qin Ye had talked about Ningguo Mansion with Qin Keqing before, and Qin Keqing probably knew the character of the two men in Ningguo Mansion.

Furthermore, considering the insignificant relationship between the Qin family and the Ningguo Mansion, why would Jia Zhen be so kind as to go out of his way to inquire about Qin Ye's situation?

As the saying goes, showing courtesy for nothing is either cheating or stealing.

Thinking about what Lai Er said when he came home, Qin Keqing immediately had an answer. Her father's affairs were most likely related to Jia Zhen.

After all, Qin Ye is a good guy in the Ministry of Industry. He doesn't offend anyone and always does his own job honestly.

He has never affected the interests of others, so why would others want to bully him?

After thinking it over, Qin Keqing looked at her brother Qin Zhong, who looked anxious but helpless, and spoke gently.

"Okay, Zhong'er, stop thinking about it. I have a solution for Daddy's problem."

Qin Zhong hurriedly said after hearing this.

"Sister, you're not really planning to sell yourself to Ningguo Mansion, are you? If Dad knew you were going to do that, he would definitely not agree."

"And I always feel that Lai Er is not a good person."

Qin Keqing waved her hand and said.

"Don't worry, your sister is not that stupid."

"Daddy's matter, it's obvious that someone deliberately framed him."

"If that's the case, then this person must have some goals to achieve."

"Now it seems that their purpose has emerged."

Qin Zhong said in surprise after thinking for a moment.

"Sister, what you mean is that it was the people in Ningguo Mansion who framed Daddy, and their purpose was to force you to commit yourself to Ningguo Mansion, right?"

Qin Keqing looked at Qin Zhong with great satisfaction and said.

"They say reading is a way to improve one's intelligence. It seems your father made the right decision to send you to Bailushan Academy."

"Your guess is pretty much what I thought. It's probably the case."

"If we have no other options, then I have no other choice but to commit myself to Ningguo Mansion."

"But now, I think we still have a choice, which is to seek help from the Champion Marquis' Mansion."

Qin Zhong said after hesitating for a moment.

"Dad only helped the Marquis's family build the ancestral hall. With such a small favor, will the Marquis's family help us?"

Qin Keqing patted Qin Zhong on the shoulder and said.

"If this is all we have, the Marquis' Mansion may not help us."

"But don't forget one thing: there's a grudge between the Guanjun Marquisate and the Ning and Rong Mansions."

"Before, in order to cause trouble for the Ning and Rong families, the Champion Marquis openly snatched a bride on Suzaku Street."

"Later, they even killed the legitimate sons of the Ning and Rong families. This kind of hatred is impossible to resolve."

"Champion Hou must want to solve this problem once and for all."

"By coming to the Marquis' Mansion, isn't that giving the Marquis an opportunity to deal with the Ningguo Mansion openly and honestly?"

Hearing this, Qin Zhong couldn't help but nodded.

"Yeah, how could I have forgotten about this."

"Then sister, let's go without further delay."

Qin Keqing nodded, and then the two of them made some simple preparations, went out, hired a carriage, and headed straight for the Marquis of Guanjun's Mansion.

In the Qianqing Palace, Jia Jue was chatting with Emperor Yongping.

Emperor Yongping said after a faint smile.

"Well, you did a great job this time. I will reward you."

Jia Jue said with a chuckle.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Although the customs case has been settled, the matter of the Night Banquet Picture is still a little complicated." After Jia Jue finished speaking, he told the story of everything involved in the Night Banquet Picture one by one.

After learning the whole story, Emperor Yongping frowned and said.

"So, the new top scholar is this kind of person."

"If he treats his betrothed, who has been so kind to him, like this, he won't be a good official serving the country and the people if he holds a high position."

"Well, let's just confiscate his property on the pretext of marriage fraud. Then the Night Banquet Picture will be recovered without any hassle."

Jia Jue waved his hand and said.

"Your Majesty, the new third place winner was personally selected by the chief examiner."

"If we directly confiscate the property, it will not only cause controversy, but also damage your majesty's reputation."

"And there's another problem now. The Imperial Guards have verified that the Night Banquet Painting has been given to Prime Minister Ke as a birthday gift by Ouyang Xu's servant."

“So this is bound to be a bit tricky.”

After hearing that the Night Banquet Picture fell into Ke Zheng's hands, Emperor Yongping couldn't help but think about it.

After pondering for a moment, Emperor Yongping looked at Jia Jue and said with a chuckle.

"You kid, are you testing me on purpose?"

"You brought Zhao Pan'er from Yuhang to Shendu. I guess you had a plan in mind."

Jia Jue said with a slight smile.

"Your majesty is wise and wise."

"Prime Minister Ke is a man of integrity. Using trickery against him will make it difficult to recover the Night Banquet Painting. It might even backfire and lead to Prime Minister Ke investigating the matter, which is not in line with Your Majesty's original intention."

"I brought Zhao Pan'er back here with the intention of having her go to the Prime Minister's residence to ask for the Night Banquet Painting."

"Zhao Pan'er and Ouyang Xu have a written engagement. This is irrefutable evidence."

"Prime Minister Ke is not the kind of person who oppresses the good. I think he will return the Night Banquet Painting."

"As long as the Night Banquet Picture is back in Zhao Pan'er's hands, everything will be fine."

"As for how to deal with Ouyang Xu later, that's up to His Majesty to decide."

After hearing this, Emperor Yongping twirled his beard and said.

"Interesting. A gentleman can be deceived. You have calculated Prime Minister Ke's character, so you devised this plan."

"You are so young, but who did you learn all these tricks from?"

Jia Jue spread his hands helplessly and said.

"I have been serving Your Majesty wholeheartedly, but Your Majesty's words really make me feel disheartened."

Looking at Jia Jue who was acting like a good boy, Emperor Yongping smiled and said.

"Really? Then I'll give you some land. Would that warm your heart right away?"

After hearing this, Jia Jue chuckled and said.

"Your Majesty, after hearing what I heard, I feel warm all over and full of energy."

Emperor Yongping couldn't help but shook his head and said.

"You little brat, you're just about to put your hand in my pocket."

"Alright, how can I treat you unfairly?"

"You have quite a bit of land already, it's not good to have too much of this."

"I'll give you something practical this time."

"Lin Ruhai has completed the salt administration reform. When I return, I will give you 150,000 large salt permits. How about that? It's worth your trip, isn't it?"

Jia Jue couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty."

The so-called salt permit is the permit issued by the imperial court to salt merchants to transport and sell salt, which originated from the Salt Note Law.

One large salt permit can be used to obtain 400 kilograms of salt at the imperial salt fields, and 150,000 salt permits can be used to obtain a full 6 million kilograms of salt.

In ancient times, salt and iron were monopolies. Holding the salt permit was like controlling a printing press.

Even if 150,000 salt permits were sold, a profit of at least hundreds of thousands of taels could be made in a year.

If you organize the sales yourself, the profit will be greater.

I have to say that Emperor Yongping is really a boss with a broad vision. He really gives benefits and never makes empty promises.

Looking at Jia Jue who was smiling happily, Emperor Yongping waved his hand and said.

"Look at how promising you are. Okay, now that we've finished our business, I'll have the imperial kitchen prepare some extra dishes for lunch. Please have lunch with me before you go back."

"My minister obeys."

While Jia Jue was having dinner with his big-name boss, Emperor Yongping, Zhang Guifen and Sheng Minglan were chatting happily in the mansion of Marquis Guanjun.

There were more than a dozen boxes of gifts in the room, all of which were precious specialties from Jiangnan that Jia Jue brought back for his family during his trip south.

Sheng Minglan said with a smile.

"Sister, my husband brought a lot of things this time. He brought dozens of pieces of brocade alone. I'm afraid we sisters won't be able to wear them all even after several years."

Zhang Guifen nodded slightly and said.

"That's right. I think we should pick out some and give some to the Marquis's close confidants. They often send gifts to our mansion during festivals. It's only right to reciprocate."

"By the way, what happened to the girl that my husband brought back to the mansion? Have you found out?"

Sheng Minglan shook her head and said after hearing this.

"I didn't ask, sister. I don't think she's a concubine. He's placed her in a separate courtyard and even sent someone to tell him first. This doesn't look like a hidden beauty in a golden house."

"Let's not ask around. If my husband wants us to know, he will definitely tell us."

"If he doesn't want us to know, then he must have his reasons. What do you think, sister?"

Zhang Guifen said after a moment of thought.

"I understand this, and I'm not just imagining things."

"I'm mainly worried that outsiders will find out and mistakenly think that my husband is keeping a concubine outside. If the news gets out, they will accuse us sisters of being jealous and intolerant. Isn't it unfair to us sisters?"

"I thought if she was really my husband's concubine, then I should bring her to the mansion to prevent people from talking nonsense."

Hearing this, Sheng Minglan smiled and said.

"That's what I thought, sister."

"Then let's wait a little longer. My husband went to the palace right after he got off the boat. I think he went to see His Majesty and report back."

"When my husband comes back, everything will be clear."

As the two sisters were chatting, the maid came into the room, bowed, and said.

"Madams, there is someone outside the mansion who wants to see you."

After hearing this, Zhang Guifen looked at the maid and asked.

"Who is seeking to see you?"

"Madam, the visitors are a brother and sister. They claim to be the children of Mr. Qin, who helped build the ancestral hall and ancestral tomb in our mansion."

"Looking at the siblings, it seems like they are in trouble and are here for help."

Zhang Guifen said after a moment of thought.

"Minglan, when the ancestral hall and tomb were being built in the mansion, I remember that my husband was quite satisfied with Qin Ye."

"Why don't we meet and see what's going on."

Sheng Minglan smiled and said.

"Sister, you're the boss, but when people show up later, we shouldn't make any promises."

"Anyway, my husband will definitely be back home this afternoon, so I'll let him make the decision then."

(End of this chapter)