Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2618 Redemption
Shen Cha glanced at Master Jiang, then at Shen Haolin, a troubled expression on her face. She could roughly guess what Master Jiang was talking about, but she was too embarrassed to say it aloud.

"What's wrong?" Fourth Master Jiang looked at Shen Cha. "What came to mind?"

"I've been thinking about some things that my mother and the Empress Dowager have mentioned before."

"Is it about the Empress Dowager?" Shen Haolin asked curiously when he saw her nod. "But Mother has never mentioned it to me."

“They would never tell you something like this, and you wouldn’t want to hear it anyway.” Master Jiang chuckled and glanced at Xue Ruitian, who was coaxing Qin Zheng and Yan Bo. “If it were Xiao Tian or Xiao Jing, they would probably know.”

“That’s right.” Shen Cha thought for a moment, sighed softly, and said, “Not only my mother and the Empress Dowager, but Aunt Xue also told me a lot. They had more contact with the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager wasn’t bad from the beginning.”

“There’s no good or bad in this, it’s just that we’re on different sides and have different ideas. We think this matter is beneficial to Great Xia, but the Empress Dowager doesn’t think so, so…” Fourth Master Jiang spread his hands, “I’m not speaking for her, it’s just that these years of silence have made me understand some things.”

“We understand.” Shen Haolin nodded and said, “No one in this world would speak well of her, not even Fourth Grandfather.”

“That’s right, I’m just stating the facts.” Master Jiang looked at Shen Cha, thought for a moment, and said, “The thing you know happened when the Empress Dowager was how old? Tell me, and let’s see if we’re talking about the same thing.”

“Okay!” Shen Cha recalled some things her elders had told her before, and said, “It must have been when the Empress Dowager was eight or nine years old. At that time, her business talent had not yet been shown. She was just an ordinary girl from an ordinary family. At that time, her grandfather was in charge of her family, and her grandfather’s brother, her second grandfather, assisted him. Although the business did not improve much, it was not bad either. However…” She paused, and then continued, “Someone in her family was very ambitious and was not satisfied with the status quo. They wanted to take it a step further.”

"Who is this person?"

"He was also from her grandfather's generation, but he wasn't her grandfather's or second grandfather's biological brother. He was the child of her great-grandfather's concubine. I heard he was always arrogant and cynical." Shen Cha sighed softly. "He was unhappy that he wasn't allowed to get involved in the family business, and he was also unhappy that others were eating meat while he couldn't even get soup. So, he thought of causing some trouble for the Empress Dowager's grandfather and also getting some good things for himself."

"At that time, the world was not very peaceful. There were also bandits outside Suzhou. This man, whom the Empress Dowager called Seventh Grandfather, colluded with the bandits outside the city and let them rob the mansion. They split the loot 50/50."

"Did the bandits agree?"

"Agreed," Fourth Master Jiang nodded. "It was all agreed that after entering the mansion, we'd head straight for the back warehouse, rob it, and run. No one was allowed to hurt anyone; if anyone was hurt, the five points might be forfeited. The bandits agreed too. Their second-in-command led twenty or thirty men into Suzhou City, temporarily lodging at the place Seventh Master arranged, waiting until nightfall to rob the place. Initially, everything went smoothly—they entered the mansion easily and found the warehouse without incident. But bandits aren't exactly honest people who just do whatever you say. Seeing the mansion's splendor, the second-in-command started plotting something." "Fourth Master, wait a minute, there's a loophole here," Shen Haolin looked at Fourth Master Jiang, then at Shen Cha. "Even though it's late at night, and Seventh Master is an inside man, it's still a merchant's house. There should be guards. How could they let outsiders into the mansion so easily?"

"This seventh grandfather, who acted as an inside man, wasn't stupid either. Although he lacked great wisdom, he was full of clever tricks. He knew that if there were too many people in his family, his plan would definitely not succeed. So, he chose the day when the whole family went outside the city to pray for blessings and lured the bandits in."

"So, at that time, there was no one else in the house besides him, right?"

"That's what he thought," sighed Master Jiang. "He just didn't expect that the Empress Dowager wasn't feeling well that day and couldn't travel with everyone to the temple outside the city. She had to stay at home to rest. She had a wet nurse, four maids, and two guards with her. Everyone in the family thought that it was only one night and it wouldn't be a big deal, since there were servants in the front yard and no one would easily come in. But they didn't expect that Seventh Grandfather would be so bold as to invite outside thieves for money."

"As soon as the bandits entered the house and saw the contents of the storeroom, they became excited and out of control. They not only ransacked the storeroom but also began to sweep through all the rooms in the mansion. As the saying goes, thieves never leave empty-handed, so they took whatever they saw, not even a small teacup. Seventh Grandfather tried to stop them, but he couldn't. They even ransacked his courtyard."

"Those bandits were blinded by greed." Shen Haolin nodded. "And then? Did they manage to rob the Empress Dowager's courtyard?"

“Yes!” Shen Cha nodded. “Although the two guards were skilled, they couldn’t fight off so many. Plus, one of them noticed something was wrong and managed to slip away to find the authorities. Luckily, this guard was quick-witted; otherwise, the entire mansion would have been destroyed that night. One went to report to the authorities, while the other guard fought the bandits alone, but he was still outnumbered and could only watch helplessly as the bandits stormed into the courtyard.” She paused. “The Empress Dowager was awakened and witnessed something truly appalling.” She looked at Master Jiang, “Nanny.”

Master Jiang didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

Even though neither of them said anything, Shen Haolin understood what had happened from their faces and words. He remained silent for a long time before finally sighing.

"Is she alright?"

“There was a close call.” A murderous glint flashed across Fourth Master Jiang’s face. “The second-in-command did try to harm her, but the government officials arrived in time and he failed. Not only did he fail, but all the bandits were also captured. It was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. From then on, the Empress Dowager developed a strong aversion to interacting with people. She told me that she knew it was problematic, but she had tried hard to change, and she just couldn’t.”

"Grandfather, don't you mind?"

“I don’t mind.” Fourth Master Jiang shook his head gently. “My brother understands her situation, so he is very understanding and tolerant. As for the Empress Dowager, marrying into the Eastern Palace and marrying my brother is a kind of salvation.”