Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2863 Master Qingsong 81.0
After finishing his meal in the warm pavilion, Ying Shi bid farewell to Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, and set off for the capital the next morning.

Shen Cha gave him a few more instructions, asking him to pass on a message to the two elders of the Xuanyuan family that matters concerning the Earl of Yong'an should first be assessed according to the palace's opinion, and if necessary, someone could be sent to the palace to inquire with the Empress Dowager.

Ying Shiyi noted it down, bowed to everyone, and disappeared from their sight once again.

After Ying Shi left, Jin Miaomiao's gaze fell on Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and Song Yaojia. She raised her eyebrows slightly at the three of them, grinned, and revealed two rows of big white teeth.

"Tell me, what happened in the short time it took us to drink a cup of tea in the kitchen?"

Before Song Yaojia could react, Shen Cha briefly recounted the matter of the Marquis of Yong'an.

After listening, Jin Miaomiao sneered and said, "Heh, I knew you all looked so unwell. So it's because this old geezer is coming back." She looked at Song Yaojia, "The two princes must have been worried about His Highness, so they sent him to the border, right?"

“That’s right.” Song Yaojia nodded. “To avoid getting entangled with them, you know how shameless Uncle Yong’an is.”

“Your Highness is right, the Marquis of Yong’an is indeed quite shameless.” Jin Miaomiao rolled her eyes, stuffed a small wonton into her mouth, and mumbled, “When this happened back then, my master was in the capital, right?”

“Yes, the master originally wanted to step forward, but I stopped him.” Song Yaojia was a little embarrassed. “The master is a person who transcends worldly affairs. He can’t be involved in such mundane matters because of me.”

"That's what my master said too, but he didn't really stand idly by. He wanted to see how things would develop. But before he could make a move, the Empress Dowager intervened."

“That’s true.” Song Yaojia nodded. “Their words have angered the Empress Dowager and the late Empress Dowager. Since they want to dissolve the engagement, then so be it.”

“I’ve heard about it.” Shen Cha nodded gently. “So, what exactly was said? Father, Mother, Uncle Xue, and Aunt Xue won’t tell us the details.”

“That’s very harsh.” Jin Miaomiao ate another wonton. “The trouble started at that girl’s house. They took advantage of the fact that the two princes were not in the capital and that His Highness was just a child, so they dared to make a scene at the entrance of the prince’s mansion. If the two princes were home, they wouldn’t dare to do this even if they had a hundred lives.”

“Brother Yaojia just said that.” Shen Cha blew on the porridge bowl and took small sips. “If Uncle Huang and Uncle Wang were here, even if they wanted to break off the engagement, they would have to come up with a legitimate reason.”

“They really have their reasons. Even my master said that they’ve been eyeing the engagement for a long time. After the princess passed away, they thought about breaking off the engagement, but they haven’t found a suitable opportunity.”

"They didn't fail to find a suitable opportunity, but rather a suitable candidate, right?" Shen Cha rolled her eyes without any regard for her image. "She fell in love at first sight with the youngest son of the Yong'an Marquis's family. They can't wait to break off their engagement with the Prince's Mansion and get on the good side of the Yong'an Marquis, can they?" She looked at Jin Miaomiao. "Brother Yaojia said that the girl's family is from a scholarly family? This doesn't seem like it!"

“What kind of scholarly family is this!” Jin Miaomiao rolled her eyes. “Their so-called scholarly family means that from the girl’s great-grandfather to her father and brothers, they are all scholars. There’s only one scholar in total, and the rest are either second-class graduates or provincial graduates or xiucai.” “That’s already pretty good, it’s just that the family’s wealth is a bit meager.” Shen Cha nodded. “But a family like that wouldn’t do something like this.”

"Who knows what their family values ​​are?" Jin Miaomiao snorted. "Their previous reason was that His Highness was too young and not a good match for their daughter." She looked at Song Yaojia. "Is that a legitimate reason?"

"That's right, there's a six-year age difference between us."

"Wait, that's not right. Wasn't it an arranged marriage from birth?" Shen Cha asked, puzzled. "How can there be such a big difference?"

"When did you say it was an arranged marriage from childhood!" Song Yaojia said, both amused and exasperated. "I only said that when my mother was alive, she arranged a marriage for me, not that it was an arranged marriage from childhood. To be honest, when the engagement was made, neither my father nor my uncle were very satisfied. They probably realized that the other family wasn't very good, but the words had already been spoken, and there was nothing they could do. Actually, I was happy for them to break off the engagement, but the way they did it was really inappropriate!"

“Your Highness is too polite. It’s not just that your manner is not good. Sometimes, the words spoken by scholars are even dirtier than those spoken by thugs.” Jin Miaomiao snorted and said, “They said that the Prince’s mansion has no female relatives, and they are not comfortable with their daughter marrying into the Prince’s mansion.”

Hearing Jin Miaomiao's words, Shen Haolin and Shen Cha looked helpless, and they both rolled their eyes at the same time.

“People with heart disease see everything as dirty and think everyone else is just as dirty as they are.” Shen Cha snorted. “It’s rare to hear such words from a scholar. If the Censorate heard this, they would probably explode.”

“Who says otherwise!” Jin Miaomiao took a sip of soup. “However, my master said that it was later discovered that the Earl of Yong’an had actually helped behind the scenes. Originally, the Earl of Yong’an did not agree to the marriage, feeling that the girl from that family was not good enough for his youngest son. But his youngest son and the girl were already in love and had secretly gone on many outings together. His friends all knew that the two were in love with each other. In addition, his youngest son was determined to remain unmarried for the rest of his life if he did not marry this girl.”

"Just listen to these kinds of things and don't take them seriously." Song Yaojia rolled his eyes. "The Marquis of Yong'an has two wives and seven or eight concubines. His eldest son is no less so, with one wife, seven or eight concubines, plus three or four maids." He snorted coldly. "Before the Marquis of Yong'an went to Huaizhou, his family's scandalous affairs were all made into stories by storytellers in the streets. They have completely disgraced the nobles of the capital."

“Isn’t this a case of a bad bamboo producing a good shoot?” Jin Miaomiao shook her finger. “This young master of the Yong’an Marquis’s mansion really kept his word. Before and after the marriage, he only had this one wife. He had no concubines or maids.”

"No wonder his older brother finds him awkward; they just can't get along with each other at all."

"Yes." Jin Miaomiao nodded. "The Earl of Yong'an had no choice but to approach that family and ask them to cancel the engagement at the Prince's residence. Later, things got out of control, which was something he hadn't anticipated. Fortunately, the Empress Dowager intervened and resolved the issue; otherwise, I don't know how we would have ended it. But because of his youngest son's marriage, the Earl of Yong'an's family offended a whole host of imperial relatives and nobles. Every family severed ties with the Earl of Yong'an's family. Even if the Earl of Yong'an hadn't taken his family to Huaizhou back then, he wouldn't have been able to establish himself in the capital. Of course, it wasn't just the imperial relatives and nobles who looked down on him; the scholars also thought their actions were despicable. The people in the Censorate did one good deed this time, submitting a memorial to the late Emperor that the Earl of Yong'an hadn't managed his family properly and had allowed his family to cause trouble. They argued that he should be stripped of his title, demoted to a commoner, and never be employed again."

"It's not like we committed any heinous crime, it's not that serious."

“That’s true, so all we’re doing is sending them to Huaizhou.” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “However, the Censorate hasn’t had any notable achievements in recent years. They probably won’t let the Earl of Yong’an get away with it this time.” She looked at Song Yaojia, then at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha. “The face we lost is probably going to be regained from the Earl of Yong’an this time, right?”