After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 869 Beating the drum

Jin Jiashu's sole purpose in this trip was to show off in front of the Hai family elders in order to get them to agree and betroth their granddaughter Haitang to him.

Although he cannot propose marriage openly in person yet, he will seize every opportunity to encourage them.

In the past few years, Hai Xiya and his wife had often been with Jin Jiashu, but they had not felt that he was a good match for their granddaughter Haitang. Now, after a month or so, they both felt that it was a pity that the two could not be paired together, and Jin Jiashu's efforts were naturally indispensable.

As this impression became more and more profound in the minds of Hai Xiya and his wife, Hai Xiya could not help but find his cousin Xie Wenzai to discuss the matter with him.

He asked Xie Wenzai: "What kind of marriage do you think the Empress Xu in the palace will arrange for Xiao Jin after he returns to the capital? Can Xiao Jin make the decision on this matter?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Wenzai raised his eyebrows, lifted the curtain to look at the carriage in front where his two old friends Cao and Lu were sitting, then looked at Jin Jiashu who was riding a horse on the side and behind. He was talking to Ma, Hu, Haitang and Chunyu in the carriage next to them through the curtain, and they seemed to be talking about the customs in the palace and among the people in the capital during certain solar terms.

Xie Wenzai lowered the car curtain, retracted his gaze, and lowered his voice: "Why did my cousin suddenly ask about this?"

Hai Xiya sighed, "You and I are brothers, and I am not afraid to tell you the truth. These days, I am worried about Tangtang's future marriage. After entering Beijing, your cousin's wife will first look for Baozhu from the eldest house, but at the same time, she must also keep an eye out for suitable candidates for Tangtang. However, in the past few months, Changan and Baoshun have met many young talents in Beijing. I think the candidates they mentioned in their family letters are not as reliable as Xiaojin. Although Xiaojin's family background is not good, he has someone to rely on, and we have watched him grow up, so we know his roots and have always been close to us. Besides, he is the only one left in his family, and he has no foundation in Beijing. When buying a house, he can choose a place close to our home. In this way, the child will not live far away, and we can take care of him if something happens. Besides, Xiaojin has a good temperament, and I think he gets along well with Tangtang, which is much better than other young men who have never met before."

After Xie Wenzai pondered for a moment, he said, "I feel the same way as my cousin. To be honest, after Jiashu came back from the capital, he told me about his experiences in the past few months. Earlier, Imperial Noble Consort Xu picked a marriage for him. Although she never said it explicitly, it should be the Zhang family, where Concubine Zhang Gong was from. His family has produced several empress dowagers and concubines, and now the son of the family has married again. They are old-fashioned relatives and are quite prominent in the capital. Even when the Sun family was in power, his family still stood firm. Imperial Noble Consort Xu chose the daughter of the Zhang family's branch for her nephew because she wanted the stability of the family and could make up for the shortcomings of Jiashu's family background.

"Unfortunately, Imperial Concubine Xu was poisoned after the New Year. It was found that Concubine Sun had ordered someone to do it, and Concubine Zhang was involved. Although Concubine Zhang claimed that she knew nothing about it, she could not escape suspicion. The Zhang family was clearly discussing marriage with Imperial Concubine Xu, but they did such a thing. It was really unacceptable, so the marriage contract was dropped. After that, Imperial Concubine Xu was busy detoxifying and recuperating from her illness. At the same time, she encountered the ceremony of the eighth prince's succession, and Jiashu had to ask the Sun family for the return of his deceased mother's remains. With so many things to do, he no longer had time to take care of his marriage."

At present, Jin Jiashu has no engagement, and Imperial Noble Consort Xu has not found another one for him. However, judging from the Zhang family she had chosen before, she obviously has high requirements for her nephew's marriage. Hai Xiya was worried after hearing this: "So, our family will never be in the eyes of Empress Xu? Since she is determined to find a noble lady for her nephew, even if the Zhang family is gone, there are still many daughters of high-ranking officials in the capital. Although Xiao Jin's family background is not prominent, he has Empress Xu as his aunt, and the Eighth Prince has a crown prince. When the new emperor takes the throne, Empress Xu will be the current empress dowager. The current empress dowager has no family members from her mother's side, and only this blood relative is left. People who want to curry favor with her will naturally not despise Xiao Jin for being the son of a juren and having only the title of a scholar. They will not miss such a good opportunity to marry the current empress dowager."

Xie Wenzai twisted his beard. "If cousin really thinks highly of Jiashu, he doesn't have to be discouraged too soon. He mentioned to me privately that he has no intention of marrying a noblewoman. He has been in the capital for the past few months, and he has met the royal family and high-ranking officials of this dynasty. I'm afraid he has been looked down upon. He is not stupid, how can he not see that even if those high-ranking families are interested in him, they just want to take advantage of his relationship with Consort Xu and the crown prince to gain benefits? How many of them really like him? He has his own ambitions and is determined to take the right path of the imperial examination. He doesn't want to follow the footsteps of the Sun family and climb up by relying on nepotism. With such an ambition, how can he be willing to become a tool of the high-ranking families and let them take advantage of his status as a relative?"

Hai Xiya was relieved to hear this: "Good boy! I knew I was right about him!" Then he couldn't help but sigh, "What a pity, he may not be able to make the decision on this matter!"

Xie Wenzai said calmly, "He can't make the decision, there are people who can make the decision. Imperial Noble Consort Xu's idea is good, and it's for Jiashu's sake, but the emperor has suffered from his relatives for many years. Now he is determined to clear the way for the crown prince, and he doesn't even care about the decades of friendship between the emperor and his subjects. How could he allow the palace concubine to leave another hidden danger of relatives for the crown prince? Jiashu once said that the emperor met him privately and said something vague. He suspected that the emperor wanted to warn him not to be too greedy and think that he could rise to prominence like the Sun family. Jiashu said at the time that he was willing to follow Tao Nanshan's example and didn't care about power, fame and wealth, but if the emperor needed him, he would stand up."

The emperor was very close to and trusted his cousin Tao Yue. For many years, Tao Yue had been indifferent to fame and fortune, and was willing to stay in the Qingshui government office as an idle official, not intervening in the power struggle in the court. It was only after the emperor had a conflict with the Sun family and had no one to use that he stood up to share the emperor's worries. The emperor did not know that Tao Yue was willing to come out because he listened to the persuasion of his old friend Xie Wenzai. He only regarded his cousin as the most reliable confidant, a good relative who was loyal to him without fame or fortune. Jin Jiashu said that he would take Tao Yue as an example, and the emperor was naturally happy.

Xie Wenzai believed that Jin Jiashu's words in front of the emperor were exactly what the emperor wanted. However, given the emperor's character, he might not really trust him completely. If Jin Jiashu chose to follow Tao Yue's example and give up marrying into a high-class family, he would be able to further gain the emperor's trust, which would be more beneficial to his future.

In this process, the opinion of Imperial Concubine Xu is not that important. As long as the current emperor and the future new emperor can approve of Jin Jiashu's choice, it will be enough.

Thinking of this, Xie Wenzai looked at his cousin Hai Xiya: "Cousin, do you really want Jiashu to be your grandson-in-law? I can test his opinion for you. If he really has this intention and Tangtang has no objection, then this marriage can be done. After I go to Beijing, I will go to see Tao Nanshan. He is now the head of the cabinet, and he must not want to see another powerful relative in the court. As long as he is willing to speak for Jiashu's marriage in front of the emperor, I think the emperor will be willing to make the decision and arrange a marriage for Jiashu that is not prominent..."

As long as the emperor issued an edict to grant the marriage, it would be meaningless for Imperial Concubine Xu to have more thoughts in her mind...

(End of this chapter)