Union

Chapter 173 The building will collapse

Lady Chang'an welcomed the Marquis of Chang'an, and the couple closed the door to discuss their next move.

Unexpectedly, before they could come up with a solution, a servant rushed forward, panting, and said, "My lord, something has happened!"

Marquis Chang'an and his wife's hearts skipped a beat, and they immediately sat up from their seats.

Both of them felt their hearts race, their pupils contract, and their hands clench into fists.

After a long while, the Marquis of Chang'an asked sternly, "Why are you in such a hurry? This is unbecoming."

The servants immediately knelt down and kowtowed, begging the Marquis to spare their lives.

Marquis Chang'an then asked, "Speak properly, what exactly is the cause of your panic?"

"The Third Madam and the Sixth Madam have come to visit together, saying, saying..."

"What did you say? Explain yourself clearly."

The servant said with a sob, "They say that the Third Master and the Sixth Master were arrested by the magistrate of the Capital. Someone accused them of forcing women into prostitution, seizing fertile land, abusing their power, and killing people. The evidence and witnesses are sufficient, and the Third Master and the Sixth Master have been tried and imprisoned in the Capital Prefecture's jail."

Upon hearing this, the Marquis of Chang'an and his wife exchanged a glance.

The third and sixth masters mentioned by the servants were relatives within five degrees of kinship of the Marquis of Chang'an, and even more so, they were the Marquis of Chang'an's two uncles.

Both men are getting on in years; the younger one, the sixth master, is now in his sixties. If these two were to end up in prison and die there…

That's not a problem; when people get old, they die. What I'm worried about is that if they don't lend a hand, it will dishearten their clansmen and make outsiders say they're heartless.

However, overall it's not a big problem, if it's just the uncle who got into trouble.

Marquis Chang'an felt a slight relief, and he looked much lighter.

Before he could give any instructions, someone rushed in from outside, "Lord, Lord Marquis, someone from the Ministry of Justice has come to see you."

Ministry of Justice?!
The hearts of the Marquis of Chang'an and his wife trembled.

The current Minister of Justice is notoriously stubborn and unyielding, a truly incorruptible figure in the court. Equally stubborn is his impartiality, fairness, and incorruptibility; he is a renowned upright official in the Great Xia Dynasty.

To ordinary people, he is a "righteous ruler," but to those who have done wrong, he is a vengeful demon.

The Marquis of Chang'an has done many unethical things, and in the past, he would try his best to avoid the Minister of Justice. But why are people from the Ministry of Justice coming to his door today?

If someone finds something wrong with him and arrests him, will he have any chance of getting out?

Marquis Chang'an trembled so badly that he could barely stand.

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and the more he thought about the wrong things he had done, the more his legs trembled. He took a step back, his face ashen as if he had seen a ghost.

Fortunately, Lady Chang'an Marquis helped him up at the crucial moment; otherwise, he would have really fallen and embarrassed himself.

"My lord, please don't be anxious. The Ministry of Justice is not an indiscriminate government office. Since you've come here now, just go with them. Right and wrong can always be distinguished. My lord, just go with them, I'll come to pick you up shortly."

Lady Chang'an's words were very clear; she meant she would go and call for reinforcements.

Lady Chang'an, the wife of the Marquis of Chang'an, also came from a noble family, and her family had influential figures in the court.

Furthermore, she was certain that even if the Marquis had done something wrong, it wouldn't really come back to him; and even if it did, plenty of people would take the blame. Therefore, it was just a false alarm, and there was no need to be so alarmed.

Marquis Chang'an recognized the tone of his wife's words, and the look of fear on his face finally disappeared.

Then, the more he thought about what his wife said, the more he realized that it made sense, and his complexion improved.

After the Ministry of Justice's officers entered the courtyard, they were quite respectful to Marquis Chang'an. Marquis Chang'an felt reassured and put on an open and honest demeanor, letting them go as they pleased.

It was also because their minds were in turmoil and they harbored ulterior motives that Marquis Chang'an and his wife forgot to give them some money and ask in advance what the reason was for "inviting" Marquis Chang'an over.

Unfortunately, they had all forgotten about this by then.

When they finally remembered and went to inquire, they learned that the reason the Marquis was not detained was because he had formed cliques and colluded with scholars... These were all true facts. It was fine that no one had thought of this before, but if they were to file a complaint, it would be sure to succeed, and no one could deny it.

Therefore, it is impossible for Lady Chang'an to bring Marquis Chang'an back.

Even if the Marquis of Chang'an does return later, he will no longer be the Marquis of Chang'an.

Leaving aside those distant matters, let's just talk about the present. The Marquis has been taken away by the Ministry of Justice, and the entire Marquis's mansion in Chang'an is in chaos.

Fortunately, the Lady of Chang'an was strict in managing her subordinates. After giving her a few instructions, the mansion was back to normal.

Although the servants were still anxious and uneasy, they felt much better knowing that someone above them was there to support them.

But he couldn't help but keep thinking about it, and the servants couldn't help but talk about it.

"I wonder what exactly the Marquis has done wrong."

"Any official who is interrogated by the Ministry of Justice, even if he eventually gets out of the Ministry, is he not skinned alive? I don't know if the Marquis will ever get out."

"Don't say such unlucky things. If someone reports this to the madam, you'll be in deep trouble."

"When I went shopping this morning, I heard everyone on the street saying that the Third Miss intended to get rid of the former son-in-law's concubine. In the end, that girl was lucky; after a false alarm, His Majesty freed her from slavery and even bestowed upon her the title of a sixth-rank Anren. That girl got what she deserved. On the other hand, in our household, first the Third and Sixth Masters were sued by the Prefect of the Capital, and then the Marquis was taken away by the Ministry of Justice. I wonder if this is the former son-in-law... cough, you know what I mean!"

"Impossible. The son-in-law has only recently come of age. How could he possibly compete with our Marquis? Besides, on New Year's Eve, he was still the son-in-law of our household."

The implication is that even if the son-in-law really wanted to deal with the Marquis's family, it would be impossible for him to find so much dirt on them in such a short time.

"What if the son-in-law harbored ill intentions towards the Marquis's mansion all along and was prepared in advance?"

"This... cannot be said, please don't say it again."

Rumors spread like wildfire throughout the capital.

When the nobles learned that the Marquis of Chang'an had been promoted to the Ministry of Justice, and considering the biggest event of the day—Chen Yanzhou's removal of his beloved maid from the official register and the subsequent conferment of a title—their eyes darted around, and some guesses began to form in their minds.

Of course, some things are best left unsaid; saying them without any real evidence is offensive.

Although they didn't say it aloud, officials of all ranks still exchanged gossips with their eyes.

As for what to do after the exchange, the natural thing is to wait and see how things develop, and give a push when it's crucial.

With this in mind, the atmosphere in the capital was quite unpredictable and turbulent.

The very next day, the matter took a new turn. Imperial Censor Cai submitted a memorial impeaching the Marquis of Chang'an for bribery and for secretly manipulating officials in several counties around the capital to buy and sell goods.

With conclusive evidence, Imperial Censor Cai requested His Majesty to thoroughly investigate the matter and severely punish the Marquis of Chang'an.

After Censor Cai stepped forward, two more censors came forward, accusing the Marquis of Chang'an of lax household management and allowing his daughter to commit violence; others accused the Marquis of Chang'an of oppressing good people, others accused the Marquis of being blinded by lust, and still others said that the Marquis of Chang'an was neglecting his duties...

The court was filled with voices impeaching the Marquis of Chang'an, and even the emperor, who wanted to suppress the matter, could not.

Adding to the fact that the Marquis of Chang'an was riddled with lice, and that he had failed to properly educate his daughter and had an affair with the Second Prince—although the Emperor wanted his second son to have an heir, the bloodline of the Marquis of Chang'an was not good. If the child were to come from Lin Shuqing's womb, that one birth alone would be enough to cause him lifelong criticism. The Emperor was both disgusted and angry, and finally vented his anger, ordering the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Court of Judicial Review—the three judicial departments—to jointly interrogate the Marquis of Chang'an.

With the emperor's decree, what was originally an insignificant case suddenly became a major one.

When Lady Chang'an heard about this, she was flustered and went to ask her relatives and friends for help, but they all claimed to be ill and refused to see her; even when they did see her, they made many excuses and made things difficult for her.

Seeing this, Lady Chang'an felt a chill in her heart, and at this moment she felt that all was lost.

But how could it be?

Just yesterday, the Marquis's mansion was still magnificent and prosperous.

Is it possible that the Chang'an Marquis's Mansion, which has been prosperous for a hundred years, is about to fall down just because of Yun Ying and Chen Yanzhou?
impossible!
She wouldn't allow it to be possible either.

Despite suffering from a deep-seated headache, Lady Chang'an continued her visits to each household.

Unfortunately, she was respectfully escorted out of the mansions where she had previously had some minor connections.

When Lady Chang'an returned to her residence, it was already dark outside.

The capital city was bitterly cold in the first month of the lunar calendar.

Spring is just a few days away, but it's so cold that water freezes instantly.

Lady Chang'an, who has always lived a life of luxury, has been handling the most important matters of life and death in the mansion these past two days, and has not dared to rest for a moment.

She already suffers from severe headaches and can't stand the cold wind in winter, but these past two days she hasn't been able to care about that.

Because her eyes were injured by Shuqing yesterday, and the imperial physician said she should avoid feeling extremely sad, she couldn't care less about that.

Lady Chang'an had a splitting headache, her eyes were so painful that her vision was blurred, and tears kept streaming down her face...

She hadn't eaten all day and was so exhausted that she collapsed as soon as she entered her house.

When Madam Liu and the others saw that the lady had fainted, they were so frightened that they quickly helped her up.

Lady Chang'an opened her eyes at that moment and waved them away, saying, "I'm fine. It's getting late, go back to your courtyard."

She was the backbone of the entire Marquis's mansion. If even she fell, the mansion would be completely finished.

When she returned to the courtyard, she found the Crown Prince's wife anxiously waiting for her.

The Crown Prince's wife had red and swollen eyes, a deathly pale face, and dry, even chapped lips. This sight made the Lady of Chang'an's heart sink even further.

As she expected, the heir apparent's wife failed to persuade her family to help the Marquis's mansion overcome this crisis.

Even in-laws have this attitude, which seems to further indicate that the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion is not going to get past this hurdle.

But how could it be?

Even if the Marquis of Chang'an's mansion is truly going to fall, it can't happen overnight, can it?

Lady Chang'an sat listlessly in the flower hall, a sumptuous dinner laid out before her, yet she did not touch a single bite.

She sat there in a daze, seemingly lost in thought.

Just then, Liu Mama rushed in and said, "Madam, the Third Miss is insisting on seeing you, and she said, she said..."

"say what?"

"The Third Miss also said that perhaps she has a way to save the Marquis's mansion."

Given the magnitude of the incident at the manor, it's quite normal for Lin Shuqing to have received the news.

Despite the fact that Lady Chang'an had instructed Liu Mama to find several reliable deaf-mute servants to watch over Shuqing and to replace the people around Lin Shuqing.

However, finding a reliable deaf-mute servant takes time.

This means that the people serving Lin Shuqing to this day are still the same people from before.

Many of the servants were gossipy, and perhaps because they were also panicked, they inevitably revealed their behavior to Lin Shuqing, who then found out what had happened.

Lin Shuqing knew that the mansion was in trouble.

But does she have a way?
What can she do?
Lady Chang'an thought of someone, and suddenly her heart stirred; she gripped her skirt tightly with her hand.

After a long while, she said in a dry voice, "Go and bring Shuqing over here."

Liu's mother responded and quickly went to bring Lin Shuqing over.

Lin Shuqing was in relatively good condition at the moment; at least she hadn't vomited along the way. However, the cold wind was biting, and after lying in bed for so long and walking such a long distance, she was weak all over and felt extremely unwell.

Having finally entered the room of the Marquis of Chang'an's wife, Lin Shuqing didn't even bother to pay her respects and immediately lay down on the chaise longue.

She gagged several times, and only after she finally recovered from the discomfort did she speak to her mother, "Mother, I'm going to see the Second Prince. He should be able to help with this matter."

What right does the Second Prince have to help?
If he truly cared for Shuqing, he wouldn't have jumped out of the window to escape when he heard someone arriving at the New Year's Eve palace banquet. Nor would he have remained silent for several days after Shuqing's divorce and return home, nor would he have given the Chang'an Marquis's residence any signal.

Everything proves that the Second Prince is heartless and completely unreliable.

But in desperation, Lady Chang'an had no choice but to try anything, even if it seemed hopeless.

On the other hand, does the Second Prince have the ability to help the Marquis's family out of their predicament?
He's probably not well-liked by His Majesty either, right?

Lin Shuqing noticed that her mother's eyes were deep and her gaze was unfriendly.

Lin Shuqing's eyes darted around.

She knew that if this great calamity caused by her could not be properly resolved, not only would the people of the Marquis's mansion tear her apart, but she would also suffer a terrible fate.

She has always been willful and reckless, relying on her privileged background.

This was her greatest support and backing, but if she lost all of that, she wouldn't be far from death.

At this moment, Lin Shuqing was wholeheartedly concerned for the good of the Marquis's mansion and wanted to return it to its original state.

She grabbed Lady Chang'an's sleeve urgently, "Mother, please trust me one more time. I am still your daughter, the precious young lady of this Marquis's mansion. The downfall of the Marquis's mansion will not benefit me at all. On the contrary, if I can really persuade the Second Prince to plead before His Majesty and get Father out of prison, Mother, please find a way to help me enter the Second Prince's mansion openly and legitimately, and make me the Second Prince's principal wife."

Lin Shuqing's eyes were filled with a bewitching light, so bright it was almost blinding, and it also pierced the heart of the Lady of Chang'an.

Her adopted daughter actually traded the life and death of the Marquis's mansion for her future.

Now that things have come to this, what she values ​​most is herself.

Lady Chang'an closed her eyes briefly, then nodded and said, "Alright. You help the Marquis's mansion out of this predicament, and I'll send you to the Second Prince's residence."