You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 19 The difference between being remembered for eternity and being infamous for a thousand years might be just a thin veil.
Chiang Kai-shek's residence.

"Yun'er, are you crazy?"

"Dad, Mom, I'm physically and mentally healthy. Please don't get agitated, let me explain slowly."

"You little brat, you don't even look down on the Minister's niece? You're just a mere sixth-rank official."

"Father, don't look down on us sixth-rank officials just because you've become a fifth-rank official."

Jiang Zhongcheng was so anxious he was jumping up and down, searching everywhere for something to beat someone up. When he came out of the kitchen, he had a rolling pin in his hand.

"I'll beat you to death, you traitor..."

Jiang Qingyun placed his hand on the hilt of his knife, his face expressionless.

Moment~
Jiang Zhongcheng, who had been so aggressive, lost his nerve and stood there awkwardly, holding the rolling pin, not knowing what to do.

……

"Young Master, Master is doing this for your own good. Marrying the Minister's niece will surely pave a smooth path for your official career," Wanqiu gently comforted him.

slap~
Wen walked over and gave him a solid slap across the face.

“How dare a concubine like you interfere in such important matters of the mansion? You are here to kneel in your room for half an hour. Wu Ma, you watch her kneel.”

"Yes, madam, rest assured."

Wu Ma came from her maternal home in Changzhou County with Wen Shi, and she could distinguish between the two kings very well.

Once outside the main hall, she rolled up her sleeves, revealing her thick arms, her meaning clear: if Wanqiu, the newly arrived opera singer concubine, refused to kneel, she would take action.

The logic of power struggles within a family:

With his wife and son behind him, it wasn't a big deal for Wu Ma to be ordered to suppress a concubine who was an actress.

……

“Yun’er, your father is right. If you marry the Minister’s niece, you’ll gain a powerful ally. If you refuse the marriage, you’ll gain a mortal enemy. I don’t quite understand what you’re thinking.”

"Minister Hong is a traitor."

“There are countless traitors in my Great Qing Dynasty, that’s no excuse.” Wen’s thinking was very clear.

"The political situation is about to change, and Minister Hong will be sidelined."

"That's a valid reason, but it's rather far-fetched. Even if Minister Hong isn't a corrupt official and his power has diminished, he's still at the pinnacle that ordinary officials can only look up to. Former Ming officials who surrendered are everywhere in the court and the southwestern Ming army is still struggling to hold on. No matter how incompetent the court is, it wouldn't be so foolish as to discard Minister Hong now that he's done his bidding."

Seeing how shrewd her mother was, Jiang Qingyun sighed.

"To be honest, please don't get agitated."

"You speak."

"I have taken a fancy to the daughter of a镖头 (bodyguard/escort). She is skilled in martial arts, has a full figure, is honest and strong, and has the appearance of a man. She is a perfect match for me."

The room remained quiet for at least 30 breaths.

Jiang Zhongcheng roared, "Bring me my broadsword! I'm going to chop this rebellious son down!"

In an instant, all the servants vanished without a trace.

It's best for outsiders to stay far away from conflicts between fathers and sons.

……

The Chiang Kai-shek residence was in a state of chaos and disorder.

The father and son, each wielding a weapon, chased and ran, making a ruckus for a full hour.

Late Autumn's knees were bruised from kneeling, but Wu Ma stood helplessly behind her.

That night~
In late autumn, she burst into tears and sobs before the old man.

Jiang Zhongcheng couldn't understand it, but Wen suddenly understood.

At midnight, she knocked on the door.

"Mother, why aren't you sleeping?"

"I can't sleep. I just want to ask you one honest question: what are you after?"

"I want a bodyguard who will never betray me. I want peace and quiet in my home, with no one to interfere."

Ms. Wen stared into her son's eyes for a long time.

"I've heard a little about what you've been up to in the South City. I have a vague feeling that you have ulterior motives?"

Jiang Qingyun remained silent.

“Yun’er, what you’re doing now is a bit like the Donglin Party back then.”

"Mother, you know about Donglin too?"

"Hmph, Wen Zhengming is the ancestor of my Changzhou Wen clan. Do you think I don't know about the Donglin Party? At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Donglin scholars spontaneously formed a faction with the aim of resisting imperial power and controlling the local areas. So are you imitating them?"

Jiang Qingyun shook his head:

“Mother, of the three words ‘Donglin Party,’ I am the only one who embodies the last one. Now that things have come to this, I will not hide it from you. I judge that a major upheaval in the capital is imminent. Once the Regent dies, armed conflict is likely to break out within the Eight Banners. Coupled with the Ming army in the southwest, I am afraid that the Qing Dynasty will not be able to hold the throne.”

"You haven't said these things to anyone else, have you?" "I haven't even said them to Green Pearl."

"So, you're trying to form a faction to protect yourself?"

"Correct."

"Reshaping the Donglin Party of the Qing Dynasty?"

"No, I never expect Confucian scholars from the aristocratic class; I want to recruit key personnel from ordinary people."

"Yun'er, do you perhaps subscribe to the Taizhou School of thought?"

“Partly agree.”

"So that means believing in Huang Zongxi's doctrines?"

"Old Master Huang should still be alive. If there is an opportunity in the future, I would like to ask him for some advice in person."

……

As the first rays of morning sunlight fell on the window paper, Wen opened the window and let out a long sigh of relief.

Slowly said:
"Mother understands. Mother can not object to you marrying that female bodyguard. Let's get the wedding done as soon as possible. Also, find a house in the south of the city. In case of any trouble, our whole family can move there in advance."

"Thank you, mother."

"I don't know if you've read too many books or too few. In any case, you know your current thinking is dangerous?"

“Mother, but I am right.”

"There is no right or wrong in this world, only success or failure."

"Mother is absolutely right, that's why I must succeed! If I succeed, I'll be right, my name will be etched in history, and I'll be remembered for eternity!"

puff~
Wen smiled.

"The difference between being remembered for good and bad for a thousand years may be as thin as a sheet of paper."

"You've drunk the white fungus soup prepared in the kitchen, hurry up and go~ I'll persuade your father."

……

Jiang Zhongcheng didn't get up until half an hour after Jiang Qingyun left, still furious.

"Where's that traitor?"

"gone."

“No, he must marry Minister Hong’s niece.”

“Husband, come here, I have a few words to say to you.” Madam Wen pulled him aside. “Hong’s niece is a slut. When Hong Chengchou returned to his hometown to observe mourning, the two of them had that kind of relationship. After the affair was exposed, her father died of anger.”

"My grass!"

"In addition, a wise man once calculated that this female bodyguard is a good wife and mother of many sons. Her birth date and time are a perfect match for our Yun'er, and she will greatly benefit his future career in officialdom."

"I am grass."

Jiang Zhongcheng's brain went blank, and he didn't come to his senses for a long time.

evening.

The perceptive Wanqiu came to offer tea and apologize, tearfully begging for forgiveness from the lady.

……

Jiang Deshun could hardly believe his ears. After the initial shock came overwhelming joy. He, a mere镖头 (bodyguard/escort), had somehow become related to an official of the imperial court through marriage—it was like a windfall.

The Xikou Escort Agency was filled with joy.

From raw rice to cooked rice, Jiang Qingyun took less than 10 days to quickly reach Jiangnan.

Jiangnan became a wife without even realizing it. Even after crawling out of the bridal chamber, she still didn't understand what her husband saw in her.

The answer is: mate selection philosophy.

……

Before the wedding.

Green Pearl was like the eldest sister in her family, taking care of everything, running around, buying things, and even providing "pre-event training".

Jiangnan is simple, while Green Pearl is mature.

Women in the 17th century did not have the fantasy of possessing love exclusively. Although the two were the principal wife and the concubine, they quickly became as close as sisters.

Minister of War Hong Chengchou was furious. He paced back and forth in his residence, sneering incessantly.

He and the Chiang family father and son became the laughing stock of Beijing.

The former was ridiculed – “The Minister’s niece has been jilted.”

The latter was ridiculed as "self-degrading and utterly laughable."

(End of this chapter)