Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Unlike the private discussions among her sisters, the atmosphere in Weiyang Palace was tense.

Princess Zhaoyang nestled close to the Empress Dowager, constantly trying to appease her with her eyes, begging her not to be angry.

The Empress Dowager glared at Zhaoyang with annoyance.

What a wonderful granddaughter I raised! I arranged for you to meet him alone so you could showcase your charm and make him willingly marry into the royal family. But look what happened! In less than half an incense stick's time, you were bought off by the enemy?

Where does this leave my dignity?

I did all of this for you!

The Empress Dowager was furious, both at Jia Lian and at her heartless granddaughter.

However, seeing Zhao Yang's innocent and ingratiating expression, he finally pulled his hand away from hers, gently patted the back of her hand, and gave her a look that was more indescribable than understood.

Having grown up by the Empress Dowager's side since childhood, Zhao Yang was familiar with her temperament. Seeing this, she seemed to understand and chuckled before ceasing her pursuit.

After dealing with Zhaoyang, the Empress Dowager looked at the person kneeling behind the beaded curtain several feet away, her expression stern, and said coldly:

"Jia Lian, how dare you! In over ten years, no one has ever dared to openly defy my decree!"

"I am guilty."

Jia Lian bowed his head and confessed his guilt.

"snort."

The Empress Dowager snorted coldly, "I just don't understand what's so good about that Wang woman. In what way can she compare to my Zhaoyang?"

Are you really going to oppose me for the sake of a shallow, foolish woman?

"Your subject dares not..."

"Your Majesty, I know that in terms of status, talent, virtue, and insight, Lady Wang is no match for His Highness Zhaoyang."

However, she was the minister's first wife.

As the saying goes, "A wife who has shared hardship should not be abandoned."

From childhood, I have been taught by sages and learned the way of loyalty to the emperor and love for the country. Now, I am even more fortunate to be granted high office and great honor by Your Majesty. I will certainly be more conscientious in my conduct and cultivate my virtue.

"If I were to divorce my wife, who has not committed any serious wrongdoing, for my own wealth and status, wouldn't I become a treacherous and despicable person? Such an act would truly betray Your Majesty's trust in me, and how could I face the world afterward? Let alone talk of loyalty to the emperor and serving the country."

Jia Lian's statement was firm and resonant, as if it came from the bottom of his heart.

However, for the Empress Dowager and others, having seen and heard such words so often, they were naturally not so easily influenced.

Princess Zhaoyang, in particular, almost subconsciously looked towards the vertical glass mirror in the corner.

Jia Lian listed four areas in which Wang Shi surpassed her, including talent and insight, but notably omitted the point about "appearance."

This made her, who was very sensitive, feel somewhat hurt.

From childhood to adulthood, she has lived amidst flowers and applause, and her beauty is universally acknowledged. At least among royal ladies, few can be said to surpass her.

Appearance, like literature, has no absolute standard; everyone has their own aesthetic sense.

Clearly, in Jia Lian's mind, he would rather admit that Wang was inferior to her in every way, but he was unwilling to admit that she was inferior to her in appearance.

Unfortunately, this was just an unintentional remark by Jia Lian. If questioned now, he certainly wouldn't admit it—this cunning and despicable man.

The Empress Dowager, unlike Zhaoyang, was not as perceptive and did not grasp this point; she simply grew angrier.

"You say she hasn't made any mistakes? You really are a fool. I'm afraid you don't even know that during the year you left the capital for the border, Wang colluded with the wives of several families, including the Marquis of Xiangyang, to engage in loan sharking."

Since the time of Emperor Taizu, this dynasty has had strict orders prohibiting private lending, and any family of military meritorious officials who violated this order would be punished more severely.

Based on this alone, I could strip him of his imperial title and even imprison him.

So, do you still dare to say she didn't make a mistake?

Private lending refers to lending money to the people without registering with the government.

Just like in later times, government loan approvals were difficult, and large money shops with lending qualifications generally did not lend to the poor, so private lending was repeatedly prohibited but still persisted.

In fact, this is a corrupt policy, with strict laws but lax enforcement, or even no enforcement at all.

As things have evolved, in the cities of the Great Wei, gambling dens and brothels are rife with loan sharking, and the government hardly does anything about it.

This is why Wang Xifeng and those noble families dared to get involved.

谷蛼

Without having to lift a finger, you simply hand over your money to those underground organizations and receive your principal and interest back on schedule every month. It's arguably the best way to manage your finances.

Most noble families in the capital have some involvement with the area.

However, the Jia family had two dukes, and their pride was inherent, so no one in the family had ever done this job before. At least, none of the heads of the two mansions had done it.

Until the audacious Wang Xifeng appeared.

This wouldn't normally be a big deal, but when it's brought up publicly, it becomes a sin, let alone when the Empress Dowager says it, it's a serious crime! Jia Lian already knew about Wang Xifeng's weakness. Earlier in the carriage, Wang Xifeng couldn't withstand the pressure and his interrogation, and finally confessed honestly.

In this era, women are far less forgiving of crimes than men.

If Jia Lian wants to protect Wang Xifeng, he must resolve this matter for her so that the Empress Dowager has no excuse to punish her.

Therefore, Jia Lian deliberately said that Wang Xifeng had not made any major mistakes, which was a deliberate attempt to mislead the Empress Dowager.

His voice was filled with sorrow and remorse as he kowtowed, saying, "Your humble servant is guilty!"

"Now that things have come to this, I dare not deceive the Empress Dowager any longer."

Originally, our family was in dire straits, and my wife and I discussed this loan method in order to alleviate our family's difficulties.

"This matter was caused by my momentary greed; I am guilty and beg Your Majesty to punish me."

Upon hearing Jia Lian's words, the three women of extraordinary status in the inner palace were all stunned.

It's common for prominent families, royalty, and nobles to make mistakes and commit crimes. As long as they don't bring it to the public eye, it's not a big deal. If it's unavoidable, they'll just plead for leniency, use all available connections, and let the matter drop.

If someone really insists on holding a grudge, just find a scapegoat.

It's rare to see someone like Jia Lian, who, as soon as the news broke, couldn't wait to take the blame for himself.

Therefore, they were unable to adapt immediately.

Ultimately, the Empress Dowager knew more about the situation, and upon hearing this, her elegant face immediately darkened.

Upon returning from the Crown Prince's villa that day, she couldn't wait to send people to investigate Jia Lian.

Later, when they wanted to marry Jia Lian to Zhao Yang, they had someone investigate Wang Xifeng's dirty secrets.

She even specifically verified that Wang Xifeng did this after Jia Lian left the capital, so this foolish thing was most likely unrelated to Jia Lian.

She had no intention of harming Jia Lian, nor did she even want to do anything to Wang Xifeng; she simply used this as a weapon to make them obedient.

To everyone's surprise, Jia Lian took the blame for the whole thing himself!

The Empress Dowager easily understood Jia Lian's purpose in doing this...

Is that woman really that important to him?!

The Empress Dowager grew increasingly angry.

I even felt anger.

"Jia Lian, do you know the consequences of what you've done?"

You are the heir to the Rongguo Mansion, and your actions represent the Rongguo Mansion.

If you insist on taking responsibility for this matter and oppose me, I will not hesitate to have the Rongguo Mansion removed from the list of officials in the capital.

The Empress Dowager's words sent a chill down people's spines for the first time.

Even Zhao Yang could tell that the Empress Dowager was different from before; she was genuinely angry.

Yuan Chun could no longer stand and hurriedly knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

While pleading with the Empress Dowager, Yuan Chun turned to Jia Lian and said, "Brother Lian, why don't you quickly apologize to the Empress Dowager..."

Jia Lian hadn't expected that his actions would anger the Empress Dowager.

The reason he dared to bargain with the Empress Dowager was because he judged her general character based on her actions, and the Empress Dowager clearly remembered the day she risked her life to save him, which is why she was so patient with him.

However, Jia Lian was not afraid. The Empress Dowager was not Emperor Ningkang's biological mother and had no history of interfering in politics. Her statement that she would take action against the Rongguo Mansion was just a momentary outburst.

After all, even if the Empress Dowager wanted to deal with the Rongguo Mansion, it wouldn't be a simple matter; she would need the assistance of the Retired Emperor or Emperor Ningkang. And the Empress Dowager was a woman of pride; how could she possibly believe that someone who had just saved her would turn around and destroy her benefactor's entire family?

Aren't you afraid that the retired emperor or Emperor Ningkang will look at you with disdain?

So all we need to do is give her a way out.