Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 635 - 635 636 Impersonation_1

Chapter 635: Chapter 636: Impersonation_1 Chapter 635: Chapter 636: Impersonation_1 Muniang frowned and said, “How could this happen? Are there still so many officials in the court who oppose the Yu Family?”

“The Emperor naturally wouldn’t allow one family to become too powerful; he needs a situation where forces balance each other out. Those in the court who go against our Yu Family are not few in number. Most of them follow Lady Rong’s ‘maternal family’, led by Mr. Rong, who now, thanks to Lady Rong’s favor, has seen his position in the Capital rise dramatically. Didn’t he just get promoted to a second-rank Minister a few days ago? He has a pile of supporters under him; you could say he is the chief of the censors, whose spit could drown a person.”

“Then, what does His Majesty think? Yu Jin, he…” Muniang wanted to say that surely they couldn’t send the person back now. Qilian Kingdom isn’t asking about it anymore, and it wouldn’t be right for the Emperor to send him back now. If he is still unwilling to forgive, what is he to do?

“Let’s not rush, the Emperor isn’t one to act recklessly; he wouldn’t do something so crazy as to send Yu Jin back. Pacifying the Emperor’s anger isn’t something that can be done overnight. As for those censors, I won’t let them off easily either,” Yu Ze’s tone chilled a few degrees.

When Yu Guang returned from the palace, he was furious; naturally, everyone at the Marquis Chen Mansion felt at risk, fearing a casual misstep might provoke his ire. On the other hand, Lady Feng was thrilled—it was a minor matter that the Emperor was displeased; she would be delighted if the Emperor sent Yu Jin back to Qilian Kingdom. That would truly be cause for celebration!

“Regarding today’s matter, uncle put in a lot of effort behind the scenes for us. Although he can’t afford to provoke Marquis Chen Mansion on the surface and won’t personally submit a memorial to impeach them, the memorials that were submitted today, half of them were instigated by him in the shadows,” Yu Ming said, bowing.

Lady Feng smiled, “On another day, find an excuse to go in person and present some generous gifts to your uncle to express our thanks.”

What Lady Feng referred to was the current Ministry of Households’ Assistant Minister, Feng Jin, who was also her direct elder brother. The Feng Family was originally a family of third-rank officials; after the old Master Feng passed away, the official position was hereditarily passed to his eldest legitimate son, Feng Jin. Lady Feng was also full-blooded and originally legitimate, but when her father was still alive, he wished to build a connection with the Marquis Chen Mansion, thus he chose to send his own legitimate daughter to become a concubine at Marquis Chen Mansion. Although Lady Feng married into the Marquis Chen Mansion, the Feng Family was always supporting her from behind. The Feng Family, after all, was not very powerful and always sought to curry favor with the Marquis Chen Mansion, never daring to demonstrate any defiance. However, ever since Feng Jin inherited the official title, they had actually been surreptitiously supporting Lady Rong’s faction.

Yu Ming laughed, “In a few days, the results of the examination will be released. Uncle’s eldest son, Feng Rui, should be the top scorer. When that time comes, there will inevitably be a big banquet to entertain the nobles of the Capital. I’ll take that opportunity to deliver a generous gift to express my gratitude to my uncle.”

Lady Feng, realizing so assuredly that Feng Rui would become the Number One Scholar, immediately understood the cunning scheme and promptly frowned, “Number One Scholar? Uncle is really aiming too high this time. How much true knowledge does my cousin Feng Rui have that I don’t know about? Even if you want to rig the results to get him a title, there’s no need to be so high-profile about it. It would suffice for him to become an ordinary Jinshi; reaching for such attention is just asking for trouble from drawing too much attention!”

Yu Ming sighed, “It’s all because Feng Rui previously made a wager in anger, claiming he would surely become the Number One Scholar in this examination; he would lose face if he lost. Aunt knows that uncle always dotes on Feng Rui. If he insists on being first, how could uncle not oblige? But uncle isn’t without discretion; even if he wants to replace someone with Feng Rui, he will definitely investigate the other person’s family background first. If it’s just an ordinary commoner, they won’t be able to stir up any trouble and nothing will come of it.”

Lady Feng breathed a sigh of relief, knowing her brother was adept at navigating the officialdom after many years; he certainly had experience with such matters. She was previously concerned that Feng Rui might be too conspicuous. As for being exposed, that seemed unlikely. Once the Feng Family pulled the right strings, it would be easy to replace a commoner’s scholarship; besides, the exam papers weren’t open to public scrutiny, so whoever ended up unlucky had only themselves to blame.

Today, the father and sons of the Yu Family had not been back for long when a eunuch from the palace arrived with invitations. It was a banquet hosted by the Empress to appreciate the chrysanthemums. The Empress has a particular fondness for chrysanthemums, which is well known to all. There is even a dedicated Chrysanthemum Garden in the palace. Now, in the midst of autumn, the chrysanthemums are in their prime, so the Empress decided to hold this chrysanthemum appreciation banquet, inviting the female relatives of the court’s senior officials.

It was rare for Muniang to be back, and naturally, Jian Yue was going to take her out to socialize. She had prepared extravagant and luxurious clothes and jewelry for her well in advance and had even hired a teaching nanny to tutor Muniang in court etiquette. Muniang didn’t mind the hard work, but it was a pity she couldn’t attend the opening performance of the theater troupe in Mei Garden; how could there be so many things to do as soon as she returned to the Capital City!

Although she had been too busy to visit Mei Garden these past few days, she had specially sent someone to find out how things were going there. The feedback was exceptionally good; the popularity could be described as the most booming among all the places they had toured. Muniang had anticipated this, especially since Yuyang Embroidery House had been promoting the plays of Mei Garden in advance. With the Capital City being home to many wealthy people, naturally, more patrons were attracted. To satisfy the demands of the distinguished guests, the outermost ring of the grand hall was converted into private rooms, as there were too many Noble Families in the Capital City.

Moreover, as soon as the theater troupe arrived in the Capital City, it gained a reputation, and it quickly became a sensation there. Everyone talked about how stunning the performances by the Mei Garden troupe were, yet no one knew that Qiao Muniang was the proprietor behind the scenes.

Jian Yue had sent a total of four or five maids to help Muniang get ready. After being fussed over all morning, they finally finished preparing her. Even though the maids complimented how good she looked, Muniang had lost interest and waved her hand lazily, saying, “Let’s go see mother first.”

“Yes.”

When Muniang arrived at Jian Yue’s courtyard, she happened to catch the concubine’s daughters paying their morning respects. The awe in everyone’s eyes was undeniable, but they all managed to conceal it well. Muniang cautiously followed the teaching nanny’s etiquette and walked in gracefully, slowly bowing, “Mother, I pay my respects.”

Jian Yue nodded in satisfaction, “Well done. You must be exhausted from this morning, and we are short on time. We should head to the palace early to greet the Empress. Rest a bit more on the carriage later.”

“Thank you, mother,” Muniang replied obediently. After all, there was only one way to gain favor with this mother-in-law, which was to be as good as possible.

This scene, observed by some, naturally caused them to grind their teeth in jealousy.

Jian Yue went back inside to change her clothes, and although the other concubines wanted to network with Muniang, she had no interest in dealing with them. They too knew it would be pointless and soon dispersed. However, one of the women, looking at Muniang with envy, said, “After all is said and done, she’s just a pheasant trying to masquerade as a phoenix. Why such airs and graces? Among us here, whose maternal family isn’t superior to hers?”