The Double
Chapter 329 - 121 Setting Out_2

Chapter 329: Chapter 121 Setting Out_2

Before heading to Yanjing, I had to return to Xiangyang to retrieve the orders, and take the opportunity to explain the situation to the member of the Ye Family. The commoners were all cheerful; Jiang Li accompanied the mad Xue Huaiyuan in the carriage. Xue Huaiyuan didn’t even look at her and played happily with a little wooden figure, repeatedly calling out "Ah Li, Ah Li," and then saying, "I want to give it to Ah Li and Ah Zhao to play."

Jiang Li watched with a heavy heart. Ye Mingyu was outside, and during a rest break on the midway journey, he asked Jiang Li, "Ah Li, even though we initially told my mother it was me who had you come over to help me with work, now that things have escalated, how should we bring this to an end?"

So many Tongxiang commoners, when Ye Mingxuan and the others see them, will surely be shocked. Upon returning to Yanjing City, there’s still the entourage from Dali Temple, and even using the name of Jiang Yuanbai to have the Head of the Weaving Department come and handle matters, one can hardly know what Jiang Yuanbai will think or how he will blame Jiang Li when he finds out.

All these are no small matters; it all depends on how Jiang Li will smooth things over.

"Don’t worry." Jiang Li said, "I’ll explain to my maternal grandmother and the others." Indeed, Ye Mingyu could not explain these matters; he had no connection whatsoever to Xue Huaiyuan and had no reason to be involved in all this.

Jiang Li was different, though—even if she couldn’t explain, the Ye family wouldn’t press her for answers, and they might even think these were tasks given to her by Jiang Yuanbai, so they wouldn’t be overly concerned.

Ye Mingyu thought about it and felt that Jiang Li made sense, so he agreed to her suggestion.

The journey back to Xiangyang was faster than the trip to Tongxiang. Perhaps it was because the commoners were all eager to obtain the official orders from the Magistrate of Xiangyang to clear Xue Huaiyuan’s name; they traveled faster than usual, with no one lagging behind. Feng Yutang was confined within the prison carriage along with a few of his minions, moving listlessly along with the convoy.

They could neither run nor resist; deeply aware that the situation was beyond retrieval, all were disheartened and dejected. Jiang Li asked Ye Mingyu’s men to keep an eye on Feng Yutang and his group, fearing that Princess Yongning’s forces would get news and decide to silence them permanently by killing Feng Yutang and his group, leaving no evidence behind.

However, Jiang Li believed that with Jih Heng present, such an event was unlikely to occur. After going through such a big struggle to barely make a little progress on this matter, Jih Heng, who enjoyed watching the drama unfold, would not allow any Tom, Dick, or Harry to ruin this play and prevent it from reaching a satisfying conclusion.

Upon returning to Xiangyang, Jiang Li did not go back to the Ye family first, but immediately led her group to find Tong Zhiyang.

Tong Zhiyang was not in the magistrate’s residence but instead lived in a rather modest-looking small courtyard with his concubine and son.

It was heard that after the argument with Tong Zhiyang, Lady He, Madam Tong, went straight back to her parental home. Lord Tong, furious, threatened to kill Tong Zhiyang as a way to vent for Lady He. Tong Zhiyang was so frightened that he dared not even perform his duties as magistrate; in reality, he couldn’t fulfill his duties anyway, as his position as magistrate was reliant on the He Family’s support. Now that he had offended Lady He, he couldn’t preserve his official hat. He spent his days hiding in this small courtyard, living his life in a cowardly manner.

Jiang Li wasted no words with Tong Zhiyang and said, "The official orders I need, will Lord Tong give them or not?"

Tong Zhiyang truly feared Jiang Li but was too timid to express his anger, saying, "Miss Jiang the Second, I currently don’t even dare to enter the government office..."

"Your wife is so domineering simply because her brother-in-law holds an office in Yanjing, serving as Official Zhong." Jiang Li said, "If you want to live aboveboard and not fear being hunted by the He family, you’ll have to leave Lady He with nothing to rely on and make your brother-in-law lose his position." She glanced at Tong Zhiyang, "If you issue this Hand Token for me, I will ensure that Lady He’s brother-in-law cannot hold his position in the capital, and once the He family loses their support, they naturally won’t dare to touch you."

Tong Zhiyang’s eyes lit up, and he asked Jiang Li, "Is what you’re saying true?"

"I am the daughter of the Grand Secretary," Jiang Li said with a smile, "don’t you trust me?"

"No, no, no," Tong Zhiyang hurriedly replied, "I trust, I trust." Of course, he trusted her. Jiang Li hadn’t been in Tongxiang long before she had managed to have the Head of the Weaving Department from Yanjing City rushed to Xiangyang to handle the case for the Ye family within just a few days. And considering the Hand Token she was now requesting, which was to help clear the disgraced Xue Huaiyuan, since ancient times, assisting in a disgraced official’s exoneration was always done with extreme caution, as it could easily implicate oneself if done carelessly. If one didn’t have absolute confidence, who would dare to do such a thing? Only because she was the daughter of Jiang family would she dare to act so boldly, and if Jiang Li said it could be done, it surely would be.

"Miss Jiang the Second, I have one further inconvenient request," Tong Zhiyang said, wiping sweat from his brow, "If Lady He’s brother-in-law loses his office, that’s only natural, but as for those affairs at the Ye family, they were all trouble stirred up by them, and I only acted according to orders... I am loyal to Miss Jiang the Second and to the Ye family through and through! Could you possibly allow me to continue as magistrate? I promise I’ll look after the Ye family in the future!" Hope filled his eyes as he looked at Jiang Li.