Chapter 152: Luan Nu Returns from Study

Many women were rescued from Yifeng Royal Manor, but only two women were held in solitary confinement and under strict guard.

One of them called herself the imperial concubine.

Another little girl, whose identity and origin are unclear.

Since he was being held in solitary confinement, his identity must be complicated. Zhao Qian’an was wary and sent someone to investigate.

Now there is finally some progress.

Gou Xiangxi said: “As for the woman named ‘Hong Zhao’, I haven’t found out which powerful family in Kyoto City lost their daughter yet, so I took the initiative to release her and see if she will contact her family.”

“As for the woman who claimed to be the imperial concubine, after checking her identity, it turned out that she is indeed the former imperial concubine of the current Second Prince, Wang Yanzhi of the Yangzhou Wang family.”

The Wang family of Yangzhou is considered a large family, otherwise the women in the family would not marry the prince.

The Second Prince’s divorce caused a sensation in Kyoto at the time, but as time passed, it gradually calmed down.

Zhao Qi’an could be considered an eyewitness. After all, he had been in Kyoto City ten years ago and had met the former imperial concubine at a family dinner in the imperial palace before. So this time he hid behind the scenes and only asked his men to investigate the authenticity of Wang Yanzhi’s identity.

People in Kyoto said that the second imperial concubine was divorced by the second prince because she had no children for seven years.

But in fact this is just one of the reasons, Zhao Qi’an knows some more inside information.

In the final analysis, the reason why the second prince Ji Haoyu married Wang’s daughter was that he wanted to win over the officials of the Yangzhou party, which was still quite prosperous at that time.

Yangzhou is a prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River with a flourishing literary culture. Originally, the Yangzhou Party has always been powerful in the court, and its leader is the current official of the Ministry of Personnel, “Qin Desheng”.

Qin Desheng also had a successful career. He was less than fifty years old but had already been promoted to the position of Minister of Personnel. He had also united with the powerful families in Yangzhou to build momentum and launch an attack on the position of “Prime Minister”.

The Left Prime Minister Wu Yong is not a generous person.

Now Emperor Wu of Tian does not take care of things, and all court affairs are in his hands alone. He can be said to be a truly powerful official second only to the emperor. How can he tolerate others coveting power?
Ever since the Yangzhou clan built up momentum for Qin Tianguan, they have been at odds with the Wu party.

Wu Yong was a prime minister and had been the chief examiner of the Spring Examination for four consecutive terms. He openly began to suppress the scholars from Yangzhou. Even though the first round of examinations were conducted anonymously, it did not prevent the scholars from Yangzhou from becoming Jinshi. However, the subsequent palace examinations were examined by Wu Yong on behalf of His Majesty. There was no way that a Yangzhou scholar would be among the top ten in the Spring Examination. It was impossible for them to enter the Hanlin Academy or even stay in the capital. Even the selected officials were sent to remote places.

As a result, the scholars from Yangzhou were forced to find ways to change their backgrounds and not go to Beijing to take the imperial examinations as Yangzhou scholars. The fresh blood of the Yangzhou Party in the court was almost cut off.

The existing Yangzhou Party forces in the court have been suppressed and divided by the Wu Party over the years, and suffered heavy losses for a time, from being the second largest party in the court to being weak and powerless today.

The fact that Qin Desheng has been able to serve as an official in the Ministry of Personnel for all these years is considered quite capable.

But in front of Prime Minister Wu, he also learned to keep a low profile.

But this puts the second prince Ji Haoyu in an extremely embarrassing situation.

He married Wang’s daughter in order to win over the officials of the Yangzhou Party, but he really relied on the Wu Party and Prime Minister Wu.

The factional struggle between the Wu Party and the Yangzhou Party occurred after he married Wang Yanzhi, so he had to make a trade-off. It just so happened that the couple had already been estranged over the issue of offspring, and taking this opportunity, the prince divorced his wife.

Although Zhao Qi’an was not in the court, he was still aware of the political situation and naturally knew these inside stories.

But he was a little confused: “After divorcing his wife, wasn’t Wang Yanzhi sent back to the Wang family in Yangzhou? There are rumors that the Wang family forced her to become a nun in order to save their reputation.”

Gou Xiangxi had already found out everything, and replied, “She did go back to Yangzhou, but Wang Yanzhi was unwilling to be divorced. She went from being a high-ranking prince’s consort to being thrown into the mud, so she naturally refused to give up. So she secretly slipped away from the Wang family and returned to the capital. She wanted to ask the second prince for an explanation, but she was abducted and taken to the Yifeng Imperial Manor, where she was imprisoned for five whole years.”

At this point, he sneered: “So, Your Highness the Third Prince has solved a problem for Your Highness the Second Prince?”

Zhao Qi’an’s eyes turned playful, and he said, “Perhaps he wants this ‘trouble’ to explode at the right time.”

“You know what, this former imperial concubine actually has some news that is very unfavorable to the Second Prince…” Gou Xiangxi moved closer to Zhao Qian’an and whispered something in his ear.

After listening to this, Zhao Qi’an raised his eyebrows and asked, “Really?”

Gou Xiangxi said: “Although this matter needs to be verified, after all, given the former imperial concubine’s hatred for the Second Prince, it is very likely that she would slander him. But… the Second Prince has not had any children in these years, I don’t think it’s fake.”

Zhao Qi’an nodded.

No matter what, it’s always a good thing to have such a handle in hand.

……

When Zhao Qi’an returned home, he was somewhat surprised by the person who came out to greet him.

“master.”

Luan Nu came before Zhao Qi’an and bowed politely.

Then she bowed to Gou Xiangxi who was standing behind Zhao Qi’an: “Mr. Gou.”

These days, she was not at home, but went to the business to learn how to run the business.

Now that Gou Xiangxi has become Zhao Qi’an’s “subordinate official”, all the official business at the Zongzheng Temple needs him to take care of, so naturally he can no longer serve as the chief steward of the Princess’s Mansion. The next candidate chosen by Zhao Qi’an to be the chief steward of the mansion is Luan Nu.

Ever since Yuzhen was sent to the palace, Luannu, who used to serve her personally, has relieved herself of the burden on her shoulders. She no longer has to disguise herself in front of others and looks a lot more relaxed.

Although her appearance doesn’t seem to have changed much, her image and temperament are more attractive than before.

But when Zhao Qi’an hires people, he still values ​​ability.

Luan Nu is quite capable, and Zhao Nishang has asked Zhao Qi’an for her several times, hoping to transfer her to work under her.

But Luan Nu herself was willing to stay in the princess’s mansion, so Zhao Qi’an nodded, and the matter was settled.

However, the princess’s mansion had some industries under its jurisdiction, and Zhao Qi’an planned to take back the imperial fields and farms that had been occupied by Fuyan Palace. Naturally, he needed someone who was good at business to help manage them. So he sent Luan Nu to the trading company to study for a period of time, and also to learn how to manage a mansion.

Zhao Qi’an originally thought that she would not come back for another two months, but he never expected that she would return home after only a month.

Gou Xiangxi explained, “Master, please forgive me. It was me who decided to let her come back. I have been busy lately and I really can’t take care of the affairs of the mansion. But Miss Luan is a fast learner. I also asked one of my students to accompany Miss Luan to the mansion as her assistant. I think nothing will go wrong.”

It was then that Zhao Qi’an noticed that there was a person standing not far away. Upon closer inspection, he found that he knew him. It was the guide Li Yulu whom he had met by chance in the trading company that day.

It was just an unintentional act, to let Gou Xiangxi go to see if this person could be used.

Unexpectedly, Gou Xiangxi seemed to like this young man very much. Not only did he accept him as his disciple, but he also often took him with him when he did things.

Li Yulu noticed that Zhao Qian’an was looking at him, and he saluted nervously, so nervous that he could hardly stand.

He seemed very excited and nervous about being able to see Zhao Qi’an, the “noble man” in his life, again.

Zhao Qi’an nodded to him, then retracted his gaze and said to the two people beside him: “Since Mr. Gou said so, then it’s settled. From now on, all the affairs of this mansion will be handled by Luan Nu.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Luan Nu showed joy on her face and her attitude became more attentive and enthusiastic.

She said, “Also, when I came back from the business, Song, the head of the Tianwei Escort Agency, also came with me to visit you. Master, do you want to see him now?”

(End of this chapter)