14 Protective Uncle on Mother's Side

. "Aunt Wang mentioned in the past days that she would send Aunt Lin and Aunt Wei, who were originally by my mother’s side, over here soon." When her mother died years ago, Ye Li had just regained her...The Solemn Consort

The Study of the Censor's Mansion

In an elegant and ancient study filled with a faint scent of books, the current censor, usually refined and graceful, looked unusually gloomy as he stared at a letter on his desk.

"Qingfeng, what do you think the Virtuous Ancestor Dowager means by this" After some time, the censor finally lifted his head to ask.

Nearby at the desk stood a handsome young man who frowned thoughtfully before replying: "Father, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's to save face for the Prince Ding Royal Family..." Inspector Xu shook his head and said, "From this father’s perspective, the royal family is hitting the Prince Ding Royal Family with one hand while offering them a sweet treat with the other Such tactics may work on ordinary officials, but they are useless against the Prince Ding Royal Family." Xu Qingfeng frowned slightly, clearly indignant: "Whatever the royal family's intentions towards the Prince Ding Royal Family, it is unjust to sacrifice my cousin as an example." The Xu family had been predominantly male with few female members across generations; even in the previous generation, there was only one daughter (Yue Li’s mother). In Xu Qingfeng's generation, both main branches of the Xu family were sons. Living in the capital all his life, Xu Qingfeng cherished his cousin whom he used to see often when they were young.

Inspector Xu sighed and said, "In the eyes of the imperial family, who else besides themselves is not worth sacrificing Moreover, since her aunt passed away, Li'er has rarely appeared in the capital, and her reputation has been ruined by that wicked woman from the Ye Family. It's natural for Prince Li to refuse marrying Li'er."

Qingfeng snorted coldly, "My son is right not to let his cousin marry Prince Li. Before even getting married, he's already taking things from his fiancée’s shop without paying; is this how the imperial family behaves If my cousin marries him, I fear that all the dowry our aunt left behind will be squandered."

Thinking of the matter Qingfeng had heard when Qingshuang arrived, he could not help but feel indignant. His opinion of Mo Jingli grew even more negative.

"But Prince Ding…" Although Prince Li was unsatisfactory, at least he was a physically sound person. This marriage that Emperor is now arranging would not only be an insult to the House of Prince Ding but also desecrate Xu Family’s bloodline.

“Humph! Compared to Prince Li, I trust the upbringing in the House of Prince Ding more,” said Inspector Xu as he lit a candle on the table and burned the letter into ashes. "How did you fare with your investigation into the House of Prince Ding When Mother goes to Ye Family’s residence soon, ask her to tell Li'er about it." Qingfeng replied helplessly, “Other than that, everything was fine in my inquiry. The Prince of Ding rarely interacts with others; I could count the number of people who have seen him on one hand over these few years. There is no useful information to be gleaned from him. Some even say that he’s a husband-killer—his previous fiancées were all killed by him, and the last time someone died right after entering his household.

"Nonsense!" Inspector Xu rebuked. As an inspector, he knew more than ordinary people about such matters due to connections with Grandpa Xu who had educated countless students. For instance, it was rather suspicious that the first fiancée of Prince Ding passed away at such a time. Also, his second fiancée was arranged by the current Empress Dowager, and she was already ill; dying before reaching adulthood was nothing unusual. But in Inspector Xu’s opinion, it was highly unlikely for someone to be frightened to death after entering Prince Ding's household. Back then when he saw Prince Ding returning to court with a wound on his face, it was rather frightening but not enough to scare anyone to death.

"Alright, you can leave now; I will personally visit Prince Ding later," Inspector Xu said as he began writing a memorial.

"Write a memorial Which minister are you going to impeach" Xu Qingfeng asked in surprise.

The stern-faced Inspector Xu said with a cold smile, "I will impeach Secretary Ye for failing to educate his daughter properly and allowing her four daughters to privately associate with the Prince of Li before their engagement was officially dissolved." According to the explicit regulations of the Great Chu Dynasty, censors were not to be punished. As long as what they reported was not fictitious or defamatory, the emperor could not punish them regardless of their accusations. Who in the capital didn't know about the affair between Prince Li and Miss Ye It's just that since the Ye family chose to turn a blind eye, others naturally pretended not to know either. Now that someone had openly submitted a memorial, idle inspectors and upright scholars who disapproved of such behavior wouldn’t miss this opportunity. On the surface, they were impeaching Secretary Ye, but in reality, their accusations would inevitably lead to Miss Ye and Prince Li. Even the matter of Prince Li taking his former fiancée's property might not be concealed at last.

"Will this make things difficult for Li" Xu Qingfeng frowned with some concern.

Inspector Xu said with a faint smile, "Otherwise, do you think that the look on Prince Li’s face suggests he feels remorse towards Li We must clearly show our stance to both Prince Li and the emperor." By speaking this way, it was clear that they were going to support their niece. “Since we can't figure out what Senior Noble Consort Xianzhaomei meant, let's find some tasks for the Prince of Li’s mansion to do, so that they won’t have time to scheme against you."

In Inspector Xu's view, he just couldn't understand why Prince Li would abandon his niece and marry Miss Ye. Apart from appearance, considering status, one was a legitimate eldest daughter while the other was born of a concubine. Regarding wisdom and virtue, someone like Miss Ye who only knew how to seduce others with her looks would have been punished by being made to kneel before the ancestral shrine in Xu family long ago. Even regarding dowries, it’s likely that what Ye Family could muster wouldn't be as lavish as what Xu Family had prepared for Li. The difference between a newly rich family and an established aristocratic clan was not just a little.

After listening to his father's words, Xu Qingfeng couldn’t help but chuckle and said, "Father truly thinks of everything thoroughly. I will take my leave now."

Sighing softly as he watched his son leave, Inspector Xu picked up his brush to write a memorial. He had two sons; his eldest son Qingrui accompanied his old father back to Yunzhou and was filially pious and studious in front of his father. His second son Qingfeng had been raised by him since childhood. Although both he and his wife came from scholarly families, Qingfeng had shown a natural talent for martial arts from a young age, though his literary skills were mediocre at best. Recalling Ye Li’s words when she paid her respects last year, he couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly: Could it be that the Xu family, renowned for its century-old tradition of scholarship, would produce a general After pondering for a long time, Inspector Xu finally put down his brush and walked over to a bookshelf. He skillfully pulled out a book from the third shelf and looked at the vigorous characters on the cover—《太祖兵典》(Imperial Ancestor’s Military Canon). He called out loudly: “Come in.”

Soon, a servant boy who had been waiting outside pushed open the door respectfully and said, “Master.”

"Take this book to my second son and tell him to finish reading it within the year. Additionally, send me one article of心得體會 (insight) every month."

The servant boy accepted the book without asking any questions and left in a respectful manner.

Shortly after, they could hear Xiao Xu Qingfeng’s cheerful laughter from afar. Clearly, he hadn’t gone far when the servant caught up with him. “Thank you, Father! Your son will comply!”mmander Mo to handle it; she would be foolish to worry about attending more banquets. "The people Commander Mo found weren't good enough"Mo Xiuyao looked up at her and said, "Commander Mo listed the b...