Chapter 290: Boiler
“Blah, blah, blah.”
“So annoying.”
Princess Huiyun watched as the little one spread out her food, piece by piece, acting more like a princess than she was herself.
She always felt that, sooner or later, she had to find an opportunity to beat the girl up.
However, thinking that the girl’s Father was gone, she persuaded herself to endure it; bullying an orphan and a widow was not kind.
But listening to the little one chatter on about having an Elder Brother and an Elder Sister, and that the Elder Sister was already married, the Princess was a bit confused.
Could her poor nephew, the Crown Prince, have had so many children after being placed under house arrest?
Wasn’t it said that the Crown Princess died in childbirth, the Crown Prince never appointed another, and the child didn’t survive either?
Could he have had a whole string of children with someone while outside?
This little cub didn’t look like someone who had lived under house arrest either.
She was far too lively.
As expected, she did not like children.
Children from other families were all annoying to look at.
Even relatives’ children were no exception.
Princess Huiyun had been in contact with the little one for a day, and her head was aching.
Her brain was throbbing.
Princess Huiyun decided that after receiving the two children today, she would have the array master come to reinforce the formation.
If that didn’t work, she would just build a wall.
They couldn’t possibly climb over the wall to get in again, right?
…
When Jiang Feng received the letter, he was working with everyone else, building a wall together.
They were all strong young men, and they worked very quickly.
They were extremely nimble.
Gong Qichi was on the side, lending a hand from time to time.
He mainly wanted to persuade Jiang Feng.
“Just marry her; that girl is quite good.”
Zi Wenxin, Zi Ganjiang, and Zi Yuanqian all had no wives.
Zi Wenxin had several confidantes in his courtyard; he was handsome, good at reciting poetry, and wealthy. When the courtesans were infatuated, they were willing to pay to be with him, but he didn’t agree.
Zi Ganjiang had wanted to marry Jiang Feng’s younger sister before, but later he didn’t, and he wasn’t very enlightened about it either—it didn’t matter if he had one or not, he wasn’t in a hurry.
Zi Yuanqian was a bit of a loner and hadn’t looked for anyone.
Gong Qichi had once had a wife, but when he was exiled, he gave her a letter of divorce. They separated, his wife remarried, and she already had three children. He was now a lone man.
Come to think of it, rebelling was indeed not easy. The working environment was unstable, and it was hard to settle down.
Because once you settled down and had a family, you actually didn’t have such a strong desire to rebel; living a miserable life was better than dying.
There was too much to think about.
Jiang Feng knew that Mother and Father had been worrying about his marriage for a long time. In Jingzhou, they had screened everyone, but presumably, there was no one they were satisfied with, so they hadn’t said anything.
Actually, he didn’t care. He felt that whether he got married or not wasn’t that important; he felt as if he had lost the ability to like others.
It was hard for him to have compassion for others.
But during this time in Jiangzhou, training, reading, and working with Brother Zi and the others, he felt that life was very good, very vivid, and very real.
He loved liveliness deeply.
He was afraid of the dark.
The girl he had picked up from the river that day, who claimed her Father was the Minister of Works and had a large dowry—Jiang Feng felt a slight touch in his heart.
Especially watching her, she loved to smile and was so lively.
At first glance, Jiang Feng felt that Mother would definitely like this girl.
With a girl like that, even if they were buried together, they probably wouldn’t be lonely anymore.
However, he was also hesitant, so he discussed it with Mr. Gang for a long time.
He was a commoner, nothing more, and his Father was only a Vice Minister, and a rebel who had been granted amnesty at that. Would the other party accept him?
The girl’s Father was still a Minister.
The little girl might just be having a one-sided crush.
He couldn’t use the favor of saving a life to force a marriage; how would that be any different from a hooligan?
So, when they sent that girl away, Jiang Feng and the others didn’t show their faces, worried it would harm her reputation.
Gong Qichi was the most enthusiastic about the grand cause of rebellion.
The Minister of Works—even if they couldn’t use people from the Ministry of Works to build ships for them, it would be good to establish a relationship first. He dug up a pile of treasures overnight for Jiang Feng and told him to go and propose.
Jiang Feng, on the contrary, didn’t want to go.
If he did that, it would be unfair to that girl. She was a good girl; if he proposed like that, his motives would be impure, and he wouldn’t be worthy.
He didn’t need to get married; it didn’t matter.
Because of this, he had a disagreement with Mr. Gang.
Gong Qichi felt it really didn’t matter; you could just treat the girl well anyway. Why were you so honest?
Jiang Feng wasn’t being honest; he didn’t consider himself a good person, but in some respects, he had principles. As long as he replaced that girl with his own sister, he wouldn’t be willing to do such a thing.
As it turned out, just as they were arguing, a letter came from home asking Jiang Feng to return quickly, saying they had arranged a good marriage for him.
Gong Qichi could only secretly say it was a pity and gave up the instigation; after all, he was now a strategist, and he had absolute faith in his lord.
Jiang Feng stopped struggling, too. Since Mother and Father approved, the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers—this was proper and upright.
He put down the brick and clapped his hands.
He rode quickly back to the capital.
He arrived just in time for dinner.
Mianmian and Brother Chong had played in the temple for a day; Mianmian played, and Brother Chong was responsible for internally urging his Father to kowtow.
They didn’t expect Elder Brother to return, and surprisingly, he was going to get married.
Father and Mother were so efficient; they hadn’t been in the capital for long, and they had already settled Elder Brother’s lifelong affair.
Not only that, they even got Elder Brother a civil servant position.
An eunuch came to proclaim the imperial edict and even gave rewards—a sixth-rank imperial guard.
Jiang Mianmian had been playing around these past few days and didn’t know what had happened. Her Father was too awesome, right?
This civil servant position didn’t require an exam; he just got in directly. It was truly… she suddenly felt the arrogance of a second-generation official.
It was a pity she wasn’t a man; otherwise, she might have been able to mix in as a civil servant herself.
Jiang Feng returned and brought many gifts for Cong Geer, and he also brought gifts for Mianmian.
Seeing that Cong Geer was living quite comfortably at home and could already roll his eyes, it seemed they were getting along quite well.
Seeing Mianmian still jumping around, happy as could be, the image of that girl flashed through his mind. If she came, she would probably be jumping around too, and the house would likely be incredibly lively.
He hesitated for a moment.
After dinner, Jiang Feng confessed the matter of saving her to his parents.
Qin Luoxia laughed out loud: “I was wondering why that little girl was so enthusiastic when she saw me; it turns out she had already met you.”
Once they talked, they realized that the marriage arranged by his parents and the girl he had saved were the same person.
It was a perfect outcome.
They agreed to go and propose marriage on his day off.
Jiang Feng let out a breath.
He always felt it was a bit too lucky; he couldn’t believe his life was this good.
He went out for a trip, and when he returned, he had a wife and an official position.
It was dark, and Jiang Feng lay on his bed at home, feeling very safe and particularly at ease.
It was dark. Prime Minister Lu went off duty, but he still couldn’t go to bed and get a good rest.
For the past few days, he always felt his shoulders were sore and tired.
In the past, pain was just pain, and it was fine after the servants pressed on it.
But now, the pain felt like he had several pots and stoves on his head.
It was heavy; it was unbearably heavy.
He returned to the Prime Minister’s mansion.
There were still guests visiting.
One of the reception rooms in the Prime Minister’s mansion was known as the’Small Imperial Court’.
Many matters in the Imperial Court were actually decided in this reception room.
Prime Minister Lu’s shoulders hurt terribly, and even while receiving guests, he had his servants keep pressing on them.
One of the Vice Prime Ministers, Xia Hexin, was a thin, middle-aged man.
He was Prime Minister Lu’s henchman, a loyal running dog.
Seeing Prime Minister Lu’s demeanor, he felt in his heart that Prime Minister Lu was becoming increasingly arrogant. In the past, when receiving guests, he was still polite and treated scholars with courtesy; now, he didn’t even bother to pretend.
Several people held an emergency meeting. Naturally, they weren’t discussing small matters like reciting regulations and rules; they were talking about the next big move in the Imperial Court.
Vice Prime Minister Xia deliberated over his words and said: “The First Prince has lost his momentum, and the Sixth Prince’s momentum is already set. If he takes the throne, I fear he will be the first to take us to task. Perhaps we could consider the Seventh Prince. The Emperor does not like the Seventh Prince, and the Seventh Prince has no other support; he can only rely on us. The Seventh Prince is a romantic and has no ambition, making him easy to control. His son also spends the whole day circling around that Fairy Liu; he cannot amount to anything.”
“Ouch!” Prime Minister Lu let out a cry.
The servant pressed a spot too hard; it hurt.
Prime Minister Lu remembered that his youngest son was also circling around that Fairy Liu, getting injured every few days, which made him unhappy.
The servant knelt down in terror and retreated.
Turning around, they heard a muffled grunt of someone being beaten to death.
The person who had been massaging Prime Minister Lu’s shoulders had been beaten to death.
The people in the reception room were all silent for a moment, and then continued their discussion as if nothing had happened.
Outside the reception room, the sky was dim.
In the corner, there was a tree, full of red leaves, which was very beautiful.
Blood slowly flowed to the roots of the tree.
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