Chapter 35: The Dark Tide of Officialdom in Jiangnan Red Chamber Night Talk Green Bean

  Phoenix Hairpin

  Daiyu may have lived in seclusion for a long time, but she had still heard stories about the phoenix seeking his mate. Moreover, Sima Xiangru's writing was so good that even Lin's family library had several of his masterpieces.

  Sending a phoenix hairpin, this aunt Jiang is really ignorant of etiquette.

  "Has brother accepted it?" Daiyu hastily asked.

  "Fool, you clearly know what that means, how could brother not know? I bluntly refused, although Aunt Jiang's brother is not a straightforward person, but after all, he has read books and saw my unpleasant expression, so he hastily put it away. However, it was just to prevent them from having ideas about bullying my sister again."

  Daiyu thought that since she had come to Suzhou, she had just spent a few days of leisure time, how could these people not let her go? Her father was gone, and even someone like Jiang Yiniang who was not decent dared to bully her and her brother.

  Zhiyuan saw Daiyu hanging her head and looking depressed, and couldn't help but laugh: "Brother isn't afraid, why are you so timid? What Jiang Yiniang is doing is just because she sees that we siblings have no one to rely on, and now she's climbed up the ranks of the new Salt Inspector, so she wants to show off in front of you. I think Jiang Yiniang probably doesn't really intend to be so despicable, she just wants to annoy sister a bit, if you're really worried about this, then you've fallen into her trap!"

  Daiyu, who was on the verge of tears, burst out laughing as soon as she heard her brother's words.

  Daiyu's mood improved upon seeing Zhiyan, who then continued: "There is still one more thing that sister needs to be mindful of."

  "Brother, please go on."

  Zhiyuan said, "I've already received the news that the newly appointed Imperial Censor Huang Zongxing has been embezzling money on a large scale since taking office. All major salt merchants in Jiangnan have to offer him gifts, and he colludes with them to sell private salt, which is three times more than what Erbo did during his time."

  Daiyu didn't know what threefold meant, but her father had also said that selling private salt was punishable by beheading. Huang Zongxing's audacity was too great, and Daiyu couldn't help asking: "Does the Emperor not know about this?"

  "I think it's just that I haven't had a chance to deal with him yet, or rather, the competition between the Emperor and King Zhongshun is still in its early stages. It's possible that King Zhongshun might win, but that's not certain." Zhiyuan picked up his teacup again, then thought of something else and put it back down. "Also, there's another matter - when my sister and I were discussing our trip to the capital, she made some good points. After thinking about it, I looked at the calendar and decided on May. What do you think?"

  Daiyu was delighted to see her brother willing to go to the capital. There were many things going on in Suzhou, and now with the arrival of the troublesome Jiang Yiniang, it would be better for everyone to move to Beijing early, so that her brother could focus on his studies.

  "It's great in May, the weather is still cool and pleasant, just right for traveling. It's also a good time to visit friends before the summer heat sets in. But, where will we stay in Beijing?" She wasn't opposed to going to her maternal grandmother's house, but her brother, as the eldest son of the Lin family and a talented scholar from Suzhou, would certainly not want to be confined to a relative's home. As for herself, she suspected that her maternal grandmother would take her to live at the Jia residence, but she was reluctant to leave her brother and cousins, so she felt very conflicted and uneasy."

  Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I've already thought of this. Let's send someone to Beijing to scout out a place in the next few months. If we find a suitable house, we can buy it, so that in the future, we'll have a place to stay in Beijing too. If we can't find one for now, let's rent a small house temporarily and wait until after the spring exams are over before making further plans. However, I know that sister's maternal grandparents' home is in Beijing, and if we don't go visit them, it would be impolite. I heard from Second Uncle that the old lady of the Jia household dotes on sister a lot. If she invites us to stay, brother wouldn't be so ungracious as to decline. But if the old lady doesn't extend an invitation, then we siblings absolutely mustn't mention it."

  Daiyu heard this and 80-90% of her sorrow disappeared, she hastily said: "After all, it was brother who was wronged."

  Zhiyuan said: "What's wrong with that? It's just that when the Spring Festival ancestor worship comes, we must move out."

  "This principle Lin Daiyu understands, brother can rest assured, then I will start packing things in the next few days?"

  Zhiyuan burst out laughing: "Silly girl, it's still a month until May! What could you possibly have to pack up for so long? I'll get Yanyi to help you when the time comes, just bring your favorite small items and we can buy whatever else you need once we arrive in Beijing."

  "Brother, I haven't even finished wearing the clothes you made for me, and now you want to buy more in the capital? Isn't that a waste?"

  "It doesn't matter if it's a waste, you have many maids by your side, just give it to them. The rules in the capital are big, our Suzhou style may not be popular there, and wearing it out will make relatives laugh. In our family, only you and Xueqi are two girls, brother always hopes that you can dress up beautifully!"

  Daiyu didn't say another word. Zhiyuan Gege had thought of everything, what else was there to say? She only hoped that her decision to persuade Gege to go to the capital wasn't wrong.

  Lin Zhiyuan has always been equal to Suzhou's autumnal closure after going up to Beijing, but now things are tricky and it's probably not good to stay in Suzhou either.

  The private salt trade in Jiangnan is becoming increasingly rampant, and the salt merchants in Suzhou, Yangzhou, and Hangzhou are getting richer by the day. Every day, they boast about their wealth in teahouses, wine houses, and brothels, without fear of being caught, because they have a huge protective umbrella - Huang Zongxing.

  The Marquis of Dongping had wanted to memorialize several times, but was persuaded by Lin Zhiyuan each time. The current emperor is not the previous one, and most of these old men from the previous emperor's time have been put on the back burner. Take Lin Ruhai as an example. What the Emperor wants are his own people sitting in the positions with real power. If the Marquis of Dongping hadn't married the Emperor's sister, he would probably have been ousted too.

  Now that the Emperor and Zhongshun King are having a good fight, Lin Zhiyuan would not want to let the Duke of Dongping get involved, at least until the situation is clear.

  Zhiyuan didn't tell Daiyu that Jiang Niangniang seemed to have grasped some evidence of Lin Ruhai and presented it to Huang Zongxing. Of course, most of this evidence was fabricated, but it was still a calamity. Jiang Niangniang had her brother come to propose marriage, also to intimidate the two siblings. Huang Zongxing wasn't a good person; on one hand he wanted to extort money from Zhongshun King, and on the other hand he wanted to suppress the loyal ministers of the previous emperor, intimidating them so that these old ministers would surrender to Zhongshun King. Lin Ruhai was just a target.

  Lin Zhiyuan thought it was clear, Huang Zongxing just wanted to dig up evidence of Erbo's corruption, even if there wasn't any, he would fabricate some. Moreover, Lin Zhiyuan knew that this Erbo was not a truly honest official, at least compared to Hai Rui from his previous life, otherwise he wouldn't have left him and Daiyu such a large inheritance.

  Before the Second Master passed away, he handed over a sacred decree to himself, which was bestowed upon him by the previous emperor. At critical moments, it could prove that all of Lin's family wealth was bestowed by the previous emperor, and it also served as a lifeline for the Lin family in their most dangerous moment. Only three people in the world knew about this sacred decree: the previous emperor, Lin Ruhai, and Lin Zhidian. Therefore, Lin Zhidian had no need to worry about Huang Zongxing's conspiracy, but he wanted to create a false impression that his siblings were afraid, so they rushed to Beijing as a decoy.

  Lin Zhiyuan suddenly felt that he was still too weak, he had no real power and couldn't enter the imperial court, so he didn't have the right to speak, and therefore didn't have the qualifications to protect the Lin family. So now what he needs to do is go to the capital.

  When the Lin family decided to go to Beijing in May, the news spread out. People from Suzhou who were familiar with the Lin family came to visit and found out that Dizhiyuan and Daiyu were going to welcome the spring examination earlier. They guessed that it was because there were too many students visiting recently, so Lin Zhida couldn't focus on preparing for the exam.

  At that time, the students who had received Zhiyuan's kindness were all ashamed. At that time, they only thought about how to get good grades and didn't care about Lin's young master participating in the imperial examination. Now, they have caused him to hide in the capital to warm up for the exam. As a result, everyone sent gifts, either pens and ink or paper and inkstones, just to express their goodwill. Of course, there were also those with black hearts who had received Zhiyuan's guidance and saw that Lin's family had gone to the capital, but kept saying that Lin was stingy and unwilling to help his fellow students. What kind of Jiangnan scholar is this? He only has an empty reputation. Of course, these despicable people were in the minority, and if everyone listened to their complaints, they would also spit on them.

  Zhiyuan had some friends who were much older, and also some peers. These people came to invite him, and he couldn't push them away. Fortunately, everyone knew that Zhiyuan's teacher, Mr. Shen, was very strict and made Zhiyuan hand in his homework every day, so they didn't dare keep him for too long. Even so, the dinner parties and banquets were scheduled from March to April. Zhiyuan had a plan for his studies in mind and didn't want to refuse these friends. He understood that being able to establish himself in Suzhou was inseparable from these relationships.

  The head of the Lin family had a favor for Zhiyuan's mother and son in their early years. The old man saw that Zhiyuan was a person who knew how to be grateful, so he didn't make things difficult for him. He only hoped that when Zhiyuan became successful in the future, he would help the younger generation of the Lin family, allowing several more jinshi (a high-ranking scholar-official) to emerge from the Lin family's clan, which would also uphold the Lin family's hundred-year reputation.

  Daiyu's friends in Suzhou were only a few young ladies from the Dongping Houfu household and Du Wan, who insisted on becoming sworn sisters with her.

  In late April, Suzhou city is in full bloom, it's true that the branches are easy to fall, and the tender buds slowly open.

  Shen Yueran and her sisters were reluctant to let Daiyu go to the capital, but they had learned a thing or two from their mother. Taking advantage of the fine April weather and the blooming roses, the three Shen sisters invited Daiyu to come and admire the flowers, which was also a way of making amends. It had been over a month since they last saw each other after parting ways at the Cold Mountain Temple.

  Daiyu was in a dilemma after receiving the invitation from the East Ping Hou Mansion, as she did not want to disappoint the Shen sisters but also had to consider her mourning period.

  Zhiyuan knew, just called her to go, it's like a junior bidding farewell to an elder, Princess didn't see Daiyu before, but she has been taking care of Lin siblings, so it's necessary for Daiyu to meet the princess, and take this opportunity to admire flowers, which doesn't violate etiquette.

  On the twenty-first, the weather was fine, and it turned out to be a sunny day. Daiyu ordered Xiangyun to check the gifts for the princess again and again, and also invited Xianglian to visit Meiguan to help Bidi take care of Rongze's younger siblings. After being busy for half a day, Zhiyuan came to urge her before she could get on the sedan chair.

  Daiyu sat in the sedan, carefully recalling the etiquette taught by Nurse Li, how to greet the princess, how to sit down, and how to drink tea. She mentally reminded herself that she must not lose face for the Lin family.

  P.S: Please collect me~~~~~ I will work hard to write~~~~~