Chapter 256 - The Shen Family and the Liu Family

Fortunately, Song Yixiao was asked to stay just now. Finding that everyone was quite embarrassed, she mediated and said, “It’s really strange. After all, this is the palace of Aunt Daiguo. Prince of Wei asked the Marquis to come out to talk. How can he hide this from Aunt? Princess Consort of Wei is still pregnant, but Prince of Wei comes to worry about Muting’s marriage. If Aunt knows this, how can she not give it another thought?”

“Madam Song, you are right. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, let’s leave separately now!” Yuan Xuepei intended to keep a distance from Jiang Muting, so after hearing her words he responded, “Lady first!”

Seeing this, Song Yixiao nodded to him and then left.

She left straightforwardly while Jiang Muting was reluctant. On the way back, her pace was inevitably slow.

Song Yixiao knew her thought but she didn’t reveal it, and walked slowly with her. After a long walk, Jiang Muting suddenly stopped. She looked around and found that there were no other people. She turned to look at her, and whispered, “Shanyao, what do you think of my temperament and appearance?”

“There is no doubt that you are pretty and intelligent as well as dignified and magnanimous,” Song Yixiao answered instantly.

She was not flattering her. Jiang Muting was really outstanding among the noble ladies in the imperial capital, regardless of family background, talent or appearance. Otherwise, when Virtuous Consort Jiang told Emperor Xianjia in private that she wanted to marry off her niece to her adopted son, Prince of Wei, the emperor wouldn’t have promised her.

“I also think that even though I’m worse off than some young ladies from respectable families, I’m better off than many other girls.” Jiang Muting pressed her lips and said with a bitter smile, “Xuepei himself said that I’m a nice girl. I’m not afraid of wasting my youth to wait for a favorable turn. Why is he unwilling to wait? Was he just making polite remarks at that time? Or, does he think that it is not worthwhile to wait for me?”

Song Yixiao thought there should be both reasons. According to her contacts with Yuan Xuepei, the Marquis Boling was now dedicated to making achievements, and had little interest in the affection between girls and boys.

This could be seen from his requirements of choosing a wife this time. His future wife should be virtuous and sensible, with a humble family background. He was even willing to accept a girl with regular appearance as long as she was not disabled. Such undemanding requirements clearly showed that he only wanted to have a manager of his mansion, who could bear children for him.

Jiang Muting could also manage the mansion for him by her talent and appearance. Apart from this, she admired him wholeheartedly. However, different political views between the two families, as well as Yuan Xuepei’s injury on the leg, determined that it was quite difficult for them to get together. Compared with this, marrying a girl whose families were not his political opponents would save him much worry.

In the final analysis, Yuan Xuepei had feelings for Jiang Muting, yet his affection was not deep. At least it was not deep enough to make him overcome the difficulties before them.

Nevertheless, Jiang Muting was now in low spirits and it’s obviously not suitable for her to tell the truth. Song Yixiao thought for a while and said, “Maybe it’s because of his leg?”

“I don’t care!” Jiang Muting blurted out, but her words were interrupted calmly by Song Yixiao, “He may care!”

Jiang Muting fell into silence immediately.

They didn’t say anything on their way to the banquet. After arriving at the banquet, they were separated because their seats were not at the same dining table.

At this time, Xie Yiren had already finished her talk with her sister-in-law. Seeing Song Yixiao was back, she asked with a smile, “Why do you go out so long? I was afraid that you would be impatient waiting for me. In contrast, I have to wait for you for so long.”

“I drank several cups of wine just now and went out to sober up. Later, I met Muting and had a conversation with her,” Song Yixiao perfunctorily said, “Aunt Daiguo’s garden is really well built. I just wanted to walk around at the beginning, but I unconsciously visited it for a long time. By contrast, our side yards are very common.”

After hearing her speech, Xie Yiren looked around and when she saw that no one paid attention to them, she got close to Song Yixiao and said, “This place used to be the ancestral property of Liu family in the East Hu Region among the Six Warlords. It’s said that it was built in the early Wei Dynasty. From that time to our era, two dynasties have emerged, which is a time span of hundreds of years The Liu family was like the sun at high noon at that time, and even the royal family would make a concession. Therefore, even a mansion built as a summer resort took numerous efforts and showed ingenuity! However, to the time of East Yong, the royal family was weak and incompetent. They settled in the south of the Yangtze River and were reluctant to strive on their own. While the Shen family in the West Liang Region and the Liu family in the East Hu Region always wanted to recover the lost territory. In order to raise military funds, the two families sold off many industries throughout the country, and somehow this mansion was finally fell into the hands of Aunt Daiguo!”

“It turns out that the mansion is handed down from a famous family in ancient times. No wonder that it is quite unique!” Song Yixiao asked with curiosity, “After the Shen family and the Liu family sold off their property, did they raise enough military funds to recover their lost territory?”

She studied female morality, and mainly learned how to be virtuous and elegant. She was good at needlework, lute-playing, Chinese Go, calligraphy, and painting. As for other categories, she didn’t know quite well.

After all, her female teachers were not all-rounders. In addition, the Great Rui was established for only forty years. Although the royal family appointed historiographers to write history, these books were only kept in the national archive and not everyone was qualified to read them. Therefore, ladies who were raised in the boudoir almost had no access to know about the history of recent dynasties, unless their elders had personally experienced the past events.

Xie Yiren was such an example. Her grandfather, Duke of Lai, was born in the middle of the time of East Yong. It was said that he passed the imperial examination at the country level. Later, he followed Emperor Taizu of Rui and became the distinguished person for the foundation of Great Rui. With such a grandfather, it’s not surprising that Xie Yiren knew something that ordinary people didn’t know.

Song Yixiao didn’t have such relatives. If Xie Yiren didn’t say it, she knew nothing about this history.

“The lost territory was recovered, while the two families were also greatly undermined.” Xie Yiren showed a regretful look, “Among them, the Shen family almost ended without offspring. The Ranli Hall of the Liu family was no better than the former family. Not only were its blood members in decline, but also many people of its collateral lines died in the war. The most important thing is that these two families had been stationed in the border areas for generations, and they were feuds with northern barbarians. Therefore, after West Liang and East Hu were annexed by their enemies, most of their ancestral lands were destroyed and abandoned. After the establishment of this dynasty, Emperor Taizu thought of the righteous deeds of the Shen family and the Liu family who fought against northern barbarians, he intended to confer the title of nobility on them and appointed them as officials. Yet the two families were ashamed that they could not safeguard their hometown and thus brought uneasiness to their late ancestors, so they not only declined the reward, but even decided not to enter the official career for three generations. They gathered their families to guard the tomb in order to redeem their guilt for their ancestors!”

Speaking of this, she seemed to think of something. She was surprised and said, “I haven’t reminded it if you don’t mention it. The time for them to make atonement almost comes to an end! Anyway, almost forty years passed, and I don’t know whether people in the present court will think of them.”

After all, it was Emperor Taizu of Rui who wanted to promote the two families to a higher rank. Emperor Xianjia was the grandson of Emperor Taizu, and he might not be willing to pay his grandfather’s old debt. What’s more, it was the two families who refused to be officials at the beginning.

“Even if people at court don’t remember them, there is imperial examination,” Song Yixiao said with a smile, “Let’s wait and see. Maybe after three years descendants of these two families will participate in the imperial examination.”

Inwardly, she thought Shen and Liu families indeed felt guilty for their ancestors, while that was not the only reason why they made atonement for three generations. After all, if a family wanted to prosper continuously, it would be impossible for its members to be away from power for a long time. The Shen family in West Liang and the Liu family in East Yong were both noble families in several dynasties. How could they not understand this?

She was afraid that they had no other choice.

“Yiren, you just said that the two families had been stationed in the frontier for generations. At that time, the imperial court East Yong made no attempt to make progress, yet the two families expelled northern barbarians and recovered the lost territory by their own efforts. It can be seen that the two families were not only rich, but also controlled military power, which is most important!” Although Song Yixiao didn’t know much about this story, she could infer some information from what Xie Yiren had revealed, “Despite the fact that the two families lost heavily in the fight against northern barbarians, their strength can’t be underestimated!”

In particular, they still enjoyed a great reputation. Even though the Six Warlords were now in decline, they were still honored and respected when people talked about them. After all, a family that had been glorious all the time from the Middle Ages and fell into degradation until recent years was admirable.

Besides, the Shen family and the Liu family were able to resume their hometown which was occupied by other nationalities. How could people in the world not be moved by them when they witnessed this?

To say the least, at that time, if the Shen and Liu families intended to make a public appeal, there must be numerous followers.

However, with the end of East Yong, it was Lu family who founded a new dynasty, not these two families.

In this sense, how could Emperor Taizu of Rui not be afraid of them?

These two families might be weak in power or they just lack the will. All in all, they neither wanted to fight with Emperor Taizu of Rui for the throne, nor wanted to be regarded as the thorn in the flesh of the new monarch. Therefore, on the pretext of making atonement, they promised not to enter the official career for three generations. It probably meant that they would not be in charge of the military power for three generations. Therefore, they actually exchanged their accumulated wealth and power in the past hundreds of years for the trust of the royal family

Of course, these past stories had nothing to do with Song Yixiao, so she stopped thinking about it and changed the topic of the conversation with Xie Yiren.

Time passed imperceptibly, and soon it came to the end of the banquet. People put aside the chopsticks in twos and threes, took the tea delivered by the servants, and were ready to leave the banquet.

At this time, Yuedeng suddenly bent down to whisper in Song Yixiao’s ear, “Your Highness, Miss Jiang’s maid came to say that she got out just now and hasn’t come back yet. She asked did you know her whereabouts.”

“Muting?” Song Yixiao was surprised at her words, and said, “She got out once, and we met her at the foot of the rockery. Right? Does she go out again after coming back?”

Yuedeng said, “That’s right. The maid has already gone out to look for her twice, but she hasn’t seen her all the time.”

“Did you tell her about the rockery?” Song Yixiao felt that something was wrong when she heard this. She turned the tea bowl in her hand, and said in a low voice, “There is still some time from the end of the banquet. You can accompany her to look for Muting there.”

Yuedeng obeyed her order. She soon came back, only to tell her, “I accompanied the maid to look for Miss Jiang up and down the rockery, but there was no sight of her. We also took advantage of getting on the top of the rockery and looked around, and we still could not see Miss Jiang.”

Song Yixiao’s look changed, “Muting is not a person who doesn’t know how to behave properly. Even if she wants to escape from the banquet, she will not just disappear without telling anyone. Now she doesn’t come back, and you can’t find her at all. The host here should be asked in terms of her whereabouts!”

Although she was on good terms with Jiang Muting in private, today Jiang Muting’s families were also present at the banquet. As a result, she was not the one who should ask Daiguo Grand Princess to find her.

Despite this, she had been out for a long time during the banquet, and happened to meet Jiang Muting. Hence, after Daiguo Grand Princess announced that the banquet was over, she sent someone to let Song Yixiao stay when she was about to leave. The servant said that she might need to be a witness.

When Jian Xubai in the front yard heard about this, he came to find his wife after the womenfolk were almost gone. He just stepped into the drawing room when a flustered little maid rushed from behind and almost bumped into him. After she staggered and stood steadily, she didn’t salute to him. With a pale look, she said to Song Yixiao in the room, “Madam Song, Her Highness invites you to the warm chamber!”