Chapter 75: Are You Telling The Truth?
He was just with a woman, that’s all. How could he lose the position he had already secured? He felt he was not wrong; those people were just jealous of him, which was why he lost the position.
“The primary condition for entering the Hanlin Academy is a good reputation. Now your reputation is ruined, and His Majesty has personally named you. Those ministers in the cabinet are all as shrewd as foxes. Now they avoid me like the plague; where is there any room for recovery?” Lin Runkun said hesitantly.
Lin Ningkun only then realized the seriousness of the matter.
He would never have dreamed that this matter would ruin his future prospects.
“Second Uncle, what should we do now? Is there any other way?”
His face was full of anxiety.
“There is.”
“What way?”
Lin Ningkun’s eyes lit up again.
“Unless you establish great merit now, just like Jiang Ruanxi did, solving His Majesty’s urgent problem. Perhaps you could offset demerits with merits, or even gain merit.”
“Second Uncle, if I had that kind of ability, why would I beg you?”
The light in Lin Ningkun’s eyes extinguished.
“So, this matter is difficult.”
The Clan Leader stroked his beard. Seeing his deflated appearance and thinking that he was now the future of their Lin Clan, he still advised earnestly, “You are at the height of your success right now. Don’t be too hasty about many matters.”
“I’m thinking that after this matter passes and the people in the Capital gradually forget about your incident, we can then discuss it at length. How about that?”
Even if Lin Ningkun did not want it this way, what could he do?
The matter had reached this point, and he fundamentally had no other way. He could only say helplessly, “Alright.”
Lin Ningkun was very disappointed, but he still told Madam Zhou about this matter.
Having missed such a good opportunity, Madam Zhou naturally felt uncomfortable deep down and had already cursed that vixen Jiang Xuerou a thousand times in her heart.
Damn vixen. Seducing her son was one thing, but she even wanted Xiao Ge’er to impersonate the Lin Family’s offspring, nearly deceiving them.
Thinking of something, Madam Zhou suddenly said, “Kun’er, since this matter did not succeed, what about the silver given to Second Uncle?”
“Mother, although the matter did not succeed, the reason lies with us. Second Uncle probably will not return the silver.”
Lin Ningkun was clear on this point.
“Nonsense! Could the Minister take silver under such circumstances?” Madam Zhou said angrily.
Lin Ningkun frowned. Madam Zhou continued, “Listen to Mother. You know very well what situation our Marquis Manor is in now. We borrowed so much silver and have not repaid it. Since the matter did not succeed, the Minister has no reason to keep the silver. Second Uncle has no reason not to return that silver.”
Moreover, even if not all of it was returned, at least half could be gotten back, right?
Otherwise, they would suffer a great loss.
The matter did not succeed, and they would lose so much silver.
Lin Ningkun thought about it and felt she had reason. “Mother, I’ll go ask again later.”
After communicating well on this matter, Madam Zhou still had a knot in her heart. “By the way, how do you plan to handle the matter with Jiang Ruanxi?”
Dingning Marquis Manor had suffered this calamity, and the whole family was unlucky, but only Jiang Ruanxi was thriving.
She felt His Majesty had done it on purpose.
By demoting her son and elevating Jiang Ruanxi, he clearly wanted to make Dingning Marquis Manor look bad.
After all, which family’s daughter-in-law had a rank higher than her husband and mother-in-law?
“Mother, I want to make peace with Jiang Ruanxi and never do those foolish things again.”
After going through so many things, he finally realized that Jiang Ruanxi, who had always stayed by his side, was the best and would not leave him because he had fallen on hard times.
Previously, he had been deceived by Jiang Xuerou’s pretended gentleness.
Hearing this, Madam Zhou’s face broke into a brilliant smile.
“If you had listened to Mother earlier, wouldn’t everything be fine? Although Jiang Ruanxi is a merchant’s daughter, she has quite a lot of silver in her hands.
During this time when your official career is blocked, hold on tightly to Jiang Ruanxi. Take the opportunity to get some silver from her dowry. When the right time comes, we won’t worry about having no silver to pave your way in officialdom.”
Lin Ningkun did not find anything wrong with Madam Zhou’s words, but thinking of Jiang Ruanxi’s attitude, a few traces of dejection appeared on his face. “Mother, but I see Jiang Ruanxi’s attitude is very firm. She probably has grievances against me in her heart.”
“It’s normal to have grievances. After such a thing happens, no woman would be happy in her heart.”
She then changed the subject. “But after all, she is just a woman. A married woman follows her husband; you are her sky. Even if she has grievances in her heart, they will fade after some time. No need to pay attention to her. As long as you act like you love her very much, she is so foolish that she will eventually treat you even better.”
Lin Ningkun was half-believing. He always felt in his heart that this time, Jiang Ruanxi would not be like before.
As long as he gave her a smile, she would forgive everything.
But he did not know if it was his illusion.
But he did not say this out loud.
Madam Zhou did not know what Lin Ningkun was thinking and continued, “Moreover, Jiang Ruanxi cares so much about you. When she married over, she put in effort to win your favor. She has given so much, and you did such a thing; it’s inevitable that she is sad.
But you must understand that the more a person invests, the more reluctant they are to let go. Her current attitude is nothing more than thinking you have turned back. When you stop paying attention to her, I bet she will immediately turn back to you. At that time, you just put on airs and give her a way out, and this matter will be over.”
“Mother, is what you say true?”
The unease in his heart just now dissipated with Madam Zhou’s words.
Lin Ningkun looked at Madam Zhou with anticipation.
Seeing her son still hesitating, Madam Zhou hurriedly patted her chest to guarantee.
“Rest assured, Mother is a woman and has been through it all. Women understand women best. Mother has also gotten along with Jiang Ruanxi for so long and knows her like the back of her hand. Just listen to Mother; you won’t go wrong.”
Seeing her so confident and swearing so assuredly, Lin Ningkun finally felt relieved in his heart.
“Mother, then I’ll listen to you. Recently, I’ll cold-shoulder Jiang Ruanxi for a while to let her know that in this family, it’s not right just because she has reason on her side, but what I say is what matters.”
Madam Zhou was very satisfied that Lin Ningkun could take her words to heart.
She was also gratified to have a son who listened to her, unlike Lin Feng, who only listened to Madam He.
**
The autumn weather was clear and refreshing. Jiang Ruanxi held a book and sat in the shady spot in the courtyard, sipping tea while reading.
“Madam, the Old Madam is thinking of getting back the silver given to the Clan Leader.”
Shugen respectfully reported everything he knew to Jiang Ruanxi in front of her.
