Chapter 37: You’ve Been Schemed Against!
Normally, Xu He should go to the yamen early every morning to report for duty, but because Du Yu had suddenly come personally last night to inquire about the progress of the marriage with the Duan family.
And mentioned that their Old Madam’s birthday banquet was imminent, and the Marchioness of Guangling hoped that Xu He could appear in the capacity of the mansion’s prospective nephew-in-law by marriage, so that at that time it would be convenient to arrange for him to meet with Miss Duan’s father and brother and have a chat.
Xu He had no choice but to take leave from the yamen, planning to invite the matchmaker today and have him go with Du Yu to the Duan family.
The Du Family was the matchmaker who acted as the go-between, and in addition, both the man and woman each had their own matchmakers.
Before the wedding, all matters were handled through these three parties stepping forward.
Even though he had buried his head in studying before and was ignorant of worldly affairs, in the half year since entering officialdom, Xu He had learned very quickly.
He could tell that what Du Yu said nicely was “inquiring,” but it was actually just urging.
This marriage, personally arranged by the Marquis of Guangling and his wife, was actually progressing steadily; from requesting the matchmaker to now, it had only been four months, and it had already reached the step of betrothal gifts and bride price, and next would be setting a wedding date, then just waiting for the marriage.
Yet the Du Family still thought it was slow, which made Xu He feel very puzzled.
Xu He also admitted that recently he indeed hadn’t paid much attention to this matter, or rather, from the beginning he hadn’t been that expectant about this marriage.
Although several generations of the Xu Family had been scholars, their family background was ordinary; for Xu He to achieve success from such a family, even topping the imperial exam as top scholar, was something worth glorifying the family for three generations.
Even looking across the realm, in over a hundred years since the founding of the current dynasty, there weren’t many who had topped the exam as top scholar at such a young age.
For such a talent, he could even marry the Prime Minister’s daughter, so why go to great lengths to marry a distant miss from a marquis’s mansion?
Miss Duan’s father was just a fifth-rank official, and Xu He originally already felt somewhat unwilling; with this urging from the Du Family, he was even less willing.
It was just that he was forced by circumstances and, for the sake of the Marquis of Guangling’s power, had no choice but to obey.
While waiting for the matchmaker to arrive, he was at the window studying several articles he had recently collected.
The articles were written by Prince Jingyang; he had happened to see them in the Imperial Secretariat and copied them down.
Prince Jingyang’s Mansion was lofty to him like a palace in the ninth heaven; he had seen the Emperor more times than he had seen Prince Jingyang. But Prince Jingyang’s power in the Imperial Court at present carried the weight of a final decision.
For this Du Family birthday banquet, he had tactfully inquired several times but hadn’t gotten a definite word on whether Prince Jingyang would come.
But Xu He planned to prepare early, memorize these articles in advance, comprehend their meaning, and if he were fortunate enough to meet him then, he could display his talent.
If he could gain Prince Jingyang’s favor, wouldn’t that be more useful than relying on the Du Family?
While busy, a servant came: “Master, there is a woman surnamed He outside the mansion gate seeking an audience.”
The master of the Top Scholar’s Mansion was naturally the Top Scholar, and the servant was one hired by the Xu Family after moving to the Capital City.
At this moment, as soon as he uttered the word “He,” Xu He, who was bending over stroking the paper, paused, then turned around: “Where is she from?”
“She said she is from Luoyang.”
Xu He’s expression changed, and the paperweight in his hand nearly fell to the ground.
A lady surnamed He from his hometown Luoyang—wasn’t that his wife?
He stood bewildered for a moment, gritted his teeth, put down the paperweight, and walked out.
A horse carriage was parked outside the mansion gate.
Xu He peeked through the door crack a couple of times, suspiciously wondering how his ex-wife, who was poor as a church mouse, could afford such a luxurious and sturdy horse carriage?
At this time, the carriage curtain was lifted, and a plainly dressed woman in matron’s attire gracefully alighted; her face was directly facing the gate, and she was actually an extremely stunningly beautiful stranger with an extremely noble demeanor!
Xu He was puzzled in his heart, but at the same time relieved of a great weight.
He sorted his thoughts and opened the door.
“May I ask who you are?”
The figure in the door crack shifted; Yue Tang had long known he was peeking and now smiled: “It is I seeking an audience with Lord Xu. Lord Xu is busy, so I won’t beat around the bush—may I ask if Lord Xu is waiting for the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Guangling to call?”
Xu He’s expression froze; before he could think of how to respond, the other party had already handed over a petition stamped with the Supreme Court’s seal: “I have important matters concerning Lord Xu to inform you of; may I enter and bother you for a moment?”
As soon as the words fell, she took the petition back again.
Xu He was an outstanding scholar; with just these two glances, he had already gotten a rough idea.
—It was actually the petition from his maternal grandfather and uncle!
How could he dare delay? He immediately stepped aside: “Please come in!”
They entered and sat down as guest and host.
Xu He sized up Yue Tang and saw that her movements were proper and her demeanor poised, so he also had tea served, then pondered briefly and asked: “Lady surnamed He? From Luoyang?”
Yue Tang smiled without answering but placed the previous petition under her hand: “Shouldn’t Lord Xu be more concerned about this first?”
Xu He prided himself on his talent and didn’t want to be led step by step by this woman, but he was indeed concerned about the petition, so he cupped his hands.
Yue Tang handed it over.
Xu He examined it carefully; after one read, his brows were already furrowed tight. After reading it again, his gaze fixed on the signature at the end, with sharp light in his eyes that he couldn’t conceal: “Where did this come from?!”
“From the seal above, its origin is clear to Lord Xu. This is the personally written petition by Xu Yi, the superior of your maternal grandfather Fu and also the Marquis of Guangling’s brother-in-law, accusing the Fu Family. I thought Lord Xu could use it, so I specially delivered it to your door.”
Xu He could no longer take in what Yue Tang was saying; he gripped the petition, his back ramrod straight.
After so many days of contact with the Du Family, how could Xu He not recognize their close relatives?
This Xu Yi was precisely his maternal grandfather’s superior; just a few days ago, while also a guest at the Du Family, he had clapped hands and sighed, saying he had thought of many ways to intercede for the Fu Family and that he was still thinking of ways even now—turns out it was all just putting on a show?
And the Xu Family, like the Duan Family, both relied on the big tree of the marquis’s mansion and acted on the Marquis of Guangling’s orders.
With the Xu Family secretly filing a petition against his Xu He’s maternal grandfather and uncle, could the Du Family not know?
This was fundamentally the idea of the marquis’s mansion!
He snapped the petition shut with a slap, his teeth grinding until they ached.
Then he looked at Yue Tang with shock and suspicion.
The Xu Family indeed did not have a prominent family background, far inferior to the Marquis of Guangling’s power, but he was also a proper disciple of the Son of Heaven, an official of the Imperial Secretariat, an attendant to the Son of Heaven; for the Du Family to openly harm the Fu Family and scheme against him was naturally hateful and infuriating!
But how had this petition ended up in this woman’s hands?
And how did she know about He Shi?
“What exactly are you?”
“I am just someone who can’t stand the Du Family acting so recklessly. I came to your door only because I unexpectedly obtained this petition a few days ago and really couldn’t bear to see the Top Scholar, as a pillar of the court, being toyed with by the Du Family in the palm of their hand.
“The Du Family, in order to scheme against you the Top Scholar, not only made the Fu Family suffer this undeserved calamity, but also lorded over you as your benefactor; this kind of humiliation is unbearable to even think about.”
Yue Tang looked at him here and smiled again: “But this is also just my personal view. Perhaps the Top Scholar already knew about this, or perhaps doesn’t care at all whether the Du Family schemes or not; with the Top Scholar being so guarded against me, it seems I am being meddlesome.”
As she spoke, she stood up and made to draw the petition back from his hand.
Second update released at 7:05
