Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1200: Chapter 1202: Reporting to the Imperial Decree_1

”Yichun, how could you...” How could you say such things? Jiang Xuexiang’s face was full of disapproval.

Yet, Jiang Yichun was quite at ease. He cast a cold glance around at everyone’s expressions and continued to speak indifferently, ”I’m telling the truth. I indeed married into the Bai Family. Given that I have already been expelled from the family, does it matter whose family I marry into without notifying anyone?”

”But, but that was when your grandpa was angry. Now you’re an officer of the fourth rank, how can you become a son-in-law?” Jiang Xuexiang said anxiously.

”Big brother, your anxiety is useless. Even if he shouldn’t have, he already did,” Dou Ning added fuel to the fire from the side.

Mrs. Dou also had a sinister streak, and she immediately said to Bai Ruozhu, ”Ruozhu, won’t you advise Yichun? How could a man of good standing become a son-in-law?”

Bai Ruozhu smiled at Mrs. Dou, ”The past can’t be counted on; nobody is going to investigate it specifically. Achun said it because he was pushed to his limit. You should all stop making it difficult for him. When he was alone and adrift outside the family, he was also lonely. Back then, he was even attacked and suffered a serious injury; he even lost his memory. My dad saw he was all alone and thought to have him marry into our family.”

At the mention of the past, Jiang Xuexiang’s face shifted from disapproval to a mix of guilt and compassion; it had not been easy for a child of twelve to grow up wandering outside.

”Alright, let’s not bring this up again. Let’s focus on Ruozhu’s household affairs. The couple has just returned; don’t go using elder authority to pick at them!” Jiang Xuexiang said sternly.

Everyone fell silent then. In the Residence, Jiang Xuexiang was the eldest son, the future heir, it’s just that he was usually gentle and seldom spoke harshly to others.

Because of this little interlude, no one caused a fuss at dinner later, but it was evident that the mood of Jiang Chenshi was unusually good, calling on this one to eat more, and on that one to add another bowl of rice. Today, her man had indeed shown authority and given her face.

The next day, no news came from the Palace; neither Jiang Yichun nor the Commerce Association found any useful information. Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun returned to the Bai Residence to see Chu Han, but his internal injuries were so severe that he remained unconscious.

Bai Ruozhu considered using acupuncture to forcibly awaken him, but his injuries were due to Qi damage to the internal organs, and she dared not act rashly. Even if she forcibly woke him up, he might not be able to explain things clearly before fainting again, and it could even worsen Chu Han’s injuries and potentially be fatal.

”What do we do now?” Bai Ruozhu asked, massaging her temples in pain.

”Let’s wait. The child Diao Yao is not destined for a short life,” Jiang Yichun said.

Bai Ruozhu, who had been very nervous, suddenly laughed out loud, ”I didn’t know you could read facial features.”

Jiang Yichun gently scratched her nose, ”There are many things you don’t know. In time you’ll see just how formidable your husband is.”

The atmosphere relaxed considerably when suddenly, a servant came to report from outside, ”Young Master, Young Mistress, you should hurry and see this. An eunuch has arrived from the Palace, announcing that Elder Jiang Ge has filed an Imperial Decree.”

”What?” Jiang Yichun’s eyes widened in disbelief, ”That old bastard actually dared to file it?”

Bai Ruozhu stood up and asked with furrowed brows, ”Even if he wants to, he doesn’t have the power, right? Let’s go see what this is all about.”

Hand in hand, they went to the main house. Truth be told, at that moment, their feelings were more of anger than concern; in fact, they weren’t worried at all that Elder Jiang Ge’s Imperial Decree would win him any advantage.

When they arrived at the main house, they discovered that the eunuch was none other than Wang Shun, a man close to the Emperor. Jiang Yichun gave Bai Ruozhu a meaningful look. It was obvious that the Emperor was on their side in this matter; sending Wang Shun was a sign of that. He must have come to give them a heads-up. Otherwise, why not just send a lower-ranking eunuch?

The two of them greeted Wang Shun with polite salutations, and Bai Ruozhu took the opportunity to hand Wang Shun a purse, saying, ”Eunuch Wang, you have worked hard. This is for you to have some tea.”

Wang Shun accepted it with a chuckle, saying, ”Let’s talk while we walk. We mustn’t waste time, as those two in the palace are not easy to serve.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Ruozhu knew that one of them must definitely be the Virtuous King. If the Virtuous King were not there, how could Elder Jiang go to lodge an Imperial complaint?

The three rode their horses toward the Imperial Palace, and while on the way, Wang Shun lowered his voice to say, ”They say that this morning the Virtuous King went to visit Elder Jiang at Jiang Residence. Elder Jiang cried his eyes out, accusing you of coercing him. The Virtuous King, in a fit of anger, had people carry Elder Jiang with him to the Palace to lodge an Imperial complaint.”

Bai Ruozhu’s mouth twitched, crying his eyes out, Elder Jiang really had some nerve...

They asked Wang Shun a few more questions and thanked him. Before they knew it, they had arrived at the Palace Gate.

Once inside the Imperial Palace, they made straight for the Imperial Study Room, but even before they reached the entrance, they could hear the loud voice of the Virtuous King.

”Your Majesty, this is simply unfilial! How can you treat an elder so? You even call them here to confront, they should be directly taken by the Royal Guards and locked in the Sky Prison!” the Virtuous King said indignantly.

The Emperor massaged his temples, somewhat helplessly saying, ”Uncle Emperor, I am not a senseless ruler. There are no rules that allow for imprisoning someone in the Sky Prison without interrogation first.”

”But it depends on who they are. They are simply guilty of egregious crimes!” the Virtuous King said.

Wang Shun cleared his throat from outside and said, ”Reporting to Your Majesty, Lord Jiang and his wife have been brought here.”

”Let them come in and speak,” the Emperor said, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, anticipating a good show.

Jiang Yichun strode into the Imperial Study Room with Bai Ruozhu closely following behind. The two of them gave their respects to the Emperor, the Virtuous King, and Elder Jiang.

After the proper courtesies, Jiang Yichun looked towards the Virtuous King and asked, ”From afar, I heard Your Highness accusing me of being unfilial. May I inquire where this accusation stems from?”

”Do I really need to list out the reasons one by one? First, you show no respect to the elder; second, you dismantled his room without the elder’s consent; third, you forcibly administered medicine and food to the elder, mistreating him. You’re dealing with Elder Jiang, a respected official of three dynasties, not someone you can treat as you please!” the Virtuous King near jumped up as he spoke.

Having heard this, Jiang Yichun sneered and said, ”Then, today, I shall clarify everything in front of His Majesty. First, we have fulfilled all proper decorum. How can you say we lack respect? Second, is his thatched cottage suitable for an elderly person? He wants to live in a thatched cottage for the sake of his own reputation yet suffers from recurring cold illness. Can we just let him be reckless? Third, he was being stubborn and refused to take medicine. If it wasn’t for his own good, who would force him to take it?”

He felt rather awkward as he said this, especially when he mentioned ”for his good.” Bai Ruozhu noticed his mood and gave him a look, suggesting she would take it from here.

She stepped forward gracefully and paid her respects, saying, ”I ask Your Majesty to summon a few Imperial Doctors to conduct a diagnosis on Elder Jiang. Then it will become clear whether we are filial or not.”

The Emperor nodded his head and said to Wang Shun, ”Send someone to the Imperial Medical Bureau and call for three Imperial Doctors.”

The Virtuous King, on the other hand, snorted disdainfully and said, ”You’re simply making excuses.”