"Welcome back, Prime Minister!!"
As Jia Lingyun and Qingniao returned to the estate, they found a crowd of maidservants kneeling in the courtyard.
Looking closer, these young women had red, swollen eyes, and some were even quietly weeping.
"What are you crying for? I'm not dead!!"
One of the maidservants raised her head and said to Jia Lingyun with a slight tone of reproach.
"Prime Minister, please don't talk such nonsense. If it were possible, this humble servant would gladly trade her own life for yours to last ten thousand years!!"
Assuming the maidservants had come to ask for rewards, Jia Lingyun instructed Qingniao.
"Give everyone one tael of silver. Even though I am Prime Minister now, you may address me as before—just call me Young Master. 'Prime Minister' and 'Your Excellency' make me sound too old!"
Qingniao moved to distribute the silver, but the maidservants remained kneeling in place, none of them reaching out to take the money.
"You don't want money? Surely you don't expect me to favor you all? With so many of you, I wouldn't have the time!"
The maidservants blushed deeply.
"If the Prime Minister wishes to grant us his favor, we humble servants are entirely at your command!"
In an instant, everyone bowed down to the ground.
"We humble servants offer our deepest thanks to the Prime Minister for his boundless grace!!"
Jia Yi spoke softly from the side.
"They know you are the one who abolished human sacrifice and replaced it with pottery figurines, and they are filled with gratitude toward you! They insisted on waiting here for your return to thank you in person!"
So that was what it was.
"Get up, everyone!"
"All people are born equal, and no one should have to be buried alive for the death of another. Heaven should be merciful, and for that very reason, you must cherish your own lives all the more!"
"Thank you, Young Master!!"
With these simple words, the maidservants treated his commands as absolute truth. Jia Lingyun ordered Jia Yi to disburse funds to compensate the families of the maidservants who had previously been killed by the guards.
The maidservants' eyes sparkled with an unusual light. The fire in the hearts of the common folk was ignited by Jia Lingyun's single sentence.
All people are equal; life is precious.
Such words, which had never belonged to them, now appeared in this world.
At that moment, they were even willing to die for Jia Lingyun!
As the group turned into the inner hall, Jia Lingyun saw more than a dozen large chests placed inside, accompanied by a dozen delicate and charming beauties.
The leader among them was stunningly beautiful, with a slender waist, dressed in a light blue long dress lined with thin gauze, her fair skin faintly visible.
A single smile brought the warmth of spring, a single frown brimmed with all the charm in the world!
Merely a glance from her pretty eyes was enough to melt a man's bones!
"This humble servant Yu Shishi pays her respects to the Prime Minister!!"
Jia Yi murmured softly.
"Yu Shishi..."
"Second Brother knows her?"
"I have heard of her. She is the top courtesan of the Huaman Building in the Capital!"
Hearing this, Jia Lingyun grew slightly angry.
The Prince of Lu actually dared to send a courtesan to humiliate me. This is simply—"
"But Yu Shishi sells only her art, not her body. Countless high-ranking officials and nobles in the Capital have spent fortunes trying to win her favor, all to no avail!"
"Prince Lu truly... appreciates this humble minister's deep patriotism!! Second Brother, please don't pause for so long when you speak next time!"
Jia Lingyun steadied his mind and looked Yu Shishi up and down. She was truly a beauty.
"Who sent you here?"
"Prince Lu sent us to serve the Prime Minister!"
Blushing and radiating charm, Yu Shishi opened one of the chests.
The other beauties likewise opened the remaining chests, which were packed full of glittering jewelry and gold!
"Prince Lu congratulates the Prime Minister on his promotion!!"
Jewelry... and beauties!!
Prince Lu... you really understand me!!
Jia Lingyun let out a long sigh, clenching his fists as if parting with them caused him great reluctance.
"What a pity... what a pity that this humble minister has clean hands, viewing wealth as dirt and beauties as mere skeletons. How could Prince Lu tarnish my untainted reputation!"
"Come men, return all these gifts and beauties to the Prince Lu!"
As soon as Jia Lingyun finished speaking, more than a dozen burly guards rushed out from the corner.
These men wore solemn expressions, black helmets, black armor, and carried black sabers—they were none other than the premier guard unit of the Jia Mansion: the Ink Guards!
Yu Shishi was utterly bewildered. She had clearly seen the desire in Jia Lingyun's eyes just a moment ago; why would he suddenly order her away?
"Prime Minister, Shishi came willingly to serve by your side. Could it be that the Prime Minister wishes to refuse Shishi's good intentions?"
"This humble minister... lacks the fortune to enjoy this!"
With a wave of Jia Lingyun's hand, the Ink Guards executed their orders, packing up the jewelry and beauties without a word of explanation and taking them all away.
Willing to serve... I'll believe that when I see it!
"Second Brother, what do you think of this matter?"
"The jewelry is no mere jewelry, but a blindfold; the beauties are no mere beauties, but spies!"
"Second Brother's words match my thoughts entirely. However, if you do not enter the tiger's den, how can you catch its cubs? I want the jewelry, and I want the beauties too!"
Jia Yi did not understand what Jia Lingyun meant.
"Since you want them... why send them away?"
"To take, one must first give! I need to launder this wealth before I can comfortably accept it!!"
"Third Brother... what does 'launder' mean?"
"Right now, this batch of jewelry is black money—unclean money. I want to turn it into my legitimate income so that those censorate scholars and officials can never investigate whether I took bribes!"
"Brilliant!!"
Jia Yi could not help but slap the table in admiration. Third Brother truly possessed the genes of a master statesman; he had even considered how to launder bribe money.
"Third Brother, how goes the matter of entering the palace to ask the Empress Dowager to bestow the Nine Bestowals?"
"The Empress Dowager has already agreed!"
Jia Ruoxiang and Jia Yi beamed with joy, and Jia Yi hurriedly asked.
"Where is the imperial decree?"
"The imperial decree... should be issued tomorrow! At the time... the Empress Dowager was a bit indisposed, so she didn't issue the decree right away!"
"Were there any other officials around?"
"Should... seem to have been... none at all! At the time, it was just the Empress Dowager and myself!"
"Then we are in trouble! Words alone carry no weight, how can anyone take them seriously? What if the Empress Dowager goes back on her word and refuses to admit it? Wouldn't Third Brother's trip tonight have been in vain?"
Jia Lingyun frowned slightly.
"The Empress Dowager going back on her word... Hiss~~"
You know... you really never know with her!!
That little girl just might do something like that!!
It seems I must hurry and urge the Empress Dowager to issue the decree!
......
Prince Lu's Estate.
Compared to the magnificent palaces, Prince Lu's Estate was dilapidated, with broken bricks and ruined tiles.
Though the courtyard was clean and tidy, the surroundings were utterly run-down.
In the backyard stood the chests and the beauties who had been sent to Jia Lingyun, and Cao Ziheng wore an expression of sheer disbelief.
"Jia Lingyun really said that?"
Yu Shishi nodded.
"He said he views wealth as dirt, and beauties as skeletons..."
Cao Ziheng burst into hearty laughter!
"How amusing!! Ha ha, this Jia Lingyun is truly interesting. Who has ever heard of an official who doesn't love money? Could it really be that he is an untainted scholar of Dawei?"
A page boy hurried in to report.
"Reporting to the Prince of Lu, guards from the Prime Minister Estate have arrived. They asked me to deliver a piece of calligraphy to you and see if you are willing to keep it as a collection."
Cao Ziheng frowned slightly.
"Whose calligraphy is it?"
"I do not know, but they said Your Highness will certainly want to keep it!"
"Hmph! My tastes are exceedingly high; how could ordinary calligraphy catch my eye?"
Cao Ziheng unrolled the scroll, only to see crooked characters scrawled across it—four words in total.
[Women's Treasure!]
Cao Ziheng frowned slightly. What was the meaning of sending him such a piece of calligraphy?
"This looks like something written by a three-year-old child practicing characters, crooked and out of line. Why would I ever collect such rubbish!"
The page boy muttered from the side.
"I knew they were just boasting. Those fellows even dragged three horse carriages along, saying... saying they'd use them to haul jewelry later! Since Your Highness doesn't like it, I'll go chase them away right now!"
"Wait..."
"To haul jewelry..."
Cao Ziheng instantly understood Jia Lingyun's intention, and burst into laughter.
"This fellow really loves to play the hypocrite. He's clearly greedy for wealth and lustful, yet he paints himself as refined and detached!"
"Talking nonsense!"
"Men, send the beauties and jewelry back to the Prime Minister Estate, and tell him I am so captivated by this piece of calligraphy that I am willing to trade all these things for this priceless artwork!"
The page boy wore a troubled expression and bowed with cupped hands.
"Your Highness, the people from the Prime Minister Estate said that the Prime Minister wants no one except Yu Shishi. You can keep the rest of the beauties for yourself!!"