Because of his loyalty, Lin Ruhai would consider the issue from the emperor's point of view and say what he said to Jia Yucun.
In fact, the different choices made by Jinling officials are ultimately due to their different positions.
Of course, from being demoted to being reinstated, Jia Yucun knew how to think about himself.
So he listened to Lin Ruhai's words, but was not persuaded for the time being, because he still had to seriously consider his own interests.
At present, only a small part of Yingtian Mansion's accounts have not been clarified. Even if there are problems with these, they have nothing to do with the new prefect of Jia Yucun.
In other words, Jia Yucun has no crisis at all, so he is not busy making choices.
But he knows very well that crises also represent opportunities, and if done properly, it may save ten years of trouble.
His previous experience of being dismissed from office made him feel insecure in the officialdom, so he wanted to expand his official position, even targeting the center of the cabinet.
Sitting in the sedan chair, Jia Yucun frowned and thought, thinking about Lin Ruhai's words over and over in his mind.
In fact, Qian Ruiming came to see him a few days ago and was trying to guide him to take sides overtly and covertly, but was blocked by Jia Yucun.
He has been busy these days, collecting news from various government offices and Beijing, and at the same time carefully analyzing and considering it.
The general outline of the factional struggle has been sorted out for him, and it just depends on what to choose next.
"When you choose, you risk making the wrong choice. If you really want to choose... you can only choose according to His Majesty's hope as Brother Lin said!" Jia Yucun thought to himself.
But this will cause another problem. If you help the prince, you will offend Prince Rui, which is also a trouble for him.
Should he continue to act stupid... Jia Yucun was extremely confused at the moment.
At the other end of the Xue family, Xue Pan also had a sad face.
From the beginning to the end, he never thought of filing a lawsuit. It made him miserable to get to this point. Today, he really wanted to withdraw the lawsuit in court.
But thinking of the situation with the knife on his neck that day, Xue Pan couldn't help but shudder, and the thought of retreating suddenly disappeared.
"You mean... Zhenjiang Prefecture didn't issue an invoice to us?"
"Exactly..."
After answering, the steward of the Xue family continued: "Our ship can't pass, so the grain we bought can only be piled up. It's because the warehouses in Taixing are not enough, and a lot of grain is piled in the open air!"
"If it rains, the food will rot..."
Xue Pan clenched his fists and said fiercely: "Those people in Zhenjiang Prefecture usually take advantage of us, but now they are trying to trip me up. They are really beasts!"
The steward hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but said: "Uncle, I'm afraid that this matter... has something to do with the case in our house!"
"I am suing Hu Jinan. How does it have anything to do with Zhenjiang Mansion? That's nonsense..."
Not everyone can see the general trend clearly. Even Jia Yucun had to collect a lot of information and analyze it for several days before he could figure out the context.
At this moment, Xue Pan retorted. The steward also felt that he had thought too much, so he stopped talking.
The steward said some other things before leaving the living room, leaving Xue Pan alone to drink.
"Uncle, my wife is passing the food over there!"
"I know, I know……"
Xue Pan was very impatient and threw away his hand. The maid was afraid of unreasonable disaster, so she quickly withdrew.
Although Xue Pan has grown up, he has not yet married, and the big house is sparsely populated, so they always eat together.
After taking another sip of wine, Xue Pan set off for the inner house.
"Look at you, what time has it been now, and you still drink so much...why can't you grow up?"
Smelling the smell of alcohol on her son's body, Aunt Xue couldn't help but start scolding her, while Xue Pan just sat there indifferently.
The maids and ladies quickly served the food, but Xue Pan had no appetite for the delicacies. She kept thinking about the emperor's mission.
"Why didn't Baochai come?"
"Madam, I have just sent the message. The girl said she would come over after embroidering the handkerchief!" the maid replied.
In this era, aristocratic ladies, in addition to reading and writing, also worked as female workers, and the latter was especially important.
"It won't take more than a minute and a half to call her... Why bother being so hungry!"
When he finished speaking, voices came from the back hall, but it was Baochai and several maids who came over.
"mother……"
"Hurry up and sit down!" Aunt Xue finally smiled when she saw her daughter coming.
The family of three ate for a while. Seeing his elder brother frowning, Baochai couldn't help but ask, "Brother... are you worried about the case?"
His sister Bingxue is smart, maybe she can come up with a solution... With this in mind, Xue Pan told the government about the embarrassment.
"Little sister, what do you think we should do? We can't drag those grains away. If something happens, your head will be lost!"
What they have prepared is military rations. If they are not delivered on time, the punishment from the Supervisor of Ceremonies will be extremely severe.
"Your Highness, the Prince, is here to suppress the Japanese. These grains are prepared for Your Highness. Why don't you try to report this to the Prince?" Baochai replied softly.
Xue Pan looked guilty: "It's not impossible, it's just that I don't have an official status, so I can't deliver news to the prince!"
Although Xue Pan's grandfather was only a member of Zhongshushe, he was the confidant of the ancestor Zhu Shenzhuo at that time. Although his official rank was low, his status was respected.
Xue Pan's father was a civil servant after all. He held the title of director of the Ministry of Household Affairs during his lifetime, and he was also a serious official.
Thinking of this, Aunt Xue felt angry. The more she looked at Xue Pan, the more she felt displeased.
"Over the years, there have been many officials who have made good friends with the government. Why don't you look for connections with them?" Baochai frowned.
"This... before this group of people came to borrow money, most of them were turned away by me. Now I'm asking them for help, I'm afraid..."
"Tell me, what can you accomplish? When your father leaves, just say..."
When Aunt Xue was about to train her son again, she heard Baochai say: "I remember a letter from my aunt before, saying that Jia Yucun, the prefect of Yingtian, was recommended by his uncle's family before he came to Yingtian to serve..."
"Brother, why don't you ask this person for help?"
"No way... Our family has offended him not long after he arrived in Yingtian, right?" Baochai looked at his brother and asked.
"Since we have this relationship, I'll give it a try!"
Xue Pan was really anxious, so much so that he didn't even want to eat, so he got up and hurried outside.
Baochai quickly advised: "Brother, don't be in a hurry. It's getting late now. Wouldn't it be rude to arrive at the house rashly? Let's go tomorrow morning!"
Thinking that this was indeed true, Xue Pan could only turn around and come back, sighed and started eating.
"Pan'er, you have to find a way as soon as possible to get an official position in the Ministry of Revenue, otherwise how will you be able to support this family!" Aunt Xue sighed, with a sad look clearly visible on her face.
Amid Aunt Xue's nagging, the family of three finished their dinner and talked for a while before leaving.
Walking in the corridor of the inner house without saying a word, Baochai stopped at the corner, holding on to the railing and looking at the stars in the sky, and finally let out a sigh.
There was instability within the family to begin with, and now that they are encountering these troubles, it is difficult to feel at ease in the precarious situation.
However, the elder brother who is the mainstay is unreliable, which makes Baochai not worry.
Behind her, only her personal maid Ying'er followed.
"Girl, what's on your mind?" Ying'er couldn't help but ask.
In her heart, the smart and wise Baochai is like a fairy in the sky, so why can't she solve her worries?
"What do you know?"
"Of course I understand. Could it be that the girl... misses her future husband?" At this point, Yinger herself laughed.
Although they are master and servant, their relationship is not generally good, and Ying'er only dares to joke when there is no one around.
Knowing that Ying'er wanted to make herself happy, Baochai did not get angry, but turned her face and said: "Ying'er, don't eat the jujube cake this month!"
Hearing this, Ying'er was immediately dumbfounded.
