I Was Supposed to Be the Villainous Consort

Jiang Lun glanced at his son-in-law and sensed that things were not simple. This son-in-law of his was a skilled official, just chronically unlucky. Whenever a promotion was on the line, he always seemed to be missing that little bit of good fortune. It was as if the heavens had to stir up some trouble for him.

Otherwise, at his age and with his strategic mind, he would have become a Capital City official long ago.

Resigning and returning to the Capital City now was a good thing. Third Master Song was an upright official, but he was too upright. The Song Family still needed someone to manage the bigger picture.

"You’ve heard about what happened in Yan City?" Jiang Lun asked.

Song Nanyong nodded. "Father, I can’t shake the feeling that something is fishy about this. I’m deeply unsettled. I was hoping you could offer some guidance."

Jiang Lun’s eyes narrowed as he looked at his son-in-law. "If you have something on your mind, just say it."

Song Nanyong began with a serious expression, "I believe this incident might be a deliberate setup targeting my Third Brother. The Emperor is on a northern tour with the intent to wage war against Beiming. Furthermore, with autumn here and the horses well-fed, the northern raiders are sure to attack again, looking to plunder grain and fodder for the winter. It happens every year, and this one will be no exception. This is already the most difficult time for the Ministry of Revenue. If someone were to frame him on top of all this, Third Brother would be in grave danger."

"What do you plan to do?"

"I don’t have any good ideas myself. I heard from Third Brother that the Left and Right Ministers have already sent people to Yan City to investigate. But the round trip will take time, and the preparations for grain and fodder cannot be delayed. When Cao Dingwen was Minister of Revenue, he ran the ministry into the ground. It’ll be nearly impossible for the Ministry of Revenue to gather all the necessary provisions."

Even though Song Nanzhen had worked diligently to restore order since taking office, the deficit in the Ministry of Revenue was simply too massive for one man to fix alone.

The Emperor is also a benevolent ruler who loves his people, so he would certainly not increase taxes on them lightly. But without raising taxes, the Ministry of Revenue has no source of additional funds. With the granaries in Yan City now destroyed, it’s just making a bad situation worse.

Hearing this, Jiang Lun nodded slightly. "Everyone at court knows of the Ministry of Revenue’s difficulties, but resolving them is no easy task. A year of great harvest might have eased the immediate crisis, but this year’s yields are merely average."

"Then the only option is to buy grain."

"Buy grain?"

"Yes. Since the official granaries have no surplus, the only way to get through this crisis is to buy grain from the merchants."

"You make it sound so simple. The Ministry of Revenue has no money. What will they use to buy grain?"

Song Nanyong replied, "That is precisely my dilemma, which is why I came to ask for your advice, Father-in-law."

Jiang Lun was speechless.

’What a fine son-in-law I have.’

Even he, the father-in-law, was stumped. There was no solution.

Even the cleverest housewife can’t cook without rice. He wasn’t a god who could conjure money and grain out of thin air.

The father-in-law and son-in-law sat facing each other, both with worried looks on their faces.

Song Nanyong chatted with his father-in-law for a while longer, had dinner at the Yue Family’s home, and then returned home with his wife.

Song Nanyong felt a little relieved. He had passed the message to his father-in-law. As long as his father-in-law mentioned buying grain from the populace to the two Prime Ministers, there was a chance his Third Brother’s predicament could be solved.

Although the Xie family were cloth merchants, Xie Jinshu had gotten to know many other merchants during his years of business in the Capital City. He had good relationships with both Ming Fei and his own family. Furthermore, Xie Jinshu’s sister was married to Ji Yunting, and Ji Yunting had been in charge of supervising grain transport last time. When you thought about it, everyone involved was inextricably linked.

If they could just pull the Left Minister’s son onto the same boat as Third Brother, the Left Minister wouldn’t deliberately make things difficult for him. On the contrary, he would have to rack his brains to ensure everything went smoothly. After all, he couldn’t ruin his own son’s chance to earn merit.

This way, they would be able to overcome the Yan City crisis.

Song Nanyong returned to his residence and rested for a day. He and his wife divided the tasks: she would visit Xie Linlang, while he would go see Xie Jinshu. To avoid drawing attention, he left early in the morning and caught Xie Jinshu at home.

At this time, Song Yunzhao was still unaware of the events in Yan City, but she was already worried about the grain provisions. Her father was the Minister of Revenue. If he failed to procure enough grain and fodder, his opponents would surely impeach and suppress him.

So many people had their eyes on the position of Minister of Revenue; they would certainly seize any opportunity to take her father down.

Gathering military provisions was a major undertaking. Another emperor might have raised taxes and exploited the common people, but she knew Feng Yi wouldn’t do that.

That meant she had to think of another way.

’What can I do, trapped within these four palace walls? With Feng Yi away, I can’t even leave the palace gates.’

It wasn’t in her nature to just sit back and take a beating. She had to at least try something.

After the incident with Baozhuang Building, the Tao Family’s reputation was in tatters, and they had brought shame upon both the Gu’en Houfu and the Empress Dowager. However, Yun Zhao had never mentioned to Ling Yunhe whether their collaboration would continue.

The man was surprisingly patient. He hadn’t even rushed to ask Xie Jinshu to put in a good word for him.

’He really has a talent for business.’ After some thought, Song Yunzhao wrote a letter to Xie Jinshu. She wanted him to pass a message to Ling Yunhe: if he wanted to continue doing business with Baozhuang Building, he first had to do something for her.

And that was to buy grain.

Song Yunzhao calculated the Silver that Baozhuang Building had earned recently. It was a drop in the bucket. She couldn’t possibly supply the entire army on her own, but no matter how difficult, every little bit counted.

’Besides, Xie Jinshu and Ling Yunhe are both clever men from established merchant families. They must be incredibly wealthy. With the nation in peril, shouldn’t they show some loyalty?’

’If they take the lead, will others follow suit and perform some good deeds as well?’

This was just her idea. Whether it could succeed would depend on the abilities of those two men.

Xie Jinshu had just seen off the newly appointed Ning’an Bo. Before he could even catch his breath, he received a letter from Ming Fei, and his heart started pounding.

After reading Ming Fei’s letter, Xie Jinshu’s eyes lit up. ’Isn’t this the solution?’

’Wow, what luck!’

Xie Jinshu smacked his forehead. ’How did I not think of this?’

Ning’an Bo had suggested buying grain secretly, but grain merchants wouldn’t just part with their stock for the asking. Merchants chase profit. If war broke out with Beiming, the price of grain would surely soar. The merchants would definitely hoard their grain to make a huge profit.

Without sufficient benefit, who would be willing to do all that work without making any Silver?

But now, wasn’t there a way?

If he could persuade a few major grain merchants to donate grain, or to sell it to the court at a low price, he could then, as their representative, ask Lady Ming to put in a good word with the Emperor. If the Emperor were to offer a few words of praise, it would be a tremendous honor for these merchants.

With that honor, would the local government officials dare to give trouble to people the Emperor himself had praised?

The more Xie Jinshu thought about it, the more excited he became. He had to plan this matter carefully.

’People say Lady Ming is truly brilliant for a reason. Her move of getting something for nothing is absolutely marvelous.’

’I have to learn from her. I really have to study her methods.’

Ming Fei had instructed him to keep the matter secret, so he understood perfectly. This was definitely to pave the way for Minister Song. After all, the Song Family had produced a Minister of Revenue. If not for her own father, why would Ming Fei put in so much effort?

Xie Jinshu went to see Ling Yunhe in secret. Whether Ling Yunhe could successfully break away from the Ling Family and escape his predicament would all depend on this.

Meanwhile, after seeing off Song Nanyong’s wife, Xie Linlang sat alone for half the day. Once she had sorted everything out in her mind, her brows furrowed. Her father-in-law was so set in his ways that even her husband wouldn’t dare to offer advice easily. As a daughter-in-law, she had even less standing to discuss court affairs in front of him.

Her only option was to go through her mother-in-law. A husband and wife are one. If her mother-in-law worried about her son, she might urge her husband to be more accommodating. There was still hope of achieving her goal that way.

But how could she let her mother-in-law know? Given the poor relationship between them, she certainly couldn’t be the one to tell her. That would likely backfire.

She needed to think this through carefully.