Chapter 520: Unwilling to Seek Glory, Content to Be at Peace (Part 2)

Although the news of Zhang You’s decisive victory brought relief to the entire Zhang family, hearing that the former commander, Marquis of Fengcheng, Li Bin, had passed away filled everyone with concern. To avoid upsetting the elderly Lady Gu and the Dongfang family, which had just suffered a great loss, Du Wan forbade anyone from mentioning Li Bin’s death. Instead, she and Lingxi prepared in accordance with the customs of noble families when handling funerals. At the same time, to prepare for the social obligations during the first month of the new year, various New Year goods had to be purchased in the twelfth lunar month, causing the family’s silver reserves to decline rapidly. Fortunately, grain and supplies were sent from various estates, allowing them to barely maintain balance.

That evening, after settling all matters, she went to the main house in the northern courtyard to visit Lady Gu and spent dinner with her. Only then did Du Wan and Lingxi return to their room. As soon as they sat down, the nurse brought Jingguan. She quickly took the baby in her arms, examining him closely, feeling a pang of sadness. Back home, she had been the youngest daughter-in-law, free to spend her time taking care of her own household and her son. Now, she was so busy that even breastfeeding was difficult, leaving it to the nurse. It was only through this constant busyness that she could avoid thinking about her father still in prison and her husband far away in Xuanfu.

Perhaps because of Zhang Yue’s given name, Jingguan was quiet from birth, unlike other crying infants. Unless he was severely teased, he never cried or made a fuss, mostly just eating and sleeping. Now, lying in his swaddling clothes, the little one was unusually awake. His dark, bright eyes scanned around before finally meeting Du Wan’s gaze.

“Looking for your father? Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon!”
Du Wan blinked and smiled, lowering her head to kiss the baby’s soft cheeks, feeling an indescribable warmth in her heart. She wasn’t alone in the capital—she had her mother, her son, and her helpers… She had survived difficult times before; there was nothing to fear now. Even if it was a deep chasm, as long as she was willing to work hard to fill it, what couldn’t be overcome?

“Young mistress, young mistress!”

With a commotion, someone pushed aside the door curtain and entered—it was Qiuhen. Seeing Jingguan in Du Wan’s arms, she couldn’t help but cast an envious glance before quickly kneeling to bow. Then, with a smile, she said, “Didn’t the young mistress send me to deliver something to my mother-in-law? Coincidentally, Miss Xiao Wu has already returned. It’s getting late, and since we traveled by carriage, my mother-in-law insisted she rest first and send someone over tomorrow. Miss Xiao Wu also said that the young master will recover soon, so the young mistress needn’t worry.”

“Who cares about him? If it weren’t for that girl insisting on going, no one could have stopped her. How else would Lord Wan have to take her along!” Du Wan retorted irritably, though she felt relieved inwardly. She then asked with a smile, “It’s rare for her to be allowed out, yet she’s back so quickly. That’s quite unexpected. By the way, did Lord Wan return with her?”

“Of course, Lord Wan returned with Miss Xiao Wu,” Qiuhen said, smiling at the memories of that day at the Du family. “Since it was already late, my mother-in-law was very grateful to Lord Wan and invited him to dine. He agreed without much hesitation. From the way he acted, it seems he has a fondness for Miss Xiao Wu!”

Lingxi followed Du Wan inside and went to the kitchen to hurry up with the tea. As soon as she entered, she heard Qiuhen’s last words and couldn’t help but laugh. “But after seeing all that, you still managed to make up a story. Miss Xiao Wu has such a likable personality—even the old lady often says that none of the girls in the family can be as carefree and straightforward as her. No wonder my mother-in-law dotes on her. If Lord Wan really has feelings for her, it would be a wonderful match. Why doesn’t the young mistress ask Miss Xiao Wu’s opinion?”

“If I ask, that girl might become stubborn, and things could go wrong. Let it take its course.”

Since Xiao Wu no longer kept saying she wouldn’t marry, Du Wan felt there was some hope for this marriage. But thinking of her father’s unpredictable nature, she recalled her own marriage to Zhang Yue. A gentleman avoids standing under a crumbling wall. Wan Shijie often frequents the Du family at such times—this isn’t just interest; it seems determined. Her mother isn’t foolish and must have noticed something. If her father were here now, he would probably be pleased, stroking his beard.

As she thought about it, Du Wan began to laugh, and the heavy thoughts in her heart lightened somewhat. At that moment, Jingguan in her arms suddenly started crying loudly for some reason. In her haste, she tried to release the baby, but recalling her sister-in-law Li Yun’s warning that breastfeeding should not be done intermittently, she reluctantly handed the child back to the wet nurse and gave her several instructions.

After the wet nurse took Jingguan to the west room, she took Lingxi to the east room and wrote down all the accounts from the day—mostly extra gifts from the managers of the various estates, which were not recorded in the official accounts. Although she didn’t care about this money, since Lady Gu had advised her to be careless when necessary, she couldn’t help but accept it while keeping a record, so as to have an easy time explaining things when it was time to hand over the responsibilities.

Before she knew it, the sound of the midnight drum had already sounded. Just as Du Wan put down her pen, a daughter-in-law’s voice came from outside: “Young mistress, the master has just returned. He says it’s urgent and asks you to go see him.”

Since Sun and the others were still on their way, the father-in-law and daughter-in-law met separately. After Zhang Zhuo returned, Du Wan mostly met him in Lady Gu’s main residence, and their daily visits also took place there. She was very puzzled at this moment, but still got up and put on a cloak over her clothes. Lingxi had been busy all day, and Qiu Hen had just returned from outside, so she instructed them to rest early. She took Amber with her, and the girl who had come to deliver the message led the way with a lantern.

The two courtyards were only a short distance apart, so it took only a short while to arrive. Upon entering the room, Du Wan saw Zhang Zhuo walking back and forth with his hands behind his back. There were only two young maids in the room, still looking childlike, who quickly stepped forward to pay their respects.

“You all go down first. Amber will wait outside,” Zhang Zhuo said. Usually, he would keep the maids in the room whenever he met his daughter-inlaws, but this time he sent them all away. After standing in silence for a while, he spoke up: “Today, the emperor sent Grand Secretary Yang to the North Pacification Commission’s prison to see your father. He asked about the matter accused by the imperial censor earlier. After that, the emperor suddenly ordered the Jinyiwei to bring your father and Xia Yuanji out of the North Pacification Commission and now they are locked up in the Imperial Eunuch Bureau. I made a detour to the Du family on my way back from a visit, intending to see your mother and let her know, but I happened to encounter the Jinyiwei conducting a search by order.”

Du Wan naturally had no idea that Zhang Zhuo was lying with his eyes wide open, nor did she know he had rushed over after receiving a letter from Zhao Hu. After a moment of shock and daze, she immediately pressed her hand against her chest, forcing herself to regain clarity. Thinking of Xiao Wu having just returned from Xuanfu and her mother still having guests over for the Wan Shi Festival—a time meant to be joyful—she couldn’t help but pinch the palm of her hand with her nails.

Seeing Du Wan’s pale expression, Zhang Zhuo hesitated for a while before continuing, “The Jinyiwei are still searching. I originally planned to wait until it’s over and take your mother and family to live elsewhere. Wan Shi Festival also suggested taking them there temporarily, but your mother said since it wasn’t a full seizure of their property, as the head of the household, she couldn’t leave without permission. She said it would be fine for the whole family to squeeze together at night, so she insisted I return and warned me not to tell you. I couldn’t persuade her, so I left a few people there to take care of things. Although your mother asked me not to tell you, after thinking it over, I felt I still had to inform you. So, early tomorrow morning, I’ll send someone to take you there by carriage.”

Although she longed to fly back to the Du family right away, with her mother’s orders and Zhang Zhuo’s promise, Du Wan, whose heart was heavy, could only nod stiffly. It wasn’t until she vaguely returned to her own courtyard and lifted the curtain to enter that she wondered where this unexplained search came from.

If she wasn’t mistaken, it was probably to search for any private letters between her father and Prince Zhou Zhu Zhuo. For those who went to such lengths to uncover this matter, if they found letters, every word would be scrutinized meticulously—black could be made white; if not, they would claim all correspondence had been destroyed, turning white into black.

These days, it’s harder to seek peace of mind than to seek high positions!

Early the next morning, as Du Wan rode to the Du family’s home, Zhu Di, who hadn’t attended court for days, was in the Qianqing Palace reviewing the Jinyiwei’s findings. He glanced casually at those few letters, recalling Yang Shiji’s report from the previous day, the conversation between Yang Shiji and Du Zhen as reported by the Jinyiwei’s Northern Pacification Bureau, and later Liu Guan, the Censor-in-Chief, who firmly claimed the Jinyiwei would find nothing. He felt annoyed and immediately asked Yuan Fang, “How much property does the Du family have now?”

“Your Majesty, there is a palace-awarded four-story residence, a deed to four hundred mu of land in Tongzhou, dozens of bolts of imperial silk, as well as a certain amount of gold, silver, coins, and gold and silver ingots bestowed by the emperor…” Yuan Fang had always had a good memory. After reciting everything in detail, he added, “Although it was merely seized rather than confiscated, for safety’s sake, I have recorded all of the Du family’s assets in the ledger.”
It seems that whenever there are major cases, the Jinyiwei must be involved—the Censorate must be displeased.
Zhu Di glanced at the ledger that Yuan Fang had submitted and had such a thought. Impatient, he tossed the ledger aside, stood up, took a few steps, then suddenly turned to Yuan Fang and said thoughtfully, “You mentioned earlier that when you went to the Du family’s house last night to seize belongings, Wan Shijie, the head of the Military Armory Department, was also there?”
Seeing Yuan Fang nod, Zhu Di frowned. At that moment, a eunuch’s shrill voice came from outside: “Your Majesty, the Princes of Zhou and Han have submitted petitions.”
The two petitions, identical in format, contained completely different contents. After reading the Prince of Zhou’s petition, in which Zhu Zhu asked to have the three guard units returned and to leave the capital after the 15th day of the first lunar month, Zhu Di sneered and tossed it aside. But after skimming through the Prince of Han’s petition, submitted again after two days, he angrily threw it on the ground in fury.
Zhu Gaoxu, as a father, had even reported his son Zhu Zhanqi for spying on court affairs, attaching original documents as proof!
“They just can’t stand me being at peace—beasts! All of them are beasts!”