Chapter 157 BMW
On the day of Shen Ruyun and Zhou Yanbang's wedding, the people Jiang Yuanbai sent to look for Jiang Youyao returned disappointed. No one who looked like Miss Jiang San was seen in or near Ningyuan Marquis's Mansion. From then on, Jiang Yuanbai seemed even more depressed. He didn't even want to see the person he loved so much. Either Jiang Youyao was no longer in Yanjing City, or she was still in Yanjing City but couldn't move around freely.

No matter which one it is, it doesn't seem to be a good thing. For Jiang Yuanbo, the second one obviously made him more distressed. As time went by, his displeasure and disappointment with Jiang Youyao had almost disappeared, and his instinctive worry as a father prevailed.

On the contrary, Madam Jiang became uncharacteristically tough, saying that since she couldn't find it, there was no need to look for it again in the future.

None of this mattered to Jiang Li. Apart from visiting Xue Huaiyuan every day, she was waiting for Situ Jiuyue to prepare the fake pregnancy pills so that she could implement her second step plan.

But unexpectedly, on this day, a strange letter arrived in the Jiang Mansion.

Feicui came to Fangfei Garden to look for Jiang Li, and when she saw Jiang Li, she said, "Second Miss, the old lady asked you to go to Wanfeng Hall."

Tong'er asked: "Sister Feicui, the old lady suddenly came to look for the young lady, but what's the important matter?"

Feicui smiled: "I don't know exactly what it is. The old lady seemed to have asked me to invite the second young lady after receiving a letter." She looked at Jiang Li. Among the young ladies in the Jiang Mansion, only Jiang Li's words were effective. Feicui was also willing to sell well.

"Nothing, I'll go and see." Jiang Li smiled. She couldn't help but feel suspicious. She had just paid her respects to Old Madam Jiang in the morning. If it was an insignificant matter, Old Madam Jiang wouldn't have specially asked someone to invite her to Wanfeng Hall. But what was the important matter?

When they arrived at Wanfeng Hall, Jiang Li's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

Old Madam Jiang was sitting in her seat, and Jiang Yuanbai was sitting next to her. Jiang Yuanbai had been absent from court for a while, claiming to be ill. He was just trying to avoid the attacks on the Jiang family by his colleagues and to have some peace and quiet. On weekdays, apart from sending people to inquire about Jiang Youyao's whereabouts, he would write and read in the study, having a very leisurely time. But now he had come to Wanfeng Hall and was reading the post in his hand.

Jiang Li frowned slightly. She was too far away to see the origin of the post. She only knew it must be something serious.

She whispered, "Father, grandmother."

Only then did Old Lady Jiang and Jiang Yuanbai see Jiang Li coming in. Old Lady Jiang said, "Second girl, please sit down."

Jiang Li sat down on the seat below. Zhenzhu poured a cup of tea for her. Jiang Li picked up the tea and drank it. She could feel that Madam Jiang and Jiang Yuanbo were looking at her with scrutiny, and perhaps there was a bit of complexity in their eyes. She still blew away the foam on the surface of the tea calmly and took a sip.

"Second girl." When Jiang Li swallowed the hot tea, Mrs. Jiang's voice also rang out, and she said, "Someone sent you a letter."

Jiang Li raised her head, showing just the right amount of surprise, and asked, "Are you the same person as me?"

"Yes."

"Is that... Miss Liu Xu from Chengde Lang's house? Or my uncle? A letter from the Ye Mansion?" The invitation only invited her, which showed that she was her friend. But unfortunately, in Yanjing City, the number of Miss Jiang's friends could be counted on half a hand.

"No." This time it was Jiang Yuanbo who spoke. He stared into Jiang Li's eyes and said, "It's a letter from the Duke of Su's Mansion."

Jiang Li was stunned for a moment.

This time, her surprised expression did not seem to be fake. Seeing this, Jiang Yuanbo's expression also eased a little. If Jiang Li had looked like she had expected it, it would have made him suspicious.

"Duke Su's Mansion...why did they invite me? And just me alone?" Jiang Li was so shocked that she was incoherent.

Jiang Yuanbai said, "It's the old general's birthday. I heard that you are outstanding in the six arts, so I asked you to go to the Duke of Suguo's mansion for a banquet. It's the birthday banquet for the old general Ji."

"Birthday party?" Jiang Li was puzzled. "Then I shouldn't be the only one invited. Didn't my father and grandmother receive the invitation? Is there anyone else at the birthday party?"

She looked like she really knew nothing about it. Jiang Yuanbai said, "There is no one else. You are the only one invited by General Ji. I came here to ask you, what is your relationship with General Ji, or in other words, do you have any relationship with Duke Su, Ji Heng?"

He still looked like a calm and composed scholar, but his eyes were as green as a fox that had smelled its prey.

Jiang Li smiled silently in her heart. On the surface, Jiang Yuanbai was an official in the court. His achievements were mediocre, not very good, but smooth. But in his bones, he was no worse than those jackals and hyenas. He felt that something was wrong and deliberately came to deceive her.

Jiang Li was surprised and said, "I met Duke Su at a palace banquet. The next time we met was outside the palace during the court meeting. There is no way to talk about my friendship with General Ji. I have never met General Ji."

This statement was half true and half false. Jiang Yuanbo knew about the two times he met Ji Heng, and he had no choice but to do so. Many people had seen him. If Jiang Li said that he had never met Ji Heng, it would be suspicious. As for General Ji, every time Jiang Li met him, it was when he went to the Duke's Mansion privately, and outsiders could not know.

Jiang Yuanbai heard the words and saw that Jiang Li's words were sincere and exactly the same as what he knew. He had already believed most of it. In fact, when the Xue family case happened, Ji Heng spoke for Jiang Li and confronted King Cheng. The news also spread in the court, but it was not widely spread, only a small part. When Jiang Yuanbai heard it at first, he didn't care. After all, Duke Su had no friendship with him for many years, and Jiang Li didn't have any dealings with Ji Heng. Maybe the rumors were too exaggerated and distorted the facts.

But today, Madam Jiang's people came to him in a hurry and let him read this strange post. Jiang Yuanbai became a little undecided.

Maybe he missed something? There was some relationship between Jiang Li and Ji Heng that he didn't know about.

But at least from Jiang Li's current performance, Jiang Li and Ji Heng are not very familiar with each other.

"Father," Jiang Li hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do I have to go to General Ji's birthday party?"

Jiang Yuanbai also felt that it was difficult to deal with it after hearing this. In fact, General Ji was a good person, loyal, upright and generous, and would never take any crooked path. When General Ji had not completely abdicated, he once pointed at Jiang Yuanbai and laughed and scolded him as a dead fox. Jiang Yuanbai did not take it to heart. After serving as an official in the court for so many years, he knew what was loyal and what was treacherous. Although this old general sometimes always said shocking things, like an old naughty boy, there was no problem with his character.

The blame lies with his grandson, the current Duke of Su, Ji Heng. At a young age, he is already feared by everyone in the court. Not to mention his erratic temperament that makes it difficult to guess his mind, even Jiang Yuanbo, who is several years older than Ji Heng, always feels that Ji Heng is dangerous and difficult to deal with.

Jiang Yuanbo was a risk-averse person, and he always kept a distance from such dangerous people. Fortunately, Ji Heng did not support King Cheng, and his relationship with the Right Prime Minister was also indifferent, so they were not enemies, but friendly.

Now this post, on the surface, is from General Ji. Who knows if there is any intention from Ji Heng in this post? If it is Ji Heng's intention, will the Jiang family categorically refuse it, and will it lead to retaliation? But what if it is just General Ji's whim? This post also wrote that other people were invited, but they were not the wives of officials in the court, which made Jiang Yuanbo even more confused.

He could neither reject the invitation outright nor let Jiang Li attend the banquet rashly. He planned to interrogate Jiang Li to see if there was any connection between the invitation and the banquet that he didn't know about. However, Jiang Li was unable to give a suitable answer.

Jiang Yuanbai was in a dilemma.

Madam Jiang said, "Or... just reject this invitation. It's not right for a little girl like Er Ya to attend the banquet."

Jiang Yuanbai smiled bitterly. He naturally thought so, but the Jiang family was in trouble now. If they offended Duke Su again, and Ji Heng continued to add insult to injury, the Jiang family might really suffer a catastrophe. At that time, the people of the Right Prime Minister Li's family would definitely not miss this opportunity, and the entire Jiang family would suffer. This is how the officialdom works. You see many people climbing up by any means necessary, just because if he stops, perhaps his entire family will be thrown into the abyss.

I really couldn't help but stop.

Jiang Li saw the tangled look on Jiang Yuanbo's face and sighed softly. She said, "I heard that Duke Su of Ji Heng is moody. If we reject his grandfather's invitation so flatly, he might think that our Jiang family is ungrateful and bring unnecessary trouble to the Jiang family. The Jiang family can't stand any more blows now."

Old Madam Jiang and Jiang Yuanbai both looked at her.

Jiang Li's voice was calm: "It's just a birthday party, I'll go."

"A-Li." Jiang Yuanbai called her hurriedly, but he didn't know what to say after calling her. He looked at the girl's gentle eyebrows and eyes, and thought vaguely in his heart that this child's temperament was not like him, nor like Ye Zhenzhen, but he didn't know who it was like.

"Does Father have a better idea?"

Jiang Yuanbai was speechless. He really didn't know what else to do. It would be best if he never had any contact with a family like the Duke of Suguo. But how could he be so unlucky to bump into them?

"If there is no other way, let's do it this way." Jiang Li smiled, "I heard that the old general has always been upright. After all, I am the daughter of the Prime Minister, so nothing should go wrong. If something goes wrong, they, as a Duke's Mansion, cannot escape responsibility. Besides, if they really have bad intentions, they don't have to attack me so openly. How difficult will it be? If they have any intentions, why not take action when no one knows, wouldn't it save a lot of trouble? From this point of view, General Ji's birthday banquet is not a Hongmen Banquet, but just a playful way for the old general to play when he is in the mood."

She said it so calmly that Old Lady Jiang and Jiang Yuanbo were a little surprised. Especially when Jiang Li said "do it when no one knows", it was even more calm and frightening. But on second thought, what Jiang Li said made sense. Even if there was any intention, why did she make such a big fuss and leave evidence like a post?

Jiang Yuanbai looked at Jiang Li and said, "You go out first, I'll think about it."

Jiang Li didn't say much. After greeting Jiang Yuanbo and Old Madam Jiang, she left Wanfeng Hall.

She came and left quickly, and for a moment, only Jiang Yuanbo and Old Madam Jiang were left in Wanfeng Hall.

Madam Jiang sighed and said, "See, I told you that the second girl has her own ideas."

"I don't know who she resembles in this temper." Jiang Yuanbai smiled bitterly, "I don't even know what she's thinking now." Thinking about it, he was a really bad father. One daughter was killed by his second wife, another daughter ran away from home and her whereabouts are unknown, and another daughter was wrongly accused by him and went to a foreign land for eight years. He has three daughters, and now he doesn't care about any of them.

Madam Jiang glanced at him, as if she knew what he was thinking. She didn't say much, but just said: "Yuan Bo, I thought before that the second girl is now old enough for her to meet someone else. But something happened at home recently, so it's not a good time to talk about this matter. Besides, people may not dare to come after seeing her. Today... you say," her voice was trembling with uncertainty, "do you think that Duke Su has taken a fancy to the second girl?"

"Impossible!" Jiang Yuanbai stood up at once. Old Madam Jiang did not expect him to have such a big reaction. Jiang Yuanbai frowned and said, "A man like Duke Su has seen all kinds of beauties. Why would he fall for someone like Ah Li? Besides, he has killed many people and has a deep mind. Ah Li must not marry such a man!"

"I'm just saying, why are you so excited?" Madam Jiang asked him to sit down, "I'm just asking. Because I really don't understand why he wants to invite the second girl. Is there really no friendship between them? There are so many girls in Yanjing City, why did he only invite the second girl? What I'm afraid is that General Ji has other plans and has taken a fancy to the second girl..."

"Mom, please stop talking nonsense." Jiang Yuanbai was upset by what she said and said, "There is no way this kind of thing can be solved. I will send someone to investigate and find out what is going on!"

He strode out of Wanfeng Hall.

On the way back to Fangfei Garden, Jiang Li was also thinking carefully. Why did the Duke's Mansion suddenly send this post? If there was really something, she could just let Zhao Ke tell her and go to the Duke's Mansion at night... Jiang Li held her forehead with a headache. What happened to her? She took sneaking out of the mansion at night to go to other people's houses as a common thing. This was a shocking event.

But then again, Jiang Li really couldn't understand this post. Obviously, this would cause Madam Jiang and Jiang Yuanbo to be suspicious, but they still posted the post, and so blatantly. Are they really asking me to go to the birthday party?
Isn't this nonsense?
But Jiang Li couldn't not go. If this was a move made by Ji Heng, there must be some special meaning in it. If she didn't go, wouldn't it disrupt other people's plans? Therefore, in Wanfeng Hall, Jiang Li said that she was willing to go.

She knew that Jiang Yuanbo would definitely be suspicious and would certainly send people to investigate, but of course, there would be no results. Ji Heng's people were not vegetarians, and they could always let others find clues about anything. Nine times out of ten, he deliberately let others see the part he wanted others to see.

Tong'er asked: "Miss, what are we going back to the yard for now?"

"Think about birthday gifts." Jiang Li said.

"Ah?" Tong'er was surprised.

Jiang Li smiled. General Ji would not use his birthday as an excuse, so if the post said it was his birthday, it must be his birthday. She couldn't go to meet him empty-handed in the name of a birthday party. She also had to think about what kind of gift would not be too expensive and would not lose face.

All this was based on the premise that Jiang Yuanbo agreed to let her take the post, but Jiang Li thought that this was only a matter of time.

……

At night, Jiang Yuanbo and Madam Jiang still hadn't shown their intention to let Jiang Li accept the letter. However, Jiang Li had already started asking Bai Xue to take out all the silver, calculating how much was left and how much of a thank-you gift she should buy for General Ji.

Tong'er asked: "Miss, you may not even go yet, why are you already planning on it?"

"I have to go sooner or later." Jiang Li smiled slightly, "Father and the old lady haven't made a decision yet, so they have already agreed." She counted the silver notes in her hand. There were some given to her by Ye Mingyu, and there were still many left after the compensation given to her by Old Lady Jiang and Jiang Yuanbai. She didn't spend much money except taking care of other people and buying some supplements for Xue Huaiyuan. Jiang Li only had enough money for the jewelry and clothes that girls liked, so there was a lot of money left. She weighed it and felt that it was enough to give General Ji a good gift, so she asked Tong'er to put away the box of silver notes and said, "Let's go to the street to take a look tomorrow morning."

Tong'er nodded.

The next day, Jiang Li, Tong'er and Bai Xue went to the street to choose birthday gifts.

She had not left the house for a long time, and many of the Jiang family's guards followed her. Jiang Li thought about it, but she had no idea what gift to give to General Ji. Usually, gifts for the elderly would be precious ginseng, deer antlers, and other supplements, but these Duke's Mansions should not be short of them. General Ji is a military commander, so should I give him a good weapon? But General Ji must have seen a lot of weapons. Besides, if I really want to give him a very good weapon, he can't go to the battlefield now. He is too old to be a hero. What if I make him sad?
After wandering around for the entire morning, she didn't see anything particularly satisfying. As they were about to reach the East Market, Jiang Li stopped the carriage and got off.

Tong'er asked: "Miss, you are not going to the East Market?"

"Right on my mind."

"But, but..."

"Nothing to worry about," Jiang Li interrupted him, "Let's go in."

Tong'er had no choice but to follow obediently.

Dongshi is a dark market located in the east of Yanjing City. It is a place where all kinds of people come together. There may be robbers who kill and set fires, tomb robbers who have just rolled in the mud in the cemetery, and rich children who have fallen into poverty. In short, sellers who come here can spread mats anywhere and do business. Of course, there are also scammers here. Whether you buy real things or fake things depends on your own eyesight. After the transaction is completed, even if you find that the things are fake, you have to admit that you lost money on the transaction.

Therefore, most of the people who come to the East Market to buy things are people who specialize in these things and have some discerning eyes.

When Jiang Li and her group walked in, many people looked at them sideways. First, although Jiang Li was wearing a bamboo hat, she was dressed as a woman, and there were very few women who came to the East Market to buy and sell things. Second, the line of guards following behind Jiang Li was really conspicuous. With a little thought, one could guess that she was probably a young lady from a wealthy family who came here to broaden her horizons.

Therefore, those sellers sitting anywhere started to greet each other enthusiastically, and kept exaggerating their products. Thinking that she was a young lady who didn't care about the sufferings of the world, she was easily fooled.

Tong'er and Baixue were both nervous and curious, but these places were dirty and messy, and they were afraid that Jiang Li might not be used to walking here. But when they looked up, although they could not see Jiang Li's expression, Jiang Li's steps were calm and steady.

She seemed to be very familiar with this and did not feel the slightest bit of discomfort.

How come it feels like I've been here before? Tong'er muttered in his heart.

In fact, Jiang Li had never really been to the East Market. At most, she had passed by the gate of the East Market when she was Xue Fangfei. However, she was not unfamiliar with the people with a sense of Jianghu inside, nor was she afraid. Xue Zhao had taken her to see similar places before. Besides, everyone said that there was an absolutely unbridgeable gap between the upper class and the lower class. But the upper class would not always be the upper class, and the lower class would not always be the lower class. In the eyes of these people, she was the upper class, but Jiang Li knew that in her bones, she was still the daughter of a petty official from Tongxiang, and was no different from these people here.

She looked around the stalls nearby, but didn't see anything that interested her, and felt a little disappointed. You know, ordinary things are not pleasing to General Ji, so she wanted to see if she could find some rare things here, but at the moment, there was nothing interesting.

At this moment, a whimper suddenly came from not far away. Jiang Li looked in the direction of the sound. She saw a long seat with a solid wooden pillar next to it. There were several ropes tied to the pillar, and on the other side of the ropes were several foals.

The foals must have been born not long ago and could not even stand steadily. There were all kinds of colors, but they were all covered with a thick layer of mud, so their true appearance could not be seen clearly.

Jiang Li walked towards the owner of the pony. The owner was a middle-aged man. When he saw Jiang Li coming, he quickly stood up and greeted her, "They are all new foals. Miss, why don't you pick one to keep? They are very well behaved."

Bai Xue and Tong Er looked at each other in bewilderment. There was a stable in the Jiang Mansion, and the mares in the stable often gave birth to foals. Why should they come here to buy one? But Jiang Li actually lifted her skirt and bent down, picking and choosing among the foals, pointing to a foal and saying, "I want this one."

Everyone looked at the foal she had chosen. It was a small foal with a pair of bright eyes. Standing among the group of horses, it looked particularly short, and its body was covered with mud and looked dirty.

Tong'er whispered, "This one is too dirty, girl, why don't you choose the red one?"

Jiang Li shook her head: "I want this one."

The middle-aged man was also stunned. When girls choose foals, they probably choose cute ones, but this horse looks very fierce, and even its eyes are a bit fierce and dirty. He didn't expect Jiang Li to choose this one. Her vision is really different from that of ordinary people.

"How much silver?" Jiang Li asked.

Seeing her cheerful appearance, the middle-aged man thought that she was really a young lady who did not care about the sufferings of the world, so he said, "I think we are destined to be together. These foals are all top-quality. I will give them to you at a lower price today, five hundred taels of silver!"

"Five hundred taels of silver?" Tong'er exclaimed, glaring at the middle-aged man, "Do you think our silver was blown by the wind, or do you really think we don't know how much the foal is sold for?"

"Tong'er, give me the silver." Jiang Li said.

When the middle-aged man heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "This young lady is really knowledgeable. She is a straightforward person!"

Tong'er was furious. If she spent so much money to buy a colt, people would laugh at her. On the surface, this man was complimenting his young lady, but in his heart, who knows how he was mocking her for being a fool. But since Jiang Li had spoken, Tong'er had to agree. She counted out five silver bills from the box and handed them over.

The middle-aged man took the banknotes with shining eyes. Tong'er felt even more upset when she saw this.

Many people came and went in the East Market. Jiang Li and her group were very conspicuous and had long been noticed. As for the process of her buying the colt, it also attracted many people to watch. Seeing that Jiang Li spent so much money to buy an inexplicable colt, many people showed some mocking smiles on their faces.

Jiang Li turned a blind eye to all this. She asked Bai Xue to lead the colt, and after they left the East Market, she asked someone to keep an eye on the colt before getting on the carriage.

Tong'er couldn't help but ask, "Miss, why did you spend so much money to buy this pony? We have plenty of it in our house, but now most of the money is gone, and the rest is not enough to buy a birthday gift for General Ji."

"No need." Jiang Li said, "I've already bought the old general's gift."

"What?" Tong'er was stunned, "When did you buy it?"

"That's the colt."

Tong'er was stunned and said, "But it's just an ordinary pony. Even if you told the old general that the horse cost five hundred taels of silver, it is just an ordinary horse that can be found anywhere." Tong'er repeated these four dirty words quietly in her heart without saying them out loud.

"Oh? Do you think it's an ordinary horse?" Jiang Li asked with a smile.

"Isn't it?" Tong'er looked at Jiang Li's smile, and her heart moved. She asked Bai Xue: "Bai Xue, do you see anything?"

Bai Xue answered honestly, "No, I just thought that horse was dirtier than the horses I usually see."

Tong'er: "..."

"That's not an ordinary horse." Jiang Li smiled slightly, "It's a Ferghana horse."

"What?" Tong'er and Bai Xue were both shocked and stared at Jiang Li in disbelief.

"Although I don't know how the Ferghana horse got mixed up in that group of foals and their owner didn't even notice it, but I obviously made a profit from this deal. Not to mention 500 taels of silver, even if it was 10,000 taels of gold, it would be worth it."

　Ahri: Is it surprising? Is it surprising? Is it exciting?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)