Zhu Qingyu's only concern was whether Xie Ze's source was reliable. She worried he might have gotten it wrong again, leaving her happy for nothing, so she asked him:
"Young Marquis, who did you get this information from? Is it reliable?"
Xie Ze promised confidently:
"Of course it is. I was originally going to ask my cousin from the Gu family, but unfortunately, he was on duty at the Cabinet today and not at home. Therefore, I asked the Duchess of Dingguo. She told me herself, so how could it be wrong? Oh, right, there is one more thing. Madam Gu said that the two families haven't finalized it yet and told me not to spread it around. If it doesn't work out in the end, it wouldn't be good for the Zhuang family's daughter if rumors start flying. This news is just between you and me; let's not tell anyone else."
Zhu Qingyu nodded vigorously:
"Naturally, naturally. Just between you and me, we won't tell anyone. So what are your plans next? Should you hurry back and talk to your elders, just in case the Eldest Grand Princess finds someone else for Miss Wen?"
Hearing this, Xie Ze realized it made sense and quickly ran toward home, calling back as he ran:
"Don't forget about our plans on the rest day. I'll arrange a carriage to pick you up at the Si hour that morning."
How could Zhu Qingyu forget that she would be able to see Zhang Shen on the rest day? She only hoped that when she went to see him, she could bring him some good news to ease his mind and let him wait patiently for her to get him out.
Once Xie Ze left, just to be safe, Zhu Qingyu quickly took out the official directory again.
Flipping back and forth twice, from front to back and then back to front, she confirmed that among all the officials ranked fifth grade and above in the entire directory, there was indeed only one court official surnamed Zhuang.
Further down, there was only an eighth-grade clerk surnamed Zhuang. Given Gu Zhao's family background, no matter what, it was impossible for him to marry the daughter of an eighth-grade official.
So, the person he was going to marry was exactly the daughter of Lord Zhuang, the Commissioner of the Office of Transmission.
Zhu Qingyu called for Uncle Lyu, gave him a sum of silver, and instructed:
"Uncle Lyu, go to this address and find someone to ask around. See how big the residence of Commissioner Zhuang is, how many people are in his family, and where Madam Zhuang usually goes for activities, including shopping, offering incense, or going on spring outings."
Although Lord Zhuang's financial situation might not be very affluent, he was still a third-grade official and a trusted aide of the Emperor. He was in charge of sensitive duties like handling memorials and addressing grievances. Surely, there were countless people who wanted to curry favor with him on a daily basis.
For a merchant's wife like her, if no one introduced her, rashly visiting with silver would certainly be ignored by Lord Zhuang. Thus, Zhu Qingyu planned to find an opportunity to casually run into Madam Zhuang first, establish a connection, and then bring up her request.
The things Zhu Qingyu asked to be investigated were not particularly private, so Uncle Lyu returned with news that very evening:
"There are quite a few people in Lord Zhuang's family. The masters alone, young and old, amount to over a dozen, plus quite a few servants, all living in a three-courtyard residence. With so many people in the family, they only have one carriage, which is prioritized for Lord Zhuang to attend court. Therefore, when Madam Zhuang goes out, she often rents a carriage from a rental company. I asked the nearby carriage companies, and the Zhuang family has booked a carriage for the eighth of next month. It seems Madam Zhuang is going to Huangjue Temple to offer incense that day."
Although she already had a basic understanding of the Zhuang family's financial situation from their address, actually hearing the details still surprised Zhu Qingyu a bit.
She had not expected the Gu family to be so unconventional in choosing a bride, not even caring about the Zhuang family's meager wealth.
The Gu family didn't care, but did the Zhuang family not care either?
They couldn't even afford to use a carriage, so the dowry prepared for Miss Zhuang would surely be very meager as well. Comparing herself to her future sisters-in-law, Miss Zhuang would likely suffer a lot of petty grievances. Zhu Qingyu did not believe Madam Zhuang would remain indifferent to her daughter's future predicament.
Since the Zhuang family urgently needed money, this matter now had a glimmer of hope.
The key now was to see what kind of person Lord Zhuang was and what thoughts he might have regarding Zhang Shen's case.
The fastest way to know what kind of person Lord Zhuang was would be to look at how he had handled cases of commoners bringing their grievances to the Office of Transmission in the past.
Zhu Qingyu repeated her old trick, taking the grassroots route. She spent another large sum of silver to copy a volume of petition records from a minor clerk in charge of documents at the Office of Transmission.
These petition records were the drafts of the grievance cases registered by the Office of Transmission. If Lord Zhuang judged that a commoner's grievance filed at the office was indeed a miscarriage of justice, he would forward the memorial to the Emperor and clearly write his views on the case in every petition.
For the next few days, Zhu Qingyu spent most of her time poring over this massive tome of petition records.
The memorials Lord Zhuang wrote to the Emperor could not possibly be in colloquial, everyday language, so Zhu Qingyu read them very slowly. Mustering the same determination she had when she first started reading the laws upon arriving here, she read day and night for several days.
By observing his actions and listening to his words, Zhu Qingyu saw through the lines of each petition a good official who, despite reaching the high rank of a third-grade minister, still carried a heart of compassion for the common people.
Could this Lord Zhuang understand Zhang Shen's helplessness at that time? Would it be possible for him to clear Zhang Shen's name?
He could.
He definitely could.
Zhu Qingyu suddenly looked forward to her chance encounter with Madam Zhuang on the eighth of next month with great anticipation.
This optimism and hope lasted until she saw Zhang Shen in the imperial prison at noon on the rest day.
Because Zhu Qingyu had been continuously sending money, Zhang Shen had been well taken care of by the jailers these past few days. His condition was much better than before, at least he was no longer sleeping all day.
But seeing Zhu Qingyu suddenly appear, Zhang Shen still froze for a moment:
"Have I fainted again? Qingyu, I must be daydreaming, right?"
Zhu Qingyu didn't know whether to cry or laugh. She threw herself forward, hugged him, and asked:
"Jingyan, are you alright? Do you have food to eat? Is it cold sleeping at night? Did they beat you? Are you hurt?"
Her embrace was so warm, and the concern in her voice was so gentle. She was real; he wasn't dreaming.
Zhang Shen grasped Zhu Qingyu's shoulders, gently pushed her out of his embrace, looked straight into her eyes, and smiled as he spoke his second sentence after their reunion:
"Qingyu, let's get a divorce."
In the secret room next door, specially designed for eavesdropping, someone sneered:
"See, I told you, she came just for the divorce papers."
