After the carriage came to a steady halt, Dong Yuanbin stepped down with his subordinates. "I pay my respects to County Princess Linghui."
Looking at Xuetuan, who was raising its head and roaring, the two men tacitly refrained from approaching. Instead, they stopped ten paces away and bowed with cupped hands.
Seeing that they were covered in mud, Song Jinzhao asked, "Did Lord Dong personally lead your men to plant potatoes?"
Dong Yuanbin smiled and nodded. "With so few potato seeds, I couldn't set my mind at ease, so I had to oversee it personally. We haven't planted them yet. The weather is getting colder, so we are setting up the greenhouses first. Where is the County Princess coming from? You look travel-worn."
Song Jinzhao replied, "The Emperor rewarded me with two estates. Since I had some free time, I went to take a look."
He figured that the tiger roar he heard in the morning must have come from this white tiger; County Princess Linghui must have been passing by the imperial estate at that time.
Dong Yuanbin ordered his subordinates to clear the way and let Song Jinzhao and her group pass first. After they had gone far, the subordinate standing to the side couldn't help but shiver.
"This is the first time I've seen a white tiger. How did the County Princess tame it?"
Glancing at his subordinate's timid appearance, Dong Yuanbin retorted, "With your legs trembling and your inability to even speak clearly, you definitely couldn't tame one anyway."
The subordinate shut his mouth, muttering in his heart: It's not like I want to raise a tiger anyway.
After returning to the Ye Manor, Song Jinzhao kept Qingshuang behind alone. "Go to the neighboring city and inquire about something. Don't let anyone know."
Qingshuang leaned close to Song Jinzhao and listened attentively.
The sunlight outside the window was obscured by white clouds, the shadows in the courtyard gradually deepened, and a chill seeped into the air.
...
In just one day, Fei Yanzhang had arranged for Song Gaoli to study at the Imperial Academy.
In the evening, when the servant went to the Duan Manor to pass on the message, the other people in the courtyard all looked towards Song Gaoli, their eyes practically overflowing with jealousy.
"Some people are just born lucky. Pies fall from the sky even without them lifting a finger."
"Who says otherwise? We've been in the manor for a year, and the teacher never thought about sending us to the Imperial Academy. But a certain someone gets in right after arriving. What great schemes."
Facing the cold ridicule of the others, Song Gaoli retorted with a calm expression, "If you want to study at the Imperial Academy, you can go and ask the teacher yourselves. There's no need to make sarcastic remarks in front of me."
If he had the ability, he would have gotten you in, but unfortunately, he can't.
A man dressed in a white scholar's gown took a step forward and sneered at Song Gaoli. "With your abilities, even if you enter the Imperial Academy, you won't pass the exams. You might as well give up your spot. When I pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi, I might be able to find a way to give you a hand."
A strong sense of humiliation colored Song Gaoli's face. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "There's no need. I will absolutely pass."
His retreating back carried a sense of determination, his shoe soles stomping forcefully on the ground as if venting his anger, leaving behind six resentful people sulking in place.
It was already midnight when Qingshuang returned, yet the candlelight in Song Jinzhao's room was still lit.
"It is exactly as you said, Miss. In the autumn of the 74th year of Jianyuan, the late Emperor decreed that the Marquis of Wuying lead the Wu family army to the border to resist the enemy. In the first year of Yongyuan, the Wu family army was defeated at the banks of the Chiwu River, and the Emperor ordered the execution of their entire family. The previous owner of Daohua Estate and Shiquan Estate was the then-Chancellor Chen Yan. Two years later, Chen Yan was condemned for disrespecting the Emperor, and his entire family was exiled to the southwest. Rumor has it that they encountered a landslide on the way and no one survived, but Chen Yan is definitely dead."
"Why are the era names different? Wasn't it the late Emperor who ordered the execution of the Wu family?" Song Jinzhao asked, furrowing her brows. She had thought it was the same emperor.
Qingshuang shook her head. "The late Emperor passed away in the twelfth lunar month of the 75th year of Jianyuan. Later, the new emperor ascended the throne, who is the current Emperor Chengjing. He was the one who issued the decree."
"Some also say that the Emperor insisted on ordering the execution of the Wu family because the Wu family was the maternal family of the late Prince of Jin, and the Emperor wanted to pull up the weeds by the roots. The Chen family also supported the Prince of Jin back then, which is why they ended up being exiled. However, the people your servant asked all said that Chancellor Chen was a good official who wholeheartedly served the people."
Song Jinzhao's brows furrowed even tighter. How did this get tangled up in factional disputes? The matter was becoming increasingly complicated.
The first year of Yongyuan... Ye Liangyu passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the third year of Yongyuan. He must have experienced the exile of the Chen family at that time and might know some inside information.
