Climbing to the Top: A Reborn Queen's Journey-Chapter 516: Lovesickness (Part 1)
Countless longings, not knowing how to start writing.
Cui Du sat at the desk, holding the pen for a long time before he finally lowered his head and began to write.
He was accustomed to using charcoal pencils and slightly harder paper. The charcoal pencil swiftly danced across the paper, quickly sketching out an adorable big-eyed boy standing in an endless field, looking at the distant horizon.
In the clouds, there was a palace where a beautiful and heroic young girl stood outside the vermillion-colored palace gate. The boy and girl looked at each other across the vast space.
The paper bore no words; all the longing was poured into this painting.
After Cui Du finished the drawing, he carefully folded it and placed it into an envelope, instructing someone to send it to the Prince Mansion.
The Nanyang Prince Mansion and the Capital City had a special communication channel, faster than ordinary couriers. However, sending a letter required considerable manpower and resources. Therefore, Cui Du would always send his letters along with those of Chief Historian Chen to the Capital City.
This restraint and meticulousness were greatly appreciated by Chief Historian Chen.
"Elder Changning is very sensible," Chief Historian Chen said to Chief Historian Feng. "The Commandery Princess went to the Capital City on an official business, exhausting her mind and body every day. Elder Changning stays calmly in the manor, busy with his own duties, writing only two letters to the Commandery Princess. Presumably, he fears disturbing the Commandery Princess and causing her unrest."
Always putting the Commandery Princess first in every matter, this is the most suitable husband for the Commandery Princess.
Chief Historian Feng laughed, "Among so many handsome suitors, including noble young men from established families, our Commandery Princess didn’t take a fancy to any. She early on settled on an engagement with Elder Changning, not letting him down in the least."
Chief Historian Chen also smiled and immediately arranged for the letters to be sent out.
...
At this moment, Jiang Shaohua was reviewing the dossiers in the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice had two capable Assistant Ministers, with no old unsolved cases. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing amiss. Jiang Shaohua then instructed Vice Minister Yang to bring over the case files from the last six months.
The Ministry of Justice oversaw the judicial and penal matters of Da Liang. Any homicide cases occurring in any state or county had to be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for review and archival. By the number of case files, one could roughly gauge how many major cases had occurred in Da Liang over the past six months.
The dossiers piled on the wooden desk were half a man high. Jiang Shaohua casually picked up a dossier and asked, "Vice Minister Yang, how many dossiers are there in total?"
Vice Minister Yang replied, "Responding to the Commandery Princess, there are a total of one hundred sixty-nine dossiers here."
In other words, there were one hundred sixty-nine homicides in total.
"Are the homicide cases increasing?" Jiang Shaohua looked towards Vice Minister Yang.
Vice Minister Yang sighed, nodded, and said, "Yes. To tell the truth to the Commandery Princess, not every homicide case gets reported. In each county, if a major homicide occurs, the Prefectural Governor or County Magistrate would have it recorded by the Ministry of Personnel, greatly affecting their year-end evaluations. Therefore, it’s common for homicide cases to be concealed and not reported."
"A hundred sixty-nine were submitted within half a year, and the ones being hidden are at least double that number."
This was an eye-opening figure.
Jiang Shaohua’s expression turned solemn, and she remained silent.
Vice Minister Yang continued in a low voice, "This is all because of frequent natural disasters. For a mouthful of food, people dare to kill and rob. I know the Commandery Princess has been diligently promoting new grains to aid the people of the North, but in the twenty northern states, there are places that the Commandery Princess cannot attend to. The Commandery Princess has a clear conscience and need not blame herself for this."
Jiang Shaohua responded flatly, "Indeed, I should not blame myself. Those who should are the officials of the court. Anxiety and discontent among the people, public grievances erupt, and the ministers ought to work together to govern the court properly, ensuring the people lead peaceful and prosperous lives. But the state of the court, Vice Minister Yang knows better than anyone."
Vice Minister Yang was rendered speechless.
The court was embroiled in fierce factional disputes. Over the past half year, the Grand Empress Dowager’s Faction and the Prime Minister Faction had nearly torn each other apart, becoming indecorous.
Grand Empress Dowager Zheng’s reputation was ruined, Duke An was impeached and ordered to introspect in seclusion, Prime Minister Wang suffered heavy losses, his son spent months in prison, lost the position of Inspector, and his career was ruined. The Left General went from being the Border Army Commander to becoming the Divine Guard Camp’s Commander. The difference was beyond measure.
After the Commandery Princess came, she strived to suppress the chaos, bringing about temporary stability. Once she returned to Nanyang County, whether Emperor Taihe could control the ministers and stabilize the situation was uncertain at best...
These thoughts flashed through Vice Minister Yang’s mind but could not be spoken aloud.
Vice Minister Yang calmed himself and respectfully said, "The Commandery Princess is always concerned about the people, her benevolence and compassion make me deeply admire her."
Jiang Shaohua had no mood for these insubstantial pleasantries and continued reviewing the dossiers.
In the following days, apart from reviewing dossiers, Jiang Shaohua wandered through various departments of the Ministry of Justice. Regardless of how much she could understand, her presence in the Ministry of Justice made all the officials work more diligently. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
The assassin case was still being investigated by Vice Minister Yang, yet no useful clues had been found. It seemed destined to become another "cold case."
"Commandery Princess," Qin Hu quietly approached and whispered, "A letter has arrived from Nanyang County."
Jiang Shaohua relaxed her brow, taking several letters from Qin Hu’s hands.
The first letter was from Chief Historian Chen, the second was from Chief Historian Feng. Her restless father, Lu Xuan, always wrote letters filled with inconsequential chatter, which she found immaterial to read.
The last one was a letter from her betrothed, Elder Changning, Cui Du.
Looking at the familiar handwriting on the envelope, a smile flickered in Jiang Shaohua’s eyes, and a smile curved her lips.
Interestingly, today’s accompanying secretary was Zheng Chen.
Zheng Sheren had excellent vision, and, from nine feet away, he glimpsed the name on the envelope, his tone inevitably tinged with sourness: "Elder Changning wrote to the Commandery Princess?"
Jiang Shaohua raised an eyebrow slightly, "We are engaged. Is there anything unusual about us writing to each other?"
Zheng Chen was momentarily taken aback, feeling displeased but having no stance or right to be jealous.
Jiang Shaohua glanced at Zheng Chen, "I heard that the Zheng Family and Fan Family have already discussed a marriage proposal, and soon the betrothal gifts will be exchanged. I must congratulate Zheng Sheren on this good match."
Zheng Chen, as in the previous life, was going to marry Fan Jaining.
General Fan became the Border Army Commander, leaping to become the foremost figure in the military, holding military power, and having significant weight in court. The alliance between the Zheng and Fan Families was also something Grand Empress Dowager Zheng was gladly witnessing.
Zheng Chen met Jiang Shaohua’s gaze, "Likewise, I must also congratulate the Commandery Princess on soon bringing her husband into the household for the inheritance of the Nanyang Prince Mansion."
Jiang Shaohua gave a faint smile, "Continuing the Nanyang Prince Mansion is my greatest wish."
"I must return to the palace. Will Zheng Sheren accompany me back to the palace?"
"I must return to Duke An’s Mansion, so I will not accompany the Commandery Princess."
Jiang Shaohua nodded slightly, riding her steed back to the palace. Zheng Chen turned his mount towards Duke An’s Mansion.
The two headed in opposite directions, growing ever more distant.
...
