pjbooks Chapter 214
Chapter 214
After hearing the whole story from Jiang Yeli, Li Ping went to find the Sixth Prince.The two cooperated to seize the business opportunity, selling portraits of beauties, as well as a booklet of the princes' preferences, detailing what kind of girls the noblemen in the palace liked, and opening bets on how many girls the princes would marry...
They even collaborated with Huwang Academy to open a fertility class, specifically researching how to help people prepare for pregnancy.
The three of them made a huge fortune.
Jiang Yeli insisted on joining, and he had a very strong reason.
"I am now the Earl of Suyan. The entire household relies on me for food. I need to make money. If Third Brother disagrees, I'll go and drag Dad back."
The reason was so compelling that Li Ping couldn't refute it, allowing Jiang Yeli to join.
The emperor was so angry that he directly confiscated seventy percent of their earnings.
He gave Li Ping the status of an imperial merchant.
The Earl of Suyan was granted an opportunity to enter the Imperial College early to study.
Jiang Yeli was originally happy that he could study together with his eldest brother.
But he heard a piece of news from Li Pan that felt like the sky was falling.
Li Pan was returning to Jiangcheng to prepare for the provincial examination.
The exam wasn't until next autumn, why go back so early?
This was Jiang Yeli's first reaction. Then he remembered that their parents had returned to Jiangcheng.
"Eldest Brother, you're abandoning me... boohoo..." Jiang Yeli cried, accusing Li Pan of going back on his word.
Li Pan felt a bit guilty; he was returning to Jiangcheng nearly a year early because he missed their mother.
"How about you go back with me? You haven't been to Jiangcheng yet."
"Let's go, we'll leave right now." Jiang Yeli immediately stopped crying, grabbing Li Pan and pulling him outside.
"You can't." Li Pan reacted and stopped Jiang Yeli. He was the Earl of Suyan and couldn't leave the capital at will.
To leave for a year, he had to apply to the Grand Secretariat and get the emperor's approval.
"Eldest Brother, write a memorial to apply for me."
Jiang Yeli didn't know many characters, let alone how to write them well. He had Li Pan write the memorial for him.
Applying to leave the capital and return to Jiangcheng to find his mother.
The Grand Secretariat disagreed, so Jiang Yeli directly ran to the main gate of the Grand Secretariat and howled at the top of his lungs, "I want my mother, I want my mother..."
After crying for two consecutive days, the Grand Secretariat couldn't take it anymore and submitted the memorial to the emperor.
Fearing the emperor would disagree, Jiang Yeli went to the Imperial Study and rolled on the floor.
"I miss my mother, I want my mother, I want to see my mother..."
What could one say to a seven-year-old child?
With a stroke of his vermilion brush, the emperor approved it.
Jiang Yeli scrambled up at once, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!"
Jiang Yeli shouted loudly and ran outside, "Mother, I'm coming—"
The emperor looked at Jiang Yeli and smiled speechlessly.
Jiang Yeli didn't pause for a moment, leaving the palace and returning to the front of his house.
Without even entering the door, he shouted into the courtyard, "Let's go, let's go, hurry up and go."
The luggage was all packed and loaded onto the carriages.
Hearing Jiang Yeli's words, Qiushuang knew the application was successful.
"Let's go, depart."
Over a dozen carriages slowly moved out of the Suyan Earl's residence, heading towards the city gates.
They managed to leave the capital right before the city gates closed.
As they got further and further away from the city gates, Jiang Yeli let out a long sigh of relief, "Finally out of the city."
"Yuanyuan, do we need to be in such a rush?" Inside the carriage, Cai Shuyi was puzzled as to why they had to leave the city after dark.
"First, yes we do. Second, don't call me Yuanyuan." After turning three, Jiang Yeli didn't let people call him by his nickname.
Except for Ye Yunniang and Cai Shuyi, who couldn't change their habit.
"Auntie, did you tell Grandma you were leaving?"
"I left a letter for Mother."
Since the city gates were closed, Cai Shuyi wasn't worried anymore.
Jiang Yeli didn't expect to be schemed against by Cai Shuyi. Thinking of Cai Damei's punishing methods that involved neither beating nor scolding, Jiang Yeli shuddered.
"If Grandma gets angry, you have to cover for me."
"Mother won't be angry." Knowing that Jiang Mingzhe and Ye Yunniang had returned to Jiangcheng, Cai Shuyi had told Cai Damei that she also wanted to return to Jiangcheng.
Cai Damei didn't object to this.
She even said it would be good for Cai Shuyi to go back to Jiangcheng and visit her father.
Bao Min had always been the prefectural magistrate in Jiangcheng.
Cai Shuyi's desire to return to Jiangcheng was indeed because she wanted to see her biological father, whom she hadn't seen in seven years.
Because they wanted to see Ye Yunniang, they traveled rather hastily along the way.
A journey of a month and a half took them to Jiangcheng ten days early.
Li Pan guided the carriage to the Jiang residence.
The gatekeeper at the Jiang residence told them that Jiang Mingzhe and Ye Yunniang had not returned.
"Could something have happened to Mother on the road?" Li Pan worried.
"Impossible, it must be that Dad abducted Mother to travel and enjoy the scenery outside," Jiang Yeli said with absolute certainty.
Li Pan thought about his understanding of Jiang Mingzhe; it was very possible he would do such a thing.
"Brother-in-law, it is highly likely." Cai Shuyi nodded in agreement from the side.
"Let's not talk about it. I'm so tired. Let's go inside to rest, I want to sleep for three days and three nights." Jiang Yeli said, letting out a yawn. He was truly exhausted.
The rooms were cleaned regularly, so they weren't dirty.
The maids and old female servants did a quick wipe down and laid out the bedding.
The three of them ate a little something and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, near noon, Li Pan woke up. He looked around the courtyard and unconsciously walked to the lotus pond.
The lotuses were in full bloom.
As he was watching, a servant reported that a guest had arrived.
Li Pan went to the front hall and saw a familiar person.
"Master Bao?"
Looking at Li Pan, who was now taller than himself, Bao Min sighed, noting how much he had grown.
Li Pan smiled; he was seventeen now, of course he had grown up.
"Has Madam returned?"
"Grandma hasn't returned. It's just me, my little aunt, and my younger brother who came back."
Hearing his daughter's name, Bao Min's lips trembled slightly, and his eyes lowered.
"Master Bao, my little aunt came back this time because she wanted to see you," Li Pan explained.
Bao Min looked sharply at Li Pan.
"My little aunt misses you very much." Li Pan's words made Bao Min's eyes turn red.
Madam had taught their daughter very well.
"I..."
"Panpan, who are you seeing?" Cai Shuyi walked in with a smile, and upon seeing the person in the room, she stopped in her tracks. "Father?"
"It's me, Shushu, it's Father." Bao Min stumbled slightly as he walked towards Cai Shuyi.
Cai Shuyi threw herself at Bao Min, hugging the aging man, "Father, I finally get to see you. I missed you so much."
"Father missed you too." Bao Min held his daughter tightly.
"You're lying." If he missed her, why didn't he go to the capital to see her, instead making her return to Jiangcheng?
"I'm not lying to Shushu, Father truly missed you." Bao Min couldn't explain his inner struggles, only repeating over and over that he wasn't lying to Shushu.
Li Pan left the room, leaving the space for the reunited father and daughter.
Returning to the lotus pond, Jiang Yeli was instructing people to pick lotus leaves.
"Pick the tender ones, I want to eat lotus leaf chicken, steamed ribs in lotus leaf, and lotus leaf rice. Those lotus seed pods are good too, pick more, I want to drink silver ear and lotus seed soup.
Ah, the lotus flowers are blooming beautifully, pick them, I want to eat lotus leaf pastries and fried lotus leaves..."
"Can we finish eating so much?"
"If we can't finish it, we'll dry them to make lotus leaf tea," Jiang Yeli replied, directing the servants to continue picking.
He was determined to ravage this lotus pond today.
Li Pan knew that Jiang Yeli was annoyed with Jiang Mingzhe and Ye Yunniang, and was taking his anger out on the lotuses.
Without trying to persuade him otherwise, he let Jiang Yeli vent the anger in his heart.
"This afternoon, I want to go to Sunset Alley. Do you want to go?" Li Pan wanted to go back and see their original home.
"Let's go." Jiang Yeli had heard Ye Yunniang talk many times about the wonderful times they had spent in Sunset Alley.