Lady Yi nodded: “That’s correct.”
The Empress De Fei continued logically: “Breaking off an engagement is not a small matter. In his hometown, the ones who can make the decision about this would be his parents.”
“The daughter of the Cheng’en Marquis’ mansion may not be the most sought-after in the noble families of the divine capital, but matching her with a newly-minted Jinshi is like their family’s ancestral grave emitting auspicious smoke.”
She is the sister of Consort Xian, the Empress Dowager’s niece!
Saying this, the Empress De Fei couldn’t help but curl her lips in disdain:
“If their family wants to break off the engagement and eagerly wants to marry the daughter of the Cheng’en Marquis’ mansion, then they should quickly clean up the mess.”
“They should throw money at it, give lots of benefits, and grovel in apology. If these three things are done, even if the girl is still dissatisfied, at least she won’t make such a big fuss.”
The fact that an unmarried young lady would travel thousands of miles to the capital to file a complaint shows that the two families have completely fallen out back in their hometown.
If it weren’t intolerable, the other party wouldn’t resort to such a desperate measure.
Lady Yi, however, said: “That young lady is truly commendable for her courage. If her parents were still alive, they must have been enlightened people.”
The phrase “thousands of miles” may be easy to say without even touching the lower lip with the upper one, but in terms of actual travel, it is far from easy.
The Empress De Fei also acknowledged this point, but at the same time, she made a fair comment:
“That Lady Liu is truly an innocent victim this time.”
The young lady who came to the capital to sue her fiancé is surnamed Ji, named Shi Hai.
During her journey to the capital, she had already drafted a complaint.
After arriving, she settled into an inn and then went to the Jingzhao Prefecture to file the complaint.
However, after filing it, there was no response, as if it had disappeared into the sea like a mud ox.
At first, Lady Ji thought that the complaint might have been lost in transit, so she filed it again, and then some servants from a powerful family, strong and intimidating, came to the inn to threaten and coerce her, telling her to stop her futile efforts and leave immediately.
Seeing this, Lady Ji realized that the path through the Jingzhao Prefecture was blocked.
She didn’t lose heart, though.
She went to a bookstore to review the accumulated official newspapers, identified her target, and then, accompanied by the maidservant and old servant who had come with her to the capital, the three of them went to the residence of the Imperial Censor Wang Yuan Zhen.
This Imperial Censor, Wang, is a court lady by birth, with a single name of Ying.
She entered the palace at the age of six, and the Empress Dowager liked her very much, allowing her to stay close by.
As she grew a bit older, she began to serve with official documents, and then the Empress Dowager bestowed upon her the courtesy name of Yuan Zhen.
In the later part of the Empress Dowager’s regency, she entered the front court, starting as a sixth-rank Assistant Officer in the Ministry of Justice.
After her term was up, she was transferred to serve as an Imperial Censor in the Censorate.
Though the official position was a lateral move, the power of the Censorate was significant.
Even a sixth-rank Imperial Censor could enter the court like a fifth-rank official, which was a testament to its influence.
Lady Ji had read in the official newspapers that Wang Yuan Zhen, while reviewing case files in the Ministry of Justice, had uncovered several miscarriages of justice, including some involving important officials in the court.
She had not shown any leniency and had gained the favor of both the Empress Dowager and the current Emperor.
Moreover, the Censorate was in charge of supervision, which added to its prestige.
Lady Ji was somewhat inclined to seek her help.
She also thought that, as a woman, Lady Wang might better understand her predicament compared to a man.
Lady Ji decided to take a chance.
Wang Yuan Zhen’s residence was located in Chongren Lane, one of the prime locations in the divine capital.
When Lady Ji arrived outside the residence, she hesitated a bit—today was not a day off, so Wang Yuan Zhen was likely not at home.
Besides, traveling in the divine capital required an official pass, which she did not have.
After pacing around for a while, the gatekeeper of Wang’s residence approached her.
Though nervous, Lady Ji explained her purpose.
The gatekeeper then invited her to rest in the outer courtyard’s guest room.
The polite demeanor of the servant gave Lady Ji a glimpse of the host’s grace and demeanor.
Her anxiety eased, and she waited in the room for about two hours when she heard the gatekeeper calling her: “Our lady has returned.”
Lady Ji quickly led her old servant and maid to meet Wang Yuan Zhen.
She was efficient, knowing that important people had many affairs to attend to.
She quickly explained her situation and handed over the complaint:
“I dare not hide anything from the Imperial Censor. I should have filed the complaint with the Jingzhao Prefecture, but after two attempts, I received no response. Instead, I was threatened…”
Wang Yuan Zhen reviewed her complaint and the marriage contract from the initial engagement between the two families.
She nodded and agreed to take on the case: “Leave this matter to me.”
Glancing at the old servant and young maid waiting outside, she asked,
“Did you three come to the capital together?”
Lady Ji confirmed, “Yes.”
Wang Yuan Zhen then had someone prepare the guest room for her and said:
“To be on the safe side, you should stay here for a few days until the matter is settled.”
Lady Ji bowed deeply in gratitude: “The kindness of Lady Wang Yuan Zhen will never be forgotten!”
Wang Yuan Zhen was somewhat surprised by her straightforwardness: “You really know how to make the best of a situation.”
Lady Ji, seeing her decisive actions and sincere treatment, naturally reciprocated with honesty:
“I dare not hide anything from the Imperial Censor. Before coming here, I visited the book bureau and read many official newspapers about you…”
Wang Yuan Zhen had just returned from the office, still wearing her official robes, which made her appear overly stern, especially when she was silent.
After listening to Lady Ji’s story, she looked at the young woman for a while.
Just as Lady Ji began to feel anxious, Wang Yuan Zhen suddenly smiled and said:
“You are a very smart and interesting person.”
Lady Ji looked somewhat bewildered.
Wang Yuan Zhen stood up and called her servant: “Accompany Lady Ji to retrieve her luggage from the inn.”
Lady Ji bowed again: “Thank you, Lady Wang Yuan Zhen!”
***
In Pianxiang Hall.
A few days later, Ruan Ren Sui heard the outcome from Lady Yi.
The marriage between Lady Liu from the Cheng’en Marquis’ mansion and the newly-minted Jinshi was off.
Lady Yi told the Empress De Fei: “Lady Yuan Zhen handled it efficiently. The Cheng’en Marquis originally wanted to seek trouble with Lady Ji, but since she was staying with Lady Yuan Zhen, he gave up and instead severely punished the Jinshi, breaking his arm and causing him to vomit…”
Just as people close to Fei Shangyi would call her Lady Jia Zhen, because Wang Yuan Zhen had served in the inner court for many years, the female officials were accustomed to calling her Lady Yuan Zhen.
The Empress De Fei casually asked: “What about Lady Ji?”
Lady Yi replied: “The marriage contract between the Jinshi and Lady Liu was declared void, and his engagement to Lady Ji was upheld.”
Upon hearing this, the Empress De Fei felt at a loss for words.
If Lady Ji hadn’t filed the complaint, it would have been frustrating.
But now that she had, she still had to maintain the engagement with the hypocrite…
It was hard to judge.
She thought this was the final outcome, but half a month later, there was a new development.
Lady Ji filed another complaint against her fiancé.
This time, she didn’t go to Lady Wang; instead, she went directly to the Jingzhao Prefecture—her fiancé had spoken ill of her deceased father, and as a daughter, she could not stand by and let her father be humiliated.
She demanded to dissolve the engagement!
The Empress De Fei had a puzzled look on her face.
Lady Yi, however, was quite moved and, after expressing her admiration, said:
“Lady Ji had this goal from the beginning.”
She didn’t come to the capital to maintain the engagement.
Her purpose in traveling thousands of miles was to ruin that man’s reputation and career, making it impossible for him to recover!
Ruining his engagement to the Cheng’en Marquis’ mansion was not enough; she also wanted to ruin him and his official prospects!
The Jingzhao Prefecture was now in a state of frustration!
Previously, when Lady Ji had filed a complaint against the Cheng’en Marquis’ son-in-law, the officials of the Jingzhao Prefecture had simply ignored her and instead tried to ingratiate themselves with the Marquis’ mansion.
The same happened when she filed the complaint for the second time.
The Cheng’en Marquis didn’t care much about his daughter’s future, but he cared about his reputation—having a newly engaged son-in-law cause such a scandal would be a laughingstock.
That’s why he sent people to warn Lady Ji to keep quiet and leave.
Little did they know that Lady Wang would get involved and escalate the situation.
The Censorate and the Emperor didn’t care about a newly-minted Jinshi breaking his engagement and abandoning his fiancée to marry a noblewoman.
What they cared about was that the Jingzhao Prefecture had blocked the appeal process and engaged in interest exchanges with the nobility.
In the end, the Prefect of Jingzhao, Ji Wen Ying, was scolded in court until he was completely disoriented.
Ji Wen Ying himself felt wronged; he hadn’t done this!
It was all his subordinates acting on their own.
He took out his frustration on them, scolding them severely.
The two subordinates who had tried to ingratiate themselves with the Cheng’en Marquis’ mansion were punished with thirty canings and were now in the Jingzhao prison, their fate uncertain.
At this moment, Lady Ji arrived again.
No matter how much the officials of the Jingzhao Prefecture disliked her, they couldn’t drive her away.
They had to listen to her story with gritted teeth and then politely announced that they had accepted the case.
Otherwise, would they let her go to Lady Wang again and make the Jingzhao Prefecture lose face once more?
The words were spoken by the newly-minted Jinshi in public.
Although he was drunk at the time, he did say them, and it was undeniable.
It was reasonable for Lady Ji to want to dissolve the engagement.
So that’s how it was handled.
With two cases on his hands, and at such a crucial time for the newly-minted Jinshi to be appointed to office…
Gold will always shine, but in the divine capital, gold was everywhere.
Lady Ji wrote back to her hometown with great satisfaction, clearly informing her mother of the final outcome.
At the end, she even stuffed the official document from the Jingzhao Prefecture into the envelope.
A double blow to her fiancé’s reputation in both the divine capital and her hometown.
Perfect.
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