Chapter 79 Blackmail (Part 1) (Second update, seeking collection)

  Early morning. Morning sun. Thin fog. Birds chirping.

  Last night, Jiang Xia got drunk and was not supposed to wake up so early. However, he had a dream that he was drifting on the sea, encountering a huge storm, and his wooden boat was shaking in the water... Finally, the boat capsized, and he fell into the sea. Just as he was about to drown, God called out to him.

  It turns out God is actually a woman.

  Jiang Xia opened his eyes with this thought, and when he quickly regained consciousness, he realized that he had been dreaming earlier. The reason for having such a dream was probably because Cui Ruxue had been shaking him all along, and the voice of God's call he heard was also made by Cui Ruxue.

  "Brother Jiang, you've finally woken up. I made some hangover soup for you, would you like to drink some first?" Cui Ruxue asked with concern.

  Jiang Xia shook his head, still feeling a bit queasy from last night's excessive drinking. He looked down at the clothes he was wearing and saw that they were all new, seemingly changed into fresh ones. Jiang Xia couldn't help but turn to Cui Ruxue and ask: "Did you change my clothes?"

  Cui Ruxiang's face turned red, and she said in a low voice: "It was me and my sister who changed it for you."

  Looking at Cui Ruxue's shy appearance, Jiang Xia smiled and teased: "What's there to be shy about? Sooner or later, you'll have to let them see. However, you must remember that once they've seen it, they'll have to take responsibility."

  Upon hearing Jiang Xia's words, Cui Ruxue became even more flustered and ran out of the room with a red face. As she exited the door, she said: "Get up quickly, Taifu is waiting for you in the guest hall."

  After seeing Cui Ruxue leave, Jiang Xia lay on the bed for a few more minutes before getting up.

  After washing up, Jiang Xia put on a brand new set of clothes and walked out. When he arrived at the guest hall, he saw Li Dongyang and Jun Yang.

  Li Dongyang sat in a chair, savoring the top-grade Longjing tea from Xiangyao Villa, while Jun Yang stood in the corner, and if one didn't pay attention, he would be easily overlooked by ordinary people.

  Jiang Xia nodded slightly to Jun Yang, which was a greeting, while Jun Yang only slightly lowered his chin and then had no other reaction. It's not clear if it's because they're both skilled swordsmen who are always so cool, one Zhong Bin and one Jun Yang, both excel at using swords and are equally cool.

  It's shameful to pretend to be cool...

  Jiang Xia silently recited the four words in his heart and then walked up to Li Dongyang, bowed and said: "Disciple pays respects to Master."

  "Hmm." Li Dongyang put down the Longjing tea on a small side table and said, "Wine is something that should be drunk in moderation, don't overdo it, or else it's easy to harm your body, remember."

  "Yes, I remember." Jiang Xia said.

  "Hmm." Li Dongyang responded slightly and said: "The people who captured you and several others yesterday at the Wucheng Military Mansion were the third and sixth sons of the Minister of War, Mao Wenrui's family. Now both are still being held, whether or not they will be released mainly depends on your attitude. Later, Mao Wenrui will come to see you, prepare yourself and think about what to say."

  The son of the Minister of War. Jiang Xia was still somewhat surprised when he first heard this, although he had guessed yesterday that Mao Tianning and Mao Tianjing's identities were not simple, but he did not expect their identities to be so powerful. However, what made Jiang Xia even more unexpected was Li Dongyang's attitude, his sentence "whether or not to let him out mainly depends on your attitude" contained at least two meanings.

  First, this is obviously a hint, implying that Jiang Xia will wait for Mao Wenju to come and extort him properly. Second, this is also a statement, meaning that our background is greater than the Minister of War, so we don't need to worry about him or give him much face.

  Receiving this hint, Jiang Xia nodded excitedly and said: "Yes, disciple remembered."

  "Alright. I've already asked Junyang to excuse you from the Imperial Academy, so you don't have to go today. As your teacher, it's inconvenient for me to meet with Mao Wenhui, so I'll leave first."

  Li Dongyang stood up as he spoke.

  "Master, slow down."

  After sending Li Dongyang away, Jiang Xia returned to the Xianyao Mountain Villa and had breakfast. As soon as he finished eating, Han Yu rushed over and told Jiang Xia: "Brother Jiang, there is someone who claims to be the Minister of War, now at the gate of Xianyao Mountain Villa, wanting to come in and see you."

  Jiang Xia nodded slightly and said calmly: "Let him come in, I'll wait for him here."

  "Good." Seeing Jiang Xia say this so lightly and carefreely, it seemed as if he didn't take the Minister of War seriously at all. Han Yu was secretly shocked in his heart.

  Before long, a man in his fifties, tall and burly, walked into the Xiangyao Mountain Villa with two bodyguards. Under Han Yu's leadership, they arrived at the guest hall to meet Jiang Xia.

  Han Yu introduced Jiang Xia to the man and then retreated. Jiang Xia pretended to be stupid and asked knowingly: "Who are you..."

  "Mao Wenruo has been appointed as the Minister of War." Mao Wenruo said to Jiang Xia.

  His tone was very polite, which made Jiang Xia even more convinced that Li Dongyang could completely suppress Mao Wenzhao. Of course, the actual situation was naturally not so.

  Li Dongyang has already retired, where is it possible to still suppress the head of the military officials Mao Wenhui, even if Li Dongyang had not retired at that time, Mao Wenhui would not have given him much face.

  He was so polite to Jiang Xia today because of everything he had experienced before.

  This morning, just as the court session was about to begin, several officials stood up and accused Mao Wenru of being incompetent and allowing his son to abuse power. A group of civil officials joined in, and Mao Wenru was so overwhelmed that he couldn't say a word.

  The emperor then rebuked Mao Wenhui in front of all the civil and military officials, and removed Mao Tianning from his official position in the Ministry of War.

  Early in the morning, Mao Wenzhao, who was dissatisfied, went to the Qianqing Palace to see Zhu Houzhao. When Zhu Houzhao saw Mao Wenzhao, Mao Wenzhao looked wronged and said that those officials were bullying him with their numbers, and also complained that the Imperial Guards had overstepped their authority and arrested his two sons.

  After saying all this, Mao Wenhui knelt on the ground and asked Zhu Houzhao to take charge for him. However, Zhu Houzhao just smiled faintly and told Mao Wenhui that he had already known everything he said.

  He told Mao Wenju that he could issue an edict to let the Embroidered Uniform Guard release Mao Tianning and Mao Tianjing, but first Mao Wenju had to appease the seven people who were arrested by the Five Cities Military Commission and calm their anger, especially Jiangxia's anger, otherwise he would not let it go like this.

  Who is Jiang Xia?

  Mao Wenhui left after the early morning court session and sent someone to investigate this person. He was in charge of the Ministry of War, and his ability to gather information was not inferior to that of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot. Soon, the news came back.

  Jiang Xia was originally one of the bosses of Qunfang Pavilion, but later Qunfang Pavilion was closed by Shuntian Prefecture under the hint of Taifu Li Dongyang. Here is a special note that the behind-the-scenes boss of Qunfang Pavilion was Liu Jin.

  Originally, Mao Wenhui thought that Jiang Xia was Liu Jin's person, but the subsequent news made Mao Wenhui even more shocked. After the Qunfang Pavilion was closed, Jiang Xia opened the Xiangyang Mountain Villa, and the house of that Xiangyang Mountain Villa was actually given by Shi Wei, the former Minister of Works, to Zhang Yong.

  This completely confused Mao Wenzhu, as it was a well-known fact in the court that Liu Jin and Zhang Yong were not on good terms with each other, so how did these two men both get involved with this Jiang Xia?

  What thoroughly made Mao Wenju understand everything was the last message, there were rumors that the emperor often came and went to the Xiangyang Mountain Villa, and had a good relationship with Jiang Xia, and the Xiangyang Mountain Villa suspected of having the emperor's shares.

  This message almost made Mao Wenzhao vomit blood, what a complicated relationship is this? Liu Jin's partner used Zhang Yong's house and the emperor to make a deal. Then he also took the current Taifu Li Dongyang as his master.

  Liu Jin and Zhang Yong were on bad terms, Zhang Yong and Li Dongyang were also on bad terms, Li Dongyang was on bad terms with both Liu Jin and Zhang Yong, but the three of them got along very well with Jiang Xia...

  Li didn't bother to clarify the situation again, and Mo Wenju stopped trying to make sense of it. Anyway, he now understood that Jiang Xia's background was not ordinary, and this person could only be befriended, not offended.

  After careful consideration, Mao Wencai went home and fetched a precious object, then hastily brought someone to Xiangyang Mountain Villa to see Jiang Xia.

  Now that they've met, Jiang Xia's youth still greatly surprised Mao Wenju. Jiang Xia didn't intentionally show off to Mao Wenju, but instead was very polite and invited Mao Wenju to take a seat, then had someone bring over tea and pastries.

  Jiang Xia said politely to Mao Wen, "I'm just running a small business, but I didn't expect the Minister to visit. My humble shop is truly honored. Would you please write a few words for me as a memento?"

  "Alright, alright, to be honest with you, I came this time to apologize to Young Master Jiang." Although Jiang Xia's attitude was polite, Mao Wenju didn't dare to take it lightly and also responded with great politeness. It can be said that except for when facing the Emperor, Mao Wenju had never been so polite before, and now he was being so polite to Jiang Xia.

  "Apologize?" Jiang Xia continued to pretend ignorance: "I don't know Lord Mao at all, why would Lord Mao say such a thing?"

  As expected, he's not a simple character. Mao Wenhui thought to himself, how could Jiang Xia not know why he came? Even if the Emperor didn't say anything, at least Li Dongyang must have told him.

  Mao Wenju smiled awkwardly and said, "To be honest, the two people who had a conflict with you at Tianxiang Building last night are actually my third and sixth sons. I came here today to apologize to you on their behalf."

  "What? Those two last night were... Lord Gongzi?" Jiang Xia made an exaggerated expression of surprise.

  He shook his head and said, "Oh my, I didn't expect it at all. The two young masters didn't mention their family background at all. If I had known earlier, these things would not have happened. Don't worry, sir, since you've personally stepped in, I'll definitely give you face. I can say that I absolutely don't blame the two young masters now."

  "Huh?" Mao Wenju didn't expect Jiang Xia to be so easy to talk to, this was somewhat different from his expectations.

  Just as Mao Wengju was secretly admiring Jiang Xia's behavior, Jiang Xia furrowed his brow and shook his head, saying: "Alas, unfortunately, the two young masters who committed an offense last night were not just me alone, but all twenty-eight people in the Tianban of the Imperial Academy. Even if I didn't mind, those other twenty-seven people..."

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