Half in the river wind, half in the clouds

In the second year of the Jinglong reign of the Tang Dynasty, Nanyang King Yuan Shu was exiled to Huanzhou. Wu Sansi instructed his accomplice Zhou Lizhen to kill him under the false order of the emperor. Yuan Shu died with hatred in his heart.

At this point, only two years had passed since the restoration of Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian, and all five ministers who had contributed to his enthronement had died.

Thousands of miles away in Liangzhou City, Jiang Feng, the youngest daughter of the Ninth Rank Chief Clerk, finally faced her darkest moment. At this moment, she was in the crowd, watching her once brilliant friend, shackled and crushed into the dust.

All the women of the Yuan family were forced into a prison van, naked and no longer honored. Seventeen-year-old Yuan Ying was squeezed to the front of the van, her clothes torn to pieces, with bruises and blood on her shoulders. She was truly insulted!

Lin Jinran. No! It was Jiang Feng. Her nails had pierced her skin under her sleeves, but she didn't feel any pain.

The crowd of onlookers kept saying dirty words, and their eyes wanted to penetrate the women's torn clothes. Before being convicted, Yuan Ying, as the eldest granddaughter of Nanyang King Yuan Shuji and the jewel in the crown of Liangzhou Governor, was like the bright moon in the sky, an existence that they could never reach.

Jiang Feng's heart was in agony, and he stared at Yuan Ying without blinking.

Yuan Ying also saw her, and she forced a smile on her pale face.

This body is in purgatory, don’t think about it! Don’t think about it!

……

When Jiang Feng returned home, she was inevitably ridiculed and criticized by her grandmother and second sister. They blamed her for being too close to Yuan Ying in the past and were afraid that the Yuan family's case would implicate the Jiang family.

Jiang Feng sneered. Before Yuan Ying fell into trouble, didn’t they also rush to curry favor with her?

Yuan Ying was a noble, bold and free-spirited woman. She took Empress Wu Zetian as her role model and believed that women did not have to rely on men and should also strive for their own careers. She entered the palace at the age of thirteen and although she was the youngest female official around Wu Zetian, she was very trusted.

Unfortunately, after the Shenlong coup, Wu Zetian returned power to Zhongzong. There was no place for female officials like her, so she followed her father to Liangzhou.

It took her only two years to develop her own business territory in Liangzhou. At first, it was just a rouge shop, but later it expanded to cosmetics, jewelry, and fabrics. Almost every shop visited by wealthy ladies was her business.

Her outstanding business ability and courage made Lin Jinran, who traveled from the 21st century, feel inferior. The two of them became close only because when Yuan Ying started her business, Lin Jinran casually said, "Business with women and children is the easiest to do."

And when she encountered a bottleneck, she suggested: "Why not just do high-end business? Make your store a place that ladies and young ladies in Liangzhou yearn for."

She agreed with it deeply and made a lot of money, so she regarded Jiang Feng as her confidant.

Jiang Feng saw in her the most scarce qualities among women in feudal society: self-reliance and independence, and not relying on others.

If Yuan Ying can succeed, she can certainly do it too.

So, at the beginning of her time travel, facing her almost cannibalistic family, it was Yuan Ying who gave her the courage to live and live well.

But today, the North Star in the dark night has disappeared.

Her misfortunes were far more than that.

The newly appointed governor Dou Huairang has ordered his men to surround the Jiang residence.

A group of armored soldiers rushed in, and the Jiang family screamed. The soldiers split into two, and Dou Huairang strode in, followed by a girl. Looking closely, it was Mingque, Yuan Ying's personal maid.

Mingque saw Jiang Feng and suddenly knelt on the ground. He walked to Dou Huairang's side, holding his leg with one hand and pointing at Jiang Feng with the other hand: "Sir! Sir! Give the young lady's things to her."

Jiang Feng steadied his shaky body, forced himself to remain calm, and asked in a trembling voice: "What did Yuan Ying give me?"

Mingque shouted, "It's a banknote! A banknote! A hundred thousand taels of silver!"

The girl's sharp scream startled everyone in the room. Dou Huairang's eyes lit up and he looked at Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng calmed down a bit and said, "Before the Yuan family was convicted, you did come to the mansion, but you only gave me the manuscript of Yuan Ying's poems and essays, not the 100,000 taels of silver."

"My Lord! My Lord! Believe me, all the money my young lady has saved over the years has indeed been given to Miss Jiang! If you don't believe me, you will know it after a search."

Jiang Feng wanted to say something else, but was knocked to the ground by a whistling slap.

Jiang's mother's numb right hand trembled as she looked down at him and reprimanded him, "Since the governor has found out this far, he must have evidence. If you have the banknotes, hand them over quickly, or your father and I will never forgive you."

Is this her biological mother?

Jiang Feng covered her face with her hands and knees, her eyes were bloodshot. She prostrated herself on the ground and spoke word by word: "My Lord, please understand, the 100,000 taels of silver is a figment of my imagination. I have never taken it!"

Mrs. Jiang finally came to her senses. This girl actually secretly hid 100,000 taels of silver. 100,000 taels! A family can't spend it all in several lifetimes! She didn't know whether she was angry that Jiang Feng hid the banknotes or that outsiders knew about it.

Dou Huairang certainly didn't believe Jiang Feng's one-sided statement. A group of people turned the Jiang family upside down, but naturally they couldn't find it. The duck that was in his mouth flew away, how could this be possible! Dou Huairang thought to himself that a fourteen-year-old girl didn't have the courage to hide it privately, and it was most likely the idea of ​​an adult. But if the banknotes were really hidden, how could he find them easily? He was ruthless and finally captured the boss of the Jiang family - Jiang's father, Jiang Jingxiu.

As a "fish that slipped through the net", Jiang Feng was not very lucky. Her grandmother gritted her teeth and cursed: "This girl is the root of trouble, born with bad luck! If you implicate your father, you will not be able to stay!"

She was beaten with whips, her palms were torn, and she was finally thrown into the ancestral hall.

The pain made her sober, and she needed to be sober! Because what Yuan Ying handed over to her was not only the 100,000 taels of silver! But also the imperial seal of the Tang Dynasty!

Jiang Feng didn't know how the imperial seal came into Yuan Ying's hands, but he roughly understood why the current emperor wanted to kill the five ministers who had made great contributions. He was suspected of forcing the emperor to the throne, and he was a "blank emperor", so he naturally tried his best to find the imperial seal.

However, he did not expect that the jade seal was not in the hands of the Five Dragon Kings at all, but fell into the hands of Yuan Ying, who then gave it to Jiang Feng before falling into trouble.

Mingque only confessed the matter of the 100,000 taels of silver and did not mention a word about the imperial seal.

Dou Huairang searched the mansion, was it for the silver or for the imperial seal?

Jiang Feng naturally didn't dare to keep the 100,000 taels of silver. Without power and status, it is impossible to preserve wealth, and if things go wrong, it may even cost one's life and property, as Yuan Ying is a precedent. She wanted to save Yuan Ying, but she really didn't dare to count on her three relatives who were greedy for money, so she simply gave all the silver notes to Dou Huairang's second son, Dou Ding. She hoped to plead with his father and save Yuan Ying, so that even if she was convicted and sold, she would not fall into the worst situation.

Even if Dou Huairang arrested Jiang's father, she couldn't tell anyone in public that she had given the banknote to Dou Ding. She needed Dou Huairang to accept the money peacefully.

Only when he had no worries could he show leniency to Yuan Ying.

Only after he searches the mansion will he believe that the jade seal is not in Jiang Feng's hands.

……

Inside the Dou Mansion, the main hall was filled with silence.

Dou Huairang and Madam Dou looked solemn, while Dou Ding knelt on the ground with a look of suspicion on his face.

"Why did father want to arrest Lord Jiang? Jiang Feng has already taken the silver..."

"Shut up!" Dou Huairang shouted at Dou Ding, sighed, and then kindly warned: "Father has his own arrangements, don't reveal even a single word about the money. If it gets out, not only Lord Jiang, but even that girl will be gone."

Dou Ding was silent. Although he was a playboy, he knew the seriousness of the matter.

After Dou Ding left, Madam Dou looked at her husband's face and asked in a low voice, "I don't think a saint would give a treasure to a little girl."

"My eldest brother said that not many people had the opportunity to touch the imperial seal during the palace coup that day. Yuan Shuyi and others were the most suspicious. Wu Sansi tried every means but got nothing, and the current emperor was very angry. We originally thought that if Empress Wu Zetian really entrusted the imperial seal to her, we could also get great credit! Alas!" Dou Huairang looked unwilling and slammed his fist on the table.

"Master, don't be angry! Let alone the complicated situation in the capital, how can the wealth and honor gained by relying on partial merit last long? Master is now the governor of Liangzhou, a local lord, and has the support of his elder brother in the court. If he manages slowly, he will be promoted. Moreover..." Madam Dou glanced at her husband, made a "ten" gesture with her right hand, and said to hide her joy, "This is not a small amount, and there is no account to check, but it came into our hands for nothing."

Dou Huairang nodded slightly, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "The girl from the Jiang family is really honest. She was so sincere in saving Yuan Ying that she didn't even tell her parents. I searched the Jiang family carefully under the pretext of the banknotes." As he spoke, he shook his head, "It shouldn't be in the hands of these two girls."

Mrs. Dou didn't care about the imperial seal. It was enough for her to be an official and have money to spend. She asked tentatively, "What about Jiang Zhubu and the maid of the Yuan family?"

Dou Huairang said, "Yuan Ying was specifically requested by the higher-ups. Even if she sends another 100,000 taels, I can do nothing about it. Jiang Jingxiu will just be locked up for a few more days!"

Seeing Madam Dou's puzzled expression, he added, "You have to put on a good show! After he leaves, you can go to the Jiang family to comfort him for me, and that's it."

Sure enough, five days later, Jiang's father came back with a shaky step. The first thing he did when he came back was to break Jiang Feng's legs with a stick.

Jiang Feng had been locked up in the ancestral hall, with only a bowl of porridge a day to sustain his life.

When Jiang's father staggered and pushed open the door of the ancestral hall, he felt pity when he saw his thin and weak daughter who was barely breathing.

"Jiang Feng, you escaped again!" Lin Jinran muttered to himself when he saw Jiang's father throw away the wooden stick as thick as his arm.

But she didn't know at that time what kind of twists and turns this jade seal would drag her into. Years later, when she experienced emotional pain and left Chang'an, she really knew that there was no way to go, and it would be difficult to go.