The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort (Chapters 1- 203)

Chapter 130 : Imprisonment

Jin Er was somewhat astounded by this. It was rare for Lu Zhu to speak softly and beseech anyone; on thinking about it, she must really be devoted to Jiang Ruan. As a subordinate himself, he greatly admired loyalty in people. He smiled and said, "I would still protect Miss even if you didn't tell me to. You should be careful as well." Having said this, he moved away swiftly without looking back.

When Lu Zhu turned around, Tian Zhu was just coming out of the residence. With a frosty expression on her face, she said, "We will make our move tonight."

* * *

The news that Jiang Ruan had been arrested by the officers spread like wildfire through the capital in the shortest time possible, and the city was ablaze with chatter. Ever since Hong'an Junzhu had returned to the capital, she had enjoyed unreserved praise, and she also had an elder brother who was like a war god. Thus, all the common people had been extremely fond of her. Who knew that such a situation would suddenly explode out of nowhere; it was really such a shame. Yet there were those who loved to kick people when they were down. Therefore they claimed that they had long foreseen that Jiang Ruan was discontented and that her charming appearance concealed a vicious heart, such that not even her own blood-related grandmother could escape her clutches. She was truly malicious.

Meanwhile, the object of discussion, Jiang Ruan, was at that moment quietly leaning against the damp and cold walls of the prison, looking down at the dirty straw before her.

In reality, the evidence which Second Yiniang possessed was not enough to convict her. Even though she had Cai Que's testimony, it would still not be easy to bring her down. Jiang Dan was not someone who was short-sighted, so there must be other twists and turns in store for her.

The officer in charge was named Li Qiang. For the patrol station to have so quickly received the official arrest warrant for Jiang Ruan, it could only have been on the orders of Hu Qian Qiu, the Regional Inspector of the Censorate[1]?. And, this Hu Qian Qiu . . . A sliver of frigid intent flashed across Jiang Ruan's eyes. Second Yiniang was the shu daughter of the Minister of Appointments. When young, she had had a childhood sweetheart in the form of her older cousin on her mother's side. This person was none other than Hu daren, Hu Qian Qiu, presently the Regional Inspector of the Censorate. However, at that time, Hu Qian Qiu's family background did not match up to Second Yiniang's fu, and the Minister of Appointments wanted to use Second Yiniang to establish good relations with Jiang fu, and so their fated marriage was broken off.

[1] 御史台 yùshǐ tái [Pre-Ming] / 检察院 jiǎn chá yuàn [Post-Ming]) – The Censorate. A branch of the centralized bureaucracy parallelling the Six Ministries under the direct control of the Emperor. They were the Emperor's eyes and ears and checked the administrators at each level of government to prevent corruption and malfeasance. Generally, they were feared and disliked by the other ministers. Based on the Hucker dictionary, the Regional Inspector in the Ming dynasty had the duty of an investigating censor. He has a once per year assignment to tour all localities in the jurisdiction to observe government activities and audit accounts etc.

Li Qiang was Second Yiniang's eldest nephew, and Hu Qian Qiu was SecondYiniang's former lover. Clearly, Jiang Ruan had been imprisoned due to their plotting. Hu Qian Qiu had held his current position for many years, and was firmly ensconced. In truth, he did have some ability, and it was hard to believe he would stick his neck out for Second Yiniang. On thinking about it further, the largesse that Second Yiniang had shown the Jiang fu's servants over the past few days must have been to ensure that if she failed, she would not go down by herself – she would take all of them with her.