Five Years After My Death, the Mad Emperor Still Summons My Spirit

Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Someone Surnamed Jiang Again

"Qin Shiqi asked you to issue a marriage decree?" For a moment, Ming Lingyi was at a loss for words.

’Didn’t they say the Qin family’s daughter hadn’t even met with Jiang Yuchuan yet? And Qin Shiqi just rushed to the palace to request a marriage decree?’

"For Jiang Yuchuan?" Ming Lingyi asked.

Li Yun was about to speak, but at Ming Lingyi’s sudden question, his expression changed abruptly. His entire demeanor turned icy.

"Did Jiang tell you?" Li Yun’s face darkened. ’I really underestimated how shameless and reckless Jiang Yuchuan could be. He knew perfectly well that Yuan Niang is my wife, yet he still dared to secretly approach her again when I wasn’t looking, and to talk about such private matters!’

Ming Lingyi hummed in affirmation and looked up at him. "What are you so jealous about this time?"

Li Yun was speechless.

"Can’t I even chat with a friend?" Ming Lingyi asked.

Li Yun fell silent again.

’Of course, it’s not that I don’t want Lingyi to have friends,’ he thought. ’But out of everyone in the world, out of all the different friends she could make, why did it have to be Jiang Yuchuan, the one man I can’t stand?’

"Of course not," Li Yun said, not meaning a word of it. "I just think the work at the Ministry of Justice must be too light. He certainly has plenty of time and leisure to discuss these things with you."

Li Yun secretly clenched his fists.

Ming Lingyi’s expression showed she didn’t believe him for a second. "He asked you to decree a marriage. Did you agree?"

Li Yun was silent.

’When he’d heard who Qin Shiqi wanted the marriage decree for, he had nearly burst out laughing. If he had been just a little more impulsive, the imperial edict might already be at the Jiang family’s gate by now.’

Now that Ming Lingyi had asked, Li Yun suddenly regretted not having acted on that impulse and made the decision right then and there.

Especially now that he knew Jiang Yuchuan had dared to visit Ming Lingyi again while he was away.

"So you didn’t," Ming Lingyi said, instantly seeing through his sullen expression. A hint of a smile touched her eyes. "I knew it."

Li Yun retorted, "...It’s not as if I can’t issue the decree for them right now."

"Then you’d be doing the Qin and Xie families a huge favor," Ming Lingyi said.

Li Yun had no response.

Still, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t get over his irritation with Jiang Yuchuan. "Whoever he marries, what does that have to do with you? Why would he come talk to you about it?"

His words were dripping with jealousy, but he had to say them.

"Just making small talk," Ming Lingyi replied.

"Then why doesn’t he come make small talk with me?" Li Yun grumbled.

He made no effort to hide his grumbling, however, and Ming Lingyi heard him loud and clear.

Ming Lingyi put a hand to her forehead, deliberately changing the subject. "It was likely the Xie family who approached Qin Shiqi about the marriage alliance. Due to their recent internal strife over family business, all the Xie family’s shops in Shangjing City are being crushed by the Zhang Family, leaving them unable to fight back. But the Xie family is probably having a hard time finding a capable person to manage their affairs right now; they’re in complete disarray internally. The major families in Shangjing City are all well aware of each other’s business holdings. When Qin Shiqi followed... the previous Emperor to Shangjing, he may have lacked foresight, but he had a love for money. He bought up a lot of storefronts in Shangjing City, so now the Qin Family can be considered one of the wealthy families in the Capital City."

At this, Ming Lingyi smiled faintly. "It’s hard to say whether Xie Jupu really wants to join forces with the Qin Family to deal with the Zhang Family, or if he’s just planning to swallow the Qin Family’s businesses whole."

If Jiang Yuchuan weren’t involved in this, she, for her own part, would actually be quite happy to see the two families form a marriage alliance.

It might just end up being a dog-eat-dog fight, with both sides getting bitten.

’Since when would someone like Xie Jupu ever respect a man like Qin Shiqi, who clawed his way up from a common background into the ranks of Shangjing’s elite?’

Even if Ming Lingyi had once been completely oblivious to the world, she still knew the dispositions of these families.

Li Yun said, "Exactly. You can see it clearly, but Qin Shiqi can’t." He couldn’t help but sneer. "And he actually came to me today, hoping I would decree the marriage. I think he’s getting old, and his mind is getting addled."

Li Yun, of course, knew why Qin Shiqi wanted an alliance with the Xie family. Of all the civil servants and military generals who had followed his father from the Northwest Battlefield and fought their way into the Capital City, only the Qin Family had been consistently shunned by Shangjing City’s elite circles over the years.

Qin Shiqi attributed this all to the fact that the Qin Family had never been a great, established house, which was why they could never fully integrate with Shangjing’s high society.

Little did he know, it had very little to do with his origins.

At a banquet long ago, Qin Shiqi had openly made a pass at one of the late Emperor’s women. Even if she was a minor concubine who had never received the Emperor’s favor, that was still not something a subject should ever do.

If the great families who had been entrenched in Shangjing City for generations didn’t possess sharp political instincts, they would have been swept away by the river of time long ago. How else could they have survived to this day?

The great families did not look favorably upon Qin Shiqi. Getting entangled with a man like him... it would be hard to say whether it was a marriage alliance or just dragging one’s own family into a pit of fire.

So now that Xie Jupu had hinted at wanting to arrange a marriage for his eldest nephew, Qin Shiqi was already scrambling to take the bait.

"So what are you going to do?" Ming Lingyi asked. "You only stalled Qin Shiqi today. You didn’t agree, but you didn’t refuse him either, did you?"

Li Yun nodded. But now... he was actually rather tempted to issue the marriage decree.

Ming Lingyi saw the dangerous thought in his eyes. "Don’t you dare do anything reckless."

Li Yun argued stubbornly, "How is that reckless? Matters of marriage have always been decided by one’s parents and arranged by a matchmaker. Since that Jiang fellow’s parents are no longer around, it’s perfectly justifiable for Xie Jupu to arrange his marriage."

Ming Lingyi didn’t bother arguing the point. She simply said in a level voice, "My parents are still alive, as is my brother. If I were to return home someday, my parents would certainly find a good match for me. Preferably a simple, ordinary..."

Ming Lingyi hadn’t even finished her sentence—"a man from a common family"—before the color drained from Li Yun’s face.

"Absolutely not!" Li Yun cut in, his expression turning grim.

Ming Lingyi raised an eyebrow, watching him with calm amusement. "And why not? Weren’t you the one who just said marriage is a matter for one’s parents and a matchmaker to decide?"

Li Yun was at a loss for words.

He hadn’t expected his own words to come back and bite him so quickly.

"Well, that depends on the situation, doesn’t it?" Li Yun explained, frustrated. Finally, he yielded under Ming Lingyi’s steady gaze, admitting defeat. "Alright, alright, I get it. I won’t issue a marriage decree for them. Is that what you want to hear?"

Ming Lingyi said, "An imperial marriage decree would be giving Qin Shiqi far too much honor. He is not worthy of it."

Of course, her stopping him wasn’t entirely because of Jiang Yuchuan. The truth was, neither the Xie family nor the Qin Family was worthy of an imperial marriage decree issued by Li Yun.

Li Yun knew that, but her earlier words had made him so angry that he felt a knot of frustration tighten in his chest. He was silent for a long while, the feeling stuck there.

Seeing his reaction, Ming Lingyi sighed in resignation and gave his shoulder a gentle push. "Hey, Li Yun, why are you so petty?"