novelden Chapter 745 Ouyang Yan is getting married!
Chapter 745 Ouyang Yan is getting married!
The Zhenhai fleet has been at sea for nearly two months, and the topic of conversation among people in the capital has been updated countless times over.
No single trending topic can stay at the top of the headlines forever, but there's never a shortage of new headlines in Beijing.
The biggest news in recent days is the marriage between Ouyang Yan, the eldest daughter of the Ouyang family, and Lin Qi, the adopted son of Minister Lin.
Yes, it's another marriage.
However, compared to the previous two marriages, this marriage is more eye-catching for two reasons.
The first reason is that Ouyang Yan's family background and Lin Qi's family background are much greater than those of the Five Cities Garrison and the Vice Minister of Rites.
Another reason is that this marriage was granted by the Empress Dowager's imperial decree, which is something other families cannot match.
On the day of Ouyang Yan's wedding, it was a magnificent procession of ten miles of red bridal dowry. The scale, grandeur, and total value of the dowry procession were unmatched by the other two weddings.
Of course, the betrothal gifts from Minister Lin's family before this were also very eye-catching, still far superior to those from the Lin family of the Five Cities Military Command.
Minister Lin is the Minister of War and a trusted minister of the Emperor. Ouyang Yan's father is the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and the Ouyang family is the maternal family of the Empress Dowager.
The two families are quite well-matched.
Ouyang Yan is the only legitimate daughter of the Ouyang family, so her status is self-evident.
Although Lin Qi was adopted by the Lin family, the Lin family had no other male members, so Lin Qi was the only son of Minister Lin and his wife.
Their union was a perfect match, a union of equals, and a powerful alliance.
The political landscape in the court may also undergo new changes because of this marriage.
The biggest change is that the Fifth Prince has become even more withdrawn.
I don't know if they've really behaved themselves, or if they're plotting something bad.
Jiang Xiaoqi never liked to underestimate or belittle the enemy; that would be irresponsible to himself.
Being cautious is never a bad thing.
Even if some effort is wasted, so what? It's just a matter of giving up some more fragrant little cans of food.
He could afford the money, and besides, his cat detective team was quite capable.
After the meeting with the Cat Detective Team that day, Jiang Xiaoqi added "cat hands" to monitor the Fifth Prince's residence.
He sent all of his most capable black cats to the Fifth Prince's residence.
The result was very encouraging; the Fifth Prince was indeed preparing a major move.
"Young master, now that Xiao Hei and the others have delivered the intelligence, shouldn't we take some action?"
"Action? What action should be taken?"
"We all know the Fifth Prince is going to cause trouble, shouldn't we nip it in the bud?"
"I'm asking you, what is the Fifth Prince doing now?"
"Not yet, but he plans to do it."
"Well, we haven't done anything yet, which means we don't have any evidence. How do we take action?"
Tell others that we have a cat detective team, and that the cats have already thoroughly investigated the matter, and that the Fifth Prince is up to no good.
Who can believe that? Do they believe the Fifth Prince is going stir-crazy, or do they believe we've gone mad?!
"Uh, this—"
"Hold your positions and wait for my message."
Since the naval ships entered Japan, Jiang Xiaoqi visited the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace even less frequently.
It wasn't that he was deliberately avoiding suspicion; the Fifth Prince wasn't stupid, and he must know by now that he had sided with the Crown Prince.
As for why they haven't dealt with him and the Jiang family yet, it's probably because they're really short of manpower.
Lacking sufficient financial resources, his most capable people at present are actually Song Jinyang and his sister. Song Qingyu, as a woman, has already begun to show her face in public for the Fifth Prince.
Whether she was being lured in by the promise of a prince's concubine or was genuinely in love with the fifth prince and willingly devoted herself to his cause, it's unclear.
Regardless, the Song siblings are now considered the Fifth Prince's right-hand men.
Although he remained inactive, Jiang Xiaoqi still found an excuse to visit the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace the next day.
"That's how it is. I've used some methods and I'm pretty sure that the Fifth Prince is secretly contacting officials with military power."
He had previously extended his reach to the Ministry of War, but the Minister of War was His Majesty's confidant, and the Fifth Prince only contacted a few minor officials on the periphery, so he couldn't stir up any big trouble.
However, we cannot let our guard down, because sometimes even a small leak can sink a great ship; we must be vigilant.
Jiang Xiaoqi revealed all the information she had obtained, while concealing the presence of the Cat Detective Team.
"Jiang Qing is right. We must be more careful the closer we get to victory."
Two days ago, my father summoned my mother and me again. My father's condition is deteriorating, and I don't know if he will live to see the day when the ships return to port.
I just hope the fleet can pull through and not drag the voyage out too long.
"Come to think of it, they should have arrived in Japan long ago. However, we don't know the current situation inside Japan. I hope Lin Feng and his team have a smooth journey."
“Our armed forces are not weak. If, as Jiang Qing says, Japan is in complete chaos, this is the perfect opportunity for us to reap the benefits.”
Jiang Xiaoqi was only extrapolating the current state of Japan based on a rough timeline. Logically speaking, the Japanese general should be at a point of no return with the Japanese royal family, and the royal family should have been sidelined for a time.
The Japanese royal family is probably so poor now that they can't even afford rice, and drinking a bowl of porridge is like celebrating the New Year.
If an external force were to help them regain control and provide them with sufficient resources at this point, they would likely hand over the silver mining rights without hesitation.
The key lies in whether our soldiers can defeat the Japanese samurai.