Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 509 Qin Baolian (1)

Two days later.

As instructed by Consort Chun, Princess Yongping spearheaded a fundraising event at Lingxi Manor. Unlike previous gatherings of women at poetry recitals and banquets, this time the invitations clearly stated that the purpose was to raise funds for the disaster-stricken people of Yan and Yu provinces. Now that the fundraising was over, Princess Yongping sorted out the donations and submitted her petition to the palace.

Upon arriving at Huining Palace, Mengzhu led her all the way to the rear palace.

"Your Highness has arrived early today." Consort Chun and Meng Shu were already waiting in the palace.

Meng Shu noticed Princess Yongping's expression. The princess was usually cheerful and outgoing, but today her face was unusually solemn.

Princess Yongping bowed first, then took a booklet wrapped in blue cloth from the maid behind her and handed it to Consort Chun. “Your Highness, please take a look at this booklet. Although there are fewer refugees fleeing the disaster than before, I just received news from a caravan in Yuzhou yesterday that the situation in the disaster area is more serious than we expected.”

Consort Chun took the booklet, and just as her fingertips touched the pages, Meng Shu frowned and asked, "His Majesty issued an edict a few days ago, ordering the nearby prefectures to temporarily resettle the refugees, and the Ministry of Revenue also allocated 30,000 dan of grain to be sent to eastern Henan. How could the situation have worsened? Could it be that the grain has not been delivered?"

"Some supplies have been delivered, but..." Before Princess Yongping could finish speaking, Consort Chun interrupted her coldly, "Those who embezzled disaster relief funds have already been beheaded by imperial decree. Does anyone else dare to defy the order and embezzle life-saving grain?"

“It’s not just embezzlement.” Princess Yongping sighed softly. “With the prolonged drought, banditry has increased in the area, targeting merchant caravans transporting grain and silver, as well as fleeing civilians. The caravan manager said that a few days ago, a grain caravan was robbed by bandits as soon as it reached the foot of the mountain. Several of the guards were injured, and all the grain was stolen. The government has been delaying sending troops to suppress them, citing insufficient manpower. And that’s indeed the case. The local garrison is already short of food and pay; the soldiers can’t even get enough to eat, so how can they have the strength to fight bandits?”

"The princess has raised over 100,000 taels of silver for charity. That's quite a sum, which shows her influence among the women in the capital." Consort Chun opened the booklet, looked at the total amount on the first page, and spoke with great approval.

Meng Shu leaned closer to take a closer look, her gaze sweeping over the donation list below, and she quickly noticed the key details.

Next to Madam Yun's name, only ten thousand taels were recorded, a relatively small donation. However, the families of several military officers, led by Madam Jiang of the Zhenbei Marquis's residence, donated over fifty thousand taels, accounting for nearly half of the total. The donations from Madam Su and several other civil officials' families totaled only about ten thousand taels. The Princess's residence and the Duke of Rui's residence donated a combined fifty thousand taels.

Upon hearing this, Princess Yongping smiled helplessly: "Of the 30,000 taels under the name of the Princess's residence, it was sent by the Marquis of Lin'an's residence and donated in the name of the Princess's residence. The Noble Consort and the Marquis are very righteous and it is a blessing for the people of Great Zhou. I have already sorted out the details of the subsequent counting of the charitable silver, the summary of donations from the palace, and the coordination of the transportation of supplies. I will now hand it over to the people in the palace to handle. I can say that I have not failed Your Highness's trust and that I have done my duty."

After saying that, Princess Yongping suddenly changed the subject, her gaze falling on Consort Chun, her expression showing some hesitation, "Does Your Highness still remember a girl named Qin Baolian?"

"Baolian?" Consort Chun paused upon hearing this, having just handed the booklet to Meng Shu beside her.

"That was my close friend before I entered the palace, the third young lady of the Qin family, who was then the Assistant Prefect of Lin'an Prefecture. She was cheerful and thoughtful. Back when I was in Lin'an, I often went boating on the lake and drinking tea with her. Why would the Princess suddenly mention her today?"

As Meng Shu listened, she also thought of this Miss Qin.

She was indeed a straightforward and warm-hearted girl, and she had always had a good relationship with Consort Chun. When she left Lin'an, she came to the Tang residence every day to accompany her on her farewell. However, later, Consort Chun entered the Prince's residence and was promoted step by step to the rank of Consort. The two were separated by palace walls and thousands of miles, and gradually lost contact.

She also had an older brother named Qin Yandu, who, though born out of wedlock, was renowned for his talent. After passing the imperial examinations, he relied on the Tang family's connections to serve as the magistrate of Jinan County. During the years Green Willow was in Jinan, she sent word that the Qin family's son had achieved considerable political success and was highly respected by the people.

Thinking of this, Meng Shuwei had a feeling and guessed why Princess Yongping mentioned Miss Qin.

Miss Qin the Third married into Yuzhou.

Consort Chun clearly remembered this matter as well, her face showing worry and her brows furrowing slightly.

"Rumors about her have already spread in the capital. I overheard some ladies talking about it a few days ago at a fundraising banquet at Lingxi Manor."

Princess Yongping picked up her teacup, took a sip, and said slowly, "This Miss Qin Baolian, although not from a top-tier noble family, is the legitimate daughter of the current prefect of Lin'an, and her status is quite respectable. Her husband's family is a military commander surnamed Jiang in Yuzhou, who is the highest-ranking military officer in the corruption case that His Majesty is cracking down on this time."

Consort Chun murmured softly, "So, among the officials who were punished was Baolian's husband... What about her?"

Before she could finish speaking, Princess Yongping's next words caused Consort Chun and Meng Shu to both change color, filled with shock.

"The fact that the corruption case in Yuzhou was able to surface so quickly, preventing those corrupt officials from continuing to cover it up, is all thanks to Qin Baolian." Princess Yongping said with a mix of emotion and admiration. "The prefect of Yuzhou colluded with local military and grain officials to withhold nearly half of the disaster relief grain allocated by the Ministry of Revenue. They either resold it to grain merchants for profit or divided it up privately and hoarded it on their own estates."

"Somehow Qin Baolian found out about this. If it were someone else, they might have hesitated because of their marital relationship, but she didn't hesitate at all. Taking advantage of the time when her husband's family went to inspect the military camp, she had her personal maid disguise herself as a refugee and secretly send out the secret letter and account book."

Consort Chun's eyes darkened as she asked with concern, "How is Baolian now?"

Princess Yongping sighed softly: "They say she's disappeared. It seems the Jiang family can no longer tolerate her, but they dare not act openly because of the Qin family's power. After the incident, she vanished as if she had disappeared into thin air... There are rumors that she was kidnapped by bandits... and others say that she was killed by the Jiang family."

The princess's tone changed, and her expression became solemn: "She has done a great deed. Otherwise, the people of Yuzhou would still be kept in the dark, and countless more people would have starved to death."

Meng Shu, listening from the side, felt her heart sink and said, "Miss Qin's courage and character are truly rare. I saw her straightforwardness and daring back in Lin'an, and she still has such boldness after so many years."

“That’s right.” Princess Yongping nodded in agreement. “Now the people of Yuzhou are all praising her, saying she is a Bodhisattva reincarnated.”

Upon hearing this, Consort Chun could no longer remain seated. "I would trouble the Princess to return and convey a message to the Marquis's residence, instructing them to immediately dispatch capable individuals to search Yuzhou, following every possible clue..."