[COMPLETE] Transmigrated Author: The Quiet Plum

Chapter 71: Green Scroll

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After getting rid of her brother's presence, Qiaoli went to work immediately.

She dismissed Yemin but he didn't wish to leave the room so she just ordered him to sit wherever he liked.

Something Yemin found strange. It seemed the Marquise forgot that he could stand all day without feeling tired.

Qiaoli proceeded to write the letters to be sent to the families of the consorts and her brother's advisor was bothered by the smile on her face.

"My Lady, are you sure about this?" Yemin read the letter when she was done.

"Yes. From now on, this will be our strategy." Qiaoli was confident.

"But this will tarnish your reputation..."

"To smithereens. I don't care. We will do this because it's the most efficient." Seeing him still hesitant, she knew what he was thinking about. "My brother won't like it. Why do you think I schemed to do this secretly?"

She had been studying her brother's political standing and got more in-depth when she got here a few days ago. He wasn't particularly well-liked because he was always away.

The masses mostly saw the Duchess but her appearances were limited when it came to people of the same standing. Charity and keeping the common people happy were good but in this feudalistic age, it was more important to look good to the genteel. So he would have support every time he needed it.

Her brother couldn't afford a bad image because it would be an opening for the opposing forces to tear him to pieces.

That was why, it would be most effective if she would receive all the bad publicity. She would be the diversion to keep the Duke's neutral reputation and turn it into something good.

It was logical for her to appear as the bad sheep. A small sacrifice for her.

"The Marquise's political insight is something the Master has yet to achieve." Yemin thought to himself that his master only knew how to put fear in people. He sighed silently. But the Duke had to put on a mask of a weakling all these years.

Qiaoli smiled. "My arrival will make a lot of people uneasy. To calm them down, it's alright to put up pretenses. Old tigers won't use all their power to crush a spoiled brat."

If she appeared smart and cunning, her brother's enemies would try to eliminate her. They put up with him as the Duke because of his legitimacy and his weak front when not on the battlefield. If he suddenly has a good ally, they will be threatened.

Yemin was also aware of this so he didn't put up a fight anymore.

He just hoped he wouldn't be like the Butler Ping who was being punished right now in the house temple.

Since this was a letter from the duchy house, it was delivered by the fastest couriers and arrived at their recipients' doors within a few hours.

---

A letter from the Marquise Yan,

Several years have passed and one has finally returned to the family home.

This Marquise found out that there have been guests staying here all these years so one has taken up the duties of sending them home with gifts in hand. Our House of Huang is known for the warm welcomes and hearty smiles and this Marquise is hoping you will find these humble gifts tolerable.

This Marquise is delighted to see the Duke and Duchess' relationship is still as loving and devoted as when we were kids. To celebrate this, one has sent off the guests on a happy note.

Vassals and friends, long live to you and our Huang house. Loyal and passionate as ever.

Signed on the 4th day of the month of orchids on this lovely 68th year of the Nuan Emperor Xinyan.

---

Wei Zhou had been in a foul mood since yesterday when her di daughter returned home after a year of staying in the Duke's house.

Never had he been humiliated like this. He was in the midst of scheming how to get back at the Duke when one of the letters on his desk stood out to him.

There was an unusual green scroll among the bunch.

He took it and was surprised to see the Huang crest. A flaming vermillion bird.

But the old man thought nothing as he opened it, thinking it came from the Duke. He had forgotten that the Duke's scrolls would always be in red.

It was a short message but very meaningful. Just the name of the sender left his brow arching already.

Marquise Yan?

As he went on, even his bushy beard seemed to have twisted and gone in different directions.

He couldn't remember a Marquise in the house of Huang.

Unless...

The Huang princess is back? For a moment, Wei Zhou was fraught with fear. He more or less knew what happened all those years ago.

As a distant cousin to the throne, he also played a small part in that incident. He should inform His Majesty about this change.

Wei Zhou got busy with sending a message to the Imperial City, ignoring the wails of his daughter in the back courtyard.

Right now, his daughter being kicked out of the duke's house was the least of his concerns but it wasn't the same for the other maiden families of the consorts. They also received the scroll from Marquise Yan and uttered curses and words of protest.

Guests? This Marquise not only kicked out their daughters but she also called them guests. The meaning was clear, she didn't honor nor acknowledge that they were consorts and concubines.

Which rule was it that a Marquise could interfere with a Duke's house? Who was this Marquise anyway?

How come she appeared out of nowhere?

The Duke who was still oblivious about the storm his sister was brewing was still with his estranged wife, performing their duties.

News spread fast and also got distorted, certainly thanks to Qiaoli telling Yemin to sway the talks in the city.

People were now discussing how the Duke was nothing but a gentleman to his Duchess and that contrary to former rumors, the two seemed to have a great relationship.

They had nearly a hundred anonymous men going around the territory subtly shifting messages. Qiaoli felt like this was the same as the modern way of hiring a PR team to either blacken someone or make someone's reputation fragrant. Being the person that she was, she didn't feel any moral weight.

She had a goal and she just wanted to make sure that she would achieve it. It seemed the elders of the clan wanted to control her brother's rule.

They must have gotten ideas seeing that her brother was always away and his marriage wasn't good. This was the first thing Qiaoli wanted to change.

---

Author:

It's fun writing this work. I admit I drew a blank several times and threw existing outlines away multiple times.  I even thought of dropping this somewhere. But I'm still continuing. 

And somehow, it got back to its status of being an experimental work. Many people stopped reading this long ago. I'm glad you're still here. 

Hopefully, you stay til the end. And hopefully, I stay til the end.