As soon as the imperial edict was announced, an uproar swept through the entire mansion.
Although the position of prime minister was highly esteemed, it was different from the titles of princes and nobles, which could be passed down through generations.
The prime minister had abundant resources in the officialdom, but for his descendants to embark on an official career, they themselves had to be outstanding enough.
Yun Qi, though young, was already a prodigy renowned in the capital. Even Li, the grand tutor who was the nephew of the empress dowager and responsible for instructing the second prince, was full of praise after accidentally reading Yun Qi's essays.
He claimed that Yun Qi was highly talented in literature and had great ambition, and was bound to achieve great things in the future!
Li the grand tutor had intended several times to select Yun Qi as a study companion for the second prince. However, when he brought it up in front of Prime Minister Yun Sheng, he was politely declined.
This time, by a stroke of luck, Yun Qi had saved the second prince, which deeply touched Concubine Yu. She went to the emperor especially to ask for rewards and even managed to obtain the title of third - rank gentlewoman for Yun Qi's birth mother, Lady Jiang!
It should be noted that before this, the old lady of the prime minister's mansion and Su Yun had both received imperial titles from the former emperor. As a concubine, Lady Jiang was not considered presentable and had no qualification for a title at all.
Moreover, some time ago, the rumor that Lady Jiang had once been a government - owned prostitute had spread like wildfire in the capital. Although it had been quickly quelled, others had no way to verify the truth.
However, the prime minister's mansion had clarified to the public that Lady Jiang was just a concubine in the mansion and had never been elevated to the status of a main wife!
As a result, not only had Lady Jiang become the laughingstock of the public, but even Yun Ni, who was usually high - and - mighty, had to rein in her arrogance and had been in low spirits for a long time. She rarely attended gatherings of noble ladies.
She was afraid that others would use this incident to shame her!
However, Yun Qi had made great achievements. Not only had he received the emperor's commendation himself, but Lady Jiang had also benefited from her son's success and received a title. She was able to turn over a new leaf and hold her head up high again both inside and outside the prime minister's mansion!
The old lady was overjoyed. She took the imperial edict, rewarded the palace servants with a heavy bag of gold, put her arm around Yun Qi's shoulder, and praised him proudly. Finally, she ordered someone to carefully enshrine the imperial edict in the Yun family's ancestral hall.
Even her attitude towards Lady Jiang had become much more amiable. She no longer wore a cold expression.
"Grandmother, for such a good thing, shouldn't our family celebrate it properly?"
Yun Ni had shaken off her previous dejection. Thanks to her younger brother, she felt proud and was eager to show off to the whole capital.
The old lady was in high spirits, and Yun Ni's words hit the right spot. She immediately said,
"Of course! Not only should we hold a celebration, but we should make it grand! I want everyone in the capital to see what an outstanding young man the descendant of our prime minister's mansion is!"
Some time ago, because of Lady Jiang's incident, the prime minister's mansion had almost lost all its face. God knew how those opportunistic people had gossiped about the mansion behind their backs.
Now that such a good thing had happened, it was just the right opportunity to vent her anger!
"Mother, I think it's unnecessary. After all, it's just a small matter and not worth mentioning to outsiders."
The old lady was beaming with joy, but Yun Sheng suddenly poured cold water on her, which immediately made the old lady frown. She scolded,
"Now that Qi'er has such good fortune, how can you say it's a small matter? Tell me, which other young man is as promising as him?"
Ignoring her son's embarrassed look, the old lady insisted on holding a banquet. Her gaze turned to Yun Xi and she ordered,
"Now that you're in charge of the family affairs, you're responsible for handling this matter well. After I choose an auspicious day, I'll send someone to inform you!"
After saying this, the old lady still seemed a bit worried. She told Nanny Qian beside her,
"For this matter, you should personally supervise the eldest young lady. Make sure she does it well and doesn't try to save money."
"Yes, old madam."
Nanny Qian replied obediently and gave Yun Xi a sharp look.
Watching this scene, Yu Zhu felt a mix of emotions and was a bit indignant. She was about to say something for her young lady when Yun Xi stopped her and gently shook her head.
She had long known that the old lady didn't trust her.
The reason the old lady had handed over the power of managing the family to her was only because she had the Yun surname and there was no one else available to take this position for the time being.
A mere Nanny Qian was not worth her attention. It was Lady Jiang, who had become much more composed, that she should be more vigilant about in the future.
After all, having become a third - rank gentlewoman, all the ladies without official ranks had to pay respectful greetings to Lady Jiang when they met her. Even within the mansion, Lady Jiang's status had soared.
Even if she made a mistake in the mansion, as long as she retained her title, she couldn't be easily punished.
Only when the emperor personally deprived her of the title could she be dealt with otherwise!
This was undoubtedly like giving Lady Jiang an amulet, which would surely make Yun Xi's struggle with Lady Jiang more difficult in the future!
Yun Xi walked out of the main courtyard. Lost in thought, she didn't notice Yun Sheng calling her from behind.
"Miss, the master is calling you."
Yu Zhu tugged at Yun Xi's sleeve and reminded her awkwardly.
Since the last time her mistress was framed by Lady Jiang and got sick after coming back from the master's study, Yu Zhu had noticed that there were fewer and fewer smiles on Yun Xi's face.
Especially when the master was mentioned, her young lady always seemed tired and didn't want to talk about it.
Since Yu Zhu had mostly been away from Yun Xi that day, she didn't know what had been said between the father and daughter. Every time she wanted to ask for the reason, Yun Xi always evaded the question.
Now, Yun Sheng had called Yun Xi several times, but Yun Xi seemed to turn a deaf ear. No one knew whether she really didn't hear or deliberately ignored him.
Tugged by Yu Zhu, Yun Xi stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her father walking towards her.
"Father, what do you want?"
Her attitude was neither cold nor warm, and her smile seemed forced.
Knowing that his daughter had become estranged from him since the last incident, Yun Sheng couldn't hide his helplessness in his eyes.
"Regarding the banquet your grandmother mentioned, you don't have to put too much effort into it. Just leave it to others. I'll talk to your grandmother myself."
Hearing her father's words, Yun Xi was slightly taken aback. Looking at his somewhat gloomy face, she lifted her lips and said,
"Brother Qi is so promising. Shouldn't father be happy? Why do you look so worried?"
Leaving aside her feud with Lady Jiang, Yun Xi had a fairly good impression of this younger brother. Yun Qi was neither as scheming as Lady Jiang nor as domineering as Yun Ni. He was a rare reasonable person in the prime minister's mansion.
However, even so, he was just a ten - year - old boy. In order to protect those he cherished, it was inevitable that he would lose his principles.
And wasn't her father also because of this younger brother's request that he had always remembered the agreement from years ago and refused to drive Lady Jiang out of the prime minister's mansion!
Looking at his daughter's sarcastic expression, Yun Sheng felt heart - broken, but he still patiently said,
"For Yun Qi to gain such an honor at a young age is not necessarily a good thing, especially when it involves the royal family. It's like walking on thin ice."
Serving the emperor was like being with a tiger. Once involved in the royal power struggle, it was as if there was a knife hanging over one's head all the time. Having been in the officialdom for so many years, Yun Sheng naturally knew the drawbacks well.
According to his idea, he didn't want his descendants to get involved in official careers in the future.
This was also the reason why he didn't want his daughter to get too close to Qi Rong!