The Wife is First - 95 Chapter 95 Conspiracy

“The fourth son died in infancy?” Jing Shao stood up in shock when he heard this.

Duofu wrinkled his face and said, “I have already reported to the palace.”

“No, I have to go to Prince Rui’s Mansion!” Jing Shao said and was about to change clothes.

“You’re still grounded, how can you get there? I’ll just go.” Mu Hanzhang held him back. The fourth prince was about to go on an expedition tomorrow. At this time, Jing Shao ran out of the house regardless of the emperor’s orders. He might say something unpleasant. .

Jing Shao was silent for a moment and slowly clenched his fists. How could he forget this? At that time, he was still fighting abroad and had not heard that his elder brother had a fourth son in the fourteenth year of Hongzheng. He thought it was his rebirth that caused some changes. But now that he thinks about it, maybe it was the second son who was the legitimate son in the sixteenth year of Hongzheng who was born early, and the legitimate son was born early in the sixteenth year of Hongzheng. The second son did not live past his first birthday. At that time, he was recuperating in Beijing, but even after hearing the news, he did not go there. From that time on, the relationship with his brother began to become further rigid.

“No, I have to go.” Jing Shao ignored everyone’s dissuasion and stood up and went to the inner room.

Mu Hanzhang pursed his lips, turned around and quickly wrote a note and handed it to Duofu: “Send it to the palace immediately.”

Duofu agreed, took the folder and walked out, his usually clumsy short legs now flying very fast. He is a eunuch who came out of the palace. Now apart from the two masters of Prince Cheng’s Mansion, he is the only one who can enter the palace directly. If he wants to hand it over to the emperor immediately, he can only go there in person.

Mu Hanzhang looked at Duofu’s back and shook his head. This guy didn’t seem to be walking fast, but he was just too lazy to walk slowly.

After the two of them changed their clothes, Jing Shao hugged his princess, turned over Xiao Hei, and ran out quickly.

Prince Rui’s Mansion was not far from Prince Cheng’s Mansion, and he arrived at the door not long after.

The guards in front of the door hurriedly came forward to salute, and the housekeeper hurriedly greeted him.

“Where’s brother?” Jing Shao threw the reins to the servant, raised his feet and walked inside.

“The prince is in the princess’s courtyard.” The butler looked sad. When he saw Jing Shao going to the inner house, he stopped him and asked him to rest in the main courtyard, saying that Jing Chen would be out soon.

“No, I have to go in and take a look.” Jing Shao said as he was about to go in, but was pulled back by Mu Hanzhang.

“How could you enter the inner house at will?” Mu Hanzhang glared at him and pulled him to the main courtyard where Jingchen lived.

The principal concubine of Prince Rui’s Mansion was a woman, so Jingchen had her own courtyard. The two of them sat in the main hall. The maid poured tea and then left politely. Not long after, Jingchen walked in. When he saw Jing Shao in the room, he was stunned for a moment, and the coldness on his face immediately faded a lot: “Why are you here?”

“I heard that something happened in the mansion, so the prince ran out regardless.” Mu Hanzhang said helplessly.

“Nonsense!” Jingchen glared at Jingshao, rolled up his sleeves and sat down.

Jing Shao glanced at his young wife who had complained to his eldest brother, and did not dare to get angry or say anything: “Brother, why did Xiaosi suddenly disappear?”

Jingchen sighed and rubbed his brows: “The imperial doctor said that he was born with a deficiency. He has had a fever for the past few days and cannot be cured. He will die early today.”

Mu Hanzhang remembered what his mother had said. Princess Rui seemed to have always trusted an old nun. He glanced at Jing Shao and was about to say something when he suddenly heard a noise. Princess Rui with messy hair suddenly rushed in, followed by A group of panicked servants.

When Mrs. Xiao walked in and saw Jing Shao, she immediately stopped and looked at Jing Shao intently for a long time.

“What else do you have to say?” Jingchen looked at Mrs. Xiao coldly, then turned to the servants behind him and said, “What are you doing standing there in a daze? Send the princess back quickly. She is not allowed to step out of the courtyard without my order.” !”

“Your Majesty!” Mrs. Xiao looked at Jingchen in shock, but her good upbringing did not allow her to scream. She just trembled with anger and turned around stiffly to leave.

Jing Shao was stared at in confusion, not knowing what happened.

Jingchen had no intention of explaining, and said to the two of them: “Even if there is a reason for the incident, you should go back quickly, and I will give my father another excuse.

On the way back, Jing Shao’s brows never relaxed. What happened in Prince Rui’s Mansion was very strange. Why was Mrs. Xiao staring at him? What did her brother mean by her words?

“If I guess correctly, Princess Rui must have told my brother something about you.” Mu Hanzhang saw that Jing Shao was absent-minded, and Xiao Hei almost walked to the vegetable stall to eat cabbage, so he hurriedly took the reins from his hand. He said slowly.

“What are you talking about me? If I didn’t go, would I be the one who killed Xiaosi?” Hearing this, Jing Shao frowned even more deeply. Looking at his brother, he didn’t seem to doubt him, but this sister-in-law’s behavior was really serious. It’s confusing.

“That’s not the case,” Mu Hanzhang lightly kicked the horse’s belly to make Xiao Hei walk faster, “Maybe it’s because the legitimate son died young, but your biological brother didn’t show his face.”

“She still has the heart to say this?” Jing Shao was a little surprised. His son had just died, and Mrs. Xiao looked very sad. Would she still pay attention to other people’s etiquette at this time?

A sneer curled up at the corner of Mu Hanzhang’s lips. This was definitely not what Mrs. Xiao was thinking about, but with Jingchen’s temper, she definitely didn’t dare to say what she was thinking. She could only choose the reasonable ones to criticize Jingshao: “This matter There’s something fishy and we have to find out.”

Jing Shao nodded, he also wanted to know why Mrs. Xiao would target him like this. It was like this in the last life, and it turned out to be like this again in this life. It’s just that he blamed all this on his brother at the time, thinking that the princess’s attitude was his brother’s intention. Now that he sees it clearly, he needs to understand it even more.

The next day, the fourth prince went on an expedition, and Emperor Hongzheng went to the city gate to see him off. The fourth prince wore armor and led his troops away in high spirits, as if victory was in sight.

Emperor Hongzheng stood on the high city gate, looking deeply at the retreating army.

“Your Majesty, the evidence of corruption and bribery by the Minister of Rites has been found.” An official behind him whispered.

“Keep him locked for now,” Emperor Hongzheng’s expression remained unchanged, a sharp flash of light flashed in his eyes, “Ask me everything you can.”

“Yes.” The man responded and slowly backed away.

Emperor Hongzheng did not pursue the matter of Prince Cheng disobeying the emperor’s orders and running out of Prince Cheng’s palace. Since the royal family had just lost a grandson, the courtiers did not dare to make a fuss about the matter, so they briefly mentioned it and then left it.

Without the fourth prince, the court seemed to be much calmer than before. Emperor Hongzheng took out the maritime trade regulations written by Mu Hanzhang and showed them to everyone. For a while, the court and the court were talking about it, and it seemed to be lively again.

The conservative courtiers were naturally opposed to this, and felt that this was a meaningless matter. Some officials who were born in the south and near the sea knew better, but many people thought this was a good thing. None of the high-ranking officials said anything. What? They all took the charter and went back to read it.

“Dead?” Mu Hanzhang’s eyes widened in surprise.

Jing Shao nodded. He listened to his princess and went to check on the old nun Mo Bei from Biyun Nunnery. Unexpectedly, just as the people he sent arrived, the old nun had already hanged herself in the room.

“It’s true that there is no three hundred taels of silver here.” Mu Hanzhang pursed his lips. In this way, the affairs of Prince Rui’s Mansion really have a lot to do with this nun, but now that she is dead, there is no way to ask. what.

“This is what I got from interrogating the little nun.” Jing Shao put several confessions and something wrapped in yellow paper on the table.

confession? Mu Hanzhang took the pieces of paper and looked at them. They explained the number of times Mo Bei had been in and out of Prince Rui’s Mansion and what he had done. The little nun didn’t know much, except that Mo Bei basically advised Princess Rui on what lamp grass to buy and what kind of incense table to offer. It can be seen that the little nun captured by Jing Shao was probably served by Mo Bei closely, but Mo Bei always pushed the little nuns out of the door when talking to Xiao, so she didn’t know what he said.

“What is this?” Mu Hanzhang took the yellow paper package and opened it. There was some powder inside, which looked like incense ash.

“This is the ‘elixir’ that Mo Bei gave Xiao Si.” Jing Shao curled his lips and said. The little nun felt that the medicine that the master gave to the imperial grandson must be extraordinary, so she secretly hid a packet of it while Mo Bei was not paying attention. Now it is He plundered it.

Mu Hanzhang poured half of the powder into a small porcelain bottle and wrapped the other half in yellow paper: “Xiao Shao, I don’t think this can be hidden from my brother.”

Jing Shao frowned. He wanted to find out the matter himself before talking about it. After all, these were all their speculations. His brother must be heartbroken after losing his youngest son. Wouldn’t it hurt his heart to say something rashly before he knew it clearly?

Mu Hanzhang put the small porcelain bottle away, stood up, took Jing Shao’s hand, and stuffed the yellow paper bag into his palm: “This matter is definitely not that simple. No matter what the purpose of the person behind it is, I am sure that he will provoke you brothers.” Relationships account for at least half of it.”

Jing Shao suddenly raised his head: “What do you mean?”

“Whether this medicine is what killed Xiaosi or not, we can’t find anyone to test it.” Mu Hanzhang held Jing Shao’s hand. If anyone knew about this, it would be impossible to explain. “Listen, Mine, give this medicine and the little nun to my brother.”

Now we are on the cusp of the storm. If we don’t cherish this brotherhood, who would be willing to wade into this muddy water? With Jingchen’s wisdom, he will definitely understand his brother’s sincerity. As long as the two brothers are united, nothing else matters.

After Jing Shao listened in shock, he gradually tightened his grip on the yellow paper in his hand. He lived a new life. If he tried to instigate brotherhood again, his life would be in vain.

Jingchen got the medicine powder and the confession. He didn’t say anything for a long time and looked at Jing Shao deeply: “The imperial doctor had tested this medicine before when she gave it to Xiaosi.”

Jing Shao was stunned for a moment and scratched his head: “I just think it’s suspicious that Mo Bei died. Nothing else has been found out yet.”

Jingchen looked at him for a long time, then slowly reached out and touched Jing Shao’s head.

Half a month later, the fourth prince arrived in Jiangnan.

The terrain south of the Yangtze River is flat and there are not many natural chasms, making it easy to attack and difficult to defend. But Jing Yu forgot that he knew this, and so did the King of Huainan. Therefore, before the Fourth Prince’s army could set up camp, the Huainan Army took the initiative to attack.