Looking at the large plate of fried petals, the corner of the toffee's mouth twitched slightly, "She is really capable of causing trouble."
Yan Yinyao picked up a petal and put it in her bowl, smiling and saying, "Aunt, lotus can soothe the mind and calm the spirit. My cousin-in-law sends me some good things as a way of showing filial piety to you. Try it, it must taste good."
"You don't need to say good things for her. You are also capable of causing trouble." The concubine glared at her. "The dozen sweet-scented osmanthus trees in the garden have only been fragrant for a few days, and you picked the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers."
Yan Yinyao smiled and picked up a petal to eat. The petal was coated with egg paste, which was crispy with a hint of sweetness and slight bitterness. It was very delicious.
In Rujing Courtyard, Prince Jin, who had been communicating with his son, saw the mother and son holding the flower petals and chewing them so attentively. He couldn't help but have an idea and took a piece and started chewing it.
Prince Jin's taste was not strong, but the fried flower petals were too light and had a hint of bitterness. He didn't like them very much, so he ate one piece and stopped eating.
That night, Jiang Changning coaxed his son to sleep and was about to go to bed with Prince Jin when Chang Youzhong said outside the room, "Your Majesty, Luo Chenhua has something to report."
Prince Jin buckled the belt he had just untied and said to Jiang Changning, "I'll be back soon. You don't have to wait for me. Go to sleep first."
"Don't be busy too late." Jiang Changning saw him to the door, watched him leave, turned back to his room, and went to bed to rest.
The next morning, when Jiang Changning woke up, Prince Jin had already left the mansion to attend court.
After packing everything up, she took Xiao Ming to Liuxuanyuan to pay her respects to the Concubine Dowager, and asked Xiao Ming to accompany the Concubine Dowager while she went to the auditorium to take care of the affairs.
After a busy morning, I took a nap after lunch and sat in the garden with Yan Yinyao to appreciate the flowers and drink afternoon tea. The Crown Princess of Changshan Prince suddenly visited.
Jiang Changning quickly changed her clothes and went out to meet the guests. The first thing the Changshan Prince's wife said when she saw her was: "Something happened, something serious."
"What happened?" Jiang Changning asked with a smile.
The Changshan Prince's Consort's face was not panicked but excited. She knew that this matter had little to do with the Changshan Palace and the Jin Palace. The Changshan Prince's Consort came to her purely to gossip.
"This morning, my prince led the Jingzhao guards to surround the Nufang Office. It is said that the Nufang Office has a batch of crossbows for sale on the black market."
Jiang Changning raised his eyebrows. The matter of the bows and crossbows has been made public. Luo Chenhua came here last night and should have told King Jin to rescue the craftsman's family.
Her guess was correct. The craftsman's family was rescued, and the craftsman truthfully confessed what they knew, which led to the action today by the Prince of Changshan leading people to surround the Nufang Office.
"It's a big deal, but it has nothing to do with us." Jiang Changning didn't quite understand why the Crown Princess of Changshan made a special trip for this matter.
"Ningning, your prince is the Minister of War. If your prince hadn't discovered this matter first and dealt with it, the censor would have definitely impeached your prince if this matter had been exposed."
"You are right. Thanks to my prince for discovering this matter in advance and handling it in time, a disaster was avoided."
"Guess what my prince found in the Nufang Office?" The Prince's wife of Prince Changshan acted mysterious again.
Jiang Changning frowned, "Besides bows and crossbows, what else can be found in the Crossbow Factory?"
"A secret passage."
Jiang Changning now knew how the crossbows were transported out of the Crossbow Workshop. "Where does the secret passage lead to?"
"It leads to an abandoned house. Do you know who owns the house?"
"You asked this, which means I know the owner of that house. Who could it be?" Jiang Changning looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can't think of who it is?"
The Princess of Changshan curled her lips and said, "You didn't even think about it."
Jiang Changning smiled and gently pushed her, "Hurry up and tell me."
"It's Princess Ding. No, she's not Princess Ding anymore. She's Madam Ding Weiber."
Jiang Changning asked in surprise: "Really?" She was not aware of this situation.
"Really? The Royal Guards have all been dispatched."
"You are really courting death."
"You'll have to go to jail."
"By the way, in that abandoned house, we also found two people who had hanged themselves. One was Ai Wen, the Supervisor of the Military Equipment Bureau of the Ministry of War, and the other was Fang Dehai, the Director of the Crossbow Bureau."
"They may not have committed suicide. Maybe they were silenced."
"Ding Wei Bo killed them and tried to distance himself from the matter, but unfortunately he failed."
"From your tone, you seem to be gloating."
The Princess of Changshan picked up the cup, took a few gulps, and said with a smile: "You heard me right, I am gloating over someone else's misfortune."
Jiang Changning probably knew why the Crown Prince's Consort of Changshan came here specially, "You are really interested."
"Life is all about eating, drinking and having fun." The Princess of Changshan said with a smile.
After chatting with Jiang Changning, the Princess Consort of Prince Changshan left in a hurry again. She also wanted to share something with the Princess Consort of Prince De.
The influx of a large number of bows and crossbows into the black market and the secret passages of the Crossbow Factory, as well as the suicide of two officials, caused an uproar in the court.
"Your Highness the Prince of Jin is the Minister of War. Such a big incident happened in the Crossbow Office. I believe that Your Highness the Prince of Jin bears an unshirkable responsibility." Prince Qing took the opportunity to bring down Prince Jin.
"Prince Qing, don't forget that this matter was discovered by Prince Jin. This shows that Prince Jin is cleaning up and rectifying the Ministry of War. Prince Jin is not wrong and has made meritorious contributions. He should be rewarded." Prince De held the opposite opinion.
The two groups argued endlessly about whether Prince Jin was guilty or meritorious. The little emperor saw them on the verge of a fight and was terrified. He didn't know how to deal with the matter.
At the end of the incident, the Queen Mother was summoned. She said, "Bows and crossbows are important weapons in the army. The people in the Crossbow Shop dared to smuggle unused bows and crossbows out to sell. They are so bold that they deserve death."
"This matter was discovered by the King of Jin. Since we don't need to trouble two masters for one matter, the King of Jin will continue to investigate."
"Neither the Dali Temple nor the Ministry of Justice are allowed to interfere."
"Prince Jin, I give you five days to verify how many bows and crossbows have been smuggled out and to recover all the bows and crossbows on the market."
How easy is it to find out the truth of the matter within five days
But the King of Jin did not refuse, "I accept your order."
Ivan and Fang Dehai, the two dead, were definitely involved in this incident. Besides them, Ding Weiber was also involved.
But Ding Wei Bo has always denied his involvement in the matter, and the house was also given to the lady by a wealthy businessman.
The whereabouts of the wealthy businessman is unknown.
When questioned, other officials from the Military Equipment Bureau were found to be clueless.
There are no other clues except Ding Wilbur.
Although Ding Wei Bo could not endure the torture and gave up several people, they were only low-ranking officials of the Military Equipment Bureau and the Crossbow Bureau, and their role in this matter was limited.
These low-level officials were also arrested and tortured, and most of the information they confessed was already known.
There was no significant progress on Su Quanfu's side. It was only discovered that he had been in contact with a wealthy businessman, and that the five thousand taels of silver were given to him by that wealthy businessman.
Five days passed quickly, and the King of Jin had not yet found out the real person behind the scenes, so he had to submit a memorial to apologize.
I didn't get rid of the honeycomb ash today. My teeth have been hurting since the afternoon. It hurts so much that I want to die.
(End of this chapter)