Zhao Xifang asked her wet nurse to go get the midwife. An hour later, the wet nurse came back in a panic, "Princess, it's bad. Midwife Qu's family is missing."
"Didn't we ask someone to keep a close eye on him? How could he disappear?" Zhao Xifang asked sternly.
"I asked around. That morning, Qu Wenpo took her daughter to the market to buy vegetables. She also turned on the lights at night. But she didn't go out the next day. They looked everywhere for her but couldn't find her."
"This happened a few days ago?" Zhao Xifang asked with a frown.
"It happened five days ago."
"Bang!" Zhao Xifang slammed the table heavily. "The incident happened five days ago. Why didn't you report it?"
“They thought they could find someone.”
"Did you find it?"
“No, no.”
"A bunch of useless things." Zhao Xifang said angrily.
"Are you still looking?" the nurse asked cautiously.
"Looking for him. If he's alive, I want to find him. If he's dead, I want to find his body." Zhao Xifang was not worried that he would escape, but she was worried that he would fall into the hands of the Song family.
Just as Zhao Xifang's people were searching the streets of Beijing for someone, Second Madam Song heard a rumor that Song Yirou was killed by a midwife, and the person who bribed the midwife was Princess Zhao Xifang of Prince Yu.
Mrs. Song was furious when she heard this and immediately went to find General Song, "Brother, Rou'er died unjustly, you must avenge her."
As King Jin said, General Song actually knew the news earlier than Second Madam Song, but he never thought of standing up for Song Yirou. "Rou'er is gone, so don't think about it all day long."
"I'm not just imagining things. I have evidence," said Mrs. Song.
General Song's eyes flashed, "What evidence?"
If there is evidence, we can capture Princess Yu and gain benefits from the Zhao family.
He had beautiful thoughts, but Second Madam Song disappointed him. Without any actual evidence, Second Madam Song concluded that it was Princess Yu who bribed the midwife and killed Song Yirou based on rumors alone.
But Mrs. Song was right when she said, "If we find that midwife named Qu, everything will be revealed."
"I will send someone to find her. If it was really done by Princess Yu, I will seek justice for Rouer." General Song sent Mrs. Song away.
When Mrs. Song II was leaving the study, she was seen by Mrs. Song Da who came to look for General Song Da.
"Bitch." Madam Song cursed in a low voice.
She had always suspected that Second Madam Song and General Song were secretly having an affair, but she had not been able to catch any evidence against them.
Of course, even if she was caught, she would have to swallow her anger and even help cover up for the two of them.
Now seeing Second Mrs. Song meeting General Song alone, she pretended not to see it and went to meet General Song as usual to discuss the marriage of her third son.
"I have selected these families, they all look good." Madam Song took out a booklet from her sleeve pocket and handed it to General Song.
General Song did not take the booklet. "Which households are they? Tell me."
"There is the youngest daughter of Lord Qi, the Left Assistant of the Dali Temple, the eldest daughter of Lord Zhongfang, the Attendant of the Ministry of Revenue, and Lord Wu, the Minister of Public Administration."
"Forget about the Qi family." General Song thought for a moment, "Forget about the Wu family, too."
"Then there are only two companies left. Which one should we choose?" asked Mrs. Song.
"Ask the mistress what she thinks. Let her meet the people and she can marry whoever she wants." General Song was so open-minded about his youngest son's marriage, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The family's sons are not promising. The eldest son is weak and unable to lead troops. The second son is born out of wedlock and is mediocre and incompetent. The eldest daughter is trapped in the palace and has become a useless pawn.
"How can I listen to the orders of my parents and the words of the matchmaker?"
"He is the one who marries his wife. If he doesn't like her, they will become a couple of resentment in the future, which is not good."
After sending Madam Song away, General Song called his confidants and arranged for people to look for Qu Wenpo's family.
As for Qu Wenpo's family, Xiaochun had already handed them over to Prince Jin, who placed them in a secret place outside the city.
So no matter whether it was Zhao Xifang's men or General Song's men, even if they dug up the ground three feet deep in the city, they would not be able to find anyone.
Soon after, Prince Yu also heard about this matter. He was reluctant to believe it, but Fang Youting, who had already suspected that Zhao Xifang was responsible for the last miscarriage, felt that it was Zhao Xifang who did it.
Of course, even if it wasn't the case, Fang Youting would still throw the dirty water on Zhao Xifang. Only when Zhao Xifang loses power can she come forward.
She didn't want to go through the trouble of giving birth to a child and then have the child raised by Zhao Xifang. She was even more worried that Zhao Xifang would leave the mother and the child behind.
For the sake of her life, she must also step on Zhao Xifang.
Prince Jin took advantage of Song Yirou's death to muddy the waters of the capital.
Jiang Changning, who was concentrating on taking care of her baby at home, didn't pay attention to these things. However, one afternoon, when she woke up from a nap, Xiulan reported the bad news, "Princess, Mrs. Zhuang passed away."
"How could it be?" Jiang Changning couldn't believe it. "Didn't they say she was getting better? How could she suddenly die of illness?"
She was pregnant and it was not convenient for her to go to the Zhuang family often, but she sent Xiulan to visit Old Mrs. Zhuang every now and then, and all she heard was the news that Old Mrs. Zhuang had recovered.
"I did not lie to the princess. Old Madam Zhuang has indeed recovered. She died suddenly because Third Master Zhuang and Fourth Master Zhuang caused a big disaster." Xiulan knelt down and said.
Jiang Changning frowned, "What did the two brothers do again?"
"Mr. Zhuang was a heavy gambler and owed the casino 50,000 taels of silver. He was beaten by the casino staff and carried back to the banker's house."
"He deserves it." Jiang Changning said coldly.
"Master Zhuang fought with someone for the most beautiful woman and killed him. That person was the cousin of the second wife of the Baling Palace and the only son in the family. He reported it to the authorities and the officials came to arrest him."
Jiang Changning said angrily: "The old lady didn't die of illness, but was angered to death by them."
"The Zhuang family announced that he passed away due to illness. The first and second wives of Zhuang are drinking tea in the Zhengze courtyard. They have been here for an hour."
Xiulan was also suspicious about the sudden death of Mrs. Zhuang, so she deliberately delayed time and asked someone to investigate the matter.
"No, let them go away." Jiang Changning knew clearly the real purpose of these two people coming to report the death in person.
With the passing of Mrs. Zhuang, her last connection with the Zhuang family was severed.
What's more, the cause of Mrs. Zhuang's death made her unwilling to help the Zhuang family.
Jiang Changning made the decision, and Xiulan went out to chase the people away.
Madam Zhuang and Madam No. 2 sat in the Zhengze Courtyard for an hour, filled with rage. When they saw Xiulan, they asked angrily, "Is the princess not up yet? Or did you not inform her at all?"
"The princess doesn't want to see you, please go back."
Madam Zhuang and Madam No. 2 did not believe it. "How could the princess not want to see us? It must be you, a lowly servant, who did not inform us."
"The two ladies have been drinking tea here for an hour. This is long enough for me to send someone to find out why the old lady passed away suddenly." Xiulan said with a faint smile.
The expressions of the first and second wives froze. Xiulan continued, "Would you two ladies like to leave on your own? Or should I have someone drag you out?"
"You are just taking advantage of the power of others." Mrs. Zhuang scolded angrily.
"Please come in, madams." Xiulan was calm and composed.
The two sisters-in-law of the Zhuang family did not dare to make any trouble and just left in anger.
(End of this chapter)