After Zhuang Jike's identity was confirmed, he was thrown into jail, while his wife and children were taken back to the Zhuang family by Mrs. Zhuang.
When Master Zhuang heard about this, he was dumbfounded, "How dare you?"
"The master is so cruel that he can abandon Ke'er. I can't just watch my son die." Mrs. Zhuang yelled back even louder.
The couple glared at each other fiercely, and after a battle of eyes, Master Zhuang was defeated.
Mrs. Zhuang's ferocious gaze, like that of a mother wolf, made him feel inexplicably frightened.
"Who did you look for? How much money did you spend?" asked Master Zhuang.
Mrs. Zhuang pursed her lips and lowered her eyelids.
"Tell me, how much silver did you spend?" Master Zhuang urged.
"One hundred and fifty thousand taels." Mrs. Zhuang whispered.
"How much?" Master Zhuang heard it clearly, but couldn't believe it, so he asked.
"One hundred and fifty thousand taels." Mrs. Zhuang's voice was a little louder.
"Where did you get so much silver?" asked Master Zhuang with a frown.
Mrs. Zhuang was silent again, and Mr. Zhuang realized something and said, "Give me the account book."
"All the things have been sold, except the house we live in now." Mrs. Zhuang knew she could no longer hide it.
"What?" Master Zhuang's face was full of disbelief. He suddenly remembered what happened more than two years ago. "How dare you?"
"Money is something outside of our body. As long as it can save Ke'er, there is nothing we cannot give up." Mrs. Zhuang argued.
Master Zhuang covered his chest with one hand and pointed at her with the other, "How dare you, you, you?"
Apart from this sentence, he really didn't know what to say.
At this time, the maid came to report that the second master and second mistress had arrived.
When Master Zhuang and his wife heard about this, they were terrified. This was a capital crime punishable by death!
The couple came to the Zhuang family's eldest house to question the culprit, "Brother, how could this happen?"
Master Zhuang said weakly: "I just found out about this."
"Was it your sister-in-law who bribed those people to exchange the prisoners?" Master Zhuang II didn't quite believe that his eldest brother was not involved in this matter.
"She was so bold that she sold all the property of the Zhuang family in order to exchange the prisoners." Master Zhuang had nothing to hide in front of his brothers.
Master Zhuang was horrified, "You sold the sacrificial land too?"
"This is the only ancestral home left." Master Zhuang said with despair on his face.
"Sister-in-law, you!" Master Zhuang II also covered his chest, "How dare you?"
Although Mrs. Zhuang Er also felt sorry for the large sum of money, what she cared about more at this moment was: "Sister-in-law, changing prisoners is a serious crime. If you do this, you will kill us all."
"I didn't expect this matter would be brought up again two years later. Everything was fine." Mrs. Zhuang was still thinking that after the matter had calmed down, she could go to Hangzhou to see her children and grandchildren.
"What should we do now, brother?" Master Zhuang Er asked anxiously.
Master Zhuang looked at him and sighed heavily, "This case is supervised by Prince Yu and Prince De. The emperor ordered a thorough and strict investigation."
"Are we just going to sit here and wait for death?" Mrs. Zhuang asked in horror.
The four of them looked solemn for a long time, and then Madam Zhuang said happily, "We can find the Princess of Jin and ask the Prince of Jin to come forward and settle the matter."
If the King of Jin is willing to step forward, it would not be difficult to calm the matter down, but the King of Jin may not be willing to step forward.
You should know that since the death of Mrs. Zhuang, Jiang Changning has had no contact with the Zhuang family. Even if the Zhuang family sends holiday gifts, they will be returned as is.
The second wife of Zhuang sneered, "Sister-in-law, you are dreaming. Princess Jin has long been tired of the Zhuang family. How could she help you?"
"Pa!" Master Zhuang slapped Madam Zhuang and cursed, "You stupid and vicious bitch."
Mrs. Zhuang was stunned by him and looked at him blankly without knowing what she had done wrong.
"Brother, please stop talking and don't use force, don't use force." Although Mr. Zhuang Er also wanted to beat Mrs. Zhuang Da, he saw his eldest brother beating his eldest sister-in-law and it would be too rude for him not to persuade him.
Mrs. Zhuang raised the corner of her lips. If it wasn't for the wrong timing, she would have applauded.
"You want to blame the Princess of Jin, but can you do it?" Master Zhuang said unhappily.
"I'm just trying to find a way to solve the problem," Mrs. Zhuang defended herself aggrievedly.
"You can think of a way, but with your pig brain, what can you come up with? Just shut up." Master Zhuang said viciously.
After a moment of silence, Mr. Zhuang Er winked at Mrs. Zhuang Er, stood up and said, "Brother, I'll go out and look for someone to think of a solution."
"Thank you, second brother." Master Zhuang's face was full of gratitude. After all, they were brothers, and he did not stand idly by when things happened.
What he didn't know was that after Mr. Zhuang and Mrs. Zhuang got on the carriage, they said, "What should we do to sever our ties with the first wife?"
"This matter has nothing to do with our second house." said Mrs. Zhuang Er.
"You can't write two characters of Zhuang with one stroke. You say it doesn't matter, but outsiders don't think so. They might even think that our second branch has collected the money." Master Zhuang II sighed.
Mrs. Zhuang thought for a moment and said, "I think we should go find Princess Jin and ask her to help our second house."
"If mother were still alive, perhaps we could persuade her to help." Master Zhuang Er said dejectedly.
"Please give it a try." Mrs. Zhuang Er pleaded.
Master Zhuang Er sighed, "If you want to try, then try. Prepare a gift and visit Prince Jin's mansion tomorrow."
The next day, Prince Jin's Mansion welcomed Prince Yu and Prince De, who were not sure whether to be called honored guests or inauspicious guests.
Jiang Changning was of noble status and pregnant, so no one dared to trouble her to go to the court of the Ministry of Justice.
Prince Yu and Prince De came to Prince Jin's mansion in person to question him, and Prince Jin sat beside them to prevent Prince Yu from saying something threatening and scaring his little princess.
"Princess Jin, are you aware of the Zhuang family's prisoner exchange?" Prince De asked directly.
Prince Yu glanced at him and asked a direct question.
"I don't know. Ever since Mrs. Zhuang, my great aunt, was angered to death by her unfilial descendants, I have had no contact with the Zhuang family." Jiang Changning spoke the truth and did not cover up for the Zhuang family at all.
Prince Yu and Prince De were both shocked, "Was Mrs. Zhuang angry to death?"
"The third son of the Zhuang family owed a huge gambling debt, the fourth son was in prison, and Mrs. Zhuang was in poor health to begin with, and she died of anger and depression."
Jiang Changning took the cup handed over by King Jin, took a sip, and then said: "After I found out, I was very angry and decided not to associate with the Zhuang family anymore. After all, the person closest to me in the Zhuang family is Old Lady Zhuang."
Originally, the first generation is related, the second generation is representative, and the third and fourth generations cannot recognize each other.
It is normal that Jiang Changning stopped associating with the Zhuang family after Mrs. Zhuang passed away.
The two princes did not embarrass Jiang Changning and just asked a few simple questions.
Then they confirmed that Jiang Changning was not involved in this matter.
"Help the princess go back to the courtyard to rest." After giving instructions to the maid, Prince Jin smiled at Prince Yu and Prince De, "I'll take you out."
(End of this chapter)