"Wei Jun, what's the noise outside?" Zhao Jingyu put on his clothes and got out of bed, asking loudly.
"My lord, it's Madam who is dealing with the servants in the Crown Prince's wife's courtyard." Wei Jun walked into the room and replied, and asked the maids to come in and serve.
"What do you mean?" Zhao Jingyu stretched out his arms and let the maid tidy up his clothes.
Wei Jun said, "Yesterday at the funeral, the Crown Prince's wife's wet nurse said that the Crown Prince's wife did not die of dystocia, but was harmed by someone and crashed into the grave to avenge the Crown Prince's wife. Rumors spread everywhere in the capital. In order to prevent the rumors from spreading and to give an explanation to the General's Mansion, the Madam buried the wet nurse with great honor, beat and killed several maids and servants who were suspected of serious crimes, and sold the rest."
"Oh?" The girl handed over a warm handkerchief. Zhao Jingyu took it and covered his face with it. A muffled voice came from behind the handkerchief, "Oh."
Wei Jun couldn't see his expression, so he didn't know what the last "oh" meant.
Zhao Jingyu handed the handkerchief back to the girl and waved, "Everyone, leave!"
The maids filed out.
Zhao Jingyu pondered for a moment, then waved to Wei Jun: "Come closer and listen."
*****
For several days, Qin was busy cleaning up the backyard. Not only the people in the prince's wife's courtyard were investigated, but also the concubines of Marquis Dingyuan, the prince's concubines and the people around them. Even the kitchen, warehouse, and accounting office were cleaned up.
The Marquis' Mansion is a large and deep-rooted place, and the relationships among the servants are also complicated. If one is pulled out, a bunch of them will be implicated. People die every day, and people are sold out every day. In the end, except for the people in Zhao Jingyu and the old marquis's wife's courtyard, almost all the people in other courtyards have been replaced, and even several people around Qin herself have been replaced.
Marquis Dingyuan never asked about the affairs of the rear house. As long as Qin was not involved in the affairs of the front yard, he would let her handle everything.
The General's Mansion saw how much trouble Qin had gone through and decided not to pursue the matter any further. If their daughter had no children, they could have made a fuss, but now, for the sake of their poor grandson, they had to let the matter go.
Qin's thundering measures not only quelled the rumors, but also eliminated dissidents and further consolidated her position. Even the fourth concubine, the most favored by Dingyuan Hou, was sent to the farm because she found fault with her. It can be said that she won a great victory.
Marquis Dingyuan was not aware of this in advance. When he returned from court and found that his fourth concubine was missing, he realized that Qin had sent her away while he was away.
The crime Qin accused the Fourth Aunt of was wearing red and green and drinking and having fun during the funeral of the Crown Prince's wife. Therefore, although the Marquis was angry at Qin's cruelty, he could not break off with her at this juncture. He had to endure it temporarily and make plans after the storm died down.
The Fourth Aunt was sent to Hongou Manor. Zhao Jingyu learned about it from Wei Jun the next day.
At that time, he was drinking wine with Cheng Zhiye. The name of Hongou Manor made him dazed for a moment, and Xiu'er's pretty face slowly appeared in front of his eyes.
But when he thought of the gossip he had overheard that day, he couldn't help feeling upset and depressed, and he drank half a jar of wine to suppress his feelings.
Cheng Zhiye hummed a little tune, wearing a crabapple flower on his temples, and looked at him with drunken eyes, and smiled: "Why, you are reluctant to part with this Fourth Aunt?"
"..." Zhao Jingyu glanced at him, "That's the Marquis's fourth concubine, not my fourth concubine. Why should I be reluctant to let her go?"
Cheng Zhiye didn't believe it: "Don't try to fool me, your eyes clearly show that you are missing your beloved."
"You're such a fool!" Zhao Jingyu cursed, then sighed, "You're such a fool, I do have a crush on a beauty, but she's not the Fourth Aunt."
"Beauty, how beautiful is she?" Cheng Zhiye's eyes lit up, "The one who can make the Second Young Master care about her must be something extraordinary."
"It is indeed not an ordinary item." Zhao Jingyu said, "Looking around the capital, I am afraid that only my poor eldest sister-in-law can compete with her. Unfortunately..."
"What's a pity?" Cheng Zhiye couldn't help but yearn for the beauty when he heard that the beauty could be compared with the Crown Prince's wife. "Does the beauty look down on you? How about letting me try?"
Zhao Jingyu was immediately unhappy: "What are you talking about? Is there any woman in this world who looks down on me? I abandoned her."
Cheng Zhiye had long been accustomed to his narcissism and did not argue with him. He just asked him why he was so cruel to abandon the beauty.
Zhao Jingyu couldn't explain why. To say that it was entirely because of those few words of gossip, that wasn't the case. To say that he suddenly wanted to rush back to see the Crown Prince's wife off, that wasn't entirely the case. There was another deeper reason, which was that he felt that he couldn't fully understand Xiu'er.
At first he thought Xiu'er was like all other women, who admired his looks and money, so she tried to get his attention, but later he found out that it was not the case.
Xiu'er didn't have the admiration, respect, and fear that other women had for him. She wasn't afraid of him, nor did she love him, but she still tried every way to get close to him and please him. She clearly wanted to go back to Beijing with him, but she never mentioned it. When he brought it up, she wasn't particularly happy. If she hadn't left too hastily to ask her mother for her opinion, he would have almost thought she didn't want to go.
He couldn't read her emotions or figure out her motives, which made him confused and uneasy.
He would not keep a woman with unclear motives by his side, even if she was a beauty.
"If you've given up, then give up. Why are there so many reasons?" He shook his head to shake off Xiu'er's phoenix eyes that had been lingering in his mind. "Bring me some wine. Sir, I want to get drunk today."
The girl in the brothel filled a glass with the finest red wine and brought it to his lips with a sweet smile.
The second young master, who was gentle and affectionate just a moment ago, suddenly turned cold: "Don't I have hands?"
(End of this chapter)