After a while, Ling Xiao came back, his face suddenly becoming extremely gloomy.
Ling Qingwan took the sauce pancake and felt a little confused.
"You don't know, I was just waiting for cakes in front of the stall, and I heard two people talking next to me, discussing the affairs of our Ling Mansion." Ling Xiao's brows were tightly furrowed, and they hadn't relaxed since he returned to the carriage.
Ling Qingwan became interested and waited for Ling Xiao to continue.
Such a big thing happened in the Marquis' Mansion, and it was reasonable for the people to talk about it. But Ling Qingwan was curious about what they said to make Ling Xiao so angry.
"They said that the fact that Dad had another woman outside was actually revealed by my grandfather. The older people all know that more than a decade ago, Mom was in her prime and was the most beautiful woman in Tokyo. When she married Dad, many handsome men in the city were saddened by her. My grandfather had never approved of this marriage, and it caused a lot of uproar at the time."
"So they think that grandpa is still thinking about breaking up dad and mom?" Ling Qingwan couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Others have their own opinions, and Ling Qingwan never cared about other people's opinions. If she had a narrow mind, the words "jinx" from Old Lady Ling would have been enough to annoy her.
But Ling Xiao's subsequent words made Ling Qingwan unable to laugh anymore.
"That's not bad. I'm not that angry. They later said that Ye Yun's death was also caused by my grandfather." Ling Xiao was very angry.
Although his idea was simple, he also knew that if he quarreled with a few common people and got angry, it would be even more detrimental to the reputation of his maternal grandfather. Ling Xiao was aware of this.
Therefore, he had no place to vent his anger and could only quietly buy some sauce cakes and tell Ling Qingwan what happened.
If it was said that the affair between Ling Feng and Cheng Man was made public and that it was Shen Chengzhou who instigated it, it would be just a casual conversation, a few words after dinner, which would not be a big deal and would not hurt Shen Chengzhou. But later on, it was said that Shen Chengzhou killed Ye Yun, which was a big deal.
No wonder the Ministry of Justice invited my grandfather to have tea. Ling Qingwan was busy solving the confusion in her heart these days. She either stayed in the Marquis' Mansion or went to the General's Mansion every day, and neglected the rumors from the outside world.
"It seems that only when the news that Ye Yun is not dead spreads, the rumors will be self-defeating." Ling Xiao said.
"No." Ling Qingwan refuted Ling Xiao's opinion without thinking. "I don't think it's that simple."
"My grandfather was a veteran of two dynasties. He enjoyed great prestige in the court and even in the hearts of the people. Now these rumors have emerged among the people, portraying my grandfather as a villain who would do anything to destroy his daughter's marriage and even kill innocent people. This is very detrimental to his future development. I suspect that these rumors are not groundless and are not something that the people came up with on their own. Instead, someone deliberately guided them to point the finger at my grandfather."
Since Ye Yun could think of cutting off his left arm and pretending that he was dead, he could have the intention to do such a thing.
Perhaps this is the first step of his revenge, starting with Shen Chengzhou.
"Let's see what my grandfather says first." Ling Qingwan thought about it and the most urgent thing was to know what the Ministry of Justice said when it invited Shen Chengzhou over.
When the two arrived at the General's Mansion, Shen Chengzhou had already returned. The three met and talked about this matter.
"The Ministry of Justice has found out the identity of the corpse. He is a small commander in my army. Because I have many soldiers under me, I cannot be in charge of all of them. I had only seen the deceased very few times during his lifetime. He looked very unfamiliar, and I could not tell that he was my man." Shen Chengzhou looked solemn. It seemed that this trip to the Ministry of Justice was not an easy one.
"The people in the Ministry of Justice suspect you?" Ling Xiao was shocked. They had spent so much effort to finally prove that the body was not Ye Yun, but in the end, after all the twists and turns, the spearhead was still pointed at their own people.
"Now the people outside are discussing this matter, and the emperor has to pay attention to it. This case still needs to be investigated by the Ministry of Justice before a conclusion can be drawn." Shen Chengzhou told the two.
If it is finally discovered that the death of the young commander was caused by Shen Chengzhou, the emperor will definitely punish the general's mansion for the sake of popular support.
"A person of integrity has nothing to fear. Everything will be fine." Ling Qingwan was worried that Shen Chengzhou was under too much pressure, so she comforted him in a gentle voice.
"I know all this and can handle it. You two don't need to worry about me."
What Shen Chengzhou cares most about is Ling Xiao and Ling Qingwan.
The son and daughter reported their father. Even if Ling Feng got his comeuppance, Ling Xiao and Ling Qingwan actually did a good deed, which was hard for outsiders to accept. Etiquette and ethics were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and what the two did was unfilial.
Not only the people outside, but also the people in Ling Mansion would no longer like them after what happened. Ling Xiao and Ling Qingwan were now living on thin ice in Ling Mansion, but Shen Chengzhou asked them to move to the General's Mansion, but they refused.
If Ling Shenshi didn't leave, how could Ling Xiao and Ling Qingwan bear to leave their mother alone.
If Ling Shenshi intended to share the honor and disgrace with the Ling family for the sake of her marital relationship with Ling Feng, then Ling Xiao and Ling Qingwan would just stay by Ling Shenshi's side to protect her.
The Marquis' Mansion fell into decline, and none of the nobles who had been on good terms with Ling Feng in the past were seen there. However, many old ministers in the court came to visit one after another for the sake of the old man's face.
Seeing that Song Zhiqing was nowhere to be seen, Ling Chuchu became more and more anxious, fearing that Song Zhiqing would cancel the engagement. After all, she was no longer the eldest daughter of the Marquisate. Apart from marrying Song Zhiqing, there was no other way to fly back to the family.
East Palace.
Song Zhiqing was concentrating on handling government affairs when he received news from Chang'an that a letter had been sent from the Ling Mansion.
He didn't react for a moment. The current Ling Mansion was the previous Marquis Mansion.
"Let me see it." Song Zhiqing reached out and took the letter.
Before taking out the letter to check, Song Zhiqing hoped so much that this letter was sent by Ling Qingwan.
When Song Zhiqing saw the contents inside, his expression changed again and again.
"Your Highness?" Chang'an felt a little uneasy when he saw Song Zhiqing's unusual reaction.
Song Zhiqing put away the letter and threw it on the table. Then he stood up and walked towards the side hall.
"Get the carriage ready. I'm going to the Ling Mansion." Song Zhiqing said this without even turning his head.
Soon, Song Zhiqing packed up and went straight to Ling Mansion.
The former glory is gone, the same mansion now looks desolate. Hearing that the prince was coming, the guards at the gate did not dare to delay and ran all the way to report to Madam Ling and Ling Feng.
Ling Feng did not show up, but it was Old Lady Ling who came out to meet the guest. Song Zhiqing was a little surprised, but still talked with Old Lady Ling for a long time.
After the greetings, Song Zhiqing mentioned that he came to Ling Mansion today to see Ling Chuchu.
Old Madam Ling understood what she meant and without any delay, she asked someone to send Song Zhiqing to the backyard.
"Miss! Miss!" Zhenzhu tiptoed, holding up her skirt and ran back to the room to report to Ling Chuchu. "The prince is here."
Ling Chuchu stood up suddenly.
She walked over to the dressing table and looked around for a long moment.
"How is it? Does it look good?"