The deceased was a newly-appointed Jinshi 20 years ago. His surname was Lu. He was only 17 years old when he passed the imperial examination. He was a natural talent. Not only was his poetry and prose like brocade, but he was also said to be naturally beautiful and handsome. After he passed the imperial examination, many dignitaries rushed to take him home as their son-in-law.
Unfortunately, after the Xinglin Banquet at Qujiang Pond and inscribing his name at Wild Goose Pagoda, this Jinshi named Lu disappeared. A few days later, when someone fished him out of Qujiang Pond, he had become a floating corpse that was beyond recognition.
After all, the deceased was a Jinshi (a scholar in the imperial examination), and the Ministry of Justice of Jingzhao Prefecture put a lot of effort into investigating the case, but in the end they could not find a solution and hastily closed the case, saying that the scholar had been to Qujiang River at night and had fallen into a pond due to being drunk and drowned.
This case caused quite a stir at the time, and many people speculated that there was something else going on. But since the government determined that it was an accident, the discussion faded after a while.
It has been ten years now, and not many people remember this incident. Only a few of his poems are still circulating. People often mention him when reading his poems, sighing, "This boy has a short life."
But there will always be people who will never forget that my mother, at the age of 70, beat the drum to report the case, causing this old case from 20 years ago to become a sensation in the government and the country.
The old woman lived in the south of the city. She became crazy after her son drowned. She told everyone that her son did not drown, but went to a banquet at a rich and powerful mansion and never came back. At first, some people were skeptical because of her confident words. But she could not tell which mansion her son went to. She said it was Prime Minister Feng's house, Ningyuan Marquis's house, and Prince Yu's house. In short, she was not sure, so no one believed her.
Now she went to knock on the drum to report the incident, and insisted that it was Duke Wu'an.
The Emperor ordered the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple to conduct a detailed investigation. After checking the case files from 20 years ago and verifying with witnesses, it was found that Jinshi Lu had indeed disappeared after attending a banquet at the residence of the Duke of Wu'an.
Soon, the housekeeper of the mansion finally confessed the truth. Lord Wu'an was attracted by Jinshi Lu's talent and good looks, so he imprisoned him in the backyard and tortured him like a hawk. Jinshi could not bear the humiliation, so he sat down and strangled himself to death with his belt on the door bolt.
The truth was made public, causing an uproar throughout the government and the country.
The one who was most indignant was the eldest princess.
When the news reached the Grand Princess's residence, she was so angry that she slammed the desk and said to the maid, "This beast who will be infamous for thousands of years, dead old ghost, even if he is cut into pieces or torn into pieces by five horses, it can't atone for his sins. It's a pity for the brilliant and talented Master Lu..."
The maid cleared her throat heavily.
The eldest princess said, "Your throat is uncomfortable? Yesterday I told you not to drink cold tea, you must have caught a cold..."
The maid shook her head slightly and blinked at her desperately.
The eldest princess asked suspiciously, "Is there sand in your eyes?"
After a pause, he said, "Where were we just talking about? Oh, by the way, the brilliant Mr. Lu..."
She clenched her fist and pounded the table: "I only regret that I was born ten years earlier!"
As soon as the voice fell, a sneer came from behind: "If you were born ten years earlier, what would Princess do?"
The eldest princess froze and glared at the maid.
The maid had no choice but to bow to the prince consort and quickly retreat behind the screen.
The eldest princess turned around slowly and said, "My dear, you came back early today. Is everything fine in Taichung?"
She usually addressed him by his courtesy name, or simply called him Prince Consort, and only when she was caught in the act did she call him Sir or Sir in a coquettish tone.
Prince Consort Cui's handsome face seemed to be covered with frost: "If the princess had been born ten years earlier, I would not have had to worry about anything."
The eldest princess knew that he was jealous again, so she stood up quickly, went forward and hugged him around the waist and coaxed him, "What are you talking about, my dear? I just feel sorry for Mr. Lu's talent..."
Cui Fu Ma raised his chin and said, "Your Majesty has always loved talents and has been eager to seek them."
The eldest princess realized that she had made a mistake again, and she changed her words, "I don't cherish talent, but I pity the poor and the weak. I feel sorry for Mr. Lu's mother because she is so pitiful."
Prince Consort Cui just snorted coldly and turned away.
The eldest princess turned his face and pecked his fresh red lips gently: "If you were born ten years earlier, would I let you go? If I were born ten years earlier, you would have to be born ten years earlier. I would still capture you and take you back if I were to select a son-in-law from the list."
Cui Fuma was disgusted by her shameless look, his face turned red to his ears, and he said in shame and anger: "Sweet words and flattering appearance!"
The eldest princess said, "Oh, I can't help it. Who told me that Cui Lang is more talented than Song Yu and as handsome as Pan An? No, Song Yu and Pan An are not as good as you. I think you must be a fairy official who came down to earth..."
She said as she poked the sensitive spot on his lower back.
Prince Consort Cui remained dignified and unyielding, his expression still cold and hard, but his waist had unconsciously softened.
The princess teased him for a while, then withdrew her hand: "Speaking of which, Zhao Jun, that damned devil, is full of evil, my lord, you can't let him go."
The person in charge of the Wu'an case was the Chief Censor, but the main force in investigating the case was Cui Fu Ma.
The prince consort squinted at her and said, "Don't worry, he has offended all the scholars in the world this time, and there is no escape."
He paused and said, "Your third brother is really extraordinary. In this old case from ten years ago, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple have replaced a group of people. There were only a few people who knew the inside story back then, but he was able to find it out."
The princess thought of Huan Xuan and sighed deeply: "If we don't say that our Huan family is in love, then the Zhao family has touched Sanlang's reverse scale."
She suddenly narrowed her eyes and said, "We Huan family members are all so devoted, my dear, you should be relieved, right?"
Prince Consort Cui snorted coldly: "Stop flattering yourself."
…
Cui Fu Ma was right. Originally, civil officials and military officials kept to themselves. When Duke Wu'an accepted bribes and participated in private casting, most civil officials watched from the other side. Apart from the Censorate, which investigated the case directly, no one took advantage of the situation. But forcing a Jinshi to rape was no better than sleeping with one's own son, but it angered all the scholars in the world.
The court officials were filled with indignation, and hundreds of students from the Imperial College and the Imperial Academy jointly wrote a letter requesting severe punishment for Duke Wu'an.
The uproar continued until the end of the year, and the imperial censor who went to Jiangnan to investigate the counterfeiting case also sent back news that Duke Wu'an had indeed colluded with bandits and participated in private minting, and the evidence was overwhelming.
At this point, even the emperor could not save Zhao Jun’s head.
However, Lord Wu'an was doomed to die, and no one knew what would happen to the other people in the mansion.
Normally speaking, it would not be excessive to confiscate Zhao Jun's property and destroy his family for his crimes, but since he had a grandfather who had made great military achievements, it might not be a bad idea to give him a lighter sentence.
Mrs. Ruan was so worried that she didn't care about crying while holding her disabled son. She wiped her tears and ran around to seek help. Originally, the wife of Duke Wu'an was treated like a star wherever she went, but now the situation has changed. Now the Duke Wu'an Mansion is on the verge of collapse. The people who used to welcome her with a smile now avoid her like a snake and scorpion. Even her family, the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion, is unwilling to lend a helping hand.
She already knew that this disaster was caused by her son standing up for the Crown Princess, and she also knew that the Crown Princess wanted to silence her afterwards. But when she was desperate, she could only endure the humiliation and go to the East Palace to ask for an audience with the Crown Princess.
Who knew that after handing the book in, he waited outside the door in the cold wind for half a day, but instead of being summoned by the Crown Princess, a eunuch came out with a square box about seven or eight inches long in his hand. He bowed and said, "Madam, please forgive me. The Crown Princess is not feeling well and cannot see guests."
As he spoke, he handed the box over and said, "This is a little gift from the Majesty. Please accept it, Madam."
Madam Ruan couldn't cry in front of the East Palace, so she could only thank him for the reward, take it, and get on the carriage with tears in her eyes.
The box was heavy. When she opened it in the car, she found that it was a box of silver ingots.
Madam Ruan sneered and said to the maid, "She is treating my aunt like a beggar!"
After a pause, he gritted his teeth and said, "I want to see how long she can stay so popular!"
After saying this, he lifted the carriage curtain and stared at the East Palace without blinking, until the towering palace gate gradually melted into the winter mist.
It was already time for lights to be lit when the carriage arrived outside the Wu'an Mansion. Suddenly, a familiar figure jumped out from the shadows in the corner and stopped in front of Madam Ruan's carriage.
A servant recognized him and asked in surprise, "Zhao Changbai, why are you here?"
When Madam Ruan heard the name, her blood almost boiled with hatred. She lifted the curtain and jumped out of the car regardless of her status, screaming, "Catch this evil servant. I will chop him into pieces!"
The servants looked at each other in confusion, because only Madam Ruan and her son knew the whole story. Those days in Yangzhou were too unbearable to recall and difficult to talk about.
Zhao Changbai showed no fear at all. Instead, he bowed to Madam Ruan with a smile. "My humble servant greets Madam. How are you and the prince?"
Mrs. Ruan was so angry that her eyes almost bled: "You are looking for death!"
Zhao Changbai said: "Madam must know who I am now."
Madam Ruan was stunned, and her whole body deflated instantly, like a pig with a punctured bladder - Zhao Changbai was bribed by the King of Qi and went to Yangzhou with Zhao Qinghui, where he was tortured and abused every day, to the point that Zhao Qinghui now has a paranoid fear and curls up into a ball, hugging his knees and trembling when he hears this name.
Madam Ruan naturally hated King Qi, but now the Divine Wing Army Tiger Tally was in King Qi's hands again, and their Wu'an Mansion was crumbling. She couldn't even protect them and their son, let alone dream of revenge.
Zhao Changbai put his hands in his sleeves and glanced at the halberds lined up in front of the red lacquered gate: "We are master and servant. I feel bad when your mansion is in trouble."
He paused and said, "I do have an idea. Maybe I can save the Madam and the Crown Prince, and even keep her title. Of course, a demotion is inevitable."
Madam Ruan sneered and said, "You vicious and evil slave, what evil thoughts are you thinking again?"
Zhao Changbai said: "If Madam doesn't believe it, that's fine."
Having said this, he walked away without any reluctance.
Mrs. Ruan hesitated for a moment, and said to the figure behind him: "Wait..."
She bit her lip hard, frowned and said, "Do you really have a solution?"
Now she is desperate and has tried every possible means.
Zhao Changbai just smiled and said, "I have no choice but to follow the orders of a nobleman to give advice to Madam."
Mrs. Ruan clenched her teeth, then loosened them: "Let's go in and talk."
After entering the inner courtyard, Madam Ruan dismissed the servants and said to Zhao Changbai, "What exactly are you planning? Tell me."
Zhao Changbai smiled and said, "My dear, you minted copper coins privately in Jiangnan, so I guess you must have made a lot of money, right? It was the Crown Prince who helped us get the military power of the Divine Wing Army. My dear, you are such a polite person, so you can't not show some appreciation afterwards, what do you think, Madam?"
Mrs. Ruan's heart skipped a beat. She didn't know much about the affairs of the harem, but because of her aunt-niece relationship with Ruan Yuewei, many of their interactions were covered by this. Therefore, she knew a lot of things. Her husband privately asked her to send many treasures to the Eastern Palace in the name of giving festival gifts to the Crown Princess. There were several large boxes of the finest real pearls and gems, not to mention gold and silver utensils.
She frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Zhao Changbai said: "Madam is so kindhearted. You have the leverage over the Crown Prince in your hands, and you are afraid that I won't do my utmost to protect you and your son?"
Madam Ruan swallowed her saliva and said thoughtfully, "That man caused my family to be destroyed, why would he help me now?"
Zhao Changbai smiled and said, "Your Highness the Prince of Qi and my young master and my young master have no grudges against each other. Madam, you might as well think carefully about who is the one who caused my young master to fall into this situation? Is it really Your Highness the Prince of Qi who caused your family to be destroyed?"
Mrs. Ruan's pupils shrank, and a fairy-like, elegant face suddenly appeared in her mind. She naturally didn't think that her son had done anything wrong, and that he must have been instigated to do so.
Whenever she thought of the experiences she had over the past year, her heart felt as if it were soaked in poison.
Zhao Changbai seemed to have guessed what she was thinking: "As long as there is green, there is no need to worry about running out of firewood. Even if my husband cannot be saved, don't we still have the Crown Prince? If the Crown Prince inherits the title, won't Madam still be a royal consort?"
Mrs. Ruan pondered for a while, finally made up her mind and nodded.
Life is not always smooth sailing. Even though she is at a high position now, there may be a time when she will fall down. When that happens, it will be time for her to take revenge.