"Little fourth child died?" When Jing Shao heard this, he stood up in shock.
Duofu wrinkled his face: "I have already reported to the palace."
"No, I have to go to Prince Rui's mansion!" Jing Shao said and was about to change his clothes.
"You're still on foot restraint, how do you go? I'll go." Mu Hanzhang held him, the fourth prince was going to go to war tomorrow, and at this time Jingshao ran out of the house regardless of the emperor's order, maybe some ugly words would come out .
Jing Shao was silent for a moment, then slowly clenched his fists, how could he forget about this. Back then, he was still fighting outside. He never heard that his brother had a fourth son in the 14th year of Hongzheng. He thought it was because of his rebirth that caused some changes. Now that he thinks about it, it may be that the second son of Hongzheng was born ahead of schedule in the 16th year of Hongzheng. The second son did not live past his first birthday. At that time, he was repairing in Beijing, and he didn't go after hearing the news. The relationship with his brother has been further rigid since then.
"No, I have to go." Jing Shao ignored everyone's dissuasion, got up and went to the inner room.
Mu Hanzhang pursed his lips, turned around and quickly wrote a brief, and handed it to Duofu: "Send it to the palace immediately."
Duofu complied, took the book and walked out, his usual clumsy short legs were now upside down very fast. He is a eunuch from the palace. Now, apart from the two masters in the palace, he is the only one who can enter the palace directly. If he wants to deliver it to the emperor immediately, he can only make a trip in person.
Mu Hanzhang looked at Duofu's back and shook his head. This guy doesn't seem to be walking fast, but he is just too lazy on weekdays, so he takes it slow.
The two changed their clothes, Jing Shao hugged his princess, turned over Xiao Hei, and ran out quickly.
Prince Rui's mansion was not far from Prince Cheng's mansion, and it didn't take long to reach the door.
The guards in front of the door hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and the outer butler hurriedly greeted him.
"Where's my brother?" Jing Shao threw the reins to the servants, raised his feet and walked in.
"The lord is in the concubine's courtyard." The housekeeper had a sad face. Seeing that Jingshao was going to the inner house, he hurriedly stopped him and asked him to rest in the main courtyard, saying that Jingchen would come out in a while.
"No, I have to go in and have a look." Jing Shao said that he wanted to go in, but was grabbed by Mu Hanzhang.
"How can you come in at will!" Mu Hanzhang glared at him and dragged him to the main courtyard where Jingchen lived.
The concubine of Prince Rui's mansion is a woman, so Jingchen has his own yard. The two sat in the main hall. After the maid poured tea, they politely retreated. After a while, Jingchen came in. When he saw Jingshao in the room, he was stunned for a while, and the coldness on his face subsided a lot: "why are you here?"
"I heard that something happened in the mansion, and the prince ran out regardless." Mu Hanzhang said helplessly.
"Nonsense!" Jing Chen glared at Jing Shao, rolled his sleeves and sat down.
Jing Shao glanced at the little daughter-in-law who complained to the eldest brother, and didn't dare to be angry or say anything: "Brother, why did Xiao Si suddenly disappear?"
Jingchen sighed and rubbed his eyebrows: "the imperial doctor said that the congenital deficiency has been burning for several days, and it can't be cured. It won't work this morning."
Mu Hanzhang remembered what his mother said. Princess Rui seemed to have always believed in an old nun, so he glanced at Jing Shao and was about to say something when he heard a loud noise. Princess Rui with messy hair suddenly rushed in and followed behind him. A group of panicked servants.
When Mr. Xiao entered the door and saw Jing Shao, he immediately stopped and stared at Jing Shao for a while.
"What else do you have to say?" Jingchen looked at Xiao's coldly, and turned to the servant behind, "what are you doing, send the princess back quickly, and don't step out of the yard without the king's order. !"
"My lord!" Xiao looked at Jingchen in shock, but her good upbringing did not allow her to scream, but she was shaking with anger and turned away stiffly.
Jing Shao was stared inexplicably, not knowing what happened.
Jingchen had no plans to explain, and said to the two of them, "even if there is a reason for the incident, you should go back quickly, and I will give the father and emperor another discount."
On the way back, Jing Shao's brows never loosened. What happened in Prince Rui's mansion was very strange. Why did Mr. Xiao stare at him? What was the meaning of what my brother said
"If I'm not mistaken, Princess Rui must have told her brother something about you." Seeing Jingshao's absent-mindedness, Mu Hanzhang was about to go to the vegetable stall to eat the cabbage, and hurriedly took the reins from him, no said in a hurry.
"What about me? If I didn't go, would it be the little four I killed?" When Jing Shao heard the words, his brows furrowed even more deeply. Seeing his brother's appearance, he didn't seem to suspect anything about him, but this sister-in-law's behavior was genuine. It's confusing.
"That's not true," Mu Hanzhang lightly kicked the horse's stomach to make Xiao Hei walk faster, "Perhaps it means that the first son died, but your brother doesn't show his face."
"Does she still have the heart to say this?" Jing Shao was a little surprised. His son had just died, and he was also very sad to see Xiao's appearance. At this time, would he still pay attention to the etiquette of others
There was a sneer at the corner of Mu Hanzhang's lips, which was definitely not what Xiao thought in mind, but with Jingchen's temper, she definitely didn't dare to say what she thought, so she could only blame Jingshao with a reasonable one: "this matter There's something wrong, we have to check it out."
Jing Shao nodded, and he also wanted to know why the Xiao family targeted him like this. It's just that he blamed all these on his brother at that time, and felt that the attitude of the princess was what his brother meant. Now that he sees it clearly, he needs to understand it even more.
The next day, the Fourth Prince set off for the expedition, and Emperor Hongzheng personally saw him off at the city gate. The fourth prince wore armor and led the troops away in high spirits, as if victory was in sight.
Emperor Hongzheng stood on the high city gate and looked at the army that was gradually receding with deep eyes.
"Your Majesty, the evidence of corruption and bribery by the Minister of Rites has been found." An official behind him whispered.
"Close it first," Emperor Hongzheng's expression did not change, and the sharpness in his eyes flashed, "Please ask me what you can ask me."
"Yes." The man responded and slowly backed away.
Regarding the fact that King Cheng violated the emperor's order and ran out of the palace, Emperor Hongzheng didn't pursue it much. Since the royal family had just died of a grandson, the courtiers did not dare to make a fuss about this matter, and just mentioned it briefly.
There was no fourth prince in the court, and it seemed to be much calmer than before. Emperor Hongzheng took out the maritime business regulations written by Mu Hanzhang and showed them to everyone.
The courtiers of the conservative faction naturally objected, thinking that it was a meaningless thing, and some officials who were born in the south by the sea knew more, but many people thought it was a good thing, and the high-ranking officials did not say anything. What, they took the charter and went back to read it.
"Dead?" Mu Hanzhang's eyes widened in surprise.
Jingshao nodded. He listened to the words of his princess and went to check on the old nun Mobei from Biyun Nunnery. Who knew that the old nun had already hanged himself in the room when the people he sent had just arrived.
"This is really no silver 300 taels here." Mu Hanzhang pursed his lips. In this way, the matter of Prince Rui's mansion really has a lot to do with this nun, but now that the person is dead, he can't ask any questions. what.
"This is what the little nun got from interrogating that little nun." Jing Shao put a few confessions and a yellow paper bag on the table.
confession? Mu Hanzhang took the pieces of paper and looked at them, which explained the number of times Mo Bei entered and exited Prince Rui's mansion and what he had done. The little nun didn't know much, and it was mostly Mo Bei persuaded Princess Rui what kind of lamp grass to buy and what incense case to offer. It can be seen that the little nun captured by Jing Shao should be served by Mo Bei, but Mo Bei always drives the little nuns out of the door when he talks to Xiao Shi, so she doesn't know what he said.
"What is this?" Mu Hanzhang took the yellow paper bag, opened it, and found some powder inside, which looked like incense ash or something.
"This is the 'immortal medicine' that Mo Bei gave Xiao Si." Jing Shao pouted. The little nun felt that the medicine that the master gave the emperor's grandson must be extraordinary, so she took advantage of Mo Bei's inattentiveness and hid a packet. He scoured it.
Mu Hanzhang poured half of the medicinal powder into a small porcelain bottle, and wrapped the other half in yellow paper: "Little spoon, I don't think I can hide this from my brother."
Jing Shao frowned. He wanted to find out the matter by himself. After all, these are all their guesses. My brother would definitely be heartbroken when he lost his youngest son. Didn't he stab him in the heart without figuring it out
Mu Hanzhang put the small porcelain bottle away, got up and grabbed Jing Shao's hand, and stuffed the yellow paper bag into his palm: "This matter is by no means so simple, no matter what the purpose of the person behind it is, I'm sure to provoke your brothers. Relationships make up at least half."
Jing Shao raised his head suddenly: "What do you mean?"
"Whether this medicine killed Xiao Si or not, we can't ask someone to test it," Mu Hanzhang held Jing Shao's hand, if anyone knew about this, he wouldn't be able to explain it, "Listen to me. Mine, give this medicine and that little nun to my brother."
Now it is on the cusp of the storm. If you don't cherish this brotherhood, who would be willing to go to this troubled water? With Jingchen's wisdom, he can definitely understand his brother's sincerity. As long as the two brothers are of the same mind, nothing else matters.
Jing Shao listened in a daze, and gradually tightened the yellow paper in his hand, and lived a new life. If he provokes brotherhood again, he will live in vain.
Jingchen got the powder and the confession. He didn't speak for a long time. He gave Jing Shao a deep look: "the medicine was tested by the imperial doctor when she gave it to Xiao Si."
Jing Shao was stunned for a moment, then scratched his head: "I just think it's suspicious that Mo Bei died, and the others haven't been found out yet."
Jingchen looked at him for a while, then slowly reached out and touched Jingshao's head.
Half a month later, the fourth prince arrived in Jiangnan.
The terrain in the south of the Yangtze River is flat, there are not many moat, and it is easy to attack and difficult to defend, but Jing Yu forgot, he understands this principle, and naturally the King of Huainan also understands. Therefore, the Huainan Army took the initiative to attack before the Fourth Prince's army was stationed in the camp.