In order to find out Zhao Wei's identity, Jiang Miao and Pei Che once again found Master Wuchen and asked him about what happened in the past, especially the things that left a deep impression on him.
Master Wuchen tried hard to recall and finally found one thing in the corner of his memory, that is, Zhao Wei was from Liangjing. Master Wuchen remembered that the accent of this donor was the same as Pei and Feng. When he heard this similar accent, he felt that this person must have something to do with the two donors.
This news was good for Pei Che, as he was about to return to Beijing. Since the man was from Liangjing and was so generous, he must have a good family. He only needed to look for him among the wealthy Zhao families in Liangjing, and he would surely be able to find out his whereabouts.
Now that they had the clue and had done what needed to be done, after lunch that day, the group left Tzu Chi Temple and continued to move towards Liang Jing.
Xiao Shitou's motion sickness was much better than before, because after walking for a day, they were back on the official road, and the road was flat and not bumpy, so it was naturally much better than before.
They were on their way, unaware that Liang Jing was also in trouble because of them.
"Have you heard? The eldest son of Duke Zhongguo is gone." In a government office, an official said mysteriously to another official working in the same office.
"Are you talking about Pei Che?" Upon hearing the news, the official was so shocked that he dropped the brush in his hand and almost stained the documents on the table.
"Is there anyone else who can be the Prince of the Duke of Zhongguo? Thinking back to the elegance of the former Prince Pei, no one in Liangjing could match him, but unexpectedly, an imperial decree granted him a marriage with a man. Three years ago, he was sent to be an official, and he unexpectedly chose a poor place like Cangzhou. But who knew that he had extraordinary means, and in just three years, he changed Cangzhou into a new place. He was about to return to Liangjing to be promoted and inherit the title, but he didn't expect to leave so suddenly." The person who spoke sighed and used a mourning tone, as if he had a very close relationship with Pei Che.
"Brother Wang, this matter is of great importance. It is better not to jump to conclusions without any evidence. You know, Pei Che is not only the eldest son of the Duke's Mansion, but also the nephew of that person." The official who spoke pursed his lips and motioned him to go to the largest room.
The person they were talking about was naturally the eldest uncle of the Feng family. He was promoted to the Minister of Personnel this year, officially becoming the head of a department with real power. This year, Mr. Feng asked the emperor to resign. After three resignations, the emperor finally agreed to let him go home to recuperate. Just when everyone thought that the Feng family was about to fall, an imperial edict from the emperor made everyone understand that Mr. Feng was in the emperor's heart. As long as he was there, the Feng family would not fall for a while.
The official surnamed Wang didn't take it seriously: "This matter has spread, it's the truth, and I didn't spread the rumor, so why should I be afraid of him?" Although he said this, his voice unconsciously lowered a lot. It seemed that he was still afraid of his immediate superior.
"How did Prince Pei die?" Another official couldn't hide his curiosity. He still remembered that many years ago, at about this time, the news of the death of the former prince and his wife of the Duke's Mansion reached Liangjing, and everyone couldn't believe it. Unexpectedly, his descendants would also suffer the same disaster.
Official Wang said, "Do you remember what the prefect of Chuzhou reported to the emperor? There was a flood in his jurisdiction, which submerged farmland and houses, and caused countless casualties among the people."
"How can I not remember? But what does this have to do with that Prince Pei?"
The official surnamed Wang said, "It's a big deal. Someone once met Prince Pei and his entourage on the way back. They even exchanged a few pleasantries at the time. But the man was in a hurry to get on with his journey, so he rode away at full speed. Two days later, he passed the border of Chuzhou, and the flood came. Prince Pei should have been in Chuzhou at the time."
"So, that person didn't witness the incident with his own eyes. In that case, how can he be sure that Master Pei is dead? Maybe they took a detour and wasted time." Another official was more rational.
"That place is not far from Liangjing at all. Even if we take a detour, we should reach Liangjing in a day or two. But now it has been nine days since that person arrived in the capital. With such a long time, he should have arrived even if he walked, let alone taking a carriage." The official surnamed Wang was still very sure that the news he heard was true. There were many rumors outside, but one must know that there is no smoke without fire.
Regarding this, the other official didn't know what to say, but he still believed that if the person was alive, he should be seen, if he was dead, his body should be seen.
The news spread more and more widely, and the more people heard it, the more they believed it to be true, so much so that when they saw Pei Shiyuan, they would stop and say "My condolences."
Pei Shiyuan listened to several sentences and initially felt that it was unlucky and inexplicable. Why was he asked to mourn for no reason? But after listening to it several times in succession, he began to panic. Could it be that something happened at home
He stopped an official who asked him to mourn and asked him the reason. Seeing that he really didn't know, the official told Pei Shiyuan everything he had heard.
This was so shocking that Pei Shiyuan was completely stunned.
Pei Che, dead
Pei Shiyuan felt unreal. Pei Che, who had competed with him for the position of the Duke's Mansion's Crown Prince, had died just like that? When he reached a deserted place, he suddenly laughed out loud. He laughed at Pei Shijie and Pei Che, saying that neither of them had the fate of becoming a Duke. Even if they became Crown Princes, what would it matter? Wouldn't they still die a violent death
After laughing, he felt something was wrong. Although what the man said seemed to be true, there was no movement in the mansion. No one came to report the death, and no one left the capital to look for the person. Could it be that the person in the mansion didn't know the news
In fact, Old Madam Pei had not heard of the rumor. She had been worshipping Buddha in the temple recently and rarely went out. No one came to tell her the news. The people in her courtyard were all confidants. Although they were shocked by the news from outside, they did not dare to discuss it privately, let alone spread it to the old lady's ears. If this was false, the old lady would never let the person who spread the rumor go. If this was true, they did not know what the old lady would do.
The news was passed around and finally reached the ears of Emperor Liang Ping. When he first heard the news, he did not believe it.
"Ridiculous! The flood in Chuzhou has gradually subsided, and the officials sent there are organizing people to verify the identities of the drowned people. Pei Che is of such high status that if he was drowned in Chuzhou, someone would have reported it long ago." Although he disliked the Pei family, he never thought of letting them die, especially since Pei Che was a man of some means and was considered a leader among the children of aristocratic families.
Xu Hai hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is wise. This matter must have been spread by those people below, and it has evolved into what it is now. I just don't know who spread this matter, and what is his purpose in saying this?"
Emperor Liang Ping was also puzzled by his question. However, it was easy for the royal family to get some information. In just half a day, the person who spread the news was brought to the palace.
The man was the son of a fourth-rank official, and was drinking in a restaurant when he was arrested. After being taken to the palace, he was completely terrified. It was not until Xu Hai began to question him that he tremblingly told the whole story of what happened that day.
It turned out that he was drinking and having fun with a group of Liang Jing's playboys in a brothel that day. Everyone talked about their recent experiences and had a great time. The man had been away from Liang Jing for a few days and could not get a word in, so he could only listen silently. After a long while, everyone finally stopped, and the man quickly told them about his encounter with Pei Che and his male wife on the road.
As for Pei Che, the dandies present had some indescribable feelings. Pei Che used to be their common enemy. The elders of every family praised him endlessly, and he was good-looking. Often when he appeared, the young ladies would only look at him. But later, Pei Che married a man, and they gradually regained their confidence, thinking that they could finally be better than him in one way.
When they heard about Pei Che, they all pricked up their ears to listen. When the man got excited, he started to talk nonsense, true or false, and finally said his own guess. Surrounded by the crowd, looking at everyone's surprised expressions, the man felt satisfied instantly.
However, his quick words caused rumors to spread throughout Liangjing. He had never expected such consequences.
(End of this chapter)