When Mr. Feng heard from his servants that Pei Che and Jiang Miao had come to visit, he was very happy. But when Pei Che handed him a few pieces of paper and asked him to take a look, his mood seemed to have fallen to the bottom. He slammed the paper in his hand heavily on the table, and his eyebrows and beard were raised in anger.
“It turns out there was a hidden story behind what happened back then! Poor An Xue and Shi Jie, they died unjustly for so many years!” When mentioning the two people’s names and thinking of the tragic situation back then, Grandpa Feng couldn’t help but burst into tears.
When this happened, he and his family were working outside the capital. When he heard the news, he fainted. After waking up, he quickly submitted a memorial to the late emperor, asking him to allow him to return to the capital. At the same time, he told his family to pack up their things and set off immediately once the memorial was approved.
But he was far away. When he arrived in Liangjing, Feng Anxue and Pei Shijie had already been buried. One was his most beloved daughter, and the other was his proud disciple. They died in the wilderness, leaving two helpless children behind. How could he let it go? He felt something was wrong, so he secretly sent people to Ciji Temple to watch for any clues. However, after half a year, there was nothing suspicious, so he had to withdraw his troops.
Unexpectedly, not long after he withdrew his troops, the monks over there were robbed and killed. It can be seen that when he sent people to keep an eye on the Tzu Chi Temple, there were also people watching his every move.
If he could have held on a little longer and been more covert in his actions, perhaps what happened back then would not have ended in an accident.
"Grandfather, don't be too sad. The most important thing now is to find out the truth. We have found out that one of the people involved in this incident was assigned to the Sixth Prince, while Cheng Kaihua, who was related to him by marriage, was inexplicably demoted and sent back to his hometown. I think as long as we know the background of Cheng Kaihua, this matter can be clarified." Pei Che consoled him.
Old Master Feng took a deep breath. He had been an official for many years and had seen all kinds of storms, but when it came to his children, he was just an ordinary father.
"I didn't have much communication with Cheng Kaihua. When I left Beijing, he had just entered the court. When I returned, he had already reached the third rank. For ordinary people, getting promoted is harder than ascending to heaven. Some people work hard for half their entire lives and only get promoted one or two levels. He was promoted from the sixth rank to the third rank in just a few years, which shows that he is quite good at scheming." Old Master Feng stroked his beard. He was also curious about this man's unusual path to promotion.
"The most important thing is that he must have someone to back him up. A court is like a boat on the water, it is difficult to support itself alone. He did not have a good background, so he must have relied on someone later to achieve this. The reason why the current emperor demoted him back to his hometown must be that he knew that he had two minds. However, for many years before, he looked like a lone minister, and it seemed that he was not close to anyone."
After listening to what Old Master Feng said, Pei Che and Jiang Miao looked at each other again. The clue was broken here again? What should they do? Should they go find Cheng Kaihua? After being demoted, this man returned to his hometown in Huzhou, which was more than 1,500 miles away from Liangjing. It would take a lot of time to go back and forth. What if they returned empty-handed? Could they still find out the truth
Just when the two were in a dilemma, Old Master Feng suddenly slammed the table and shouted, "I remember now. Although Cheng Kaihua himself is of humble origin, his wife's family is from a high-class family."
"Grandfather, that's not right. Zuo Shun was able to serve in the palace because of him. If they had this ability, would they still need to rely on him?" Jiang Miao said.
Old Master Feng smiled and shook his head: "A Miao, you don't know that this Zuo is the second wife. His first marriage was facilitated by someone who was selected as a son-in-law when he just passed the imperial examination. At the beginning, he relied on the power of his wife's family to get to the top. Later, as his official position gradually increased, he began to avoid suspicion, fearing that people would say that he got promoted by nepotism. After his wife died, it became even more difficult for him to contact her. Therefore, I didn't think of it for a while."
Jiang Miao suddenly realized, yes, when that person reported yesterday, he seemed to have mentioned that Zuo was the second wife.
"Grandfather, which family does his wife belong to?" Pei Che asked. Since this person's registered residence was not in Liangjing, he had no way to check even if he wanted to.
Old Master Feng said, "It was the Wu family back then. Che'er, do you still remember the Concubine Duan in the palace during the time of the previous emperor?"
Pei Che nodded: "Che'er, remember that Concubine Duan was extremely beautiful and no one in the palace could match her. She was also very good to the younger generation. When mother brought me into the palace, she would always give me rewards." Although Pei Che was young at that time, he already knew things.
Jiang Miao said without hesitation: "In this case, Cheng Kaihua should be related to Concubine Duan. I wonder which prince's mother Concubine Duan is? Could she be the mother of the third prince?"
Old Master Feng shook his head: "She is not the mother of the Third Prince. The mother of the Third Prince is Concubine Rong, the current Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager's maternal family is more powerful than the Wu family. After the death of the previous emperor's Empress Xiaogong, she was the one who controlled the harem."
"Whose mother is this Concubine Duan?"
"She is the mother of the Fourth Prince." Pei Che did not wait for Old Master Feng to speak and was the first to reveal the mystery. Ever since he mentioned Concubine Duan, his expression was very strange, as if hesitant and incredulous, looking very contradictory.
Jiang Miao turned his head to look at him, frowning and thinking for a while: "Isn't the Fourth Prince the one who is on good terms with your father? In this case, the Wu family should be used by the Fourth Prince. Cheng Kaihua is the Fourth Prince's man?!"
Jiang Miao was very shocked by this conclusion! After checking and checking, he unexpectedly found a closed loop. Both of them were on the side of the Fourth Prince. Does Cheng Kaihua still have a reason to harm Pei Che's father
Pei Che remained silent, lowering his head, wondering what he was thinking. Old Master Feng's expression gradually became solemn. Jiang Miao didn't know what they were thinking, but he could clearly feel the tension in the atmosphere, so he hesitated and didn't ask.
Could it be that they suspected that the Fourth Prince secretly ordered someone to kill Pei Che's parents? However, this made no sense at all. Killing someone must have a motive, right
Pei Shijie and his wife made great contributions to flood control, and this credit was attributed to the Fourth Prince. The late emperor trusted the Duke Zhongguo Mansion and admired Pei Shijie's ability. It can be said that the support of the Pei family was very helpful to the Fourth Prince's plan to seize the throne. Could it be that the Fourth Prince was dissatisfied with his own strength, so he cut off one of his arms and handed over the country? This is too outrageous.
Jiang Miao scoffed at his own conjecture. He thought that anyone with a normal mind would never do this. Who would easily give up someone who was beneficial to him? Unless the person was no longer useful to him.
etc!
Jiang Miao suddenly realized one thing, that is, Pei Che's father did not seem to be on the side of the Fourth Prince.
But that's not the way to say it. After all, although Pei Shijie didn't stand directly on the side of the Fourth Prince, he didn't stand on the side of others either. If he really had to say it, he actually held a neutral opinion on this drama of seizing the throne.
But would he be killed just because he didn't make a clear statement? Wasn't he afraid of backfiring and pushing Pei Shijie to the other side
Jiang Miao's mind was full of thoughts. He always felt that the truth was about to come out. As long as he sorted out a certain link, it would be revealed to the world. However, he couldn't touch that string yet.
(End of this chapter)