Chapter 36 Chapter 36 is the only genuine version...

The drawer shook and made a creaking sound.

"Master, look!"

Boom!

The drawer finally couldn't hold on any longer, and the broken wood flew out directly. The heavy antique display cabinet fell down so heavily that even the ground seemed to shake.

Sheng Jiang was stunned. He touched his cheek which was scratched by the flying porcelain fragments, and a drop of blood appeared on his fingertip.

This amulet is so effective?!

Meow~

The tabby cat jumped down from the antique display cabinet and rubbed against Shen Xu's calf. It was just affectionate and far from the excitement and excitement just now. It walked away with its tail raised without any reluctance.

The cat is so happy! Meow~

Sheng Jiang swallowed and said tremblingly, "Miss Gu said that the Qilin cat can distinguish good from bad and is particularly fond of bad omens. So, it must have sensed that you would be in great trouble, that's why it was so happy..." It should be said that it was excited. He could clearly see an eagerness to try in the two golden cat pupils.

Chen Xu: "Shut up."

Sheng Jiang felt that he must be crazy, as he dared to say such things.

He quickly lowered his head and listened attentively.

Chen Xu flicked his sleeves, letting the Buddhist beads dangle between his fingers. He started walking, but suddenly stopped in front of him and asked, "Was the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion quite bustling the past few days?"

His lips were slightly curved, and his eyebrows and eyes were beautiful.

Sheng Jiang said respectfully, "Yes."

All unusual movements in the capital could not escape the eyes of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. All of these would be gathered in Sheng Jiang's hands, and Sheng Jiang would pick out the most important ones or those worthy of attention.

The inner chambers of the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion are secretive and lively, but they are actually worthless. He only mentioned it once or twice when reporting back. It has been a few days, so why is his master suddenly interested in it?

But since Shen Xu asked, he still answered them one by one.

This Jing'an Marquis's Mansion, wow, it's really something. It was originally a series of things that were not allowed to be made public, but now the whole capital is like watching a big show.

"Go to Jingzhao Prefecture and urge them to do something."

ah?

The meaning of "urging" is... Sheng Jiang is not a fool. If he were too stupid, he wouldn't be in his current position. Although he is not the commander of the Jinyiwei, because he follows Shen Xu, even the commander has to avoid his edge.

"yes!"

Sheng Jiang understood the meaning.

Several guards stood respectfully by the side, ready to go over and prop up the antique shelf as soon as he left.

"Don't move yet." Sheng Jiang sent the guards away and asked someone to call Wu Shang.

Wu Shang was a eunuch in his forties, with a thin, beardless face and sharp eyes.

Sheng Jiang told him what had happened and asked him to see the collapsed antique shelf.

He was still terrified. He was lucky. Otherwise, if the antique shelf had fallen, the governor would have been left with a bloody head at best, or even his life, which was unimaginable.

Wu Shang didn't come closer.

The antique display cabinet is so heavy, it is impossible for it to fall down by itself for no reason.

Wu Shang: "There are craftsmen in the East Factory."

Sheng Jiang didn't ask any more questions and handed the matter over to the East Factory to investigate next.

He was a member of the Imperial Guard, so it was inconvenient for him to ask about the East Factory's investigation. So he took some time off to go to Jingzhao Prefecture in person. Sheng Jiang's appearance startled the Jingzhao Yin. The Imperial Guard was not easy to mess with, especially since the man sitting behind Sheng Jiang was that gentleman.

His first reaction was whether he had done something wrong.

But then I thought, Sheng Jiang was the only one who came, so he shouldn’t be here to arrest me, right?

After Sheng Jiang explained the matter, Jingzhao Yin felt relieved.

It turns out it was about the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion!

As long as I am not unlucky, it doesn’t matter who is unlucky.

The Jingzhao Yin did not dare to delay and immediately ordered people to bring the wife of the Marquis of Jing'an back and open the court that night.

Lady Jing'an denied it, but she was not afraid at all. She thought that it would be like last time, where they would just ask her a few questions and then send her back respectfully. Unexpectedly, Jingzhao Prefecture was serious this time!

When the torture instruments were brought up, Lady Jing'an trembled with fear. She shouted in a trembling voice, "I am the Lady, I am the Lady of the Marquis! Who dares to torture me?"

Bang!

The Jingzhao Yin struck the gavel.

It was like thunder exploding beside her ears. Lady Jing'an's legs trembled as she tightly grasped Aunt Qiu's hand.

In fact, for the Jingzhao Yin, it was enough to have those servants confess their guilt. It was not an unforgivable crime and there was no evidence. There was no need to hold on to a lady of the earl's family. However, things were different now.

The Jingzhao Yin changed his previous conciliatory attitude and used severe torture on Ping Ma and others in the court in front of the wife of Jing'an Earl. He used boards and clamps to hit them, and then he personally interrogated them, focusing on their flaws and asking them questions continuously. Finally, Ping Ma could not bear it anymore and accidentally said something wrong.

As soon as she said something wrong, the last line of defense in her heart collapsed. Nanny Ping collapsed to the ground, her face ashen as death, and she told everything in one go.

"It was Madam Bo who ordered the servants to take the fifth young lady to the river."

"Madam Bo ordered this servant to drown the fifth girl!"

The panicked Lady of the Marquis of Jing'an was taken to the prison in Jingzhao Prefecture. She shouted and screamed that she wanted to see her uncle and her son, but no one paid any attention to her.

The case was finalized in just three days from Jingzhao Prefecture to Dali Temple.

The wife of the Marquis of Jing'an attempted to drown her granddaughter but failed. The Dali Temple sentenced her to 20 strokes of the cane and a fine of 100 taels of silver according to the law.

The case files and memorials were handed over to Shen Xu from the Imperial Household Department that same day.

After taking a quick look, Shen Xu picked up his pen and added: The Jing'an Marquis's mansion is in disrepair and should be stripped of its hereditary title, while retaining its original title.

Sheng Jiang mourned in his heart for the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion.

Although there is only a difference of four characters between the title of Marquis and the title of Hereditary Marquis, there is a world of difference between them! Without the title of Hereditary Marquis, it means that when the Marquis of Jing'an dies, Qin Su will only inherit the title of Viscount, and Qin Su's son will no longer have the status of a noble and become an ordinary citizen.

Oh, by the way, it seems that Master Qingping said that he was destined to be childless. Oh, how pitiful.

But this is also a good thing, it saves them from worrying all day about no one inheriting the title, and having a child with no idea who the father is. Now they can solve the problem once and for all, the master is really kind!

That’s right!

Sheng Jiang suddenly had an idea. He remembered that when Miss Gu came to the door, she seemed to say: "Your virtue is not worthy of your position, so you don't need this title." Yes, that's what she said. He even mentioned it to his master accidentally.

Hmm.

Sheng Jiang emptied his mind and didn't think about anything he shouldn't think about.

The practice of drowning baby girls was commonplace in previous dynasties, but it was limited to the common people, often driven by the desire to save food for sons. After Emperor Taizu ascended the throne, the court issued numerous strict decrees prohibiting the drowning of baby girls, exempting families with baby girls from corvée labor and reducing taxes, and ordering local governments to establish charity centers to adopt abandoned baby girls.

The imperial court has been investigating and preventing the incidents of drowning baby girls for so many years, and the number of cases among the people has finally decreased. But now, even the nobles are doing the same thing!

Is this too much to raise? This is a legitimate granddaughter! The legitimate daughters of noble families are all very noble. Even if they marry in the future, they can become the wives of the clan.

The Jing'an Marquis's Mansion actually wanted to drown her for an inexplicable illegitimate son.

The emperor read the memorial in disbelief, threw it on the desk, and sneered.

He had heard about the jokes that had happened in the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion these days, but he didn't expect that there would be something even more ridiculous!

The Jing'an Marquis's Mansion had been in decline for many years, but the emperor insisted on promoting Qin Su just for his status as the Gu family's son-in-law. The emperor even made arrangements for him to take over the Qianji Camp from Gu Yican in the future.

His unauthorized divorce from Gu had caught the emperor off guard, and he was already very upset. He even planned to ask the empress to call Gu over to persuade her to cancel the divorce. Unexpectedly, the wife of the Marquis of Jing'an nearly drowned Gu's own daughter.

How to persuade this?!

The emperor felt annoyed that his entire plan had been disrupted.

He held his breath, picked up the memorial, and read on. The Dali Temple had sentenced him to twenty strokes of the cane, which made him even more unhappy.

But then, his face turned from gloomy to bright, revealing a smile. Looking at the last line of familiar handwriting, he laughed heartily and said, "Sure enough, Ah Xu still understands my feelings the best!"

"That's how it should be!"

"Just do as Ah Xu said."

Otherwise, wouldn't this anger be forced upon him, the ruler of a nation?

The emperor wrote a big "approved" in red ink and issued an order directly.

The imperial edict was addressed to the Earl of Jing'an. Qin Su was still on duty. When he heard about it, he was completely stunned.

The meaning of "the curtains are thin and untidy" is that there is debauchery inside. The imperial edict clearly points out that the reason for seizing the hereditary throne is that the Jing'an Marquis's mansion is extremely debauched.

He covered his face with his hands, feeling overwhelmed with shame and anger. It was as if he had been hit hard on the head by a heavy hammer. His mind went blank. He ran out of the palace and rushed back to his home.

From a distance, he saw people from the Ministry of Works dismantling the door.

The hereditary earl's palace was built with three vermilion doors and a black-and-gold plaque.

After the plaque was smashed, there was no time to reinstall it. Just a few days later, even the door was gone.

It’s gone!

Qin Su stood in front of the door, his eyes dull and motionless, as if he had lost his soul.

His future, his ideals, his aspirations, everything...

All gone!

His father had always been indifferent to everything, his younger brother, Qin Luowen, was neither a martial artist nor a warrior, and his mother spent her days brooding over the concubines who had troubled his father... The entire burden of the Jing'an Marquisate fell on him. He had worked so hard for so long, but in the end, it was all ruined.

Boom! The last door was torn down and fell to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.

Qin Su closed his eyes, his heart dead.

"My Lord!"

A cry with a sobbing tone suddenly exploded in Qin Su's ears. Qin Su turned his head stiffly. Aunt Qiu opened the curtain of the carriage and said cryingly: "Madam, Madam, she has fainted. It's good that you are here."

Twenty lashes!

After this beating, the lady fainted on the spot.

After the beating, the Dali Temple didn't care and just left the person there. She had no choice but to take the maids in the mansion to carry the lady onto the carriage.

He was beaten so badly that his back was covered in blood and flesh. She didn't even dare to look at it.

Seeing Qin Su, his backbone finally came back.

Qin Su subconsciously took two steps forward, then abruptly stopped, his eyes full of resentment.

If it weren't for his mother, how could their mansion have reached this point, and how could he have become a laughing stock in the entire capital? These past few days, he didn't even dare to walk in front of others. Originally, he had the support of the hereditary mansion, so he could still grit his teeth and persevere.

Now, he's finished!

Once the imperial edict was issued, he would never be able to escape the four words "unruly" in his life.

Thinking of Sun Yaoniang, thinking of that child, thinking of his father... He felt so nauseous that he almost vomited. The lingering smell of blood in his chest seemed to have become even stronger.

"Su'er...is that Su'er?"

Lady Jing'an opened her eyes with difficulty and tried to pull the curtain.

She had delicate skin and tender flesh, and had lived a life of luxury. The beating of the stick was so real that it hurt so much that she even wanted to die.

However, Su'er never showed up from beginning to end.

Luo'er didn't come either.

Neither of her two sons took any action to help her, leaving her alone in court, helpless and humiliated.

"Su'er!"

Seeing Qin Su turned away indifferently, Aunt Qiu knew something was wrong and said quickly, "I was mistaken. It's not the prince. Madam, let's go into the mansion first and wait for the doctor to come."

She was thinking about whether she should report to the Fifth Young Master, but then she thought again that the Fifth Young Master had not returned home for almost half a month and had been staying in the incense storage pavilion of that Miss Xian'er all day long.

After thinking about it, I decided to forget it. It’s useless for the Fifth Young Master to come back, and he will only be a hindrance.

She hurried the carriage into the house.

Isn't it Su'er? Lady Jing'an thought so, and the carriage started moving again. The curtain was blown open by the wind, and she saw clearly that Qin Su was standing there motionless, but he didn't even look at her.

At this moment, her heart was broken.

She's doing this for his own good!

Obviously, everyone in her family did this... It must be the fault of that slut Sun Yaoniang. She hooked up with the uncle and didn't even tell him!

Boom!

There were a lot of dismantled door frame wood piled in front of the mansion gate. When the carriage was moving in, it was tripped and bumped. Lady Zhen'an, who was lying in the carriage, had a distorted face and screamed in pain.

"ah!"

"It hurts so much—"

Lady Jing'an screamed, her eyes dazed for a moment.

"Grandma, it hurts."

A soft and sticky voice seemed to ring in my ears.

"Grandma, Ah Man is scared, please stop the acupuncture."

"Grandma, Aman hurts, Aman hurts so much..."

Nanny Ping held her hands, Nanny Qiu held her feet, and the long blood-drawing needle pierced into Ah Man's chest. She cried in pain and screamed hysterically.

So noisy.

She tells her not to talk and will let her go if she doesn’t.

"Grandma, Ah Man, be obedient..."

After that, Ah Man never spoke again.

Taoist Master Qingping said that Suer was destined to have no heir, and he said that A'man was the only flesh and blood of Suer in this life.

For a moment, I couldn't tell whether it was regret or guilt, an indescribable emotion surged in my heart.

"I'll go to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and ask the Gu family to bring Ah Man back..."

Lady Jing'an screamed desperately.

The carriage jolted again, this time even harder, and it threw her off the chair and rolled her into the carriage.

Her eyes darkened and she pouted.

"Madam! Madam!"

Aunt Qiu was startled. She carefully felt her weak breath and cried out loudly, "Hurry up, someone, something's wrong with the lady!"

"Someone come quickly!"

Qin Su also heard it. He was silent for a moment, but ultimately did not go over.

My mother was always like this, crying and making a fuss, and she only got a few spankings. How serious could that be?! Could it have been as painful as Ah Man's?

With a cold face, he mounted his horse and rode away, heading straight for the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

He wanted to see A Liao, he was almost unable to bear it, he wanted A Liao to be by his side. No son, no son, as long as he had A Man, and A Man was enough. The three of them would go to the northern border, far away from the capital, and the three of them would be together forever.

Bang bang bang!

He knocked hard on the door of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

"Aman! I want to see my daughter."

He only has this one daughter in his life, and she is his life.

The doorman first reported it to the main courtyard, and soon someone passed the news to Gu Zhizhuo's ears.

Gu Zhizhuo smiled faintly and said sarcastically, "Now you are pretending to be affectionate and want to be a loving father. Forget it."

"Go on."

Gu Zhizhuo has been concentrating on Xie Yingchen's pills these days.

She asked her cheap senior brother to get her a small alchemy furnace. She was still getting used to the temperature, so she didn't pay much attention to the affairs of the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion. However, Qiongfang went out every day. The mess in the Qin family had long been a laughing stock for the people in the capital. Qiongfang didn't even need to ask around to bring back a lot of gossip.

"Madame Ping and the other three were sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane. After that, they were sent back to the Marquis of Jing'an's residence." Qiongfang said, adding, "If they weren't sent back, they might still be alive. But if they are sent back, I'm afraid their lives will be in jeopardy."

Lady Jing'an would definitely kill them out of anger.

But Qiongfang had no sympathy at all.

Even if it was the master's order, they did take action. Moreover, if it wasn't a confidant, why would Lady Jing'an entrust such a matter to someone else? Since this was a confidant, she must have known Lady Jing'an's plan long ago. They didn't even secretly tell the eldest aunt a word.

"By the way, young lady, I also heard that when the wife of the Marquis of Jing'an was imprisoned in the Dali Temple, the Marquis of Jing'an also took Sun Yaoniang in as his wife."

ah?

Gu Zhizhuo slowly raised his head and blinked his beautiful big eyes again and again.

"Really? He even invited quite a few people to his concubine banquet."

Gu Zhizhuo: “…”

Well, the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion always makes her feel surprised as if her cognition has been refreshed.

So, why didn’t he marry Sun Yaoniang in the first place?

In fact, according to her original idea, this lawsuit would take at least ten days or half a month to settle.

There's no doubt someone did it.

"Miss, the lady wants you to go."

Chunxin was reporting outside. Then, Gu Zhizhuo put down the herbs in his hand, wiped his hands with a clean white silk cloth, put on his veil and went out.

Ji was also in Ronghe Hall.

Gu Zhizhuo hadn't left the house for five days and hadn't seen her for five days. She looked extremely haggard and sat there without saying a word, without her usual deliberate gentleness and consideration.

Gu Zhizhuo's incense was only enough for two days and could remind people of their most unbearable memories. Before using the incense, she specifically mentioned her "twin sister" in front of Ji. If Ji was truly guilty, she would have nightmares.

It seems that we need to investigate what is going on with the twins in the Ji family.

"grandmother."

"Mother."

Gu Zhizhuo greeted the guests gracefully and sat down in his seat.

Bai Chang's family was standing behind Ji. When he met her gaze, he raised his chin with a look of arrogance on his face.

Gu Zhizhuo smiled and asked, "Mother doesn't look well. Has she not slept well recently?"

When Ji heard these words, every word was heart-wrenching.

She had nightmares for two days in a row. In the following days, whenever she closed her eyes, her elder sister would appear in front of her. She didn't even dare to sleep.

"fine."

Ji shi said something perfunctorily and impatiently, then continued with what Gu Zhizhuo had said before he came in, "...Mother, please let me take Yan Ge'er back home."

Madam Gu shook her head: "Yan'er has moved to the front yard, there is no reason for him to move back. Yuanchu, I know you only have this one son, but no matter how much you can't let him go, you can't keep a boy in the inner house forever. Not to mention our family, any family with rules would have to move a boy of five or six years old. Yuanchu..."

"Mother, I didn't say I wouldn't move," Ji said anxiously. "Yang'er's fever hasn't subsided, and his injuries are very painful. I'm really scared. He's never left me since he was little, and now he's sick and has to lie alone. Mother, Yang'er isn't even six years old yet. If he dies...with my second brother gone, we'll only have three males left in our family, including Yang'er."

"Can you bear it?"

After hearing this, the lady also panicked and asked hurriedly: "Hasn't the doctor gone to see him?"

"I've checked it!" Ji was extremely upset. "I've been prescribed medicine after medicine, but after taking it for a few days, it's all useless."

"Mother."

Ji looked at Madam Gu pleadingly, "Let Yan'er come back and stay for a few days. When he recovers, I'll send him back to the front yard, okay?"

If Yan'er's illness wasn't so serious, she wouldn't have been so humble.

This... Madam Gu was a little embarrassed.

Gu Yan had indeed made a serious mistake, nearly harming Ah Man. Bai Er had warned her not to be soft-hearted. This child had been raised astray in the inner chambers, and she needed to correct him. She wanted him to suffer.

She subconsciously went to see Gu Zhizhuo. It was Gu Zhizhuo's idea to let Gu Yan live in the front yard.

"Mother." Gu Zhizhuo lifted the hair from her cheek and spoke slowly, "Is the medicine that Yan'er is taking the right ingredients?"

"Of course." Ji was furious. "They were all collected from the herbs readily available in the mansion."

Like most wealthy families, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion also has a warehouse dedicated to storing some commonly used and rare medicinal materials. They are all carefully selected and their quality is far better than the medicines bought outside.

Once the doctor prescribes the medicine, you can just go to the small warehouse and get it.

Gu Zhizhuo repeated, "Is this the right medicinal material?"

What's the meaning! ?

Ji's first thought was that she was playing a trick on him, and his face became gloomy.

"Madam Wan," Gu Zhizhuo ordered, "Go and get a portion of Gu Yan's medicine."

Nanny Wan glanced at Ji and seeing that she didn't say anything, she hurried back to get it herself.

Bai Changjia's eyes were erratic, and her heart was lifted up little by little. She couldn't help but say: "Madam..."

"What's wrong?" Gu Zhizhuo raised his eyebrows. "Bai Chang family, who allowed you to interrupt? You're so nervous, is it because of the herbs?"

"It's the fifth day. Have you made your mother angry?"

She spoke slowly, just as she had five days ago.

Bai Changjia shuddered. In the past five days, she had seen the fourth young master getting injured and sick from time to time, and all of them were predicted by the eldest girl. She felt a little scared, afraid that what the eldest girl said would come true. She kept telling herself that the eldest girl didn't have the ability to do so. She just wanted to scare her and take advantage of her because she couldn't beat her.

After thinking it over again and again, she decided to just follow the lady around and get close to her, following her wherever she went, so that no little bitch would come and complain about her when she was not around.

The fifth day is almost over...

Nothing will go wrong, right?

Bai Chang's heart was beating like a drum, and he kept looking at the door.

She only took some commissions. Those merchants wouldn't be so bold as to give inferior medicinal materials to the Duke's Mansion, right?

The older girl must be exaggerating.

Nanny Wan came and went in a hurry, and when she came back, she brought a package of medicinal herbs.

I got this from the small warehouse yesterday after the doctor wrote the prescription.

Bai Changjia twisted his hands together, his fingertips turning white.

Nanny Wan presented it to Ji Shi, who said, "If the young lady wants to see it, then give it to her."

She wanted to see what tricks Gu Zhizhuo could figure out!

So, the medicinal herbs were placed on the coffee table next to Gu Zhizhuo.

Gu Zhizhuo fiddled with it carelessly with his fingers for a few times and picked up a piece of bupleurum. Nanny Wan took a subconscious look, her pupils shrinking sharply. This bupleurum...

Nanny Wan took it with trembling hands.

The quality of Bupleurum chinense is extremely poor. Not only are there wormholes on it, but there are also some black spots and white hairs.

Gu Zhizhuo took out another small piece of ephedra.

Nanny Wan took it quickly and squeezed the ephedra in her hand. It was soft and some water seeped out when she squeezed it. It was rotten!

She exclaimed in surprise: "Madam, this medicinal herb..."

Ji also realized that something was wrong. She rushed over and rummaged through the pile of herbs with her slender white hands. The more she rummaged, the more frightened she became. These herbs were either moldy or infested with insects, and were mixed in with the other herbs. If she hadn't looked carefully one by one, she would not have been able to find them at all.

Gu Zhizhuo sneered and said, "It would be strange if this medicine could cure you."

"A few copper coins could buy a whole cart of these! Sigh, we have been eating this crap for who knows how long. No wonder your health is always so bad, Madam."

Madam Gu asked Nanny Zhu to take some to show her. Thinking about every word that Gu Zhizhuo said, she became furious.

She slammed the coffee table and angrily asked, "Who's in charge of purchasing?!"

Nanny Wan blurted out, "Yes, it's from the Bai Chang family!"

Bai Changjia's legs were shaking so badly that he knelt on the ground.

"Slave, slave..."

She crawled out from behind Ji on her knees and knelt in front of the lady, sweating profusely.

The corners of Ji's mouth were tense, her face was as dark as ink, and deep anger lingered between her eyebrows, as if it was about to swallow her up.

Gu Zhizhuo raised his hand, spread his five fingers, and said with a smile:

"It's the fifth day."