Chapter 48 Chapter 48 Did she just scare me two months ago?

Fang Ying hadn't expected that two days later, when she went with Li to a wedding, she would run into Zhou Congshan at the same wedding. They discussed the army's movements privately, and she was surprised to ask, "Did Ji Liulang even write all this down in his letter?"

"..." Recalling the lessons learned from the past two days, Fang Ying felt she couldn't give Zhou Congshan another chance to tease her. She played dumb and said, "Why? Can't I write about this? It shouldn't be considered a military secret, right?"

Zhou Congshan gave her a half-smile. "It might not be considered confidential, but most people would just write something about heading north to join forces with their father. After all, it's a family matter. Your Ji Liulang is truly different."

Seeing that she looked like she was expecting him to ask, Fang Ying refused to be tricked into asking what the difference was. She simply said, "I probably just wrote it casually. By the way, is there any news from the Criminal Court regarding Zhang Xiong's case?"

Her change of subject was a bit abrupt, but since they were in someone else's house after all, Zhou Congshan let her off the hook and went along with her answer, "That's probably how the case is concluded. It won't be dismissed or changed."

She looked around and leaned close to Fang Ying's ear. "The Prince of Yan is in the imperial court. The emperor has scolded him and that's it. There were no further orders, so it's obvious they don't want to investigate further. According to the ruling of Kaifeng Prefecture, when the army returns victorious, there might be a general amnesty. Bringing Zhang Xiong back then wouldn't be considered an offense to the Prince of Yan—those officials are very shrewd."

"..." Fang Ying pondered for a moment and leaned over to her friend's ear, "So, the King of Chu is just all talk and no action, just putting on an act?"

"Not really. If he hadn't taught the Fourth Prince a lesson, his sentence would have been even lighter than it is now. And I guess that person in the palace didn't want Zhang Xiong's life in the first place. It's not her style to make a mortal enemy with the Prince of Yan when the situation is still unclear."

So none of these powerful people in the temple cared about the abducted girl and her innocent relatives from beginning to end, Fang Ying sighed in her heart.

Seeing that she was silent, Zhou Congshan could probably guess what she was thinking, so he took his friend's hand and asked, "Your father should know where the victim lives, right?"

Fang Ying raised her eyes and looked at her: "You want to..."

"Wait until that scumbag named Zhang is exiled from the capital, and then I'll send someone to take a look." Zhou Congshan nodded.

Fang Ying felt warm in her heart and couldn't help but praise: "You are truly the second most beautiful and kind-hearted Bodhisattva I have ever seen in the world."

Zhou Congshan said "Pah" at first, then asked curiously: "Who is the first one?"

"Our Madam," Fang Ying answered as a matter of course, then shook her friend's hand and added, "I'm ranking you this way not because you're in any way inferior, but because you're still young. When you reach our Madam's age, you'll definitely be on par with her."

Zhou Congshan couldn't help but let out another "Pah" and cursed with a smile, "You're full of nonsense. You have a mouth... In your own words, you're the most cunning and clever person in the world."

Fang Ying didn't take it seriously at all and said with a smile, "Thank you for the compliment."

Zhou Congshan's eyes rolled. "No, no, no, you really deserve the title. Otherwise, how could Ji Liulang be so completely devoted to you?"

Fang Ying glared, but before she could retaliate, the host of the banquet suddenly came over and called out to them, "So you two were chatting in private. The princess has arrived and wants to see you two."

The two of them hurriedly stood up hand in hand and followed their host through the hall into the inner room where the ladies were sitting.

Today's happy event is that Wang Jichong, the envoy of the Southern Court of Xuanhui and deputy envoy of the Privy Council, is marrying his granddaughter-in-law. Wang Jichong entered the officialdom in Qi Dynasty, served in the Later Jin Dynasty and now in Chen Dynasty. Although he is not as prominent as the Zhou family, he can be said to have served in the Three Kingdoms period without fail.

Wang Jicong himself was now also on the front line of the campaign against Northern Zhao. Since the auspicious date for this wedding had been set long ago and the one getting married was not the eldest grandson, it was not changed and the wedding banquet was held as scheduled.

Fang Ying and Zhou Congshan walked in hand in hand, and were greeted by the fact that it was not just Mrs. Wang herself sitting in the main seat. Beside her was a young woman wearing a phoenix crown and gorgeous clothes. The two knew that this must be Wang Jichong's daughter, the current Princess of Chu who was married to the King of Chu as his second wife, and they hurriedly bowed and saluted together.

"Hurry up and come sit here." Princess Chu was very kind. She called the two of them to her front, looked left and right, and smiled at Madam Zhou and Li. "You are both beauties. You two ladies are blessed."

Madam Zhou and Mrs. Li each said something modest. The Princess of Chu asked a few questions casually and then released Fang Ying. She left Zhou Congshan alone sitting beside her, speaking to her from time to time.

Fang Ying returned to Li's side and looked at the attitude of the Princess of Chu. She couldn't help but think about it. Then she looked at the ladies present, and they all glanced at Zhou Congshan intentionally or unintentionally - it was obvious that everyone was thinking about the matter of "three queens in one family".

After the banquet was over, Fang Ying and Yue Qing'e helped Li get into the car. On the way, the three of them talked about what happened at the banquet, and they couldn't help but talk about this matter.

"I heard that Princess Chu arrived late because Princess Yan was feeling unwell and she went to visit her first?" Yue Qing'e asked Li. "Mother, did Princess Chu really say that?"

"How did this spread? It's not true." Li shook her head. "It's a wedding at my parents' house. How can I visit a patient and then come back to attend the wedding? Aren't you afraid of ruining my family's happiness?"

"I just felt something was wrong." When the Princess of Chu arrived, Yue Qing'e was talking to her sister-in-law in another guest hall. "But later, several people said the same thing."

Fang Ying had never heard of this. "The Princess of Yan is not okay? What's wrong with her? Is it serious?"

"We can't say for sure whether it's serious or not, but... Madam Yu does look unwell. Princess Chu did pull her aside to comfort her for a few words, saying that she had visited Princess Yan the day before yesterday and her complexion had improved." Li said.

The Princess of Yan is the daughter of Grand Tutor Yu. Madam Yu also attended the banquet today. Fang Ying and Yue Qing'e went to pay their respects, but they didn't talk and didn't have a deep impression.

Upon hearing this, Yue Qing'e sighed, "Words like 'your complexion is improving' are obviously comforting. If Princess Yan really has postpartum fever..."

There are many kinds of postpartum diseases in women, and postpartum fever is the kind that can be fatal. Fang Ying was horrified when she heard this. Could it be that the words she casually said to scare Zhou Congshan two months ago were actually going to come true?

Seeing her face change color, Mrs. Li knew that she must have thought of something. She reached out and patted her daughter-in-law's hand, comforting her, "Don't be afraid. Madam Zhou heard it too."

Yue Qing'e looked at her mother-in-law, then at her sisters-in-law, and suddenly realized, "Yes, if anything happens to Princess Yan..." She didn't say anything, she was so scared that she covered her mouth, and after a moment, she shook her head repeatedly, "No, no, anyone who can become a princess must be blessed by the Bodhisattva. Besides, how can the eldest daughter of Uncle Zhou be someone's stepmother?"

"I hope so."

Fang Ying murmured in response. After returning home, she would silently pray for the Princess of Yan every day while practicing calligraphy and copying scriptures. Unfortunately, the Bodhisattva did not care about human affairs after all. The news of the Princess of Yan's death spread to all the powerful residences in the capital before the arrival of the twelfth lunar month.

At that time, Zhang Xiong, who was exiled thousands of miles away, had just left the capital. Zhou Congshan had just sent people to find the victim's family and gave them some money and food to help them overcome the current difficulties.

"I originally thought of asking them to move away to avoid the Zhang family's revenge later, but the family steward thought it was inappropriate, fearing that our family would be implicated. If I had known this..." Zhou Congshan's face was filled with anger, "it would have been better to let them misunderstand and be more cautious in their actions..."

Fang Ying shook her head. "It seems that they are determined to get the Princess of Yan to vacate her position. This has nothing to do with Zhang Xiong. Your family's steward isn't thinking about them, but the emperor. This is a struggle between the two palaces, and your family really shouldn't get involved."

Zhou Congshan sneered: "Even if you don't want to get involved, you can't escape this stinking quagmire. How can there be such a cruel and shameless person in the world?"

"If you can avoid it, just choose the King of Qin." Fang Ying was remarkably calm. "The King of Yan has made great contributions before the emperor, and the King of Qin is not far behind. The heaviest weight is in your hands, so don't be afraid."

"Do you think the King of Qin and his mother are good people?" Zhou Congshan blurted out.

Fang Ying was stunned: "What happened to the King of Qin? But Crown Prince Zhaoyi..."

Zhou Congshan regretted his words the moment they came out of his mouth. He shook his head and said, "It has nothing to do with that matter. If you only look at Concubine Hui's methods, you should know that they are not kind people."

That's true. There are no good people in heaven. Even if there were, they would have turned to bones long ago.

But there is no way, "It's better than the King of Yan."

Zhou Congshan listened and was silent for a while before saying, "Okay, I know what I'm doing, don't worry."

"I'm worried." Fang Ying took her hand and asked, "What have you found out about Crown Prince Zhaoyi?"

"Nothing..." Zhou Congshan's eyes fell on the window, "Hey, it's snowing."

Fang Ying turned around and saw large snowflakes falling outside, which soon formed a white edge on the courtyard wall.

She turned back, looked at her friend who was still looking out the window, and said seriously, "I can't rest assured because you keep saying that."

Zhou Congshan finally withdrew his gaze and met her eyes. "I wasn't lying to you. Both the master and the disciple are dead. There are no clues. The medicine residue the palace servants brought was indeed poisonous/mixed with medicine, but it's impossible to say for sure that it was the medicine used on my cousin. After all, it's been more than two years..."

"Are you going to just let this go?" Fang Ying asked, but she didn't believe it in her heart. She knew Zhou Congshan's obsession better than anyone else.

"We can't let it go. We'll just investigate slowly. The smell of blood can't be washed off the hands that've killed someone. Look, isn't this another innocent person dead?" Zhou Congshan sneered, "Puberty fever? Princess Yan died of childbirth fever over a hundred days after giving birth. Ha, they're so bold! Even my stepmother is suspicious."

"I've also heard that most cases of postpartum fever are contracted during the confinement period." She admitted that she couldn't let it go, which made Fang Ying feel more relieved. "It seems that this mother and child are indeed the most suspicious."

This last sentence obviously wasn't referring to the death of Princess Yan. Hatred flashed in Zhou Congshan's eyes: "No matter who it is, I'll make them pay with their lives!"

The heavy snow outside seemed to know that someone was innocently harmed and was filled with hatred. It fell heavily for two days before slowly stopping. At this time, the news of the death of Princess Yan was finally delivered to the hands of Prince Yan who was in the imperial court.

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The author has something to say: Postpartum fever is a fever caused by infection after childbirth.