Du Yutong had only heard her older brother mention it once when she was having dinner with her parents and older brother.
It is said that someone found a female corpse in a pond outside the city. When it was found, the body was swollen and unrecognizable.
Based on the woman's clothing and appearance, the yamen officials deduced that she was a prostitute from a brothel.
Then they went to various pleasure quarters in the capital to search, and sure enough, they found a brothel where a woman had run away and had not returned for more than ten days.
Some people thought the woman had run away with her lover. Not many women run away from brothels, and the madam didn't want to get involved in a lawsuit, so no one reported it to the authorities. If the government hadn't come looking for her, no one would have brought it up again.
As for why the woman went outside the city and why she was pushed into the pond, these are still under investigation.
Although Du Yutong's elder brother, Du Shizheng, worked at the armory, some of his colleagues and relatives worked in government offices, and in their spare time they would inevitably talk about lawsuits and murder cases.
To Du Yutong, it was just gossip to gossip over tea.
Jiang Shuyue hadn't been following gossip for a long time, and when Zhan Shuzhen stopped halfway through her story, she quickly asked, "Sister Zhan, tell me quickly, what other strange things are happening in the capital?"
Zhan Shuzhen glanced at Du Yutong, then shifted her gaze to Jiang Shuyue, "To call them strange things is not really true; they are just unsolved murder cases."
"Do you all remember the time before the New Year when many members of the midwife's family went to the Prefect of the Capital to report to the authorities?"
Du Yutong and Jiang Shuyue nodded slightly, and Qiu Ju hurriedly replied, "I remember, of course I remember. The case was never resolved, and I have to say, those people in the government are so slow."
"I remember that most of the cases had results; many people who committed fraud were punished, and some were even dismissed from their posts because of it."
Jiang Shuyue heard about this from Su Jin.
"Miss Zhan, stop keeping us in suspense! Tell us quickly, are there any other fugitives we haven't caught yet?" Du Yutong's gossip instincts were also piqued.
“You may not have noticed, but an old woman in Cui Yudie’s maternal grandfather’s family also died. The other day, that old woman’s family went to the Jingzhao Yin to report to the authorities, saying that the old woman’s death was suspicious and asking the government to help investigate again.”
Chan Shu-chen lowered her voice, her face full of mystery.
Du Yutong was completely bewildered. "How come the version of this story is different? It says that the old woman fell and died of a stroke when she got up to relieve herself in the middle of the night. This matter has already been investigated and clarified. Now that the old woman's family is jumping out to overturn the case, could it be that they want to extort money from the old employer?"
Zhan Shuzhen shook her head, "Sister Du should know more than I do. I only heard the maids in the courtyard talking about that matter."
Jiang Shuyue remained silent. There were plenty of wronged souls in the mansion, and with the attitude of "wherever there's gossip, there's gossip," she didn't pry.
A little while later, Du Yutong recounted the scene of the Guo family's property being confiscated.
In particular, when she talked about her father hearing about the infighting within the Guo family at Dali Temple, she spoke with great enthusiasm and emotion.
Jiang Shuyue had lived in modern civilization, and hearing that her entire family had been implicated made her feel very uncomfortable.
As the saying goes, the first generation is close relatives, the second generation is cousins, and the third and fourth generations don't recognize each other anymore.
The Water Transport Governor Guo Baoxian amassed wealth without sharing it with his distant relatives. It's absurd that even his distant relatives were implicated when he was about to die.
In ancient times, people valued the idea of family sticking together for mutual support, while most families and households had their own agendas.
Very few families truly achieve shared wealth and prosperity.
In Jiang Shuyue's view, the laws of Wanling also have some extremely unreasonable aspects.
As the carriage passed through the market, Gao Mu reined in the horses and asked through the curtain, "Miss, are we going to the market?"
Jiang Shuyue thought for a moment and said, "I won't go. Let's go straight to the restaurant. We can ask Hu Qing if we need anything."
When the group arrived at the restaurant, Hu Qing was delighted to see Jiang Shuyue and said, "Miss, you've finally arrived! Yesterday, Zhang Man brought people to deliver vegetables into the city. He said that the tomatoes will be ready to be picked in about ten days."
"It's about the same time as I estimated. When Zhang Man delivers vegetables to the city again another day, remember to tell him that the windows on the greenhouse walls can be opened as the temperature rises."
As Jiang Shuyue spoke, she walked upstairs to the private room.
With a gesture from Hu Qing, the waiter brought over the tea.
"Miss, what would you like to eat today?"
Before Jiang Shuyue could answer, Zhan Shuzhen stopped and turned back to wink at Jiang Shuyue.
"Sister Jiang, I want to eat barbecue. I had it once when my grandmother celebrated her birthday, but I didn't get enough."
“Okay, let’s have barbecue.” Jiang Shuyue nodded readily.
Hu Qing offered to escort the group upstairs, but Jiang Shuyue refused, saying, "Guests will be arriving soon, Manager Hu, you can go ahead and attend to your business. Don't worry about us."
"Thank you for your understanding, Miss. Please feel free to ask the waiter if you need anything. I'll take my leave now."
Hu Qing bowed respectfully, and only turned and left after the figures of the group disappeared around the corner on the second floor.
The group entered the private room and took their seats. The waiter then poured tea for them.
Jiang Shuyue said, "Bring a jar of fruit wine and a honey-roasted goose. Send half of the goose, along with two other dishes, to Gao Mu."
The waiters at Juxian Pavilion were all familiar with Gao Mu. Every time they brought the young lady over, Gao Mu would wait in a corner room not far from the stables in the backyard.
The waiter bowed and left.
Zhan Shuzhen picked up her teacup, took a sip, put it down, glanced around, and said with envy, "Sister Jiang, you're so capable. You own such a big restaurant; you must make a lot of money every year."
“It’s not just me who’s in a partnership,” Jiang Shuyue said with a faint smile.
"That's quite a bit of money."
Zhan Shuzhen missed out on the prosperous days of the Marquis of Zhongyong's family from the moment she was born. In her eyes, Jiang Shuyue was definitely a wealthy woman.
Zhan Shuzhen once again praised the greenhouse vegetables at Jiang Shuyue's estate.
Du Yutong had eaten this many times before. She was used to Jiang Shuyue's estate not producing seasonal vegetables. In her eyes, Jiang Shuyue was an omnipotent person.
...
A few days later, Prime Minister Lin leisurely returned to the capital.
When Lin Ruyin saw her brother return, she was so excited that her eyes filled with tears. "Brother, you've been gone for so long without leaving a letter. I was so worried about you. If I wasn't afraid that our parents would worry, I would have written to Dad and asked him to ask someone to look for you."
"What's the rush? I'm not a three-year-old. I've had a very fruitful trip. Here, take this." Lin Xiangzhi took out a money pouch from his pocket.
Lin Ruyin took the money bag, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Other people's fathers and brothers would always bring back some novelties when they went out, but her brother was different; he almost always brought her gold and silver items.
"Brother, did you lose Xue'er?" Lin Ruyin asked, noticing that Zhu Xi hadn't brought back much luggage and hadn't seen Xue'er.
Lin Xiangzhi waved his wide sleeves and said, "Don't mention it, just consider it tribute."
"Tribute! What do you mean? Did you give it to the Emperor? But I haven't seen it in the palace." Lin Ruyin was completely confused. She also liked Xue'er very much. Without Xue'er in the mansion, she felt strangely lonely.
Lin Xiangzhi took a few steps and then turned back, "When did you go to the palace?"
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