Upon hearing the news of Wang Lang's death, Eleventh Lady was stunned for a moment.
Wang Lang is dead?
How did he die?
Thinking about what he did to Shi Niang, and thinking about Shi Niang's temper...it couldn't be Shi Niang...
As the thought flashed through her mind, she suddenly felt her mouth dry.
You know, in this society it's okay for a man to beat a woman, but if a woman kills a man, in eight or nine out of ten cases she will have to pay with her life.
Shi Niang, please don't do anything stupid!
You have to know that they are all concubines' daughters. Unless they can prove that Wang Lang is entirely at fault, the Luo family will definitely not stand up for them.
She couldn't help but look towards Xu Lingyi.
But Xu Lingkuan on the other side jumped up with a cry of "Aiya": "Wang Lang is dead? When did it happen? How did he die?"
Xu Lingyi saw his wife looking at him anxiously, paused, and said, "It happened in the afternoon at 5 p.m. He drank too much and got into a conflict with someone. Someone from Shuntian Prefecture knew about the relationship between our two families, so he sent someone to tell me."
The language is concise, without a single superfluous word.
Eleventh Lady felt something was strange when she heard this. It seemed like Xu Lingyi was avoiding something.
But when I thought that this matter had nothing to do with Shi Niang, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as he was about to ask in detail, the lady asked with concern, "Has the murderer been caught? Should the Wang family send someone to express their condolences?"
"The one who reported the case was... the boss. The perpetrator was caught on the spot." Xu Lingyi hesitated when he said this, but soon returned to his usual gentleness and calmness. "When a person dies, it's like a light goes out. Before, I was worried that Xiaowu and Wang Lang would get involved. Now that Wang Lang is gone, our two families are in-laws after all, so we should send someone to express our condolences. But it's late today, and the Wang family just received the bad news. They are in grief. Let's send someone tomorrow!"
The lady nodded, looking disappointed: "Wang Lang is the only son... I'm afraid the Wang family is in despair right now." As she spoke, as if she remembered something, she asked Eleventh Lady, "Did he leave any children?"
Eleventh Lady shook her head: "No!"
She thought of what happened to Shi Niang and Jin Lian's miscarriage... I wonder if Wang Lang thought about these things when he died? Did he regret it?
"This child..." The lady's eyes darkened as she listened and she shook her head and sighed.
The Fifth Lady advised the Grand Lady: "Wang Lang has been spoiled to the point of not knowing how high the heavens are and how deep the earth is. He has always been bold. If you walk along the river often, you will get your shoes wet. This is just bad luck for him."
"What do you know? It is the most painful thing for an old person to send off a young person." The lady said, tears already forming in the corners of her eyes.
Mother Du saw it and hurriedly handed over the handkerchief: "Madam, what are you doing? You are surrounded by so many gentlemen, and you are so sad!"
"Yes, yes." Seeing this, the Third Lady hurriedly and attentively offered tea to the Lady Dowager, "Drink some hot tea, you will feel better."
"Grandma, don't be sad!" Several children came forward and comforted the lady.
The lady took Mother Du's handkerchief and wiped her eyes, then took the tea from the third lady. She saw several children looking at her worriedly with their little faces raised, and her heart suddenly felt warm.
"When you get older, you tend to be sad about the passing of time." She took a sip of hot tea. "It's getting late, let's all go! If you have anything to say, we can talk tomorrow."
Everyone nodded and dispersed.
Mother Du helped the lady to wash and dress.
"Do you want me to send someone to ask about the Marquis?"
"No need." The lady sighed, "Now that things have come to this, there is no point in saying more. Let the fourth son calm down first. When he has thought it through, he will tell me naturally."
Mother Du nodded and helped the lady change into her sleeping clothes.
* * * * * *
Xu Lingkuan walked into the house in silence.
Madam Wu looked a little worried and nudged him: "What's wrong?"
Xu Lingkuan said nothing, went to wash up sullenly, and went to bed lazily.
Madam Wu thought for a moment, then leaned closer with a pouty mouth: "Lingkuan, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling uncomfortable? How about I ask Songxia to accompany you?"
Songxia was a second-class maidservant beside the Fifth Madam. Ever since Xiaolan and the others became concubines, she had become the Fifth Madam's personal attendant. She was also a beauty with almond eyes and rosy cheeks.
“No need!” Xu Lingkuan looked unhappy, and stretched out his arms to hug Danyang in his arms, “I didn’t expect Wang Lang to be dead!”
So that's why.
After all, they were childhood friends. He was also a soft-hearted person.
Thinking of this, the Fifth Lady stopped thinking about the matter of serving the emperor in the bedroom. Instead, she leaned her head on her husband's shoulder and said quietly, "Yes! No one expected it. To be honest, I didn't like him when I was young. I always felt that the way he looked at people made people feel creepy. I always felt that he was restless and would cause trouble one day. But I didn't expect that he would lose his life at such a young age. I just don't know who the murderer is? Do you know that he is the prince of the Duke of Mao's Mansion? Wang Lin is really unlucky to have such a brother. It has not been easy for her in the Jiang family in the past few years. She has to please the old ones, respect the young ones, and take care of the young ones. If it weren't for this brother holding her back, she wouldn't be like this..."
Xu Lingkuan listened to the Fifth Madam's chatter, touching her head from time to time, but his mind drifted far away.
When his fourth brother lectured him for the nonsense he had with Wang Lang, he was obedient on the surface, but he didn't take it seriously in his heart. He ran away when he saw his brother lecture him... Now that he thought about it, it was all thanks to his fourth brother, otherwise, he didn't know how many ridiculous things he would have done... Shuntian Prefecture sent someone to tell his fourth brother about what had just happened. It seemed that he wanted to hear his opinion. I wonder if the people in Shuntian Prefecture know that my fourth brother was dismissed from his post? If they knew, I don't know if they would be so attentive in the future? Although this matter has little to do with the Xu family, it is related to my fourth sister-in-law's family after all. If Shuntian Prefecture doesn't give any face to her, my fourth sister-in-law will lose face in her family, but my fourth brother will lose face in front of her.
We have to find a way to help Fourth Brother.
I just don’t know who the murderer is?
Unfortunately, I just heard the news of Wang Lang's death, and I was so shocked that I forgot to ask my fourth brother who committed the murder...
Thinking of this, he suddenly sat up, and the movement was so big that he almost pushed Madam Wu off the bed.
"Sibao, Sibao," Xu Lingkuan called out the name of his personal servant, "Go to Shuntian Prefecture and ask the governor tomorrow morning who killed Wang Lang?"
The servant left in response.
The Fifth Lady could not help but pull his sleeve and said coquettishly, "The Marquis told you not to interfere in Wang Lang's affairs, so why are you getting involved?"
Before she could say anything, Xu Lingkuan said, "I just want to help my fourth brother, don't I?"
The Fifth Madam was furious when she heard this. She didn't believe that he was trying to help Xu Lingyi at all: "The Marquis still wants you to take the lead?"
Xu Lingkuan couldn't say that he was worried about the snobbery of the Shuntian prefect, so he didn't take Xu Lingyi's words to heart and said nonsense: "When something like this happens, there is naturally strength in numbers. The government is also afraid when seeing this..."
The Fifth Lady was speechless.
When has the government ever been afraid of crowds?
He wants to help Eleventh Lady!
She listened to her husband's nonsense, pulled the quilt, turned over and fell asleep with her back to Xu Lingkuan.
* * * * * *
At this moment, Eleventh Lady was helping Xu Lingyi to heat his feet.
"Besides dismissing the Five Military Commanders from their posts, did the Emperor... say anything else?"
She was a little worried.
Xu Lingyi leaned on the recliner with his eyes closed, his expression somewhat grim.
"I said..."
But there was no further news.
Eleventh Lady hesitated for a moment, wiped her hands with a handkerchief folded on a small stool beside her, sat on the brocade stool next to the recliner, and asked him in a low voice: "What did you say?"
A warm breath with a faint scent of roses wafts towards me.
He opened his eyes.
I saw a pair of eyes as bright as the morning stars.
He smiled faintly: "The emperor summoned Wang Jiubao to the capital."
The emperor asked Wang Jiubao to come to Beijing.
The Wang family and the Qu family are enemies...
Eleventh Lady pondered and said, "So, the emperor is on our side."
Xu Lingyi nodded, with a faint smile in his eyes: "Although Elder Liang and others were against it, Elder Chen remained silent. So the emperor decided to summon Prince Jiubao to the capital to discuss the lifting of the maritime ban."
Chen Ge Lao is the Prime Minister. If he keeps silent, the matter will be 60% certain.
Eleventh Lady did not expect that Elder Liang would object: "...Didn't Elder Liang come to see you during the New Year?"
Xu Lingyi laughed at himself, "He was just trying to test my opinion. First, I didn't want to get involved. Second, I was wary of Huang Yu who sent Wang Jiubao's letter to me without him. I played Tai Chi with him for a long time, but he didn't express his support for lifting the maritime ban."
It seems that the ministers in the court have different ideas about whether to lift the maritime ban, and the matter is quite complicated.
Compared to this matter, she was more worried about the actions of the Qu family: "Since the emperor has summoned Wang Jiubao to the capital, the Qu family should also take action, right?"
"It's not that fast." Xu Lingyi said, "The emperor made the decision very suddenly this time. And his attitude was strong. He directly took the imperial edict prepared by the Ministry of Personnel and asked several ministers to distribute it to various departments. The ministers were caught off guard and argued for almost an hour about Wang Jiubao's entry into the capital and the lifting of the sea ban. In the end, it was Minister Chen who stepped in and calmed the matter down. I just found out about this, not to mention the Qu family in Fujian - they at most sent capable people to stay in Yanjing. To make a decision, we still need to listen to the opinions of Fujian."
Eleventh Lady nodded.
Xu Lingyi said: "We should make good use of this. But it is not convenient for me to show up. You know, there is an Ouyang Ming beside the emperor! I am afraid he is always watching me! Rather than letting him catch us, it is better to wait until Wang Jiubao comes to Beijing. I think Wang Jiubao will definitely be willing to show his strength to let the emperor and the ministers in the court believe that he is fully capable of competing with the Qu family."
This is like a letter of allegiance.
Wang Jiubao had no way to refuse.
Eleventh Lady smiled bitterly.
Politics is not something that everyone can afford to play.
"As for Ouyang Ming," Xu Lingyi sneered, "I can take this opportunity to see his reaction."
Eleventh Lady was stunned.
How did Ouyang Ming get involved?
"When the fifth prince died, he asked Ouyang Ming to accompany the eldest prince to worship the ancestors, and asked me to accompany the empress and the third prince to the Western Hills." Xu Lingyi looked up at the blue-green and gold-painted Chengchen. "He treated the eldest prince as the crown prince, and was also preventing me from getting too close to the eldest prince. If I can see it clearly, then can't Ouyang Ming see it? If he can't see it, then he is not worthy of being the future emperor's attendant."