Chapter 28 The golden thorn
It was three hours later when the news of Nie's illness reached Zhao Tingxuan.
During these three hours, Zhao Tingxuan accompanied his sister Zhao Yunnuan to meet Prince Hejin and Han Song, the third son of Northern Yan. After paying their respects, the two went to the posthouse. As the Zhao siblings were in deep mourning, Chen Dianshen and Li Fengci were responsible for their reception.
In addition, during these three hours, Aunt Nie Qionghua went to the Wuyi Temple, not far from Liangdu, to practice and pray for her deceased brother-in-law and sick sister.
As everyone knows, this aunt is close to Taoism and far from Buddhism. She has lived in Liangdu for fifteen years and has never been to a temple or nunnery. But this time, for the sake of her brother-in-law and sister, she took the initiative to ask to go to the nunnery to practice and even became a monk, which shows her sincerity.
However, this aunt may have had no affinity with Buddhism. She fell ill on the night she moved into the nunnery, and news of her death spread a few days later. However, she had already become a nun and was no longer a worldly person, so the nun in the nunnery decided to bury her hastily in the back mountain.
Of course, this happened a few days later, and today had not yet passed. During these three hours, another thing happened. When Zhao Shiqing went to the Ma family, Ma Dao Po had already left the house. However, this did not pose a problem for her. Although Ma Dao Po had escaped, she did not take away all the things in her house.
With the help of a piece of underwear, Xiaoguai found Ma Dao Po's body in a patch of grass dozens of miles away.
Zhao Shiqing galloped on her horse, following Xiaoguai all the way. When she arrived, she carefully examined Ma Dao Po's body and found that the cracks between her fingernails were very dirty. The body was lying on the ground with a knife in the back.
Zhao Shiqing checked nearby and found traces of buried things. Ma Dao Po had just buried the things and had no chance to escape when she was killed.
The man obviously did not see Ma Dao Po burying the thing, otherwise the thing would not have been left there.
Zhao Shiqing dug out the thing and found it was a purse. Inside the purse was a gold ingot with a pattern of a flower of wealth in it. The gold ingot was of very good quality. Zhao Shiqing took a look at it and put it back into the purse.
As for the escaped Wang family daughter-in-law and her lover, Zhao Yunnuan had already sent people to hunt them down this morning.
When Zhao Shiqing returned to the palace, it was already time for dinner.
She first went to the mourning hall to burn incense for her father. She only saw her sister Zhao Yunnuan, but not Zhao Tingxuan. Zhao Shiqing knelt beside her sister and took out the purse: "This is what Ma Daopo buried before she died. See if there are any clues."
Zhao Yunnuan took out the gold ingot and frowned slightly: "This is not an ordinary gold ingot."
She turned the gold ingot over and found a small square seal there.
"Huh, I don't think I've seen this mark before." Zhao Shiqing asked curiously. This was the first time she had seen such a square seal.
Zhao Yunnuan said, "This is the mark of a palace craftsman. Do you see the word 'external' on it? This was made by the Internal Crafts Department specifically for princes and princesses who were enfeoffed or established their own mansions. However, it was only for those living in the capital. For example, the gold and silver ingots used by the Liang Palace for rewards during festivals are made here in Liang. They don't have this mark, so it's normal that you haven't seen them."
Zhao Shiqing understood. This was what people of Princess Jiayi's status used to reward.
Zhao Shiqing was stunned for a moment, then slapped his head, "Oh, I thought the murderer was careless and didn't know Ma Dao Po buried something before she died. It turns out he wasn't careless, but deliberately left clues to trick us.
But isn't this a waste of time?
Who would believe such an obvious frame-up? "
Zhao Yunnuan pinched her cheek and said, "Smart girl, do you think everyone is as smart as you? If you ask ten people, at least nine of them will think that this is something that came from Princess Jiayi."
Zhao Yunnuan put the gold ingot back into her purse and handed it to Zhao Shiqing. "Tomorrow is the three-day deadline. Take this and make a deal with Young Master Xiao."
Zhao Shiqing put away the purse and said casually, "Oh, by the way, when Nie Qionghua was sent out of the palace, she was almost dead. In order to keep her alive, I brought her a fifty-year-old mountain ginseng."
Zhao Yunnuan nodded. "You did a great job. We can't let her die like this. That would be too easy for her. At the very least, we have to let her endure for another three to five days, so she can experience the feeling of a life worse than death."
Zhao Shiqing looked at the empty seat next to him and asked, "Where's my second brother?"
Zhao Yunnuan said calmly, "I went to see my mother."
The mourning hall fell silent again, with only the popping sound of the flames.
Half an hour later, Zhao Tingxuan returned to the mourning hall. He walked up to the two sisters and said to Zhao Yunnuan, "Sister, I already know what happened to Second Aunt. It was all done by Second Aunt and Aunt Zhang. Mother has nothing to do with it. If Mother is at fault, it's because she shouldn't have trusted Second Aunt. Sister, please don't blame Mother, okay? Mother is already deeply guilty. Father loves Mother the most. If he knew, he would forgive Mother."
Zhao Yunnuan raised her head, her sharp eyes sweeping across Zhao Tingxuan's face: "Mother said she felt guilty?"
Zhao Tingxuan was stunned. "Although my mother didn't say it herself, she cried so hard. Isn't this out of guilt or something else?"
Zhao Yunnuan looked towards the coffin of King Liang, her voice cold, "Whether to forgive or not is up to my father and my younger sister. Neither you nor I have the right to forgive anyone on their behalf."
After saying that, she stood up, bowed in front of the coffin, and strode out of the mourning hall with her head held high.
Zhao Tingxuan was confused and grabbed Zhao Shiqing who was about to leave: "Qingqing, why are you still involved? Why does mother still want you to forgive me?"
As soon as Zhao Shiqing heard it, he knew he had misunderstood. It seemed that Nie was half-hearted about what happened today.
Well, the little saboteurs have made a wonderful appearance!
"The little sister I'm talking about isn't me, it's the little princess. Second brother, do you know why Second Aunt killed Father? It was because Ma Dao Po threatened her. Do you know why Ma Dao Po threatened her? It was because Ma Dao Po had evidence against her. Do you know what it was? It was the death of the little princess. It turned out that Second Aunt had abducted the little princess. Do you know why Second Aunt abducted the little princess? It was because of Mother..."
Zhao Shiqing kept talking. Zhao Tingxuan was confused at first, but soon he understood everything.
Zhao Tingxuan no longer has much impression of his younger sister who died young. He doesn't know when it started, but when talking about his younger sister, his first reaction is Zhao Shiqing.
Now he tried hard to recall, but the face he pieced together was still Zhao Shiqing's childhood.
Zhao Tingxuan sighed. He was the one who should feel guilty. He had actually forgotten about poor Aying.
He thought of Nie again, and suddenly learned that her husband and daughter were killed by her own sister. His mother must be sadder than anyone else.
Yes, the saddest person is my mother. She is the one who has suffered the most harm.
He was so unfilial that he even complained in his heart just now that his mother shouldn't have taken in his second aunt.
What's wrong with a mother caring about the affection between siblings?
The one who was wrong was my second aunt, the one who was behind all this.
Zhao Tingxuan convinced himself as quickly as possible. He didn't expect to convince his elder sister, but he could persuade Qingqing. Qingqing and his mother were already unfamiliar with each other. If she was affected by these things, it would be even more difficult for them to get along in the future.
My father is gone and my eldest brother hasn’t come back yet. This family cannot break up!
Zhao Shiqing was no longer in the mourning hall. Zhao Tingxuan hurriedly sent someone to call her, but learned that the second young lady had just ridden out of the house.
The three-day deadline is about to arrive, and Zhao Shiqing goes to keep his appointment with Xiao Zhen.
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