Chapter 108 Cui Family (Two Chapters Combined into One)
The next day, Xiao Zhen and his party left Luzhou City and headed for the capital.
Xiao Zhen gained a lot from this trip to Wu. He found the little girl whom he accidentally rescued and then accidentally sent into danger. He helped Zhen Wuduo find his relatives. He met Xiao Yue, who he had always been worried about. He killed Zhong Ziyang and avenged his previous life. He wiped out the branch of the mountain gate in Shilipu, and he had a niece!
Xiao Zhen thought: When he returns to the capital and has some free time to think about it carefully, he will definitely be able to find a way to end the father-son relationship with Zhen Wuduo.
At this time, in a newly built mansion in Luzhou City, a fat old man and a little girl were drinking hot red date and longan tea while bragging.
The grandfather and grandson each played their own music, yet they were in perfect harmony.
At this time, the curtain was lifted and Chen Guanyue came in from outside, bringing in a cool breeze.
"You really know how to enjoy life. The winter in Wu is wet and cold, perfect for staying indoors."
Ling Bo handed him a bowl of hot tea. He held it in his hands, sat down cross-legged, and said with a smile, "Guess what's new in Luzhou City?"
The grandparents and grandchildren shook their heads. It was cold these two days and they were too lazy to move, so they didn't go out.
Chen Guanyue smiled and said, "There is a family named Cui in the city. Their ancestors had a high-ranking official, and this generation also has two Jinshi (imperial scholar) graduates. They are a well-known family in Luzhou.
Just this morning, the third young master of the Cui family went to the government office to file a complaint against a scholar named Lou from the city. Can you guess what this scholar Lou did?"
The grandfather and grandson both shook their heads. They hated this kind of storytelling that had to keep the audience in suspense.
Chen Guanyue: "Last night, Third Master Cui returned home from the south of the city alone without his servant. It was already dark at that time. He hired a mule cart, but the cart broke down on the way, so Third Master Cui had to get off and walk back home.
But halfway through the journey, someone put a sack in his hand from behind and he lost consciousness.
This morning, when he woke up, he found himself in a brothel, hahaha!
Not only that, he also saw Mr. Lou lying beside him.
Mr. Lou was a well-known figure in Luzhou. Young Master Cui had seen him before and recognized him at a glance.
According to Mr. Lou, he saw Mr. Cui lying unconscious on the roadside last night. Out of kindness, he sent Mr. Cui to a nearby brothel.
But the madam of the brothel said that it was true that Young Master Cui was brought here by Mr. Lou, but Mr. Lou came to sell a human being and asked for twenty taels of silver. Although the madam did not know Young Master Cui, she saw that he was well dressed and did not look like a humble man, so she did not dare to accept the money. It was already late at night, and Mr. Lou refused to leave, so she had to let them stay for one night.
Third Master Cui was also determined to take risks. He did not return home, but went directly to the government office and sued the young prostitute and Mr. Lou together.
Sure enough, after Shen Guanyue finished speaking, the grandfather and grandson didn't care about bragging and asked anxiously: "What happened next? Did the government make a ruling?"
Chen Guanyue swallowed the dates in his mouth and continued, "Mr. Lou insisted that he was doing good deeds and helping others, but the waiter said he was selling people, and Mr. Cui believed that they were colluding with each other to kidnap people.
The official was also confused and asked someone to invite a master from the Cui family.
Mr. Cui knew nothing at first, but when he heard that Mr. Lou had actually sent Mr. Cui to a prostitute's brothel, he flew into a rage and beat Mr. Lou in the hall until he cried for help.
Zhen Wuduo......
Zhao Shiqing......
"What happened next?" the grandfather and grandson asked together.
Chen Guanyue looked regretful: "Then he withdrew from the court. The official said that there were many doubts in this case and he would re-examine it after clarifying them one by one. Alas, in fact, it was just a mess and he couldn't continue the trial."
Zhao Shiqing laughed and said, "The Cui family is quite interesting. Since they have a Jinshi (imperial scholar) in their family, they must be a family of scholars. All the families of scholars I've ever met have always been obsessed with prestige and suffered in vain. This is the first time I've seen someone like the Cui family."
He was sent to a brothel. Once the news got out, it was not known whether his body would be damaged, but his reputation would definitely be damaged.
But Young Master Cui still chose to report to the police, and Master Cui was also very interesting. He actually beat people in the lobby.
Zhao Shiqing looked at Chen Guanyue: "Did you find out something?"
Chen Guanyue took a sip of tea and said, "I made you guess again. I actually found out some things.
Guess what the Cui family is like?"
Zhao Shiqing: "Didn't you tell me? Our ancestors were high-ranking officials, and this generation has two Jinshi (imperial scholar) graduates. We are a family of scholars."
Chen Guanyue shook her head: "Not only that, the Cui family has two daughters who have been selected and entered the palace.
One is the elder sister of Mr. Cui and the aunt of Mr. Cui. This Aunt Cui is the beauty of the retired emperor. She was born at the wrong time. Less than a year after she entered the palace, Queen Wang was deposed and a group of people in the harem were laid off. Except for the palace maids and eunuchs, the current old concubines took this opportunity to remove a group of thorns in their eyes.
Concubine Cui was young and beautiful, but she was also a thorn in the eyes of the emperor, so she and several other beauties who had recently entered the palace were sent to Zizhu Temple.
As a registered princess, Zhao Shiqing had heard of Zizhu Temple.
When Emperor Taizu passed away, the Empress Dowager and several concubines wanted to go to a temple to practice Buddhism. Emperor Taizong then built the Ci'en Temple five miles away from the imperial mausoleum. From then on, the Ci'en Temple became a place for the royal women to practice Buddhism with their hair uncut.
During the reign of Emperor Dezong, he fell seriously ill and was cured by a Taoist priest from Tianjing Mountain. From then on, Emperor Dezong converted to Taoism. Since he himself was unable to become a Taoist monk, he built a Zizhu Temple for the female members of the royal family to practice.
However, Emperor Dezong's son, the retired emperor, was obviously more courageous than him. The retired emperor built the Changshou Palace and went there to practice Taoism.
Although two generations of emperors, from Emperor Dezong to Emperor Taishang, were obsessed with Taoism, the female members of the royal family were not completely affected. Some worshipped Buddha, while others practiced Taoism. Therefore, both Ci'en Temple and Zizhu Temple had female members of the royal family practicing Taoism with their hair uncut.
Aunt Cui is still in Zizhu Temple.
Chen Guanyue continued, "In addition to this Aunt Cui, there is another girl from the Cui family who is participating in the selection. However, she is not serving the emperor, but the crown prince. This girl is Selectwoman Cui from the Eastern Palace."
Both Zhao Shiqing and Zhen Wuduo were stunned. They never expected that there were still the prince's men in Luzhou City.
Yes, since the Cui girl was chosen as the prince's concubine, her family automatically became the prince's supporters.
Zhao Shiqing asked, "Does Consort Cui have any children?"
Chen Guanyue shook her head: "Selectwoman Cui has a daughter who just turned one year old."
The prince was not favored, and his children were not valued either. Even Chen Guanyue, a child who grew up in the capital, did not know how many sons and daughters the prince had. He only just heard passers-by outside the yamen talk about it and learned that Concubine Cui's daughter had just turned one year old.
Although Concubine Cui is only a concubine, if the prince ascends the throne one day, Concubine Cui will most likely become one of the four concubines. By then, the status of the Cui family will also rise. For abducting the young master of the Cui family, Mr. Lou will be sentenced severely on the spot, instead of being so angry that Mr. Cui beats him on the spot as he is now.
Zhao Shiqing asked, "Who is that Juren Lou? He's just a Juren, but he's so bold."
Chen Guanyue said: "Mr. Lou was just an ordinary scholar. He was very poor in his early years and failed in the imperial examinations many times. He couldn't even get married. Later, he got lucky and accidentally saved a girl. The girl was not only beautiful, but also came from a wealthy family. In order to repay her kindness, she married him.
After he got married, he seemed to have become smarter. He passed the imperial examination and became a scholar the following year, and later a juren.
Although his family wasn't wealthy, they were not short of money, and he often joined others to pool money for poetry and tea gatherings. Therefore, although he was only a juren, he was well-known in Luzhou City. Otherwise, Third Master Cui wouldn't have recognized him at first sight.
Zhao Shiqing said, "Mr. Lou doesn't look like someone who would take such a risk just for twenty taels of silver. Unless he has a special reason, he would never kidnap Young Master Cui."
The few of them chatted for a while, but it was just speculation. After all, they didn't know anyone on either side of the case. Like most people in Luzhou City, they just treated this matter as gossip after dinner.
Zhao Shiqing was a little afraid of the cold, and Zhen Wuduo also believed that girls should be afraid of the cold, so during the coldest days, she stayed at home and did not go out.
On the fifth day that she stayed at home, a major event occurred in Luzhou City.
Mr. Lou died, and he was not the only one who died. His old mother who was in her seventies, his younger sister who had returned to her parents' home to live temporarily, and a maid and a servant girl in the house were not spared.
All of them were fatal with one blow.
The only body not found at the scene was that of Lou Juren's wife. The next day, the government office posted a notice offering a reward for the capture of Lou Juren's wife, Zhang.
Unexpectedly, regarding Lou’s wife Zhang, the government office could only find out that her maiden name was Zhang and she was from Yu County, Nangui.
I don’t know anything else.
These were the contents registered with the government office when she settled in Luzhou.
Her surname was Zhang. In the Dayong Dynasty, Zhang was a common surname, and the population with the surname Zhang was the largest.
As for her name, there was none. She registered as Zhang.
Nowadays, many women do not have their own names. Even if they have names, they are names like Zhaodi, Daijin, Dahua or Xiaohua.
So no one was surprised when Zhang said there was no name.
As for Zhang's appearance, no one among the neighbors had ever seen her. When they occasionally saw her, she covered her face with a veil and looked very shy.
She had been married to Mr. Lou for ten years, but her neighbors had never even spoken to her or said hello.
Therefore, the notice only had the four words "Zhang from Ganbaloumen" on it, without any name or portrait.
Zhao Shiqing tilted her head and thought for a while, and she suddenly realized that she had missed something.
She forgot to paint Cui Niang's portrait according to Wushiliu's description!
Of course I can still paint now, but Xiao Zhen, who was good at painting, is gone.
Of course Zhao Shiqing could paint, but her brush clearly had its own ideas. Even when she was painting a person's face, she could make it look completely unrelated, not to mention that she could draw a portrait based on just a description.
That’s right, Zhao Shiqing suspected that Mr. Lou’s wife was Cui Niang.
The killers hid in Shilipu disguised as ordinary people, and Cui Niang, as the leader of the branch hall, could of course hide as well.
If a single woman wants to hide among the masses, the safest and most convenient way is to find someone to marry.
As for the pass, of course it can be forged.
The passes that Zhao Shiqing's guards were holding were still for Baihe Village.
If you only look at the pass, they are just a small village called Baihe Village, and the farmers can only swing hoes.
Who would have thought that their true identities were guards of the royal palace.
Therefore, the so-called pass to Yu County in Nangui cannot represent her identity.
And now, she killed the entire Lou family in order to completely eliminate all traces of herself here and silence them.
Zhao Shiqing told Zhen Wuduo about his suspicions, and the more Zhen Wuduo listened, the more frightened he became. Yes, this Zhang was very likely the elusive Cui Niang.
But then again, why did Mr. Lou kidnap Young Master Cui?
Could it be that Cui Niang ordered this?
Zhao Shiqing suddenly realized that it was right for her not to leave Luzhou like Xiao Zhen. Something big was indeed happening in Luzhou.
Now, with the death of Mr. Lou, the case between him and the Cui family during his lifetime has come to nothing.
In order to satisfy the curiosity of the grandparents, Chen Guanyue and Niu Qiu disguised themselves and went to the streets to inquire about the news.
Xiuxiu volunteered and said she wanted to go too.
Now Xiuxiu is no longer the ugly woman working in Chef Zhang’s shop. She has transformed into a lively and cheerful girl.
Not only did she go shopping together, she also put makeup on Chen Guanyue, Niu Qiu, and herself.
Zhao Shiqing was filled with emotion when discussing the importance of talent.
Her talent is not enough to support Xiuxiu's disguise skills.
The three disguised people went to the street. The temperature had dropped in the past few days, and the pedestrians coming and going, the rich ones wore fur coats, while the poor ones wore heavy old clothes.
The three of them were not wearing thick clothes and were playing and fighting all the way.
Soon they arrived at the Lou family's original house.
Now, the Lou family has become a crime scene.
The lawsuit between the Lou and Cui families came to an end after Mr. Lou's death.
It has to be said that the people of Luzhou City are not only idle, but also very talkative.
At this time, there was still a seal on the Lou family's door, but there was a circle of ordinary people gathered in front of the door to watch the fun.
"What a sin! How has the Lou family wronged her? Just because they want to kill her, she does it?"
"It's so scary. I used to think she was easy to talk to and even borrowed money from her. Who would have thought she was such a murderous demon."
Xiuxiu walked up to the old lady and said softly, "Auntie, you said that the lady from the Lou family had seen the silver and talked to you. Aren't you afraid?"
The old lady was proud and had nothing to be afraid of. At that time, the lady from the Lou family was still pretending to be gentle.
"If I were to talk about the shortcomings of the Lou family, I think the first one is that they love to take advantage of small gains. Before Mr. Lou was not yet Mr. Lou, her mother not only stole things, but also cursed in public."
"Stealing? And cursing?"
"Once, Lou's mother cursed people in the street and offended everyone. Logically, his family would never be able to find a wife with such a situation."
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