Chapter 125 The Missing Cousin (Two Chapters in One)
In the next few days, Sun Lingzhi often saw the eagle, sometimes in her yard, and sometimes the eagle would appear on the eaves in the distance.
As for pleading with Zhu Yu on behalf of Sun Hongbin, Sun Lingzhi did not forget it, but she had no chance because Zhu Yu had not returned home for several days.
Sun Lingzhi was brought into the mansion by Zhu Yu, and later followed Zhu's father, Lord Zhu. Therefore, no one in this mansion, from top to bottom, looked up to her.
Especially the old lady of Marquis Baoqing and his wife Ma.
Ma hated Sun Lingzhi to death. He was just an actor who was not worthy of being on stage. He first seduced her son and then climbed into her husband's bed. Damn it.
But Ma didn't dare to do it. In her life, she was afraid of her father and brothers when she was at her parents' home, and she was afraid of her husband after she got married. Later, she gave birth to a son. From the time Zhu Yu was four or five years old, Ma was afraid of this son again.
Moreover, she has a mother-in-law who has a strong personality and powerful backing. Therefore, over the years, whether it is her husband's woman or her son's woman, she only dared to set rules with her words. She didn't dare to really kill Sun Lingzhi.
A few months ago, Sun Lingzhi became pregnant, and it was the old lady who took action. Therefore, when the father and son learned that Sun Lingzhi had a miscarriage, they just complained a few words and let the matter go.
After all, the biggest reason why this father and son can act so unscrupulously is not the ancestors of the Baoqing Marquis Mansion, but the old lady.
In recent months, Zhu Yu has been playing bigger and bigger.
Censor Jin, who caused him to have his leg broken, is already a disabled person. Even Prince Liang's Mansion gave him 10,000 taels of silver to calm him down. Who in the capital dares to go against him and the Marquis of Baoqing's Mansion?
Early this morning, Ma's right eye kept twitching and she was restless. Zhu Yu hadn't returned home for several days. Could she have gotten into trouble outside again?
She decided to go to Chunhui Hall to remind the old lady that if Zhu Yu got into big trouble again, she would have to ask the old lady to go to the palace.
Zhu Yu did not return home, but the old lady was not anxious. Her eldest grandson had sent someone back to report the news early in the morning.
These days, Zhu Yuxin has found a little beauty and is living happily in his farm outside the city.
The old lady felt sorry for her eldest grandson and specially sent some supplements to him. The eldest grandson hadn't gotten married yet, so he couldn't let those little goblins drain his body. The grandson of the Baoqing Marquisate must be born from the wife's womb, and must be a top noble lady from the Yong Dynasty.
In fact, Concubine Li once thought of letting Zhu Yu become the princess, but the old lady did not agree.
The daughters of the current emperor all have hooked noses. Although a hooked nose on a man's face may not necessarily make him ugly, the old lady finds it offensive.
This would remind her of that despicable man with the hooked nose.
How could such a lowly bloodline be worthy of her eldest grandson?
As for Emperor Xiaokang's two daughters, they were indeed of noble descent, but so what? They were orphans in name only.
The old lady understood better than anyone that the prosperity of the Baoqing Marquisate today was all due to her.
Back then, when she was still a young daughter-in-law, she relied on her extraordinary wisdom and courage to win an invisible golden medal of immunity from death for herself and the Baoqing Marquis Mansion.
She and the Baoqing Marquisate had lived a good life for decades.
However, in recent years, she clearly felt that the emperor's tolerance for the Baoqing Marquisate was gradually decreasing. The censor surnamed Jin was the emperor's dog, but it was because of this dog that her eldest grandson had his leg broken.
If this is the case when she is alive, what about after she dies?
Can her children and grandchildren continue this wealth?
Especially Yu'er, whom she loved the most.
The Great Yong Empire belongs to the emperor and the descendants of Concubine Li, so she must reassure the emperor while she is still alive, and at the same time, win a golden medal of immunity from death for Yu'er from the emperor!
At this time, a woman's scream was heard outside. The old lady frowned. A maid hurried out and came back soon.
"Reporting to the old lady, the Marquis' wife just came to pay her respects to you. As she was approaching the door of Chunhui Hall, she was hit by a large bird. She was frightened and fell down. She has now gone back to change her clothes."
"Big bird? Where did the big bird come from?" The old lady's brows were furrowed.
The maid quickly explained, "I heard that it was the hawk that the prince had recently raised. He was away from home these past few days, and the hawk couldn't find him, so it got anxious and flew around in all directions."
The old lady sighed and said with a smile, "When did this kid start playing eagle again? He has so many ideas every day."
The maids all laughed and said, "The prince is brave and capable, even more powerful than an eagle in the sky."
The old lady was overjoyed and instructed the maids, "This eagle must have been recently acquired by Yu'er. He left the city before we could make any arrangements. Go and tell the people in his yard not to think they can be lazy just because Yu'er is not at home. Prepare plenty of good food and drink to prevent the eagle from looking for food when it's hungry and bumping into anyone again."
The maids took the order and from that day on, they put food for the eagle not only in Zhu Yu's yard, but also in other places in Baoqing Marquis' Mansion, even whole rabbits.
Zhao Shiqing was sleeping in the middle of the night when she suddenly heard a noise outside the window. She opened her eyes and found Ling Bo had already opened the window before her.
Xiaoguai flew in with a gust of wind. Zhao Shiqing stood up, hugged its head, sniffed it, and reached out to touch its belly. Well, this guy came back with a full meal again.
"You've been gone for a few days, and there's been no useful information. You've gained a lot of weight, though. If you continue like this, you won't be able to fly. When we return to White Crane Mountain, I'll keep you in Aunt Chun's chicken coop."
Xiaoguai barked twice in dissatisfaction and rubbed his head on Zhao Shiqing's chin. He didn't want to eat, but with so many delicious foods, it would be a waste if he didn't eat them.
"Zhu Yu hasn't gone back yet?" Zhao Shiqing asked.
Xiaoguai nodded vigorously. This was what his master taught him. Xiaoyao didn't know how to do it, and the little kid Xiaoye could only wag his tail.
......
The next morning, Niu Qiu went out to buy breakfast and came back. There was a cook in the mansion, but Zhen Wuduo and Zhao Shiqing both liked to eat tofu pudding from Dashu Street.
As soon as he came back, he reported to everyone: "Something big happened in the capital. Did you know that the cousin of the Duke of Wei's mansion is missing?"
The Duke of Wei's Mansion and the Prince of Liang's Mansion are distant relatives, and this matter immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Loach said: "This cousin is the granddaughter of the old aunt who married far away from the Duke of Wei. She originally came to the capital with the old aunt, but when she passed by Ding'an Prefecture, something happened. The cousin disappeared, and the old aunt was shocked and died without a breath.
Ding'an Prefecture sent people to the capital, and early this morning, Hero Yan brought a lot of people out of the city to Ding'an Prefecture!"
Ding'an Prefecture is the closest prefecture to the capital. It only takes one day to travel from the capital to Ding'an Prefecture and back.
Who would have thought that the cousin of the Duke of Weiguo would get into trouble right at her doorstep.
Everyone was feeling emotional, and at this time, Meng Hu returned from Wanquan County.
Li Lao Hu refused to go into the city no matter what and stayed in the inn outside the city again.
Seeing the excitement in Meng Hu's eyes, Zhao Shiqing knew that the case of Li Lao Hu's wife had come to a conclusion.
As expected, Meng Hu told Zhao Shiqing, "The prefect accepted Li Lao Hu's complaint and sent my senior brother to Wanquan County to investigate the case. The evidence is irrefutable. Besides Li Lao Hu, his eldest daughter is also a witness. Furthermore, my senior brother found the servant who was at the Yang family at the time. The servant saw my cousin's wife pushing Yang. The doctor can also prove that Li Lao Hu was beaten and bruised.
My cousin and his entire family were thrown into prison. The case went beyond Wanquan County and was brought to the county court. My cousin confessed on the spot that they had given two hundred taels of silver to the Wanquan County lawyer, so now, that lawyer has also been arrested.
The evidence is irrefutable; this is an ironclad case that cannot be overturned. Although my cousin's family has placed all the blame on my cousin's wife, it was my cousin's two sons who stopped Li Lao Hu from seeking a doctor, and it was my cousin who bribed the legal advisor. My cousin's wife was sentenced to death by beheading, my two sons to 100 strokes of the cane and exiled 3,000 miles, and my cousin to 40 strokes of the cane and ten years of hard labor in Blackstone Fort."
Black Stone Fort is about a thousand miles away from the capital. The climate is completely different from that of the capital and the journey is difficult. Many prisoners died on the road before they even got there. The winters there are long and bitterly cold, and the conditions are difficult. Prisoners sent to Black Stone Fort to serve hard labor have almost no chance of survival. Even if they survive by chance, they will be exiled there after the term expires.
Zhao Shiqing was very satisfied with the result and asked, "What about Li Lao Hu's three daughters? Will they stay at home or be raised by the clan members?"
Meng Hu said, "The elder of the Yang family also came to the court and stated on the spot that Li Lao Hu can remain in the Yang family and choose one of the three daughters to marry into the family. After all three daughters are married, the daughter who stayed at home to marry into the family will decide whether he should stay or go.
As long as Li Lao Hu stays in the Yang family, he cannot remarry.
But I don't think Li Lao Hu has any intention of remarrying."
That afternoon, Zhao Shiqing and Zhen Wuduo went to the inn again and met Li Lao Hu.
Li Lao Hu knelt down and kowtowed without saying a word. He kowtowed three times and continued to kowtow, saying that the first ones were for himself and the next ones were for his three daughters.
Zhao Shiqing did not refuse and accepted his gift with peace of mind. Although they had agreed before that this was an equal exchange, since Li Lao Hu wanted to thank her, then she could thank him.
"Now can you tell us what happened back then?" Zhao Shiqing asked.
Li Lao Hu: "Of course I have to tell you. If I don't tell you, my wife will blame me down there."
Zhao Shiqing smiled and listened attentively.
Li Lao Hu's maternal family surname is Dai, and the Dai family has been a midwife for five generations. This profession is usually passed down to the daughter-in-law, not the daughter, but Li Lao Hu's mother, Dai Chunniang, is an exception.
Dai Chunniang lost her husband at a young age. After a quarrel with her mother-in-law, she returned to her parents' home, and her son Lao Hu was left in the Li family.
After Dai Chunniang returned to her parents' home, she followed her mother to work as a maid.
She was smart, eloquent, and all the babies she delivered were boys. As time went by, she became a little famous in the industry.
After she was able to make money, she would often secretly call Li Lao Hu out of the Li family, take him out to eat delicious food, and buy him toys and beautiful clothes.
Although the Li family disliked Dai Chunniang being a midwife, they turned a blind eye and pretended to be ignorant because they saw that she was thinking about their son.
Therefore, the mother and son often met and did not become estranged because of Dai Chunniang's return.
It was Li Lao Hu's tenth birthday. The Li family had no custom of celebrating children's birthdays, but Dai Chunniang had already promised Li Lao Hu that on his birthday, she would take him to the newly opened Hongmanlou in the capital for a good meal.
Li Lao Hu kept counting the days and finally waited until his birthday. He waited from morning to afternoon, but Dai Chunniang did not come to pick him up.
As it was getting dark, Dai's cousin suddenly hurried to the Li family and said to Li Lao Hu's grandmother, "Grandma Li, my aunt is dying. Please allow me to go with you to see her for the last time."
Grandma Li was shocked. Although she didn't like her daughter-in-law, she still felt bad because she had seen her daughter-in-law a few days ago and she died suddenly.
She gave a few instructions and let Li Lao Hu go with his cousin from the Dai family.
Soon, Li Lao Hu met Dai Chunniang, but the situation was different from what he imagined. He thought Dai Chunniang was sick, but in fact, she was injured.
Dai Chunniang was covered in wounds and was dying. Seeing Li Lao Hu, she used all her strength and shouted, "Go, let him go!"
The uncle sighed, pressed the crying Li Lao Hu to the ground, kowtowed three times to Dai Chunniang, then covered his mouth and took him and his cousin to the Dai family's old house in the capital while it was dark.
Because the old house was flooded, it had never been sold and had been vacant for many years. No one had been there for a long time.
The uncle placed the two children here and told them, "Be obedient, children. Your mother has caused great trouble and people don't want her to live. You are her only child, and she must be worried about you staying in the capital. You stay here first. When your uncle has arranged the family affairs, he will take you with him and we will leave the capital together."
At that moment, the young Li Lao Hu suddenly realized that he might never see his mother again.
He stopped crying and waited obediently for his uncle in the old house with his cousin.
My uncle went to see Grandma Li.
The next day, my uncle and aunt came and left the capital with their family valuables and two children.
My uncle sent my aunt and cousin to my aunt's parents' home, and then, following the instructions of Li's grandmother, sent Li Lao Hu to Fuling County, which was the Li family's ancestral home.
With the help of a letter written by Li's grandmother to his uncle, Li Lao Hu was placed in his cousin's house by the clan elders.
In fact, the uncle wanted to raise Li Lao Hu himself, but the Li family did not agree. Even if Li Lao Hu could not stay in the Li family, he had to be sent to the Li family.
Although Li Lao Hu was still a child, his uncle told him what happened to Dai Chunniang before leaving.
"Your mother has always wanted to earn more money to save for you to marry a wife and buy a house, so she won't miss any business opportunities.
About seven or eight days before the accident, a maid came to the house and said that the eldest lady in the family was about to give birth and asked her to go over and take a look.
Your mother never came back after she left. The maid came again and said that the eldest lady was about to give birth and your mother had to stay there to watch her, so she asked her to come back and get some clothes to change into.
We are in this line of work, and this kind of thing happens all the time, so we didn't doubt it...
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