"Let's put everything else aside for now. I have a question for you." Xu Tianze looked at the two of them coldly, a hint of sarcasm on his lips. "Minister Jiang of the Ministry of Revenue is praised by the world for his filial piety. Every year, Madam Jiang's birthday banquet is grandly celebrated, with officials offering gifts both overtly and covertly. As the main character of the birthday banquet, Madam Jiang really doesn't know about this?"
"Old Madam Jiang's favorite children and grandchildren are Jiang Xue, the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo's son, and Minister Jiang's legitimate son. On more than one occasion, that legitimate son has seized women from outside the city and forced their families to death. Guess who helped clean up the mess?"
The young man and the strong man were both surprised. They really didn't expect that Mrs. Jiang, who was known for her charity and was a vegetarian, actually knew such things.
Xu Tianze looked at the two of them with a sneer. This was not enough. What really made Xu Tianze hate her was that he found out that it was this charitable old lady Jiang who actually gave Minister Jiang the advice.
But there was no point in explaining any further to these two people. What he had done was a complete failure due to one careless move.
"Go back. You don't need to follow me around to work anymore. I will explain to His Highness myself. You don't need to take any responsibility." After Xu Tianze finished speaking, he walked down the mountain along the path.
Whether it was a storm or scorching sun and frost along the way, there were always people who could not accompany him. Xu Tianze did not feel disappointed or difficult to accept.
The young man and the strong man looked extremely ugly. They knew that after what happened today, they might never be able to follow Xu Tianze again.
Even if Xu Tianze did not blame them for their offensive words, His Highness would certainly not forgive them, but they also understood that they had not mastered the principle of not making comments without knowing the full picture.
Being rejected by Xu Tianze was ultimately their own fault, and they had no face to ask Xu Tianze to keep them.
Xu Tianze walked down the mountain alone, his mind full of thoughts. He knew the road ahead would only get harder, but he was not afraid.
He wanted to seek justice for the more than one hundred lives of the Xu family and let those evildoers receive the punishment they deserved. Only in this way could he live up to the ancestors of the Xu family and learn the news of his father and brother from the emperor.
The mountain breeze blew on his face, and his eyes were firm and resolute.
The next day, the old lady of the Jiang family went to Xiangguo Temple to burn incense. The Buddha shed tears, and the collapse of the Buddha's body became a topic of conversation among the people of Shangjing City after dinner.
There was also news that when the old lady of the Jiang family was on her way back home, a broken Buddha statue rolled out of the carriage, and for a moment the entire carriage was filled with a strange fragrance.
By the time the carriage returned to the Jiang Mansion, Old Madam Jiang and the personal nanny had been unconscious for a long time.
With Madam Jiang and her personal nanny unconscious and the imperial physician helpless, rumors in the capital became rampant. Even though Minister Jiang tried his best to suppress them, the rumors continued.
People began to speculate about the truth behind this. Some said it was the arrival of Buddha, some said it was the work of demons, but more people said that the Jiang family had done too many evil things, so the gods did not accept Mrs. Jiang's faith.
The last sentence, "Cause and effect are cyclical, good and evil will be rewarded in the end," sounds more like a warning from the Bodhisattva.
In a short time, the nursery rhyme spread throughout the capital, with various versions heard everywhere. But no matter which version, it inspired awe and curiosity, and also made people understand that if the Jiang family, who was at the center of the storm, could not maintain its position this time, it would have no choice but to follow the same path as the Xu family.
Xu Tianze and Long Musi spent a few days quietly in the mansion. Just when the rumors were getting more and more intense, they got the news that Jiang Xue would return to the Jiang family to visit Old Madam Jiang today.
Xu Tianze certainly didn't want to miss Jiang Xueli's tearful look, so he went without an invitation and went straight to Jiang's house.
When they arrived at the Jiang Mansion, a heavy atmosphere enveloped the entire residence. The guard at the gate saw that it was Xu Tianze and Long Musi, asked for instructions, and immediately and respectfully ushered them into the mansion.
When they walked into the mansion, Xu Tianze and Long Musi saw that the servants of the Jiang family looked solemn and cautious, and they knew that Old Madam Jiang and the personal nanny had not woken up.
Of course, if she woke up, Xu Tianze would let Madam Jiang continue to sleep. After all, Long Musi went to greet the Imperial Hospital under the nose of the person in the palace.
All the imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Bureau were summoned directly to the upper study and only came out after drinking a cup of tea. He didn't believe that anyone had the courage to treat Old Madam Jiang.
"Your Highness, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I beg your pardon for my poor hospitality." Minister Jiang, a man in his forties, dressed in a reddish-brown uniform, hurried into the main reception hall.
"Minister Jiang, you are joking. The servants in your mansion know the etiquette, and I don't think there is anything wrong with it." Long Musi stood up and took two steps forward, maintaining an official smile.
Xu Tianze looked at the gloom that lingered between Minister Jiang's brows, and for a moment he didn't know whether he was worried about his mother's coma, or worried about the rumors in the capital, or both.
"I heard that Madam Jiang is in a coma. In the past, Madam Jiang had helped my mother. Today, I came to visit the old lady to show my friendship." Long Musi sighed with pretended sadness.
But what he said made Minister Jiang's expression unnatural, and made Xu Tianze twist his thigh hard, for fear that he would laugh.
The one who was being insulted in a roundabout way had to be a member of the royal family. Anyone with a little power and status, and who had been in the court for a reasonable period of time, knew what the relationship between Madam Jiang and Long Musi's biological mother was like.
Originally, Long Musi's biological mother was a maidservant who came with Old Madam Jiang as a dowry. When the current prince was still a prince, he was playful and often wandered around disguised as a merchant's son. He met Long Musi's biological mother by chance.
Children of the nobility all have the habit of hiding their identities when dating. After he fell in love with Long Musi's biological mother, Old Lady Jiang disliked the son of a merchant who was not presentable, not to mention that she was a maid who knew many of her private matters.
He decided not to let her go. Moreover, at that time, Old Madam Jiang had already planned to marry Long Musi's biological mother to the steward of the Jiang family in order to win her over so that she could quickly gain a foothold in the Jiang family's rear house.
Long Musi's biological mother was also loyal and willing to follow Madam Jiang's arrangements, but she also understood that her identity meant she was destined to not get what she wanted.
Finally, before marrying the old housekeeper, she gave her virginity to the current man. By the time the current man realized what was happening, Long Muse's biological mother had already entered the bridal chamber with the old housekeeper.
So he took up his knife and killed the old housekeeper, cut off Madam Jiang's hair, and directly kidnapped Long Musi's biological mother.
This past event was something the Jiang family was extremely taboo about, and they had been ordered to keep it secret. But now, Long Musi had revealed it indirectly.
He almost said it explicitly, that Madam Jiang deserved not to wake up, that everything was her retribution.
No matter how good-tempered Minister Jiang was, he couldn't help but frown, not to mention that Minister Jiang was known for being petty.
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