Dou Zhao's face turned pale when he heard this.
Chen Qushui smiled bitterly.
A coward who abandoned the city and fled without caring about the lives of the people! Sinner!
Anyone who knew his experience would sneer at him, right?
He lowered his head and murmured, "Miss, I am old. Whenever it rains or blows, my knees ache unbearably. I am afraid I can no longer serve you. When the rain stops, I will go back to Zhending..."
There was silence in the hall. Dou Zhao neither tried to persuade him to stay nor let him leave. The suppressed silence made the sound of rain outside more audible and the hall seemed even quieter.
Chen Qushui raised his head in surprise and saw Dou Zhao sitting there blankly with his eyes wide open.
He was shocked and called out to "Fourth Miss" loudly: "You, what's wrong with you?"
Dou Zhao was in a trance and didn't hear clearly what Chen Qushui said.
She was trying hard to recall the past.
In the previous life, not long after the Jiang family encountered trouble, the wife of the Duke of Ying died of illness. While she was still in the mourning period, Song Mo was driven out of the Duke of Ying’s mansion and his whereabouts were unknown.
She had never experienced any of this.
Song Mo is one year younger than her.
At that time, she was only thinking about how to marry into the Jining Marquis's Mansion, and was indifferent to people and things outside of the Jining Marquis's Mansion. It was not until she married into the Jining Marquis's Mansion and entered the noble circle of Kyoto that she heard about some of the events of that year in bits and pieces.
Dingguo Mansion was established based on military merit, and the sons were usually sent to the military camp to gain experience when they turned 14. Therefore, there were many who were promoted to high positions, became rich, and commanded important troops, but there were even more who died in obscurity on the battlefield. In order to ensure the prosperity of their offspring, the Jiang family had the habit of taking concubines, and there was no obvious distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children. They all learned martial arts from their masters and went to the Jiang family school. The only thing to see was who had the ability to lead troops. This was criticized by the wealthy families in Kyoto. But it was also because of this that the Jiang family produced many famous generals, and their in-laws were spread all over the country.
Jiang Meisun was the sixth Duke of Dingguo. He had twelve brothers, but only five of them were adults. In the third year of Yongming, he was ordered to guard Fujian. Except for his fifth brother Jiang Baisun who stayed in Kyoto due to his young age, his second brother Jiang Zhusun, third brother Jiang Lansun, and fourth brother Jiang Songsun all followed him south.
In the eighth year of Yongming, Jiang Zhusun died on the battlefield, and the emperor posthumously conferred the title of Marquis of Qinghai on him.
During the 18 years that Jiang Meisun served as the general of Fujian, he had made outstanding military achievements and almost wiped out all the Japanese pirates along the coast, so that private ships in Fujian and Zhejiang dared not go out to sea during the day, causing the big merchants and wealthy people in the south who sold smuggled goods to complain bitterly, and he offended many people. However, he happened to be on good terms with several cabinet ministers, so no matter how the censors of the Censorate impeached him, he could remain safe and sound, and the emperor's favor did not diminish. Gradually, no one wanted to touch this thorn.
But that time, for some unknown reason, some historians suddenly impeached Jiang Meisun for killing innocent people and taking credit for it, and for harboring bandits to protect his own interests. After receiving the memorial, the emperor not only issued an imperial decree to punish the brothers, but also ordered the Imperial Uniform Guard to escort the Jiang brothers to the Dali Temple in Kyoto for interrogation.
What is even more strange is that the brothers Jiang Meisun and Jiang Lansun were tortured to death on their way back to Beijing, Jiang Songsun committed suicide out of fear of punishment as soon as he was imprisoned in the Dali Temple, and the entire Jiang family was later exterminated.
It is said that after receiving the imperial edict, Mrs. Mei, the wife of the Chiang family, took advantage of the time when the Jinyiwei were ransacking the house and took all the female members of the Chiang family, including a three-year-old and a two-year-old granddaughter, and committed suicide by taking poison.
When the execution took place at Caishikou, there were only men from the Jiang family but no women.
In the following ten years, no one in Fujian could resist the Japanese pirates, and they frequently came ashore and massacred people in the city.
Whenever people in Kyoto heard such things, they would shake their heads and sigh, "If only Duke Dingguo were still alive."
After Prince Liao ascended the throne, he rehabilitated the Jiang family. Jiang Meisun's portrait was placed in the Temple of Loyalty, and the Dingguo Mansion that was given to the eldest princess Ningde by the previous emperor was also taken back. Prince Liao also specially summoned Song Mo to ask if there were any survivors in the Jiang family.
Song Mo replied that the Jiang family had no descendants.
However, there has always been a rumor that Jiang Meisun's younger brother Jiang Bosun has a posthumous son who is still alive. When the Jiang family encountered an accident, the son was secretly taken away by Jiang's loyal servants and raised in the streets and alleys.
When Lady Guo, the wife of the Marquis of Xuanning, told her about this, she laughed and said, "Since the whole family was executed, the Jinyiwei would definitely have to count the number of people. Not to mention Jiang Baisun's son, even the personal servants and the well-known managers would not be missing. Those people in the market just like to make up these things to make people think that good people will definitely be rewarded..."
Calculating the time, Song Mo was driven out of his home in the 14th year of Chengping.
Going back further, the Duchess of England should have died in the summer of the fourteenth year of Chengping... or possibly in the spring or winter of the thirteenth year of Chengping...
The incident with the Jiang family should have happened in the 13th year of Chengping.
It is now April of the 13th year of Chengping...
Dou Zhao jumped up.
In other words, it is possible that Jiang Meisun was questioned at this time!
Dou Zhao thought of the baby who was not even a hundred days old.
She immediately broke out in a sweat and asked Chen Qushui, "Mr. Chen, do you think something has happened to Duke Dingguo?"
Chen Qushui was completely confused by Dou Zhao's questions and thought, "It shouldn't be possible, right? Duke Dingguo seems rough, but he is actually meticulous and knows everything. He is a general guarding a place. If something happened, there should be news. Now we haven't heard anything, and Duke Dingguo and Zeng Yifen have a very good personal relationship..."
When he said this, his expression froze and he looked towards Dou Zhao.
Dou Zhao was also looking towards him.
The two looked at each other and exclaimed in unison: "Now Zeng Yifen is dead..."
Yes, now that Zeng Yifen is dead, the cabinet is in the process of transition from the old to the new. Several cabinet elders are so distracted that they have no time to care about Jiang Meisun who is far away in Fujian.
If anyone has any grudge against Jiang Meisun, now is a good opportunity to take action.
"Did something really happen to Duke Ding?" Chen Qushui's forehead was also covered with sweat. "Then, that child..."
"Trust my orphan to me!" Dou Zhao said, and took a long breath.
Only by entrusting an orphan to someone else could the operation be so secretive and only then could the Prince of England, Song Mo, travel with a small entourage and personally be escorted all the way by experts.
She tried to calm down slowly and said calmly, "Now we can only pretend that we know nothing." Then she looked up at the roof and murmured, "I hope the rain will stop soon. Even if it doesn't stop, it will be lighter."
In order to hurry, they set out early.
Chen Qushui's expression turned very ugly. He looked at Dou Zhao with an embarrassed look and said softly, "I'm afraid it's not that simple..."
Dou Zhao frowned and listened to him carefully.
"Did you notice the scholar in blue standing next to Prince Song?" Chen Qushui said with difficulty, "His surname is Yan, his given name is Yun, and his courtesy name is Chaoqing. He was once one of the most capable aides under Duke Dingguo. When I left Fujian, I heard that he was favored by Duke Dingguo's sister, Lady Duke Yingguo, and was going to be a tutor to her son. It was because I recognized him that I guessed that the young man was the son of Duke Yingguo's son Song Mo."
Dou Zhao understood and asked hurriedly, "Did that person recognize you?"
"Back then, Yan Chaoqing was a favorite of Duke Dingguo, and I was just one of Zhang Kai's many staff members. However, this man was meticulous and had a photographic memory, so he was once ordered to be in charge of the documents of the General's Office." Chen Qushui said frankly, "When I saw him, I hurriedly retreated to the room. I don't know if he saw me."
※※※※※
Song Mo didn't sleep either.
There was no light in the room. He stood in front of the window with the sash wide open, looking at the pouring rain outside with a calm expression.
A gust of wind blew by, dispersing the thin raindrops and filling the air with moist water vapor.
A thin figure quietly walked out of the darkness. He stopped three feet away from Song Mo and said respectfully, "Sir, please be careful not to get wet in the rain. Do you want me to close the window?"
Song Mo ignored him and asked, "Has Mr. Yan not come back yet?"
The man was about to answer, but suddenly he tilted his ear to listen, then smiled and said, "Sir, Mr. Yan is here."
Song Mo nodded, turned around and sat on the armchair next to him.
Yan Chaoqing and a simple-looking man walked in, all wet, with water drops from the corners of their clothes dripping onto the blue brick floor.
"Young Master." The two men bowed to Song Mo. Song Mo pointed to the armchair beside him and motioned them to sit down and talk.
The thin figure was not affected by the night at all. He swiftly poured a cup of tea for each of them, and then retreated silently into the darkness.
Song Mo asked calmly, "Did you find anything?"
Yan Chaoqing and the man who came with him looked at each other and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Sir, I'm afraid we're in trouble this time!"
Song Mo looked at the two of them calmly.
The man who came with Yan Chaoqing said, "We met an aide of Zhang Kai." Then he told the story of the grievances between Jiang Meisun and Zhang Kai, "This man's surname is Chen, his given name is Bo, his courtesy name is Qushui, and his nickname is Yuechuan. He is well versed in literature and rules, good at judging people, and has sharp words, with the talent of Zhang Yi. When Zhang Kai sent troops to attack Dubian Wushilang, it was this man who persuaded Zhejiang Patrol An Daoyuan to send troops to help. He is now working as an accountant in this family."
"Are you sure?" Song Mo showed a look of astonishment on his face for the first time.
"Yes!" Yan Chaoqing said confidently, "Xu Qing took me to lie outside his door for almost half an hour, and he was very uneasy all the time, constantly sending servants to inquire whether the fourth young lady of the Dou family had woken up. It seemed that he had something to say to the fourth young lady of the Dou family. I think he recognized us."
Song Mo was silent for a while, then said softly, "With a guard who has mastered external martial arts to the highest level, an accountant who used to be Zhang Kai's aide, and more than a dozen followers with extraordinary skills, this fourth young lady of the Dou family is really not a simple person. Xu Qing," he smiled and instructed the man who came with Yan Chaoqing, "you keep a close eye on this house and don't let anyone in or out." He then said to Yan Chaoqing, "I'm afraid we will have to stay here for another day tomorrow, so you should go to bed early, sir!"
Yan Chaoqing and Xu Qing looked tense.
Their whereabouts have been revealed, and what you said is just to kill them and silence them.
Xu Qing hesitated and said, "There are more than twenty of them in total..."
"We must be even more cautious." Song Mo remained unmoved and spoke in a light tone.
The two men said nothing more, responded in unison, and retreated.
Song Mo ignored the darkness and walked calmly through the furnishings in the house, lifting the curtain and entering the warm room at the back.
There was only a tiny oil lamp lit in the warm room.
The wet nurse with soft features was lying beside the baby with her clothes on. When she heard the noise, she immediately sat up alertly. When she saw it was Song Mo, she breathed a sigh of relief, called "Young Master" softly, and was about to get up from the bed.
Song Mo made a gesture, signaling her not to wake the child, then bent down and gently touched the child's dark hair, and said with a smile: "Is the child okay?" The smile was very gentle, and it was so peaceful and gentle under the light, which made people feel at ease immediately.
The wet nurse nodded and smiled brightly: "The little boy is very obedient, he doesn't cry or make a fuss." When she said this, she thought of the child's biological mother who hanged herself in order to keep the secret, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Don't worry," Song Mo comforted her gently, "We will be there soon."
The wet nurse nodded vigorously, looking at him with eyes full of trust.
Song Mo walked out of the warm pavilion with an upright posture.