Chapter 477: Revealed
Zhao Zhangru was unable to make it to his child's third-day baptism and full-month ceremony, so Dou Zhao was busy preparing his child's hundred-day ceremony.
However, Song Mo decided to provoke Wang Yuan again.
In mid-March, the commander-in-chief of the Shaanxi Dusi returned to the capital to report on his work. In recognition of his meritorious service in resisting the Mongols, the emperor rewarded him with 100 taels of gold, 10 hu of pearls, and 100 pieces of silk and satin, and also granted his descendants the hereditary position of fourth-rank Tongzhi.
Originally, Wang Yuan was the one who announced the emperor's decree for such a prominent event. But this time, when Wang Yuan was helping the emperor wash and comb his hair, he slipped and nearly knocked over the basin. The emperor laughed and pointed to the young and strong Wang Ge to announce the decree. He also said to Wang Yuan, "You are getting old too."
The more Wang Yuan thought about it, the more he felt that someone had pushed him. However, he looked around secretly and found that the person beside him was either his adopted son or his favorite apprentice. He checked again and again but still couldn't find out who it was. Instead, it was Wang Ge, who was in charge of the study of the Qianqing Palace and should not have appeared when the emperor was washing. However, Wang Ge not only appeared in the emperor's bedroom, but also after Wang Yuan slipped, Wang Ge just happened to bring in a few ink tablets and helped the emperor write big characters.
He quietly instructed his young apprentice to hide a report on the floods in Jiangsu and Zhejiang under the kang mattress.
The inner cabinet was anxiously waiting for approval, and Liang Jifen personally submitted a memorial requesting an audience with the emperor. Only then did the emperor discover that the memorial, which should have been sent to the inner cabinet long ago, was missing.
The emperor was furious and Wang Ge was beaten with twenty sticks.
But before Wangge could hit him with the stick, the Queen appeared.
In the end, Wang Ge was still beaten with twenty boards, but those twenty boards only caused Wang Ge some minor injuries. Compared with the honor of the Empress rewarding Wang Ge with a bottle of golden ulcer medicine, those twenty boards did not hurt his teeth at all, but made Wang Ge even more arrogant.
This is very unusual.
Wang Yuan knew that one of the main reasons why Empress Wan was so highly regarded by the Emperor was that she was loyal to the Emperor, never formed cliques, and would never go against the Emperor's wishes.
He returned to his house with a gloomy look, wandered around in the study for a long time, and asked his apprentice to call the caretaker from the Jinyiwei Caretaker Division over.
Liu Yu came running and greeted him respectfully.
Only then did he remember that the medical staff of the medical department had already been replaced by Shi Chuan's people.
Wang Yuan couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
He sent Liu Yu away and asked people from the East Factory to investigate Wang Ge.
He didn't know until he checked, and he was shocked when he did.
Long before the Liao prince was enfeoffed, Wang Ge had already started working for him.
Wang Yuan suddenly understood.
Thinking about how the emperor had been treating him like an old clumsy man these days, he felt like vomiting blood.
Back in the palace, Wangge's little apprentice was there arrogantly scolding a few young eunuchs who had done something wrong.
Wang Yuan felt even worse.
So when he saw Song Mo coming out of the study in the Qianqing Palace, he smiled at Song Mo.
Song Mo bowed to him and said, "When will you leave the palace? I will treat you to a drink."
Wang Yuan immediately suspected that Song Mo had done something.
Looking at Song Mo's frank and bright face, he felt that it was unlikely and he was just overthinking it.
"Okay!" He nodded with a smile, "Let's make an appointment with the prince someday!"
Song Mo smiled and nodded and left.
Wang Yuane glared fiercely at the veranda where Wang Ge was resting, then he bent down and slowly walked into the study.
When he had the chance to drink with Song Mo again, the events of the past came back to Song Mo one by one: "…The emperor was often ill at that time, and the Imperial Hospital only dared to prescribe some Taiping medicine. The emperor felt that he would not live long, so he prepared to choose between the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi Dusi and Duke Dingguo. The Empress thought that Duke Dingguo was better, saying that he was of noble birth, and was related to the Duke of Ying by marriage, so he was one of their own… Later, Duke Dingguo was arrested, and several people were arrested. The ministers of the imperial court all pleaded for the Duke of Dingguo, and some provincial governors in the eastern Zhejiang area accused him of having private relations with court officials. The emperor was very upset and asked the Imperial Guard to question him... The secret report from the imperial guards only said that the Imperial Guards were arrogant and even dared to torture and extract confessions from loyal ministers. As for what kind of torture the Duke of Dingguo had suffered and how serious his injuries were, there was no mention. The emperor kept the report and ignored it. Who knew that within a few days, the news of the Duke of Dingguo's death came.
The emperor was furious and called Shi Chuan into the palace, where he gave him a severe scolding and ordered him to find out the truth within ten days.
Next came the memorial from the censors impeaching Duke Dingguo.
The emperor was so angry that his liver ached and he said: Eunuch Dingguo was an honest and upright person. When he was alive, everyone praised him as the pillar of the country. But after his death, not even a seventh day of mourning was held, but all kinds of dirty water and stinky water were thrown at him. What a snobbish villain!
To establish a fair reputation for the country.
Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager advised the Emperor that if he pardoned Duke Dingguo at this time, wouldn't it be an admission that Duke Dingguo's death was his fault?
The emperor began to hesitate.
The Queen Mother said, "In addition to Duke Dingguo, the Jiang family also has Jiang Zhusun and Jiang Lansun. Since you have decided to keep the Jiang family for His Royal Highness, why not let the Jiang family suffer a little? Exile the adult males to Liaodong, and demote the women and children to return to their hometowns as commoners. The Jiang family still has ancestral homes and sacrificial fields. If the Jiang family is grateful for the emperor's grace, they will naturally live well; if they are dissatisfied, even if the emperor pardons the Jiang family at this time, the Jiang family will still feel aggrieved. Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor. It is a good opportunity to see whether the Jiang family is truly loyal or just pretending to be loyal. "
The emperor thought what the queen said made sense.
Soon, an imperial decree was issued to exile all male members of the Jiang family over the age of five to Liaoning, and to demote the elderly, the weak, women and children to commoners and send them back to Haozhou.
As for the Third and Fifth Masters of the Jiang Family, I know that the eunuchs around the Empress had met with Zhong Qiao, but I didn’t dare ask Zhong Qiao what they said.
Song Mo looked at the wine cup in his hand, his heart full of bitterness. After a long while, he said calmly: "If those ministers did not impeach my uncle but cried out for justice and pleaded for Duke Dingguo, what would the emperor do?"
Wang Yuan sighed and said, "It's good enough to kill the whole family, but I'm afraid that the three clans will be implicated!"
Song Mo thought of Dou Zhao.
If he had not met Dou Zhao, what would be the situation of the Jiang family and himself now?
When he returned to Yizhi Hall, the child had already fallen asleep and Dou Zhao was sitting under the lamp painting patterns.
Hearing the noise, she raised her head, smiled at him and said, "You're back!"
His clear eyes were like spring water, reflecting his own shadow.
It was like a surging tide, beating against his chest, making his heart palpitate so much that he couldn't utter a word.
He took a few steps forward and hugged Dou Zhao.
"Shougu, what would I be like without you?" He closed his eyes and buried his head in her black hair.
If she hadn't been reborn, Song Mo in this life would probably still be as lonely, depressed and cynical as in his previous life.
Dou Zhao's heart immediately softened.
She patted Song Mo's shoulder gently as if to comfort him, and said with a smile: "If it weren't for me, you would definitely marry a gentle and considerate wife, take in a few concubines who are both beautiful and talented, and give birth to a few lively and lovely children..."
"No!" Song Mo retorted, "I only like you, no one else!"
No? Will he marry a gentle and considerate wife? Or will he take a concubine?
Dou Zhao laughed.
No matter what, Song Mo is fine now.
Wealth, honor, power and a bright future!
She hugged him tightly and said with a smile, "Did you drink today? Do you want me to ask the kitchen to make you a bowl of sobering soup?"
Song Mo let her go, shook his head, and said, "Just call the little maid to come in and help me wash and dress."
Dou Zhao nodded and said "OK".
After washing up, Song Mo pulled Dou Zhao to lean on the big kang by the window.
He held her hand and told her about his meeting with Wang Yuan.
Dou Zhao was stunned, then seemed to be thinking about something.
Song Mo always valued Dou Zhao's opinion. Seeing that she was a little absent-minded, he hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"
Dou Zhao came back to his senses.
"No." She paused and said, "I was thinking, if everyone had submitted a petition to appeal for the injustice of Duke Dingguo and angered the emperor, would the empress have added fuel to the fire..."
"No." Song Mo said calmly, "She has always been virtuous and generous in front of the emperor. The Jiang family is about to fall, and she doesn't need to cause trouble for herself and offend people for no reason. The reason why she intervened this time was just thinking that since she had already offended the Jiang family, she might as well go all out and get rid of the Jiang family to prevent future troubles." At this point, he sneered, "She is really a man of great achievements, and she is ruthless! At that time, my mother was extremely anxious, and she was still comforting my mother. My mother was grateful to her, but she never thought that it was she who harmed my uncle! Just because I didn't favor Prince Liao, she was able to do such a cruel thing. If I go against her, won't I die without a burial place?"
Therefore, the empress in the previous life did not take any action against the Jiang family!
Dou Zhao felt relieved after hearing this, but another thought came to his mind.
She pondered, "Yan Tang, have you ever thought that if Duke Dingguo had not been biased towards Prince Liao, the Queen would have gone to such great lengths to kill him all. For those who politely rejected the Queen, wouldn't the Queen have to grind them to ashes to vent her hatred?"
Song Mo was stunned.
Dou Zhao said: "We all noticed the ambition of Prince Liao, but no one dared to tell the emperor, because we had no evidence and were afraid that the emperor would not believe us and end up in jail. But if the person who told the emperor this was Duke Ding, what do you think his reaction would be?"
Song Mo's expression changed drastically.
If it was Duke Dingguo, even if the Emperor trusted the Empress and Prince Liao, he would still have doubts!
This is the real reason why the queen wants to attack Duke Dingguo and the Jiang family.
She was afraid that because of Duke Dingguo's death, Jiang Zhusun and Jiang Lansun would say something unfavorable to Prince Liao.
Song Mo's eyes were wet: "It's a pity that my fifth uncle doesn't know anything now, and actually recognized the thief as the master and helped the tyrant to do evil!"
Dou Zhao also felt a sense of sympathy for his own inference.
She said, "Should we give Uncle Wu a tip?"
Song Mo nodded and hurried to the study.
Dou Zhao looked at the teacup with half a cup of cold tea still in it and sighed deeply.
A small change in this life can bring about earth-shaking changes in the past life.
This was something she hadn't expected when she first met Song Mo.
How many more changes like this will she encounter in the future?
Will those certain facts from the previous life happen again in this life?
Dou Zhao was a little confused.