Liu Yaoyu clenched the handkerchief in her hand and wanted to say something comforting, but she felt that no matter what she said, it would be inappropriate at the moment. She also felt bad for Liu Yaozhen.
Fortunately, she only cried this time. During the remaining ten days of the return journey, although Liu Yaozhen was distracted and in poor spirits, she still ate as usual. Perhaps because she had her children to support her, she was not so sad that she collapsed.
On the evening of the second day, when the group was staying in the inn, Wei Min caught up on horseback and brought a message from the second aunt of the Liu family. The second aunt of the Liu family was worried that Wei Lichu's erratic personality would cause trouble if he stayed in the capital, so she asked them to tell Wei Lichu to return to Pingliang Prefecture after returning to the capital.
Because there were not enough rooms in the inn, Wei Min proposed to stay in the same room with Yu Jiao. Liu Yaoyu wanted to accompany Liu Yaozhen, so she stayed in the same room with Liu Yaozhen.
After bathing and washing, Yu Jiao sat at the table drinking pear water and reading a medical book. Wei Min came out from behind the screen, wiping her hair, and also sat down at the table.
Looking at Yu Jiao's quiet and beautiful face under the light, Wei Min couldn't help but say, "I went to see Master Yu before leaving Beijing."
Hearing the words "Lord Yu", Yu Jiao was a little slow to react. She raised her eyes to look at Wei Min, obviously stunned.
Wei Min laughed, "Don't let me get you off my track. I don't have any feelings for Yu Qizhe. During the time you were away from the capital, your fifth brother Yu was about to make a scene in the capital!"
Yu Jiao's expression became noticeably more focused. She folded a corner of the medical book in her hand and waited quietly for Wei Min's next words.
Wei Min did not want to keep her in suspense. "Yu Wulang has been promoted. He is now a third-rank Dali Temple official. It is rare in the officialdom for him to jump three levels in a row. I don't know how many people envy him. I think it won't be long before his rank rises even higher."
Although Yu Jiao didn't understand officialdom, she knew that Yu Qizhe's promotion was unreasonable and it was like being shot by an arrow.
She remembered that the Shaoqing of Dali Temple was Yang Congwen's father, so how come Yu Qizhe suddenly became the one sitting in that position?
"What great achievements did my fifth brother make?" Yu Jiao asked anxiously.
Wei Min smiled, "You are quite clever. Yang Xu and his son enriched themselves, abused their power for personal gain, and seized a lot of land and property from merchants. The emperor handed the case over to your fifth brother and Mei Xuanlang from the Ministry of Justice. After the trial, Yang Xu and his son were executed, and your fifth brother was promoted by the emperor to be the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple."
Yu Jiao's eyebrows twitched slightly. The Yang family actually fell? She unconsciously pinched the medical book in her hand, her thoughts a little confused.
Logically speaking, even if the father and son of the Yang family committed a crime, it should not be Yu Qizhe who should try the case.
Wei Min continued, "I went to Lord Yu before leaving Beijing because of my father. Lord Yu tried another big case after he took office. It was originally a case in which a salt merchant in Huai'an sued the son of Zhai Huaiying, the salt transport envoy of Huai'an, for abducting his daughter and insulting her to death. After Lord Yu tried the case, he found out that Zhai Huaiying had embezzled tens of millions of Jiangnan salt silver and obtained a bribery account book from Zhai Huaiying. It involved a wide range of people, and the big fish behind it was the Crown Prince."
When Yu Jiao heard this, the vague thoughts in her mind suddenly became clear.
She curled up her delicate fingers. Yang Xu and Zhu Yu, what happened that day in the East Palace flashed through Yu Jiao's mind. Was Yu Qizhe's targeting of these two people related to the fact that she was almost defrauded by Zhu Yu in the East Palace...
"When Zhu Yu forced my father to kill Zhai Huaiying and failed to silence him, he threatened my father to take me as his concubine, so I went to your fifth brother to report it!" Wei Min was gloating, "After reporting it, I quietly left the capital. When I arrived in Huairou, I heard that Zhu Yu had been deposed. It was really gratifying!"
Zhu Yu was actually deposed? Yu Jiao was surprised, but also felt somewhat relieved. She had always remembered the grudge that Zhu Yu had plotted against her that day, but she could do nothing about it because of her status and position.
Her heartbeat was a little rapid. Was Yu Qizhe avenging her? First it was Yang Xu and his son, then it was Zhu Yu. It was simply impossible to explain it as a coincidence.
She was a little worried. Yu Qizhe was just the top scholar this year and entered the officialdom. He had neither foundation nor aristocratic family to back him up. How could he dare to compete with Zhu Yu?
"Is my fifth brother okay?" Yu Jiao couldn't help asking.
"He is very good. The emperor thinks highly of him. My father said he is not an ordinary person." Seeing Yu Jiao, who was always calm, caring about Yu Qizhe, Wei Min couldn't help but feel sad for her. "When I came here, I asked him if he had anything else to say to you, but he didn't say anything."
Yu Jiao didn't care about this. She was just worried about Yu Qizhe's safety. Zhu Yu had been the crown prince for many years. As the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Yu Jiao was worried that someone would do something bad to him.
Besides, there is the Feng family behind Zhu Yu, and Yu Qizhe has completely offended the Feng family this time.
Although Feng Zheng, Marquis of Dingbei, whom she met in Pingliang Prefecture, was a man of iron will and not fussy about trivial matters, that was because there was no conflict of interest between her and him. Yu Qizhe destroyed Zhu Yu's position as crown prince, which was tantamount to destroying the path to success for the Feng family, who were connected by blood.
Yu Jiao was eager to go home at this moment. Even if she couldn't protect Yu Qizhe, she could stay in the capital city closer to him. At least if anything happened to him, she would know immediately.
Yu Jiao tossed and turned in bed at night and couldn't sleep. She wished that the journey of more than ten days could be shortened to an inch. Wei Min was awakened by her movements and said a little embarrassedly, "Did I say too much again? First I let it slip to Sister Yaozhen, and now I'm telling you all this, and I'm making you worry about Lord Yu."
Yu Jiao said gently: "Don't blame yourself all the time, you mean well, and I want to thank you for telling me this."
Wei Min sighed, "I feel really guilty about what happened with Sister Yaozhen."
"She will know sooner or later, it's just a matter of time. We all chose to hide it from her, which may not be right." Yu Jiao didn't think it was a bad thing for Wei Min to let the cat out of the bag. At least now that Liu Yaozhen has returned to Beijing, she can still see Cui Mubai. Otherwise, if Liu Yaozhen really waits until the day Cui Mubai is gone, she will know all this, and it may become a knot in her heart for the rest of her life.
In the blink of an eye, more than ten days passed. Seeing the capital city just around the corner, Liu Yaozhen felt homesick for no reason in the carriage. At first, she was eager to go home, wanting to know the truth and to see Cui Mubai. But when she really arrived in the capital city, she couldn't help but feel fear and panic. Even though Yu Jiao had confirmed that Cui Mubai was seriously ill, she still couldn't accept that her husband... didn't have much time left.
Yu Jiao was very considerate and held Liu Yaozhen's hand, but did not say any words of comfort.
After the carriage entered the city, it first returned to Zanmao Hutong. Liu Yu was not at home, so Liu Yaozhen did not get off the carriage. She told the servant to go to Cui's house. Madam Liu did not stop her, but just gave Yu Jiao a wink, asking her to accompany Liu Yaozhen.
Liu Yaoyu also wanted to go, but was stopped by Madam Liu. Yaoyu's temperament was not stable enough, nor as considerate as Yu Jiao. Besides, if Yaozhen was unwell, Yu Jiao was by her side and could provide timely diagnosis and treatment.
Yu Jiao understood Mrs. Liu's thoughts, so she accompanied Liu Yaozhen to Cui's house. Although she missed Yu Qizhe and had planned to go to Yong'an Lane, it was more important to accompany Liu Yaozhen to Cui's house.
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