Chapter 174: Spreading Branches and Leaves, the Duke Can Do It Himself
“I didn’t say that. I came here today only to reunite with Madam Li. Wei Xu’s visit was just a side trip. If Miss Zhou is not willing, I will not force her. When Miss Zhou requests the Emperor to retry the case, I will also speak up for her.”
"Then I will first thank the Duke on behalf of the ancestors of the Li family for his righteousness."
"I also ask Miss Zhou to take good care of Xu'er, so that he can live a few more years and have more descendants for the Wei family."
Zhou Mujiao couldn't help but say, "Lord Duke, please forgive my bluntness, but Wei Xu is only five years old this year. It will be another ten years before he can have children. In these ten years, who knows how many more people in your Wei family will die, or if my treatment fails and Wei Xu doesn't live to see that time, your Wei family may really be wiped out by then."
Duke Wei's expression changed.
"However, if the only goal is to continue the Wei family line, without considering other factors, there are ways for the Duke of Wei's mansion to continue. It just depends on whether the Duke is willing."
"Please speak, Miss Zhou!" Duke Wei said urgently. If there were any other way, he certainly wouldn't force Wei Xu!
Zhou Mujiao smiled faintly: "Although the Duke is nearly eighty years old, he is still very healthy and vigorous. He is quite old and still strong. You can take care of the matter of having children yourself."
So what the girl meant this week was that he should have a few more children himself?
Duke Wei's face flushed red.
Zhou Mujiao originally suggested that the Duke of Wei should go and have his own descendants just to shut him up. After all, the Duke of Wei had lived to such an old age and certainly didn't want to be criticized for ruining his reputation in his later years. Unexpectedly, he was actually moved by it.
Zhou Mujiao's face turned cold: "However, while it's fine to have children, Your Excellency must remember this: do not go looking for relatives within five degrees of kinship, otherwise no matter how many children you have, they will never live past thirty-five."
The Duke of Wei stammered, "Miss Zhou, I didn't mean to—"
"If the Duke thinks he is too old, he can help Wei Ming take more wives and concubines. It's the same. Relatives within five degrees of kinship, no matter how beautiful or sensible they are, should stay far away."
"Miss Zhou, this old man—"
"The method has already been told to the Duke. Whether the Duke wants to have his own children or have Weiming and his other grandsons do it, the Duke can think about it carefully when he gets back. By the way, those of your cousins who are married, if they can get a divorce, they should. If they really don't want to get a divorce, they should not have children if they can. Otherwise, the children will be harmed and useless. They won't live long. Even if they manage to live, they will have physical disabilities or intellectual disabilities."
Duke Wei's expression turned serious: "Does Miss Zhou mean that the Wei family's hereditary illnesses are all due to cousin marriages?"
“I can’t rule out other possibilities, but I can’t find any other reason for your family’s situation besides consanguineous marriage.” Zhou Mujiao didn’t want to see this person anymore, so she yawned. “If the Duke has nothing else to do, I’d like to go and rest. I might have to go to the palace later. If I’m not in good spirits in the palace, I could be beheaded in a heartbeat.”
Duke Wei immediately took his leave.
Zhou Mujiao is now the only savior of the Wei family. If Zhou Mujiao is beheaded, then the Wei family will be truly finished.
No sooner had the Duke of Wei left than Zhao Yunjing returned. Upon entering, he saw the Zhou family steward gesturing at the connecting corridor between the two houses, and only then did he believe that the messenger had not lied and that Zhou Mujiao really wanted to build a wall between the two houses.
Zhao Yunjing never doubted Zhou Mujiao's feelings for him; something must have happened to cause her to make this sudden decision.
After much thought, the only option left was the Duke of Wei.
"Ah Jiao, has the Duke of Wei met with Grandmother?" Zhao Yunjing went straight to the point as soon as he entered. "What did he threaten you with?"
Why are you back?
The two sat down hand in hand. Zhou Mujiao said, "It's not really a threat. I'm just taking precautions. I've been making inquiries in the palace lately and I know that the Li family's affairs back then had a wide reach. There were three concubines in the harem who were dealt with after the Li family's incident. I checked and found that these three concubines were more or less related to the Li family. One of them was the former Consort De."
In the imperial harem, the Empress was the most respected, followed by the Four Consorts. Consort De was one of the Four Consorts. The fact that she could be described as "virtuous" naturally indicated that she possessed the qualities, family background, and shrewdness to do so. However, she was subjected to such extreme treatment because of the Li family's case!
"When the Empress Dowager was still the Empress, she protected a concubine named Consort Xue, who came from the Western Regions. She had a fiery temper, but the Emperor liked her personality and doted on her. However, Consort Xue had several encounters with my grandfather when she was young, until my grandfather became the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, at which point they stopped contacting each other. I heard that when the Li family was in trouble, Consort Xue pleaded with the Emperor, but the Emperor was furious."
Zhou Mujiao paused here, looking up at Zhao Yunjing: "I suspect that the one who framed the Li family back then was none other than the late Emperor."
Zhao Yunjing's heart stirred, and Zhou Mujiao continued, "I asked my grandmother about Consort Xue. Although my grandmother was not disgusted, she was somewhat evasive. I don't believe that there was nothing between my grandfather and Consort Xue."
As a descendant, I still have these thoughts twenty years later; the late emperor, living in the present, must have felt them even more strongly. King You of Zhou played with the feudal lords by lighting the beacon fires; Wu Sangui risked everything for a woman; what's so surprising about our late emperor killing a few displeasing ministers for the sake of Xuefei?
Zhao Yunjing nodded: "Men are born with a possessive desire for women. They regard any man who glances at their woman as a formidable enemy and want to kill him. Not everyone is as tolerant as I am towards Young Master Chen. However, who are King You of Zhou and Wu Sangui? It's understandable that they would risk everything for a woman, but lighting the beacon fires to amuse the feudal lords is far too frivolous. With the country destroyed and the family ruined, the woman was naturally gone too. This King You of Zhou was truly short-sighted."
“Who can argue with that?” Zhou Mujiao agreed. “So if my speculation is correct, the current emperor may well know the truth of what happened back then. He was already twenty years old at the time and had begun to oversee the country. Perhaps it was he who suggested to the late emperor that the Eighth Prince be sent to provide disaster relief.”
Zhao Yunjing frowned: "Eighth Prince... is Xue Fei's child?"
"right."
"The late emperor doted on Consort Xue and must have valued their child immensely. Perhaps he even brought the Eighth Prince along when discussing state affairs with his ministers. Since ancient times, only the crown prince has had the right to participate in state affairs. Yet the Eighth Prince, a mere prince, can sit on equal footing with the crown prince. If you were the crown prince, could you sit still?"
Zhao Yunjing continued, "Therefore, after learning that the late emperor had a grudge against Lord Li, the crown prince had an idea. Coincidentally, there was a flood in Lingnan, so the crown prince took the initiative to suggest that the Eighth Prince go to provide disaster relief, saying that it would broaden his horizons and allow him to understand the people's plight and comfort them on behalf of the emperor."
The bandits who robbed the disaster relief grain and silver were arranged by the emperor. Those who severely wounded the Eighth Prince were likely arranged by our current emperor, who wanted to take this opportunity to kill the Eighth Prince on the road.
"It's a pity that the Eighth Prince didn't die. After returning, he probably said some things that were favorable to Lord Li. It's likely that he can still provide solid evidence to clear Lord Li of suspicion. The late emperor wanted my grandfather dead, but the Eighth Prince went against him. In addition, Consort Xue pleaded for him later, so my grandfather had no choice but to die."
After analyzing this point, both of them fell silent.
Previously, Zhou Mujiao thought the current emperor was a rare wise ruler, but now she realized that the current emperor might be a despicable villain, or even the culprit who harmed her maternal grandfather's family.
My feelings were complicated at that moment.
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