Chapter 77: The Infertile Emperor Chang
Su Zhenzhen didn't understand why Jiang Sijin said that Emperor Chang's concubines were useless, that none of them could conceive, and that the problem should lie with the emperor himself.
Then he felt relieved, because in ancient times, any bad things would be blamed on women.
Besides, Jiang Sijin also has the surname Jiang, so it's not appropriate for her to speak ill of her elders.
"Not long after Emperor Chang adopted Prince Lu, the Empress in the inner palace indeed became pregnant and gave birth to Jiang Yichun. Fearing that Prince Lu might develop inappropriate thoughts, Emperor Chang casually bestowed upon Jiang Yichun a title of prince and sent him to the northwest after his birth. Because Prince Lu was still young at that time, Emperor Chang sent a troop of soldiers to protect him. The military power of the Jiang Dynasty was in the hands of a few generals. Apart from the aristocratic families who had their own private armies, no one else had the ability to raise troops, which would consume too much money and food."
Su Zhenzhen continued, "How many people were in the team that escorted Prince Lu back then?"
"A few thousand soldiers, probably no more than ten thousand, after all, we also need to prevent anyone with ulterior motives from causing trouble."
Based on the information available, Su Zhenzhen judged that this Prince Lu should be about the same age as Jiang Yichun, so the time that Magistrate Chen served in Shan County and the time when he was alive overlapped in time.
"Does the King of Lu have a legal wife? Is he lustful?"
Jiang Sijin admired her own beauty in the small mirror Su Zhenzhen had given her. "How would I know? Anyway, Emperor Chang did not bestow a marriage upon him. As for whether he secretly kept maids or concubines, you can summon his ghost and ask him."
Su Zhenzhen seriously considered the feasibility of this plan, but she didn't know where Lu Wang was buried. If his soul hadn't been reincarnated, it couldn't be too far from the place of death.
"Thank you, Your Highness. Please rest well." Su Zhenzhen didn't need to argue with Jiang Sijin over such trivial matters. It was just a matter of words to coax her, and she might need her help in the future.
Jiang Sijin didn't go back to bed, but ran out instead. It was unclear whether she was going to show off to someone or to a ghost.
Su Zhenzhen continued to flip through the files, hoping to find any clues about this Magistrate Chen, but it was as if he had appeared out of thin air and disappeared just as suddenly, with no other records at all.
After a night, Su Zhenzhen still had no clue. She had read through all the files and found that the female corpse was not registered in Shanxian County, or at least there was no record of her in the household registration department.
Based on the travel permit, and without knowing the girl's exact birth date, looking at all the young women who have entered and left the county over the past few decades, there are at least several dozen that match.
Hensheng was worried about Su Zhenzhen and didn't work with the soldiers today.
"Zhenzhen, is there anything I can do to help?"
Su Zhenzhen pushed the matching travel permits in front of Hensheng. "These all record the entry and exit of fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls in and out of the county, but the travel permits only state the destination and do not describe their appearance. How can we pinpoint the correct information in the shortest time?"
“I heard from my aunt that you asked him about the Prince of Lu. Is there something wrong with him? Try to find out when the Prince of Lu entered and left Shanxian County,” Hensheng suggested. “Since we have limited information right now, why don’t we make a bold assumption first?”
Su Zhenzhen thought of the mysterious Magistrate Chen and checked again based on his tenure.
Finally, two results were found that met the criteria.
One was a pair of sisters who traveled from the mountainous county to Huzhou in the spring, and they were exactly fifteen or sixteen years old.
Another is a middle-aged woman who comes to the mountain county from the south in winter.
"Hensheng, if you had to choose, who do you think is more likely to be the Miss Huo that the old man with the big knife was talking about?"
Su Zhenzhen looked into Hensheng's eyes.
Hensheng stroked the paper containing the two pieces of information back and forth. "If we're talking about age, it's naturally the two sisters. But Miss Huo went to the front lines in winter, so this woman is more likely. But if Miss Huo went to the front lines in winter and left in spring to enter Shanxian County, traveling with another lone woman and pretending to be sisters, that would also make sense."
“Then…” the two said almost in unison, “this Miss Huo lied.”
Su Zhenzhen slapped her thigh. "From the south to Bianzhou, you can only pass through Shanxian County. However, these two sisters only have records of leaving Shanxian County, not entering it. If one of them is indeed Miss Huo, then either she is originally from Bianzhou, or she is from Huzhou and went to the front line via the mountain road."
Hensheng suggested another possibility: "It cannot be ruled out that the whereabouts of this Miss Huo have been concealed."
Su Zhenzhen's brow twitched. The only people with this ability besides the county magistrate of Shanxian County were Prince Lu.
But why would they do that?
With the situation at the front lines unstable, a young woman surnamed Huo suddenly appeared in Bianzhou, claiming that she was fleeing from war.
Su Zhenzhen put herself in that shoes. If she were this Miss Huo, and she couldn't survive in her hometown, she could easily invoke the Huo family's name, since General Huo had a very high reputation among the people.
Moreover, you can beg for food in the capital, so why go the extra mile and travel to the harsh border region?
unless……
This trouble came from the imperial court, which is why Miss Huo had no choice but to go to the front lines to seek protection.
However, due to a series of unforeseen circumstances, she was taken in by a matchmaker and was forced to marry a butcher. Miss Huo was unwilling to do so, so on her wedding day, she framed the old man with the big knife.
This makes sense, and it also explains the human flesh in the betrothal gifts.
Where would Miss Huo get food to travel such a long distance all by herself? At that time, disasters were constantly occurring in various places for several years.
Su Zhenzhen was startled by her own thoughts and dared not look into Hensheng's eyes.
"Hensheng, go and help. When the ruler and his ministers are of one mind, it will boost morale."
After saying this, Su Zhenzhen was stunned. The unity of the ruler and his subjects not only requires the subjects to be of one mind with the ruler, but also requires the emperor to trust his subjects.
Hensheng went out to help repair the city's facilities, so Su Zhenzhen quickly released General Huo.
"How has the emperor treated your family? Does he feel that your achievements overshadow his?"
General Huo was taken aback for a moment. “The last emperor and I were very close. I have never met the Chang emperor. My father said that His Majesty had great imperial demeanor from a young age and was mature beyond his years. He was a very serious person. No one in the court dared to joke around. However, he also trusted us military generals very much and truly gave us military power.”
Su Zhenzhen thought to herself, "This is terrible. Isn't being mature beyond one's years just being scheming? When he grows up, he'll become suspicious. As emperor, I have to put on a good show. If I don't relinquish military power, how can I keep the generals loyal? Don't forget that the aristocratic families still have their own militia."
In any case, Su Zhenzhen had never seen any emperor in the 906th century who could truly trust his generals to be more powerful than himself.
Military generals who died peacefully were those who relinquished their military power early on.
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