Chapter 82 Chapter 82 Is it possible... Prince Zhaoyi...
Fang Ying, however, had already thought of another thing: "If this was really done by him, then is it possible...that he is also the Crown Prince Zhaoyi..."
Zhou Congshan's heart skipped a beat, then he shook his head: "It can't be him."
"Why?"
"My cousin has been very close to his uncles since he was young, especially the King of Chu. He often brought him fun things from outside. When he was well, he even took him horseback riding." Zhou Congshan finished reminiscing and added, "And he wasn't a foolish or cruel person."
Poisoning the Crown Prince to death in order to compete for the throne was certainly not something a wise person would do, especially since the Crown Prince was already frail and sickly, with no sign of longevity. Furthermore, there were four other princes of similar age below him. Even if the Crown Prince was killed, it wouldn't be the Prince of Chu's turn to commit the crime.
Fang Ying dismissed her suspicions and asked, "What about the other princes? Are there any who are close to the King of Chu?"
"Probably not. In the early days, our Zhou family was the Yuan family's support, and they and their brothers also relied heavily on my aunt's care. Although my aunt treated the illegitimate sons very well, the three of them were quite tactful and treated my cousin completely differently from their other nephews."
"I remember that the Prince of Chu taught the Fourth Prince a lesson last time he was the regent." Fang Ying said.
"Yes, because of the Zhang family."
"What about the King of Qin? He's not close to the King of Chu either?"
Zhou Congshan said, "From what I understand, they didn't interact much. After the emperor ascended the throne, the princes were all raised in the palace, and the King of Chu followed the emperor on his campaigns, so they didn't have much opportunity to interact."
"Then it's not out of helping the King of Qin or the other princes..." As expected, the affairs of the royal family are complicated and difficult to understand. Fang Ying sighed, "Forget it, I don't want to think about it. It's not something we can interfere with."
"Indeed, but you're right. A little chaos is good; it makes it easier to reopen old cases. If everything were going smoothly, that person might not want to create unnecessary complications and hastily close the case."
Yes, after all, the Prince of Qin was only half a step away from becoming the crown prince. Whether the crown prince died of illness or was murdered, it made no difference to the Prince of Qin. The right thing to do was to safely enter the Eastern Palace. Why risk reopening this old case? If nothing was uncovered, it would be of no benefit. If anything was uncovered, it would inevitably involve fratricide, which would not be a good thing for the Emperor.
It's different now. Wait... Fang Ying suddenly had an idea: "I might be overthinking it, but is it possible that this is the purpose of the King of Chu sending the news back?"
"You mean, he knew that his cousin was murdered... Don't say that, I just remembered that it was the King of Chu who presided over the funeral of my cousin when he died!" Zhou Congshan suddenly stood up and began to pace back and forth, muttering to himself.
Fang Ying remained silent, watching her friend walk around for a few times. After she calmed down, she suggested, "Why don't you write a letter to your father?"
Uncle Zhou was in a high position and had great power. He saw much more than the girls in the boudoir and could respond more promptly.
Zhou Congshan hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "Okay."
Fang Ying did not mention this matter to Ji Yanlang when she returned - there was too little to say, and in order to avoid accidentally letting the cat out of the bag, it was better not to say anything at all.
Ji Yanlang didn't ask any more questions. He had visited an old doctor today and returned home before dinner. He only had time to explain his whereabouts before going to Li's room with Fang Ying to have dinner.
After dinner, when they came out of his mother's courtyard, Ji Yanlang finally talked about the details: "Today in the camp, I happened to hear a brother say that his sister-in-law had a difficult labor, but thanks to an old doctor, she was able to save her life. Now both mother and child are safe. His family wants to make a plaque to thank the old doctor, but they don't know what to write on it, so they need everyone's suggestions. I asked where the old doctor practices medicine and went to take a look."
"Did you see anyone?" Fang Ying asked.
"I did see him, but he was busy with many patients. I waited for over an hour before I finally got to talk to him," Ji Yanlang said, shaking his head. "This old doctor has a really bad temper. I told him my purpose, and he just brushed me off with 'no disciples.'"
Fang Ying laughed: "So what did you do later?"
"I begged him with good words. It took a long time before he agreed to finish seeing the patient and talk to me."
Fang Ying said, "No wonder you came back so late."
Waiting a little later is actually not a big deal. Although Ji Yanlang's patience is not very good, he is still seeking medical treatment, and he can still wait patiently because he has an old doctor with real skills who is hard to come by. But when Ji Yanlang waited until the end, the old doctor only gave him a list of dietary dos and don'ts during pregnancy.
"He said everyone's body is different, so it's impossible to generalize. For example, with morning sickness, some people vomit until the seventh or eighth month, while others only vomit a few times and then completely recover. Even the same person's pregnancies can be different. There's no point asking so many questions. It's better to listen to the doctor's advice after you become pregnant."
Back in the room, Ji Yanlang took out a stack of ink-stained papers and handed it to Fang Ying. "I asked what kind of situation during pregnancy we should pay more attention to, but the old man got very impatient and said, 'Why do we even need to ask? Of course, if a pregnant woman is feeling unwell, we need to pay attention and consult a doctor immediately.'"
It sounds like Ji Yanlang didn't ask the right question.
Fang Ying unfolded the paper and glanced at it. It was very detailed, not only listing the dos and don'ts of the four types of food, but also providing corresponding examples. She said, "It's great to have this list." After a pause, she asked, "Can I go see this old doctor?"
"I'm afraid it's not very convenient. His clinic is very small, and it's in the outer city, so the patients come from all walks of life..."
"That's fine, it'll be the same if I go see the imperial physician later. The imperial physician Sister Zhou mentioned has been practicing medicine for over 20 years and is quite good at gynecology."
This was also what Ji Yanlang meant. He visited several more doctors, verified their information with each other, and finally put together a picture. Then it would become clear what they were confused about and afraid of.
The next day, Fang Ying copied the list and memorized it in her mind, then put the copied version together with the ones she had written before.
After that, the weather was calm for many days. The emperor had no intention of returning to the capital, and there was no reply from Zhenzhou. Ji Yanlang said that the vanguard of the Hu people was approaching Zhenzhou, and he estimated that his father was busy arranging the troops and had no time to take care of other things.
Whether it was the major theft case being handled openly in Kaifeng Prefecture or the murder of Mo Hongzhao, an apprentice of the imperial physician, being investigated secretly, neither case had been concluded or judged. There was no news from the outside world. Fang Ying went back to her parents' home but was unable to learn anything from her father.
Fang Chengxun has been very busy lately - there are many lawsuits in the government office, and he has to work half a day on weekends. In addition, Ji Yanlang and Ji Yanshou finally found a suitable tutor, but the tutor has his own school and cannot teach at home, so they have to send Fang Ying's older brother Fang Sheng to study.
It was not convenient for the child to see the teacher when he went to school, so Fang Chengxun had to ask Fang Sheng about his homework regularly, otherwise he would not even know his progress in studying.
However, Fang Ying did not expect to learn any inside information about the case from her father. When she failed to find out, she went to her second sister Fang Quan's room, checked her homework, and talked with Chu Yin for a while.
After Chu Yin taught him for half a year, Fang Quan could recognize more than 300 Chinese characters, do addition and subtraction within ten, and recite more than a dozen sentences of the Nine-Nine Song. In addition to these, he also made great progress in dealing with people. He could greet guests with proper manners and was no longer as timid as before.
Fang Ying was extremely satisfied and even praised Chu Yin to Ji Yanlang after returning home.
"A maid actually knows how to teach children." Ji Yanlang was also a little surprised. When he heard Fang Ying mention this before, he thought that it was just a maid from a noble family who could read and count and had some vision, and was teaching Fang Ying's sister to read and understand etiquette. He didn't expect that the teaching was so comprehensive and methodical.
"She said she didn't understand it at first, but she felt that when she taught my second sister, she couldn't just teach whatever she thought of like she did when she taught the little girl in the Zhou Mansion. She still had to have a plan, so she recalled how Sister Zhou arranged her studies and copied it."
"That's rare, too. She's willing to think and find examples..." Ji Yanlang paused and suddenly asked, "Huaiyun is six years old, right?"
Fang Ying knew what he was asking and said with a smile, "Second Uncle has already personally taught Huaiyun how to read. Didn't you know that?"
"Really? I haven't heard my second brother mention it." Ji Yanlang was a little surprised. "Last time, he just said that he was asking his nephews to keep an eye out for a teacher..."
"Maybe Second Uncle himself was embarrassed to say it, and he really didn't teach her for long. I heard from Second Sister-in-law that Second Uncle only started teaching Huaiyun after the Emperor went on tour."
After listening to this, Ji Yanlang pondered for a while and sighed, "If I had known this, I would have studied hard for a few days."
"Huh?" Ji Liulang, who was determined to emulate his father, wanted to be a famous general, and hated studying, could actually one day express such emotion? Fang Ying was astonished.
"One only regrets not having enough knowledge when one needs it. I don't have the ability of my second brother, so I'm afraid I won't be able to teach our daughter in the future."
Fang Ying: “…”
It turned out that he was thinking about his daughter, but, "You still have time to study now. Considering Huaiyun's age, you still have at least six or seven years."
Ji Yanlang waved his hands repeatedly: "Forget it. Let's focus on finding a good husband for the girls."
Fang Ying's mind moved. "Yes, there will be more and more children in the family in the future. Why not open a private school at home? Just like when we were in Yangzhou, the children of relatives and friends can also come to study. It's a pity that the female teachers who taught me in the past are unwilling to come to Bianjing. Otherwise, I could open a separate school for girls."
She spoke whatever came to her mind, and Ji Yanlang really listened. "After this battle is over and father comes home, we can discuss it."
Fang Ying nodded in agreement, but she didn't know that the reason for the calm during this period of time could be attributed to the six words Ji Yanlang said - wait until this battle is over.
The emperor wanted to wait until the battle was over and decide whether to move the capital based on the outcome; the king of Qin wanted to wait until the battle was over and decide several major cases in Kaifeng Prefecture based on the circumstances; even the hands hidden in the dark were waiting for the battle to be over and decide the next move based on the actions of the emperor and the king of Qin.
On April 30th of the fifth year of Longxing, the Hu cavalry arrived at Mancheng, northeast of Zhenzhou, and assembled. The Zhenzhou defender Ji Guangting led his troops to form a battle array at Xuhe to meet the enemy. The Guannan defender secretly led his troops to the rear of the Hu cavalry, and the Dingzhou defender led troops from the southwest to support them. This highly anticipated battle was finally about to begin.
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