Then, their gazes slowly, very slowly, shifted to the only intact room, filled with sympathy and pity...
"Your Highness, do you know about this...?"
The Minister of Works asked hesitantly, while the Crown Prince shook his head innocently, "I don't know, so I came to ask."
Hehe, Crown Prince, your expression of coming to watch the drama is too obvious!
Marquis Changxing said to the Crown Prince, "Zhao Dajia is ill; he has attempted suicide several times."
Several people looked at the Crown Prince with hope, hoping that he would sympathize with Zhao Dajia. The Minister of Works said, "He was picking up garbage before and was ridiculed by his colleagues."
The Minister of Revenue continued, "Then the lady ran off with someone else..."
Guan Jia: "He was also made a negative example of integrity and incorruptibility by the emperor in the imperial court."
Finally, Marquis Changxing concluded with a sigh, "How pitiful! Who wouldn't be heartbroken if they encountered such things!"
The prince was stunned. How many melon seeds had he missed! It was a real mistake of him not to bring melon seeds with him today.
"So Zhao Jieyu's elopement was due to her family's scholarly tradition!"
The crown prince couldn't help but wonder if this was what everyone else was looking at him for.
"How did this yard end up like this?"
The crown prince glanced once more at the chaotic courtyard.
This courtyard originally had three houses, but now, one has collapsed into ruins, another has been burned down to its frame, and only the middle one remains intact. This "intactness" is only relative to the two houses next to it; compared to the normal houses, it is crumbling, and the walls next to the burned-out house are blackened by smoke.
They had no idea how Zhao Dajia had ended up in such a state, and the group looked again at the dilapidated courtyard.
I know that.
Although Chuanwen knew this, he only dared to say it to himself: "The house collapsed because Zhao Dajia was trying to hang himself. As a result, the house was old and dilapidated and could not withstand his weight, so it collapsed. Zhao Dajia only suffered minor injuries."
[And that house that burned down—because Zhao Dajia couldn't hang himself, so he tried to burn himself alive. A gust of wind blew, and while only his own house caught fire, it completely burned down his neighbor's house!]
Following Chuanwen's words, everyone's gaze shifted to the neighbor's house, which had been burned to rubble. Just moments before, they had thought that the fire at the neighbor's house had spread to Zhao Dajia's yard.
It turns out Zhao Dajia was the real culprit!
"Being Zhao Dajia's neighbor is really bad luck!"
The Minister of Works muttered something under his breath, then looked up and saw the couple next door huddled behind a pile of rubble. Out of kindness and a desire to atone for Zhao Dajia's sins, he went over and took out a few pieces of silver from his purse and gave them to the couple.
The old man is doing quite well!
Chuanwen sighed inwardly, and the people around him nodded in agreement. Yu Heng, the Minister of Revenue, curled his lip in disdain. "Pah, he's been fooled!"
When the Minister of Works returned, his back was even straighter. Yes, this is how kind-hearted I am! Your Highness, you see? I am a good man!
[But did he know that after the fire, this couple camped out at Dajia's door every day demanding compensation? When Dajia had no money, they ransacked his house, leaving him not even a grain of rice!]
The Minister of Works stumbled and almost tripped over the rubble. He turned around and looked at the couple who were laughing and had already hidden the money in their clothes. Oh well, they were victims too. What's wrong with asking for some compensation? But he still went back to teach the two that even if they wanted compensation, they should pay attention to their manner.
When he returned, the Crown Prince and Chuanwen were no longer in the courtyard. He quickly squeezed into the house and saw that it was full of people.
Lord Zhou from the Ministry of Rites and Lord Wang from the Ministry of Justice were there trying to persuade Zhao Dajia.
Lord Zhou: "How can you not eat? Brother Zhao, you have to eat something."
Lord Wang: "Yes, food is as essential as iron. No matter how big the problem is, we still need to eat."
"That's right, how can we not eat?" The Minister of Works was about to step forward to comfort him, but suddenly he had a jolt. Wait, what about Lord Wang from the Ministry of Justice?!
He turned his gaze back to the white-bearded Lord Wang, who was none other than Wang Jizu, the father of Wang Sanlang who had eloped with Lady Zhao Dajia!
This scene looks so strange!
Not only was the Minister of Works somewhat disoriented, but the Marquis of Changxing and others were also a little dazed. What was going on? Lord Wang, have you sorted out your own affairs? You still have time to come and comfort others?
Besides, don't you know your own identity? It was your son who ran off with that man's wife! Shouldn't you be avoiding him right now? Why are you siding up to him?
Let alone them, even Chuanwen felt like he was watching a weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken. However, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "Luckily, Brother Dajia doesn't know that it was Lord Wang's third son who abducted his wife!"
I didn't know that!
Everyone in the room secretly breathed a sigh of relief, having averted a bloodshed!
But before he could fully relax, he suddenly realized that Zhao Dajia could also hear Chuanwen's thoughts, so he knew exactly what was going on!
Just as they were filled with fear, they noticed that Zhao Dajia raised his eyelids, glanced at Lord Wang, and then looked away, his eyes becoming lifeless again, only his overall dejection had intensified.
The Crown Prince glanced at the document and wondered if he should just send the girl away.
Lord Wang was completely oblivious to his surroundings and kept trying to persuade people. But as he was doing so, he noticed something was off about the smell around him. He had sensed it earlier, and now he finally couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zhao, what are you hiding in your room? Why does this smell a bit strange?"
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