Chapter 44 New Pawns
The wind is light and the clouds are clear, but the sun is abundant and the trees are lush and leafy.
The reflection on the ground forms a natural shade.
Very cool.
Less than ten days had passed since Ayuan's body was dumped when I heard the news.
Yun Juan was brewing tea in the courtyard. This year's new tea had a clear and fragrant taste.
Duhuo came up and reported what she had discovered to Yun Zhuan:
"The results are out. Concubine Zhen was not strict with her subordinates and was directly fined three months' salary and had to reflect on her actions in her own palace for two months. Concubine Su was implicated and frightened for no reason, but His Majesty rewarded her with a lot of things. However, who would know the twists and turns in this?"
Yun Zhuan was puzzled: "Isn't this Concubine Zhen causing trouble?"
She held the teacup in her hand, her knuckles turning white.
In the previous life, the Zheng family would never have stayed out of it.
But at present, she has not found any clues to prove that the Zheng family is related to the demise of the Yun family.
Just from the interrogation of the Shen and Wang families by the Ministry of Justice, Yun Zhian felt something was strange.
Why was the Shen family excluded in the end?
This kind of thing is too obvious, it must be someone's idea!
"It's useless for Concubine Zhen to make trouble. Although she is beautiful, the palace has strict rules. Besides, I have found out something about what the young lady asked me to investigate." Duhuo continued, "It seems that the favorite concubine of Zheng Heluo, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, has some connection with the Shen family, but I don't know if it's true."
Shen Mu did a lot of ridiculous things when he was young, so much so that by the time of Shen Huan, the patriarch of the Shen family, it was difficult for him to sort out the myriad of issues.
"What origin?" Yun Ju'an sneered. "It's most likely that she is Shen Huan's illegitimate daughter, who was given to Zheng Heluo as a concubine. Zheng Heluo is not much younger than Shen Huan!"
Indeed, although she was an illegitimate daughter, Shen Huan should have loved her. However, no one knew what happened in the Shen family that made him promise this daughter to Zheng Heluo as a concubine.
Duhuo lowered his head and said, "Probably, the Shen family was able to stay out of this incident because of Zheng Heluo."
In Yun Zhuan's impression, Zheng Heluo was not a womanizing man. Moreover, he had a son and a daughter. The son was named Zheng Yizhu and the daughter was named Zheng Yixian. Both children were not young anymore. Although his wife died early...
Yun Zhu sat on a bamboo chair, with his head tilted and his eyes lowered.
This is what she often does when she is thinking about something.
The breaking point has come.
Yes, Zheng Heluo had a wife whom he loved very much. However, this wife contracted a strange disease and died just a few years after Zheng Yixian was born.
From then on, Zheng Hezhe had a knot in his heart, so he focused all his attention on business, otherwise he would not have been able to become the third-rank Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice before he was forty.
"Perhaps, is it possible that this concubine looks very similar to his wife?" Yun Ju'an slowly raised his eyes and looked at Duhuo, his lips slightly opened.
Duhuo lowered his head and said, "I will go down and check today."
Although Emperor Yuan also had some responsibility for the initial conviction, it was the Ministry of Justice that actually carried out the execution.
If the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple had not been so decisive when they initially investigated the case, and had not even given the defendant a chance to change his confession, perhaps the Yun family would not have been destroyed overnight, right?
Too fast, too fast.
It was too late. Before anyone could react, the former Wu'an Marquis Mansion was sealed forever and became history.
She, Yun Zhuan, refused to accept!
"Did my companion do what he said about this talent show?" Yun Juan put down the teacup with a calm expression, "I haven't had anything else to do recently, so I'll focus on this one."
Duhuo took the handkerchief out of his arms and presented it to Yun Ju'an.
"I was afraid that my brain was not good, so I wrote it down on a piece of silk. Please take a look."
Yun Juan picked up the silk and there were exactly three names on it.
It is not easy to select a concubine. She must have a clean family background, be pretty, and also be favored by Emperor Yuan. The complexity and intricacies involved are hard to imagine.
"Ruan Jiayan, this name is very good." Yun Zhuan's voice was flat. "There are so many people who look alike in this world. How can we make the emperor believe that she is clean and innocent?"
Duhuo said, "Miss, don't worry. Miss Ruan's ancestors were impoverished officials. It is not difficult to teach her etiquette. Besides, the emperor will not find out anything."
In his early years, Emperor Yuan had a beloved woman named Rong Jiayan, who was beautiful and very favored. She was originally met by Emperor Yuan when he was on a private visit abroad, and she entered the palace only because of that man's promise and love. Later, in order to balance the power of the harem, Emperor Yuan began to no longer favor her alone.
It's a pity that most emperors in the world are ruthless and heartless people.
It was not known whether it was due to jealousy among the concubines or because she herself had not taken good care of her body, but without favor she was like a floating duckweed, and could be humiliated at will. Later, perhaps wanting to protect her, the emperor locked her up alone in a palace, but unfortunately, she died not long after.
However, Yun Zhuan had a bold guess that perhaps the seventh prince Yuan Yin was the son of this favored concubine.
After all, perhaps it was because the concubine was pregnant that Emperor Yuan kept her locked up in the palace and did not allow anyone to visit her in order to protect her.
However, Emperor Yuan only cared about whether her environment was safe and ignored the concubine's inner feelings.
She was depressed and had heavy bleeding during labor, and died after giving birth to the child.
Yun Ju'an pinched a piece of cake and took a bite. Who knows if someone had tampered with it?
Maybe someone put something in the food and clothing you eat or wear, or maybe someone told you something.
Heavy bleeding is nothing more than physical weakness or excessive emotional excitement.
But it's a really good method. If it really succeeds, it might be two lives for one body.
"Miss, don't worry. Miss Ruan is very obedient. Besides, the other two palace maids in this batch are all clean peasant girls. They are just ordinary people. They just sold themselves into the palace because their elders were sick. No one will find out." Duhuo whispered, "It was Master Qin who found a skilled doctor to save them."
As a human being, we should always have a conscience, as it is a life-saving grace.
"That's all. You can handle the rest as you see fit." Yun Zhuan pointed at the names of two palace maids, "Tan Hua, Tan Yin, point them to Huaqing Palace and Xuanchun Palace where Concubine Zhen is."
Although she knew the hardships that Concubine Rong had experienced in the palace, she was not so cruel.
There is one less Ayuan in Concubine Su's palace. Isn't this a perfect opportunity?
"Miss, the food in Huaqing Palace has been tampered with. It has only happened in the past one or two days, and no one has discovered it yet." Duhuo whispered, "It seems to be some kind of drug that makes people sleepy. It is not a good thing. If Miss is contaminated by even a little bit, I am afraid it will cause asthenia. In serious cases, she will vomit blood..."
Yun Yu'an's eyes lit up. It just so happened that she had no reason to associate Concubine Su with herself.
This time she had a plan that worked for her.
Concubine Zhen, Yun Zhuan slammed the teacup shut. She wanted to see what tricks this young and beautiful Concubine Zhen had!
Woohoo, Yun Jiaojiao is so handsome, I love her
(End of this chapter)