Chapter 724 The Person Jiang Fenghua Suspects
Jiang Fenghua became serious when she thought about what happened at the Li family's residence. Her face was cold and sullen. "I wonder who has orchestrated this grand scheme to put Jin Ji and the Jiang family to their deaths."
Xie Shang frowned slightly and asked with concern, "Any clues?"
"Not yet." Xie Yang was in the palace when the incident occurred outside, so the person who sent Jing Yun to bring Lady Helan to the Li family in the dark was not Xie Yang. Who could it be? He must be afraid of being recognized because he is so well covered up.
"Your Majesty, were all the ministers present at the morning court session today? Did anyone request leave and miss the session?" Jiang Fenghua asked doubtfully.
Xie Shang glanced at Wuxin beside him, "Is anyone absent from the morning court session today? Everyone who should be here is here."
Wu Xin said, "Indeed, no one asked for leave."
Jiang Fenghua thought, "It's not a high-ranking official in the imperial court."
Wu Xin added, "Before the morning court session even started, Minister Shu was outside the Golden Palace crying with the ministers about his daughter's death, and he cried again after the court session began."
He dared to say only so much. Xie Shang was also annoyed by the thought of Shu Lang's appearance. He said, "The Shu family has made such a big fuss. I suspect he won't let it go. He has always hated Jiang Jinyan for becoming the Minister of Revenue. He has been a Vice Minister for more than ten years. If he removes Jiang Jinyan from his position, he may still be eyeing the position of Minister of Revenue."
Jiang Fenghua said coldly, "I'm afraid that Vice Minister Shu's ambitions are not solely for the position of Minister of Revenue."
"Besides the position of Minister of Revenue, what else does he want to do?" Xie Shang asked.
"Doesn't Your Majesty find it strange that this series of events revolves around the Jiang family? The Jiang family hasn't offended anyone, has they? I feel that there's a dark hand manipulating all of this behind the scenes." She continued, "Didn't Your Majesty say that the Su family is extinct? Who else wants to wipe out the Jiang family?"
Xie Shang had also thought about this question, but he couldn't figure out who it was either.
Jiang Fenghua pulled Xie Shang back to the main hall and said to Wuxin, "Guard the door and don't let anyone get close. The Emperor and I have important matters to discuss."
Wuxin nodded. "Your Majesty, please rest assured, this servant is guarding outside."
Seeing her acting mysteriously, Xie Shang asked, "Do you have someone you suspect?"
Jiang Fenghua sat down at her desk, took out paper and pen, and wrote down all the people she thought were suspicious.
When Xie Shang saw the name she wrote down, he said, "You suspect them?"
Jiang Fenghua nodded, "From the time the Empress Dowager returned to the palace, to the poisoning of the people of Jishantang, Su Qingqing kidnapped me at the imperial mausoleum, and those carriages that appeared out of nowhere to help Su Qingqing cover her tracks, I have suspects about who helped Su Qingqing at that time."
Xie Shang asked, "Who?"
Jiang Fenghua wrote down the three characters "Zhang Yurou" again, and said, "What happened on the Lantern Festival was that she used Bai Yuhan to target Jiang Jinyan. However, she used Shu Xue's words to cause conflict between Zhang Yumo and Jiang Jinyan. If Jiang Jinyan hadn't realized that Bai Yuhan's identity as the Emperor's Consort Han might have been discovered that day, he might have really become the heartless man who kept a mistress in Shu Xue's words, and the Jiang family's reputation would have been ruined."
"Why do you say it was Zhang Yurou who instigated it?" Xie Shang asked.
"Your Majesty, think about it, who would know that Bai Yuhan is Consort Han? She said that she often wore a veil in the palace so that she could leave the palace smoothly in the future. Someone of Shu Xue's status has never met Consort Han."
Xie Shang said, "Shu Yan is a concubine in the imperial harem. She has met her before. They are cousins. It's not surprising that Shu Xue knows Bai Yuhan's true identity."
"So Zhang Yurou took advantage of this. If the Emperor were to investigate who exposed the fact that Consort Han was still alive, he would eventually pin the blame on Shu Yan. But it hadn't come to that yet. Fortunately, I had already been reminded by my elder brother and reacted quickly. I knew that the charge of Jiang Jinyan having an affair with Consort Han was untenable, so I simply said that she was not Consort Han. If she were Consort Han and had an unclear marital relationship with Zhang Yumo, Zhang Yurou would definitely stand up for Zhang Yumo as her cousin and accuse the Jiang family. She failed. When one plan failed, she came up with another: she directly killed Shu Xue and framed Jin Ji. Jin Ji was the son-in-law of the Jiang family and was involved with the Jiang family."
After hearing this, Xie Shang denied it, saying, "Zhang Yurou is just a woman. She doesn't have the brains to devise a series of schemes. Besides, why would she want to harm the Jiang family?"
Jiang Fenghua looked at Xie Shang and said, "This is the fundamental reason why His Majesty deliberately avoided my question on the Lantern Festival. Besides, when did I ever say that all of this was done by Zhang Yurou alone? With her brains and audacity, she doesn't have such methods."
Xie Shang coughed awkwardly, "What are you saying, Ruan Ruan? When have I ever avoided your questions?"
Jiang Fenghua said directly, "Before Zhang Yurou married the Fourth Prince, did she like you? Did she confess her feelings to you? Tell the truth."
“Ruan Ruan, these are all things of the past, and I don’t like her anyway,” Xie Shang said.
Jiang Fenghua stared intently at him with a cold expression. "Hmm, aren't you going to elaborate?"
Xie Shang quickly hugged her, "I swear there's really nothing between us." Zhang Yurou said that when he liked her, the person he liked was Su Tingwan, so he couldn't say that.
Jiang Fenghua said, "I don't believe your nonsense. Let's examine the timeline. When did Zhang Yurou marry the Fourth Prince? Princess Yi was already six years old, so it must have been at least seven years ago! We've been married for five years, so let's go back two years..."
Xie Shang said, "She did tell me that she liked me and that she would never marry anyone but me. She said she liked me since she was a child, but what does that have to do with me? I can't stop her from liking whoever she wants."
"Isn't there anything else? Like kissing and hugging, making a scene, threatening suicide or something." Jiang Fenghua wouldn't be jealous; Xie Shang had so many concubines in his harem that she couldn't possibly be jealous of them all.
Xie Shang lied through his teeth, "I swear I didn't." Zhang Yurou had indeed cried to him about how much she liked him. She was a talented woman in Shengjing, quite beautiful, gentle and charming. He said, "Fourth Brother likes her, but he is too insecure and afraid that he is not good enough for her. He has been asking me to help him speak to Mother. In the end, it was Consort Chang who pleaded with Mother, and only then did Mother go to the Zhang family to discuss this marriage."
Xie Shang said, "Ruan Ruan, I only like you, I only love you, and I only want to be with you. You can believe me!"
Jiang Fenghua had never seen such a shameless man. "If it weren't for your fourth brother liking her, would your mother have gone to the Duke of Zhang's mansion to propose marriage for you?"
"No," Xie Shang said firmly.
"Why not? At that time, Zhang Yurou was a noble lady in Shengjing, with decent looks and a recognized talent. The Zhang family must have been of high social standing! A daughter of the Zhang family marrying a prince is truly a match made in heaven!"
Xie Shang said, "She and Fourth Brother are a match made in heaven. I am different from the other princes."
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