On the same day, Jingzhao Prefecture suddenly invited several lords from the Sun family's side branches to have tea. It was unknown what they were asking about.
On May 15th, those members of the Sun family's branch clan entered Jingzhao Prefecture and never came out again. No one knew what had happened.
Old Madam Sun was so angry that she couldn't hold on any longer and fell ill. Everyone in the Sun family wailed and the remaining people all stayed by the old lady's bed, fearing that she would pass away.
On May 16th, the emperor issued a document, accusing the Duke's family of rebellion and confiscating their property and imprisoning their entire family!
The charges used were all unforgivable crimes such as attempting to murder the prince, making friends with officials outside the capital, and interfering in party disputes. As for the charges submitted by Old Man Xu, the emperor did not bother to write them into the imperial edict.
May 17th...
It was not until June, when the weather gradually became hotter, that Xu Yixing felt a little more relaxed.
When she heard that Lu Anyuan was under house arrest, she felt a little guilty. That day, Xu Yiwen came in and interrupted their conversation, but he didn't answer her confusion.
On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, which was a very auspicious day, Xu Yixing went to Jingxi Temple to fulfill his vow under the pretext of having just recovered from a serious illness.
This time they went up the mountain without disguise. More than a dozen people walked up the mountain in a large group, and they also brought Si Wen with them.
Si Wen wore mourning on her left arm. Logically speaking, she was now a member of the Second Young Lady's family, so she shouldn't be like this. But how could Xu Yixing blame someone who cared about him?
Her indenture had been retrieved, and not only the indenture, but also the guards, maids, nannies, and dowry that had been brought with her as a dowry had been rescued by Old Man Xu. The emperor acquiesced to this and pretended not to know.
However, what made her angry was that although the land and shops could be returned to the Xu family, more than half of the cash, utensils, clothes and jewelry she brought with her were gone, and even the silver from Nanny Bai had disappeared.
The Sun Mansion is now leaderless, and the remaining extremely remote branches have no idea what is going on, let alone where the money has gone.
Old Man Xu had no choice but to gather the remaining things and put them back into the warehouse.
"Si Wen, I now seriously suspect that Sun Ziyou is marrying my sister for the dowry."
Si Wen and Xu Yixing were sitting in the carriage, and the rest of the group were accompanying them. I wonder if Si Qin and the others would complain, so I'll probably give them a raise later.
"Second Miss, you're joking. If you marry the Seventh Prince, you'll definitely bring a bigger dowry."
"Haha, no, you don't understand my father at all." Xu Yixing held her forehead. She would be very happy if she could have half of her original dowry in the future, but she was afraid it would be difficult.
When Si Wen heard what the second young lady said, he wisely shut up. Everyone knew that the master loved the eldest young lady, but since the second young lady had married well, the master shouldn't be stingy with the dowry, right?
"Si Wen, do you know why I brought you up the mountain today?"
"I don't know."
"You did very well last time. I told you that the man in black who brought you here was my sister's shadow guard. Do you remember?"
Si Wen nodded, her expression a little stiff. She had been with the eldest young lady for years and had never heard of such a thing as a shadow guard. But if there were shadow guards, why couldn't they protect the eldest young lady in the Sun Mansion? She didn't trust the second young lady much at the moment, and only followed her out of gratitude.
"I'm going to take you up the mountain to meet them this time."
"They?" Could it be that the young lady had more than one shadow guard? How much silver would it take to train them all?
"Yes, all of them. Siwen, I value your loyalty to your sister, and I hope you'll have a good home in the future. Whether you want to go with me to the Seventh Prince's Palace, stay in the Xu Mansion, or get married and start your own family, I can help you."
Si Wen looked at Xu Yixing gratefully, but shook her head: "I don't have the heart to think about these things right now. Besides, as a servant, I naturally obey the master's orders. As for the future, I'll wait for the master's instructions."
Xu Yixing turned his face away, knowing that she didn't believe him. Should he choose a suitable time to tell her his identity? Forget it, let's focus on the present.
The convoy arrived at Jingxi Temple. Today they were representing their family, so they had notified the temple early. Now the main hall had been sealed, waiting for Xu Yixing's arrival.
The Xu family naturally did not have that much face, but the future prince's wife was coming to burn incense, and they couldn't have people watching. Xu Yixing was also honored.
After burning incense, Xu Yixing sent Siqin and Sihua to burn his handwritten Buddhist scriptures. In fact, half of them were copied by Siqin for him.
The guards were naturally outside the hall and would not follow them, so Xu Yixing took Si Wen and Ying Wu and headed towards the back mountain.
"Second Miss, where are we going?"
"Go to the back mountain, I'll take you to see them."
Si Wen stopped talking, but kept looking at Ying Wu, wondering why he wanted to bring this person along as well.
He entered the familiar courtyard again. When he opened the door, he saw a large crowd of people inside. Xu Yixing was familiar with the situation and sat on the chair in front.
"Everyone, today I'm going to introduce you to my sister's confidant. This is Si Wen. She will take over the tasks previously assigned to Nanny Bai. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact her."
After Xu Yixing finished speaking, he saw Si Wen startled.
First, she hadn't expected so many people to be in the room. Second, she hadn't expected the Second Young Lady to hold such a high position among them, to be able to give orders directly. Third, she was asked to take charge? She knew nothing, so why was she dragged into this position?
Ying Yi glanced at Ying Wu in confusion, as if he had not completed the task.
"Second Miss, there's no rush for this matter. The Shadow Guards have their own system, so even if we lose our contact for a while, it won't matter. Today, our main goal is to acknowledge our master. Didn't Shadow Five tell you?"
"Who, me?"
"Exactly."
"That's great!" Xu Yixing stood up excitedly. He had thought that he might not have the chance to recruit these people, but he actually had the opportunity today. It was great.
Ying Wu was the only one in the crowd who didn't cover his face. Xu Yixing glanced at him and whispered, "Surprise."
"But why so sudden?" After the excitement, Xu Yixing sat down steadily on the chair.
"Ever since we learned of the young lady's death, we've discussed that if anyone can avenge her, the Shadow Guards will naturally obey."
"That's not right, then you should recognize Lu Anyuan and go, after all, he is the one who did the hard work."
Ying choked. Even through the black cloth, Xu Yixing could tell that he was cursing very dirty.
"Just kidding, I'm really happy to have this day. Then hurry up and admit it, I'm still waiting to get down the mountain. What props do you need? Chicken blood? Soju? Or something else?"
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