Chapter 25 Fragments
"But there are frequent changes in my backyard now, all because of the issue of choosing a son-in-law. Now we want to bring in another person to fill the gap. Wouldn't that cause more trouble?" Qian Deng immediately declined.
After all, she asked all the gentlemen to enter the mansion in order to find out who was suspicious. What was the point of those who had nothing to do with it entering the backyard other than adding trouble?
"That's what I meant, but my mother has always trusted the Imperial Astronomical Office, so..." The Crown Prince shook his head. "Although I strongly objected, it was useless. The Ministry of Rites has been ordered to draft a list of candidates."
Qiandeng lowered his head in silence as Cui Fufeng asked, "So, the person recommended by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau must be selected. I wonder how the Ministry of Rites plans to select them?"
"The Ministry of Rites should nominate two to four people, apparently to bring the total to ten. Lingling, if you say you don't like it or don't agree with it, I will do my best to decline it on your behalf." The Crown Prince sighed, "It's best if you don't come again."
"Yes, since I have no relatives who can bring me down on my husband, the men who were previously chosen were already unlucky. Why would I harm more men?" Qian Deng said silently, "Your Highness, please help me make a plea to Her Majesty the Queen, asking the court to grant me the right to choose my own husband. No one who is not my favorite can be accepted."
In this way, no matter how many people are stuffed into her, as long as she is determined not to like them, no one can get in.
The prince felt relieved and said, "Of course. After all, I am choosing a son-in-law for you. I will talk to the Queen Mother and she will definitely take your wishes into consideration."
Since he had found out what Qian Deng was talking about, he naturally would not stay in the yamen for long and went into the palace immediately.
Cui Fufeng packed up all the files and set off for the Imperial College, preparing to screen all the people involved that day again.
When I went out, I saw that the streets were flooded with mud again despite the finally clear weather.
After some inquiries, we learned that the dam had breached and the water diversion was not effective. A flood peak suddenly occurred today, and muddy yellow water rushed into the city again, leaving the city in a mess.
Qian Deng, who came over on horseback, was speechless for a moment.
So, she squeezed into the narrow bus of Dali Temple again, trying to shrink her body as much as possible so that her knees would not touch Cui Fufeng sitting opposite her.
After thinking about it, she felt a little awkward again -
Having ridden in the same car with men time and again, her reputation in Chang'an must be ruined.
But then again, what reputation does she have? A reputation for keeping a bunch of men in her backyard?
What's more, she had thrown Cui Fufeng against the wall of a car in public last time, and was watched by people all over the street.
Thinking of this, she actually felt sympathy for Cui Fufeng on the opposite side - the loss of this Cui Jia Yushu should be greater than hers.
At this moment, he suddenly raised his eyes and looked into her eyes.
Qiandeng's heart skipped a beat, and he was about to look away when he suddenly saw his eyes dim and he closed the file.
She thought he had something to say to her, but Cui Fufeng looked at her thoughtfully, and seemed to want to say something several times, but in the end he said nothing.
When Qiandeng couldn't help but open his mouth to ask, the carriage had already stopped and they had arrived at the Changhua Palace.
The palace gatekeeper set up the carriage bench, opened the carriage curtain, and welcomed the county lady out of the carriage.
Qiandeng immediately saw Aunt Xuanji standing at the door with a long face, and also saw Daimao standing behind Aunt Xuanji.
She cried out "Ah" and ignored Aunt Xuanji. She walked up the stairs and held Daimao's hand. Seeing that although Daimao had changed into the clothes of the mansion, she still wore a white flower on her hair and looked a little depressed, she asked her about Uncle Fu's funeral.
"Thank you for your concern, my father has been buried. Uncle Kang and my brother are taking care of the manor. I just wanted to come back early to serve you, my lady."
Qiandeng patted her shoulder to comfort her, while Aunt Xuanji stepped forward to thank Cui Fufeng and politely invited him into the house for tea.
Unexpectedly, Cui Fufeng actually agreed, told the driver to wait for a moment, got off the car and went into the mansion, as if he had forgotten that he was going to the Imperial College to investigate a case, and waited leisurely for tea in the flower hall.
Qian Deng was stunned and could only sit there helplessly, thinking to himself, this Mr. Cui didn't seem to be such a tactless person before...
"That was Uncle Fu's daughter, right?" Cui Fufeng suddenly asked, holding the teacup.
Qian Deng responded: "Yes, her name is Daimao."
"Yes, I remember." He remembered everything about Zhuangzi clearly and had never forgotten a single thing.
He looked at her somewhat uneasy face and continued, "Back then, you and I were in danger together, and we depended on each other for life and death. Why is it that now, when you are with me, you are so uneasy?"
"No, how could that be?" Qian Deng smiled at him, thinking that at that time, when the crisis was raging, it was normal for them to depend on each other for life and death, but now you suddenly abandon the case you are investigating and come over for tea, that is very abnormal...
Just when things were awkward, Qiandeng suddenly saw Daimao peeking at the door, with some hesitation on his face that he could hardly hide.
"What's wrong?" Qiandeng waved for her to come in.
Daimao knelt down before them, took something out of his sleeve, and said, "County Lady, I heard that Mr. Cui is now the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, in charge of government affairs. Therefore, I... I have something I would like to present to you for your review."
Cui Fufeng and Qiandeng looked at each other, raised their hands to take the things she handed over, opened them and took a look, and immediately looked surprised.
This was a tightly folded paper package. One corner of the outside of the package was stained with blood, but because the paper was very thick, the contents inside were not soaked by the blood.
"This... my brother and I found it in my father's arms when we were helping him with his funeral arrangements."
Hearing that this was the thing that Uncle Fu had hidden in his arms before his death, Cui Fufeng thought it must be something extraordinary, so he carefully opened it and looked inside.
The paper package was so light that once it was opened, several black pieces inside seemed to be about to fly out.
He was quick to act and immediately steadied his wrist to protect it.
Qiandeng held his breath and took a closer look. They were three pieces of burnt paper with charred edges.
Perhaps because they were stacked together in the middle during burning, the center of the paper was not completely burned, and it appeared brown as if licked by the flames, but it was also extremely brittle and could not be touched.
Looking at these pieces of paper that should have turned to ashes long ago, Cui Fufeng raised his eyes and looked at Daimao inquiringly: "What is this?"
Daimao's eyes reddened, and he said, "I don't know what this is. My brother and I found this when my father was buried, but we didn't pay much attention to it and put it away. It wasn't until the day before yesterday when I was packing up to return to the palace that I opened the paper package and took another look. Only then did I realize that the handwriting on it was... it was..."
She stammered, not daring to say it out loud, while Cui Fufeng had already hesitated and raised one of the fragments, looking at the light outside the hall.
On the burnt yellow piece of paper, the word "具" (tool) could be vaguely seen.
The handwriting was stiff, and the lines looked trembling and strange, not like ordinary handwriting.
"Ju..." Qiandeng read it out. Seeing Daimao shaking his head desperately, indicating her to look at the next one, she also picked up one and looked at the words on it against the light.
It looks like the word "主", but there seems to be an extra horizontal line above the word, making it difficult to distinguish.
Cui Fufeng thought for a moment, then connected the two pieces of paper together.
The cut mark in the middle had not been burned, and the two pieces of paper were connected perfectly, showing the two characters "County Princess" that had been split open.
Daimao nodded vigorously: "Yes, it is the word County Master."
The word "County Princess" written in strange and stiff strokes was cut in half and thrown into the fire.
However, Uncle Fu picked it up from somewhere, wrapped it up solemnly and put it in his arms, but before he could take it out, he died.
An indescribable fear suddenly flashed through Qiandeng's heart.
At that time, it was natural to judge that Su Yunzhong was responsible for Fu Bo's death. Although she had doubts in her heart, the facts were proven, so after Su Yunzhong committed suicide, the government closed the case.
But... now it seems that there is something else that she has not yet discovered?
Seeing her frightened expression, Daimao grabbed her hand and said, "County Lady, there's another one below! That one, that one says..."
Qiandeng immediately looked down, and Cui Fufeng had already picked up the last piece.
The last character has simple strokes and is therefore easier to recognize than the previous two characters. It is written as "夫".
"Husband...husband." Cui Fufeng looked up at her and handed the piece of paper to her. "Besides, this word 'husband' has also been cut by a knife."
There was a short knife mark on the paper, slicing diagonally across the character "夫". However, because it was only pierced by the blade, the paper did not break, but the cut was slightly darker after being burned.
Qian Deng stared at the word, feeling a vague pain in his heart. He murmured, "Yes, the husband of Madam Qi."
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