Chapter 224 Incident
Even if the Ningguo Mansion has fallen into decline, at least its appearance is still there.
When the Duke passed away, not only did the officials in the capital need to pay their respects, but even the palace had to hold funeral ceremonies.
It can be said that this was the most spectacular funeral since the palace coup.
In ancient times, there were clear class distinctions, and there were strict rules for marriages and funerals.
There are standards for who can use what kind of coffin and what kind of decorative patterns.
If it exceeds the limit, it is called overstepping the limit. If no one causes trouble, it is no big deal. But if someone targets you, the charge can be serious or minor.
But if you just keep lowering the standards, it won't work.
The noble families live on their face.
Where mast wood should be used, mast wood should be used; where golden nanmu should be used, golden nanmu should be used.
If you use it poorly, it will be equivalent to telling the world that your family is so poor that you don't even care about your face.
No one will want to hang out with you in upper society in the future, which means you have been squeezed out of this circle.
The Ningguo Mansion is really poor.
But they dared not be perfunctory about such a serious matter as the death of the Duke, and could only secretly sell a few shops and pawn some antiques to meet the demand.
The Duke's wife looked at the account book with a frown on her face, wishing she could cross out all the wasteful things on it.
It's a pity that I can only think about it. Even if I tighten my belt and grit my teeth, I still have to spend so much money.
The Duke’s Mansion cannot fall.
The son will take the title after the funeral, and if something goes wrong now, there will be no hope for their family to recover.
Zhao Chengye was well aware of this and specifically told his mother that this was not the time to save money.
In the past two days, he has also been talking and building relationships with officials who came to pay their respects, hoping to be able to enter the court after he is awarded the title.
The Duke's wife was becoming increasingly anxious and worried, and she even asked why her daughter-in-law didn't entertain guests outside.
The Duke's wife's face froze for a moment.
Her daughter-in-law's head is broken and she is now frozen in the freezer. If she can come out to entertain guests, it will be terrifying.
Fortunately, it is autumn now and it is not that hot anymore, otherwise using ice would be a big problem.
If a daughter-in-law died right after the Duke's death, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.
Anyway, everything has been arranged with the Li family, so Li Mingyue can only be hidden for the time being.
You have to hide it for at least three or four months and still have a passable explanation.
The mother and son of the Zhao family had already agreed on their statements. When they heard someone asking about the Duke's wife, they immediately sighed in embarrassment.
"My daughter-in-law just got pregnant and the pregnancy is a little unstable.
The child was very filial. The Duke was so frightened by the accident that he even had bleeding. It was only after I forced him that he agreed to stay in bed to protect the fetus.
When the Duke was alive, he was obsessed with the idea of having an heir to carry on the family business. Now that she is pregnant, he dare not let her mess around."
This statement is reasonable.
After all, the Duke's Mansion is a single-line family, and there is really nothing more important than offspring.
The wives also quickly agreed, saying that filial piety does not depend on how many times one kowtows, and true filial piety is to give birth to children for the husband's family.
Some people also praised the wife of the Duke as a good mother-in-law, and said that the daughter of the Li family was in luck by marrying into their family.
The Duke's wife said that Li Mingyue's pregnancy was very difficult.
One was to pave the way for Li Mingyue's death in a few months, and the other was to prevent anyone from visiting her.
My daughter-in-law is having a very difficult pregnancy and she may miscarry at any time. Who of you dares to go and see her?
Aren't you afraid that you might not be able to explain it clearly?
This trick is really amazing.
There were a few people who were related to the Li family who wanted to build a relationship with Li Mingyue's husband because he was about to take the title.
This time they didn't dare to ask to go and see it, for fear that if something happened to the golden egg in the Duke's Mansion, they would not be able to afford it.
The Duke's wife was relieved that the matter of Li Mingyue had been covered up, but she didn't expect that something bad would happen the next day.
The Wucheng Bingmasi, the Criminal Department and the Dongchang jointly investigated the murder of Li Mingyue, the wife of the prince of the Duke's Mansion.
The Duke's wife collapsed to the ground immediately, rolled her eyes and passed out.
Zhao Chengye's head also buzzed, but he still pretended to be calm and invited the guests to the flower hall.
He had already made a plan for this worst-case scenario, and the worst that could happen was just embarrassment.
As long as he insisted that it was Li Mingyue who poisoned his father, then it would be understandable that he accidentally killed someone in a fit of rage.
The worst case scenario is that his title will be taken back, but as long as he is still alive there is still hope.
Although I don’t know whether the problem lies with the head of the Li family or with Li Mingyue’s parents.
But since the three courts are jointly handling the case, it proves that this matter cannot be covered up.
After all, Li Mingyue was really dead, and it was useless to cover it up if he couldn't hand over a living person.
Thinking of this, Zhao Chengye shed two lines of tears and looked very sad.
"My lords, Li Mingyue is indeed dead, and it was indeed a mistake at the last moment.
But there are some inside stories here, and I hope you can report them to the court truthfully and give our Zhao family justice."
The Wucheng Bingmasi was only responsible for arresting people and helping to collect evidence, but the one who was really in charge of this case was the Dongchang.
Everyone turned their eyes to Ye Xiao, waiting for this young master to give orders.
This man is not only the Captain of Dongchang but also the Prince of Zhenguo, who is firmly established in the imperial court. Even the officials from the Ministry of Justice dare not go beyond him.
It is said that a new emperor appoints his own ministers, but Governor Xiao has risen to a higher level after the new emperor ascended the throne.
Now that Xiao Yuan and the Prince Regent jointly control the government, some people have already begun to call him the Nine Thousand Year Old.
As Xiao Yuan's only adopted son, Ye Xiao's status is more valuable than that of some little princes.
No one expected that this young master would handle this case, and they even vaguely thought of the fact that Governor Xiao and Zhao Chengye had exchanged wives.
Li Mingyue, who is dead now, was one of the brides who was replaced. She was really an unlucky person.
The most mainstream opinion about the marriage exchange between the two families is that Li Mingyue did not want to marry the old eunuch so she deliberately planned it.
At that time, many people either sympathized with or laughed at Jiang Xinyu's misfortune.
Now the situation is reversed.
Miss Jiang's status has risen to the top among noble ladies in the capital. Even princesses and queens have to treat her with courtesy and dare not show her the cold shoulder.
But look at Li Mingyue again.
She only had the title of the prince's wife, but she was living in dire straits.
When attending the banquet, she stood next to the Duke's wife like a maid.
The Ningguo Mansion is notoriously poor and has been going downhill. I don't think it would be comfortable to spend money on it.
Now, even his life has been lost and he has become a laughing stock among people.
You know what, this job was actually taken on by Ye Xiao himself.
After all, he was the first person to know about it.
Another thing is that I'm curious about what kind of person this prince is, who has been his stepmother's fiancé for more than ten years.
Now it seems that he is far worse than his stepfather. No wonder his stepmother planned to elope.
It's just that Li Mingyue is quite unlucky. Without her stepmother's skills, she still dares to get into this den of tigers and wolves.
He is short-sighted and doesn't know the difference between life and death.
Ye Xiao didn't feel any sympathy for Li Mingyue. If his stepmother hadn't asked him to investigate strictly, he would have been too lazy to care.
If the stepmother doesn't want to marry Zhao Chengye, then Li Mingyue is willing to marry him, but doesn't she like her stepfather?
Tsk, what a lack of vision.
He is not as good-looking as his stepmother, nor does he have a good family background. He is poor, ugly, and incompetent. With this kind of character, he is not worthy of being rejected by my stepmother.
How great it is that you like this, I'll beat you to death.
I don’t know if that woman regrets her choice.
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