Chapter 046: Traitorous Minister 46
Repairing the house was quite time-consuming, and Xiao Yan and Xiao Chen couldn't possibly stay at the inn forever. While they could, it wasn't necessary. At the enthusiastic invitation of the trafficker, they temporarily stayed at the home of the nephew of the other party's third wife's cousin.
Human traffickers are native to the capital, and have lived here for generations. Most of their relatives and sisters-in-law are also in the capital.
The nephew of his third aunt's cousin was slightly older than Xiao Yan. He had just gotten married and was a bit shy.
Apart from the young couple, there are also his parents, both of whom are not very talkative.
It was probably the human trafficker who told them that Xiao Yan and Xiao Chen were going to take part in the imperial examination. Apart from inviting them to dinner, he also kept a much lower profile in his daily actions. Xiao Yan couldn't help but sigh that Brother He was indeed a very loyal friend.
Amidst the intense preparations, the imperial examination also arrived.
The imperial examination was divided into three sessions, each lasting three days. The questions were similar to those of the provincial examination, though more challenging. There were eighteen examiners appointed by Emperor Xiaozhi, along with other officials such as the Imperial Examination Supervisor, the Supervisor of Examinations, the Supervisor of Examinations, and the Supervisor of Examinations.
This time, no one had rigged the exam, and the questions were perfectly normal, which made many candidates breathe a sigh of relief. This illustrates the saying, "When the greats fight, the little guys suffer."
After finally finishing three games, Xiao Yan finally had the opportunity to go and see their future new house.
In the past few days, the neighbors all knew that the former Fang family had been bought out. Although some were curious, most of them were still avoiding the issue.
When Xiao Yan came to inspect, he suddenly met a pair of black and white eyes in a stone cave in the corner of the wall, and was immediately frightened.
Although he was not afraid of ghosts or gods, he would still be frightened when faced with such a shock that would test his ability to endure.
He was just about to go and see who was looking at him from behind the wall in such a sinister way, when he heard a noise from behind the wall.
First there was the sound of rustling footsteps, and then the sound of talking.
The person who was speaking was probably a servant, and his voice was filled with worry, impatience, and annoyance.
"My ancestor, why are you here again?"
The owner of the eyes did not answer, but only chuckled. Judging from his voice, he was probably over twenty years old and sounded a little silly.
Xiao Yan didn't pay much attention to it. It seemed that another servant lowered his voice and said, "I don't know what's so good about this place. He always comes here. It's a blessing that he didn't get hurt. Otherwise, we would be in trouble too!"
"Isn't it? Stop talking, let's get rid of him first. What bad luck! If my wife knew..."
Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked towards the other side of the wall.
This street is not densely populated. To the right of this house is a street leading to another alley, and to the left is a house.
Xiao Yan did not speak to the head of the family and the servants of this household. After all, people were walking around them. However, from the plaque on the door of the mansion, it can be known that the family's surname should be Lin, and it should be the Lin Mansion.
Judging from the remarks of the two servants just now and what the peeping person had observed, the peeping person must be ill and therefore mentally handicapped. A servant would not dare to say such offensive words in front of the master. After all, most of the servants in wealthy families have signed death contracts.
Although the law forbade masters from executing servants at will, there were always policies from above and strategies from below. As long as a servant didn't die, there were many ways to deal with him, sometimes even worse than death. Therefore, very few servants dared to offend their masters, who controlled their lives.
In other words, this foolish master must have come to this walled courtyard on the night of the incident three years ago, or afterwards, when the government was unaware of it, and it is possible that he was peeking from here!
Otherwise, the servant would not have said "he is lucky", it is only possible that he had been here when the incident happened, or before or after the incident!
If it is true as he guessed, this host is very likely a witness to this case!
However, these were merely his speculations, with no direct evidence to support them. Furthermore, the master of the household was mentally handicapped, so even if he had witnessed the incident with his own eyes, it would hardly constitute testimony. Furthermore, the authorities had already identified the poisoner and recovered all the necessary evidence. In this situation, even if there were witnesses, it would be difficult to change anything.
Poisoning is different from killing with a weapon. Killing a target with a weapon can easily cause a loud noise. Once the target person is alarmed, it is difficult for one servant to deal with all of them, so the risk is very high.
In the case of poisoning, once the target is poisoned, they will lose their ability to defend themselves. Of course, the premise also depends on the poison. Xiao Yan believed that since he had accepted the task of poisoning, he would definitely choose a poison with extremely strong medicinal properties, at least so that the target could not escape.
Therefore, regardless of whether there are witnesses or not, in most cases, the other party can only see the scene of Fang’s family being poisoned, and therefore, regardless of whether there are witnesses or not, it is difficult to change anything.
Xiao Yan knew that the Fang family's misfortune was caused by them being used as cannon fodder in the struggle between Emperor Xiaozhi and the aristocratic families. It was possible that the Fang family's direct descendants were merely scapegoats, and that the servant who poisoned the family was also instructed by the aristocratic families.
But the question is, what exactly caused the direct descendants of the Fang family to accept the orders of the nobles and willingly accept death? Was it a threat, or was it driven by profit? What is the current situation of the Fang family?
If you want to know which clan is behind this, you only need to look at what benefits the Fang family's direct descendants gained after being made scapegoats and which clans they came into contact with.
It’s not that Xiao Yan wants to dwell on this. The main reason is that since these people can attack the Fang family, when he becomes a weapon in the hands of Emperor Xiaozhi in the future, they will always sharpen their knives and attack the aristocratic families. The conflict between him and the aristocratic families will always happen, it’s just a matter of sooner or later. He always has to know who is behind it.
Secondly, the fact that Emperor Xiaozhi wanted to find a new sword showed that he still had a strong will to deal with the aristocratic families. If the truth of what happened could be uncovered, the Fang family would not have died in such an unclear way. Secondly, Emperor Xiaozhi could also use this to weaken the aristocratic families and show his strength to them.
Therefore, no matter what the reason is, whether it is for the Fang family or for yourself, the hidden truth must be found out!
As he was thinking this, he saw the human trafficker directing the craftsmen to move the repair items into the yard.
Seeing Xiao Yan, the human trafficker came over and said, "Brother Yan."
He pointed at the pile and said, "These stones are less abundant than ordinary silver, and their texture is also harder."
"Thank you, Brother He, for taking the trouble to take care of Xiao."
The trafficker waved his hand nonchalantly, "Brother Yan, you're too polite. We're all brothers, so why should you thank me?"
Xiao Yan smiled, then casually said, "Just now, I saw a pair of eyes in the stone cave of this walled courtyard. I was almost frightened to death. They seemed to be mentally handicapped. I wonder if Brother He has recognized them?"
The trafficker thought about that scene and felt like he was just like someone accidentally meeting someone else's eyes, and the owner of those eyes was still staring at him, and he didn't know how long they had been staring...
That scene is so creepy no matter how you think about it!
"Are you talking about the eldest young master of the Lin family? This eldest young master of the Lin family is also a pitiful man!"
According to the human trafficker, the eldest son of the Lin family was born to the previous wife, who died during childbirth due to complications. As a result, the eldest son became mentally retarded.
Not long after his ex-wife passed away, the Lin family's master remarried, citing his young son's need for care. Perhaps because the new wife had made him forget the old one, the eldest son of the Lin family, already unwelcome due to his mental disability, became even more difficult after his second wife married and had a pair of children.
"In my opinion, he just wants to remarry! And he even gives the good name of taking care of the children! How ironic!" The human trafficker said with contempt.
"But fortunately, although the Lin family master is not very qualified to be a father, his wife is a rare good person."
What he meant was that the master of the Lin family, as the biological father, actually tortured his own son, while his step-wife was helping this son who was not related by blood.
"Isn't this unusual?" Xiao Yan was a little confused.
Although it may sound a bit stereotypical to say this, but generally speaking, most of the children are the ones that the step-wife killed by the previous wife. Why is it that in the Lin family, it is the child that the biological father killed by the previous wife, and the step-wife is better to the previous wife's child?
This is a bit hard to justify!
The trafficker also knew what Xiao Yan was thinking. He explained, "This second wife is from a merchant family, and the master of the Lin family holds a position in the Ministry of Works. Although his official rank is relatively low and the Lin family has fallen on hard times, they have served as officials for generations and have a strong foundation. Moreover, she was betrothed to him as his wife, so this second wife is marrying up to a higher level in the Lin family."
"They say merchants are the most superficial, but that's just a prejudiced view. My second wife's family has stood out among all the merchants and been valued by the Lin family's master. How could they be simple people? How could their horizons be limited to the secrets of the rear quarters?"
"Besides, the eldest young master of the Lin family is already mentally retarded and disliked by the old master of the Lin family, so he is nothing to be feared. Why bother to torture the eldest young master of the Lin family and earn himself the reputation of being unvirtuous and unkind for nothing?"
"Of course, these are just personal opinions. Regardless of this lady's motives, at least she is the best member of the Lin family to this young master."
After a pause, the trafficker hesitated, "We can't rule out another possibility. That is, she secretly spoke ill of the eldest young master to the master of the Lin family, making him dislike the young master even more, and then she came out to play the good guy."
He emphasized: "Master Lin is not someone who is easy to get along with. If you meet him and he doesn't talk to you, don't initiate a conversation with him either."
Xiao Yan nodded and said, "I will be taught by you. Thank you for your advice, Brother He."
He changed the subject and said, "I heard you say that the Fang family's direct descendants were the masterminds behind this. I wonder how the Fang family's direct descendants are doing now?"
Xiao Yan was worried about the traffickers' suspicions, and he couldn't explain what he wanted to investigate. At the same time, he didn't want to drag them down, so he made up an excuse: "From what Brother He said, the direct descendants of the Fang family are the most intolerant of others, and they even harbor evil intentions towards their own collateral branches. I'm worried that the direct descendants of the Fang family will come after us in the future."
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