Chapter 284: Tian Family (Part 1)
Sun Wei wiped her tears and said, "I have some clues about the murderer who murdered the prince. However, this suspect is not ordinary, so I dare not make a decision. I still need the Queen Mother's guidance."
The Queen Mother listened and sat up straight.
"Any clues?" she asked. "Who is it?"
Sun Wei hesitated to speak, lowered her head and stammered, "I dare not say."
The Queen Mother's face darkened. "No matter how powerful one is, to dare to attack the dignified Prince of Yuzhang is a grave crime. What's the point of being so timid? Just say it."
Sun Wei then told the Queen Mother how he had found the two escaped bandits and how he had found Yang Qi.
The Queen Mother was silent for a long time after hearing this, and finally asked, "Do you mean that you want me to order an investigation into Wang Hom?"
"I dare not!" Sun Wei said quickly, "Wang Pushe is the prince's uncle, and he is also the in-law chosen by the Queen Mother for the prince. I believe that Wang Pushe will never harm the prince!"
The Queen Mother's expression relaxed slightly, and she gave a long "hmm": "What do you mean?"
Sun Wei had already carefully considered her words and said, "I believe that someone must be trying to frame Wang Pushe and sow discord between him and the Crown Prince. Furthermore, this person is deliberately trying to ruin the marriage that the Queen Mother arranged for our two families. This is intolerable. I beg the Queen Mother to allow me to thoroughly investigate the Yang family and find the mastermind behind this. I will give justice to the Crown Prince and clear Wang Pushe's name!"
The Queen Mother pondered, considering Sun Wei's words.
"The Queen Mother has ordered Yu Yi to investigate this case thoroughly. If Yang Qi is not right, let Yu Yi investigate. How did you come up with the idea of coming to the palace today to report this matter to me?" The Queen Mother asked slowly.
"I know full well that rumors hurt," Sun Wei said. "If we investigate further, there will undoubtedly be people gossiping to the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager has instructed me to report everything to her, to prevent such villains from interfering. I have taken the Empress Dowager's instructions to heart, so I am reporting this. This is one reason. Secondly, I only want to get to the bottom of this matter and bring the perpetrator to justice. I am not targeting Wang Pushe, and I absolutely have no intention of disrupting the marriage between the two families. Like the Empress Dowager, I hope that the Sima and Wang families will remain united forever. I ask for your understanding."
The Queen Mother nodded slowly. "Since you've thought of this, you've made great progress and have learned some sense of propriety. However, since you understand propriety, you know that everything has its limits. I promised you, so you must also consider me. You can investigate the Yang family, but as you said, Wang Pushe and the Princess are Ajun's uncle and aunt, and they won't harm Ajun. For the sake of the relationship between the two families, no one can be killed. You can't break any of these two rules, otherwise I will hold you accountable. Got it?"
Sun Wei kowtowed quickly: "I obey your command!"
After bidding farewell to the Queen Mother, Sun Wei walked out of the palace.
A cold wind was blowing outside the palace gate, and Aju quickly put a fox fur coat on her.
"Going home?" Aju asked.
Sun Wei shook her head: "Go to the Yang family."
"Go now?" Deng Lian was surprised and said, "Let me go back to the palace to gather the guards."
"No need." Sun Wei said, "Master Yu has already led the Marquis Wu to wait."
——
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Yu Yi and Wu Hou kept some distance from the Yang family.
After getting news from Sun Wei, he went to the Yang family with Sun Wei.
On the way, Yu Yi told Sun Wei about Yang Qi.
Yang Qi was born in Dongyang County. Because he had some talents in his hometown, he was recommended to the Shangshu Mansion as a staff member.
There are hundreds of staff members in the Shangshu Mansion, and Yang Qi is not outstanding among them, but with the salary from the Shangshu Mansion, he can still support his family.
"The only ones left in the Yang family now are Yang Qi's wife, Tian, and their two children. She planned to transport Yang Qi's coffin back to the old house for burial, but since she's alone and has young children with her, she's probably unable to do so."
After hearing this, Sun Wei asked, "Doesn't Yang Qi have other brothers to help him?"
"I heard there's a younger brother at home," Yu Yi said, "but he's just a farmer. He doesn't have the money, and the distance is too far, so he can't come over to help for the time being."
Sun Wei nodded and said, "I understand."
When we arrived at Yang's house, there was a white sign hanging on the door, indicating that a funeral was being held in the mansion.
Yu Yi asked Wu Shan to go forward and knock on the door, but the door was closed and no one was in sight.
"Is there anyone inside?" Yu Yi asked.
"Inside," Wu Shan replied, "I've been following the instructions of the Left Supervisor and have had people watching the house. The people inside haven't come out."
Yu Yi ordered, "Break the door."
"This..." Wu Shan said, "The Left Supervisor doesn't know this, and the Chief Justice is also hesitant in handling the case. Especially since he trespassed into a funeral and something went wrong, the Left Supervisor might be impeached in the future."
"If anything goes wrong, just say it was my idea," Yu Yi said, "Go ahead and do it."
When Wu Shan received the order, he immediately ordered Wu Hou to break in.
Inside the mansion, Tian held her daughter in her arms and snuggled beside the coffin.
"Who are you?" Tian asked with wide eyes and a look of panic.
Sun Wei signaled Yu Yi to keep his troops in place.
"I am the Princess of Yuzhang," Sun Wei, accompanied by A Ru, stepped forward and asked, "Are you Mr. Yang's wife, Madam Tian?"
After hearing this, Tian kowtowed and cried, "My husband injured the prince. He deserved it and has been punished by heaven, dying suddenly. Please, Princess, consider it as my husband's atonement for his crime and let me and my daughter go!"
As she spoke, she kowtowed heavily, and the girl next to her was frightened and burst into tears.
Sun Wei asked Aju to comfort the girl, while he helped Tian up.
"I came here today not to ask you for any crime, but to ask you a few questions. If you answer truthfully, you will not only be innocent, but will be rewarded. Do you understand what I mean?" she said.
After hearing this, Tian Shi calmed down a lot. She wiped her tears and nodded in agreement.
"When did Madam know that Mr. Yang had injured the Crown Prince?"
"I knew about it the night it happened," Tian stammered. "My husband told me himself."
"Did Mr. Yang tell me who he conspired with?"
Tian shook her head: "No, my husband never said these things to me, and I don't understand them. But after that night, my husband was too irritable to sleep. Last night, he said he wanted to go out for a walk. But unexpectedly, he never came back and fell into the river and drowned..."
As she spoke, she started crying again.
Sun Wei looked at her, feeling strange. "Madam, have you ever doubted the cause of Mr. Yang's death? What if Mr. Yang was murdered?"
"How could he have been murdered?" Tian said quickly, "My husband was indeed pulled out of the water. They all said he fell into the water while drunk."
Sun Wei looked at her and said calmly, "Let's not talk about others, just talk about me. Mr. Yang harmed the prince to this extent. Doesn't Madam suspect that I was the one who pushed him into the water?"
Tian looked at Sun Wei in panic and said hurriedly, "I dare not, I absolutely dare not!"
After saying that, she knelt down and kowtowed again.
Sun Wei pulled her back and said, "In that case, let me ask Madam. Have two outsiders come to see Mr. Yang recently?"
"Indeed," said Tian, "I don't know who they were. I only know that my husband said a few words to them and then sent them away."
"Gone?"
"That's right," Tian said. "Those two people looked slovenly, wearing only thin clothes. They didn't look like they came from any respectable background."
Sun Wei said slowly, "I have already had someone watching Madam's yard. As far as I know, those two people have not left since entering Madam's house."
Tian's face changed drastically and she finally knelt down.
"I didn't kill anyone! It has nothing to do with me!"
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