Chapter 94 Chen Jia's Suspicion
Meixun Chen family.
As expected of the richest family in Jiangnan Road, the house alone covers dozens of acres, with houses lined up one after another and connected together.
Now that Chen Fang has become the head of the family, the courtyard in the middle is naturally where he lives.
The courtyard on the east road is where Chen Jia and his wife and his mother Song Huairu live.
Chen Jia was smart and studious since he was young. He passed the imperial examination at the age of twelve and the imperial examination at the age of seventeen. The old man of the Chen family spent a lot of money to send him to Nanshan Academy.
How could someone who could be friends with Huan Zian be a fool?
But just half a year after staying at Nanshan Academy, Chen Jia went home to visit his relatives during the Chinese New Year, and then something happened.
Huan Zi'an received a letter from him saying that he had fallen from the mountain and broke his leg and could no longer go to Nanshan Academy to study.
Huan Zi'an sighed for a long time and even mentioned it several times in front of Feng Shenyu.
At this time, Chen Jia was sitting in a wheelchair, looking at the letter in his hand.
After reading it, he placed the letter on the candle next to him, lit it, and put it in an empty pen wash.
He watched the letter burn to ashes and then poured water on it.
After thinking for a long time, he tapped the armrest of the wheelchair twice with his right middle finger, and then pushed the wheelchair out the door manually.
The servant who had gone to get something from the door came back and saw that the young man had come out by himself. He quickly put down the things in his hands and went forward to push Chen Jia.
"Where are you going, my dear?"
"Go see Mother."
The servant pushed Chen Jia all the way to Zhiyuan Hall, where Chen Jia's parents had always lived.
After the old man passed away, the old lady has been living here alone.
The old lady was just about to go to bed when she heard a servant come and say that Chen Jia had arrived, so she put on her clothes and came out.
Chen Jia saluted the old lady in the wheelchair:
"I've seen you, mother. It's my fault for disturbing your rest so late at night."
The old lady smiled and said, "No problem. I'm very happy that you came to see me."
After hearing this, Chen Jia waved his hand, and the servants in the room quietly retreated.
The old lady remained calm upon seeing this. After everyone had left, she looked at Chen Jia and asked:
"Jiaer, what's wrong? Is there anything you want to tell your mother?"
Chen Jia thought for a moment and said, "Mother, I received a letter from a good friend in Beijing today."
"Jingzhong?"
The old lady frowned and thought for a moment before asking, "Shaoqing Huan?"
"Um."
"I've heard you talk about this man before. Although he comes from an official family, he is a humble person who doesn't care about family background. He is your good friend."
Hearing that his mother still remembered Huan Zian and talked about all his good qualities, Chen Jia smiled.
When the old lady saw Chen Jia smile, she also started smiling.
"What's the matter? What did he write?"
"It's about my second brother."
Chen Jia said lightly.
When the old lady heard Chen Jia mention Chen Fang, her face suddenly darkened.
"Did he get into trouble in the capital?"
"No, mother. I want to ask about my second brother's biological mother, Aunt Liu."
The old lady was surprised when she heard this and said, "Why did you suddenly think of asking her? She's been dead for eight hundred years."
Chen Jia still said calmly: "Mother, please tell me in detail what you know. This is very important."
After hearing this, the old lady frowned and began to recall seriously.
"Liu's family was a good citizen in the suburbs. One year, there was a flood and they couldn't survive, so they sold her to the government.
At first she was just a maid sweeping the yard, but later, seeing that she was nimble and skillful, she was transferred to the inner courtyard.
Later, when your mother became pregnant with you, I brought her into the room as a concubine, and she gave birth to Chen Fang.
She has always been very well behaved in the backyard, so I take better care of her.
That year, your father was going on a long journey to Cangzhou, so he arranged for Liu to accompany him and take care of your father.
Who knew that they would encounter bandits on the road and were hacked to death by them in order to save your father.
Before he died, he asked your father to transfer Chen Fang to me for upbringing, and your father agreed.
Later, Chen Fang came to live in our courtyard, and you know everything that happened after that."
The old lady briefly recounted what she knew.
After hearing this, Chen Jia tapped the wheelchair armrest with his right middle finger, then turned around and asked:
"Mom, do you still remember the detailed address of Liu's family?"
"I know. Her indenture is still at our house. It has her detailed address on it. I'll have someone look for it tomorrow."
After the old lady finished speaking, she asked Chen Jia:
"How come Liu has been dead for so many years? What's wrong with her?"
Chen Jia did not answer, but continued to ask:
"Where in Cangzhou did Liu and my father encounter the bandits?"
“It seems to be in a place called Shicongling.
Your uncle Ping went with us back then, so go ask him, he knows more details."
Chen Jia sighed after hearing this:
"Uncle Ping is my second brother's right-hand man now. I'm afraid I won't be able to find out by asking him. It's better not to alert him."
The old lady frowned even more after hearing this:
"Jiaer, what's wrong with you? What are you talking about?"
Chen Jia turned to look at his mother and said, "Mother, didn't you always suspect that your son's leg was framed?"
The old lady's expression changed when she heard this, and she looked at Chen Jiadao with a cold gaze:
"You found out, it's really him?"
"Well. Your initial suspicion was not without reason.
My legs are crippled, which will block my path to a career in politics. The head of the Chen family cannot be a cripple.
So this is a strategy that kills two birds with one stone.
Chen Fang naturally took on the position of head of the family.
You suspected Chen Fang, but your father didn't believe you. You always quarreled about this. I was afraid that this would cause more conflicts between you two, so I said it had nothing to do with Chen Fang.
In the three years since my father passed away, I have looked up a lot of information and have basically confirmed that it is him, but I have no evidence.
I kept waiting for him to attack me again, but he just stayed quiet, playing the role of a filial mother and a kind brother."
The old lady heard this, her eyes flashed with ferocity, and she slammed the table and said:
"Okay, it really is him.
I wanted to kill him at the beginning, but your old father insisted on listening to one side of the story and said it had nothing to do with Chen Fang.
He even got the position of Patriarch, and now that he's grown stronger, I can't just kill him."
Seeing that his mother was angry, Chen Jia was afraid that something bad would happen to her.
He quickly stepped forward to comfort her, "Mother, please don't be angry. Now is our chance."
The old lady looked at Chen Jia and said, "Oh, but did the people in Beijing catch him?"
"It's not that we have any evidence against him, but we suspect he is trading with Nanli and is a spy for them."
The old lady was startled when she heard this and stood up immediately:
"A spy? This is a serious crime that could lead to the confiscation of property and extermination of the entire clan. If things go wrong, our entire family will be implicated."
As the old lady spoke, she paced back and forth anxiously on the ground, cursing Old Master Chen continuously.
"You murderer! You refused to listen to me. Now you've ruined all the descendants of the Chen family..."
Seeing this, Chen Jia quickly called out to the old lady:
"Mom, please sit down. As long as we plan properly, it won't bring us any trouble. At most, we will lose some of our wealth."
After hearing what Chen Jia said, the old lady turned around suddenly, staring at him with sharp eyes and said:
"Son, are you telling the truth?"
"Mother, this couldn't be more true. Think about it, if he doubted our Huan Zi'an, would he write to me?"
When the old lady heard this, she stopped and sat down again.
Chen Jia continued, "My father never approved of the Nanli Kingdom's business when he was alive, and he also told our family not to have any dealings with it.
But as soon as Chen Fang became the head of the family, he immediately opened up trade in Nanli. From this point of view, he did have some problems.
I've been thinking about it for a long time. Chen Fang grew up in our big house and lived under your nose. How did he become a spy?
Perhaps the problem lies with Aunt Liu, and I want to start investigating with her."
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