Chapter 37
The good news from Yining County finally arrived in the capital before the autumn hunt.
The emperor, all the officials, and even many of his female relatives had already learned about it through the system early on, but they all endured it with great difficulty because they did not dare to reveal the truth that they could hear the conversation between Chu Huan and the system.
As soon as the news came out, people were talking about it all the way to the autumn hunt.
"The Imperial Guards rushed to Yining County at lightning speed. Just a few of them pinned down dozens of people involved in the case, each one outnumbering ten."
"Li He was imprisoned and beaten three times a day. He was horribly beaten. When he was rescued, there wasn't a single piece of healthy flesh on his body. Luckily, the emperor sent a royal physician, who reportedly used the miracle drug penicillin, and that's how he was saved from death."
"If the Jinyiwei hadn't arrived in time, even a little later, this poor father and son would have been separated by the Yin and Yang. Only Li Chen would be left in the Li family, all killed by corrupt officials. This is too tragic!"
"It seems that the Jinyiwei are not that scary after all."
Chu Huan, who was passing by: "..."
Really, wherever you go, people are talking about Li He and his son, and this corruption case that shocked the government and the public.
But what was said had been exaggerated by many people and was quite far from the original facts. She had to try very hard to resist the urge to step forward and correct it.
The system was already rolling around in laughter in the private chat channel: [Hahaha, who on earth started this rumor? ]
Li He was indeed severely beaten when he was first imprisoned, but those people still wanted to use him as a scapegoat and didn't dare let him die. Otherwise, he would commit suicide out of fear of punishment with all his injuries. Were they afraid that others wouldn't see that this was a disguise after the murder?
Officials had done this before: they beat a scapegoat half to death, obtained a signature, strangled him, and then faked the suicide by hanging. The emperor later sent the Imperial Guard to investigate, and when they discovered the truth, they raided his house.
Seeing that Li He was a tough nut to crack, those people shifted their target to Li Chen. They chased him for so long that they almost killed him.
[It was also because of this that Li Chen was forced to jump into the river, but was rescued by your brother. From there, he went to the capital to find you and successfully seek justice. I can only say that perhaps fate really did have its way.]
Chu Hua: [Maybe.]
In her previous life, she did not believe in the theory of fate, but she happened to travel through time. It would be a bit rude not to believe it anymore.
The journey from the capital to the hunting grounds for the autumn hunt was eight or nine days, but this time there were too many people travelling and too much luggage, which slowed down the journey and it would probably take more than ten days to get there.
Today, as it was getting late, the large group set up tents and slept outside.
Chu Huan had been sitting in the car for a whole day and felt uncomfortable all over. She took this opportunity to get some fresh air. While taking a walk, she chatted with the system about gossip, and the walk seemed to become enjoyable.
After the system turned off the sharing function, the melon energy required for standby was immediately reduced by 80%. With the melon energy reserves accumulated by diligently eating the embezzled melons, he no longer cared much about the melon energy used for daily standby, and often chatted with Chu Huan whenever he had time.
Chu Huan knew that she had offended many people by investigating corruption, and her life was coveted by many people. She would not just go to a remote corner where no one was around and it would be easy for her to be attacked.
Three steps behind her were Jia Yi and Cai Gang, both of whom never let go of their embroidered spring swords. There were at least a dozen people within a radius of fifty meters, including civil officials, military generals, female relatives and servants, to be prepared for emergencies.
"Master Chu!" The Second Prince's Consort Wu came hurriedly with her sisters. "You are here! I have been looking for you for a long time."
Outside, everyone still showed some respect for Chu Huan's disguise as a man, and did not casually call her sister.
Chu Huan bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty. What are your wishes?"
Concubine Wu smiled and waved her hand: "To say you're giving me an order is serious. I just heard something interesting and came here to share it with you."
The system got excited: [Translation: I'm here to eat some melons with you.]
Chu Huan smiled: [I came to you to eat melons.]
System: [Hehehe... I'll start sharing right away.]
Chu Huan looked around and found a fallen tree. The trunk was clean and suitable for use as a stool.
"If your Majesty doesn't mind, why don't you sit down and talk?"
"I don't mind." Concubine Wu was eager to eat the melon. As soon as the maid spread the handkerchief, she sat on it and said, "Come, let's start."
At the same time, Jia Yi and Cai Gang silently took a step forward. The civil and military officials who were walking in the distance slowly approached, and the servants who were fetching water and working in the distance pricked up their ears.
Everyone is ready, waiting for the system to cut the melon and share it.
Concubine Wu: "This happened in Yuanzhou a few months ago."
"The governor of Yuanzhou had two daughters. The elder was born to his first wife, and the younger was born to his second wife, who was one year younger. The elder was betrothed to the son of a marquis, while the younger was betrothed to a scholar from a poor family. Both daughters were married on the same day."
"To show his love for his daughters, the governor was impartial. He prepared similar dowries and wedding dresses for both daughters, with only minor differences."
Chu Huan openly complained, "The dowries and wedding dresses for the Crown Prince's wife and the Scholar's wife are almost identical. How can this be considered impartial? It's clearly biased towards my younger sister."
The women had been wanting to complain for a long time, and upon hearing this, they all followed up:
"That's right! Who would prepare such a generous dowry for marrying a poor scholar?"
"For the sake of my husband's reputation, I've prepared some things within the standard, and will slowly add to them after we get married."
"I heard that when my sister was showing off her dowry, she also saw two Dongzhu pearls."
"How could the second wife possibly have Dongzhu?"
"It should have come from the dowry of the original wife. The original wife's grandfather was an official in Beijing."
Chu Huan did not miss the revelations of her sisters, and she also paid some attention to complaining to the system, keeping a calm mind.
[Wedding on the same day, wearing similar wedding dresses, could they have gotten into the wrong sedan? All that's missing is a heavy rain.]
The system was happily enjoying the news, and when it heard that there was new news, it knew there was new news and rubbed its hands excitedly.
Chu Huan: [Both brides must have married the wrong man.]
If the marriage had gone smoothly, there would be no need to bring up Concubine Wu.
Concubine Wu's eyebrows jumped and she thought to herself: You are really amazing!
She pretended not to hear and continued, "In a panic, I don't know what went wrong. My elder sister married the scholar, and my younger sister went to the marquis's mansion."
The system didn't search for melons, and was very surprised when it heard this: [Sister Huan, you are right!]
Chu Hua: "There are so many auspicious dates for marriage in a year, and yet there are taboos and concerns about offending the elders. Even sisters born on the same day of the same month of the same year can't possibly get married on the same day."
"The elder sister and the younger sister have different birthdays. Even if the dowry and wedding clothes violate the rules, the sedan chair used was prepared by the man, so the two families must have different ones. A family marries two daughters on the same day. Are they afraid of making mistakes?"
[They have to get married on the same day. There must be something fishy going on. Take a look, Tong'er.]
System: [Okay!]
Concubine Wu was delighted, she knew that she had to find Chu Huan to eat melons!
"Who said it wasn't? Come on, sit down for a while and take a rest." She has found the best excuse for everyone to remain silent and watch melons. She is worthy of being her, hahaha!
"Yes." Chu Huan also found a place to sit down.
System: [Sister Huan, I checked, this is what happened.]
My sister's mother and the wife of the Marquis were close friends. They were of similar age and had a good relationship. They were married one after the other and had a daughter and a son, so they arranged a marriage for the two children.
[Later, when my sister was two years old, her mother died of illness. The governor brought back a woman and a one-year-old daughter from outside and made the concubine his principal wife.]
Chu Huan was speechless: [What's wrong?] Stinky man! Rotten cabbage!
Everyone was speechless after hearing this. What kind of brain does this guy have?
Girls from ordinary families rarely became concubines, simply because concubines were of low status and their indentures were held by their mistresses. They were no different from slaves in the house and could be sold at any time.
In Dasheng, there were few families that helped concubines to ascend to power, let alone a mistress who had no official status and was worse than a concubine.
He would gossip and look strangely at others and insist on making his concubine his principal wife. The governor of Yuanzhou must really like this concubine.
But... before that, couldn't you take a concubine? You're not worried that the concubine's indenture would be tortured in the mistress's hands, right?
You know what, it might really be like that.
System: [The second wife coveted the property left behind by the original wife. Taking advantage of my sister's young age and incomprehension, she dismissed all the servants left behind by the original wife and replaced them with older servants. She then seized the original wife's dowry and tricked my naive sister into thinking she was the second wife's daughter.]
My step-wife drugged my sister, making her sickly. She wouldn't let her go out because she was frail. My sister thought she was doing this for her own good, so she stayed home and recuperated, barely leaving the house for over a decade.
When she was ready to marry, her stepmother wanted to change her bride, citing her elder sister's frail health as an excuse. The Marquis's wife had her eye on the daughter of a close friend and was unwilling to marry a concubine's daughter. She firmly disagreed.
[The marriage had been delayed for a year, but she couldn't just stay married forever, could she? Since it was time for her younger sister to get married, the mother and daughter came up with this idea.]
Chu Huan: [Set the wedding date on the same day. The dowries and wedding clothes will be similar, making it difficult to be discovered. Once the ceremony is over, the Marquis's Mansion will have to recognize them even if they don't want to. They can't marry both legitimate daughters, right? Then who will be the principal wife and who the concubine? The Marquis's Mansion can't be so unrefined, right?]
That’s right! Concubine Wu nodded secretly. That’s what she thought.
Others thought this method was a bit mean, but the Marquis' Mansion had to swallow this loss in silence.
Unless they are willing to make a big deal out of it and make both families look bad - the aristocratic families value their reputation and would rather suffer losses than do so, because they have several daughters and it is difficult to repair a bad relationship.
However... the system laughed heartily: [You have no idea how things will develop.]
Huh? Everyone's getting excited. Looks like there's an unexpected turn of events.
Chu Hua: [Speak quickly!]
The system said in a gloating tone: [As the wedding date draws near, my sister suddenly starts crying and shouting, demanding to marry a scholar from a poor family, not the heir of a marquisate. This is causing a lot of trouble for the second wife.]
Everyone was stunned. This development was indeed unexpected.
Could it be that the Marquis's son is ugly as salt, while the impoverished scholar is handsome as Pan An, or that the Marquis's son has poor personal ethics, while the impoverished scholar is upright and righteous? Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a scene before the wedding.
Chu Hua speculated: [Did my sister hear something?]
[No.] The system didn't keep the mystery going any further, and finished it in one go. [My younger sister had a dream one night. She dreamed that the prince of a marquisate rebelled, his entire family was wiped out, and she was poisoned to death. Meanwhile, a scholar from a poor family passed the imperial examinations, became a juren, a gongshi, and the top scorer, and rose to prominence, becoming the prime minister, and her sister became the prime minister's wife.]
Chu Huan: “…”
Others: “…”
There are too many points to complain about, so allow them to sort them out and complain about them slowly.
Putting aside other things, where did the prime minister of Dasheng come from?
There were such prime ministers in the previous dynasty, but because the prime ministers often advised the emperor not to do this or that, the last emperor of the previous dynasty got tired of them and dragged them away to be executed. One after another was executed, and later no one dared to risk their life to be prime minister. After the founding of the Dasheng Dynasty, there was no prime minister either.
After all, my sister is the daughter of a governor of a state. How could she not know that there is no prime minister in the court?
Moreover, isn't it a bit absurd to believe everything that happens in a dream and make a fuss about it?
Then think about it, my sister was taken into the mansion when she was one year old and raised as a legitimate daughter. She has been loved by her father and mother for more than ten years. The dowry for her to marry a poor scholar was so generous that even the impossible Dongzhu was prepared. She must have been very pampered at home.
Maybe he was spoiled?
Because they are spoiled too much, they cannot bear the hardship of studying. Because they are spoiled too much, they cry if they can't get what they want.
My younger sister has become accustomed to her parents giving her good things, and to crying and making a fuss to get good things. She has become so accustomed to it that she has lost her sense of propriety.
System: [My younger sister insisted on getting married, crying, making a scene, and even threatening to hang herself. My second wife was completely exhausted and had no choice but to verbally agree to her marriage. Then, when the wedding was about to take place, she used some tricks to marry my younger sister off to the Marquis's mansion.]
This is consistent with what Concubine Wu said earlier.
System: [Do you think this is the end? No! After the prince lifted the veil from my sister's bridal chamber, she discovered that she was marrying the prince of a marquisate. Her face immediately changed drastically, and she dragged the prince to the scholar's house.]
There were many guests at the Marquis's residence, but few at the Scholar's. Furthermore, one was located in the east, and the other in the west, so the distance between them was far. By the time they arrived, the couple's wedding night had already ended.
Chu Hua: [Sister, didn't you meet the Marquis's son before you got married?]
System: [The second wife is planning to replace the bride, so how could she dare let my sister meet the husband she is going to marry? My sister knows nothing about it, and she is surrounded by the second wife's people. She is completely controlled and married in a daze.]
It wasn't until the Marquis's son and her sister arrived with their men that she realized something had gone wrong. But seeing her sister's miserable expression, as if her father had died, she assumed it was an accident. "Now that it's come to this, let's just make the best of it," she said.
Chu Huan: "..." How could my sister not be miserable? The position of Prime Minister's wife that she had secured was gone.
[Sister, are you still not giving up? ]
System: [Of course! Even if Xiucai and my sister have already consummated their marriage and become a real couple, she said that the marriage certificate is there and that she is the one marrying Xiucai. We need to exchange her back and put everything back in its place.]
[Now, the prince, the scholar, and my sister all disagree.]
Everyone: “…” It would be strange if they agreed!
The Dasheng people did not attach much importance to chastity and welcomed widows to remarry, especially those who had given birth to children and were still able to live independently. However, that did not mean that they could allow themselves to have a filthy paternity.
The scholar and his elder sister have already consummated their marriage, but the prince continues to marry his elder sister. Whenever he sees her, he feels guilty. The scholar also feels guilty because his wife has slept with another man. His elder sister is even more unwilling to serve two husbands, one of whom is her brother-in-law. This would disrupt the moral ethics of the family.
Let’s not talk about the prince and his sister for now. The best solution to this misplaced marriage between the scholar and his sister is to just go with the flow.
However, things were a little different from what they imagined.
System: [The Crown Prince disagrees because he has a virgin complex and doesn't want a woman who's already slept with someone else. He already has a girl he loves and didn't agree to this marriage in the first place, but only married her because of the Marquis's insistence. Now, the Crown Prince plans to cancel this marriage and marry his beloved girl.]
[The scholar disagreed because he felt the elder sister was prettier and better-educated than the younger sister. Under the arrangement of his second wife, the scholar secretly met the elder sister and originally liked her and did not want the younger sister.]
My sister disagreed because she felt the Marquis's Mansion was too complicated. She hadn't left the house all year, was frail, and rarely interacted with others. She was too naive to handle the scheming people in the mansion. Instead, a scholar from a small, impoverished family was more suitable for her.
[While a clean reputation might seem important to others, it wasn't important to her. This was because her supposed mother's second wife had been someone else's concubine before marrying her father, the governor. She looked up to her "real mother."]
Everyone: "..." The world is complete with only the sister being hurt.
By this calculation, my sister and my step-wife have gained nothing.
Well, not really, because the mother and daughter also divided the dowry left by the original wife after her death.
Chu Huan knew she shouldn't do that, but she couldn't help but want to laugh.
The second wife deliberately raised the daughter of the original wife as a bad person, but unexpectedly it turned out to be the right thing. The elder sister looked sickly and cowardly, but in fact she had a bright heart. She did not covet power or wealth, and married a husband who suited her.
Also, because the second wife cared about her reputation, she didn't want people to find out the secrets in the dowries of the two legitimate daughters when she showed off her dowries, which would give her a bad impression. Therefore, the elder sister's dowry was not much worse than that of the younger sister.
If the elder sister finds out in the future that the step-wife is not her biological mother, and the dowry left by her biological mother has been divided up, and then she finds a way to get it back and exposes the hypocritical face of the step-wife, then it will be like a cool plot in a novel!
These unexpected twists and turns completely piqued Chu Hua's curiosity: [What happened next?]
System: [Of course my sister doesn't want to, she's still waiting to become the Prime Minister's wife.]
Chu Hua: [Let me interrupt. Doesn't she think that she doesn't have to do anything and can just marry him and become the prime minister's wife?]
The system smiled and asked: [What else? ]
Chu Huan: “…”
Others: “…”
You have to live your own life. If you do nothing but want everything, do you really expect pie to fall from the sky?
If there really is such a pie, it would be poisonous.
This girl has really been spoiled by the governor and his wife, and she only knows how to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
If the system hadn't said that the younger sister wasn't her biological daughter, they would have suspected that the governor and his wife were playing a game of flattery.
The system continued: [The governor doesn't care whether his two daughters are swapped or not. As long as one marries the crown prince and the other marries the scholar, it's fine.]
Seeing that her sister and the scholar were already together, the second wife realized that there was no turning back. Worried that her daughter would cause another disturbance, she quickly urged the governor to change the name on the marriage certificate. The scholar guessed the truth, but he loved his sister and was heartbroken for his wife. He quickly cooperated and changed the name.
[After things were settled here, the Crown Prince came to cancel the engagement with great fanfare. Seeing that the matter was already settled, the Marquis's wife had no choice but to agree to let the Crown Prince marry his beloved girl. She was also angry that the second wife was plotting against her, so she agreed to cancel the engagement and even told the Crown Prince to make a big deal out of it.]
The Crown Prince was also a mischievous person. He took advantage of the broken engagement to expose the whole matter, pointing out that the second wife was a concubine who was promoted to the first wife, stole the original wife's dowry, and deliberately drugged the original wife's daughter to make her his wife's daughter. This incident caused an uproar throughout Yuanzhou.
Chu Huan gasped: [Wow!]
Others: Wow! That’s awesome!!
The prince did this for himself, and also inadvertently vented his sister's anger.
By the time the news reaches the ears of the scholar and his sister, the rest of the exciting storyline will probably be around the corner.
System: [No matter how much the governor loves this second wife, he can't stand being pointed at and criticized by everyone the moment he leaves the house, with everyone accusing him of being blind, mistreating his first wife's daughter, and coveting his first wife's dowry.]
In a fit of rage, the governor sent his second wife and younger sister to a nunnery to contemplate their past, and it was unknown when they would be sent back.
The governor himself didn't know how much dowry his first wife had left him. His second wife burned the dowry list, so he gave all of his younger sister's dowry to his elder sister. It was significantly more than the original wife's original dowry—all earned from his second wife's years of lending interest to support his daughter.
The scholar found a skilled doctor to treat his sister. He discovered that she had been given a chronic poison for a long time. Fortunately, she was only weak, and the poison was not too strong. She would recover in a year or two. However, she should not rush into having a child. As her sister was still young, it would be safer to wait until she recovered.
Chu Huan: [Awesome!!!]
She actually experienced the real-life version of the ancient Chinese rebirth novel plot, so satisfying!
Others: So cool!!!
As expected, following Chu Hua and the system, there are a lot of interesting melons to eat! Enjoy, come again next time!
It took another half an hour for the news to be recorded and transcribed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and then passed on to the emperor and officials who did not arrive at the scene in time and had no reason to do so.
The people of Yuanzhou ate the fresh and delicious first-harvest melons, while Chu Huan and others ate the relatively sweet second-harvest melons. The main reason was that the plot was complete and it was satisfying to eat them all at once, while they ate the barely acceptable third-harvest melons.
The emperor and his ministers: "..." They felt complicated.
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