"Jinyu, grind the ink."
Ms. Cen sat down at the table, picked up a brush, and began to write a letter.
By the time Chief Guard Xiao arrived, Madam Cen had already written two letters and sealed them.
"Deliver this letter personally, make sure it reaches the young master no matter what. Have someone deliver the other one to the Marquis; it's a matter of life and death, so be quick!" Madam Cen handed the letter to Xiao Yun and gave urgent instructions.
"Yes." Xiao Yun accepted the order and turned to leave.
Watching his departing figure, Cen finally breathed a sigh of relief. But when she turned around and saw Li Chunlan looking aggrieved, she couldn't help but sigh again.
After dismissing the servants again, leaving only the Jiang family members, Madam Cen softened her tone and said to Li Chunlan, "Chunlan, I know you are anxious, but in this crisis, instead of thinking about how to salvage the situation, you arouse suspicion. That is foolish and malicious."
“My daughter-in-law is worried about Chengzhong,” Li Chunlan said, still somewhat unconvinced.
Her mother-in-law's words just now really embarrassed her, and she was still angry.
“If you’re worried about Chengzhong, then you’re questioning the bond between the brothers. As Chengzhong’s mother, I’m also very worried. Faced with your behavior of not trying to resolve the issue but instead hindering things, shouldn’t I also suspect your sinister intentions? In this critical moment, mutual suspicion will only lead to the breakdown of this family.”
"If Chengzhong is not saved, the secret report that the third brother risked his life to bring back will not be presented, ruining the emperor's important affairs. If the palace investigates, the entire family will die together."
"Not to mention the position of the young master, the plaque of this Marquis's mansion and the ancestral tablets for eighteen generations have all been torn down, and the family has been confiscated and exterminated."
Seeing that she didn't understand, Cen raised her voice even more.
Upon hearing the news of the house being ransacked and the entire family being exterminated, Li Chunlan immediately shrank back, clearly frightened.
"Mother, I know I was wrong. I won't do it again next time." She apologized softly, her tone sincere.
Madam Cen sighed again. Fortunately, she also knew that Li Chunlan's sudden thought of the position of heir was not out of malicious intent to sow discord between the brothers.
Rather, Li Chunlan came from a merchant family, and she always kept a balance in her heart, naturally calculating the gains and losses of things.
"I can't explain the rest, I'll have to hear Jin Yu repeat what the divine artifact said, but there's one thing I can tell you: why the third prince sent the secret memorial back to the capital, instead of having the Marquis send it, but instead had Cheng Zhong deliver it. It's because the Marquis doesn't have any military power now, and he goes to court every day, so he basically doesn't need to submit secret memorials."
"Chengzhong is a military commander stationed in the suburbs of Beijing, holding military power. His secret reports will reach the Emperor in the shortest time, and the channel is the safest. That's why the Third Prince gave the secret reports to Chengzhong instead of his useless lecherous father."
As Cen finished speaking, her personal emotions became apparent, and she directly cursed the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness in front of her daughter and daughter-in-law.
Jiang Jinyu and Li Chunlan exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat awkward.
“Mother, my sister-in-law knows she was wrong, please don’t get upset. Let me tell you about what happened at Qingxi Pavilion.” Jiang Jinyu immediately interrupted.
"Yes, little sister, please tell me quickly, what exactly does the artifact say?" Li Chunlan asked urgently.
"The divine artifact said that the secret memorial was delivered by Third Brother's subordinate. When the memorial arrived, the man vomited blood and died on the spot. It turned out he had been poisoned and had been kept alive by secret medicines from the Imperial Hospital. Once he finished his mission and had nothing left to worry about, he passed away." Jiang Jinyu began to recount the story from the beginning.
“That’s why my elder brother knew this matter was extremely important and that the secret memorial had to be delivered to the Emperor. But before sending it to the palace, he made sure to open and read it.” She hesitated slightly at this point, but still said it.
These words were indeed very impactful, immediately freezing Cen Shi and Li Chunlan in shock.
It is called a secret memorial precisely because it cannot be opened arbitrarily before it is delivered to the emperor; otherwise, what would be the point of calling it a secret memorial?
If such a confidential matter could be discovered midway, the entire country would be doomed.
"My husband, he's so bold! Won't he be discovered?" Li Chunlan couldn't help but exclaim.
"Third sister-in-law also asked this question. Shenqi said he wouldn't find out. The two brothers had discussed this matter before. They used the same method to archive the secret reports, which could be opened and then restored to their original state. Moreover, according to eldest brother's personality, he shouldn't have opened it to look at it, but he still opened it to look at it abnormally. Perhaps he had a premonition of his tragic fate in the future. But in reality, it was a waste of effort, because there was no problem with the secret reports at this time."
“Third Brother would never harm Eldest Brother, so this secret report only records the secrets that the Embroidered Uniform Guard discovered in private, and does not contain the letter of treason that was smuggled in.”
After saying these words, Jiang Jinyu immediately swallowed.
Even though she was just repeating it once, she still couldn't help but get nervous, after all, the development of this matter was really bizarre.
"Chengzhong risked danger to open the secret letter, clearly because he had doubts about what the divine artifact had said about his cause of death, and he opened the secret letter to confirm whether there was any letter inside that could cause his death. But now it seems that the secret letter was not put in before he entered the palace, but rather something went wrong after it was submitted." Cen Shi quickly analyzed the process.
“Yes, the divine artifact also said that after the secret report was sent to the palace, someone slipped a secret letter inside, successfully framing my elder brother.” Jiang Jinyu nodded.
"Who is so vicious as to go to such lengths to do such a thing?" Li Chunlan asked hurriedly.
Jiang Jinyu was immediately annoyed. After a moment of silence, she sighed and said, "Third Sister-in-law asked, and the artifact said it was a noble lady in the harem, but the energy required was enormous. Its current energy is simply not enough to reveal the noble lady's name."
"Which concubine is this? Why is this happening? Our Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion has not sent any daughters to the palace, nor have any princes sought refuge with us. We are merely loyal subjects of the Emperor. When have we ever stood in the way of a concubine, that she would try to kill my son?"
Madam Cen frowned immediately. Although she was a woman confined to the inner quarters, she was still quite astute about the affairs of the court.
After all, she was a woman of true wisdom. When the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness encountered some difficulties in the court, he would return to his residence to tell her about the situation.
Jiang Jinyu shook her head: "The artifact didn't mention anything."
"And then?" Cen asked again.
"After that, Third Sister-in-law gave the artifact a good scolding, calling it a black-hearted, rotten-bellied scoundrel. Pan Ge and I were in a hurry to come back and report the news, so we stopped eating melons."
Upon hearing Jiang Jinyu's words, Cen frowned. After pondering for a moment, she finally couldn't help but ask, "Didn't Wanying ask about the artifact, or anything about your third brother?"
"I asked."
Upon hearing this, Madam Cen's brows immediately relaxed, and she asked urgently, "What did you ask?"
"At first, when I asked, Shenqi said that the secret memorial was from Jiang Chengli to Jiang Chengzhong. It was a secret memorial entrusted by his younger brother with his life, and Jiang Chengzhong would definitely hand it over to the emperor. Then my third sister-in-law asked who Jiang Chengli was. Shenqi replied that he was my third sister-in-law's husband."
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