Chapter 202: Letter from Luo Jingfeng

New Year's Eve, General Pang's Mansion.

"General, the general has a letter!"

General Pang was still searching through the 308 pictures of children in a panic. He exclaimed, "Has the letter for the general arrived?"

The guard shook his head and said, "It should be that he hasn't arrived yet. The general took the initiative to send the letter."

"Give it to me." General Pang took the letter and read it carefully. After a while, he showed a puzzled expression. "The general asked me to check on Zong Jincheng of the Marquis Yuanyang's Mansion. He said that he looks a bit like the third lady...but isn't that Zong Zhao's son?"

The guard said, "That's possible. Didn't Zong Zhao never get married? How come he suddenly had a child?"

General Pang frowned and asked, "Is Zong Jincheng in these portraits?"

The guard paused and said, "No, after the portrait came out, we first checked the powerful families in the capital, and there was no Zong family."

General Pang ordered: "Go check when Zong Jincheng's birthday is!"

"yes."

Not long after, the guard came back and said, "General, Zong Jincheng's birthday is June 16th, which makes him 20 days older than the person we are looking for."

"Twenty days?" General Pang asked, "Did he appear in the mansion on June 16?"

The guard replied, "Yes, the Zong family records that the child was brought back on June 16. Zong Jincheng is very much loved in the Marquis' Mansion, and every year on this day, a big celebration is held. Many people in the capital know his birthday."

"Hiss..." General Pang said with a headache, "The time doesn't match. If it was twenty days later, we could say that Zong Zhao deliberately concealed it, but if it was twenty days earlier, we can't say that the third young lady gave birth early, right?"

General Pang had a terrible headache and felt like he, as a military commander, was about to grow a brain.

Who knew that at this time, the guards came with another message: "Today is New Year's Eve, the prince went to the Zong family again, and has been there for most of the day and has not come out yet. According to previous customs, he may still stay in the Zong family until the evening before coming out."

"What? Today is New Year's Eve, and he, a prince, is staying in the Zong family for a whole day?" General Pang's brain exploded, "Go, call the military advisor to analyze it!"

Guard: “…”

Okay, this will make things easier for both of us.

Military Strategist Gou Yuan is General Pang's top strategist.

"General Gou, come and save me!" General Pang shouted.

Military Advisor: “…”

For the ten thousandth time, he hated his father’s surname.

For the thousandth time, he hated General Pang for always calling him by his last name.

After a careful analysis, Strategist Gou came to the conclusion: "General, according to my analysis, Zong Jincheng cannot be the Third Miss's child. There are too many people in this world who look alike. The general must be wrong."

General Pang was like a savior, and said quickly: "General Gou, please tell me in detail."

Military Advisor Gou: "..." I hate General Pang for the thousand and first time.

Advisor Gou: "First of all, the birthdays don't match, and it's twenty days older, not younger. This can't be explained. Unless Zong Jincheng's birthday is fake, and Zong Zhao planned to conceal the child's identity from the moment he brought him home, from top to bottom."

General Pang was immediately enlightened: "It's not impossible, General Gu, it has to be you!"

Division General Gou gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. This was the one thousand and second time.

Military Advisor Gou continued, "But the second clue completely overturns this possibility, that is, the closeness between the Crown Prince and Zong Jincheng. If the Crown Prince knew about the Third Miss's secret pregnancy, anyone in his position would definitely kill the child and eradicate the problem completely."

General Pang nodded, this was also the point that puzzled him the most.

Military Advisor Gou said, "Of course, it is also possible that the prince deliberately confused our sight so that we could not find the child. But this speculation is too risky. He has no reason to let the child live, and no reason to delay and divert our sight. This is why it doesn't make sense."

General Pang added, "The Crown Princess is about to give birth, and there are a lot of trivial matters in the palace. He even took time out on New Year's Eve to accompany Zong Jincheng for the whole day. I would never show such a caring attitude to my own son... Hiss, you say, could Zong Jincheng be the Crown Prince's illegitimate child?"

Military Advisor Gou nodded heavily and said, "I also think it is very likely. General, think about it, if we mistake the Crown Prince's child for the Third Miss's child and raise him, wouldn't that be raising a tiger to cause trouble?"

General Pang shouted anxiously, "Hurry up, hurry up, I will write a letter to the general and tell him to stop guessing."

Military Advisor: “…”

With your hot-tempered personality, how did you climb to the position of second-in-command of the Pingxi Generals? I am really impressed.

Military Advisor Gou grabbed General Pang's sleeve as he was about to write a letter and suggested, "General, since the general has sent a letter to check Zong Jincheng, we can't just reply with a letter of reasoning, lest the general thinks we are not doing anything."

General Pang looked at him with a smile on his face: "Military Advisor, do you have any good ideas?"

The military advisor was confident: "Try it."

"Test Zong Jincheng to see if he is the prince's illegitimate son."

Far away from the Marquis's Mansion.

The prince is talking to Zong Jincheng about the revision of the law.

"Laws are the foundation of governing a country. They are the summaries of countless generations of outstanding predecessors, but they will inevitably become corrupt due to the changes of the times. At this time, it is urgent to revise the laws. However, the revision of laws should be based on frequent or major cases. Individual cases can be handled individually, but the laws cannot be changed arbitrarily because of individual cases. This will easily lead to chaos."

The little devil nodded and responded obediently: "I understand."

He thought that the three departments in charge of laws in the Great Chu were the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Censorate. Only the heads of these three departments could make suggestions to the emperor and the crown prince on how to amend the laws.

But the Dali Temple is not a second-rank position. His Highness must want him to go to the Ministry of Justice or the Censorate in the future. Then he must study these two places carefully...

It was already evening when the prince finished his lecture. Fireworks began to be set off outside the window, and the lanterns in the mansion were also lit up, shining into the windows on the second floor.

He stood up and touched the little devil's head, smiling and said, "It's the New Year, and Jincheng will be one year older."

The little devil squinted his eyes comfortably and responded sweetly: "I want to grow up quickly, so that I can help your highness solve his worries soon."

The prince chuckled, and his usually pale face turned a little red under the light of the lantern. He took the little devil's hand and slowly went downstairs, his footsteps making muffled sounds on the stairs.

It took a long time before I heard his gentle voice: "I also hope you can grow up quickly."

Downstairs, two children who were doing their own test papers saw them coming down and greeted the prince. The prince waved his hand and said, "Let's go eat. I have to go back to the palace soon."

Xu Wan came in from outside and asked, "Your Highness, would you like to stay for dinner? Everything is ready in the mansion."

The prince smiled and said, "No need, you guys eat, Qingrong is still waiting for me to go back."