Chapter 169 The Past of Duke Rong
Before Wen Ling appeared, people in the capital also believed in gods and Buddhas, but they did not believe in them that deeply.
Most people still believe in not talking about strange and supernatural things.
But after the eldest princess met Wen Ling, her mind changed completely.
Even for an outsider like her, after hearing about the story of Duke Rong, her first reaction was that something must have gone wrong in the family of Duke Rong, and that it was more or less influenced by some metaphysics.
Wen Ling nodded: "From what you described, it sounds like something happened in your family, but it's not necessarily the case. If the family doesn't do good deeds, there may be retribution in this life, or it may be that they are destined to decline at a certain time, and this is their fate. "
The princess shook her head: "I don't know the details, but I've already told you everything I know. Oh, by the way, the Duke of Rong's Mansion is right next to the Eighth Princess' Mansion. You can go and take a look when you pass by."
Wen Ling thanked him: "Thank you for the information you provided."
The princess thought of the three-month-old Miaoti Pills she was about to receive, and smiled so hard that her teeth couldn't see her eyes: "Hey, between us, it's so awkward to say thank you!"
Wen Ling: "If you didn't smile so big, I would really believe it."
The eldest princess was still smiling. After she and Wen Ling agreed to set off together three days later, she left in the same hurry as when she came.
After Wen Ling returned home, she told Gu Chenran about this during dinner.
Gu Chenran also had no impression of the Duke Rong’s Mansion. He was still young twenty years ago.
Gu Chenran said: "I don't know, but my grandfather might know something. I'll ask him tomorrow. It's just right that I can go to my grandfather's house with you for dinner tomorrow. Every time he comes home from court, he always talks about you and asks you to come over for dinner.
He used to invite me, but now he only thinks of you. I have no status in his eyes anymore. ”
Wen Ling thought of her grandfather, an old man who was still trying to make a living, and couldn't help but smile: "Okay, let's go to my grandfather's house for dinner tomorrow."
The next day, my grandfather knew that Wen Ling was coming for dinner, so he prepared a table of dishes.
The table was full of dishes that were Wen Ling’s favorites, and they were all the delicious dishes that the cook at home was good at.
After hearing Wen Ling asking about Duke Rong, my grandfather indeed knew something.
But my grandfather's expression was a little subtle. He must have organized his words before saying, "It's about the Rongguo Mansion. It's a long story."
Then grandpa recounted what happened in the Rongguo Mansion that year. After he finished speaking, Wen Ling finally understood why he had such a subtle expression.
It turned out that Duke Rong had two sons and one daughter. His children were all married and the whole mansion was harmonious and happy.
It was not until twenty years ago that a scandal involving Duke Rong's eldest son was exposed.
That is, the eldest son of Duke Rong actually likes men and has always had a preference for both men and women.
When the eldest lady returned home early because she failed to go back to her parents' home, she found him making love with a man in bed, and the eldest son was the one on the bottom.
The eldest lady was so frightened that she screamed all the way out of the yard, alarming Duke Rong.
Duke Rong was shocked and angry, and was about to beat to death the guard who had committed adultery with his eldest son.
Unexpectedly, the eldest young master refused and was determined to protect his personal guard at all costs. He also argued that what his wife saw was just a misunderstanding.
Later, he slandered that his wife had an affair with a man outside the family, so he framed him and his personal guard in order to ruin his reputation, divorce him smoothly, and even take away the property in the Duke of Rong's mansion.
At first, there was still a lot of controversy over this matter, but several small restaurants in Nanfeng Pavilion outside came to report that the eldest son of Duke Rong often entered Nanfeng Pavilion through the back door to have fun.
Basically, it confirms the fact that the eldest son of Duke Rong is fond of men.
Duke Rong was furious, and in line with the principle that family disgrace should not be made public, in order to quickly calm the storm, he ignored the young master's objections and killed the eldest young master's guards.
He also severely reprimanded the eldest young master and warned him that if he did not change his ways and continued to ruin the family's reputation, he would pass the position of the Prince of Rong to his younger brother.
I originally thought that the matter had come to an end here, but it turns out that this prominent family actually has quite a few secrets of its own.
Unexpectedly, the eldest son of Duke Rong was a stubborn person. On the third day after being punished by Duke Rong, he left a letter and ran away from home.
He left for twenty years and never came back.
That year, after the eldest young master ran away from home, misfortunes began to occur one after another in the Rong family.
The first to get into trouble were the eldest young master's wife and child. Their son was five years old. One time, the wife and child were on their way back from praying at the Huguo Temple when they encountered a snowstorm and were trapped in the carriage for a day and a night. They were actually frozen to death.
Then something happened to the second young master. When he was boating on the lake with others, the boat suddenly sank. Everyone on the boat was rescued, but he was the only one who drowned.
The last person to suffer an accident was the married youngest daughter, who died of childbirth complications the year after the eldest master disappeared.
Only Duke Rong and his wife were left to depend on each other. However, the successive deaths of their children were too much of a blow, and Duke Rong's wife died of illness due to excessive grief not long after.
From then on, Duke Rong was the only one left in the Rong family. Except for the side branches who lived far away in his hometown, all his direct blood relatives were gone.
Duke Rong was originally a man who had made great achievements in the court. The late emperor often used him. He was a man of both literary and martial talents, a versatile person.
Since then, he has never recovered and has locked himself up at home all year round, not even leaving the Duke's Mansion.
At that time, this matter was circulated and discussed in a small circle in Beijing.
There are a lot of various speculations.
My grandfather said that most of the speculations were outrageous. He thought the most reliable speculation was that the eldest son of Duke Rong was indeed slandered for having a homosexual fetish, and there must be something that outsiders didn't know.
Because Duke Rong wrongly beat and killed the guard, and then the guard turned into a wronged ghost and came for revenge, this family suffered misfortunes one after another.
However, so many years have passed, things and people have changed, and fewer and fewer people know about this matter.
After listening to this, Wen Ling held up his chin with one hand and said, "I always feel that these things sound weird. There are many things that don't make sense."
Gu Chenran agreed: "Indeed, it is unreasonable for the eldest son of Duke Rong to run away from home to seek revenge because a personal guard was beaten to death.
If he really wanted revenge, he could just continue to be the eldest son, and then become the crown prince and inherit the title. Then wouldn't the lady who slandered him still have to live under his control?
That way he can't just take revenge however he wants or torture however he wants, and outsiders won't know. “
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