Chapter 33: Outer Residence
Zhao Yuanlu shook the second prince's arm: "Your Highness? Your Highness?"
The second prince came back to his senses.
If, in the heavenly book that governs the fate of mortals that his sister mentioned, both he and Yuanlu have a miserable ending, then he must change this ending.
Yuanlu, who is so righteous and grateful, and I, who am so young, should not end up being tortured and killed.
When the second prince thought of this, his eyes were filled with determination and hope, and the corners of his mouth curved towards Yuanlu.
"Yuanlu, we haven't seen each other for a long time. Let's have a good chat today." The second prince said.
"Okay, I also left good tea for your highness. Let's go to my tent to drink tea." Yuanlu led the way.
"By the way, is your commander Wei in the army today?" The second prince asked while handing Xia Miaoyuan to the nanny.
"He's not here. It seemed someone came to look for him yesterday, so he left in a hurry and hasn't come back yet." Zhao Yuanlu made tea slowly.
[It must be someone from Grand Tutor Jiang who informed him. He has most likely gone to the Jiang family to discuss countermeasures.]
Xia Miaoyuan complained while playing with her hands.
"Your Highness, I heard that His Majesty arrested 14 people in one go during the morning court yesterday?! Even Jiang... was sent to jail?" Zhao Yuanlu took the opportunity to serve tea to the second prince, approached him, and asked in a low voice, his tone full of curiosity to get the news.
The second prince made a gesture to keep quiet and nodded at him: "Be careful about what you say about the court."
"I heard that your Commander Wei is very close to Grand Tutor Jiang on weekdays." The second prince asked tentatively.
"Who said it wasn't true!" Yuan Lu sat down next to the second prince and lowered his voice.
"I heard that Commander Wei was promoted by him, but many people don't know about this." Yuan Lu had a gossipy expression.
[It's not entirely true to say that Wei Jianzhong was promoted by Grand Tutor Jiang.]
After hearing Yuan Lu's revelations, Xia Miaoyuan recalled the plot in the book.
[Wei Jianzhong was originally just an old soldier with no real skills. After serving in the army for ten years, he only became a centurion.] [However
, by chance, he met Jiang Zhichang, the third son of the Jiang family, in a casino. The two of them had similar tastes and soon became buddies.] [
Wei Jianzhong wanted to curry favor with the Jiang family, so he did a few dirty jobs for the Jiang family and attracted the attention of Grand Tutor Jiang. 】
【Later, Master Jiang saw that he was cruel, ruthless, and obedient, so he transferred him to the imperial guards. 】
【After some operations, he helped him eliminate his competitors one by one, allowing him to climb up to the position of commander. 】
【However, old man Jiang was cautious, and all these were done by others, so few people knew about it . 】
The second prince listened to his sister's thoughts with bated breath, and suddenly realized it.
In order to hide his expression, the second prince deliberately said: "I didn't expect that Master Jiang would be able to look down on someone like Wei Jianzhong." "Who said it wasn't?" Zhao Yuanlu picked up the teacup and took a sip. 【Master Jiang pushed Wei Jianzhong to the position, killing two birds with one stone. First, he used him to replace his biggest worry. The former commander of the imperial guards, Zhou Yibai, was upright and loyal to the emperor, and had always refused to be used by Grand Tutor Jiang. 】 【Such a person is beneficial to the emperor, but to Grand Tutor Jiang, he is a thorn in the flesh. 】 【Only by removing him can they feel at ease. 】 【Secondly, Wei Jianzhong was pushed to the high position of commander by Grand Tutor Jiang, so he would naturally regard him as a great benefactor and obey his orders. 】 So that's it. The second prince was startled, and suddenly thought of the previous commander of the imperial guards, Zhou Yibai. Zhou Yibai had been the commander of the imperial guards for 3 years and had never made any mistakes, but one day he was suddenly reported by his subordinates, saying that he was seriously corrupt and had embezzled the military pay of the imperial guards for a long time. When the higher-ups came to investigate, they found 50,000 taels of silver in his home, as well as the account books of reselling military rations. Zhou Yibai was exiled thousands of miles away after being convicted of the crime, and even several of his capable generals were implicated. A month later, Wei Jianzhong, who had done little, became the new commander of the imperial guards. "Madam, don't be like this!" "Madam, calm down, I really didn't lie to you!" Suddenly, a noisy voice came into the tent, the voices of several soldiers explaining earnestly, and the voice of a woman shouting in the middle. "What's going on?" The second prince looked at Zhao Yuanlu with a puzzled look on his face. "It must be Madam Wei who came to check on the post again!" Zhao Yuanlu covered his mouth and laughed. The two men immediately stood up and walked to the door, opened the curtain a little and looked out. They saw a woman dressed as an official's wife, with her hands on her hips, jumping and cursing in front of the imperial guards' tent. Several soldiers tried to stop her with bitter faces. "Have you seen it? That's Commander Wei's wife, she's so powerful." Zhao Yuanlu looked gossipy. "Mrs. Wei is very jealous and never allowed her husband to take a concubine. But Commander Wei loves beauty. Two years ago, he even redeemed his body with a courtesan and kept her in the outer house." "If Mrs. Wei doesn't see her husband coming home for a few days, she will come to the camp to check on him. If she doesn't see him in the camp, she will go to the outer house to catch him in adultery." The second prince took out melon seeds and listened while eating melons, listening with relish. [Oh, my second prince, you are so ignorant. You are so intoxicated by such ordinary gossip. You must have never seen any big gossip!] Xia Miaoyuan rolled his eyes at the second prince. [If you knew that Wei Jianzhong hid more than ten large boxes of gold, silver and jewelry in the cellar in the backyard of the outer house, you would jump up.] "Ah..." The second prince couldn't help but uttered a sound after hearing his sister's complaint, but as soon as he uttered a sound, he quickly covered his mouth with his hand. Zhao Yuanlu thought that the second prince was lamenting Wei Jianzhong's romantic affair. Seeing that he was so interested in this gossip, he said attentively: "Your Highness, do you want to see something more interesting?" "More interesting?" The second prince was puzzled. "Mrs. Wei didn't find her husband in the army, so she will definitely go to the outer house in Tongluo Lane to make a scene. We can go over there to have some fun." Zhao Yuanlu raised his eyebrows. The second prince's eyes lit up. His sister just said that Wei Jianzhong's stolen money was hidden in the outer house, so why not take the opportunity to go and explore.
"Okay, let's go and see what's going on." The second prince thought of this and readily agreed.
Then, the second prince carried Xia Miaoyuan on his back, and Zhao Yuanlu, under the pretext of being ordered to protect the second prince, rode out of the camp with the second prince.
The second prince ordered his followers to go back first, and he and Zhao Yuanlu took a detour to Tongluo Lane.
The two found a restaurant with a suitable location. The restaurant was diagonally opposite the outer house, and it could be seen from the third floor of the restaurant.
"Your Highness, the little princess is so young. Is it okay for her to stay outside for so long?" Zhao Yuanlu asked with concern.
Xia Miaoyuan rolled her eyes at the second prince after hearing this.
[Really, you didn't even know to leave the wet nurse behind. Don't you know I'm hungry? 】
【Er Guoguo, you are really ambitious. You don't care about anything for such an ordinary melon. 】
【If you have the guts, go and take a look at the outer house's cellar. That is a truly astonishing and astonishing melon. 】
【The double-layer cellar is very secretive. 】
【Most people can't find it. 】
【What's even more bizarre is that Madam Wei's attention has always been on the concubine, but she doesn't understand that Wei Jianzhong only kept the concubine to hide his stolen money. 】
Xia Miaoyuan complained while stroking his empty stomach.
The second prince listened attentively.
It seems that we must find a way to enter the outer house to find evidence.