"What?!" both Song Jiyun and Yuan Yunzhong were extremely surprised, exchanging glances before turning to Zhou Zheng in unison, "Song Tao hanged herself?"
"Um!" While wiping the sweat from his forehead, Zhou Zheng said, "It seems the people from Shuntian Prefecture went to the Siyi Pavilion to deliver vermilion tickets to Third Miss Song. When her personal maid went to knock on the door, they discovered that Third Miss Song had hanged herself. According to the coroner sent by Shuntian Prefecture, Third Miss Song was already breathless around Hai Hour last night. Now, all her personal attendants have been summoned to Shuntian Prefecture."
As he said this, he glanced at Song Jiyun, "Wang Hua said that they should all be released around You Hour today."
Song Jiyun knitted her brows slightly and said, "If the government office is releasing the people who served Song Tao so quickly, it suggests that Song Tao likely committed suicide. Why are you looking at me?"
Zhou Zheng hesitated for a moment before whispering, "Wang Hua said that the people from Shuntian Prefecture found a suicide note in the hall where Third Miss Song hanged herself. The note said that the Song Family Kiln Factory had previously used bone ash as raw material for making sacrificial porcelain, but somehow, you managed to make jade porcelain smoothly. When she tried following the same formula, she failed. She had no choice but to wash away the injustice on her with her death. She begged the Emperor and Prince Ning to investigate the matter and clear her name."
"Shameless!" As soon as Zhou Zheng finished speaking, Yuan Yunzhong coldly scoffed, "It seems he won’t shed a tear until he sees the coffin."
Song Jiyun remained silent.
Only Zhou Zheng took a while to wrap his head around it before exclaiming in disbelief, "Do, do you suspect that Prince Ning is behind Third Miss Song’s death?"
Yuan Yunzhong did not speak.
Song Jiyun, however, sighed softly, "If not him, then who else? After all, Song Tao was nothing but a disposable piece to him. If this disposable piece could be used once more before being thrown away, why wouldn’t he do it?"
It took Zhou Zheng a moment to understand.
He couldn’t help becoming indignant, "No wonder when I went out today, many people were pointing fingers at our shop and saying all sorts of things. It must be Prince Ning who spread many rumors to discredit you."
He angrily said, "Miss, what should we do? We can’t let them splatter this dirty water on you. We need to find a way to clarify things quickly."
"Not just yet!" Yuan Yunzhong said, placing his hand on Song Jiyun’s shoulder, the warmth of his palm seeping through her clothes as if silently encouraging her, "Since he’s willing to sacrifice a life just to smear us, let’s just go along with his wishes for now."
He, referring to Prince Ning?
Zhou Zheng looked towards Song Jiyun.
Song Jiyun was somewhat surprised and turned to look at Yuan Yunzhong, asking gently, "What’s your plan?"
Yuan Yunzhong’s expression was stern, his voice deep, "If you can’t prove your innocence, play dirty. He just wants others to think you drove Song Tao to death. Rather than us trying to counter the rumors now, it’s better to wait until the rumors are known by everyone. Then we can slap him down hard, which will also serve as a warning to those with ulterior motives, that anyone who dares to scheme against you should weigh their own abilities first."
Zhou Zheng immediately realized what Yuan Yunzhong meant.
It was like how the Owner had taken this opportunity to create a buzz for their newly opened shop. Instead of immediately coming out to clarify upon hearing any rumors, it was better to wait until everyone was talking about the matter to clarify. This would draw all the attention, and those who wanted to spread rumors secretly would become fewer.
But there were still some things he didn’t quite understand.
He hesitated, "Then, how should we clear things up? Even if Prince Ning personally killed someone, there are plenty of people willing to take the fall for him. Should we go to the palace and confront him in person? But if we do that, how are we to spread the news?"
Yuan Yunzhong originally didn’t want to bother with him, but thinking that he was Song Jiyun’s right-hand man, he felt he should give him a few pointers. Otherwise, wouldn’t Song Jiyun end up being burdened by his lack of sense in the future?
"Since you know that even if Prince Ning killed someone personally, there would be many willing to take the blame for him," Yuan Yunzhong said indifferently, "then you should realize that in the emperor’s eyes, Song Tao is but a commoner, a grain of sand. Even if she were killed by Prince Ning, so what? Do you really think Prince Ning should apologize to her? Instead of fixating on whether or not Prince Ning killed Song Tao, it would be better to expose Prince Ning’s true colors so that everyone suspects her death is related to him."
"Expose his true colors?" Song Jiyun pondered, "Does that mean you still have evidence of his heinous crimes?"
Yuan Yunzhong nodded slightly, his gaze towards Song Jiyun filled with a profound warmth.
"Indeed!" he said, "Do you know why he would rather support the Hong Family in burning wild kilns than find a legitimate porcelain factory to make his porcelain?"
Song Jiyun and Zhou Zheng were both stunned.
Zhou Zheng had never thought about it at all.
Song Jiyun had a brief moment of puzzlement when Prince Ning’s smuggling case came to light, but he had not thought deeply about it.
Yuan Yunzhong did not aim to test the two men, and he continued, "It’s because of the refugees!"
Song Jiyun felt a jolt in his heart.
Throughout history, refugees have always been one of the roots of social turmoil.
Yuan Yunzhong’s expression became grim, "In recent years, the world has not been at peace. First, there was the poor harvest in Henan, leading to famine among the people, and then there were the officials’ abuses of power, the private opening of gold and silver mines, making the lives of miners unbearable. Although the emperor sent officials to supervise, the long mountains and valleys stretch for thousands of miles between Shaanxi and Jingxiang, and the refugees hiding in the mountains cannot be dealt with overnight. For years, Prince Ning has been harboring those refugees, ostensibly settling them in the Hong Family’s mountain woods to help him burn wild kilns, while in reality, he selects dead soldiers from among them every year and sends them to Shangrao for military training. The former Magistrate of Nanchang happened to learn of this and was thus flogged to death by Prince Ning under some pretext. The Government Subprefect of Nanchang is smart, afraid of being implicated if Prince Ning rebels, as an official of the prince’s territory, he would be coerced and unable to extricate himself, affecting his family and his good name even after death. So, he secretly reported Prince Ning’s smuggling."
"The Wang and Yuan families have many connections throughout the court and government. Someone conveyed this matter to my grandfather’s ears.
"I was conveniently chosen by the emperor as the Inspector General of Jiangxi. My grandfather repeatedly advised me to deliberate carefully before acting. That’s why I sent the staff officer given to me by my maternal grandfather to Nanchang Prefecture and went to Jingde Town myself."
That’s how he came to meet Song Jiyun.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but smile at Song Jiyun.
His handsome features were imposing.
"He dares not act blatantly. Over a decade or so, he has raised just over a thousand dead soldiers. Though they possess some combat strength, they are far from shaking the foundations," Yuan Yunzhong said with a hint of disdain, "I originally thought that since he is petty and vengeful, instead of telling the emperor and having the officials of Nanchang Prefecture implicated, and since Prince Ning would be simply replaced by another, it would be better to let him continue in his position. Having something to hold over him, he would behave. But now, it seems that will not suffice!"
His brows frosted over with a chill, "Instead of engaging him in those inconsequential legal wrangling, it would be better to pull the rug out from under him and replace him as Prince Ning."
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