Chapter 14: Conspiracy, a bastard, a third-generation ancestor
Liu Ziye pondered why Fu Zhen'er had been imprisoned in the Marquis's residence by the original owner, and decided he needed to explain to Du Hui: "I... I was out relaxing and ran into the Fu family's only son in the north of Xisai Lake. I... saw his handsome face and felt a desire to become sworn brothers, so I brought him back."
Brought it back?
Du Hui really wanted to correct his choice of words. Young Marquis, this is not "bringing", this is kidnapping!
Oh, no, my head hurts a little!
He rubbed his brows, feeling worried, but he had to force himself to think of a solution.
Liu Ziye was also a little embarrassed. Judging from the description of the situation by Zhao Zhao, another personal guard of the former owner who was temporarily detained, and the fact that the former owner was actually a woman, he guessed that the former owner was temporarily bewitched by the only son of the Fu family and insisted on bringing him back with the intention of befriending him...
But what else can she do now?
Isn't it her fault? I can only bear this burden for the time being and postpone the discussion.
Putting aside what happens next, she and Du Hui are planning to deal with the Fu family, the head of the powerful clan. It is time to unite the powerful clans in Yucheng to implement the next action of the Marquis' Mansion.
If this incident were to get out, it would be another serious damage to the reputation of the young Marquis of Xiguan, which was already not very good.
In other words, regardless of whether they wanted to unite with the Fu family or not, her morality points would be deducted by 100 points at once.
And now, because she has also placed the pressure on the local clans to invest the points she redeemed to earn a return, if this matter is not resolved, all her 150 points investment will be wasted!
Oh, don’t mention the health value. It will be deducted as a negative number and you will die on the spot.
"Mr. Du, our previous agreement to return the unpaid salaries and honors owed by the Governor's Office to the people and the powerful families of Yucheng, if we bypass the Fu family, is it still possible to complete it within fifteen days?" Liu Ziye asked him.
In his previous life, the patriarch of the Fu family rebelled against the imperial court out of grief and anger because his only son died in the palace.
If he knew now that his beloved only son had been locked up in the palace by the original owner and tortured to the point of being unrecognizable, this feud with the Fu family would be difficult to resolve.
If they could nurse Fu Zhen'er back to basic health and send her back safely, perhaps the situation wouldn't have been so ugly.
But it is almost impossible to unite and conspire together.
Du Hui thought for a moment and shook his head: "No."
"Few households in Xiguan County migrated from other counties. Those who live here are mostly descendants of long-standing families. Although Yucheng is the largest city in Xiguan County, it only has two thousand households, which is about the same size as a county in other counties within the Great Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, the number of these large families is extremely small. The Fu clan, with a thousand households, could easily fill half of Yucheng. As long as we still want to rely on the power of the large families, we can't avoid the Fu clan."
Du Hui didn't know that if this matter was exposed, it would not only add to the young marquis's already bad reputation, but would also directly threaten Liu Ziye's survival.
He thought for a moment and said, "The Fu clan has always strictly followed the lineage of direct lineage according to the family tree. Although this Fu clan leader's only son rarely appears to handle matters within or outside the clan, he is considered by the Fu clan members to be the undisputed choice for the next clan leader. Whether from the perspective of Fu clan leader's only son or from the perspective of ordinary Fu clan members, Fu Zhen'er's importance cannot be ignored."
"Now that Fu Zhen'er is in our house and has caused such a disaster, the relationship between our Xiguan Marquisate and the Fu family will be unresolved in the short term because of Fu Zhen'er's incident."
After analyzing all this, Du Hui sincerely suggested, "Young Marquis, if you really want to do something, there's no need to rush into it. You can postpone the alliance with the great families of Yucheng and work on it slowly and gradually."
However……
"no."
Liu Ziye said decisively.
From Du Hui's perspective, his suggestion is indeed correct and is even a more reliable approach.
But Du Hui didn't know that he only had fifteen days to live, nor did he know that this winter would be a critical point in which the fate of Xiguan County would completely change.
By next year, both he and Xiguan County would be finished, so what would the point be?
"this……"
Du Hui was speechless for a moment, unable to understand why the young marquis was so persistent and anxious.
However, this time, he did not let his thoughts wander, because his eyes were unconsciously drawn to the young marquis sitting across from him.
At this time, Liu Ziye was deep in thought, with a look of concentration and coldness between his brows.
The sunlight from outside the study window shines through the carved window lattice and shines on his profile, outlining clear and undulating lines with a soft golden glow.
When had Du Hui ever seen such a calm and serious young marquis?
For a moment, I was stunned.
After a moment, Liu Ziye's eyes shifted within the shadows, then fixed on Du Hui again. He simply said, "Please, Mr. Du, tell Pan Yi and Iberly that I abducted the Fu family's only son for no reason and detained him in the former Xiguan Palace. His life is now hanging by a thread."
Du Hui was stunned again when he heard this.
He thought for a moment, then nodded: "Du understands."
He was not completely unaware of such a plan, but in his opinion, there was no need for the young marquis to take such an urgent risk.
But for some reason, at this moment he no longer wanted to care about the little marquis's intentions or whether it was necessary.
Whatever he wants to do, let him do it.
No matter what, Du Hui can always handle this little storm for him.
·
The former treasury of the Xiguan Palace is located in the eastern half of the palace.
Because the palace had never completely filled up this treasury built according to the specifications of the palace, many of the treasury items had not been used for many years and were difficult to clean out at once. The housekeeper simply asked people to temporarily move some of the charcoal transported from the governor's mansion to the shabby earthen house used for punishment and temporary detention.
Although Pan Yi has completed his own strategy, he believes that everything that has been moved to the Xiguanhou Mansion will eventually become his possession.
But given his status, he certainly wouldn't do it all himself from beginning to end.
At this moment, he was sitting comfortably in the guest hall of the Xiguan Governor's Mansion, with warm charcoal basins all over the room, and he was enjoying Iberi's banquet again.
"Come, come, Captain Pan, you've worked hard all day, have some warm wine to relieve your fatigue!"
Iberi filled Pan Yi's glass with warm wine. He knew very well what Captain Pan was planning with the things that were moved from the Governor's Mansion and his own private vault to the Marquis of Xiguan's Mansion, but he still smiled at him.
"Prefect Yi is so kind, Pan offers you a toast!"
I thought to myself, you can’t blame me for this. I didn’t steal it from your family’s treasury. It was you who lost it before I was about to take action because you couldn’t keep an eye on it!
Both of them had their own ulterior motives and finished the cup.
Of course, at the moment, the two of them still have use for each other, especially before the order from Yanjing returns to Xiguan County, Pan Yi still needs to rely on the soldiers of the governor's mansion to accomplish things.
He put down his wine glass and offered his friendship, "The soldiers of the Governor's Mansion have endured a lot of hardship over the past period of time. Pan Yi is not a stingy person. After this matter is over, I will definitely not treat them unfairly! Of course, I will also record Governor Yi's major achievements in the report of the Yanjing Imperial Guards and submit it to Your Majesty for your perusal!"
Iberly raised his eyebrows and said, "Then I will have more Captain Pan."
While the two were talking, a guard accompanied by two palace soldiers came in and reported, "Captain Pan, at the Xiguan Marquis's mansion, our brothers have discovered something concerning Xiguan Marquis, and we've come to report it!"
When they heard that it was about Marquis Xiguan, Pan Yi and Iberly stopped talking for a moment and signaled the imperial guards and palace soldiers to continue reporting.
"When we were in and out of the Xiguan Marquis's mansion, moving his stuff, the little guard at the temporary warehouse told us that someone was imprisoned in that temporary warehouse where we were moving the charcoal box two hours ago!"
"We thought that if we could find out more about the Marquis's Mansion's secrets, it might be useful to Captain Pan and Lord Yi, so we secretly gave the young guard a few strings of cash, and the guard gave us everything!"
"It turns out that the person imprisoned in that warehouse with even the windows sealed on all sides was actually Fu Zhen'er, the only son of Fu Mingyi of the Yucheng Fu clan!"
“Snap—”
The chopsticks fell to the ground, and Iberly confirmed in disbelief: "The only son of the Fu family, Fu Zhener?"
Pan Yi was not familiar with the situation in Xiguan County or even Yucheng, and was still confused at this time.
One of the two palace soldiers replied, "Yes, Lord Yi, it's the only son of the Fu family who the entire Fu family has been searching for all over the city for two months, but there's still no trace of him!"
"Where is Fu Zhen'er now?"
The palace guard reported again, "I heard from the young steward that Fu Zhen'er had been locked up in that room for two months. Perhaps today, Xiguan Hou finally recovered from a serious illness and remembered this person. He ordered people to carry Fu Zhen'er out, claiming in public that he was going to treat him. But the steward said that he saw with his own eyes that when the only son of the Fu family was carried out, he was no longer in human form. His limbs looked... already stiff!"
Iberly walked around the wine table and walked towards the front hall. He looked at the palace soldier who responded and asked, "Is the news true?"
"No mistake."
"I specifically found two people from the prince's palace who were in and out of this temporary treasury, and offered them some favors individually. I confirmed separately that what the young steward said was true!"
"good."
Iberly's face was filled with joy: "You did a great job. I just spent a certain amount of money. I'll go to the governor's office later and double the amount!"
The palace soldier was delighted: "Thank you, sir!"
Iberly added, "Also, send someone to Fu Mingyi's home right now and tell him everything about how his precious only son was imprisoned and died in the Marquis's mansion!"
It was a pity that Iberi had even suspected whether something beyond his control had happened to the former Prince of Xiguan, now the young Marquis of Xiguan, and whether he had been deceived.
But it turned out to be that bastard third generation rich kid!
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