After listening to his grandchildren's narration, Zhang was silent for a long time before he said with difficulty: "Why do you bother? Such a fanfare inquiry will certainly attract the attention of outsiders, and your grandfather will not be at peace even if he dies. ”

Zhao Xiu disagreed and said: "It's not that we want to disturb the peace of my grandfather after his death, but why my grandfather died, we have to find out." Confused, is it worthy of grandfather? Grandmother, what do you know? Have you long been suspicious of your grandfather's death? Why don't you ever tell us? Even if you think I'm still young and don't need to know about this kind of thing, my brother is not young anymore, and he is the future head of the family, why don't you even talk about him? ”

Zhao Wei looked at Zhang solemnly: "Grandmother, just tell us!" ”

Zhang looked at his grandchildren's expressions, sighed faintly, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Actually, she didn't really know anything. At the beginning, the old county prince died suddenly, and she was grief-stricken. Zhao Jiong accused her of not taking good care of the old county prince, not noticing that he was unwell recently, and even when he died of a sudden illness, he was still drinking and feasting outside. Her mind was completely following his words, and her heart was full of guilt, and she was hit so hard that she fainted. When she came to her senses, she found that Zhao Jiong and his wife excluded their mother and son from the funeral operator, they were sad and angry, and they also complained to others that they didn't let her see the last of the old county princess - that hurried glance, she didn't see anything clearly, and she didn't even notice the bruising that Qiu Ye saw. After Zhao Jiong said this, she was about to take a serious look, Zhao Jiong began to blame her non-stop, Aunt Qian's grandmother pounced on her again, and then Zhao Zhuo argued with her brother for her mother, Niu's ruthless disposal of subordinates, she interceded for subordinates and was scolded, and so on. In the chaos, the white handkerchief on the face of the old county has been re-covered.

When she fainted and woke up, the body of the old county prince had been transported to the mourning hall in the front yard and placed on it. Zhao Jiong and his wife forbade their mother and son to go to mourn and mourn, and only said that she fell ill because of excessive sadness. She was so angry and sad that she didn't think much about it. After all, Imperial Physician Liu came forward and said that the old county prince died of a sudden illness because of the hot weather and the old illness. And that morning, the old county man did complain that the weather was too hot, and the heat was almost fainting—although, most likely, this sentence was just a casual spit from his old man.

It wasn't until Fuling returned to his hometown, was in distress on the road, and finally arrived at Fengxian's hometown that Zhang heard some strange news from Wang Siping, the chief manager of Toucheng.

It turned out that Zhao Jiong and his wife were doing tricks and feet in the Hou Mansion industry, filling their own pockets, and greedy more than 200,000 taels of silver before and after. Even more suspicious is that they seem to have used the silver for something unsightly. The old county prince noticed it, and ordered someone to investigate, and asked Wang Siping to check the accounts. When Wang Siping asked the Niu family for the account books, he may have startled the snake, which aroused their vigilance. They hurriedly went to the old county to find out. That day happened to be the day when the old county prince died. Linked to the difference between Zhao Jiong and Niu after his death, Zhang speculated a possibility.

It's not that Zhao Jiong and the Niu clan did anything to the old county prince, but what they did might make the old county prince angry, and he died suddenly. Probably because they were worried that after being known, they would be accused of unfilial piety and disobedience, so they prevented Zhang and Zhao Zhuo from approaching the corpses everywhere, so as not to be discovered by them, and drove the subordinates who might hear the scolding of the old county prince to the village to prevent them from divulging.

After the death of the old county prince, Zhao Jiong and Niu asked Wang Siping for the account books, and then kicked him back to his hometown. But what Wang Siping gave them was a re-transcribed account book, and the original old accounts were still in his hands. Later, he took the opportunity of returning to Beijing to give New Year's gifts, and quietly found the account books hidden in the secret place and sent them to the Zhang family. After Zhang's search, he found that Zhao Jiong and his wife did do something in the account, and then used the money elsewhere. At that time, she had already heard the news that Zhao Jue had defected to King Ying, and with the rumors that King Ying had been rumoring all along, how could she not guess where the more than 200,000 taels of silver went?

But the account books alone can't prove anything, but because the account is cleverly done, the money is all in the name of the public account, and people who don't know the inside story will never find out that this is Zhao Jiong's personal behavior at first glance. If you rush to hand over the account books, you will have the opportunity to bite back, saying that the more than 200,000 taels were funded by the old county prince to King Ying, but in fact, he wanted to bet on the first emperor and King Ying.

The old prince is a die-hard supporter of the first emperor's throne, and his support is very obvious, which can be said to have directly broken King Ying's dream of being the crown prince, and King Ying will hate him to death in private. If you were a sensible person, you would never think like this. The problem is that the reigning emperor at that time was the first emperor, and he was not a person who understood. When he knew that the old county prince had a meritorious service to him, he still left the old county prince's bereaved family in his hometown and ignored it. If he really had doubts about the old prince's loyalty, God knows what he would do?

Out of the protection of the old county prince's reputation, the Zhang family concealed the matter. Anyway, Zhao Jiong is dead, and there is no point in pursuing his unfilial behavior. Later, Zhao Jue tried his best to help King Ying rebel, but later failed. Today, it was found that Zhao Jiong had funded King Ying's silver, and this part of the money was also returned to the Zhao family by rewarding the land grange. Zhang felt that there was no need to mention this matter again, so he did not talk to his grandchildren in detail.

However, when she saw the Eight Immortals table with broken corners and the abnormalities on the floor of the main house, Zhang began to realize that the death of the old county prince was likely to be more complicated than she imagined. Especially Zhao Xiu's joking sentence "Will it be bloodstains" ignited the doubt in her heart.

If you say...... The old county prince did not die in the main courtyard, but in his own house in the front yard of the West Road......

This is not a strange thing, but it seems that Zhao Jiong and Niu's actions are particularly suspicious. She can remember more than half of the things that Qiu Ye can think of - she doesn't know the rumors of the warm sedan chair and the haunting, but Zhao Jiong repeatedly stopped her from seeing the corpse, which is indeed an out-and-out fact. Do Zhao Jiong and Niu have ghosts in their hearts? Is all they doing just to prevent people from discovering that they have the old county duke? Even if it was just a quick glance, the Zhang family could see that the remains of the old county prince did not show any traces of his anger before his death. And the first emperor once took the princes to mourn, and he must have seen the old county prince. None of them noticed a problem. So what exactly does Zhao Jiong want to cover up?

Zhang guessed that it was the old county prince who had a conflict with Zhao Jiong in anger, and Zhao Jiong pushed his father down in a big way, causing the old father to hit the corner of the table and die? So what the layer of mud on the ground covered up could be the blood shed by the old county prince?

That's why she insisted on having that layer of plaster wiped off. She wanted to know what was underneath, even though she knew in her heart that whether it was blood or something else, it would probably be gone long ago after ten years, but she still wanted an answer.

After saying this, Zhang's eyes turned red again: "If it's true...... It's really as I thought, I won't forgive Zhao Jiong, even if he dies, I can't forgive...... Grandpa Jun is so good to him, he is his biological father! ”

Zhao Wei listened to her words silently, and only then did he speak: "Grandmother, if it is proved that Zhao Jiong really killed his grandfather, what can we do?" He is dead, and he has been robbed of his knighthood and discredited before he died. His son Zhao Jue was also beheaded for rebellion. What else can we do? Is it to hold Niu responsible? And several of their grandchildren, all of whom are fine. ”

Zhang was shocked, and then felt even more uncomfortable.

If she could have thought about it earlier and found out earlier, she might have been able to avenge the old county gazette one day earlier. But now, how can this revenge be avenged? The people who were still alive in Xiaochangfang, except for Zhao Ze, all left the capital, and even the Niu family was sent away by her consent. Zhao Ze was still a child back then, and this matter had nothing to do with him. She has always pitied him, and now even if she knows the truth about her husband's death, she can't be ruthless to take out her anger on him.

Wouldn't she be able to do nothing? The old county prince was so good to her, she couldn't do anything for him! And for one reason or another, let go of the murderer who killed him!

Zhang was instantly overwhelmed by great sadness, and he couldn't cry for a while.

Zhao Xiu watched Zhang's crying like that, and he felt uncomfortable. She leaned over and hugged Zhang: "Grandmother, don't be sad yet, we don't know what is under that ground, maybe...... Things are different from what we think? ”

However, the reality was so cruel that the next day, the craftsmen wiped the layer of plaster off the ground, revealing the ground from ten years ago. When the overseer on Cheng Cheng's side replied to Zhao Wei, he said in a very puzzled tone: "It turns out that the ground is damaged, and it seems that it is caused by weapons." When we were laying the floor of the house that day, we also thought about it, and we had already greeted the house, and if there was any damage, just come and pass it on to us, and our people would come and repair it immediately, without much effort. Why didn't the government call us, but found someone to paste the ground? ”

Zhao Wei naturally wouldn't tell him the truth, so he sent him away casually, and led his sister to the Hou Mansion to see what was going on with the broken floor. Zhang's condition has a tendency to worsen, and they all coincidentally chose to hide this from her for the time being, but quietly brought the old aconite. Although he has not been waiting by the old county prince's side for a long time, after all, he has been the latter's wartime attendant for a long time, and if it is the damage caused by the weapon, he may be able to recognize it.

The old aconitum lived up to his expectations and recognized the marks on the ground. In fact, it was a mess of knife marks on the ground, some deep and some shallow, and the depth was almost three points into the ground. There are also some long, scaly marks, which are much shallower. There were cracks on the sides of several knife marks, proving how powerful the knife was when it slashed into the ground. The old aconitum recognized that the knife marks should be caused by the old county prince's saber. The shape of that knife was peculiar, and when it slashed into the ground, it would create a strange imprint. And in the past, when the house was still a square brick floor, the old county prince once accidentally cut the square bricks with a knife, and the traces left at that time were very similar to the current traces, but they had to be a little deeper. As for the scaly scars, they must have been caused by the horsewhip. Whether it was a saber or a horsewhip, they were all buried with the old county duke.

The old aconitum noticed something was wrong: "What are these?" When did these traces appear? Those ...... in the Knife Is it bloodstains? ”

On the ground near the Eight Immortals' Table, a layer of dark brown was stained in the large and small knife marks, which penetrated deep into the mud layer and could not be wiped off. Later, the layer of plaster was much rougher, so it did not fill in the tiny gaps, but retained the contents of the cracks. Whoever it was, it was clear that his move didn't have the effect he wanted.

Zhao Wei didn't answer the old aconite's words, but asked him sincerely: "Grandpa Wu, what do you think?" Do you think these are bloodstains? ”

The old aconitum did not answer. He was a man who had killed enemy soldiers on the battlefield, so he naturally recognized blood. He looked at the scarred ground, his face tightened, and after a while, he said, "I died early...... Die too cheaply! ”

Zhao Xiu could see that he had guessed the truth, and after thinking about it, he deliberately sighed: "Didn't you die early?" Now everyone is dead, and the one who survives has only half a life left, and the person is not in the capital. It's too late to pursue it now. Grandpa Wu, what do you say...... What is this called? ”

The old black head had a dark face, and his heart was full of depression. Zhao Wei asked people to send him back without asking him to keep it secret, so no one knows what he will say to people when he goes back. Zhao Wei already understood his sister's intentions.

They returned to the mansion and reported the results to the Zhang family.

Judging from the situation at the scene, it is probably that the old county prince was angry because of something, and he casually slashed his son and daughter-in-law with a knife, but he just vented his anger and did not mean to kill, otherwise he would not have cut so many knives, and the knife went to the ground, but he didn't see Zhao Jiong's body injured. However, Zhao Jiong probably didn't think so, he probably pushed his father, causing the old county prince to hit his head on the corner of the table and die. At that time, the old county prince probably shed a lot of blood, and the blood seeped into the knife marks on the surface, Zhao Jiong and Niu were in a hurry to remove the old county prince's body, pretending that he died in the main courtyard, so they only blocked the front yard of the West Road in a hurry, but they did not have time to clean up the scene. Then he was busy with the funeral, reporting to the palace, and welcoming the emperor's condolences...... It wasn't until three days later that they had time to sneak into the hospital in the middle of the night, fetch water to wash the blood on the ground, and sprinkle paper money to pray because of their weak hearts, but they met the mother-in-law who was patrolling the night. The old family members who heard the news the next day saw the cleaned scene, so they didn't notice anything unusual. But it was seen from the gate of the courtyard, and if it was close, everyone would notice the knife marks on the ground, and they would naturally notice that there was a problem. Zhao Jiong and Niu's hearts were weak-hearted, and they didn't dare to call the craftsmen of the style to repair it, so they had to find another henchman or even do it themselves, and used shoddy plaster to paste the surface and cover up the traces of the scene.

After listening to all the reasoning of Zhao Wei and Zhao Xiu, Zhang covered his chest, only feeling a little breathless: "Livestock...... Beast! ”

Zhao Wei said softly: "Sun Er has already ordered someone to find that Doctor Liu." When I find him, I hope there will be evidence. ”

"What if there is evidence?" Zhang said with tears in her eyes, "We can't take revenge...... choked for a moment, and then she said, "Tell you Brother Qixuan and let him send Zhao Ze away." Let the child go out to live. I knew that it had nothing to do with him, but when I thought of what his grandfather and mother had done...... I don't want to see him again! ”

Zhao Wei naturally agreed, and persuaded her to be relieved. Finally calmed the person down, and when he got out of the house, he looked at Zhao Xiu with some doubts: "Why didn't my sister speak?" Grandmother is so sad, you can persuade her. ”

Zhao Xiu was a little depressed: "Zhao Ze's biological mother killed our father and mother, and my grandmother still thinks Zhao Ze is innocent and takes more care of him everywhere." But now as soon as my grandmother knows that Zhao Ze's grandfather and grandmother may have killed our grandfather, even if my grandmother knows that Zhao Ze has nothing to do with this matter, she will send him away. In my grandmother's heart, is my grandfather more important than our father? More important than all people and things? ”

Zhao Wei sighed: "In my grandmother's opinion, there is nothing more important than my grandfather. You should have understood it a long time ago. ”

Zhao Xiu actually knows it, but when he really faces this strong differential treatment, he still complains in his heart. She took a deep breath, put all her grievances away, cheered up, and turned her head to look at her brother: "Brother, although things have changed, Zhao Jiong is dead, but the enemy is still alive." If we don't do anything, we will only be angry with ourselves, so why don't we think about it, how can we take a breath? ”