There are some things that you can't think about in detail, and when you think about them, the more you think about them, the more terrible they feel.

Zhang was silent for a long time before he said in a hoarse voice, "Impossible, right? Zhao Jiong can't do this kind of thing, after all, the county grandfather is old, he fought on the battlefield when he was young, and he did have a lot of injuries, but he couldn't see it from the outside. ”

Zhang Chaoyi sneered: "The imperial doctor just asked his brother-in-law to maintain it, when did you mention that he was worried about his life?" Sister, think about it, after your brother-in-law goes, can you take a closer look at the body? Is there really nothing abnormal at all? ”

Zhang couldn't answer his question, because she didn't really see her husband for the last time, she was celebrating her birthday in the Zhuguo General's Mansion, and she didn't know anything about the family, and when Wang Siping sent someone to invite her back to the house, Zhao Jiong and his wife had already decorated the county grandfather and moved it into the coffin. The county grandfather is old, and the coffin used has been prepared a long time ago, and the shrouds and shoes are also redone every year, all of which are ready-made. Just because the Dragon Boat Festival had passed at that time, the weather was getting hotter and hotter day by day, and there was not enough ice in Jiannanhou's mansion, in order to prevent the corpse from degrading too much, Zhao Jiong and Niu's had done all the relevant work early. When Zhang returned home, she saw her husband with a white cloth on his face, and she wanted to pounce on her husband's corpse and cry bitterly in grief, but was stopped by Niu, and cried and asked her to mourn. She didn't think about it at the time, and then fainted from grief, and when she woke up, the coffin board was nailed shut.

Now that I think about it, things really didn't go right. The Dragon Boat Festival is already very hot, according to the rules of previous years, the ice cubes that should have been prepared should have been put into storage, but this year's Fuzhong Ice Storage is Niu's division, she said no, Zhang's at most is suspicious that she is not familiar with the old rules of housework at the beginning, or deliberately opposite the step-mother-in-law, but Jingzhong is not a place where ice is not sold, there is no inventory at home, can't you buy it now? How much is a few pieces of ice worth? It's just a drop in the bucket for the Jiannan Hou Mansion, how could they not find ice to preserve the corpse of the county grandfather, so that before the emperor sent someone to mourn, Zhao Jiong and his wife nailed the coffin of their deceased father first?

The more Zhang thinks about it, the more terrible he feels, this is different from Zhao Jiong's intention to kill her and Zhao Zhuo's family, she is a stepmother, Zhao Zhuo and Zhao Jiong are half-brothers, and there is also a dispute of interests in the inheritance of the title, Zhao Jiong killed them, it can be a desire for profit, it can be to cut off future troubles, but the county grandfather is Zhao Jiong's biological father, and he has always loved Zhao Jiong, regardless of the opposition of the Yuan match, Zhao Jiong is recorded in her name, and he is counted as a concubine, please seal the son, after the stepfamily gave birth to a son-in-law, he never thought of depriving the eldest son of the throne, Such a loving father who thinks about Zhao Jiong, Zhao Jiong has no reason to harm him at all.

Zhang told Zhang Chaoyi of his thoughts, and said: "I know that you hate him viciously in your heart, but this kind of rebellious thing, how can you say it lightly without evidence?" In that case, even if we were reasonable, we would be regarded as unreasonable. ”

Zhang Chaoyi also understood that what he said was a bit shocking, but he just felt very suspicious: "It's not that I'm too careful, Zhao Jiong may not have done such a rebellious thing." My sister will return to the capital in the future, and she must find the person who was on duty at home that day to ask clearly, maybe Zhao Jiong has something to anger her brother-in-law? He may not have done it on purpose, but his stupid appearance, or maybe he did something stupid to make his brother-in-law angry and cause his brother-in-law's old illness to relapse, and it is unknown. Didn't the Imperial Doctor Liu they invited always be good friends with their roommate? The year before last, I went to Beijing to visit my sister and brother-in-law, and in ten days, I could see Imperial Doctor Liu running to the house to diagnose the people in Xiaochangfang three or four times. Maybe there were any traces left on his brother-in-law's corpse, he helped cover it up, otherwise, why didn't Zhao Jiong even let his sister see the last side of his brother-in-law, so he nailed the coffin to death? ”

Zhang's frowned, and he was also a little suspicious, it is certain that Imperial Doctor Liu and Xiao Changfang have a good relationship, in fact, the county grandfather has another used imperial doctor, but when the accident happened that day, Zhao Jiong invited Imperial Doctor Liu, she didn't think there was anything at the time, but now that she thinks about it, it is really unreasonable.

She promised her younger brother, and when she returned to Beijing, she would find the subordinates who were on duty in the mansion on the day of the death of the county grandfather to ask them clearly, if this doubt could be solved as soon as possible, but these subordinates may not be so easy to find. She remembered that not long after that, she and her son, daughter-in-law and grandson were driven to live in a side courtyard, and the people waiting around them were almost scattered.

Zhang Chaoyi saw that Zhang agreed, and felt quite satisfied. He just felt that Zhao Jiong was very suspicious of the death of the county grandfather, so he pretended to be a shroud in a hurry, and he couldn't even wait for his stepmother who went out to attend the banquet to come back, the so-called abnormality is a demon, and Zhao Jiong couldn't have no problem at all.

He got into today's topic again: "Sister, no matter what the final result is, Zhao Jiong is immoral and incompetent, and he is already unbearable to be the Marquis of Jiannan, should my sister write to the emperor and ask for the title to be taken back?" ”

Zhang was stunned: "Title? Take it back? She didn't understand what Zhang Chaoyi meant: "Brother, Zhuo'er is no longer alive, who will you give the title to?" ”

"To Brother Wei!" Zhang Chaoyi hated iron and steel, "The title should have been passed on to the son-in-law, if it wasn't for the brother-in-law's preference for the eldest son, the one who inherited the title of Marquis of Jiannan should be the nephew!" He is gone, so naturally his eldest son Wei Ge'er will inherit him. My good sister, haven't you thought about it? Brother Wei is still young now, he has no parents, although you are a grandmother, but you are not young anymore, and you are a widow, how many years can you take care of him? I don't think Brother Wei'er is in good spirits, presumably because he fell into the water this time and hurt his vitality, aren't you worried about his future future? If there is a knighthood, he is not afraid of not having a good life in the future. ”

Zhang's heart was in turmoil for a while, she was the daughter of a scholarly family, and she always thought that only reading the imperial examination was the right way, so her son Zhao Zhuo had the talent to read, she didn't think that he couldn't be the son of the world, and she was looking forward to him being able to enter the imperial examination in the future, enter the cabinet and worship the prime minister, and the position of the marquis was just a few hundred taels of silver and rice a year, plus a set of ceremonial dresses of the previous dynasty. The son is dead, and the grandson is also smart and studious, so continue to take the examination, and there will be a great minister in the future. She really didn't want her grandson to snatch that title.

Zhang Chaoyi and Zhang's mother, compatriots, are also from a scholarly family, how can they not know her thoughts? He sighed: "Sister, even if you have a title, you can still study hard, Emperor Taizu did not prohibit people with honors and lords from taking the imperial examination, but they are more strict than others, and they can't be shortlisted for the top three, Brother Wei doesn't actually have to fight for this title, so what's the harm with having the title of Marquis of Jiannan?" If he doesn't want this title, who will he give it to? Zhao Jiong made such a big mistake, how could he be allowed to show off his power in the name of Jiannan Marquis? If the emperor takes away his knighthood, will it be possible to cheapen his son? Let his son continue to step on the heads of Brother Wei's brothers and sisters? Not disgusting enough! ”

Zhang's thinking about that situation is really disgusting. But if the title is lost like this, no one in the Zhao family will inherit it, and it is impossible for the emperor to respect the county grandfather, and it will also disgrace the reputation of the Zhao family and the county grandfather. In this way, the best result is indeed to let Zhao Wei inherit the knighthood.

After thinking about it again, Zhang made a solemn decision: "I will write to King Guangping and ask him to come forward and mention this matter to the emperor." ”

Zhang Chaoyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Today, the queen of the main palace has no children, and there is only one princess under her knees, Princess Nanyang, who died before she was a minor, and among the princes, the eldest prince was born in the palace, and he died early when he was still the prince, and he didn't even have a serious title; The biological mother of the second prince, King Yanling, is a concubine, and her talent is mediocre, her temperament is cowardly, and she is useless; The third prince is the king of Guangping, and his biological mother Jiang Shufei also gave birth to the fourth prince, King Le'an, who is the highest status among the concubines of the prince; The biological mother of the five princes, Concubine Wang Xian, was once favored, but because she was rude to the queen, she had been thrown into the cold palace, and even the five princes were not treated by the emperor; The sixth prince was born to the most favored Zhu Lifei at the moment, and he is still a milk doll, so he can't see what will happen in the future. Among these princes, King Guangping is currently the most favored and reused by the emperor, and the government and the opposition are very optimistic about him as the prince, presumably in two or three years, he will be officially canonized.

There is a future prince to support the Zhang family, and he is not afraid that the second room will not be able to fight Zhao Jiong's family.

As soon as Zhang returned to the old mansion, he talked to Wang Siping, the guard commander of the Guangping Palace, and Zhang Chaoyi for a long time, and he was already very tired, and the tiredness on his face couldn't be concealed at this time. Seeing this, Zhang Chaoyi retired first, planning to come over to eat with her later.

But Zhang Chaoyi left, but Wang Siping, who had been standing silently on the side, did not leave. He looked up at Zhang several times, wanting to speak and stopping, but he refused to speak.

Zhang didn't bother to play any tricks with him: "Lao Wang, if you have something to say, don't look like this." ”

Wang Siping took a step forward at this time, bent his waist lower, and his voice was almost inaudible: "Old lady, you just told the second uncle and the old lady that the Hou Ye has no reason to disobey the county grandfather, and it will not be unfavorable to the county grandfather, in fact...... There are reasons for that. ”

Zhang's whole body was shocked, and he looked at him in disbelief.

Wang Siping knew that he had no way out, took a deep breath, and said solemnly: "Old lady, you also know that on the day when the county grandfather died suddenly, the old slave took his old man's order to take the account, and he heard the bad news halfway through the inventory. In fact...... The accounts of the shops in the East Fourth Archway of the old slave plate have always been in charge of the Hou Ye and his wife. The county grandfather was so angry that he said that there was a shortage of 200,000 taels of silver in the account, and let the Hou Ye spend it where it shouldn't be, and let the old slave check it. Before the old slave went to the account room, the lady asked for the account books, and they asked the old slave what they wanted to do, and the old slave honestly replied that it was the county grandfather who wanted to ask, and they were a little panicked at the time, although they handed over the account books, they also immediately rushed to see the county grandfather, maybe it was for this matter, which made the county grandfather angry, and it was not known. ”

Zhang's family was a little stunned, she knew that after she gave birth to her son, the county grandfather gave him the property to manage in order to appease the eldest son's heart, and the ownership was still in the public school, and only let his husband and wife eat interest, and they could be subsidized at least 6,000 taels of silver every year.

In order to avoid suspicion, she has always been ignorant of these shops, only knowing that they are very profitable, and there are 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver a year, but for some reason, since a few years ago, the income has decreased significantly, and last year there were only 40,000 taels in total, but the reason is inexplicable, and I don't see that their business is bad. If Zhao Jiong and his wife are selfish and greedy for the money in the public for private money, it is not impossible, with the favor of the eldest son of the county grandfather, at most it is a lesson, why are they so angry?

Where did Zhao Jiong spend his money?