The Zhong family was the one who ended up better in the court purge after King Ying's rebellion. Whether it was the emperor or the crown prince, they all gave the king of Guangping a lot of face, and the Dali Temple and the Criminal Department did not find clear evidence that the Zhong family participated in the rebellion, so they did not pursue the Zhong family's crimes.

At least on the bright side, the Zhong family is "innocent".

On the one hand, the Zhong family cleared the human and physical evidence early, and among the sinners who were caught, it was not that no one confessed to them, but the problem is that the Zhong family actually took refuge in the faction of the six princes of Zhu Lifei, and they thought that it was the six princes who wanted to be the new emperor, so they would bother to allow their daughter over, even if it was just a side concubine. The problem is that Zhu Lifei and the Six Princes are just tools and shields in the hands of King Ying, and King Ying only intends to use them to get rid of other competitors from the beginning, and then fight backwards and step on their blood to ascend to the throne. He didn't tell the Zhong family the truth, and he also had the intention of using the Zhong family, and even Ma Wanyan was said to be hiding it from his brother-in-law's family. It is conceivable that even if the crown prince is really murdered and King Ying succeeds in ascending the throne, the Zhong family's dream will not come true.

Now the eldest master of the Zhong family is justifying himself with this fact. He said that he was definitely not an accomplice against the party, otherwise how could he let his daughter be the side concubine of the Six Princes? Isn't that a clear indication that it won't end well? As for whether this marriage means that his Zhong family is a fellow party of Zhu Lifei's faction, he also has something to say: The marriage is the will of the palace and the emperor, how dare they, as subordinates, disobey? This is entirely because his daughter is too good, so she will be favored by the palace, and it has nothing to do with their family itself!

Master Zhong was in the whole process of interrogation. I have been using such and such statements to justify myself. The people from the Criminal Department and Dali Temple also knew that he was definitely not innocent, but firstly, they could not find any clear evidence, and secondly, his statement seemed to have some truth. In addition, there are too many people involved in the rebellion case, and some of them have people to interrogate, except for a son-in-law who directly participated in the murder of the prince, the Zhong family has no particularly prominent behavior, even if it is really an accomplice against the party, it must be a small role, so they sent him away. The other suspects were interrogated.

Of course, Ma Wanyan didn't have this luck, and he had already been dragged out of the noon gate and beheaded. And he almost killed the crown prince, and the emperor was even more resentful of him, and directly ordered that his family was not allowed to collect the body. He was asked to expose his body for three days after his death. His wife, Xiao Zhong, cried and pleaded with her mother's family. But Master Zhong was weak-hearted, and in order to protect himself, he didn't hear it. Xiao Zhong was also unwilling to leave his children behind, and was even more chilled by the ruthlessness of his siblings, and took his children on the road of exile. Before leaving, Zhong Shi, the princess of Guangping, also privately sent someone to send her mother and son trays, dry food and clothes. Xiao Zhong cried at the visitor, asking her to convey her apologies to her sister, she really didn't know that her husband would harm her nephew.

Although the Zhong family and the Ma family have drawn a clear line. But don't think that Master Zhong can really escape, the meaning in the palace is very simple. Since there is no evidence to prove that you are guilty, then the court will spare your family for the sake of your sister-in-law, but as a person suspected of rebellion, you are not suitable to continue to stay in the court as an official, save face for you, and you can resign yourself.

Master Zhong has been complaining to the yamen for the past two months under the pretext of being infected with the wind and cold, and he has not gone back to work on an errand, and naturally he has not submitted his resignation. He still held on to the hope that his sister would be able to dissipate her anger and help him say good things in front of King Guangping, and then ask King Guangping to go to the emperor and the crown prince to say good things for him.

The king of Guangping once took time out of the palace, returned to the palace to visit his wife and children several times, and also stayed at home for a few days, but each time he quickly returned to the palace. The crown prince has too many things to do, and the emperor can't leave people, although Concubine Jiang Shufei can serve the sick, but in terms of political sensitivity, Concubine Jiang Shufei is far inferior to her two sons. King Quang Binh was reluctant to take risks and did not dare to leave the emperor's side for too long. When he returned home, he had communicated with his wife about the problems of the Zhong family, and the princess Zhong could be said to be grateful to her husband for what she did. The Zhong family was able to keep their innocent reputation and leave the court safely, which was already the emperor's special kindness. She was even ashamed of this, because the Zhong family did participate in the rebellion, although they were used, they also indirectly brought harm to the prince, but they were able to escape punishment with a good life, which was entirely because of their own relationship.

I don't know if this shame has brought her a lot of pressure, and Zhong's condition has recurred after it has improved.

When Zhao Xiu went to visit her, he felt that her spirit was obviously not as good as before, although she would still laugh happily when she talked about more pleasant things, but from time to time she would start to wander, and then her mood suddenly deteriorated. Zhao Xiu didn't know much about the inside story of some things, but she had also heard the anecdote that the emperor asked the prince to marry the Marquis of Shanyin, and she also knew that the daughter of the Zhong family was the first choice for the Marquis of Shanyin, she guessed if the Zhong family would be worried because of this matter, and she didn't dare to ask lightly, so she could only carefully talk about some topics that had nothing to do with it, so that Zhong's attention could be diverted to other places.

This method should still work, and Zhong's attention was really attracted to the mansion where the Zhao family was given back: "That mansion has not been inhabited for almost ten years, since the Internal Affairs Office has sent the key to your family, it is best for your brothers and sisters to pick a day with good weather, go over and take a look first, there may be many places that need to be renovated." If the house has been inhabited, even if it has been ten or eight years, the change is not too great, on the contrary, the more uninhabited, the more damaged it is. There are only two of your brothers and sisters, and now there are few people in the family, so while the old lady has not yet gone to Beijing, let's find some people to repair the house first. If you don't have the money for a while, just tell me. ”

Zhao Xiu hurriedly thanked her, and seeing that she seemed to be quite interested in this topic, he hurriedly humbly asked her for more advice.

Zhong Shi told her again: "The wealth of the Grange is just returned, and the important things are just sealed, and the other belongings are probably not the original things, but they are just found to make up for it." When the Ministry of Internal Affairs sends the roster, you just have to bring the same people to point it out and then handle the handover. There are too many things to be delivered in one day, and if you are too haphazard, the people in the Internal Affairs Office will think that you are so foolish, and on the second or third day, they will send some things that are almost there. Have you not suffered a great loss? Don't think that your family is now receiving holy favor, those people don't dare to play tricks, and they still dare to coax the emperor's relatives and relatives. What's more, you? Although your brother has taken the throne, he is still young, and it will be at least a few years before he wants to win a little power in the court, and he has no reliable in-laws and old friends, so they don't care much about your family. As long as it is reasonable on the surface, even if you sue the emperor. They also have something to prevaricate, and it is you who really suffer. ”

Zhao Xiu thought so, after all, their family had now received a reward from the emperor. Naturally, they will receive whatever they send from above, can they still find fault with the quality and value of the things given by the emperor? Even if the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent a broken block, as long as the emperor doesn't say that there is a problem. They can only bear it. Chung's reminder is very useful. Originally, she hadn't thought about it, and she had to take stock of the things given by the emperor on the list.

Zhong also had something to say about the slaves that were rewarded: "Except for some of them that were made up later, most of them should be people who were used by your family in the past." When the emperor ordered someone to seal up the Hou Mansion, our prince persuaded him, saying that this title will still be handed over to your brother in the future, since it is the person who the old county prince and the old lady are used to, it is better not to assign people elsewhere at will. I didn't expect this matter to drag on for years. Those people walked and scattered. The dead are dead, and the rest are not very reliable. Your brother and sister need to know this in their hearts, not that the old man is necessarily good. ”

Zhao Xiu understood what she meant, when the two houses were separated, the family members who would be left in the Hou Mansion were either biased towards Zhao Jiong's side, or completely neutral, the latter did not care who the owner was, as long as there were errands, food, and monthly money, it made no difference to them who was in charge. Regarding what Zhao Jiong's family did to Zhao Zhuo and his wife, they might talk about the master in private, but that's all. Those who are more loyal to the Zhang family either followed along, or were driven out of the house by the Niu family one after another, and their whereabouts are unknown. When the Hou Mansion was seized, Niu's mother and son only took away some of the servants and henchmen they were used to, and the composition of the rest was inexplicable. If the Internal Affairs Office sends these people back to the Zhao family now, then Zhao Xiu really doesn't dare to trust them too much.

Zhao Xiu said to the Zhong family: "Because it was given by the emperor, my brother and I didn't dare to sell people at will, but only let them wait in the outer courtyard or send them to the grange, it should be no problem, right?" ”

Zhong smiled: "Of course not, this method is good, as long as you remember, don't let them touch your brothers and sisters' food and tea for the time being, it doesn't matter if you do some chores in the outer courtyard." Take a closer look, if a few of them can be used, they can be honest, and then they can be transferred to the inner courtyard to summon them. Although the things on the old accounts can't fall into your hands, you know how much the Zhuangzi produces in a year, and you are not afraid of being fooled in the future. ”

Zhao Xiu obediently answered, asked her a few more questions, and saw that she seemed to be a little tired, so he got up and left.

Zhong talked to Zhao Xiu for a long time, and his mood calmed down a lot, and he smiled and said to her: "Just come over when you are free, I am bored in the house all day long, you can still talk to me when you come." ”

Zhao Xiu agreed with a smile.

Just as she was about to leave, Yanxia came in with a tense face: "Princess, the second uncle's wife ordered someone to send some supplements into the house, saying that their family is really going to leave Beijing, and they still want to come and say goodbye to the princess in person." ”

Zhong was stunned and sighed.

Second Master Zhong is actually her cousin, and the couple are also enthusiastic about fame and fortune, but they are slightly thinner than her brother and sister-in-law. Although the emperor and the crown prince did not pursue the fault of the Zhong family, they also had no intention of letting the Zhong family continue to be officials in the court. He was also the same as his cousin that day, because of the abdication of King Guangping, he regretted that the sixth prince was going to ascend the throne, so he pushed his daughter up to be a side concubine, but he was preempted by his eldest niece Zhong Yazhi. He had already lost the battle with others, but later the six princes and King Ying were defeated one after another, and he knew that his career was over, and it was an unexpected joy to be able to save his life, how could he dare to expect anything else? He didn't have the cheekiness of his cousin, and he thought that he could continue to be rich and prosperous.

But he also can't forgive his cousin who calculated him at the beginning, and the second Mrs. Zhong wants to excuse her resignation and repeatedly ask to see Zhong, which is also for this purpose.

If the Marquis of Shanyin wants to marry a wife, why should he harm other people's good girls? In the past, the candidate for the main room selected by Zhu Lifei for her son could not be married, and the candidate for the side room could make up for it, so there was no problem. Now that the status of the Marquis of Sanyin has declined, it is still very compatible to have a girl from an official family who is related to the royal family to marry him. Although Zhong Yazhi is four years older than the Marquis of Shanyin, the emperor wants to marry his youngest son early, isn't he worried about his future life? Give him an older wife, just enough to take care of his food and daily life in the future. Besides, the Zhong family is the in-law of King Guangping, and with this marriage, the emperor can rest assured that his youngest son is in danger.

Although Mrs. Zhong's words are very reasonable, the Zhong family really doesn't want to talk about this matter, and the mother's family doesn't seem to be scheming for a moment, she is really bad at the moment.

Zhao Xiu quietly exited the room, sighed secretly in his heart, and turned around, only to find that Gao Zhen was standing at the foot of the steps for some time, as if waiting for her. (To be continued......)