Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2217 Much the same 7.0

Seeing Shen Haolin and Shen Cha looking at him, Qi Bo and Meilin also looking at him, Qin Zheng raised his eyebrows.

"Why are you so surprised? I know about this case. Is it strange?"

"It's not strange, but I just find it incredible." Shen Cha smiled and said, "Second Grandfather should be the youngest child of the Emperor's grandfather's generation, right? Although he is of a high generation, he is not very old. He should be about the same age as Master, Uncle Yan, and Uncle Qi?"

"That's a bit different. Although we seem to be about the same now, that's because your second grandfather is good at taking care of himself. Even if he is really down and out, he has never suffered any great grievances or hardships. He looks much better than us who often live in the open air. In fact, your second grandfather is ten years older than us!" Qin Zheng looked at Yan Bo and Qi Bo, "Isn't it?"

"Yes!" Qi Bo nodded. "Although he had to leave Xijing City and change his name because of Ningchang State, his family would never treat him badly. With the care of the eldest princess, he lived a very comfortable life. In the past few years, he was just not very happy because Ningchang State had not yet collapsed. But after his family was completely ruined, do you think he has regained some of his youth?"

Shen Haolin, Shen Cha and Meilin looked at each other, thought about Mr. Jiang's current appearance, and nodded at the same time.

"Once, you can infer that when he was killing people in Jiangning Prefecture and turning the Jiangnan officialdom upside down, I was only about two or three years old." Qin Zheng sighed softly and said, "In my memory, during that period, the adults in the family were very busy. They didn't even eat together every day, and they were all restless. As for what they said, I don't remember it anymore."

"That's for sure. People don't remember much when they are two or three years old!" Merlin held his cheek and looked at Qin Zheng, saying, "That means you don't know what happened back then, right?"

"That was true at the time, but I found out later." Qin Zheng took a sip of tea and smiled bitterly. "It was only after I grew up and heard many people talking about it that I knew what happened during that period. I also knew why our family was separated from the main family and why the uncles who always loved us pretended not to know us well. It was all because of that case. Even after many years, the elders in the family, the uncles from the noble families, and the teachers in the academy are still terrified when they mention this case."

"Is it because the scope of involvement is so wide?" Qi Bo yawned, looked around, stood up, found an armchair for himself, padded it with a thick cushion, sat comfortably, and said, "I have a vague impression that the entire Jiangnan officialdom and business community has been greatly shaken. Although the incident happened in Jiangning Prefecture, it was not limited to Jiangning Prefecture. The prefectures and counties in Jiangnan were all affected. Few families could remain unscathed. They were all more or less involved. It was also because of that case that the aristocratic families became much more obedient afterwards and made fewer small moves, right?"

"That's right. Even a big clan like Wang Xie had to restrain its edge and recuperate for a long time."

"Yes, during this period of recuperation, each family began to separate, stripping away the business lineage to achieve superficial purity."

Qin Zheng spread his hands, feeling that he was a little drunk, and looked around, trying to find a comfortable chair.

Merlin saw what Qin Zheng meant, stood up, moved an armchair for him, covered it with a thick cushion, and helped him sit up on the chair.

Qin Zheng felt a lot more comfortable. He looked at Yan Bo beside him and followed his example, smiling faintly.

"It's really not good now. I get drunk after drinking a little. When I was young, I wouldn't feel so uncomfortable even if I drank several jars of wine, right?" "Yes!" Yan Bo nodded, yawned, and said, "I'm old, I can't refuse to accept it!" He stretched out his hand and pushed Qin Zheng, "Don't interrupt, let's talk about the case."

"Just a few words of emotion." Qin Zheng sighed, "Speaking of the case, I guess those involved in the case still haven't thought that such a shocking case was actually caused by a bowl of ordinary wontons."

"Wontons?" Shen Cha thought for a moment, "The wonton stand in Jiangning Prefecture? Did my second grandfather see hooligans bullying the people?"

"Xiaocha is quite perceptive in this regard, not bad." Qin Zheng took another sip of tea and said slowly, "That's indeed the case."

"That's really it!"

"I can't say I'm sharp. There are many similar cases in the archives of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple in the past few years, but none of them are as big as the one in Jiangning Prefecture." Shen Cha sighed softly, "Many cases are caused by some insignificant little things, such as a copper coin, a word spoken in anger, or accidentally bumping into someone."

"Yes." Qin Zheng sighed, "I don't know much about other cases, but as far as the Jiangning Prefecture case is concerned, that bowl of wontons was the cause." He thought for a moment, sorted out his thoughts, and said, "After leaving Xijing City, the Second Master went all the way to the south of the Yangtze River, enjoying the mountains and rivers, and was very happy. Although there were some unsatisfactory things along the way, he would definitely help if he could, and would definitely take care of if he could."

“But these are the little things, right?”

"Yes, so the Second Master was very happy and felt that his trip was a good one." Qin Zheng sighed, "That day, he brought two followers and entered Jiangning Prefecture. After entering the city, he chose an inn that looked good. After settling in, the master and his servants went out for a stroll. At that time, the various prefectures in Jiangnan only had two meals a day, but when they arrived, it was already past noon, but it was not time to finish their meal, so the inns or some restaurants did not provide food during this period. If they were hungry, they had to go out to find food."

"I've heard of this." Shen Cha nodded, "But can I find it outside?"

"Of course, many snack stalls are open. Not everyone eats two meals a day." Qin Zheng smiled. "The master and his servant strolled around the nearby small market for a while and saw a stall selling wontons. The stall owner was an old lady. The stall was not big and had two sets of tables and chairs. The second master and his three friends occupied one, and the other was empty. After the old lady gave them some snacks, she let them eat first while she was busy cooking wontons."

"You are so old, and you are busy all by yourself?" Seeing Qin Zheng nod, Merlin sighed softly and said, "That's really not easy."

"If you listen to the old lady's story, you'll know that her life is more difficult than you think."