Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 294 Invitation from Mrs. Zhen

inside the house,

As soon as Zhang Jinyu said this, he obviously felt that the atmosphere was a little tense.

Zhao Mo, the leader of the hidden guards who was kneeling on the ground, also got up, and responded firmly,

"Return, Lord Hou, yes!"

Zhao Mo carefully took out a few pages of yellowed file paper from his pocket, and handed it over.

Then he said carefully,
"Master Hou, there is indeed something wrong. When the subordinates received the letter, they divided into three groups, and arranged for the confidants to inspect it in person. One route was Feng Yuan's old house, the other route was the case file of the yamen, and the other route was for the subordinates to go to Zhen Shiyin in person. I found something strange about my old house."

"Oh, strange, then something happened!"

Zhang Jinyu's voice raised a bit, she knew it well, secretly thought that it was true, took the few pages of yellow paper, and opened those pages of files to read.

Slowly unfolding the paper, it recorded that the housekeeper Zhen Shiyin came to the Yamen to report the case. It said that in the early 23rd year of Tianbao, in Jinling City, the Zhen family reported the case.The location is Shili Street outside Changmen, Renqing Lane, Huo Lu Temple was abducted by swindlers because of the improper care of the family slave Huo Qi when he was watching the fire lanterns.

Looking at this, Zhang Jinyu understood that after Zhen Shiyin and his wife Fengshi lost their daughter, they searched everywhere but couldn't find their beloved daughter, and fell ill one after another.

"Well, Tianbao is 23 years old, but it was the reign of the Supreme Emperor. How old was this girl at that time?"

"Back to Lord Hou, my subordinates did some calculations. He was abducted when he was about four years old. The subordinates also wondered. After being abducted, he should still be raised in that area. He didn't go far. Later, he was kidnapped by traffickers in Jinling. Selling it in the city also confirmed the conjecture of the subordinates. As for how he was kidnapped, maybe only the servant Huo Qi knows."

Zhao Mo stood below, also analyzing, Zhang Jinyu nodded and continued to read.

Then I saw another case in a yamen. In the autumn of the first year of Yuanfeng, the Calabash Temple in Renqing Lane, Shili Street outside Changmen, caught fire. There were several households nearby, and their houses were burned to a rubble field. The cause of the fire is unknown. It may be that the abbot in the Temple of Heavenly Dryness and Dryness of Things was not effective in discipline, which led to the fire, and the fire was caused by the wind.It took all night for the submerged fire shop to be extinguished.

Zhang Jinyu saw that something was wrong, so he was burned by fire so coincidentally, so he asked;
"No fire in the morning and no fire in the evening, have you visited the gourd temple? The fire happened so coincidentally."

"Master Hou, your eyes are as bright as a torch, and my subordinates went to see it in person, but there is something strange. The place is full of ordinary people's houses, and the only big family is the Zhen family, which happened to be burned together. The subordinates found nothing in the Zhen family's house. Instead, I went to the Gourd Temple and wiped it among the ashes in the ruined walls of the backyard, and it turned out to be kerosene from the Western Regions, and the fire was set on purpose by someone.”

After Zhao Mo finished speaking, he untied a small cloth bag from his waist and handed it over. There was still some kerosene smell from a long distance away. Zhang Jinyu opened it in his hand and looked at it. It was indeed the trace of kerosene after burning. Rare things, nothing does not burn, and fire cannot be extinguished with water. After reading it, I tied it again and put it on the table, and asked again,
"Do you know, how did the Zhen family and his wife live later?"

"Back to Lord Hou, the Zhen family and his wife sold their land and went to live with their father-in-law, Feng Su. It is said that his father-in-law was half coaxing and half earning money from the Zhen family and his wife, so his life was not satisfactory. A Taoist monk has become a monk, and there has been no news so far."

"That's right, there's no such thing as being happy under the fence of others. It may be a relief to become a monk."

Zhang Jinyu was also upset, and then looked at Xue Pan's case again, which was the most recent case. At the beginning of the seventh year of Tianbao, Xue Pan relied on his wealth and power to forcefully buy a woman as a maidservant in Huaren Lane, Jinling, because Yu Xianlai Feng Yuan, who bought the woman, had a conflict and ordered his slaves to beat Feng Yuan to death. Afterwards, Feng Yuan's housekeeper beat the drums and accused Xue Pan of murder.

After investigation, it was a servant who killed Feng Yuan by accident without knowing the seriousness, and he had no ties to the master's family. Xue Pan was fined and 3000 taels of silver was confiscated and compensated to Feng's family.

Seeing this, Zhang Jinyu knew that someone had secretly tampered with her. It seemed reasonable, but she avoided the serious and ignored the trivial. She was obviously partial to the Xue family, and a few servants took over.

"Then how is Feng Yuan's family doing now?"

"Back to the Marquis, Feng Yuan has no children and only one concubine. After Feng Yuan died, the housekeeper dismissed the slaves and even got together with Feng Yuan's concubine. Instigated by the concubine's room."

Zhao Mo stood at the bottom and replied respectfully. Zhang Jinyu didn't care.

"It's nothing. A weak woman also needs a backer, but why did you dismiss the slaves? Don't you worry about your reputation?"

"Master Hou, this is just one aspect. When the confidants of the subordinates went there, they heard this woman said that there was someone else who wanted her to sue Xue Pan. It seemed that she had a lot of influence, but it was not clear who it was."

Zhang Jinyu put down a few pages of paper in his hand, rubbed his chin and thought to himself, it's interesting, if it's really artificial, this is an arrangement of more than ten years, who can have such a big trick.

And why they look almost exactly the same as Qin Keqing, and who else is there besides the twins.

"Zhao Mo, this Marquis asks you, have you ever met two people who look almost alike, except for twins?"

Zhao Mo didn't answer for a while, thinking about recalling, thinking for a while, suddenly thought of something;

"Master Hou, there really is. When one of my subordinates was working as a secret guard in the Imperial City Division, I was on duty at the secret guard. I heard from the old senior about the case of the real and fake queen in the harem. The real queen was imprisoned in the cold palace. An identical woman pretended to be the queen, but was not discovered, and was later discovered by the chief executive, who was later confirmed to be the birth of the queen's mother's sister, half-brother, almost exactly the same."

Zhang Jinyu's heart turned cold. Qin Keqing's mother had died a long time ago, and she had never heard of a younger sister. Could there be something else hidden.

Thinking of the many speculations in the Blue Star Red Building, I am a little puzzled. Even if it is true, the span is too big. After thinking about it, I still have no clue. I can only go back to Beijing and ask my father-in-law. Thinking about it, Keqing also knows nothing.

"Understood, this matter must not be passed on to the ears of the fourth person."

"Yes, my subordinate understands."

"Go down."

Zhao Mo also bowed his hands and retreated, acting decisively and sophisticatedly.

After Zhang Jinyu saw him go out, he put away the things on the table, and Ning Bian asked beside him;
"Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

The woman Ning Bian also saw it, she really looks like Madam, but she didn't expect that there would be such things behind her back, could it be.

"Master Hou, could it be the ex-Prince? They are the only ones who hide deeply and have this trick."

"Maybe, it's been too long now, it's hard to check, and it takes too much energy, so I can only take it slowly. Besides, this woman is in my hands. If you say that the people behind it really want to make something happen, they will come to find it. At that time, you will know that there are people and ghosts behind it."

Zhang Jinyu didn't want to go through any more hassle. So far, both of them were by her side. If she really wanted to, she would definitely come to look for her.

While the two were discussing,
outside the door,

Wei Yong knocked on the cabin door and said;

"Master Hou, the old lady sent a message for you to come over."

"Okay, what's the matter?"

Zhang Jinyu put away the file and bag, and asked a casual question.

Wei Yong outside the door replied;
"Back to Lord Hou, it's the second master of the Zhen family. Zhen Yuandao personally sent a letter and invitation here, so it should be something."

Zhang Jinyu opened the door with Ning Bian after putting it away.

"Has anyone from the Zhen family ever boarded a boat?"

"I didn't get on the boat, and I returned after sending the letter."

Zhang Jinyu couldn't figure it out when she heard Wei Yong's words. It stands to reason that she should have come to see her directly for a discussion, but she actually sent a letter to her mother. As expected, she was from a rich family, and her methods were so sophisticated and tight.

"Let's go now. This is a bank note in Ningbian. You take people to the bank in the city to get the money and bring it to the camp to pay the brothers. There are also guards. Let Commander Lu keep an eye on it."

After speaking, he took out the large amount of bank notes confiscated last night and handed it over, Ning Bian took it and put it in his arms, got off the boat, picked up his men and horses, and headed for the city.

Zhang Jinyu followed Wei Yong to the cabin on the second floor, opened the door and entered.

Seeing his mother sitting there waiting, he asked;

"Mother, my son is here, what's the matter?"

Mrs. Wang put down the letter and said happily with a smile on her face;

"The Zhen family invited our mother and son to a banquet to reminisce about the old days. This is written by Mrs. Zhen herself. It is true that it has been more than ten years in the blink of an eye."

Before Zhang Jinyu spoke, Mrs. Wang continued;
"Have you thought about how to talk when you get there?"

"How does the mother know what the son is going to talk about?"

Zhang Jinyu asked in a little surprise.

"Unless the Zhen family is gone, the border of the south of the Yangtze River cannot be bypassed."

Mrs. Wang was a little emotional, but then she lost her thoughts of emotion. If she was already outside the customs, she was the same, no one could get around the Hou's mansion.

"That's right, let's see what the Zhen family wants to talk about. It's nothing more than a word of conversation. Besides, what the Zhen family is talking about will definitely not be about those salt merchants. The Zhen family's Jiangning weaving layout will top a few salt merchants." , must be a matter of the North."

Zhang Jinyu really thought that the Zhen family would come forward to negotiate, but it wasn't about the salt merchants. No matter how rich the salt merchants were, they could be compared to such a family. Regarding the matter, I don't know why I bet on the North King.

"That's good. You can also talk to the Zhen family at that time. The Zhen family accounted for half of the land in the south of the Yangtze River when it was in its heyday. Later, other noble families joined in one after another, which squeezed the Zhen family. , but this volume is here.”

What Mrs. Wang said was true, she just listened to how the Zhen Family Chamber of Commerce was doing. The wharf was almost all materials purchased by the Zhen Family. When the palace spoke, the Zhen family gave up a part of their interests to settle the matter.

"Understood, mother, save the child."

Zhang Jinyu agreed, thinking of the Zhen family, she asked again;
"Mother, do you know why the Zhen family is so supportive of Beijing King Shuirong? A letter from outside the pass said that the goods from the Zhen family's boat have all entered the hands of the forces in the Northern Palace."

Mrs. Wang pursed her lips and smiled,
"You don't even know? The eldest daughter of the Zhen family married into the capital. Who has not been revealed by the Zhen family? The second daughter of the Zhen family is now the Princess of Beijing. Only the two young ladies are at home. People from the Zhen family, who do you think the Zhen family should be facing?"

(End of this chapter)