After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Holy decree?

Haitang immediately sat up straight: "Zhang Pinggui and the others want to find an imperial decree from the Jin family? What kind of imperial decree is it?"

"It's the imperial edict that the emperor previously rewarded their family with." Xie Wenzai replied casually, "Zhang Pinggui didn't know what was written in the edict. He only knew that the edict was delivered to Jin Juren along with the box of gold. It must have been Those common clichés, right? Concubine Xu Xian had merit in giving birth to a child, but she had no parents or relatives. Maybe the emperor used his grace on her only relatives, which were just a box of gold ingots, not a land title, and no one cared about it. Jin Juren After getting benefits, they can be a little more tolerant to the eldest son. The Sun family wants this imperial edict, and it is probably that Concubine Sun wants to use it to frighten Concubine Xu Xian. Dead people cannot be brought into the palace, and the gold ingots are unmarked. Concubine Xu Xian only has other things in the Jin family. Even if she doesn’t recognize it, she will never be mistaken about this imperial edict.”

According to Zhang Pinggui's account, Sun Yongbai personally told him not to peek at the contents of the imperial edict, but to bring the things back intact without any damage. As long as Zhang Pinggui and others can handle this matter well, the Sun family will give them generous rewards; but if they fail to handle it well, the Sun family will never make it easy for them!

Just because Sun Yongbai had issued a strict order, after the killers "killed all" the Jin family, they were busy looking for things, not even bothering to pick up the gold and silver treasures scattered on the ground. They know in their hearts that if the imperial edict is found, they can pick up as much free money as they like; but if the imperial edict is not found, they will not be able to enjoy it no matter how many good things they pick up. Which one is light and which one is heavy, they can tell clearly.

However, Zhang Pinggui and others could not find this imperial edict, and they were puzzled. Where are the things hidden?
  Haitang recalled Jin Jiashu's gorgeous robe. Hidden in the sleeves of the cuffs was a letter from the Queen Mother Zhou to Duke Zhen. What was hidden in the sleeves under the armpits? She touched it at the time and felt it was hard, as if it were some kind of stiff fabric. Now Xie Wenzai said that the killers wanted to find the imperial edict. Was the imperial edict written on some kind of stiff fabric?

Zhang Pinggui didn't know what was written in the imperial edict, and Sun Yongbai also strictly ordered him not to take a peek. Therefore, this imperial edict is most likely not what Xie Wenzai guessed, but just the emperor's decree to reward gold ingots to Concubine Xu Xian's relatives. Haitang suspected that there might be words written on it that the emperor ordered Jin Juren to reconcile with his first wife and make a clean break from then on. If this kind of thing falls into the hands of the Sun family, it can prove Xu Xianfei's parentage better than any other physical evidence.

If the imperial edict is written by the emperor himself and stamped with the emperor's seal, then there is no need to mention its authenticity.

With this kind of evidence, no matter how hard Empress Dowager Zhou and Concubine Xu Xian argued that the latter's sister was Jin Juren's first wife, it would be meaningless to find a hundred or a thousand witnesses to prove this "fact" because of the imperial edict. Authority overshadows everything else.

Haitang gritted her teeth secretly.

Why did the emperor let such a fatal piece of information fall into Jin Juren's hands? ! Couldn't he simply send a confidant eunuch to send the gold ingots to the Jin family and then get He Lishu back? !
  What did Jin Juren think of keeping such a fatal thing? Is he still planning to use it to threaten his ex-wife for personal gain in the future?
  Haitang had no way to ask the emperor, let alone Jin Juren, so she had to take a deep breath, pretending to be nonchalant, and continued to ask her cousin Xie Wenzai: "Sun Guifei is so vicious... But where is the imperial edict? Jin The family’s luggage should have all been at the scene at that time, right? When our family members went to help pack the Jin family’s belongings, they didn’t find any imperial edict. Not a single gold ingot was left in the box, and they were all found.”

"The old military advisor and I are also quite puzzled about this matter." Xie Wenzai said, "The old military advisor sent someone to ask Jin Jiashu, but the boy only knew that there was such a holy letter, but he had never touched it, and he didn't know about it. Where did my father hide the things? Logically speaking, such an important thing can be taken out in a dignified manner. Jin Juren couldn't have left it in his hometown. Maybe it was hidden in the middle of something. The old military advisor has already given orders to let people go. Collect all the belongings of the Jin family and return them to Jin Jiashu one by one, even the broken carriage cages. No one knows whether there are important items hidden in these things. Return them all to Jin Jiashu to avoid having to talk about it in the future. Not sure."

Haitang secretly thought that Jin Jiashu was good at pretending to be stupid. He knew that the imperial edict could not be seen in the light. Once it was taken out, all the secrets would be exposed, so he simply pretended to know nothing about it, so that others could not ask too many questions.

She secretly reminded her cousin: "Could it be hidden in that robe? Is it the same robe that Jin Jiashu used to hide the letter?" Xie Wenzai was startled, and smiled: "There is an interlayer on a robe. That's enough. How can we hide two more things? It's just a piece of clothing, not a box."

Haitang looked at Xie Wenzai's expression and couldn't decide for a moment whether he really didn't know or whether he was pretending not to know. He should have touched that robe that day, right? Didn't you notice the underarm activities?

Haitang pondered for a moment, then said no more, and changed the subject: "If there is nothing in the Jin family's luggage and Jin Jiashu doesn't know about it, could it be that the second bedroom of the Jin family has the thing? The second bedroom of the Jin family should know it very well. Did Jin Juren have a noble in-law? They wanted to pursue Jin Juren and wanted to get gold ingots from him. If they didn't have anything to rely on, how could they have the confidence to open their mouths to him? And they wouldn't let him go on his way. , and you want to divide the money or something, isn’t that too reasonable?”

Xie Wenzai thought for a while: "This makes sense. Zhuang Tongpan has sent people to Pingyang Mansion to find the second roommate of the Jin family. When they are brought back to Chang'an, all these questions will be answered."

Pingyang Mansion? Was the second room of the Jin family separated from Jin Juren's family in Pingyang Mansion?
  Haitang recalled the map of Dachu. In his impression, Pingyang Mansion was only six to seven hundred miles away from Chang'an Mansion. From Beijing to Pingyang and then to Chang'an, two-thirds of the distance was completed before the second brother of the Jin family backed down and refused to go any further. Jin Juren must not be happy!

But then again, how much does the second wife of the Jin family know about the past between Jin Juren and Concubine Xu Xian? Will they talk nonsense in front of the Zhou family?
  Haitang pursed her lips, with a worried look on her face, and continued: "If the second brother of the Jin family comes to Chang'an, will he take over the property affairs of his family on the pretext that Jin Jiashu is young? Although we all know that the second brother of the Jin family has been betrayed Jin Juren, but this crime is not enough to bring their whole family to justice. If they took Jin Jiashu's family property on the grounds that he was young and helpless, and then took Jin Jiashu away, there seems to be nothing we can do, right? They belong to a clan Elders, even if Concubine Xu Xian, my biological aunt, comes forward, it seems she can’t defeat the second wife of the Jin family!”

Xie Wenzai frowned and muttered: "This matter must be guarded against..." Of course, we can't let the people from the second room of the Jin family take Jin Jiashu away. If in Chang'an, the Zhou family could still allow others to take Concubine Xu Xian's nephew away, how would they be able to see the Queen Mother in the future? That was the junior who Queen Mother Zhou wrote personally, asking the Zhou family to take care of her!

Xie Wenzai immediately made up his mind: "I will go to the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion tomorrow to persuade the Duke that it is best not to let the people in the second room of the Jin family know where Jin Jiashu lives, let alone let them interfere with the affairs of the Jin family's room! This It’s better for us to stay with you and take care of your child.”

Haitang raised a smile: "It's better to find another reason to keep the second wife of the Jin family in the northwest! If they really have that imperial edict in their hands, once they go to the Sun family and are instructed to lie to Concubine Xu Xian, it will be very troublesome. God knows what kind of rumors the Sun family will use them to create? After all, they are relatives of Concubine Xu Xian, so people will believe whatever they say."

Xie Wenzai pondered and nodded slowly.

(End of this chapter)