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

Chapter 437 Account Books
In mid-April, Haixi Ya finally ended his foreign travel and returned to Chang'an City.

He has been away from home for a long time, and everyone in his family misses him closely.

Ma felt sorry for him because he was very thin and haggard. She was busy cooking good meals, dishes, soup and water for several days without even leaving the house, so she just stayed at home with him.

Although Hai Chang'an and Hai Jiao still have to go to health school every day, they rush home as soon as the classes are over, and they don't even bother to attend gatherings and socializing with friends on weekdays.

Haitang gave her grandfather a newly made spring shirt. Xiao Shitou memorized an entire "Three Character Classic" in front of his grandfather, and his eloquence was clear and fluent. He was praised by his grandparents, and even his mother Hu was praised by her mother-in-law.

Everyone in the Hai family is living in harmony.

Xie Wenzai, Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian, who were living in Haijia, were also very happy. They quickly set a date for moving, and planned to bring two tables of good food from the best restaurant in the city to their new home on that day, and entertain the Hai family for a day of wine, while other relatives, friends and neighbors would be invited the next day.

Although Hai Xiya felt reluctant to leave, his cousin and friends were no longer exiled prisoners. They also had their own lives and social interactions in Chang'an City. It was appropriate for them to move out and start their own business. Besides, the two families were adjacent. It’s also very convenient to get around. He personally prepared housewarming gifts for his cousins ​​and friends, and also took out the money and told his wife, Ma, to buy some servants for Xie Wenzai and the others. He could not let them move out, and he had to continue to accommodate the Hai family and provide servants. Don't feel comfortable doing anything.

Although Mrs. Ma felt that her family was manageable enough, her husband had specifically asked her to do so, so she followed the instructions and asked Aunt Ma to call a reputable person in the city, Yazi, to help find the person.

Something happened one after another at home, and I couldn't care about the news outside for a while. When Haijiao met Zhou Yijun again, who was going home for a short break, he realized that Tu Rong had finished his investigation in Liangzhou City and was on his way back to Chang'an. The several stewards and family members that the Zhou Family's Third House had previously sent to pick them up from properties in other places were now in the city.

Instead of going back to the third room, they were sent to the Dusi Yamen by Zhenguo Gong's order, and several clean cells were specially set aside for them to be locked up. Whether they were guards or those who delivered food and water, they were all innocent and trustworthy people, so as to avoid any suspicion. Someone took advantage of the opportunity and attacked these people.

Zhou Yijun only knew so much news. Hai Jiao didn't want to ask too many questions, so when he returned home, he told his grandmother Ma and his younger sister Haitang the matter privately.

Mrs. Ma also heard some news a few days ago, but her husband had just come home and she was busy with something, so she didn't care about it for a while. She was thinking about her eldest sister in her heart, but unfortunately the third room of the Zhou family was now not accepting outsiders. Even relatives and friends who came to the door were politely persuaded to leave. She had no way to ask her eldest sister for details, so she could only worry secretly in her heart.

It was Hai Xiya who noticed his wife's inner uneasiness. After asking what was going on, he agreed to help inquire in the Yamen.

Ma was happy, but she was afraid that her husband would get into trouble, so she advised him not to get involved. Anyway, no matter what happened to the third room of the Zhou family, cousin Xie Wenzai would always find a way to find out about it from the Zhenguo government, at most it would be a little later. As long as the eldest sister's family wouldn't be implicated by Madam Ma and lose their lives, she didn't really care about the rest. With such a big thing going on, it was a blessing for everyone in the third room of the Zhou family to escape unscathed.

Hai Xiya promised his wife, but turned around and asked his cousin Xie Wenzai in private.

Naturally, Xie Wenzai would not refuse his cousin's request. He was also concerned about the case of the third bedroom of the Zhou family and wanted to inquire about it. Even if his cousin and sister-in-law didn't speak, and his grandnephew Hai Jiao came to ask questions, he would tell everyone the information he could tell. Isn't it because Hai Jiao is concerned about Mrs. Ma, the third wife of the Zhou family, just to inquire about it for her grandmother? He has been greatly favored by his cousin's family, and he still relies on his cousin for support. He is old and frail and cannot contribute much in other matters. If there is anything he can do to help, he naturally has no reason to refuse.

Xie Wenzai originally served as a military advisor to the Duke of Zhen, and he was highly trusted by the Duke of Zhen. He was determined to inquire, and without much effort, he found out some inside information and came back to tell Haixi Ya and Haijiao's ancestors and grandchildren.

That night, Haitang learned a secret message from her brother Haijiao.

The son of Mrs. Ma's mother-in-law was once ordered to go to Liangzhou to find Mrs. Wang's steward. Before he was demoted to work in other places, he had been working for Mrs. Ma and traveled between the capital and Chang'an all year round. After Mrs. Xiangrui's god-sister's son died at the hands of a road bandit, he took over the job and worked for almost seven or eight years before he was demoted for making a mistake. Although he didn't know what his predecessor had done for his master in the years before and after the fire at Wang's house in Liangzhou, he had personally seen the account books left by him and even left a copy. It turned out that shortly after he took over the job, his mother burned it with her own hands on the order of Mrs. Ma. However, because his predecessor did a good job in office and had many connections in Beijing, Chang'an and towns along the way, he made a lot of private money. He was envious, so he secretly copied a copy of the account book and prepared it for himself in private. Do some small business and secretly accumulate wealth. Neither Mrs. Ma nor his mother knew the existence of this manuscript. After he lost his job, he had been planning to come back. Then he could continue to rely on the connections in the account book to make a fortune, so he kept the manuscript well. Now, The things have fallen into the hands of Duke Zhen.

Xie Wenzai read through this manuscript and was deeply impressed by several of the records.

Starting from about the year of the Wang family fire, for five or six years, Mrs. Ma and Zhou Shuyi ordered their people to secretly purchase kerosene from their own sources and send it to the capital. The amount purchased each year is not large, but over the years, the amount is quite considerable. In the autumn of the 19th year of Deguang's reign, the son of Mrs. Xiangrui's sister was killed by bandits on the way back to Chang'an shortly after transporting the last batch of kerosene to Beijing. After that, Mrs. Ma and Zhou Shuyi never purchased this kind of material from the veteran's kerosene workshop in Datong.

The autumn of the nineteenth year of Deguang...

Haitang suddenly remembered something and suddenly felt a cold sweat break out on her back: "The fire in Kunning Palace... seems to have happened in the spring of Deguang's 20th year, right?"

Hai Jiao's expression was also very serious: "On the same day, a fire also broke out in Wu Wen'an's mansion. The fire spread rapidly. There was no way to save it, and no one went to save it..."

Whether it is Kunning Palace or the Wu family's Guozhang's Mansion, they are both large-scale buildings covering a large area. On a spring night, no matter how dry the weather is, it is impossible to fall into a sea of ​​fire in a short period of time. But if there is kerosene to assist the combustion, it would make sense.

In these two fires, the Sun family are the absolute suspects. Everyone in the world had their own guesses as to how they committed these two cruel crimes, but they never expected that the Zhou family would be involved.

No wonder Tu Rong took this case so seriously, and the Duke of Zhen acted so cautiously.

In the past, the emperor may have turned a blind eye to the death of his wife and legitimate son because of his preference for Concubine Sun. But now his love brain seems to have sobered up a lot, and he doesn't like the Sun family anymore, so he can no longer let go of the good things done by the Sun family.

The Sun family can set fire to Kunning Palace, but who knows when they won't set a similar fire in the Eighth Emperor's palace?

Or even more extreme, setting a fire in Qianqing Palace?

Tu Rong did not dare to ignore it, and the Duke of Zhen also wanted to get to the bottom of the whole matter.

No one can rest easy knowing that there is a poisonous snake hidden in their family.

Hai Jiao couldn't understand: "Why did Madam Ma do this? Does she have any grudge against the Wu family?!"

Haitang thought of Mrs. Ma's true identity and frowned: "Could it be that the Sun family knew some of her secrets and threatened her to do this?"

Is it her clan status? Or is it the secret of her affair with a foreign enemy?

(End of this chapter)