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

Chapter 573 Q&A
Jin Jiashu lowered his eyes and listened quietly to Ma Shangyi's narration of what he had done recently.

From sending Zhou Xiaojian to expand the grassroots connections of the Chang'an government office and inquire about the news, to the process of meeting with Haijiao and Zhou Yijun to discuss matters, Ma Shangyi knew everything without missing a single thing. He felt as if he was completely seen through. Did he really hide these things from Ma Shangyi?

In fact, he didn't hide it from anyone, but Ma Shangyi didn't intend to make a fuss with him, so he succeeded, right?

Never mind. The Queen Mother and the Emperor would send people to him just to keep an eye on him. He should have expected this kind of thing, so there was no need to panic. If he really violated a taboo, Ma Shangyi would not have allowed him to act on his own for so long. She would have stopped him as soon as he made a move.

Since she didn't stop him, it proved that what he did was allowed.

Jin Jiashu listened to Ma Shangyi's words calmly, and said calmly: "You are right, I have been busy with this matter recently. I didn't mean to hide it from you, but I was afraid that you would misunderstand that I was biased towards the second branch of the Jin family. I ignored the death of my father, stepmother, brothers and wet nurse, and the anger I had suffered from the second branch of the Jin family in the past ten years. I had to help my eldest aunt. I did this for my own selfish reasons, but I was afraid that you would look down on me if you knew my selfishness."

Ma Shangyi smiled slightly: "Brother, the selfishness you mentioned, could it be that you are afraid that too many people from the second branch of the Jin family will die after arriving in Chang'an, and others will suspect you? Some of them died on the way to exile, some died at the hands of bandits in Yunyang, and some died in prison due to old age and frailty. These are all very reasonable ways of death, and the time and place of death are also different. How can they arouse suspicion? Besides, no one said that Aunt Jin was going to die? Why should brother be on guard so early?"

Jin Jiashu didn't say anything, but he sighed in his heart.

It seems that Jin Miao has died on the way to exile. The officers and soldiers who escorted the exiled prisoners out of Chang'an have not returned yet, and he has not received any news. But Ma Shangyi would definitely not say such a thing for no reason. Maybe Jin Miao was the first one to die among the people of the second branch of the Jin family. That should have happened not long after leaving Chang'an.

The long journey of exile is indeed a good choice to kill and silence people.

This thought flashed through his mind, but Jin Jiashu's tone of voice remained calm as before: "I'm not on guard against anyone, but I just think that if my aunt continues to stay in Chang'an, it will not be good for her or me. It is difficult for her to make a living alone. If she is desperate, she will still come back to me for help. I am reluctant to help her; if I don't help her, it will easily cause gossip. Besides, if she is forced into a corner and chooses to marry in Chang'an, won't she still have to deal with me in the future? Even if I have grudges against her mother and brothers now, there will always be people who will advise me to be magnanimous in the future. Instead of waiting until then for people to gossip, it is better to persuade her to return home as soon as possible.

"She can take her mother's coffin with her, and I don't have to worry about the funeral rites for the elders of the same clan. I will give her a few more taels of silver and say some nice things, and she can take care of the ancestral tombs for me after she returns to my hometown in Zunhua Prefecture. I don't know how many years I have to wait before I can go back to my hometown to visit the graves. Although I don't have any good memories of my hometown, I can't just ignore the ancestral tombs. Instead of hiring someone to do it, it's better to let my eldest aunt do it. After all, she is a member of the Jin family, and she will be more attentive than an outsider."

It sounds reasonable. Ma Shangyi just smiled: "Madam Xu has always been grateful for the kindness of the old man of the Jin family. Even though her parents passed away and her family fell into poverty, the Jin family never broke off the engagement and broke their promise. They also gave her money and assisted her in handling her parents' funeral. Madam Xu hates the second branch of the Jin family very much, but if someone from the second branch of the Jin family is willing to take care of the grave of the old man of the Jin family, she will be willing to give this person a break.

"It's just that since the second old man passed away, the second old lady of the Jin family has been in charge. She has been neglecting the graves of her ancestors. Every year, she only pays tribute to the second branch's ancestors and refuses to even pay lip service to the ancestors of the first branch. When Mr. Jin wanted to buy more incense, candles and paper money to burn for his parents, Jin Liu would instigate her sister to oppose it, so that the grand ceremony of ancestor worship in the first branch of the Jin family has been much less than before in the past ten years. After hearing the news, Madam Xu became even more angry with the second branch of the Jin family."

Because of this anger, if Concubine Xu knew that Jin Jiashu arranged for Jin Dagu to take care of the tombs of the ancestors of the Jin family's eldest house, and that Jin Dagu did the job honestly and did not make the same mistake as her mother, then Concubine Xu would definitely not mind sparing Jin Dagu's life.

It seemed that Jin Jiashu just made a casual deal with Jin Dagu, but in fact, he also found a way to save her life.

Aunt Jin herself might not be aware of this, but as long as she behaves herself after returning to her hometown, takes good care of the Jin family's ancestral tomb, and does not say anything she shouldn't say, the people sent from the palace to her hometown in Zunhua Prefecture will not do anything to her.

Ma Shangyi looked at Jin Jiashu, and the smile on her face deepened: "Brother, you really put in a lot of effort to save this aunt's life."

Jin Jiashu pursed his lips and said, "I have tried to test her more than once. She really knows nothing and thinks that my mother must have died on the way home after leaving the palace. Because the Sun family was arresting people everywhere in the city at that time, there was an example of an old maid of the Wu family who was married into a good family and was forcibly taken away by the Sun family and her whereabouts were unknown. There were many people killed at that time. I am afraid that even the Sun family can't clearly say how many people they killed at that time. The eldest aunt is convinced that my mother is one of them. As long as she is not allowed to see my mother, she will not suspect anything. Besides... more than ten years have passed, my mother has already changed her appearance. It is normal for them to look a bit similar to each other as sisters. As long as the insider does not mention it, even if the eldest aunt is lucky enough to meet the noble, how dare she question the identity of the noble?"

Besides, after Jin Xin and Jin Liu both died in Yunyang, the only person who knew that they had Liu Dainiang replace Xu Qiuniang's body and buried it in the capital was Jin Dagu. If she died, wouldn't no one ever know about the crime of the second branch of the Jin family falsely accusing Liu Dainiang's husband and swallowing up her property?
No matter what, Liu Dainiang has been a substitute for his biological mother for more than ten years, and she is still the most powerful shield for his mother's life experience. Jin Jiashu is still somewhat grateful to her. He can't do other things, but he can let Liu Dainiang's children know the truth about their mother's death and that their father did not kill his wife. The Hu family's property should also be returned to Liu Dainiang's children, instead of being squandered by the second branch of the Jin family. Hu Yingyuan and Hu Yuzhi, these two confused children, are still grateful to the murderer who killed their family.

Ma Shangyi understood what Jin Jiashu meant after listening to his explanation. She smiled and said, "Even without Aunt Jin, the case of the Hu family can still be overturned. Do you think the new Zunhua prefect will ignore this murder case when he convicts the second branch of the Jin family? At the beginning, there was not even a corpse, but they were able to convict Mr. Hu of murder. Do you think they can do it with the ability of the second branch of the Jin family alone? It's just that someone accepted bribes and helped them to confuse right and wrong. Now Mr. Hu has been acquitted and taken back home by his family to recuperate. Although he holds a grudge against the second branch of the Jin family who falsely accused him, he is eager to find the two children born to Liu Dainiang. I heard that he has been in the death row for too long and his body is broken. Even if he remarries, he can't have children. If he wants to continue the incense, he can only count on Hu Yingyuan."

Jin Jiashu couldn't help showing a surprised expression: "Really? This is good news. But...it seems that the Hu brothers and sisters followed Jin Xin's family!"

(End of this chapter)