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

Chapter 757 Black Material
Haitang collected a lot of negative information about the Zhang family, and even wrote a letter to Wu Qiong to inquire about the news from a few years ago - of course, she did not clearly state why she was inquiring, and found another excuse that would not arouse suspicion.

After collecting all the information, she handed the negative information to Jin Jiashu, but she was more tactful in her words. She did not directly say that she suspected that Concubine Xu was confused: "I think Concubine Xu has been in the palace for a long time and is not clear about what is happening outside. She also has limited manpower outside the palace and may not know the actual situation of the royal relatives. Therefore, she may have listened to the boasting of the Zhang family and mistakenly believed that his family is still prosperous. She thought that if you marry into his family, you will definitely get a great help, so she is so active in planning a marriage for you.

"The information I collected is only the one-sided words of my newly bought servant. There may be other reasons, so you don't have to take it seriously. Just take a look at it yourself and get an idea. You'd better wait until you arrive in Beijing to find out the specific situation. In any case, marriage is related to your whole life. If you really want to marry someone for your future, at least the rewards of marriage should be worth your efforts."

Jin Jiashu took the stack of information and looked at Haitang deeply: "Thank you, Sister Hai, for your concern. I didn't expect... that you would inquire about these for me." Does this mean that Sister Hai also cares about the marriage arranged by his "aunt", so she wants to prove that this marriage has no benefits?

Haitang looked away: "I didn't put in much effort, I just happened to see it... I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that the family bought a new family, and it turned out to be sold by the Luo family, a royal merchant under the Zhang family. Fortunately, the young master of the Luo family that they originally served wanted to participate in the family business, so many things were inquired about in advance. The Qiu family was exposed to it every day, and they heard some rumors. Otherwise, I would have no place to inquire."

Jin Jiashu lowered his head and smiled slightly. Since Sister Hai said so, he just listened and couldn't ask too many questions. If he pushed her too hard, it would be troublesome. As long as Sister Hai was willing to think about him, he would have hope. With the information recorded on this stack of papers, he would privately ask Ma Shangyi and Lin Shiwei for more information. When he entered the capital in the future, he would be more confident when negotiating with his "aunt".

Jin Jiashu folded the information and put it into his sleeve pocket, and continued to chat with Haitang as if nothing had happened: "The Zhang family's Concubine Dowager died two years ago, and the news of that time also reached Chang'an. I heard Mama mention that it seems that Concubine Dowager Zhang De lived in Shoukang Palace before her death, but she privately tried to win over the concubines living in Cining Palace, hoping to use them as spies to inquire about the Queen Mother's daily life. When the Queen Mother first placed the Seventh Prince and the orphan of the Wu family in the palace, she was most wary of her, and for this reason she did not hesitate to send the concubines she won over directly to Shoukang Palace. Even though Concubine Zhang Gong cried for her aunt in front of the emperor, the Queen Mother did not give in. Fortunately, the emperor did not pay attention to Concubine Zhang Gong, and the matter was left unresolved. Seeing the fate of the concubines who were driven away, the other concubines and concubines living in Cining Palace did not dare to disobey the Queen Mother's orders again."

Prince Ji and Prince An were both the emperor's biggest rivals in the fight for the throne, but Prince Ji's mother, Concubine Chang Gui, was the most aggressive, so when the previous emperor died, she died to protect her son's life; Prince An was relatively honest, and his biological mother, Concubine Zhang De, moved into Shoukang Palace to live out her days safely. Although Concubine Zhang Gong was not favored, she still had the dignity of an old-line relative of the Zhang family, and the emperor was still polite to Concubine Zhang De, and Concubine Sun was too lazy to bother with Concubine Zhang Gong, who only gave birth to a princess.

But maybe because she was too proud of this, Concubine Zhang De gave up her good life and made troubles openly and secretly, which made the emperor annoyed. When she died, she could only be buried in a corner of the imperial mausoleum. The emperor did not order officials and people across the country to mourn, and it took several months for Chang'an to receive the news. This shows how unwelcome Concubine Zhang De was. The emperor was unwilling to give her the respect she deserved.

Haitang had experienced many royal funerals in her previous life, and knew in detail what kind of ceremony a concubine's death should be followed. Now she only said that she had heard the old stories from her elders, and she brought them out to Jin Jiashu for analysis: "This is not the rules and etiquette of a national funeral. I guess it was not a national funeral at all. I asked Cuiguo, and at that time, no civil or military officials entered the palace to mourn, and basically only the Zhang family and their relatives and friends, or those who depended on the Zhang family, went to the funeral. It was so unceremonious, but the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the imperial censors did not make a big fuss. I guess the Zhang family was in the wrong.

"The Zhang family has been getting worse and worse, with no successor. If they lose this old concubine, their future can be imagined. I don't know what they said to Madam Xu, but if the old concubine of the Zhang family has ever violated the emperor's taboo, then there will be certain risks in marrying his descendants. Although his family wants to marry their daughter to the seventh prince, but for so many years, the seventh prince's wife has not been selected, and his two daughters have not proposed marriage. If there is any decent son of a powerful family willing to marry, why would it be so? You have to be more careful, don't jump into the trap blindly just because others say a few words about his prominent family!"

Jin Jiashu nodded repeatedly: "Sister Hai is right, I will be careful and cautious, and will never be fooled easily!" Seeing him so obedient, Haitang began to feel embarrassed: "Well... I don't mean anything else, I just feel that... Qi Da is not an equal... You are weak and alone, if you marry into a wealthy family, you will inevitably be bullied. If their family can really help you, then you can bear it; but if they can't help, and instead rely on you to curry favor with Empress Xu for benefits, then you will suffer a loss..."

Haitang racked her brains to justify her behavior, and Jin Jiashu took the initiative to find an excuse for her: "That's exactly what I said. I am trembling with fear now, and I only hope that the emperor will be more tolerant of me and not suspect that I will hinder my aunt. If the Zhang family itself has violated the emperor's taboo, this marriage will be harmful to me and may even implicate my aunt. How can I not be more cautious? I used to think that the powerful and noble families in the capital would only benefit me, but I didn't expect that there might be traps in it. Sister Hai reminded me, and I have to thank you!"

Haitang coughed twice and touched her nose with a guilty look on her face: "It's nothing, it's just... by the way... after all, we are so familiar with each other... my brother must also hope that you can live a good life in the future..."

Jin Jiashu probably saw her embarrassment, smiled slightly, and quickly changed the subject as if nothing had happened: "The Qiu family father and son had followed the Luo family out to attend the funeral of Concubine Zhang De, right? I'll go ask them, I'm sure they know more than Cuiguo."

Haitang breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly: "Yes, they should know more details. I will help them say hello for you later, so that they won't be hesitant and unwilling to tell you directly." After all, Jin Jiashu is not the young master of the new owner's family, the Hai family. The Qiu family father and son may not be willing to reveal the news of the previous owner's family to him.

Haitang stood up and walked to the door, calling Xiangcao who was standing outside, "Go and ask if Cuiguo's father and brother are at home now?"

Xiangcao responded, secretly glanced at Jin Jiashu in the room, then turned around and left quickly. Not long after, she came back to report: "Miss, Uncle Qiu followed the master to the government office today, and Qiu Baisheng accompanied the second young master to the parade ground. They are not at home. But Uncle Ma from the gatehouse just now reported to the upper room. It seems that the eldest young master wrote a letter home and just delivered it to the mistress."

Haitang was immediately surprised: "Brother wrote back?!"

(End of this chapter)