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

Chapter 910 Qiao Fu
Haixiya really can’t tell you more details.

Even regarding the arranged marriage, he had only heard rumors about it.

Even though the palace has now restored order, and the cabinet is in charge of the civil and military officials, and is handling the late emperor's funeral and government affairs in an orderly manner, in fact, many of the late emperor's wills have not been publicly announced. Ordinary officials in the six ministries and five temples only know very superficial things, for example, they know that the two princes in the palace have been granted marriages, but no one knows who the marriage partners are.

Is it reasonable that the new king's future queen candidate is still a secret? What is there to hide?
The Minister of Revenue was still in the palace, and the two assistant ministers were in charge of the government office. Hai Xiya was not sure whether the two knew the truth, but the two assistant ministers stood up to appease the various discussions of the subordinates, saying that the new emperor and the cabinet would definitely not conceal the will of the late emperor, but it was just that a happy event like granting a marriage seemed a bit inappropriate during the current period of national mourning, so only the parties involved and their family elders were notified to let them know, and the specific will would not be made public until the national mourning was over.

Everyone thought this statement was reasonable and stopped asking further questions.

Hai Xiya didn't think much about it and said to his granddaughter, "If you are worried about the marriage of the Wu family's daughter, your cousin will visit Tao when he has some free time. They will talk about this matter then. You just wait for the news. The Empress Dowager is still in the palace, and she has no objection. I think the marriage of the Wu family brothers and sisters will not be bad."

The late emperor's decree of marriage was left when he was seriously ill, and he did not hide it from those around him. If the person he arranged to marry the Wu brothers and sisters was too bad, neither Empress Dowager Zhou nor Imperial Noble Consort Xu would remain indifferent, after all, the orphans of the Wu family were the children they watched grow up. Moreover, the Seventh Prince has always been by the side of the Crown Prince, and he has a say in front of his younger brother. He will not sit idly by and watch the lifelong event of his maternal relatives be ruined. With so many people watching, the late emperor has no reason to vent his anger on the two juniors even if he is angry with the Wu family. Since these nobles have never opposed the marriage, the result should be good.

Haitang didn't say anything. In her heart, she didn't completely agree with her grandfather's judgment. If Empress Dowager Zhou, Imperial Concubine Xu, and the seventh and eighth princes all had no objection to the marriage decree, then why did the palace block the news? Even if the marriage was a happy event, it was incompatible with the atmosphere of national mourning. Did the emperor's funeral have to take into account the happy events of the younger generation and his subjects? Obviously, the emperor's will was more important, right?
When Emperor Le'an passed away, he left a will to arrange a marriage for his youngest son. The will was read out directly in the mourning hall. No one said that the timing was not right? There was a precedent. Why did Empress Dowager Zhou, Imperial Noble Consort Xu and the new emperor postpone the time of the decree, and why did the cabinet acquiesce?
They must be dissatisfied with the late emperor's will, right? It can't be that they didn't want to obey the late emperor's order to treat the Sun family father and daughter well, so they kept it secret?
The casual conversation between the grandparents and grandchildren came to a temporary end. After dinner, Hai Xiya went to the front yard to talk to his cousin Xie Wenzai and old friend Lu Bainian.

Haitang did not listen to the conversation of the elders. While helping her grandmother Ma prepare her grandfather's luggage for the night shift, she sorted out her thoughts and arranged the information she would ask Zhang Lurong to find out.

The matter of "Brother Qiao" could only be postponed. Now she had to find out whether the Wu brothers and sisters had arrived in the capital. If so, where did they live? Since the gossip in the Ministry of Revenue said that although the palace had not made the contents of the will public, the families of the granted marriages had been informed, who had received the will? Did they know who they were granted marriages to?

Anyway, the Hai family did not receive any notification.

Could it be that Jin Jiashu failed to convince the late emperor? Or was the late emperor a man of no integrity who arranged another marriage for Jin Jiashu regardless of the wishes of the person concerned?

Haitang was a little unsure. Should she send someone to the temple where the Jin family's coffins were kept? She could use the excuse that she wanted to add a stick of incense to the Jin family's funeral. It would be even better if she could meet Chunyu. Chunyu should know a lot of inside information, right? Including what Jin Jiashu had done in the palace and whether he was granted marriage?

While Haitang was hesitating and struggling, Hai Xiya had finished talking with his cousin and old friend and went back to the house to rest. Nothing happened overnight. At dawn the next morning, Hai Xiya left home with two newly packed bags and his follower Cui Dazhuang, and returned to the Ministry of Revenue to continue his fasting and sleeping life. In the next few days, the Hai family was peaceful, and Zhang Lurong's task of inquiring was delayed. Some news was not something he could easily find out on the street, and because of the national mourning, all his connections in the Jinyiwei were on missions, so he couldn't see anyone at all, and naturally had no way to get any information.

The only good news was that he had found out the identity of "Brother Qiao". His surname was Qiao and his given name was Fu. He was indeed a secret agent of the Imperial Guards, and he was not the descendant of a criminal family, nor did he come from a gangster background.

Zhang Lurong has not yet found out how he got into the business, but people who know him say that Qiao Fu is only in his early twenties, handsome, good-looking, smart, and has a good temper. He is a member of a thousand households under the Jinyiwei, but he is not very important. He is often sent to other places as a spy. He is used to disguising himself as a guard or a bodyguard and keeps a low profile. He is alone, without a father or mother, a wife or children. Someone wanted to match him up in the past, but he declined. Now he lives in the alley behind the Jinyiwei horse farm, which is a large compound where spies live. He has a separate ear room.

Haitang was very satisfied with the information Zhang Lurong had found out. Although Qiao Fu's background was still unclear, it was enough to find out his address and the name of his superior. With Haijiao in the Jinyiwei, as long as he was willing, would he be afraid of not being able to find out more details? And it was not a bad thing that Qiao Fu was not valued by his superiors, because it would be easier for Haijiao to transfer people to his own work.

As long as this person's identity is not a big problem, even if he has no home, no power, no relatives, no house and no money, it is just a small matter.

While asking Zhang Lurong to continue inquiring, Haitang sorted out the relevant information about Qiao Fu, waiting for her brother Haijiao to return home.

On the fifth day after Grandfather Hai Xiya took his turn to rest, it was the turn of Second Uncle Hai Chang'an to go home and rest. He did not bring much luggage home, as he had long been accustomed to the life of serving as a flag bearer guard. In addition, he held a high position and had his own soldiers to assist him with housework, so his family did not have to worry about his clothes, food and lodging. When he left home again, he only took a few newly made plain clothes and two pairs of new boots.

After Hai Chang'an took two days off, Haijiao finally got the chance to go home.

At this time, the weather in the capital was already very cold. Although it was not yet the season for snow, frost formed in the morning and evening, and the wind was biting. Ordinary jackets could not withstand it. People who went out had to wear cotton jackets, cloaks, and hats. The Hai family had already started heating the kang. Rooms without kangs had to prepare braziers, otherwise no one could sit in the house. Even if people were full and sat in a room with closed doors and windows to write, their hands would soon freeze.

When Haijiao returned home, he was wearing the plain clothes of the Jinyiwei, a black gauze hat and a black horn belt, and the cloak he wore when he left home. His face was as white as snow. When Haitang saw him in the front yard, she immediately pulled him to the upper room in the main yard, asked him to take off his thin coat, sit on the warm kang to keep warm, and stuffed the hot water bottle into his arms, and finally poured him a bowl of brown sugar ginger tea.

Hai Jiao held the hot water bottle and smiled bitterly: "It's not that exaggerated... I'm not that cold, it's just that I was on duty last night and got up early and returned to the government office late. I didn't make it in time for breakfast, so my face looks a little ugly."

He smiled and asked, "How is your family these days?"