Sir, I just want to be a salted fish

Chapter 218 Begging for mercy
"Mom, what happened? Speak slowly." Tang Bingxuan wiped her mother-in-law's tears with a handkerchief and comforted her with a warm voice.

A few days ago, Mrs. Hou was concerned about her nephew Qiao Zhensheng's wedding preparations, so she went to the Duke Cheng's Mansion to find her sister-in-law Cai to see how she could help.

As the eldest sister of Duke Cheng and the aunt of Prince Qiao, Mrs. Hou naturally wanted to do more to help her older unmarried nephew make the wedding a success.

It was the first time I went to Duke Chengguo's Mansion. Let alone meeting my brothers and sisters, Mrs. Hou, my aunt, couldn't even get through the gate.

At first, Mrs. Hou thought that she had done something bad recently and inadvertently offended her sister-in-law Cai. Later, she thought about it carefully. Not to mention that she was not a carefree person. Even if she inadvertently offended her sister-in-law Cai on some occasion, she should not Don't let my aunt go back to her parents' home.

If this spreads out, not only will Chengguo's family be disgraced, but they will also think that Mrs. Qiao did something shameful and was abandoned by her parents' family.

So the next day, Mrs. Hou adjusted her mentality and wanted to go to the Duke Cheng's Mansion to explore the truth. No matter what she had done and was abandoned, she had to find out.

Once again, Mrs. Hou was turned away.

After that, Mrs. Hou stopped visiting the house in person and sent her mother to ask for a visit. For three consecutive days, she still did not open the door to welcome guests.

Mrs. Hou came back today with the idea of ​​giving it a try, but was turned away by the conceited concierge who was inconvenient to see guests.

It was obvious that something big had happened in the Duke Cheng's palace, but she, a married woman, didn't know anything about it.

There are no rumors about Duke Cheng's residence in Kyoto, otherwise someone would have sent her a message long ago. After all, she also has a few good handkerchiefs.

Mrs. Hou told Tang Bingxuan in detail about the fact that she had been turned away when she went to Chengguo Duke's Mansion these days. She had been holding it in her heart for many days and it was really uncomfortable.

"Mom, don't worry, our family hasn't received any news. Maybe my uncle and his family have something important to do, and it's not convenient to see people and be disturbed."

Tang Bingxuan found it strange when she thought about it. The majestic Duke's mansion had not seen visitors for many days and even turned away his aunt. It was really unheard of that there was no explanation.

When Jiang Shunian returned home in the evening, Tang Bingxuan informed Duke Cheng of the abnormality in his mansion.

"My lord, do you know why my uncle's family is like this?"

Tang Bingxuan believed that the strange situation in the Chengguo Duke's mansion must mean that the master was not in the mansion, and it was unknown where he went.

The majestic Duke's Mansion in the capital of Ling Kingdom disappeared silently. Except for the emperor of Ling Kingdom, Tang Bingxuan did not think about it.

Jiang Shunian's good mood when he returned home fell silent because of Tang Bingxuan's problem.

"Is mother very worried?"

Tang Bingxuan observed the changes in Jiang Shunian's expression and nodded silently.

If ordinary people visit Duke Chengguo's mansion and the host closes the door to thank the guests, they will naturally not visit again, but Mrs. Yongninghou is different.

Jiang Shunian knew very well that his mother, Qiao, must have been to the Chengguo Palace several times in the past few days. As a son of a human being, he was worried that his mother would be harmed by her random thoughts, but the matter was too important. This is not the time to inform.

"Madam, please spend more time with your mother these days. The affairs of my uncle's family are very involved, and we are not in a position to get involved."

Is it a big deal? What could have changed the centuries-old Guogong Mansion into what it is today?

"Ms. sir." Jiang Shunian reached out to cover Tang Bingxuan's mouth and shook his head.

Matters in Chengguo's palace are now taboo, so the couple looked at each other for a moment without saying anything.

...

Tang Bingxuan couldn't figure out what Jiang Shunian said, but she still had to go to her mother-in-law Qiao to comfort her.

There has been no movement from the master of Duke Cheng Guo's Mansion for more than ten days. Not only has Cheng Guo announced that he is ill at home, but Duke Cheng Guo's wife has also stayed behind closed doors, and Qiao Zhensheng, the eldest son of Duke Cheng Guo, has not even gone on duty.
Mrs. Qiao, the Marquis of Yongning, came from a noble family and had stayed in Kyoto for half her life. Now she could calm down and guess a thing or two about the situation of her natal family.

Something happened to her parents' family, and Mrs. Qiao must find out the cause and find a way to rescue her. However, she is already a married woman, and her brother Cheng Guogong will not discuss many matters with her. Now he can only rely on his own connections to inquire.

However, Mrs. Qiao asked many people but still found nothing. She didn't even know where to help her brother.

Tang Bingxuan took the children to the main courtyard to accompany her mother-in-law Qiao. Mrs. Qiao also tried her best to laugh with her, but in private it was difficult to sleep peacefully.

A few days later, I heard that the imperial censor had impeached Cheng Guo Gong Qiao Wenzhong for lining his own pockets during the Three Kingdoms War ten years ago. He was short of food and salary of 200,000 taels, which led to the failure of the initial war, and Rong Guo Gong had to be captured. Love leads the three armies to resist the enemy.

Cheng Guo Gong Qiao Wenzhong was the supervisor of the army who escorted the grain and wages. All supplies for the border wars passed through his hands. He was able to secretly embezzle 200,000 taels without being discovered or those who knew about it did not dare to speak out.

Liu Yan, the general stationed at the border at that time, was defeated in the first battle. Not only did he lose tens of thousands of soldiers, he also lost a city. He desperately held on to the second city for a month before finally waiting for reinforcements from Duke Rong Guo. Seeing that he had received help, he died of exhaustion.

Duke Rong Guo was unable to see Liu Yan for the last time, so he ordered Liu Yan to be buried lavishly. His family members were also exempted from censure because of Duke Rong's confession.

Even if General Liu Yan does not die, he will still have to bear the punishment of defeat when the war ends. Death on the battlefield will be regarded as a well-deserved death and will not harm his family.

Ten years have passed, and all the officials in the court did not expect that Duke Cheng Guo had pushed him from behind, and now the matter has been spread out.

Liu Yuanliang, the son of the former general Liu Yan, went to Beijing to file an imperial complaint with the evidence from that year, asking the Holy Emperor to severely punish Cheng Guogong Qiao Wenzhong to clear the name of the border soldiers who fought bloody battles and left their bones in a foreign land.

On his way to Beijing, Liu Yuanliang was killed several times by soldiers sent by Duke Cheng. After many obstacles, he finally reached Kyoto to meet the emperor.

In fact, Liu Yuanliang relied on the hidden guards sent by Mr. Tang to protect him to avert danger and arrived safely in Kyoto a month ago.

Liu Yuanliang has been investigating this matter at the border for the past ten years. He not only clears the name of his father Liu Yan, but also washes away the shame of tens of thousands of soldiers who have their bones buried in a foreign country. The dangers and hardships involved are unimaginable.

Only when the emperor presented his grievances to the emperor did Liu Yuanliang feel that the ten years of hardship were worth it.

This incident can be regarded as the most shocking corruption case since the founding of the Ling Kingdom. There may have been people with the same idea in the past, but there was no one as forbearing as Liu Yuanliang to expose it.

The Holy Spirit ordered the three divisions to hear the case together, and sent Cheng Guogong and other persons involved into prison to be imprisoned, pending the review of the three divisions.

The three masters of the Duke Cheng's Mansion had been detained in the Duke's Mansion by the Holy Emperor after Liu Yuanliang met the Saint, but no one made it public.

Therefore, Mrs. Hou Qiao was stopped many times when she went there, but the real reason was not told.

After the early court, Dali Temple sent people to take Qiao Wenzhong, the Duke of Chengguo, into the Dali Temple prison. The prince Qiao Zhensheng was dismissed from his errand and the movements of the Duke's wife Cai began to be unrestricted.