Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2878 Master Qingsong 96.0
"Ignorance of the immensity of heaven and earth is one aspect, but more likely it is because they have been too well protected by their family and clan. They seem to be very cunning, but in reality they are still quite naive."

"Naive?" Merlin tugged at Jin Miaomiao. "Where do you get that naivety from? If they were naive, how could they have tricked their way all the way from Jiangnan to the capital?"

“Being deceived isn’t because of naivety, but because of vulnerabilities and desires. Anyone with eyes can see that. If you stick to that, you can deceive people all the way from Jiangnan to the capital.” Song Yaojia looked at Meilin and smiled. “What Miaomiao means is that although they also investigated the people who were deceived, they never thought or realized that the results of their investigation might actually be false.”

“Yes!” Jin Miaomiao looked at Song Yaojia, smiled, and said, “That’s exactly what Your Highness meant. Their scheming is not what I’m talking about. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been targeted by Gongsun Yue. They really don’t know how treacherous people are outside.” Jin Miaomiao looked at Song Yaojia, “Although they have also experienced intrigue and mutual scheming, they have never seen a trap like the one Gongsun Yue set for them.”

“Of course, they’ve only encountered what they can see with their own eyes, and they can only scheme about what’s right in front of them. This kind of situation…” Song Yaojia thought for a moment, “Yan Chen said that during the later interrogation, Gong Sheng and the others admitted that they had never imagined it, and their families had never told them that things would be like this outside. If they had known…”

"You knew you'd still grit your teeth and keep going, right?"

“That’s true.” Song Yaojia nodded. “We have to face all of this eventually, that’s how we grow up, right?”

“The Yun family members are quite perceptive; they saw through this situation. No, it should be said that they saw through Master Qingsong’s ignorance, but even if they saw through it, they were powerless to do anything about it.” Shen Cha sighed softly. “When did Gong Sheng realize something was wrong?” She looked at Song Yaojia and saw his embarrassed expression. She raised an eyebrow slightly. “Brother Yaojia, you’re not going to tell us that he never noticed anything, are you?”

“I really have to say that.” Song Yaojia spread his hands toward Shen Chayi and said, “He didn’t notice anything wrong from beginning to end. On the contrary, he felt that there were problems with Gongsun Yue’s house everywhere.” He held up a finger and shook it gently, and said, “What you need to pay attention to here is that he really felt that there were problems with Gongsun Yue’s house. He wasn’t trying to deceive him.”

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

Song Yaojia's words left Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, Jin Miaomiao, and Mei Lin speechless; they didn't know how to respond.

“Your Highness,” Merlin blinked and said, “you mean that when Gong Sheng arrived at Lord Gongsun’s residence, he genuinely believed there was something wrong with it, rather than initially intending to deceive us?”

“Yes!” Song Yaojia nodded. “Yan Chen personally interrogated Gong Sheng. Gong Sheng confessed that he initially intended to deceive people. From the moment he entered the house, he felt that something was wrong with everything. The house had an eerie atmosphere. Therefore, he felt that he was very wronged to be arrested. Yes, he initially planned to trick and deceive Gongsun Yue, but after arriving at the house and seeing its layout and furnishings, he genuinely wanted to warn Gongsun Yue. He even wanted to tell him that if possible, he should sell the house and move to another place.”

"Does his suspicion about the house stem from mere imagination, or is there any concrete evidence?"

"It's not something he imagined out of thin air; it's his own feeling."

"His own feeling?" "Yes." Song Yaojia nodded. "He said that after entering that house, he felt strange all over. He was inexplicably excited, had a headache for no reason, and felt like his head was about to explode. He couldn't control his actions and words. He sensed something was wrong and felt that he was being affected by the house. Therefore, he believed that this house was very unusual and definitely not just a matter of feng shui. He even suggested that Yan Chen tell Gongsun Yue to find a powerful master to exorcise the evil spirits, otherwise it wouldn't just be simple bad luck, but could very well be fatal." He looked at Jin Miaomiao, then at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, and said, "He admitted that he was going to lie at first, but after seeing the house, that thought disappeared. Although he is not very skilled, he wouldn't lie about his own feelings."

"Why did he react so strongly?" Shen Cha looked at Jin Miaomiao, then at Shen Haolin and Song Yaojia. "Why? We've all been to Jinyang Lane, and we didn't have this feeling."

"Yan Chen said the same thing. His family has lived here for three generations and hasn't noticed anything wrong. He suspected that Gong Sheng was saying this to get away with it, but Gong Sheng seemed sincere and didn't seem fake. So, after interrogating Gong Sheng, he went to consult Master Qingsong through Gongsun Yue."

"What did the advisor say?"

"The master said that it is not surprising that Gong Sheng had such a reaction. Not only him, but other members of the Gong family and the Ma family should also have such a reaction."

"Should be?" Jin Miaomiao frowned slightly. "Why are you so sure?"

"Yan Chen thought so too, so he specifically interrogated the arrested members of the Gong and Ma families. They all confirmed Gong Sheng's statement that after entering the house, they also experienced varying degrees of physical abnormalities and discomfort."

"And then what happened?" Shen Cha asked Song Yaojia curiously. "What caused this?"

“Because of their constitution,” Song Yaojia sighed. “Master Qingsong said he predicted they would feel very uncomfortable, and it shouldn’t have started from entering Gongsun Yue’s house, but from the moment they entered Jinyang Lane.” He looked at the others and said, “Although the Gong and Ma families have retired from their criminal activities, they haven’t lost their culinary skills. They still occasionally visit large tombs. No one knows what they picked up in the tombs, but what is known is that their constitutions have never been very good, and their physical condition is generally poor. So, when they encounter such a place with excellent feng shui, they will feel extremely uncomfortable. Master Qingsong said that Gong Sheng’s reaction was actually relatively mild. If it were the head of the Gong family or someone who frequently goes to tombs, they would feel a burning sensation, like being on fire, in Jinyang Lane. The reason for this was not explained clearly; it was probably something that could only be understood intuitively, not explained in words!”

"Then I understand." Jin Miaomiao nodded. "Gong Sheng himself wasn't feeling well, so he felt there really was a problem with this house, and he genuinely wanted to help Gongsun Yue, right?"

"Yes, so he felt that he was very wronged to be arrested."

"Does he know the truth?"

“Of course.” Song Yaojia chuckled. “When he found out that the person he was going to deceive was the Director of the Imperial Observatory, he was completely dumbfounded. According to the people from the Court of Judicial Review, he didn’t recover for several days.”