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

Chapter 719 False Truth

The Jin family fled the capital and lost all contact with Jin Xu. They all thought she had died in the capital and buried Liu Dainiang's body under false names. After returning to her hometown, Jin Liu also framed her second brother-in-law, Hu Yuanwai, for murdering his wife and then tried to seize the Hu family's property. But that's a story for later.

Jin Jiashu had been kept in the dark since he was a child. Since the second old lady Jin and Jin Liu had kept many things from Jin Juren, the wet nurse of the eldest house of Jin Chang also did not know the inside story. And Jin Dagu, who knew the inside story, chose to keep it secret in order to live safely in her natal family. Therefore, Jin Jiashu never suspected the cause of his biological mother's death.

Later, Jin Juren took his wife and children to Chang'an to visit a friend. On the way, they encountered robbers and met with an accident. Afterwards, the Chang'an government caught the murderer and revealed that it was the people from the second branch of the Jin family who told them where Jin Juren's family was. Jin Jiashu hated the second branch of the family and watched the Chang'an government arrest the suspects. The second old lady of Jin admitted the crime, Jin Miao was directly exiled, and Jin Xin and his wife escaped. Later, they took away the family's property and ran away, leaving his mother and widowed sister behind.

Aunt Jin was isolated and helpless, and came to Jin Jiashu crying for help. Only then did she tell him what had happened that year.

Aunt Jin believed that it was thanks to Old Lady Jin Er that Jin Xu entered the palace to be a wet nurse. It was also Old Lady Jin Er who persuaded Jin Juren to lie that his wife was seriously ill and dying after the incident at the Wu family. But no one expected that something would happen in Kunning Palace! Old Lady Jin Er did not intend to harm her cousin's wife. When Jin Xu returned home, it was Jin Liu who gave false evidence and falsely accused her of being an old maid at the Wu mansion, which led to her being arrested. If Jin Jiashu wanted to hate an enemy, he should hate Jin Liu, not Old Lady Jin Er who killed his mother. Although Old Lady Jin Er did many things wrong, she was an elder whom Jin Juren respected during his lifetime. She was old and in poor health. Aunt Jin asked Jin Jiashu to show mercy to his mother and help her with some medical expenses.

Jin Jiashu was shocked by the truth of the past. He did not expect that his mother died in an unclear way and her body is still missing. He still deeply resented Jin Er Lao Madam, but Jin Dagu had the sympathy to inform Jin Juren to save his wife. Now she told him the true whereabouts of his deceased mother. In order to express his gratitude to Jin Dagu, he funded her with 20 taels of silver and hired someone to escort her back to her hometown.

At the same time, Jin Jiashu also learned that the so-called tomb of his biological mother in Beijing was actually the tomb of his stepmother Xiao Liu's elder sister Liu Dainiang. The poor Hu brothers and sisters had no idea where their mother's remains were. They thought that she was really killed by their father Hu Yuanwai, and were willing to become accomplices of their aunt Jin Liu to frame Hu Yuanwai! Jin Jiashu asked Ma Shangyi to find out that the Hu brothers and sisters were sold by Jin Xin and his wife, so he paid out of his own pocket to redeem them and funded them to return home.

Jin Jiashu originally wanted to tell his aunt, Concubine Xu in the palace the truth through a letter, but was dissuaded by Ma Shangyi.

Ma Shangyi believed that when Concubine Xu was still a palace maid, she went through so much trouble to send her elder sister out of the palace, hoping that she could escape from the clutches of Concubine Sun and reunite with her family. Unexpectedly, her elder sister died of an "acute illness" immediately after returning to her husband's home. Concubine Xu resented the Jin family for being too hateful, and was sad about her elder sister's death, deeply regretting that she should not have sent her elder sister home. However, she was sad about this matter and it was over. After Jin Juren and the second branch of the Jin family died one after another, Concubine Xu no longer dwelled on this matter. She arranged for people to move the graves, sent people to guard the graves, and occasionally cared about her elder sister's nephew who was left in the world. The pain in her heart had long since subsided.

But at this time, if she knew that her elder sister died even more miserably than she knew, and even her body was missing, and fell into the hands of the Sun family almost as soon as she left the palace... I'm afraid Concubine Xu would be even more sad and regretful! She might as well ask the Queen Mother for grace to keep her elder sister in the palace!
Out of love for Concubine Xu, Ma Shangyi stopped Jin Jiashu from writing the letter and reported the matter to the Queen Mother. In the end, the Queen Mother decided to keep the matter secret. However, the Queen Mother also ordered the people of Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion to find out whether the women who were captured by the Sun family because of the Wu family's involvement are dead or alive now? Where are they buried if they are dead? Unfortunately, so far, Cheng'en Marquis' Mansion has not been able to find out the place, nor has it been able to find the real remains of Concubine Xu's eldest sister. The Queen Mother was afraid to tell Concubine Xu the truth, for fear that she would lose her manners in front of her enemy, the Sun family, in grief and anger, which would arouse the Sun family's vigilance and add variables to the matter of the eighth prince's succession.

In addition, Ma Shangyi, under the order of the Queen Mother, asked Jin Jiashu about his opinion and secretly arranged for someone to move the coffin in the tomb of "Jin Liu" back to his hometown in Zunhua Prefecture, and falsely used the testimony of mountain people to say that Liu Dainiang chased her relatives with injuries, but failed to catch up, fainted on the side of the road, and was rescued by nearby mountain people and taken home. She was bandaged and treated, and recuperated for several months, but eventually died of her injuries. The mountain people buried the body on a nearby mountain, until they went to the city recently and heard the rumors about Hu Yuanwai's murder of his wife, and then they told about their rescue, so that the Hu brothers and sisters were able to welcome back the remains of their biological mother...

In this way, the reason why there was only an empty coffin in the tomb of "Jin Liu" was explained. The story made by Jin Jiashu seemed more and more real because of the money he gave to Jin Dagu and the Hu brothers and sisters, as well as the unknown cause of death of Jin Xin and his wife. Even his indifference to Jin Wu's situation in recent years has a reasonable explanation. Even if Jin Wu suspected that there was something fishy about the death of his parents, he could not blame the "victim" for revenge, after all, that was the culprit who killed Jin Jiashu's biological mother. If it weren't for the second old lady Jin lying that Jin Juren's wife was dead, and Jin Liu denying Jin Xu's identity and falsely accusing her, Jin Xu would not have ended up like this.

Aunt Jin told Jin Jiashu the truth because she felt sorry for her mother and was isolated and helpless.

Jin Liu murdered Jin Xu secretly, and even Jin Juren was kept in the dark by her. It was also very reasonable for her not to let her husband and son know the truth.

Jin Jiashu was far away in Chang'an and had no choice. He did not intend to hide the truth from Concubine Xu, but was just obeying Ma Shangyi's arrangement.

Ma Shangyi was following the Queen Mother's orders, and the Queen Mother was thinking about Concubine Xu and the Eighth Prince, and she also didn't want to cause trouble for the Emperor...

There is a clue to Jin Xu's whereabouts; there is a reasonable explanation for the empty coffin in the grave; everyone has a reason, and the whole thing is reasonable. Neither the Sun family nor Jin Wu can find fault with anything. Jin Wu has no way of knowing the whole truth of the year, so naturally there is no way to say that Jin Jiashu, who heard the truth from Jin Dagu, must be lying.

The emperor did not have a reliable witness to "prove" that Concubine Xu's elder sister had indeed left the palace and was not the same person as Concubine Xu who lived in the Cining Palace. Jin Jiashu now gave him a "witness". Although this "witness" Jin Dagu had died long ago, she had told Jin Jiashu the secret before she died, so Jin Jiashu replaced Jin Dagu as the "witness". There could not be a more reliable and determined "witness" in the world who stood on Concubine Xu's side.

This lie directly caused a deadly feud between Concubine Xu and the Sun family. If the emperor still expected Concubine Xu and her son to coexist peacefully with the Sun family, he would be dreaming. Between the crown prince he favored and the old minister he valued, which one would the emperor choose? You don't have to think about it to know the answer.

Ma Shangyi read the letter over and over again, but didn't find any flaws. She sighed inwardly, but finally gave in. "This matter... must wait for the emperor's instructions. If he really allows you to enter the capital, you must be careful and don't bring yourself to die."

"I see." Jin Jiashu raised the corner of his mouth slightly. "By the way, Ma'am, do you know what the Sun family's minions were wearing when they were arresting people everywhere? How many people did they capture, and what were their identities and attire? Please tell me in detail, so that I can make my lie more convincing..."

(End of this chapter)